As Fate Would Have It

by Cheyenne Meadows

  Standing, Rye sat the beer on the table. "Look, Mom, I've gotta go. No! I did no such thing! What is it with you women and my personal sex life? Yes. Just… oh, never mind. Bye." He clicked the off button, turning his attention to Brie.

  A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Let me get this straight. You think I surfed the web for porn today and jacked off, covering your keyboard with…" He paused, not completing his thought.

  Not that Brie had any difficulty understanding. "Yes! Why else is my keyboard sticky? I certainly didn't find the porn site. And, I didn't make the keyboard sticky." She felt the color rising in her cheeks. "That's just disgusting! You owe me a new keyboard, mister, because I am certainly not cleaning your… body fluids… from this one!"

  He turned and tossed the portable phone on the couch, his grin slowly growing. Once his eyes met hers, he burst out in a chuckle, quickly stifled. Brie tilted her head in warning. Her eyelids narrowed.

  Full blown laughter erupted. Rye shook his head at her. "You are a squirrel. Cute, but definitely a nut carrying squirrel." Still grinning widely, he ambled past her toward the computer room.

  Frustrated, she followed. "Am not." She bit her tongue at the childish retort.

  "Oh, yeah. You definitely are." He turned left, headed over to the desk, before plopping into the chair. Staring at the image, he pointed. "Does she look familiar to you?"

  "What? How would I know? I don't watch porn!"

  He flashed a mischievous smile in her direction, almost daring her otherwise.

  Her heart picked up speed, as did her respirations. Surely her body didn't react from just his expression? On second thought, she would go with that. Otherwise, she was admitting that she enjoyed the explicit picture before her.

  "Would you get off the porn idea?" He fiddled with the mouse, running the curser over the woman's face. "Who does she remind you of?" A couple of mouse clicks later and a close up of the face appeared.

  Leaning in, Brie looked at the eyes, the obviously reconstructed nose, those Botox injected, ruby red lips. The idea came to her like a light bulb turning on. "Bunny?"

  "Bingo!" He grinned at her.

  She tapped her bottom lip with her finger, shifting weight from one leg to the other. "I don't get it. So, she's a porn star. To be honest, that's not really a surprise." She thought of the glimpses she had of the other woman. Bunny always looked perfect, nails freshly polished from a professional manicure, hair in precise place, makeup to accentuate her high cheekbones. Marilyn Monroe came to mind in comparison to Bunny at her best.

  Rye tiled his head in question. "Think about it. If she's a porn star, she's gotta be making a chunk of money, right?"

  She shrugged. "Guess so. But, I still don't understand."

  "Then why is she living here, in this neighborhood? No offense, but this place is a quaint and homey area, not glamorous, and not wealthy. No movie productions within five hundred miles." His eyes watched her face, gauging her thoughts.

  "She wants to be invisible?" A woman like Bunny may stand out in the neighborhood, but she's not likely to draw major attention as if she lived the high life. And, if she kept to herself, like she had been doing, she wasn't more than just gossip material for the other inhabitants.

  "Yep. The question is why does she want to fly under the radar?" He swiveled in the chair, clicking the mouse to save the picture and print it out. The printer hummed behind him.

  "Maybe she wants to start a new life? Maybe her live-in man doesn't know about her career choice?" Brie's mind spun with reasons why a woman would hide such a part of her life. It made sense.

  Rye glanced up, giving a short nod. "True. But what about her supposed boyfriend? Don't you find it strange that they appear wealthy, yet no one seems to do much work? And, they don't venture out much except to the car and back."

  "Now that you mention it. But…" A thought raced through her mind. "No. It's just odd. They don't belong in this neck of the woods. That's all there is to it." Shaking her head, she pondered some more.

  Grinning, Rye stood, reaching out. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into his body. Caught off guard, her hands flew to his chest, seeking support. Brie reflexively looked up, feeling his hard chest beneath her trapped hands. That sexy grin of his had returned.

  "Now you are thinking, baby." Searching her eyes for a few more seconds, he slowly lowered his lips, leaving a chaste kiss on her forehead. Pulling back, he smiled, obviously pleased at what he saw.

  Pushing against him, Brie found herself quickly released. Unsure what just happened, her gaze returned to the keyboard, reminding her. "What about the keyboard?"

  His eyes flickered to the desk again before returning to her face. "7-Up."

  "Oh."

  Chapter 26

  "Perfect!" Rye snapped his cell phone shut, a bright smile plastered across his face.

  "What is it?" Brie looked up from her comfy spot, curled up on the couch. They had just finished lunch, the dishwasher hummed, and laundry clinked as it spun in the dryer.

  "We've got a pick-up to make."

  Marking her page, she looked up at him, still not certain why he acted like a puppy who just found a new toy. "I don't understand."

  He marched over, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. "We got the court order to bug Gomez's phone and house."

  She blinked, processing that information. "So you're going to pick up this bug and install it when they are gone?"

  He shook his head, nudging her toward the door. "I can't place it through breaking and entering. Information obtained from illegal means isn't admissible in court."

  Stepping out the kitchen door and into the garage, Brie automatically wandered to the passenger side. "Then how? I can't just see them opening the door to you for that purpose." She slid in while Rye did the same, clicked on his seatbelt, and hit the garage door opener.

  "You said you never met her, not even introduced yourself when she moved in, right?" He watched her nod before continuing, "Then that's our way in."

  "What is?" His words sounded like Swahili to her basic English.

  Pulling the car out of the garage, he sent it into motion down the street. "It's about time you welcomed her to the neighborhood with one of those baskets."

  * * * *

  A few minutes later, they arrived at the local gift shop. Gary stood beside his gray sedan, leaning against the car door with hands across his chest. He eased his weight back on his feet as they parked beside him, a grin covering his face as he watched Brie climb out of the car.

  "Got it?" He gave a thumbs-up to Rye, then let his eyes rake over her. "Looking as good as ever, although not nearly up to par with that bustier."

  She snorted and shook her head. "I still don't understand what's going on."

  Gary's eyes twinkled as he stepped away to pull a woven basket from his backseat, striding over to hand it to Rye. "It's in the weave. Tested already." A plastic bag followed. "Everything you need. Just have to plug it in and hit start."

  Rye peeked inside the bag, then returned his attention to Gary. "Thanks, buddy. I owe you."

  "You can pay me back by letting me take this one out."

  Brie blinked while Rye frowned and muttered under his breath. Gary obviously didn't take offense as he chuckled and climbed back into his car.

  * * * *

  "You got it?"

  She nodded. "I think so."

  "Try to make her think there is a good reason you are doing this now. Girl talk. Something you need to ask her. Anything to get her to invite you in."

  Brie pondered just what that topic might be. Nothing came to mind no matter how hard she tried.

  "Oh, just in case she asks, we better get our stories straight. I told Bunny that I am between jobs, you are a family friend and have agreed to let me stay with you until I find another job." He turned the car off and stepped out of the vehicle, waiting for Brie to do the same and catch up. "Best to keep it as close to the truth as possible. Less chance for mistakes
that way."

  She shot him a puzzled look, then blurted out, "When did you go see her? And why?"

  He gestured her into the kitchen, holding the door open so she could carry the gift basket with her. "Ummm. The day you almost drowned in the bathtub."

  She sat the item down, then spun to stare up at him. "You didn't say why."

  He shrugged, busily digging his instruments out of the plastic bag and setting them up on the coffee table. "Spying."

  "Uh huh." Brie rolled her eyes. "Tell me again why you can't take it over?"

  He snorted. "When was the last time you saw a damn sexy man carrying a wicker basket full of fruit to a meet and greet?"

  He had a point.

  A few minutes later, he gave the okay, stating the bug worked well, picking up voices and recording them. Large earphones covered his ears as his attention centered on a small laptop. "We're good to go."

  Brie nodded, grabbed the basket, and paused at the front door to sigh. She didn't have a clue what to ask Bunny. Perhaps divine inspiration would strike as she walked across the street. Just not in the form of her becoming roadkill.

  No sooner had she shut the front door, than she noticed Mr Gomez driving away. Her shoulders sank in relief as her heart slowly regained its normal pace. Bunny, she could deal with. Gomez, she wasn't so sure.

  A moment later, she leaned hard on the doorbell and waited impatiently for her neighbor to answer. The basket full of fruit and coffee pulled heavily on her arms.

  "Can I help you?" Bunny asked from the open door.

  Brie's mouth opened as she stood almost eye to eye with that massive cleavage. Talk about divine inspiration.

  "Hi. I'm Brie, from just across the street." She turned to gesture back toward where she came. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to do a proper welcome to the neighborhood. You see, I work long hours. I'm beat when I get home and on my days off, I try to catch up with everything else." Her words tumbled out nervously as the other woman remained mute. Her gaze dropped to her tennis shoes and she shyly continued, "Well, you see. I need to ask you some advice. I'm sure you can help me, you see. If I can just come in for a minute?"

  She held out the basket and gave a pleading expression as if she were desperate to speak to the other woman.

  Bunny took the offering, hesitantly looked her up and down then appeared to make a decision. "Okay. Just for a minute." Opening the door wider, she gestured Brie inside.

  "Thanks! I greatly appreciate this." Brie dashed in, waited to be directed.

  Bunny headed straight for the kitchen, placing the basket on the center of the counter, pulling at the plastic and pawing through the contents. "Thank you for this. It looks delicious."

  "You're welcome… err… I'm sorry. I don't even know your name."

  "Tabby." She found a bag of coffee, pulled it out, and dug through cupboards for supplies. "Now what did you want to ask?"

  Brie took a breath. "I couldn't help but see how Rye… well, all men for that matter, stand at attention when you are around. They can't keep their eyes off you. And, forgive me, but with your petite frame, I think you have breast implants, right?" Pulling out a chair at the dining room table, she sat gingerly.

  Tabby nodded, scooping coffee into a filter, and placing it in the coffeemaker. One painted fingernail punched a button.

  "Well, you see, I really want Rye to look at me like he does you. I started to think that if I got breast implants he might start to take notice." She shot the other woman a pitiful look that begged help.

  "Honey, you get a boob job and all of those men will notice." She took the seat next to Brie and sat facing her.

  "I just want Rye to pay attention to me." A dramatic pause followed, allowing Tabby time to pick up on the innuendo. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the procedure." At Tabby's nod, she began. "Does it hurt? How do you pick the size? How long does the pain last?"

  For the first time Tabby grinned, relaxed, and warmed to her subject. She flicked her long blonde locks to her back as she began to explain. "These are my second set. Started with D, decided to go bigger. Believe me, the pain is worth it."

  Brie nodded, absorbing this information. "You don't regret it?"

  Tabby chuckled. "No way in hell. These have paid for themselves ten times over."

  Perking up, Brie tossed out one more. "Can you recommend a good doctor to do it?"

  "Sure." Tabby pulled a nearby tab of paper over, grabbed a pen, and jotted down a name and the city.

  "Thanks. This is perfect." Brie smiled at Tabby.

  The kitchen door opened, with Gomez entering and talking loudly on his phone in Spanish. His gaze landed on Brie and he paused. Words spewed from his mouth in a language she didn't begin to understand.

  Tabby stood, but waved dismissively, apparently understanding him. "She's here asking advice on a boob job."

  Brie's face heated as she glanced from Gomez back to Tabby.

  He shook his head and mumbled, "She needs it."

  Brie gasped but didn't say anything. Gomez pinned her with his beady gaze once more before continuing his ramblings into the phone. Long strides carried him across the room and back to the bedroom. A click sounded as the door shut.

  Standing, Brie headed toward the front door. "Thank you again for the advice." She whispered loud enough for Tabby to understand.

  The other woman smiled. "Take my advice. Get it done. You won't regret it."

  Brie gave her an appreciative grin and paused at the front door.

  "Oh, thanks for the basket." Tabby opened the door for her.

  "You are more than welcome." With a small wave, Brie headed out the door and across the street to freedom.

  He owed her big time.

  Chapter 27

  Two days passed. Rye spent several hours each day attached to the earphones, collecting evidence and data. Brie went about her vacation, ran errands, and played in the backyard. Even though he was physically still there, she missed the camaraderie when he helped with tasks. Grocery shopping became more than a mundane chore when he assisted. With him tied to the electronics, she felt disconnected and lonely.

  She could imagine that many women married to cops felt the same thing from time to time. Not an easy occupation for him or his spouse.

  "Damn." Rye leaned back on the couch, holding his back, as if it had a kink that needed stretched out.

  Gary echoed the sentiment, rubbing at his reddened eyes. Both men had spent the night and half of the morning trying to catch the barest whisper of wrong doing.

  "Anything good?" Brie called from the kitchen where she loaded the dishwasher.

  He shook his head.

  For the past forty-eight hours, the news had been the same. Hints and mentions, but nothing concrete enough to tie Gomez to anything or indicate accomplices. They needed something solid and foolproof as this group had tons of money and the best lawyers. Basically they needed him to confess and rat out the others at the same time. Not an easy task. Perhaps an impossible one.

  Looking down at the spatula in her hand, her mind quickly ran a few circles of the hamster wheel. Her gaze landed on the heaping plate of cookies sitting on the coffee table in front of the two tired men.

  Maybe there was a way after all.

  With that thought, she walked over to grab the cookie plate, carrying it back to the kitchen counter.

  "Hey! We were eating those!" Gary protested.

  She dug through a cabinet until finally finding the plastic container and lid she wanted. "Sorry. Your cookies are being sacrificed for a noble cause."

  A flick of her wrist sent the treats into the container. She snapped the lid on while both men stared her direction.

  Rye clicked first. "I'm not sure this is a good idea." He stood and moved her direction.

  She waved dismissively. "I just take these over to my new friend, like any good neighbor would do. Maybe I can get her to say something."

  Gary stood up, remaining in place as he shook hi
s head. "This could be dangerous."

  With a shrug, she headed over to Rye, standing on tiptoe to kiss his lips softly. "No worries. If I can handle a serial killer, I can do girl talk." Clinging to the container, she flashed a wide grin. "Just call me Sara Lee."

  With a small wave, she headed out the front door, purse and cookies in hand.

  * * * *

  When Tabby answered the door moments later, Brie handed her the Tupperware. "Can I come in for a sec? I have a few more questions."

  Tabby nervously chewed her bottom lip and looked behind her.

  "I'll only stay a minute. Promise," Brie reassured her.

  Tabby paused a beat longer than necessary to make a decision. With a small nod, she stepped aside.

  "Thanks!" Brie mouthed to her, hurrying to the kitchen.

  Gomez sat in the living room, adjacent to the kitchen, listening intently to his cell phone. Occasionally he would speak a few words in Spanish, then go quiet once more.

  "What did you need to know?" Tabby pulled her attention back.

  "Ummm. I was wondering about the cost. I'm not rich by any means. And, I thought I had better find out an idea. I would hate to make an appointment with this doctor then find out he's too expensive." She plopped her purse in a nearby dining room chair.

  Tabby nodded. Her mouth opened to speak, but Gomez's yelling broke in.

  A moment later, his gaze locked on Brie. Fury sparked in those depths while his face scrunched in anger. Words flew from his mouth before he threw the cell phone onto the couch.

  Brie sat and blinked at him. Her heart began to pound as her breathing increased. Hairs on the back of her neck spiked and that little voice in her head recommended flight and fast.

  "You! It has to be!" He slowly approached. Gone was his business suit that she had always seen him wear, replaced by lightweight shorts and a T-shirt. He dressed more for a day at the pool than for bad business dealings.