The Fox's Choice

by M A Simonetti

  “Bambi threatened to go to the Bennetts and tell them the truth about Zane. Bradley wasn’t Zane’s father. Keith was.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  We made it to my house without further incident or surprises. Richard pulled the Jag into the garage and walked me to the front door. The security guards made themselves known and then made themselves scarce. I invited Richard in for a drink. I, for one, really needed one.

  The house felt stuffy but I was so glad to be home I didn’t care. Richard plopped down in my comfy couch while I got the drinks.

  “What’ll you have?” I asked him.

  “Do you have a soda? If I have a drink now I’ll fall asleep right here on your couch.”

  “I have diet ginger ale.”

  “Perfect.”

  I poured the ginger ale over ice and took it to him.

  Back at the fridge, I reached for the Chardonnay.

  Something stopped me.

  I stood with the fridge door opened and stared at the Chardonnay. It called to me as strongly as only a bad habit will. If I opened the bottle, I would have a glass and then another. I pour heavy so two-thirds of the bottle would be gone by then. And I am not one to waste wine so I would definitely finish the bottle. And wake up in the morning after a lousy night’s sleep. I would have a fuzzy head and a mouth that tasted sour. It would take a pot of coffee to get going and by then the morning would be shot.

  I didn’t want to do that anymore.

  I closed the fridge and put the kettle on to boil. I rummaged for a tea bag. I set up the tea tray.

  The little voice in my head sounded just like my Aunt Betty saying, “Everything will be all right, Teresa.”

  “You OK, Alana?”

  I joined Richard on the couch. I held the hot tea in both hands and enjoyed its earthy aroma. Richard looked at me with concern.

  “Tea? You are sure that you’re OK? You’re not coming down with my cold are you?”

  “I am fine. I am safe and I have the person who is number three on my speed dial with me. What more could I ask?”

  Richard put his drink down and cradled my face with his hands.

  “What’s a guy gotta do to get to number one on your speed dial?”

  I whispered in his ear exactly what it would take.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  A week later Jorjana, David and I lounged with the Russian wolfhounds at Richard’s pool. We’d enjoyed lunch with the house manager, John, while finalizing the details for Jorjana’s birthday party. John had the guest list for the pre-party dinner well under control. Including the coordination of every security detail of every diplomat invited. It took a spreadsheet and an algorithm but John had it handled. We left him to it while we enjoyed the Malibu sunshine.

  The wolfhounds lay on the ground at my feet like two fluffy rugs. Their tails twitched as they snoozed. David laid his head back and sighed.

  “This is the life, darlings.” In a heartbeat he was asleep.

  Jorjana smiled at him.

  “Our dear David has worked so hard. He deserves a rest.” She turned to me, the smile gone.

  “What news has Richard?”

  She referred to the murders and Bambi’s arrest and the trial that would follow as soon as Bambi was released from the hospital. I had messed her knee up good. I did not feel one ounce of guilt about that.

  “Bambi blackmailed Keith into paying for the technical school after my father refused. When she realized how good Zane was at computer programming, she came up with the idea to drug people and then steal their money. She worked for a while at a veterinarian’s office and she stole the Ketamine from there. She got Zane to run this scam on a small scale before going after me.”

  “They learned of you from the magazine article, did they not?” Jorjana shuddered.

  “They knew about me but they didn’t know how much money I had,” I said. I shuddered too as I remembered the LA Magazine article and how much of my life I had shared. My vanity had ridden right over my better judgment and put me in harm’s way. My little voice had a field day scolding me over that.

  “Anyway, Bambi was a rotten mother and an even more rotten person. Once she realized how much money I had she got greedy. She killed her own son instead of splitting the money.”

  “Awful woman.”

  “She may have gotten away with it. She told her sister that Keith killed Zane but the sister saw the photos of Keith at the party. She drove down to Malibu to confront Bambi and Bambi shot her. Then she convinced me to meet with her. While I waited in the bar, she put her sister’s body in my trunk.”

  “If only the sister had not seen the photos,” Jorjana said.

  “Brandi was savvy enough to read the society columns looking for more men to father babies,” I said. “It turned out to be a deadly habit.”

  “Those poor children,” Jorjana said. “What will become of them?”

  “They’ll be fine,” I said in disgust. “The last Richard heard the grandparents stepped up to foster the children and then asked the courts to increase the foster care payments since the children were so traumatized.”

  Jorjana was silent. I knew her mind went to the daughter she lost at age six- a child that was treasured and missed every day since.

  “Bambi started to panic as time ran out to retrieve the money,” I said. “She knew where it was but she couldn’t figure out the final password to transfer it to her own account. That’s when she started looking for help on the dark web. She learned just enough from Zane for her to get caught.”

  “Alana, are you quite certain that Franklin and I cannot assist you until your money is returned,” Jorjana asked.

  “Just knowing it is on the way is enough,” I said. “I’ll be fine until then.”

  What I didn’t tell her was that although it was likely that I would get my money back, it was going to take awhile. The combination of international monetary laws, foreign transactions and a bucket of other dark underworld nonsense made getting it back tricky. Jim Schilling had said not to hold my breath. And that it was going to cost me. Likely millions.

  “Please explain your new venture once more,” Jorjana asked.

  “Richard introduced me to clients of his who believe that graciousness is lacking in society today. They want to establish an international list of people who want to socialize with others like themselves. A club without walls, so to speak.”

  “This is why you must travel now.”

  “Initially. I need to meet people outside of Malibu so I will come and go at first.”

  “For this you will be paid well?”

  “Well enough.” I lied.

  It wasn’t paying at all just yet. But it would, in time.

  “Perhaps it is best that you leased your lovely home,” Jorjana said.

  “Yes, I suppose it is.”

  Jim Schilling had a new project underway and it required a safe house. My beach house with its access directly to the ocean was perfect for his needs. He paid for a year upfront and arranged for my personal effects to be moved out and put in storage. He even paid my housekeeper to not come for the entire year. With the years worth of rent, I was able to pay my property taxes, the rent on my office space and the rent on the garage and Fred’s salary. And the myriad of other bills that come with living in Malibu. I leaned back on my lounge with a smile. Jim did not want anyone to know that his new clients were there- so Malibu society was none the wiser as to where I went home at night.

  My relationship with Richard had taken an interesting turn. He was now number two on my speed dial. Jorjana was still number one because I spent in my nights in my suite at the York Estate.

  But some nights I intended to spend in an ultra modern home with two Russian wolfhounds.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “I am so pleased with the elephants.” Jorjana beamed at the elephants as the crowd enjoyed at her party.

  She looked gorgeous. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a mass of curls. S
he wore an emerald green gown and ruby earrings. On her feet were colorful slippers embroidered with flowers and birds. She wore a tiara, of course. It was a piece that had been in her mother’s family and it was a sight to behold- diamonds and rubies and emeralds. I was certain most of the guests thought it was costume jewelry. Or maybe they didn’t, given who they were.

  The elephants were a hit in their silk dressing. Considering what it took to get them there, they’d better be entertaining. They were encouraged to walk up the hill to the York Estate by bribing them with a trail of bananas. They still complained the entire way and pooped as they went just to underscore their displeasure. But they seemed to like the view once they arrived and they were thrilled with the pools. Suffice it to say, it took a village to refill the pools and dry off the elephants before the guests arrived.

  The elephants weren’t the only animals at the party. Jorjana is also fond of llamas, parrots and monkeys. And puppies, because who doesn’t love puppies? So areas were sectioned off with baskets of puppies for the guests to enjoy.

  The grassy area behind the house was covered with tents of gold silk. Garlands of tuberose scented the air. Pretty young women dressed as mermaids swam in the freshly refilled pools. Servers moved through the crowd delivering small bites and big drinks. Forty tables of ten and one lone table of eight awaited the guests under the tents.

  “You’re happy, Darling?” David, dressed in a white tie and tails, sat next to Jorjana at the head table.

  “Very. I am grateful to you and Alana for everything that you have done for me,” Jorjana had tears in her eyes.

  “David did most of it,” I said. “And Franklin is paying for it.”

  “That will be a discussion for the ages, Darling,” David laughed. “But Franklin does seem taken with your Aunt Betty.”

  The table of eight was a late addition to the party. The guests seated at Table Forty-One were the Bennetts- Jack, Linda, Keith and Bradley. And the Clarks- my aunts Betty, Nancy, Ruth and Lois.

  Melissa Bennett refused to come as she was still seething over the news that Zane was Keith’s kid. To his credit, Keith had never known and offered to reimburse Bradley for the child support payments. Melissa felt that Keith knew that he had slept with Bambi and should have figured it out. Keith claimed the ignorance of having been drunk at the time. I saw both sides of the argument and chose to stay out of it. At least for now.

  The Clarks and Bennetts stood around their assigned table and pretended to not see each other. It was mean of me to throw these people together and I knew it. But I made the decision to let both families back into my life and I wasn’t going to play their games any longer.

  They could learn to get along or they could not. Either way, they would be invited to my home as a group going forward.

  Richard appeared at my side and followed my gaze to Table Forty-One.

  “Are you sure that was a good idea?” He asked as he put an arm around my waist.

  He looked so handsome I felt myself melt. He wore his tuxedo as easily as most men wear jeans. His arm around my waist gave me both the butterflies and a sense of security.

  “They better get used to it,” I said. “I invited them to your house for Thanksgiving.”

  “That’s going to be an interesting dinner.” Richard smiled at me.

  I returned his smile.

  I felt at home.

  “Shall we invite the guests to be seated?” Jorjana asked. “Alana will you do the honors?”

  I walked to the head table and picked up a microphone. I tapped the mic to make certain that it was on.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention!”

  The cocktail chatter ceased. Everyone turned to me. I raised my wine glass filled with iced tea.

  “Jorjana would like you all to know that since it is her birthday- it’s five o’clock everywhere!”

  THE END

  ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

  I am grateful for the help and support of my family and friends. The two are often one and the same.

  Thank you to Steve Kehoe for the advice on how to lose a pile of money…and to clarify- he does NOT advise putting all of your cash in one easily accessed bank account.

  Thank you to my writing teacher/mentor/editor Claudette Sutherland for inspiring me in so many ways.

  Thank you to Futsuki Downs for the early read and feedback.

  Thank you to the real life Jim Schilling for his enthusiastic support for Alana Fox…and to his wife, Denice who would be tickled pink to catch a cyber thief…and would do it in a fabulous outfit with every hair in place.

  Thank you to my son, Anthony, for the endlessly patient support with all things technical.

  Thank you to my real life patron of the arts and partner in life and adventures, my husband Marty.

  And from my heart, thank you to Jan Grazer who knows me as well as Jorjana knows Alana…and still calls me her friend.

  Everyone should be so lucky.

  About the Author

  M. A. Simonetti is the author of the Malibu Mystery Series, which features Alana Fox, who is no Spring Chicken. When she isn’t chronicling Alana’s latest adventures, Mary Ann can be found soaking up the sunshine in the Sonoran Desert or on the beaches of SoCal.

  You can read more about the author and the Malibu Mystery Series at masimonetti.com