by Laney Kay
By the time she finished explaining, Luke was grinning from ear to ear. “Holy shit, Lola, that might actually work.” He sat forward. “She’s vain enough to want to get the award, and I would bet that she doesn’t realize that going to Puerto Rico is legally the same as coming home. Even if she does, I don’t think she’d feel like it was risky, as opposed to coming to the U.S. mainland.”
I was getting excited. “Lola, we need to get Bella involved. If she’s the one who brought it up to Glenda, she wouldn’t think a thing anything about it. Bella has already been dealing with her for months with these fundraisers, plus Bella and her sister both have places there and run in the same social circles. She’d have no reason to think it’s not completely legit.”
Lola nodded enthusiastically. “We can do it as a combination of awards banquet and fundraiser for Belize. I’ll be happy to put up the seed money for the fundraising and we’ll actually give it to Bella for her foundation.”
Luke shook his head. “That’s a great idea, and I appreciate the thought, but Lola, you don’t need to front the money. This isn’t your fight. I’ll cover the costs for the benefit itself, and then I’ll put up an chunk of change so Bella will be able to show how much has already been pledged from her ‘benefactors.’”
Lola waved away his protest. “Luke, I’d already told Bella I’d make a big donation before this situation ever came up. Anyway, it’ll be better if both of us donate, because the two of us can put together a hell of a pot of money. Someone like Glenda would love to be the one to get the credit for such a huge fundraising effort.”
I agreed. “Luke, she’s right. The bigger the pot, the better. Just make sure your names aren’t mentioned as donors, or it’ll tip her off.”
We all were turning the idea over in our heads, trying to find any potential problems. Luke asked about Bella. “Do you think we can trust her not to tell Glenda and Nick what’s going on?”
Lola and I looked at each other and we both shrugged. Lola wrinkled up her nose and looked directly at Luke. “Luke, I’ll be honest, I really don’t know her all that well on a personal level, but I’ve known her casually for years and my gut says she’s good people. I’ve never heard anything but positive things about her from everyone, and, personally, I like her a lot. Plus, I really like the fact that she doesn’t need money so she’s less likely to be open to a bribe.”
Luke looked at me. I shrugged and then nodded. “I agree with Lola. I really don’t know her at all, but what I know I really like. She described Glenda as cold and fake and said that she didn’t like dealing with her, and that seems to confirm everything you’ve ever said about her.” I shrugged again. “I couldn’t say it with a hundred percent certainty, but my gut also says we can trust her.”
Lola looked Luke in the eye. “Here’s our worst case scenario. Whether we somehow blow it, or Bella rats us out, or Glenda won’t leave Belize, the bottom line is that no matter what happens, we wouldn’t be any worse off than we are right now. They’d still be free and we’d still be pissed. I think we should go for it because we have nothing to lose.”
Luke nodded. “I agree. Bottom line, we either do this ourselves, or it can’t be done. Not any time soon, at least.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it as we all smiled at each other. “So what’s next? We talk to Bella?”
“Yep.” Lola nodded and took out her phone. “Let me see when we can all get together. I’ll text Bella and tell her I’m with you and we have a project we think she’ll be interested in and see what day is good for her.” She tapped in a message and sent it off. About a minute later a message dinged in. Lola read it and laughed. “She’s available tonight and is apparently extremely bored. Y’all up for it?”
Luke and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. We both shrugged and looked at Lola. “Good for you?” When she nodded, we agreed. “Tell her to come over and I’ll make something.” Lola texted an answer and said, “I sent your address. She’ll be here in a few.”
I took a frozen pan of chicken enchiladas out of the freezer and put it in the microwave to thaw and put the oven on preheat. I threw together a salad and Luke and Lola set the table. She put rest of the bourbon punch in this ridiculously ornate punchbowl I’d inherited from my great aunt, which I love, and put the rest of the red velvet cupcakes and some little pastries on a little cake stand I’d found at a shop in Charleston. Yeah, okay, I know, when it comes to fashion, I’m a total trainwreck, but when it comes to food I really am freaking Martha Stewart.
Bella was there within thirty minutes, and I made the introductions. We ate dinner while everyone got to know each other, and by the end of the meal, I could tell that Luke and Lola were comfortable with including Bella in our plans.
When we were done, we all took our drinks back out to the living room and took a seat. Bella looked at us expectantly. “So what’s this project y’all think I’ll be interested in?”
We all looked at each other and Luke leaned forward. “Bella, would you mind if I asked you a few questions about your projects in Belize?”
She looked confused, but she shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. I’ll be happy to tell you whatever you want to know.” He reached into my bag and took out a folder and showed her the pictures she had taken of Glenda and Nick. “You know these people?”
Bella looked at the picture. “Yes. That’s Glynn and Nicholai Wilkins, or Watkins, Walker, something with a “W” but I can’t remember the last name. They’re both some big deals in Belize.”
Luke looked at her closely. “What do you know about them?”
Bella shrugged and looked at him, obviously not understanding what he was asking. “Nothing really. Like I told Daisy, she’s been helping over there with fundraising and he has something to do with all the new construction.” She looked confused. “I don’t know the husband at all, but I’ve been in several meetings with her.” She hesitated, not wanting to say anything negative about her in case Luke knew her personally. She looked at me, and I nodded and told her to go ahead tell him anything she knew about her, including her personal impressions.
She wrinkled her nose, obviously not too fond of Glynn. “She’s not the nicest person I’ve ever dealt with. She’s one of those people who’s very impressed with her status in the community and I’m pretty sure that if she wasn’t getting public recognition for her actions, she wouldn’t be doing it.” She took a deep breath and looked directly at Luke. “Look, I’m sorry if she’s a friend of yours, but she’s really kind of a bitch. I always dread working with women like her because she’s the type who makes my job much more difficult and a hell of a lot less fun.”
She looked around at all of us. “What’s this about? Is there some kind of problem?”
Lola and I looked at Luke and nodded our heads at him to continue. He looked at Bella. “We don’t think this Glynn and Nicholai are who they say they are.” He then launched into a short version of the whole story, and when he finished, he said, “So Glynn and Nicholai are actually Glenda Mathis and Nick Watson, my ex-wife and ex-business partner, and they are wanted by the U.S. government for stealing $13 million in Katrina funds.” He opened the folder to show her pictures of them he had pulled off the FBI website so she could confirm their identities.
At that, he leaned back in his seat. Bella was sitting there with a stunned look on her face, looking back and forth between the pictures. Finally, she looked up at us and said simply, “Holy shit.”
We all laughed and told her that was all of our reactions, too. She slowly shook her head. “You never think you’re going to be the one who sees someone who’s wanted by the cops. This is so weird.” She looked at Luke and snorted. “One thing for sure, you’ve certainly gotten better taste in women since then.” He nodded in agreement and Lola and I laughed. “What can I do to help?”
Lola took over. “Here’s the problem. We now know where they are, and Belize has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but as you know better than anyone, there’s no way to
proceed right now. There’s no courthouse, there’s no place we could even physically file extradition papers. On a good day, it’s a totally painful, bureaucratic process that takes forever, but after the hurricane, there’s no actual way to do it.”
Bella looked incensed. “Seriously? So you know exactly where these assholes are, but you can’t have them arrested and make them stand trial?”
We all laughed, and I said, “Yeah. We can’t believe it either.”
Lola leaned forward. “Bella, we’re also worried that the local authorities would tip them off, probably in exchange for a bribe, so they could disappear before they could be apprehended. What are your thoughts on that?”
Bella nodded emphatically. “Unfortunately, I totally agree. Tons of the local governments in Belize are corrupt, but it’s much worse now that everyone is in such dire straits. I’m afraid that it’s pretty likely they’d be tipped off.” She looked at us with a serious look on her face. “So, what do we have to do to get them arrested?”
Lola told her about her idea about getting them onto American soil. “Do you think that she’d leave Belize to go to Puerto Rico to receive an award and to host the benefit? Luke and I will front the money for the cost of the event and to start the pot for donations, and we’ll donate the money to your fund after this is all over.”
Bella was quiet, tapping her lip with her index finger as she thought. Finally, she nodded. “I think we can make this work. You know, this hurricane first hit Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, then it meandered around the Caribbean for a while gaining strength, and then it headed straight for Belize. I had already mentioned to the Belize organizers that some of the fundraising organizers in Puerto Rico and St. Croix had contacted me about combining some of our events, so maybe we can work with that.”
She thought about it for several moments, then she sat straight up with an excited look on her face. “I’ve got it. I’m supposed to go back to Belize in about three weeks to meet with a bunch of folks there to decide how to allocate the money we’ve already raised and to organize the next fundraiser. There’s a lady there who has put together a weekly newsletter for all the people involved with fundraising so we can all stay in touch. I’ll get her to put an item in the newsletter next week that says that we’re going to do a huge benefit with the people in St. Croix and Puerto Rico, and we’ll divide the proceeds between the three areas.” She was getting more animated. “I know the St. Croix and Puerto Rico people will be all over it, and since I’ve already talked to the Belize people about this being an option, it won’t be anything new. Trust me, I’ll make sure everyone knows it’ll be the event of the season. By the time I get to Belize, everyone there will have been talking about it for a couple of weeks and will be dying to be involved. There’s no way an attention whore like Glynn,” She looked at Luke apologetically. “Sorry, Glenda.”
He shook his head and grinned at her. “No, she’s Glynn as far as you know, so you’re fine.”
She smiled and continued. “…So there’s no way an attention whore like Glynn will be able to turn down an invitation to be one of the hosts of a function like that.”
We were all sitting there quietly, trying to figure out if we’d overlooked anything, but none of us could come up with a problem. Lola turned to Luke. “If we get them to Puerto Rico, will your FBI guy arrest them?”
Luke shrugged. “I’ll confirm it, but he said if they were on American soil he would arrest them, so I don’t see why not.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Please. If he can’t get off his lazy ass to make the world’s easiest arrest, he doesn’t deserve it. Look, worst case scenario, we’ll go talk to my dad. He was actually deputized by the FBI for some drug task force thing he was working on several years ago, so I know it’s possible, but I don’t know the details.” I laughed. “One way or another I’m sure he can get something done. Did y’all know the current U.S. Attorney General was his college roommate? Trust me on this, all it’ll take is a phone call and I’m sure we can get some kind of help if we need it.”
Luke grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me forward for a quick kiss. “Nothing quite as hot as a powerful woman.”
I batted my eyes at him, fanned myself with my hand, and told him with a syrupy accent, “Who, little ol’ me?” I patted his leg. “Hate to break it to you, sweet thing, but my dad is the powerful one. You owe him that kiss, not me. I was just sharing a little information.”
Luke smiled. “Look, I like your dad just fine, but I think he and I are going to keep things on a platonic level.”
Lola grinned and shook her head. “Hopefully, it won’t come down to you having to make out with Daisy’s dad. There’s no way Agent Prince won’t want to take care of this himself. His problem was the extradition issue, but we’re delivering them directly to his hot little hands and all it’ll cost him is some travel funds. I’m sure he wouldn’t want to miss this.”
The rest of the evening was very relaxed. Lola, Bella, and I made plans to go to lunch the following week and I told Bella we’d let her know the next time our entire group was getting together so she could meet everyone. Around ten, Bella stretched and yawned. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow so we can start the process of getting your exes exactly what they deserve.”
Everyone stood up and started moving toward the door. Luke leaned forward and kissed Bella on the cheek. “I’ll call Agent Prince in the morning.”
Bella smiled. “As soon as I hear from y’all, I’ll call the people in St. Croix and Puerto Rico to get the ball rolling.” She picked up her huge bag and slung it on her shoulder as Luke opened the door for her. “Thanks for the great dinner and the most interesting evening I’ve had in a long time.”
She waved and left, with Luke following her to walk her to her car. When he came back in we had refilled our drinks and we all settled onto the couch with Luke and Lola on the ends, me in the middle, and Lola with her legs propped over mine. Luke drained his glass of punch, then grabbed Lola’s ankle and shook it gently till she looked at him. “Lola, I want to thank you for your willingness to dive into a pretty screwed-up situation. I really appreciate you and all your help.”
Lola has never been comfortable with compliments. She rolled her eyes. “Oh please. This is a chance to screw over that skank Glenda for what I consider to be the ultimate sin…taking advantage of people after a disaster. There is a special place in hell for people like her, and if I can make her life a more shitty place to be, I don’t think it can get better than that.”
At that, she pulled her ankle loose, uncurled her long legs off the sofa cushion and stood up. She looked at me and winked, and then looked at Luke and said, “Plus, you’re in love with my best friend in the world, and I’d do anything for her, so now I’ll do anything for you, too.”
He didn’t even flinch, but I was sitting there with big eyes and my mouth hanging open. This is not the way I wanted this subject to come up. I was thinking over a nice dinner this weekend, or maybe after having him for dinner. I hadn’t decided yet.
Luke nodded and stood up in front of Lola, grabbed both her hands, and looked her in the eyes. “That’s true. So thanks for being such a good friend to both of us.” He pulled her in and hugged her tight. They broke apart, she kissed him on the cheek, bent over and kissed me on the top of my head and headed to the door, tossing a “good night” and a wave over her shoulder. Luke grabbed her stuff from the kitchen and followed her outside to make sure she got to her car okay. I just sat there. I was sure Luke loved me too, but this all was so matter of fact that it was kind of anticlimactic. Yeah, of course y’all are in love, whatever. Gotta go, see you later…
The door opened and Luke came back in, shut the door, and came to sit beside me. He smiled and looked at me, worried that I might be freaking out, and relieved to see I wasn’t. “You okay?”
I smiled back at him. “Fine as frog’s hair, big boy.” I scooted over closer to him and he pulled me onto his
lap so that I straddled him. I cupped his face in both hands and kissed him gently on the lips, then pulled back to look into his eyes. “So you love me, huh?”
He looked at me, unsmiling. “Yes I do.” He hugged me tightly and then pulled back so he could see my face. “What about you?”
I felt so happy and so free I answered with a smile and with no hesitation. “I love you too.” He started to smile as I continued. “I never wanted to have a relationship again after what happened with Bobby, but I didn’t figure on you.” I unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it wide open when I reached the bottom, all the while kissing his neck with nibbles and little sucking kisses. I pulled back and shrugged. “Honestly, I finally figured out I had been in love with you for a while before I really realized it. You were always so patient, you were kind, you didn’t crowd me, and you didn’t push before I was ready. We got to know each other and hung out as friends for months and I just enjoyed your company. It really hit me the other night, and all I could think is how lucky we are to have found each other.”
He laughed and kissed me until I felt like I was melting into the couch. He finally broke it off and leaned back against the couch with his hands clasped behind his head and a huge grin on his face. “This has been a hell of a day. You finally told me you love me and there’s a good chance that Glenda and Nick are going to prison. I can’t think of anything that could make this day any better.”
I smiled at him with a pitying look on my face. “Really? You can’t think of one thing that could make this day any better?” I looked up at the ceiling and pretended to think and tapped my finger on my pursed lips. “Hmmm. Not one, single thing? Bless your heart, let me help you out.” I grabbed his head with both hands and we kissed until both of us were out of breath and our hearts were pounding. I sat up, pulled my t-shirt and stretchy bra over my head and threw them over my shoulder.
He smiled as I slid off his lap, rubbing myself against his bare chest on the way down to the floor in front of him. I grabbed his knees and pulled so he’d scoot down lower on the sofa so I could reach the button on his shorts. Once I got him unbuttoned and unzipped, I peeked inside his opened shorts, grabbed him with one hand to give him a quick squeeze and stroke and, with the other hand, shook my finger in his face. “Shame on you, Luke Mathis. Not a lick of underwear, as usual. You’re such a bad boy.” I asked him to lift up and I pulled his shorts off and threw them behind me.