Spoon glared at the side of my face. “Cops catch the person?”
“They’ve identified her, and now it’s a matter of picking her up.” I made it sound imminent. “Fab was the star of the day. She came to my rescue.” I smiled at her.
“If I’d been a bit faster, the old hag would be in custody.” Fab grinned at Mother’s head shake. “Mila’s not listening; she’s reading.” She ran her hand over the little girl’s head where she was lying against Fab’s chest, staring intently at the pages of the book, talking out loud.
“Next time, call your mother,” Spoon said. “She shouldn’t have to hear second-hand or be the last to know. You know she’s good in a crisis.”
“Honey.” Mother made a cooing noise.
Fab arched her brow.
“You’ll be happy to know that I’ve been maintaining a low profile.” And now to change the subject. “I know it’s shifty, snatching Mila for a playdate, but we had a fun time.”
“I’m afraid to ask where you took her,” Mother said.
The arrival of the guys saved me from having to answer. It couldn’t have been timed better. I didn’t want to lie or confess that we’d been home the whole time.
Creole bent down and kissed my cheek. “I can’t believe what you did to your poor brother,” he whispered.
What? I squinted at him. “Yeah, poor Brad.”
Creole nudged me over and sat down beside me in the over-sized chair.
Didier kissed Fab, then picked Mila up and swung her around. “Brad’s on his way over with a mountain of pizza boxes. He promised everyone’s favorites.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
The next afternoon, Fab and I were sitting at the island in her massive kitchen, drinking iced tea, when my phone rang. Fab grabbed it out from under my hand and frowned, handing it to me.
I smiled at Creole’s face on the screen and answered. It didn’t go on speaker, since neither of our husbands would agree to that.
“Harder’s in town and has invited us to dinner,” Creole said when I answered. “He suggested Jake’s, saying that he’d already asked Henry if he’d make something special.”
“The only people I know who’re on a first-name basis with Cook are Mila—who’s four years old—and now Harder.”
Creole laughed. “Is that a yes?”
“Wonder what’s up? This is a first, Harder inviting us anywhere.”
“I’m on my way home.”
“Dinner with Harder?” Fab said when I set down the phone. “Where’s my and Didier’s invitation? He must want something. You better hope he’s not cashing in all the favors you owe at once, because it would be a doozy.”
Harder would never ask me do anything illegal, so that wasn’t a worry. “Have you forgotten that you don’t like the man? Besides, you don’t have to get invited to everything.”
“Yes, I do,” Fab huffed. “You know how I hate second-hand information.”
“I’ll secretly record the dinner conversation. Happy now?”
“You’ll end up in jail, and me too after you say it was my idea.”
“Refresher: the rule is one of us has stay out of lockup to arrange bail. I won’t be able to count on Creole, since he’ll be mad that I did such a thing.”
“At least you won’t have to dress up.” She eyed my jean skirt and t-shirt top. Her changing the subject should have had me wondering what she was planning.
I stood up and twirled. “I’m going home and changing into tropical cute.” I reached for my keys. “Mom, do I have permission to drive my car?”
“Don’t be out late.”
* * *
Creole picked me up, and on the way to Jake’s, I called and instructed Kelpie to clear the deck.
“No worries, Bossaroo; no one likes to sit out there anyway.” I had a vision of her dancing around as she talked, entertaining the customers. “You can’t hear squat, meaning the music, and if any fun breaks out, ya miss all the action.”
“Our guest is the Chief of Police. Do you think you can lasso your regulars into some good behavior?” It was a simple request that I shouldn’t have had to make, but nothing was ever a sure thing where the bar was concerned.
“Yeehaw.”
I jerked the phone away from my ear. When she was done with the sound effects, I said, “Remind Cook we’re on our way; he’s making something special.”
“Today’s special is goat burgers. Will that be okay?”
Dead silence. “You’re fired. Since I’m certain it was your idea.”
“You’re so easy to prank.” Kelpie laughed. “No worries, I’ve got it all under control.”
We hung up.
Creole grinned. “It’s hard not to like her; nothing ever gets to her.” He pulled into the parking lot and honked at Harder, who’d just gotten out of his car.
“That was good timing. I hope he doesn’t keep us in suspense about the reason for the invite.”
We got out and met halfway to the door.
“You look good, considering all the drama.” Harder kissed my cheek.
We walked inside and stopped at the bar, placing our drink order, then headed out to the deck. Harder smirked at the “Keep Out” sign on the knob.
I was happy to see that the area had been spit shined and the table set. The overhead fans whirled, and I flicked on the lights that ran around the railing.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Harder said.
The door opened, and Kelpie came out, tray in hand. She served Harder, bending and giving him an unobstructed view to her navel. With a smirk, Creole nudged me under the table. Enjoying the view, Harder winked at Kelpie. Bold as brass, she winked back and added a kissy noise. She set Creole’s and my drinks down with barely a glance and left.
“I bet good employees are hard to find,” Harder said, smiling at the door.
“I could write a book.”
The guys laughed.
Harder toasted: “To good friends.”
The three of us looked up as the door opened again. Fab and Didier crossed the threshold, drinks in hand.
Fab slid into a seat next to me. “I hope we’re not late.”
Didier nodded and sat down.
“You weren’t invited,” Harder snapped.
“We weren’t?” Didier turned to Fab.
“I’m certain our invitation was overlooked.” Fab put on a good innocent act. I wanted to clap.
“It wasn’t.” Harder shook his head.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
“We’re leaving.” Didier stood.
“No, we’re not.” Fab tugged on his arm and, at the same time, glared at Harder. “You’d never be this rude to Madeline, and she does stuff like this all the time. You either don’t know or have forgotten that Madison and I share everything—well, almost—and second-hand news is tiresome.”
Wait until Mother hears about this. She’s going to be impressed.
“Harder’s requested something special from the kitchen,” I said inanely to interrupt the glare-down. I smiled covertly at Didier, who responded with a slight shake of his head.
“Sounds good,” Creole said. “How about another toast? To friends, wasn’t it?” He tipped his beer bottle.
“I’m about to propose something. Just know that you can say no.” Harder’s gaze turned to me. “There’s no obligation, and I want that understood up front.”
Creole’s hand covered mine. “What’s up?”
“I’d like to use Madison as a decoy to flush out Addy.”
“Absolutely not.” Fab slapped her hand on the table. “You’re an ass for suggesting such a thing. That woman’s crazy.”
I smiled weakly, agreeing…except about the ass part. I chugged down my margarita. Setting the glass down, I said, “Show of hands—who wants a refill?”
All hands shot up.
I took my phone out of my pocket and called inside, placing the order.
“I’m not comfortable with my wife being bait,” Creo
le ground out. “I want this woman caught as much as you do, but I’m thinking you need to come up with Plan B.”
Fab started to say something.
Didier cut her off. “Since I’m certain that my wife was about to volunteer, the answer is no to that also.”
“I confess that what you’re suggesting scares me to the tips of my toes.” I played with the stem of my glass, wishing it were full.
“N. O.” Fab barked. “Decoy? Really? Why the urgency?”
“We have it on good authority that she and her spawn are murderers. The family that murders together… We’ve got one of the sons in custody, but there are two more on the loose, plus Addy. We’d like to get them locked up before another body turns up.”
The door opened and Kelpie danced in, setting down the drinks and giving an off-balance curtsy and a wink to Harder before backing into the main bar area.
“How would you keep me safe?” I downed half my glass.
“We would put a tracking device on you, mic you up, and there would be eyes on you at all times.”
“Put a red wig on me, and I’ll do it,” Fab volunteered.
“No way,” Didier said gruffly.
“Addy would notice in a second,” I said. “Apparently, I’m the tastier of the two of us.”
Fab and I grimaced.
“She said that?” Harder asked. “I don’t want to think about what that might mean.”
“Then what?” I asked. “Go out to Card Sound for another crawl through the mangroves?”
“You’d go shopping, hang out around town being very visible. We’d have undercover officers watching your every move in hopes of flushing Addy out.”
“Since we don’t know if her attempt to kidnap me was a fluke, who knows when or if she’ll try it again. She did seem to be enjoying herself, which was unnerving.”
“She was too prepared,” Fab said. “Remember the girl from a week ago? Who knows where she’d have ended up if we hadn’t intervened.”
“Madison and I need to talk about this,” Creole said. “I’m telling you now that if, and it’s a big if, it happens, then I’ll be part of the team.”
“I also want to be on that team.” Fab raised her hand.
Didier sighed. “I’ll do whatever you ask of me.”
“None of you are going to be on the team. The department has professionals that know how to do their job so no one gets hurt. The three of you will stay out of it,” Harder admonished.
The door opened, and one of Cook’s assistants rolled a cart through, set two enormous platters—an assortment of house favorites—in the middle of the table, and put plates in front of us.
“How about we table the discussion until after we eat?” I suggested. The last thing on my mind was food, and the thought of eating made me queasy. I attempted a smile.
Fab turned in her seat and cracked open the door. After a minute, she waved frantically and held up her fingers, then closed the door. She’d re-ordered our drinks in sign language that I’d yet to learn.
“It looks yum,” Fab said. “You order this all on your own?” she asked Harder in a tone that suggested he wouldn’t know how.
“You’re annoying. But I’m certain you know that,” Harder grumped.
Didier kissed the top of her head.
I picked at my food and ran it around the plate, recreating a car chase. The conversation went on around me, and I barely listened, hoping there wouldn’t be a quiz later. How could I not say yes, even though it was just about the last thing I wanted to commit to? But the very last thing I wanted was for another dead body to turn up when I could’ve stopped it from happening.
“I’ll do it,” I blurted.
Creole rested his head against mine and sighed. “We should talk about this.”
“Are we going to change our minds?” I whispered.
He kissed my cheek and pulled me closer. “We’ll get back to you tomorrow,” he told Harder.
“I knew that would be your answer.” Fab sniffed. “I still vote for me donning a wig and borrowing some of your clothes.”
“And a pair of flip-flops.” I winked.
“You and Creole talk it over and, if you have any questions, call me and we can meet again to discuss the details,” Harder offered.
It was a first that I had no interest in taking home leftovers. Fab took charge and had everything boxed. And was bold enough to bring an abrupt end to the evening. “We have a lot to think about.”
I was grateful, having given up on the idea of sneaking out and down to the beach. At some point, I’d have had to cut back to the highway so Creole could find me and take me home.
Harder said he’d be in touch, then headed straight to the bar and took care of the check. Judging by Kelpie’s grin, he’d left her a good tip. To my surprise, he then cut down the hall to the kitchen.
Kelpie flagged me over.
“Copper’s cute,” she gushed. “The nice thing is, he doesn’t know it, or if he does, he’s not all full of himself.”
“You were outrageous tonight,” I admonished.
“I told him I’d been really, really bad and he might want to arrest me.” Kelpie crossed her wrists.
“You did not.”
“He grinned, but seemed speechless. Before he cut out the back, he said he’d see me soon.” Kelpie preened.
Creole came up, put his arms around me, and said to Kelpie, “If Harder starts coming in on a regular basis, you’ll have to stop with the machinations you’re always planning.”
“You act like we’d ever consider doing anything illegal.” Kelpie sniffed and turned away, but not before I saw her smirk.
“Kelpie girl,” a customer yelled. “Shake it down here and bring a beer with you.”
“Hold your water,” Kelpie yelled back and sidled down the bar.
Creole walked me outside, where we joined the rest of the party in the driveway.
Harder joined us and wrapped me in a hug. “Just remember that ‘hell no’ is an acceptable answer.”
“I don’t see any way that it won’t be a yes, considering that no one wants another murder,” I said. “We’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Don’t be surprised if you wake up cuffed to Creole and he’s lost the key,” Harder joked.
“I pulled that trick on Fab, and she wasn’t happy, to say the least.”
“Did someone happen to get video?” Harder asked.
“The person that shoots the videos and takes the pictures was otherwise occupied.” Didier hugged Fab to his side.
Fab pulled me away and enveloped me in a hug. “We’re going to talk tomorrow,” she whispered in my ear. “No way are you doing this by yourself, no matter what anyone says.”
“You’re the best,” I whispered back.
We said our good-byes, got in the SUV, and followed Fab’s Porsche home.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Stakeouts are boring, but then, I suppose anyone who’s ever done one knows that, and grumbling to oneself doesn’t help the time go by any faster. This was my third day hanging out around town, checking out all the businesses. Window shopping, checking over my shoulder in the glass, moving from one store to another. Today, I’d hit the grocery store. It was the lure of the coffee bar and outside tables, where I could sit and keep my eyes peeled from under my lashes for a familiar face. I spent my time playing solitaire on my phone, losing almost every hand.
The detective on the case had had his tech guy fit me with a small, round earpiece that picked up and transmitted sound and also doubled as a GPS.
“Testing,” I mumbled, knowing that the two-way piece was meant to allow me to take direction from one of the officers, not to engage in small talk.
The guy on the other end chuckled. “Hang in there; you’re doing great.”
“Hmm…” I said, not wanting to attract attention by talking to myself, although enough people did it these days.
When I’d met with Harder and a couple of the detectives on the Addy Cle
gg case, I’d been assured that I wouldn’t be leaving the area. Once Addy was spotted, she’d be arrested. That’s if she doesn’t get away, I’d thought but didn’t voice. Creole had suggested to Harder that they use a female undercover officer, but to our surprise, they already had. Harder hadn’t mentioned it to avoid pressuring me. They’d chosen a woman similar in stature, who’d been certain that she’d spotted Addy and tipped off the investigators, but the woman in question had disappeared. It was the consensus that Addy had gotten a good look at the detective, known she wasn’t her prey, and left.
Creole, who had a lot of patience for “hurry up and wait” from his days as a cop, had demanded to be part of the team, and Harder okayed it with several stipulations. Creole was sitting under a tree in an innocuous white van parked on the far side of the lot, a couple of branches blocking it from view unless you walked over to that area.
Never one to take no for an answer, Fab didn’t in this case either, even after Harder told her to stay out of it. She’d been upfront with Creole and told him that she planned her own watch on me with the help of her backup, Didier. She had a few tricks up her sleeve that she hadn’t shared until she sprang them on me.
She’d gone shopping and came to the house, upending the contents of a bag on the bed. Out tumbled a long-sleeve t-shirt, crop sweats, and tennis shoes. “You need to be comfortable. When this is all over, you can throw them in the trash.”
My favorite comfort-wear. She knew me so well.
Gunz had come through with some high-tech devices from an unnamed friend. Fab was excited to try them out, but wished the circumstances were different. She’d outfitted me with an earpiece almost identical to the law enforcement one, which she put it in my other ear. She reminded me not to answer when she spoke to me, as the cops, and more importantly Harder, would then know she’d ignored his order. She also produced two small square GPS units and a sewing kit, and we sat on the couch and sewed one into my sports bra and the other into the pocket of my sweatpants.
“Just in case,” Fab said. “We’re a team, and we always have each other’s back.” She leveled a stare at me, and I nodded and hugged her. “I don’t want to forget.” She hung a medallion necklace around my neck, which I knew to be a camera. “A well-dressed woman needs her accessories.”
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