Deborah Brown - Madison Westin 07 - Kidnapped in Paradise (20 page)

“Carlotta will be staying for a few days. If any thuggish-looking men show up, hand her over. No one is to get hurt.” I pointed to Crum. “No complaining. Any problems, give me a call.”

I felt momentarily sorry for Carlotta and then recovered my senses.  “This place was completely renovated by my brother. He just got a favorable write-up in a big travel magazine. Whatever nefarious plans you
’
re cooking up cannot be done from here.”

“Come with me,” Crum held out his arm. “I’ll give you the grand tour. We have a hot tub,” he winked at her.

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” she whined.

“Boss Lady here says no naked swimming. I’ll give you one of my t-shirts.” He smiled at her, eyeing her like a delectable morsel.

“Here.” I gave Harlot back. “Cats aren’t allowed outside. Nothing good comes from that. One more thing. Harlot gets fixed as soon as the vet says it can be done.”

“We have to leave.” Creole put his arm around me and steered me back to the truck. “Both of you stay out of trouble,” he called back over his shoulder. “Bet you a dollar they do something horizontal.”

I squeezed my eyes closed. “If they do, I hope one of them doesn’t have a heart attack.”

“Do you ever say, ‘no
’
to these crazy-ass people?”
Creole laughed.

“Not often enough. I used to be worse but I
’
m getting better at it. I need a good twelve-step.” I nuzzled my face in his neck. “Let
’
s go to your house and have noisy sex.”
 

Chapter 23

The front door of Jake’
s was locked at this early hour. Though if it were open, I found myself thinking, I bet we
’
d draw the breakfast drinking crowd. I cut around the back through the kitchen. Creole dropped me off after I spent the night with him at his beach hideaway. Fab would be here any minute to pick me up. The coffee at Jake's wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a caramel latte either.

I waved to the cook and made my way to the bar where I knew I
’
d find a bowl of snack mix. It surprised me to see Phil, who was hours early for her shift.

“Hey Boss, I got a surprise for you,” she flashed a smirky smile.

I jumped at the banging on the front door.

“Stop that, Fabiana Merceau!” I yelled.

“What? You can see through solid doors now?”
Phil chuckled.

I shook my head. “Who else? And she's so early.” I jerked the keys off the top of the bar and unlocked the door.

“Took you long enough.” Fab pushed her way past me.

I grabbed the back of her shirt. “Do you mind waiting outside? Phil has a surprise for me.”

Phil laughed, leaning her elbows on the bar. She found the drama as amusing as I did.

Fab jerked away and slid onto a bar stool. “What surprise?” she growled. “Is the coffee made?” She slid over the top of the bar, trying to reach a mug.

Phil held her arms out as far as they would go. “So big, I couldn’t wrap it.”

“For all the hype, it better be good.” I eyed her skeptically. Surprises had a tendency to be overrated.

She wiggled her fingers for Fab and I to follow her down the hall, back in the direction of the kitchen. She stopped in front of the little-used office door. It was a small, windowless, cramped space. Phil took a key out of her pocket and unlocked a padlock that the door never had before.

“
Surprise,
” she said as she threw the door open.

I peered around and started to laugh when I saw my ex-husband stretched out on the couch.

“About time,” he grumbled. “What a stink hole this is. Do you know anyone who
’
s not crazy?” he asked me.

“This surprise sucks,” Fab said.

I raised my eyebrows at Phil.

“You said you wanted to talk to him––here he is. That
’
s another service I offer––dickhead locator.” Phil grinned.

“Where did you find him?” Fab asked.

“Down on the docks, working on old man Grimes
’s
boat. I told him he was wasting his time; the old goat didn’t
pay
,
” Phil told us.

“I
’m hungry,
”
Jax
said
.
“I can cook us up some breakfast.”

Fab and Phil disappeared back to the bar.

I held out my hand. “This office is too small for one person. I thought you
’
d call me,” I said to him. “Have you been okay?”

He hugged me. “Can we talk after food?”

“You cook, and I’ll set a table out on the deck,” I said. “The corner one is my office. Phil didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“I came pretty willingly after she offered a blow job. The next thing I knew, she had me in handcuffs and pushed me into her SUV. Thought she was a cop, asked what
’
s the crime? I didn’t offer any money. Then she told me her real agenda. I was pissed, but I had no choice except to go along.”

“Don’t run out the back door, or I’ll send Fab after you.” I raised my eyebrows; he had no idea that that was her area of expertise, manhandling reluctant people to do as they were told.

I filled up a cart with dishes, orange juice, coffee, and bottled water and wheeled it to the deck. I loved setting a table. If this breakfast had been planned, I
’
d have come up with table decorations. I switched on the lights that framed the railing and the overhead ceiling fans. The skies had darkened, and thunder could be heard in the distance.

Phil carried out a platter of fruit. Jax followed behind her with a large frying pan. He
’
d made my favorite — a frittata, similar to a pancake, baked with vegetables and cheese. He cut it like a pizza and served us before he sat down.

Jax lost his grumpy attitude and turned on the charm, pouring juice and coffee.

“
Why am I here?
” Jax asked as he slid into the chair next to me.

“
You won’t
answer your phone or return calls. How else were we supposed to chat?”

“Don’t
smile at me,
” Fab growled at Jax.

He laughed. “You
’
re hot until you open your mouth.”

Fab shoved her chair back.

“You sit down.” I pointed at Fab. “Try not to provoke her into shooting you,” I said to Jax. “Tell me why you really showed up in the Cove.”

“Seemed innocent enough at the time. I got a one-time gig to drive a moving truck across the country. A longtime friend, Jones Graw, was relocating to Colorado.”

Fab whipped out her phone. “Dickhead, tell us more about your friend, Jones Graw?” She waited until Jax took a bite of food before showing him the picture of the dead man.

Jax stared at the picture. It took a minute for him to realize that he was only looking at his dearly departed friend’s head. Jax's face drained of color and he looked away. “Who kills someone like that?”

“Any clue as to why Jones is missing his head. Or torso, however you want to look at it?” I asked.

“Turns out there was more than old furniture being transported. Once I got clued in, I upped my price. My sweet little money-making opportunity blew up in my face when Jones disappeared.”

“I
’
m going to make a leap and assume you were moving something illegal,” I said.

“
Weed’
s legal now.”

“Not in this state it isn’t,” I huffed in exasperation. “Any other players?” I asked.

He fidgeted in his seat, staring out at the water.

Fab, ready to beat him, stayed seated and glared.

“Rod Tanner. I haven’t
seen
him
since
right
after
I
heard
about
Jones
being
dead
.
” Jax looked rattled. “Graw told me all arrangements were made through Rod.”

Phil scribbled the man
’
s name on the back of a napkin.

“Any idea of the current location for this other guy?” Fab asked.

“Aren’t you the slightest bit worried that one of your business partners is dead? Is someone looking for you next? If so, hanging around here won’t prolong your life.”

“I
’
m not going back to South Carolina until this is over. I don’t want to bring trouble home to my family,” Jax said, lost in thought. “I need a new plan.”

The questioning came to a halt as a relentless banging on the front door started. It could be heard even over the pouring rain that had just begun to beat on the roof. It wasn’t Fab, as she sat across from me... so this couldn’t be good.

“
Open up!
” a man
’
s voice yelled.

Phil flew behind the bar, grabbing up the Mossberg shotgun. Fab and I drew our guns.

“Do you know how to use that?” Jax raised his eyebrows.

“We
’
re closed,” Phil called, racking the rifle.

“We
don’t want any trouble. We
’
re looking for Jax Devereaux,” the man said.

“No one here by that name,” Phil yelled back.

I pulled Jax over to the stairs.

“At the bottom, make a right. It lets out on the beach. Keep in touch. You can send a message through Mac at The Cottages.”

He kissed my cheek and murmured his thanks.

Half way down the stairs, he hurled himself over the banister, jumping to the deck before he took off running.

The banging stopped. Complete silence from the other side of the door. The three of us stared at one another.

“You two lay low.” Phil picked up the phone and reported an attempted break-in.

“I’ll sneak around the front, see what
’
s going on,” Fab said. “We could go out and hide in my office until it
’
s all clear.”

“Nice lighthouse,”
Phil nodded.
“Stolen?”

“Why do people keep asking that?”
Fab huffed.
“It
’
s not like you can stuff it in your pocket.”

Phil and I laughed.

Chapter 24

Fab and I tried to sneak across the parking lot. We had almost made it, when Crum and Carlotta came around the back of the lighthouse, arm in arm.

I did a double-take. Fab made a retching noise. Watching the two of them walk toward us sent a little shiver through me. They looked normal enough, but anyone who knew them would be scared. Crum had dressed up today in a pair of boxer shorts. Maybe Carlotta would be a good influence. If I had to put money on it, I would have bet heavily that she wouldn’t be seen dead with him if she weren’t desperate. Made me wonder what she was up to.

“
Good morning,
” Crum said, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Do you suppose they
’
re banging?” Fab whispered.