Once a Marine (14 page)

He pulled his car into the first empty slot under the canopy at the side of his building. “Sit right there.” He winked, hopped out of the driver’s door, and rounded the black Mercedes.

Opening her door, he extended a hand. “Ma’am, would you care to accompany me inside?”

BD returned his grin and stepped out. She squealed with surprise when he lifted her off her feet and swung her around like a small child. He was so happy to have her in his arms again that his playful nature couldn’t be contained.

“Put me down.” She tightened her hands against his cheeks and planted a quick kiss on his laughing mouth. “Before you break me, please?”

He set her on her feet. “Don’t want to do that, sunshine. I’m barely getting started with you tonight.” He pushed the door lock on his key ring, took her hand, and tugged her toward the building entrance. “Come on.”

She laughed. “I am coming. Slow down.”

He unlocked his door, switched on the lights and motioned for her to go in. She walked slowly, gazing from side to side as she entered his small living room. He locked the door and followed her.

“Would you, by any chance, have some brandy?” She tilted her head with the question, as she ran her fingers over the spines of books on his shelves, which filled an entire wall. She bent closer and studied some of the titles. “You’ve got all these arranged in alphabetical order by author? When will you ever find time to read all these books?”

Rafi chuckled as he pulled two snifters from a small mini-bar shelf and twisted the cap off a bottle of Hennessy Black. “I’ve already read them.” He poured a small dollop into each snifter, turned, and handed one to her.

“You have not.” She twisted her face with skepticism and reached for the glass.

He clinked his drink against hers. “’Fraid so.”

“You’ve read all these books?” She scanned the shelves. “They’re all nonfiction, military histories, guns, geography, politics, aviation, and technical periodicals. Don’t you ever read for pure pleasure? Fiction?”

He took a sip and winked. “This is for pure pleasure, but what makes you think I don’t read fiction?”

She stepped to the end of the shelf, craning her neck, bending low, studying titles. “Well for one thing, I don’t see any.”

He took her hand and tugged her. “Come into the bedroom.”

She resisted. “I haven’t finished my drink. I want to talk to you first, I, uh…” Nevertheless, she followed him.

He snapped on the light and gestured at the far wall.

She stood still for a moment then crossed the room and scanned the two long bookshelves, studying titles. She turned and gave him a sidewise smile. “Well, I must admit, there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, Marine.”

He took her glass, set it on a shelf and pulled her into his arms. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

BD pushed against his chest, dodged his kiss. “No. Wait. I wanted to talk about—” He smothered her words with an open-mouth kiss. He smiled inwardly as her resistance faded, and she relaxed in his embrace.

“Dammit, Rafi, I wanted to—”

“You’re my girl. I know what you want.”

Chapter Eleven

BD listened to Shari with amused patience.

“It’s not bad enough that I’m terrified of escalators. After giving up on the elevator, I walked down one flight of stairs on the way to the baggage claim, nearly pulling my elbow out of the socket with this damn bag, worked up my nerve and stepped on the escalator on the next level. I stood right behind a big family with lots of bags, a stroller and two kids, so I figured what could go wrong, right?”

BD shrugged, shook her head, and pointed to the left.

“Well, we got to the bottom and the kid in front of the stroller decides not to get off. I could see it coming. My heart was in my throat. My bag bumped into his father, who yelled, ‘Get off, get off!’ I bumped into my bag, the guy behind me bumped into me, and the next thing I knew I fell flat on my face with a big guy on top of me. It’s fate.”

She shook her head and blew out a disgusted sigh. “Every time I get brave enough to try again, something happens. Look at the back of my shoe. Stripped the leather right off the heel.” Shari grimaced and pulled her hair, dramatizing her experience.

BD suppressed a smile. “Other than that, how was your trip?” She took Shari’s cosmetic bag.

Shari laughed. “Not bad. I sound like I drank a gallon of coffee, don’t I?”

“Or a gallon of something else.”

“God no! I haven’t had as much as a glass of wine in over a week. My stomach is a mess.”

Waiting at curbside, Karl held open the back door of the limo. He touched the bill of his cap. “Welcome back, miss. Home or your office?”

Shari smiled. “Hello, Karl, nice to see you. Home please.”

BD slipped into the seat next to Shari. Her cell phone buzzed and she fumbled in her purse to retrieve it. “Hello? Tonight? I’m not sure.”

Shari watched her with a sly smile.

“I can’t talk now. I’ll call you in an hour or so. Shari just got here and we need to catch up. OK, you call me then. Bye.”

“So what did Cruz have to say for himself?”

BD slipped her BlackBerry into her purse. “It’s complicated, but to make it short, when he got out of the Marines he signed up with a security company. He works as a bodyguard now and then when they need him.”

“Well, he’s certainly equipped for it.”

“It’s dangerous sometimes, but he said the money’s good. He’s fattening his bank account while he can.”

“So for all you know, whenever he disappears for days or weeks, he’s carrying a gun and dodging bullets. Nice.”

BD rested her head on the back of the soft leather seat. She hadn’t been completely satisfied with Rafi’s terse explanation, but at least it clarified some of his long silences. He told her he couldn’t be specific about most of the work. When in the field he had to maintain confidentiality about who he worked for and the location.

There had to be more to it, she was sure, but they hadn’t talked when they got to his place last night. This morning she was pressed for time to get home, change clothes, and check in at the office before she left to meet Shari’s flight.

“His partner, Joe, does the same work. Rafi said the UN job last week was Joe’s swan song. His wife’s pregnant, and she insisted he quit.”

Shari nodded, her lips in a straight line. “Makes sense.”

“Rafi wants to see me tonight. He’s got a charter to Anchorage tomorrow. He’ll be gone several days.”

Shari shrugged. “At least he’s not hanging around your door so much that you’re bored with him.”

BD thought she might prefer boredom to worrying about him when he was off the radar. “He’s anything but boring. Compared to Nick, who yapped at my heels constantly, Rafi’s a man of few words. I practically have to shake information out of him. Taciturn—that’s what he is.”

By the time they reached Shari’s house on Los Feliz, she’d brought BD up to speed on the behind-the-scenes perfidy of Norah and Judd. They’d deliberately rushed the printing of the spring catalog, claiming that the inclusion of material from Haven would put them past their deadline. Grayson customers were accustomed to receiving the winter catalog by the end of July.

Instead of including the Haven designs in the back of the traditional Grayson catalog, as agreed, they’d enclosed a tacky flyer announcing the acquisition of Haven, with a toll free number for customers who wished to request the Haven catalog. The website address was also provided for online access.

BD could see that Shari was beside herself with fury at their betrayal. She hoped Shari’s father, her only ally on the board, wasn’t involved. If he went along with Norah, she didn’t know what Shari could do.

BD had an uneasy feeling about the way things were developing. She and Shari had been so high after their success in New York that this turn of events was a disappointment. “Shari, where do I stand in all this?”

“Your position is secure. I think it’ll cool things off with my parents when you replace me in New York for a few weeks. Mother is still seething over the terms of my contract with you. I’m the only person in the company you answer to. That really gets on her nerves. She’s used to having authority over all employees.”

“My position is secure, but I have to leave town? That doesn’t give me much confidence.”

“Oh, quit worrying. You work for me and only me. I think it’s best if you’re out of the picture for a while. Mother has the idea that you’ve led me astray. I have to show them that I have a mind of my own. I’m sure that’ll give me more clout.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Trust me, I am. By the end of summer I’ll be on a better footing. Mother will have calmed down, and we can all get back to doing what we do best.”

What was it about the phrase “Trust me” that caused it to have the opposite effect of its intention? Shari had said “Don’t worry” and “Trust me” in practically the same breath.

* * *

Unable to shake the feeling of uncertainty that nagged endlessly in the back of her mind, BD packed her suitcases for the move to the New York apartment, prepared to take the reins of Haven for Shari.

Rafi had been incommunicado for over a week, but he’d warned her not to expect to hear from him. The more she thought about it, the more she questioned why he couldn’t stay in touch with her if he was flying a straightforward charter. If she was
his girl,
was it too much to expect that he’d call once a week so she wouldn’t worry? Was she
his girl
only when he was in LA?

She decided to get in touch with Joe’s wife. Perhaps Jill would be able to put her at ease. The Broskys had known Rafi for many years, and Joe was either his business partner or an employee. BD didn’t even know that much about their association. Even after answers from Rafi, she knew far too little.

Happy to hear from her, Jill agreed to meet BD for lunch that same afternoon, especially after BD explained that she would be leaving LA for an extended period the next day. They met at a deli located halfway between their homes. Jill smiled and waved from a table next to the window when BD entered.

“Is this table OK?” She asked when BD sat across from her.

“It’s fine. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting. I remember you said that you’re scheduled to work the dinner shift at Typhoon tonight.”

“I’ve been here less than five minutes. And don’t worry, I have hours before work. Joe’s off with Rafi so I’m rattling around in the apartment with time on my hands.”

BD held up her menu. “Are you familiar with this place? We’ve been coming here since we were kids. My brother Jack always orders the cheese blintzes. He loves them, and we can’t get him to try anything else.”

“Oh, I love cheese blintzes. Maybe I’ll have just one. I’m trying to watch my diet so I don’t put on too much baby weight early on. Now that I’m past the barfing stage all I want to do is eat.” Jill laughed and glanced down at her midsection.

“How far along are you?”

“Four months.”

“You sure don’t look like it. My sister-in-law, Kelly, started popping out from day one. She’s got a two-year-old. He’s a wee dynamo. I’ve been sharing a bedroom with him while looking for my own place.”

Jill’s raised her eyebrows, eyes dancing with amusement. “Sounds like you don’t get much sleep or privacy. The terrible twos, wow.”

“Once Chase is asleep at night I don’t hear a peep until the next morning. But I have to admit I don’t need an alarm clock any more. I’ve almost forgotten what privacy is since I’ve been crashing with my brother’s family. Jack and Kelly are much more in need of privacy than I am.” BD chuckled.

“So they have a small place?”

“Yes. Jack’s a real miser. They’re saving every penny toward building their own home. They already have a very nice residential lot in Santa Monica bought and paid for.”

Jill nodded when the waitress appeared with cups and a thermal pot of coffee. “Yes, please. Are you having coffee, BD?”

The waitress filled their cups, took their order, and left them alone.

“This smells heavenly.” BD sniffed her cup. The deli was filling to capacity with customers and with a noticeable increase in the chatter level. She cocked her head and smiled at Jill.

“What?”

“You and Joe are both tall, blond, and blue-eyed. You look more like brother and sister than Jack and I do.”

Jill chuckled. “Yes, we get teased about that. If Josephine, or Joe, isn’t blond and blue-eyed I’m in big trouble.”

They exchanged amused nods. “So, what about your place? Do you have room for a family?”

“Joe and I were going to buy a place, but decided to wait another year or so.” Jill tore open a packet of sugar and poured it into her coffee. “We’ve saved quite a bit in the past seven years. I told him I could wait for a house. There’ll be less money coming in now that he’s not going to do the dangerous stuff anymore. And Joe wants to buy a bigger share of Cruz Aero than he owns now.”

BD perked up her ears at Jill’s remark. “Dangerous stuff? You mean like being a bodyguard?”

“Oh, no, he can keep doing that. And he can choose which jobs he wants and which ones he doesn’t.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes, in fact he and Rafi turned down a bodyguard job they didn’t want to touch just before they got the charter last week.”

“Why didn’t they want it?”

“You know who Melvin Ashford is?”

BD wrinkled her brow. “The name is familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“He’s that notorious abortion doctor from Alabama…the guy who somebody tried to kill recently. They bombed his clinic and fired shots through the windows of his home. He needs twenty-four-hour protection.”

“Wow. I can see why they didn’t want that job.”

Jill chuckled. “Yes, well, that wasn’t the reason they didn’t take it. Rafi and Joe both consider the guy no better than a serial killer. Rafi said he’d be more tempted to shoot Ashford himself than protect him.” She grinned and sipped her coffee.

BD had a chill in her chest. “Serial killer? That’s kind of harsh.”

Jill shrugged. “What can I say? Joe and Rafi were both raised in Catholic families. As far as they’re concerned, abortion is murder, and they won’t put their lives on the line to protect a murderer.”