Starfish Island (16 page)

Nicole knew she should’ve called the police last night; instead, she’d gotten caught up in the drama. Would Nancy Drew have called the police? Drew was her favorite heroine growing up. “If we did, Chester should call the police. I’d better speak to him about it.”

“Don’t do that!” The frightened woman started wringing her hands. “Please don’t say anything. Mr. Grey is in an awful mood. His face still hurts from his accident, and Mrs. Grey is sick; she’s staying in her room today. You can barely talk to the man. He’ll fire me for sure if he finds out I told.”

“You’re not going anywhere. You can’t be fired without my permission, and I like you,” Nicole reassured her. Soon, she’d be rid of the Greys and keep Ava.

“Thank you, but don’t you see? Even if I could stay, he’d take it out on me every chance he got. I know what he’s like.”

“I won’t say anything for now,” Nicole promised.

She excused herself and ran down the stairs, coming face to face with Chester. His bruise was still prominent, the scratch crusty and red; both looked painful. His manner was stiff, more controlled than ever, and she decided it must be the effect of his swollen cheek.

“Telephone call for you, Miss Alexander.”

Nicole took a quick breath and swallowed a laugh as she looked at him, glad she managed to control it. “Who’s calling?”

“She refused to give her name.” Chester couldn’t conceal his outrage at the indignity.

Nicole went to the house phone in the library and lifted the receiver. “Yes?”

“This is Lily from the café.” Before Nicole could say anything, she added quickly, “Don’t mention my name. Hold on a moment.”

A male voice came on the line. “Don’t mention my name either,” Michael said, laughing. “Can you come to the restaurant, where we can talk privately? Do you mind?”

“That would be fine,” Nicole said.

“I realize it’s inconvenient for you, but discretion is important.”

“I’m leaving now,” she said.

“Did I tell you that I missed you?”

“Me too.”

As she hung up, she caught a glimpse of Chester hovering outside the library door. He’d obviously been listening to every word. Let him make something out of
that
conversation. She smiled to herself.

“Chester, I have some errands to run,” she told him. “I won’t be back for lunch.”

He nodded and opened the front door. “I hope it wasn’t bad news.”

“Not at all, thank you for asking.” She breezed past him, not giving in to his curiosity. “I’m sorry to hear Rena is not her usual self today.”

He stiffened. “All she needs is a day’s rest and she’ll be fine. Don’t worry, I can see to anything that needs attention.”

Nicole backed out of the driveway and slowed for the curve, thinking about the first time she came this way; it had been her first meeting with Michael, and he’d scolded her, frightened for her safety.

If she’d known all the drama that would unfold, she wasn’t sure she would’ve had the courage to enter the house that first time; she might have turned and run. Her chin went up.
I’m not running now. 

She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Michael until she heard his voice over the phone, and she hoped that first on his agenda was another mind-numbing kiss.

The restaurant had fewer than a handful of patrons and was clearly in the midst of recovering from the breakfast rush. As Nicole entered, Lily came in from the back and smiled at her. Beckoning her forward, she motioned Nicole toward the kitchen. “He’s on the phone in the office,” she whispered. 

“Do you know what Michael wants to tell me?” Nicole asked.

Lily’s smile did nothing but heighten her curiosity. “Michael should be the one to tell you.” She smiled fondly. “Feels like old times; the brothers have held a clandestine meeting or two here in the past.”

The office turned out to be a small, windowless room in the middle of the kitchen. When Nicole entered, Michael stood up and walked out from behind the desk. Shoving the door closed, he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since the last time I saw you.”

He covered her mouth with the warmth of his lips, and she felt the full force of his desire. His tongue stroked an unhurried path through her mouth as his fingers dug into her hair. He pulled down, forcing her back to arch. His hands swept waves of heat over her body, causing her to sigh in pleasure.      

He scooped her up in his arms and walked back to the desk. Sitting down in the chair, he deposited her on his lap.

“I have something important to talk over with you. After…” He gazed at her mouth; then his tongue slid over her lips, barely tracing, teasing until they parted slightly. She moaned into his mouth.

Michael pulled back slowly, keeping his eyes on Nicole’s. “Ran into Sadler this morning while I was with a business associate. He introduced us to two women interested in buying your rentals in Tampa. Since I’m executor, he has to keep me informed about what he’s doing in regards to the estate. He needs my signature for every deal.”

“If they’re the same ones, I met those women at the club the night you tossed Greg over the railing. Ellis told me he had a couple of other interested buyers.”

“What else do you know about them?”

“I let Ellis handle everything. He said it was a project he and Grandmother had started. Why?” she asked.

“My friend remembered the women. She saw their mug shots splashed across the front page of the Herald. They were arrested on charges brought against them in a local land-fraud scheme. Apparently, they bought quite a lot of property on a no-money-down scheme and falsified records, setting up a system where they controlled every step of the process. They would buy and resell the properties using straw buyers—people who acted as buyers and applied for loans to purchase the properties. As soon as they obtained the mortgage and title, they sold the property to another straw buyer, keeping the money. In most cases, no one made any payments.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she gasped. “That’s impossible.”

“Afraid not,” he said, shaking his head.

“Is there any chance you could be wrong about this? And why would they be here?”

“I wish I were. As for why they’re here, that I don’t know.”

Angry spots of color burned on her cheeks. “Michael, what should I do? Ellis only met the women at the club, and they came with Greg.”

The last bit of news surprised him. “Have you signed the final papers?”

She shook her head.

“Good, don’t. You don’t have anything to worry about. We’re very lucky to have stopped this in time.” He brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be digging and hopefully come up with some more information. Keep all of this to yourself. Most importantly, don’t tell Sadler.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I appreciate your telling me.”

“I’m keeping my eye out for my favorite neighbor.” He laughed. “I want you to come to me and let me help you with any problems that come up. After all, I know all the players.”

Michael’s phone rang, and he answered it. By the tenor of his side of the conversation, she knew he’d be leaving, on his way to put out another fire from the sound of it. Finally, he hung up and turned to her with a rueful expression.

“I know.” She put her finger on his lips. “I’ll take care of Ellis, and you take care of your problem. We can meet later.”

They walked together to their cars. He kissed her softly, only fueling her desire for more. She waved as he drove away, a silly smile on her face. Then she climbed into her car, nerved herself, and called Ellis. Her body was tight with tension, the phone shaking in her hands. As she listened to the phone ring, she realized she hadn’t shared everything with Michael. Finally, Ellis picked up. “Ellis, this is Nicole.”

“You were on my list to call later,” Ellis said. “I just got back and have great news. I closed a deal on four pieces of property. Pretty damn good, huh?” his voice boomed triumphantly. “The papers are drawn up and ready for your signature. Then they need final approval from Edwards. Can you come by my office tomorrow?”

“Those sales can’t go through.”

“What are you talking about?” he spluttered. “Can’t go through? Why the hell not?”

“We have to meet and talk before you sell any more property.”

“I just told you, I closed all the deals,” he snapped. “It’s too late.”

“I will not sell my property.” Nicole hoped her tone would end the discussion.

“You wait one second, young lady. You agreed to this. You can’t treat people this way. You gave me authority to handle these deals, and they’ve been made. There’s no changing your mind at this late date.”

“Ellis,” Nicole said firmly, “I have no intention of selling any property right now. That’s final. If you don’t care to do business my way then let me know now.”

“You’d take it out of my hands?” he gasped. “You win for now, Nicole. But at the very least, you owe me an explanation for why you’re backing out on the deal—and without any warning. You do realize that you’re leaving yourself open to financial repercussions should the parties decide to sue?”

Nicole could hear his labored breathing. “There was no time for a warning if the sale was supposed to go through immediately,” she pointed out.

“May I ask why you changed your mind?”

“I’ve just discovered that these prospective buyers are not the kind of people I want to do business with.”

“What are you talking about?” he yelled through the receiver.

Nicole quickly pulled the phone from her ear; she could hear his voice from a foot away. When he quieted down, she put the receiver back.

“Where did you hear such a story?” he asked.

She remembered Michael asking her to keep quiet. “I’m sorry, but the information came to me confidentially.”

“We should talk before I tell these people the deal is off. I can stall for a few days,” Ellis said. “This is very embarrassing for me. My reputation is on the line. I’d like to talk to you about this as soon as possible.”

“You can come by the house later this afternoon.”

“I have a calendar full of appointments. How about dinner this evening?”

That was the last thing she wanted, but she felt she had no choice. “I’ll see you then.”

“We’ll talk over everything then and get things straight between us.” His voice was strained, trying hard to keep up a pretense of friendliness, as though his emotions hadn’t been put to the test by going from shocked surprise to raging anger to startled protest to submission, and finally ending in defeat after only a few minutes of conversation. Without saying anything further, he hung up.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. What had Michael told her about Ellis when they first met? Oh yes, “Watch out for Sadler.”

Ellis had sounded genuinely shocked. Though perhaps that didn’t mean anything; he’d naturally be upset at her threat to take her business away. The loss of Grandmother’s estate could be a serious financial loss for him. She hoped that finding another lawyer wouldn’t be necessary.

“I hope I wasn’t too hard on him,” she said aloud, putting her phone away.

Nicole sighed, her eyes filling with tears from the exhaustion growing out of sleepless nights, the fears that haunted her every move as darkness fell, and the lack of anyone to talk to. Thank goodness Michael had come back and she’d get a chance to talk to him later.

Chapter Seventeen

NICOLE PULLED HER car into the driveway and parked at the front door, surprised to see Victoria Peters sitting on the steps in workout clothes.

“What right do you have to treat Greg the way you do?” she demanded, jumping up and tossing back her long blond hair. “You’ve been spreading malicious lies, trying to drive him away. What a mistake people made in accepting you. I’m telling you now, neither you nor anyone else is going to pressure him into leaving.”

“Victoria,” Nicole began gently, “you don’t understand.” She couldn’t believe the venom and anger coming out of Victoria’s mouth.

“I understand more than you think,” she declared. “You and the Edwardses have ganged up on Greg. You’re going to be very sorry if you don’t stop, and stop now.” She raced down the stairs and stormed off down the street.

Ava came out the door. “I thought Victoria and Jake Edwards were all googly-eyed for one another. Poor Jake will be getting his heart broken.”

“Are you leaving for the day?”

Ava grinned. “See you tomorrow.” She bounced down the steps to a car that sat waiting at the curb.

Nicole scanned the street in hopes that she might see where Victoria had gone off to; she needed to set things straight between them before they got any worse. But the girl had disappeared.

This latest problem was too much. Could Greg have been involved in a land-fraud scheme with her property? And now Victoria was defending him… Maybe it was time to use her grandmother’s tactics and have Greg investigated. It might answer some of her questions about him.

The air smelled of rain. The sky darkened, black clouds hovering overhead as Nicole grabbed her purse out of the car and raced up the stairs. Chester, who’d been talking on his phone, ended the conversation abruptly when he saw her cross the threshold.

“Ellis will be here for dinner, Chester. Would you tell Rena I’d prefer fresh fish to be served?” she said, racing on upstairs

She stood in the doorway to the terrace and stared as the storm clouds burst, covering the landscape with giant raindrops. A thick marine layer descended over the water, blurring it from view.

Some afternoons seemed to crawl by, and this was one of them. She didn’t bother going into her studio since she knew she’d find it impossible to concentrate on her painting with so many unanswered questions haunting her every waking thought.

On impulse, she snuck into the room next to hers, looking for any sign of the woman whose crying she’d heard the night before. It surprised her to see the bedspread rumpled where the woman had apparently lain sobbing. How had the unknown woman gotten into the house? Nicole hadn’t heard her come through the window, the way the man had. More importantly, where had she disappeared to and was she still in the house?