Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) (6 page)

“No. He wanted to, but Brent, he’s the guy who owns the house, he said you have to be twenty-one.”

And thank you, Brent, Toni thought to herself.

“I sat home last night and watched TV, but then this morning I heard Dad talking on the phone. He said . . .” She swallowed before continuing. “He said, um, he said he thought his life was in danger. And I thought, since you solved those murders at the Lady Bianca convention that maybe you could help save Dad.”

Linda made a strange sound as though she were shouting without opening her zipped lips.

“Then I will need you to be a lot more specific. Who was he talking to? What were his exact words?” Tiffany had an excellent memory and she’d inherited Toni’s powers of observation.

“Don’t get mad. Remember, you two haven’t been married for a long time.”

“So, he was talking to a woman?”

Tiff nodded. “He said, ‘Aw, now come on honey. You know I’m good for it. Our ship’s going to come in, and I’m going to take you to Paris and treat you like a princess.’” Tiff had always been a good mimic and as she repeated Dwayne’s words, she’d even fallen into his way of drawling his words. That she was getting a word-for-word account of the conversation, Toni had no doubt.

“Then he paused for a bit, like the other person was talking, and then he said, ‘Because somebody’s trying to kill me, that’s why.’ And then I think he hung up. I didn’t hear anymore.”

Tiffany and Linda exchanged a quick glance. Toni tried to come up with a diplomatic way to tell Tiffany that her father was not only a liar, but a huge drama queen. Finally, she said, “You know, Tiff, sometimes people get carried away and say things for effect that they don’t really believe. Why would anyone want to kill your father?”

“Mom, you didn’t see those guys who crashed into his car. It was like out of a gangster movie. There were two big guys, like the muscle, and then the third guy who was obviously in charge. Dad knew him. He called him Grant.”

“You think this Grant is trying to kill your dad? Seems pretty stupid to rough him up and threaten him in front of a witness. He’d be the obvious suspect if anything happened to your father.”

Tiffany pushed her long hair behind her ears. “The guy, Grant, he said, ‘You got something of mine and I want it back. Next time I won’t play around.’ Then Dad said, “I don’t know what your crazy wife’s been saying,’ and then they hit him.”

“I wouldn’t call that a death threat,” Linda said. “He never said anything about killing your dad.”

“Dad says he lent Mom money to get her business started back when I was a baby and she promised to pay it back. He says he needs that money back now.”

“Oh, I am gonna kill that lyin’, cheatin’ sonovabitch!” Linda shouted, jumping right up out of the chaise.

“Now that’s a death threat,” Toni said.

Chapter Five

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

Toni explained to Tiffany that her father had never lent her money for her business. She stopped short of telling her daughter that he’d sneaked out in the middle of the night, taking the truck, which was the only thing they had that was worth anything. He’d left her and her baby girl without a backward glance.

Looking back, Toni knew now that he’d done her the biggest favor of her life. From the heartbreak and shock of discovering that her young husband was a no-good, cheating snake who had no intention of providing for his only child, she’d learned to survive. And then she’d learned to thrive.

But at the time, she’d believed her world had ended.

The afternoon was getting on and Linda had declared her intention of taking the three of them out to dinner somewhere nice when the front door opened.

Expecting to see Dwayne, whom she had not set eyes on since he’d left them, Toni felt her muscles contract. But the man who walked through the door wasn’t Dwayne. He was a tall, slim man, with short, wavy brown hair, glasses and the nondescript clothing of a civil servant. He wore a plain gray suit, with a white shirt and a blue striped tie. He carried a simple black briefcase.

“Hi, Brent,” Tiff said. “This is my mom, Toni. And my grandmother, Linda.”

This had to be Brent Hodgkin, the CPA who owned the house, but surely this dull-looking man wasn’t responsible for the decorating. She wondered if he’d bought the house from a color-blind silent movie fan and never got around to redecorating.

“Toni,” he said, walking forward with his hand outstretched. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You have a really nice daughter.” His voice was rich and resonant, and when she shook his hand she noticed that his skin was soft.

“Thank you. It’s nice of you to let her stay.”

“No problem. I’ve got lots of room.”

He shook Linda’s hand next. And Linda, who never met a single man she didn’t think might be marriage material for her daughter said, “I’m taking the girls to dinner. Why don’t you join us?”

He put his briefcase down and pushed his glasses more firmly onto his nose. “That’s nice of you, but I’m afraid I have to work tonight.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.” She glanced at his briefcase. It was pretty obvious that he was newly arrived home from work. As though feeling some explanation was necessary, he said, “I have a second job.”

“It’s a tough economy, all right,” Linda said. “And I understand Las Vegas was hit real hard.”

“Yes,” he said faintly. Then, “Well, if you’ll excuse me,” and he picked up his briefcase and left the room.

“Honey, we’re going to go check into the hotel now. Why don’t you come with us? We’ll get a suite and use the spa. It will be a girls’ vacation. You can see your father whenever you want.”

She could see that Tiffany was torn. Finally, she shook her head. “I think I should be here when Dad gets back.”

Linda started to speak but Toni kicked her ankle and spoke over her. “Okay, Tiff. We’ll pick you up for dinner at six.”

“Why didn’t you make her come with us?” Linda wanted to know as they pulled away from the curb.

“Because she needs to find out what her father is like, and we need to let her. Maybe they’ll figure out a way to have some kind of relationship. I don’t know.”

“I know you’re right but it makes me crazy that Dwayne is feeding her that line of bull.”

“I know.”

They headed to the hotel, Toni feeling a lot better now that she’d seen Tiffany, and checked in. The room contained two queen-size beds, a small seating area with a pull out couch, a chair and a built-in unit with the TV. The bathroom didn’t have nearly enough counter space for two women who not only made their livings selling cosmetics, but who also believed wholeheartedly in their benefits.

While they were prettying themselves up for dinner, Toni checked her messages. There was one from Patience Vernon, one of her newer recruits to the Lady Bianca team. She returned the call while Linda re-did her face.

Her smile was so automatic that she didn’t even notice she was beaming with positive energy when she pushed send on her cell phone.

“Patience! I was so happy to get your message. It’s Toni Diamond.” She always identified herself even though all her team had call display. She’d learned in one of the many sales seminars she’d attended that it was a good practice both to assume anyone calling you was offering good news and always to give your name. With anyone other than her own sales team she’d usually identify herself as Toni Diamond of Lady Bianca Cosmetics since she knew every time she linked the two together a little more cosmetics karma went out into the world.

“Hi, Toni,” Patience said when she answered. Toni did not receive beams of positive energy coming back her way.

She pulled up Patience’s file on her computer. They’d worked on sales goals together and, since Patience was a beginner, they were starting with friendly fishing. Her goals were small enough to be readily achievable which would lead to a feeling of success, and that would spur her on to larger goals and greater success.

Toni always found, however, that getting that first flush of success was critical.

“I bet you’re calling to tell me that you’ve already booked your first makeover. Maybe even got someone in your circle interested in selling Lady Bianca at a home party.” Patience was a member of a church with a large congregation. She also worked for a multi-national company. She had all kinds of opportunities to go friendly fishing in her own pond.

“I’m not sure I’m ready. There are so many people, so many other Lady Bianca reps offering makeovers, I’ll only make a fool out of myself.”

Toni didn’t let her smile dim, not by a single watt. She reminded herself that her newbies were like toddlers. They had to be encouraged to walk, and the next thing you knew they’d be running all over the place. “Okay. The first thing we need to work on is attitude.”

She gave a pep talk and at the end of it, Patience had agreed that she would go to her women’s circle at the church tomorrow night and talk to at least three ladies about her exciting new venture. In fact, she’d committed to talking to as many as ten ladies, stopping only when she’d booked one for a makeover.

When she put down the phone, her mom was putting the final swish of Raspberry Parfait gloss on her plump lips and staring at the result critically.

“Was that girl calling you to try and quit?” she asked, as she turned from the mirror.

“Oh, sure. The newbies usually get cold feet at least once. I’ve got her reenergized. All she needs is one success and she’ll start to feel that fire in the belly.”

They passed the time during the short drive back to Brent Hodgkin’s house arguing whether a makeover or booking a home party was the most exciting success for a new recruit.

When they got to the boring house with the exotic interior, they walked up the path, her mother insisting she wanted to take a photo of the living room on her smart phone as she wanted to do something similar with balloon curtains in her home. Since Linda’s double wide was already a shrine to her idol, Dolly, Toni wasn’t sure the curtains were going to match but she kept her mouth shut. She rang the doorbell and waited.

She pictured Tiffany with her blow dryer going, unable to hear her. She pulled Tiff’s cell phone from her bag so she’d remember to return it and they could communicate again.

When the door finally opened a stunning woman stood there. Tall, slender, with cascades of blond ringlets and floor-length showgirl costume, she said, “Come in. Tiffany’s almost ready.”

In the second blink, Toni recognized that under the makeup, the wig and the glam, was Brent Hodgkin, the dull-looking man who owned the house.

Her mother must have made the connection about the same time for she said, “Oh, you’re a tran—” She turned to Toni. “What do they call those?”

“A female impersonator,” Brent said in that rich, low voice that was so much more at home in this persona than in his daytime one.

“What’s your act called?” Toni asked before her mother could speak another word.

“Sunny and the Three Chers,” he said. “I’m Sunny. With a u.”

“Oh, I get it,” Linda said. “Where are the three Chers?”

“We’ll meet at the club later.”

Toni asked, “Do you and Dwayne work together?”

“Yes. That’s how we met. We’re part of the floor show at the Double Nugget Casino.”

“The Double Nugget?” Linda asked. “Is that on the strip?”

“It’s one of the older casinos,” Brent said. “It had its heyday back in the ‘50s when the Rat Pack dominated Vegas.”

Toni didn’t know much about Vegas but she knew that the old downtown had very much gone to seed, giving way to the new strip with the big, glitzy places like the Bellagio and the Venetian and so on where the shows tended to be more Cirque du Soleil than Sunny and the Three Chers.

The Double Nugget was to the strip as Dwayne Diamond was to Neil Diamond.

“So singing is your second job?” Linda asked.

“Yes.” He seemed so much more confident and interesting than he had earlier.

“I’ve always wanted to sing.” She pushed out her already more than ample chest and said, “A lot of people say I look like Dolly Parton.”

“You do,” Brent said politely.

Before her daughter arrived on the scene, Toni asked, “Do you know what kind of trouble Dwayne’s in?”

Sunny looked at her and said, “Dwayne courts trouble the way other men court women.”

“And vice versa,” Linda muttered.

Toni knew there was a lot he wasn’t telling her, but she also suspected that now wasn’t a great time to be asking. He was probably keyed up about performing. She remembered from when she’d been with Dwayne that he was always even more self-obsessed than usual when he had to perform that night.

So, she nodded. “I’ll see how Tiffany’s doing.”

“You missed a spot,” Linda said.

“Pardon?” Both she and Sunny turned at once, but Linda was looking at Sunny’s chest.

“You missed a spot when you were shaving your chest.” She came a step closer. “And that’s a nasty rash. What kind of moisturizer are you using?”

Toni held her breath but Brent/Sunny seemed happy to talk sensitive skin. When she left the room, her mom was already digging in her bag for a sample of the Lady Bianca sensitive skin moisturizer. “And if I may say so, I think we could find you a better palette of eye shadows for your skin tones.”