Still Waters...

by Crysal V. Rhodes

  “I say that we go back to Dana’s house tomorrow and search it thoroughly until we find out if she was looking for something other than the earring.”

  Bev’s determination was evident, and Ray didn’t want to temper her enthusiasm, but—

  “Since we really don’t know what we’re looking for it may be better if you go with your mother and sister tomorrow. I can hold down the fort here.”

  “But…”

  “But as much as I want you with me, right now your sister needs you more.”

  There was no argument against that. Bev didn’t try.

  “Actually, it could work out. If her memory about why Renee was at her house or why she called you returns, I’ll be there to hear it.”

  “That’s my girl.” Ray flashed her a smile. “I’ll work on this front to see what I can find. Maybe together we can gather enough evidence to see if there’s a criminal case.”

  * * *

  Bev glanced at the clock on the bed stand. It was two o’clock in the morning and she was still awake. After having driven from Tiburon for hours, visiting Dana at the hospital, and the unbelievable exposés at dinner with Ray, her body was begging for rest. Yet since crawling in bed barely able to keep her eyes open, she’d dozed for barely three hours and had been tossing and turning ever since. She had to get some rest!

  Turning on her side, she plumped the pillow in an effort to get comfortable. It didn’t work. She tossed and she turned, her thoughts swirling with all of the things that had happened, not just within the last twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours, but in the past couple of weeks. It seemed that in the blink of an eye her life had been placed on a roller coaster at its crest and all she could do was hold on. It was disconcerting. From the time she was a young widow she had always been in control—in control of her child’s welfare, her financial and business affairs, and her romantic relationships. Men wanted her and they would usually do anything to have her. She had always been in the driver’s seat when it came to accepting or rejecting them. That option was still there with Ray, but this time things were different. With the others it was meet them, date them, and bid them a fond farewell. Easy come, easy go. With Ray it was about falling in love.

  Bev rolled over onto her stomach, buried her face in the pillow, and groaned. She was in love with Ray Wilson. She screamed her frustration with herself into the crisp linen, and then rolled back over on her back.

  How had she let this happen? As unrealistic as it seemed she had never planned on falling in love again. After the parade of losers she had dated, it hadn’t seemed so implausible and then Ray came along. He hadn’t swept her off her feet as men do in the movies, although Lord knows in those early days he tried. Circumstances had allowed her to really get to know him and in doing so he had wrapped himself around her heart.

  What she felt about this man surprised her. It had never occurred to her that she could fall for a younger man. She had always figured that such a man would have nothing to offer her. After all, she was the one with the life experience, the wisdom and guile that time had honed. Who knew that a man barely out of his thirties could be her equal and evoke such strong emotions in her?

  The stereotype had always been that a younger man would only be interested in an older woman for her money. What else could they want? Mature women in American society were devalued; they couldn’t possibly be interesting or sexy. That was the exclusive domain of the young. Bev had never bought into that reasoning. She was a confident woman—she was a Stillwaters—and she knew what she brought to the table. Any man that she dealt with had to bring the same. Ray had brought it, and she found herself a willing recipient. Age was irrelevant when it came to what she felt for him.

  Bev lay still, closed her eyes, and listened to the rhythm of her heart. Ray’s face appeared before her and the beat accelerated. Yes, he was there, all right, dead in the center of her being. She opened her eyes. Okay, what was she going to do about it? For her there were only two answers: accept it or leave it alone.

  Giving up on her effort to fall asleep, she got out of the bed. Grabbing her robe, she left the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen. There was no need to be sleepy and hungry, too. She had eaten only a small portion of her dinner. Considering the discussion that she and Ray had about Renee Ingram, Stark Enterprises, and Mitch, it was a surprise that she was able to eat at all.

  The moonlight shining through the skylights guided her down the stairway. On her way to the kitchen she passed Ray’s office and noticed a sliver of light coming from under the closed door. She knocked softly and opened the door without an invitation to do so. Ray was sitting at his desk with an open briefcase in front of him. He was reading some papers. At her entrance, his head snapped up. He looked surprised.

  “What are you doing up?” The question was asked to each other simultaneously. They laughed at the coincidence. Bev shut the door behind her and moved further into the office.

  “Okay, me first.” She propped herself on the edge of the desk. “What in the world are you doing up at this ungodly hour?”

  Ray began to gather the papers lying in disarray on his desk. “I couldn’t sleep. All of this stuff kept going through my head, and I remembered that I had taken Mitch’s briefcase from Dana’s house. I was going through some of the papers in it again to see if there was any hint at all about what he might have been doing for Stark Enterprises.”

  “Do you think that he knew about any illegal operations? You don’t think that he was involved, do you?” Bev picked up a newspaper article that had been printed off the Internet and began to scan it. She didn’t notice Ray stiffen.

  “I don’t know what he knew.” He stacked the papers and watched anxiously as Bev looked at the article that contained the pictures of the Ingrams, Mitch, and of Moody Lake.

  “So this is Russell Ingram.” Bev studied the picture, especially the look of adoration on Renee’s face as she gazed at her husband. “He’s nice looking.” Her eyes dropped to the head shot of the man in the picture below that one. She read the caption aloud, “Charles ‘Moody’ Lake, former CEO of Stark Enterprises.”

  “That’s the man that Russell Ingram replaced as head of the company,” Ray informed her.

  “Hmmm,” was Bev’s only reply as she handed the article back to him.

  Relaxing, Ray tossed the papers into the briefcase as he moved around the desk and propped himself next to her. “Now your turn. What are you doing up?”

  “I was thinking about you.” Bev’s glowing eyes met his as she slowly removed the linen robe that covered her matching pajamas and let it drop to the floor.

  Ray’s body ignited instantly. His eyes swept her shapely frame. She was a vision in white as she sauntered to the door. The pajama top she wore was sleeveless, with a v-neck trimmed in lace that accented the swell of her breasts. The bottoms snaked down her long legs, ending in gathers above her bare feet.

  The door lock clicked, and Bev turned back to Ray. “This should keep Mama out in case she wakes up.” With hips swaying, she increased the heat in the room as she came to a stop in front of him and began to untie the belt to his robe.

  “It looks like opportunity has knocked, and I plan on taking advantage of it.” She removed his belt and tossed it aside.

  Entranced, Ray caught her around her waist and drew her to him. “Woman, have I ever told you how fantastic you are?”

  “Plenty of times. Now you can show me.” With both hands, she slid his robe from his bare chest.

  “Only that I could, but I don’t have any protection.” That didn’t stop him from letting her help him out of his robe.

  “You are a creative man.” Bev ran her hands seductively over the wiry hairs on his chest. “I’m sure that you can think of something.”

  Ray wanted to run to his bedroom and grab a handful of condoms, but he was wrapped in her hypnotic spell. Instead, he gave her a kiss that was so erotic that it weakened Bev’s knees. She nearly sank to the floor. Ray placed her on t
he desk and then slipped between her rubbery legs.

  “Oh, goody.” She gave each of his nipples a gentle love bite. “Desk sex.”

  “Or as close as I can get,” Ray promised as he assaulted her neck with fiery kisses and hands that teased her breasts relentlessly. “But I’ll do my very best.”

  “I’m sure that you will.” Bev threw her head back, reveling in the sensations that possessed her. She slid her hand beneath the waistband of his pajama bottoms and moved downward, wanting to give him as much pleasure as he was giving her. Ray removed her hand.

  “I’ll never make it if you do that.”

  She gave him an understanding smile and then outlined his jaw with kisses. He unbuttoned the delicate mother of pearl buttons that ran down the front of her top. Her breasts spilled out. Ray licked the tips of each nipple.

  Bev braced herself on the desk and moaned long and loud.

  “This is only the appetizer.” Ray’s fingers snaked downward to her hidden cove. “I haven’t gotten to the main course.”

  As he readied her for the ultimate tribute, he mapped her body with blazing kisses, blistering nips, and a scorching tongue, setting Bev ablaze.

  Bev’s screams ripped from the bottom of her soul as she writhed on top of the desk, flailing and convulsing with such fervor that she was unaware of having knocked the briefcase to the floor. The desk lamp followed, as did a clock, but neither of them cared as Bev shattered in release, and Ray enjoyed the pleasure that he was giving her.

  His unselfish gift of love was costing him dearly. The pain in his groin begged for release. Recognizing his dilemma, Bev proposed to Ray that she return the favor. They conspired to go to his bedroom, which was further from where Ginny lay sleeping than Bev’s room. It was their hope that she was still asleep.

  “You probably raised the dead with all the noise that you made,” Ray teased as he made an attempt to pick up the evidence of their wild tryst on his desk before they stole upstairs. Still throbbing, all Bev could do to help him was watch. As he picked up the open briefcase, a CD in a case fell out of it onto the floor.

  He looked at it, bewildered, and then looked back at the briefcase. A compartment had opened up beneath the bottom lining of its interior, a secret compartment. Wide-eyed, he looked up at Bev, whose expression showed that she was equally as amazed.

  “What in the world?” was all that Bev could think of to say.

  Chapter 24

  It was seven o’clock in the morning when Ginny entered Ray’s kitchen ready to begin her day. Rejuvenated by a good night’s sleep, she had planned on fixing a special breakfast for her daughter and Ray in celebration of Dana’s release from the hospital. To her surprise both Bev and Ray were up and breakfast was waiting for her, but both of them looked exhausted. Ginny didn’t speculate as to the reason when she offered a cheerful greeting and joined them at the breakfast table.

  “I wanted to fix you two my super-duper cheese omelet, along with my applesauce pancakes.”

  Bev looked disappointed. “If I had known that, I would have awakened you a long time ago. I haven’t had those in a long time.”

  “You missed a treat,” Ginny told Ray as she dug into the breakfast that he had prepared. “But I’ve got to tell you that this tastes delicious.”

  Ray nodded his appreciation as he concentrated on trying to maintain a facade of normalcy. Bev and he had agreed that they didn’t want to give Ginny the slightest hint that anything was wrong. He glanced across the table at Bev, who appeared to be preoccupied with her meal. He marveled at her demeanor. He wished that he could be as cool, calm, and collected amid the storm in which they had found themselves unexpectedly embroiled.

  Bev didn’t know if she could eat another bite. She wasn’t sure if the butterflies in her stomach would allow it. Her temples were throbbing. She was so tired that she wasn’t sure if she could make it through the rest of the day. She noted how easily Ray was conversing with her mother. She wished that she could be as nonchalant. Not only was she dead on her feet from lack of sleep, but she was a nervous wreck. She was certain that her mother would notice at any moment. Never in her life would she have believed that she would have any direct knowledge of a drug cartel. Sure, she had read about them, had seen movies and television shows about them, but most of that was make-believe. What she knew was for real! All she could do now was follow the plan on which Ray and she had agreed, and the first part of that plan was simple: finish breakfast. She scooped up another forkful of eggs, chewed, and swallowed.

  Ginny Little was ecstatic. Her daughter was going home. She chattered happily as Ray drove Bev and her to the hospital to pick up Dana. Just like yesterday, she never noticed the uncharacteristic silence in the car.

  There was a caravan of cars filled with Stillwaters family that followed the limousine carrying Dana and her mother to the airport. Before boarding Uncle Gerald’s airplane, Bev and Ray engaged in a parting kiss that left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were much more than friends. Since Dana didn’t appear to be disturbed by the apparent relationship between her sister and her ex-fiancé, neither was anyone else in the family. Bev handed Ray a small package before she boarded the aircraft. She told him to open it when he took the flight that he would be catching in a few hours. Then, with a soft kiss goodbye, she followed everyone else aboard.

  As she watched Ray disappear from sight, she thought about the nightmare that they had stumbled into and shuddered. Neither she nor Ray knew what the outcome might be.

  The sudden appearance of the CD had done what nothing else could have in the early hours of the morning. It cooled the sizzling ardor between Bev and Ray. All of their focus had turned toward the mysterious find.

  Slipping it into the computer, they spent the remainder of the morning reading a record of illegal activities that was mind-boggling. Mitch had kept a detailed account of how he had been hired by Russell Ingram for some legal work regarding the misappropriation of funds involving the Stark Enterprises accounts. He had won the case. Impressed by his skills as an attorney, Ingram had put Mitch on retainer to deal with “special” cases.

  Mitch had been aware of the kind of people for whom he worked. Bev and her mother had been correct about his character. Ethics were not a consideration. Money was his only motive, and Mitch’s work on “special” cases hadn’t started with Stark Enterprises. He had a history of corruption, and the depth of his duplicity was astonishing.

  As they reviewed Mitch’s chronicle of evil, Ray had questioned Bev about something that he remembered. “Dana told me that she thought that either you or your mother had Mitch investigated.”

  Bev shook her head. “I read that in her journal, but no, neither of us did that. After reading this, I wish we had.” Mitch had turned out to be even worse than she or her mother had suspected.

  He seemed to have taken sadistic pleasure in recording not only his client’s misdeeds, but his own. Among his many indiscretions had been his numerous trysts with women. Being an engaged man hadn’t tempered his attraction to the opposite sex. Dana had been only one in a long line of fiancées that Mitch had loved and left over the years, and he’d planned on leaving her, too, but death had claimed him before he could execute his plan. As they read further, they discovered that Renee Ingram was among his sexual conquests. The two had been embroiled in a torrid affair while he was engaged to Dana. It had lasted for months, but Mitch suspected that Russell had found out.

  After reading that passage Bev had turned to Ray. “Do you think that Russell Ingram might have killed him? Maybe Mitch didn’t commit suicide.”

  Ray couldn’t deny that the prospect was likely, but there was more. The two of them had reeled from the revelations.

  According to Mitch there had been trouble in the cartel, and Russell’s boss had been blamed for losing a great deal of money. Mitch had suspected that Russell might have either murdered the former CEO or helped him disappear. He wasn’t quite sure whether the younger man’s loyalty had been stron
ger or his greed. He speculated that Moody Lake could still be alive, and if that were true the cartel would have two people to kill.

  As the airplane soared above the skies toward their destination, Bev’s eyes tried to drift shut. She was exhausted, but the barrage of questions wouldn’t stop running through her head and let her rest. Did Renee know about the CD? Had she come to Dana’s home to ask her about the incriminating item? Was that why she had broken into her house? Was she looking for the CD? There were so many questions and so few answers. But by the time that she and Ray had read the last lines there was one question that no longer had to be asked. Mitch had committed suicide. He had carefully laid out his plan to do so, and there was even an element of evil intent behind that.

  After being told that his cancer was terminal, his last entry had been a rambling discourse about his life and the many sins that he had committed. He didn’t appear to have regrets. He was an atheist. There was no fear of heaven or hell. He had lived, and he was going to die. Yet it was going to be on his terms, and he was hell-bent on leaving turmoil in his wake. He had told Renee Ingram that if her husband had found out about their affair, as he suspected, she didn’t have anything to worry about from Russell. Her husband loved her and she would be safe. However, Mitch had informed her that he would be his target, and more than likely Russell would make his death look like a suicide. Mitch thought that leaving Renee with doubts about her husband was hilarious. His only regret was that he wouldn’t be around to witness the chaos that his lies and deceit would cause. Mitch Clayton had been a real piece of work.

  * * *

  After seeing Bev off, Ray headed for Dana’s condo to execute step one in the plan that he and Bev had hatched to maneuver out of the maze in which they had unexpectedly become entangled. Ray had pointed out to Bev that legally, the CD that they had discovered did not belong to either one of them. The assumption was that it belonged to Dana, since it had been found in a briefcase inside her house. Neither of them had gotten her consent to remove any items from her home, therefore, if a trial was held, anything on the CD could be ruled inadmissible. So it was Ray’s job to return the briefcase to the condo and Bev’s job to get the needed permission from Dana.