by Scott, D. D.
“How do you know…?”
Wayne stammered while he tried to figure out how Aunt Dodie and I knew so much about Kit.
His hand swept across the bra to remove it from his monitor but gravity got the best of both him and our bestselling product. Before he could stop it, the water bra toppled right over the side of the desk.
As he retrieved the bra from his wastebasket with the end of his desecrated pencil, his red face and questioning eyes met ours.
“Better learn to handle those with a little more finesse, my boy. By the way, she wears a 36D, so you might want to check our stock,” Aunt Dodie said.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll get right on that.”
After seeing Auntie Do out of his office, Wayne shuffled through the rest of the feminine intimates that filled the box.
With each discovery he made, the skin on his face grew a deeper shade of the most brilliant of lipstick reds.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Sis?”
“You know it!”
Reaching the bottom of the box, he pulled out a large black binder that Auntie Do had hidden inside. He leafed through the plastic sleeves, no doubt paying close attention to the products we’d highlighted with post-it notes, reading some variation of: ‘Kit enjoys – Size Medium – Color Black.’
With each note he read, Wayne rolled his eyes.
Sometimes, I suspected he thought our motivations went way beyond our interest in his professional affairs. And he could be right. I mean, after all, who said I had to limit my interests to finding missing people? I’d always been one hell of a terrific matchmaker.
* * * *
As a result of Wayne’s careful study of Deville 1300’s inventory and product lines, the next two weeks’ sales reports showed a substantial increase in the company’s profitability. Uncle Lewis was thrilled with the company’s bottom line.
Aunt Dodie and I were thrilled with the bottom line too, but we were most amused after observing Wayne’s newfound prowess regarding our customers’ personal ‘bottom’ lines.
Not a morning passed that there wasn’t a line of women waiting for our small storefront’s doors to open to experience Wayne’s recently honed fitting expertise.
Despite his awkward pleasure with the attention, he was frustrated he had yet to meet Kit. Pressure was also building against him from regular visits by Luke’s thugs.
Every couple of days, on his way to the coffee shop next door to the store, Wayne was treated to their ominous company. Oddly enough, he had still not received a follow-up call from Luke himself. Luke’s nonchalance played into our theory of what was behind his obvious lack of concern. It also made it appear that perhaps Luke had something more directly to do with Kit’s disappearance.
At this point, I was beginning to wonder if there was even a person alive to find. Let alone a beautiful woman to hook-up with my brother.
* * * *
A week later, as he did every morning, about an hour before the store opened at ten, Wayne struggled to get both himself and his bike into the front door.
I looked up from arranging our latest shipment of water bras on one of the front display tables and just smiled at him. Boy was he in for one helluva day!
Hearing Aunt Dodie’s voice conversing with another female’s, and not my own, Wayne seemed surprised.
Not that it would have been unusual for Aunt Dodie to be talking to herself out loud, but she usually didn’t answer herself…at least not when other people were within earshot.
The sound was coming from Aunt Dodie’s office, which was across the hall from Wayne’s.
Wayne, not wanting to interrupt the conversation, tried to wheel his bike quietly past Dodie’s door.
Knowing him, he was headed straight for the long, hot shower he took each day in his office suite before the start of business. After a brisk ride to town from the marina, he said the steam relaxed his muscles and mentally prepared him for the day ahead.
I’d recently joked with him that before venturing out into the boutique to face his ever-increasing clientele, he should try cold water instead of hot. With the amount of estrogen and silicone he was now facing on a daily basis, I didn’t think he needed any more heat.
“There you are, Dear.”
We both should have known better than to think he could get past Dodie unnoticed.
“Good morning, Auntie Do. I didn’t mean to bother you or your guest, I was just getting in.”
Now positioned right behind my brother, I smiled all to myself as our aunt’s guest placed her teacup on the edge of Do’s desk then turned her attention to Wayne.
I swear, the electricity between them was enough to cause the nearest transformer to blow.
Although Kit had colored and restyled her hair, there was no way my brother could have missed her curvaceous build and chestnut eyes. If my brother looked like Sean Connery’s twin, then Kit…well…she would certainly make one super-hot Bond Girl.
“Wayne, I’d like to introduce you to Kit Branson.”
My brother, Sir Connery’s Twin, was now almost choking, and I’m sure Aunt Dodie’s fiendish grin wasn’t helping one bit.
“Kit, dear, please say hello to my nephew Wayne, Deville’s new Inventory Manager. And I believe you and my niece Lily have already met.”
Kit stood and reached out her hand to Wayne.
Wayne’s knees appeared to wobble and his palm’s must have been damp, because he wiped ‘em on his biking shorts first before taking her hand.
For the record, I seriously doubt his palms were sweaty from cycling.
Why do I doubt?
Because the glare he directed at me was a clear sign I was in as much trouble as dear old Aunt Dodie.
Kit cleared her throat, and I could have sworn I heard her softly giggle.
Maybe it was my imagination, but judging from the way Aunt Dodie was pretending to review non-existent paperwork on her desk, I doubted it.
I wasn’t in denial. Dodie, Kit and I had been anxiously waiting for this moment. It was too bad that Wayne didn’t appear to share our enthusiasm.
“Your aunt tells me you’ll be able to work me in this morning for a fitting. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in, and I think I’ve lost a little weight. I could use your expertise.”
“Fair enough. Let me clean up, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Wayne turned to leave Auntie Do’s office, probably figuring he’d best get out of here before he stopped being able to form complete sentences. But he didn’t make his escape until after he’d noticed me chewing the corner of my lip, just like Dodie was, to prevent ourselves from guffawing out loud.
If he didn’t need to talk to Kit so bad, he’d have let us both have it right then. We drove him nuts. But, as usual, Dodie had found his prize. And boy-oh-boy, was I thrilled to have helped.
Jesus, I thought to myself while shaking my head, Wayne and Uncle Lewis are both humorless worker bees. Uncle Lewis needed to give both Auntie Do and myself raises. We deserved it. We’d worked out asses off to get Kit into the store this morning. There was no doubt. I was asking for a raise before they fired us.
“Go ahead and call your Duke and Duchess,” Wayne instructed me in a low and very dark tone on his way out of Dodie’s office.
He stashed his bike in the corner of Uncle Lewis’ office then headed for his shower.
And I would imagine he turned down the water temperature to as cold as it would go.
* * * *
From the moment Wayne entered Kit’s dressing room he was overwhelmed by her.
How did I know this?
Me and Aunt Dodie were watching it all, and listening too, from behind the two-way mirror Wayne had installed in the event he had the chance to confront Kit. Plus, Wayne always met with Luke’s thugs in this same dressing room, so he’d wanted a sound and video system as well. That way, if the over-protein-shaked goons decided to try to take him out, we’d have everything on tape.
The more Wayne talked t
o Kit, the more we all realized that, unlike her husband’s portrayal of her, Kit was in no way close to being of questionable mental soundness. She was a wonderfully articulate and sensitive woman. She had a self-deprecating style of humor that obviously captivated him and a strong will that drove us all to want to protect her, even though we barely knew her.
Wayne was attentively adjusting Fluid Fulfillment closures and straps when Kit reached her hand around to gently get his attention. When he looked up into the mirror in front of them and between us, his gaze caught hers…and ours.
He must have glimpsed her frightened soul for the first time, just like we had from the other side of the mirror.
“What is it, Kit?”
“You’re right about, Luke, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s the reason I’m running.”
Knowing he needed to give her some space and time to express her fears, Wayne handed her a robe and motioned for her to sit on the soft velvet chair that sat in the corner of the room. He knelt down in front of her, took her hands in his, and remained silent. His eyes beckoned her to release her secrets into his care.
Anyone was safe looking into those eyes. I’d never met a man with the same genuine kindness and fierce protective concern my brother always showed.
I’d already told Kit she could believe in him, and I was tickled to see she’d taken my advice.
“Luke is not just a big-time Hollywood producer. He’s the head of an old crime family and will stop at nothing to protect his greatest source of income, and the real reason for his wealth. I walked in on him and some of his associates during a deal that had gone bad. Knowing his cover had been blown, he threatened to kill me if I ever tried to get in the way of his business or even thought about trying to blow his cover.”
As she struggled to continue, her body trembled and then began to all-out shake.
Wayne wrapped himself around her and held her in the silence that surrounded them.
I hope he never lets her go.
I couldn’t explain the forces that smoldered between them, or the stars that had crossed to bring them together, although I’m sure Auntie Do could. She was the one in the family with pseudo-psychic skills. Too bad she was still in denial about those abilities.
Me?
I’ve just watched enough of the realty TV show Millionaire Matchmaker to know a great couple when I see one. Plus, I’ll admit it. I’ve dabbled a bit in setting up my friends on blind dates.
I’m here to say I do have a brilliant knack for this perfect harmony stuff. All of the couples I’ve set up are still together…all except for one, and I’m not sure what happened there. I must have had an off day. But yeah, that one particular match, or mismatch, was a disaster. But anyhoo…that’s another story for another day.
Let’s get back to my brother Wayne.
It had been much too long since he’d held a woman the way he was holding Kit. So something must have been feeling right.
“Wayne, I befriended your Auntie Do while shopping here in the boutique some time ago. And then I met Lily a few days ago and just adore her. Please don’t be mad at them, but they thought you could help me.”
Wayne took his time responding. A plan must be beginning to form in his mind. He paced the small room without saying a word, probably trying to gather the pieces of his plan into a coherent form. He always paced when he was strategizing. Just like me and Dodie.
“Kit, I’d love to help you, but your husband has already enlisted my services. In fact, at this very moment, I’m on his payroll.”
Kit tried to scream, but Wayne must have anticipated her reaction to what he was going to say. Quickly, he slid his hands around her neck and mouth to stifle her outburst. He whispered something into her ear, giving her a few seconds to process the information.
From our vantage point, it didn’t look like things were going well at all.
“That does it. We’re goin’ in,” Aunt Dodie said, and she meant it. “What the hell damn good are these high-dollar speakers if the asshole’s gonna whisper in her ear?! I mean really!”
Also dying to know what Wayne had told Kit, I followed at Do’s heels.
“Listen to me. I’m here for you, Kit. I’m not on Luke’s side. Accepting him as a client was the only way I knew how to get close enough to him to be able to help you. I know you trust my Auntie Do and my sister. If you want to escape Luke’s grasp for good, you’re going to have to trust me too.”
“You can also trust us,” Zoey, the new Duchess of Caserta added, while she and her Duke, Roman Bellesconi, Prince-of-Many-Names, also entered the dressing room.
Kit wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her head in agreement.
“Are these the friends you were telling me about?” Kit asked me.
“They certainly are. And you’re in great hands,” I said, trying to reassure Kit, who looked like she sooo wanted to believe me.
Wayne, Roman and Zoey started to brief Kit on their plans. Aunt Dodie’s voice interrupted them, sounding quite strained, which was a stark change from her normal, chipper tone.
“Wayne, Dear, you’ve got two gentlemen here to see you. They say it’s urgent.”
Taking Dodie’s cue in stride, Wayne yelled out from the dressing room. “Sure thing, Do, but I have to secure this fitting first. Could you please bring me style number 550 in a 34B?”
“Did you say B or D, Darling?”
“I need the 550 B, please. ‘B’ as in boat.”
Kit tugged on Wayne’s shirtsleeve. “I wear a D cup.”
“I know,” he said in a barely audible voice. “…but so do they. Trust me.”
Aunt Dodie dangled a new Fluid Fulfillment bra over the door.
“Here you go. I’ll tell the gentlemen you’ll be out in a half hour or so.”
“Thanks, Do.”
Wayne took the bra and unzipped the water-filled cup lining. He pulled a set of keys out of the fluid with a tiny Styrofoam nautical key chain attached.
“It’s time to put this plan into action. Give these keys to my Uncle Lewis, who’ll be here momentarily to pick you up. Go to Slip Number Eight at the CYC. My Hampton 550 is docked there. Give my captain the keys and tell him I’ll catch up with you in Avalon on Catalina Island. There’s only one hotel there, so I’ll find you. Before you leave, I’ll need that silver locket you’re wearing and your bra.”
Taking both off and handing them to him, Kit brushed her lips against my brother’s, while he blushed a deeper crimson than the color of the water bra he now held in his hands.
Hopefully, the adrenaline rush from her kiss would pump through him and prepare him for his mission. I had a damn good hunch that more than his libido was about to suffer a direct hit.
All of us watched Kit leave with Uncle Lewis through a hidden door behind another one of the dressing room’s mirrors. The door led to a narrow passageway between the boutique’s walls that ended-up in the back room and then led to the rear exit.
Steeling himself for the encounter with Luke’s thugs, Wayne casually walked out of the dressing room into the boutique to request a meeting with the thugs’ employer.
In the meantime, the rest of us used the secret door to take our positions for the next stage of our plan.
* * * *
With Kit’s locket nestled in between his fingers, and her bra in an evidence bag, Wayne drove us to Luke Branson’s estate.
We were being followed by the two men that had come to Deville 1300.
Arriving at the Branson’s posh Hollywood estate, we were greeted at the door by two more turds that could have been the missing pair of a quadruplet team of turds…the two following us, plus these double-the-trouble twins.
None of the film producers I knew had this type of human refuse looking after them. They had entourages. But their entourages consisted of stylists and publicists, not hit men.
“Mr. McKinna, how nice to see you.”
Luke greeted Wayne first.
>
“You must be Wayne’s sister Lily. Why didn’t you tell me she was such a beautiful woman?”
Luke, without my permission, took my hand to his lips and kissed it.
Why did I suddenly feel as if I was being courted by the Devil?
Luke let go of my hand, but his dark beady eyes bore into me while he ushered us into his library.
The guy had “yuck” oozing from every pore.
“If you’ll forgive me, I’m late for the screening of my dailies, so we’ll have to make this brief.”
“All right. As you wish,” Wayne said, the veins in his neck beginning to show, which was not a good sign.
“What kind of information do you have for me?”
“Unfortunately, not good news.”
Luke sat more upright in his chair and adjusted his tie. His eyes went from midnight blue to jet black as they burrowed into Wayne’s steady gaze.
Wayne never looked away from Luke as he released the latches of his briefcase.
In reaction, The Quad Simultaneously reached inside their jackets, but Luke motioned for them to stand down.
I gave them an eat-shit grin as if to say ‘Sorry, Boys, we’ll have to play another day’.
While I silently antagonized The Quad, Wayne tossed Kit’s locket and bra onto Luke’s marble coffee table.
“I need you to identify these.”
Without hesitation or any emotion at all, Luke responded. “If you’re asking me if these belong to my wife, the answer is yes. I believe so. I bought her a locket just like that one for our anniversary last year. The bra…well…I know she wears those water-filled things. Expensive sons of bitches, if you ask me. I asked her to get a boob job, but she wouldn’t. She’s stubborn that way.”
Wayne hesitated for a moment.
I knew my brother.
Luke’s ambivalence and cavalier attitude regarding his wife’s well being could very well provoke Wayne into a seriously lethal reaction.
