“So both Dwight and I had to go. But I made it out of the swamp alive, Dwight turned the tables on his killer, and Leon had the foresight to protect his son by claiming the body was his.”
“Eduardo managed everything but the murder. He sent the hit men after Dwight and your Grandy. He’s not against killing but he has others do it for him,” said Nappi.
“Yep,” said Rob and Antoine together.
“He seemed to be fed up with his wife’s behavior earlier tonight when she ran out of the stable,” I said.
Frida’s cell rang. She answered, listened intently then flipped the phone shut.
“I guess Eduardo was more than a little fed-up. He boarded a plane at Miami International bound for Argentina. He’s going home, and not alone.”
I tried to imagine who could possibly be going with him. Randolph? Spelling? No. He’d never take those peons. He had told me he was surrounded by idiots. Who then?
All eyes in the room were on Frida. Her face displayed a look of disgust, perhaps because the authorities hadn’t been able to take his passport from him, yet her lips twitched as if trying to keep a smile from forming.
“He had his wife with him.”
“Constance? She’s still in lock-up, pending her hearing,” Alex said.
“Well, the passport had her name on it, but the picture was of a tall, dark woman with angular features. I’m told she looked like Eduardo’s sister.”
“Not his sister,” I said. “His personal secretary. I thought there was something funny there.”
“Well, regardless. They’re halfway to South America by now,” said Frida.
“Nonstop flight?” asked Alex.
She nodded.
“Extradition?”
“Maybe. I suspect that the Argentine authorities will be interested in what the U.S. has to say about his drug smuggling. I talked with the DEA and they have heard that he’s having some trouble with his drug contacts there. Something about ‘not delivering on promises,’ meaning he owes them money. So if the police in Argentina don’t grab him when he lands, the cartel will.” Frida shook her head.
So did Nappi. “It’s not smart to play fast and loose with drug kingpins. They understand punishment.”
We all got quiet. I would have preferred that the American legal system was handling him and his crimes. I wondered what would happen with the horses, but I knew that, no matter what, they’d have better lives without him and his cronies. He was a cruel man. Cruel to the animals in his care and cruel to his family. A man without feelings, who manipulated the lives of everyone around him. I shuddered when I thought about all of the terrible things he had done. In some ways I had more compassion for Constance, who had acted out of desperation when she saw her inheritance snatched away. Eduardo was all about money, greed, and cruelty.
Alex must have noticed the tension in my body because he put his arm around me. I looked up into his eyes and trembled—not out of fear, but anticipation. For once, my family and friends were tuned into my desires. Max and Grandy fled to the spare bedroom, while the others quickly departed, insisting that I needed sleep.
Alex walked me into the bedroom, his lips hovering close to mine as he laid me on the bed.
“At least this time I won’t be in this bed alone,” he said.
He might as well have been by himself. I smiled, yawned, and fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 30
As Alex and I were getting ready to leave for our picnic the next afternoon, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” said Grandy. “You two lovebirds stay put.”
Alex and I were in the kitchen, holding hands across my center island and contemplating the abundance of food Grandy had packed for us.
“We’re never going to eat all this,” said Alex.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty hungry.”
“You got up late and had a huge breakfast. You’re still hungry?”
I changed the subject. “I think I like this detecting business. Maybe we should join forces and become a PI team.”
“You got lucky, that’s all.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m only kidding. I think I’ll stick with the consignment shop. Of course, I’m going to have to get another job now, seeing as I have to make the payments on this house and the payments on my loan to Jerry—or Nappi, or whoever is holding the paper on it.”
Grandy entered the room, carrying an envelope. “This arrived for you by special courier. Must be real important. I didn’t think there were any special messengers in these parts.”
I tore open the envelope. Inside was a letter, signed by Nappi. I scanned it quickly, then began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” asked Alex.
“Well, your number one competitor kept his word. Nappi told me that he had arranged something with Leon Sanders when he returned those papers. Boy, did he! Listen to this. ‘So sorry for all of your misfortune. I feel somewhat responsible, seeing as my daughter was the one to have your automobile blown up. She hired one of my more incompetent men to give you a scare. I know how much you loved that car, so I’ve taken the liberty of buying you a new one. You can take your insurance money and do with it as you like. Perhaps a vacation in the Keys? Of course, I’ve given her a good talking to and have taken some of her allowance money as reparation.’ ”
I continued to read aloud, “ ‘Enclosed is the deed to your house in Sabal Bay, and I’ve forgiven the loan on your business. Jerry will be paying that back to me, seeing as how he was the one foolish enough to sign over all those properties to Mr. Sanders in the first place. As you said, that was your divorce settlement. Now he’ll be working for me at very low pay for years. I hope the experience will make him a better man. I’m only sorry that it couldn’t have come before the two of you were divorced.’ It’s signed ‘Nappi.’ Oh, there’s a PS.
“‘As for the marriage between him and my daughter, it turns out that Monica isn’t pregnant and, having discovered that Jerry is only one of my employees now—and not the owner of a house, condo and boat, as she originally thought—she seems to have fallen out of love with him. She clearly doesn’t have the staying power of her father, who continues to be the devoted servant and admirer of your Grandy and you.’ ”
“Yeah, I kind of got that.” Alex rolled his eyes.
“Now isn’t he just the most lovely man,” said Grandy.
Neither Alex nor Max seemed to agree with Grandy and me. Both wore looks of disdain, prompted—I’m guessing—by an overdose of testosterone. Men.
I was feeling pretty damn happy as we drove south on 441. I had my little house in Sabal Bay and my business. I guess that meant I could become more than a “winter visitor” in rural Florida. I could be a resident. Florida would become my adopted home.
I shared my joy with Alex, who still seemed a bit peeved about Nappi’s generosity.
“It’ll come back around. He’ll show up one day demanding a favor.”
“I’d be glad to grant it.”
“It’ll be something outside the law.”
“I’ve done stuff outside the law. Sometimes you have to.”
Alex slapped his forehead. “Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to. The breaking and entering queen.”
“Oops. Slow down. This is our turn.”
“I still don’t see why you want to picnic in the spot where you almost got killed.”
“Nostalgia, I guess.”
“For what?”
We travelled down the pavement, turned onto the gravel road and then pulled up to the dirt lane that served as the ranch’s driveway. Rob’s SUV was parked next to Eduardo’s old office.
“Don’t we ever get to be alone?” asked Alex.
Rob walked out of the building and greeted us.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I could ask you the same.”
“We thought we’d picnic. Care to join us?” I asked.
“Nah, I’m here with my lawyer. We’re meeting Le
on Sanders and his attorney. With Eduardo out of the country and unlikely to return, we’re trying to see what it’ll take for me to buy this place.”
“Really?”
“Yup, and it turns out that the whole thing was registered in Constance’s name, with Cory Burnside as a minor partner.”
At the sound of her name, Cory emerged from the office.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said.
“How’s Randy today?” I asked her.
“Randolph is at home. I bailed him out yesterday, the same day Eduardo left for Argentina. And, of course, Randy knew nothing about murder or drugs.”
“Yeah, right. That’s why he was willing to hold a gun on me and my friends and offer to kill us.”
“A misunderstanding, my dear.”
“What’s to not understand about ‘bang, bang, you’re dead’?”
“Randolph and I are getting divorced, you know.” With this comment, Cory turned her bony face away from me and smiled up into Rob’s eyes.
“Well, stop by the shop,” I said. “I have just the ensemble for divorce court. In a junior size zero. We can take it in for you.” I just loved teasing her about her tiny frame.
“The bugs here are as big as mocking birds,” Alex grumped along next to me after we had left Rob and Cory. We were walking out across the paddock toward the woods, retracing the path Constance and I had taken only last night.
“I brought spray.” I held up a bottle.
We tramped deeper into the palms until I could see the swamp ahead. In the sunlight it looked cool and inviting, although the mosquitoes were buzzing around our ears. The storm had blown in a cold front, so the day was cool and the wind was at our backs. Alex stopped in a patch of sunlight.
“This is good. The sun will chase away the skeeters, and the breeze will keep us cool, so we won’t get over-heated.”
Yeah, I saw the ulterior motives behind his ‘overheated’ reference.
He spread out a blanket and sat down, then patted the space beside him.
“Just a minute.” I walked away from the nest he’d prepared and wandered closer to the water.
“Here they are.” Joy bubbled in my throat. I could barely get the words out.
“Here what is?” He got up and came over to me.
“My Jimmy Choos.”
“Whose shoes?”
“My favorite strappy stilettos.” I gave them an adoring onceover; they were still linked together by the straps. But, oh, the straps! They were so shredded that it looked like strands of linguini were hanging from the shoe. And the heels. No longer three inches high. One was sporting a stubby inch. The other was missing the heel entirely. Something had been chewing on them.
I cradled the mess in my arms and began to cry.
“Eve, honey. I’ll buy you a new pair.”
“I don’t want a new pair. I want this pair.”
“Well, I’ll buy you a better pair. Come sit down with me.” He caressed my arm, and I could feel goose bumps travel from my fingers to my shoulder. Maybe I could forget about the shoes.
“Really? A better pair?”
“Sure, sweetie.” He took my chin in his hand and turned my face to his. The kiss he delivered made the goose bumps retreat, only to be replaced by Jell-O knees and a gleeful jump of my stomach.
“They cost over three hundred dollars.”
He stopped kissing me.
“How much?”
“Three hundred twenty six dollars and fifty five cents. Maybe I can find them at a consignment shop for less.”
We resumed our kiss.
* * * *
Lesley A. Diehl retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida--cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office. Back north, she devotes her afternoons to writing and, when the sun sets, relaxing on the bank of her trout stream, sipping tea or a local microbrew. You can find Lesley online at www.lesleydiehl.com.
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