B is for Bad Girls (Malibu Mystery Book 2)

by Rebecca Cantrell

  Sofia’s heart was bounding around in her chest, like the moles in Whack-A-Mole.

  “Will. Clean. Later,” she puffed.

  “Brandi Basher!” Brandi stuck out a hand, and Aidan shook it.

  “Big fan,” he said.

  Sofia squirmed around in the seat. She was wedged against the door, and Brandi wasn’t giving her any extra space. “What took you so long?”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “I got here in record time, because I was right around the corner, you ingrate.”

  She wiggled so that the window controls weren’t embedded in her butt. “Worried about me?”

  “Just in the neighborhood,” he said. “You got lucky.”

  “In the neighborhood?” It was residential. He must have been staking her out and didn’t want to admit it.

  “Sheila,” he said. “Flight attendant with a rich dad.”

  “She made it through all the items on the checklist?”

  “Mostly,” he said. “But she laughs like a horse, so that’s a new item for the list.”

  “Can you drop me at the Cobra Cave?” Brandi asked.

  “We can take you home.” Sofia had no idea where Brandi lived, but her back hoped it was close.

  “Cobra Cave is as close to home as I’m gonna get,” Brandi said.

  “Your wish is my command.” Aidan had already headed north west toward the PCH.

  Sofia wanted to thank Aidan and tell him everything she’d discovered, but she couldn’t really do that with Brandi in the car.

  “Nice rescue,” Brandi said. “Heroic, even.”

  “I drove up and opened a door,” he answered. “Basically, I’m a valet.”

  Brandi laughed, and Sofia joined in. They both laughed until they were breathless. Maybe Aidan was that funny, but it was probably the shock.

  “How was rehab?” He got onto the PCH and headed north. Gus and Polly would never catch them now.

  “I don’t care how high the thread count is on the sheets,” Sofia said, “I’m not going back.”

  “But you had Muffin eating out of your hand!” Brandi giggled.

  “I also had him nibbling on my ankle bone.” Sofia twisted around to look down at her ankle. Blood soaked her pajama pants and the side of her sock.

  Aidan followed her gaze. “Don’t bleed on the upholstery!”

  She pulled her ankle away from the leather. “You’re full of the milk of human kindness, you asshat.”

  “What happened to my hero status?” he said.

  “That was minutes ago.” She gritted her teeth and pulled the fabric of her pajamas away from the wound. It immediately started bleeding again, but it didn’t look too bad. Muffin or the gate had taken the skin off the tip of her ankle bone. It could have been a lot worse.

  “I don’t think you’ll lose the leg,” Aidan said.

  Brandi put an arm around Sofia’s shoulders and squeezed. “His knight-in-shining-armor act sure wore off fast.”

  “If you give her sympathy, she gets weepy,” Aidan said.

  Sofia swallowed her tears and flipped him off.

  “Cranky Sofia is who we need,” he added.

  A few minutes later they pulled up in front of the Cobra Club, and Sofia practically fell out of the car. Brandi climbed after her. Sofia shook her right leg to get some feeling back into it.

  A man from the club whistled and yelled, “Bootylicious, Sofia!”

  Her butt was hanging out of her ripped pajamas. She quickly spun around and planted it against Aidan’s car. He’d better not say one word.

  “Want to come party with me?” Brandi wore the same smile she had in the poster above Sofia’s childhood desk, and she was flattered to be asked.

  “No, thanks.” They’d brought an addict to a club notorious for the antics of drugs-addled celebrities. She should have thought of that earlier. “Will you be OK here?”

  “I’m off the horse, but I’m not on the wagon,” Brandi answered. “It could be a fun night.”

  Sofia was still trying to parse that first sentence when the car behind Aidan beeped.

  “I want to get home and go to bed.” Sofia remembered her poor little trailer, messed up by the kids, and wondered if a hotel wouldn’t be a better idea. “Or at least put on some pants.”

  “Thanks for getting me out,” Brandi said. “And if I can ever help you screw over Polly, Gus, or even that damned dog, call me.”

  Cameras suddenly surrounded them, flashbulbs strobing like a disco ball. Brandi made a peace sign and strode off toward the club.

  Sofia backed into Aidan’s car and closed the door.

  Aidan pulled out as she buckled up and started to enjoy the use of the entire car seat. Porsches weren’t meant for three.

  “How was rehab?” he asked.

  “Aren’t you afraid you’ll make me weepy?”

  “You can be as weepy as you want.” He gave her a quick glance before pulling out onto the busy street. They went two car lengths before stopping. Traffic.

  It was going to be a long ride home.

  She started to talk.

  CHAPTER 19

  By the time she was done, they had battled through the worst of the traffic, and she’d started to worry about Brandi. But Brandi was going do whatever she wanted. There was no protecting her from herself.

  “You found lots of incriminating stuff,” he said, “but no smoking gun.”

  Sofia yawned. She felt tired but was way too keyed up, again, to sleep. “I just about found a crackling Taser.”

  “You learned a lot.” He patted her shoulder. “You weren’t under cover long, but you got a lot of info.”

  She waited for him to turn it into a jab, but he didn’t say anything else. “Thanks.”

  “I did some digging into Polly’s financial affairs while you were on the inside. They’re complicated, but I think I’ll be able to tease something out eventually.”

  “Cyber detection, your favorite kind,” she said.

  “You have to admit it’s a lot easier to sit in an air-conditioned office drinking coffee than working under cover with crazies.”

  She looked out of the window at the moon on the water. “Easier, but not more fun.”

  Aidan laughed. “You should have seen yourself hanging on that gate with the dog underneath. And then your ducky pajamas tore open. If I’d had a camera, you’d be on YouTube right now.”

  “I hope no one else was around to film it.” She wondered about the photographers at the Cobra Cave. They had pictures of her outside the club in her jammies with Brandi Basher, who was about to go on a bender. That would be on the Internet soon, if it wasn’t already. Her mother would be worried. “Did you call my mom?”

  Aidan shook his head. “I tried, but could only leave messages. She’s probably totally oblivious to what’s been going on here.”

  “She has magical mom-radar. She’ll know.”

  Aidan pulled into Sofia’s parking lot. “Do you want me to walk you to your door?”

  “I’m fine.” She opened the door and climbed out.

  “Sofia!” he called through the window.

  She leaned down. “Yes?”

  “You might want to tie this around your waist. Spare the neighbors.” He handed her a jacket.

  She covered up her butt and tied the sleeves across her belly. “Thanks. And thanks for the rescue. It was more knight than valet. Mostly.”

  “On words of faint praise, I take my leave, my lady.” He tossed her a salute and drove off.

  The night air was cold, and she took his jacket from around her waist and put it on. It smelled like his musky cologne. As she walked up the path to her comfy little trailer, moonlight sparkled on the waves, and she felt the tension of the past few days leaving her. It was good to be back in the world.

  “Nice morning for a walk.”

  Sofia jumped and spun around. She faced a white-haired woman wearing a lavender track suit. “Morning, Tex.”

  Tex lived a few trailers over, on
the other side of Gray. She had moved to Malibu to take care of her sick parents and Tex looked like she was in her mid-sixties, so Sofia imagined her parents must be in their eighties. They had expected her, a nice Chinese girl, to become a doctor and to get married, but instead she’d run away from home and become a wildcatter in Texas, finding oil and making a fortune in the process.

  “Just coming back from a wild night of debauchery?” Tex grinned. “Nothing beats the walk of shame. Am I right?”

  “I went into rehab for work, broke out, and ended up flashing half of Cobra Cave. Which was all less fun than you may think.”

  “Sounds like good times to me.”

  “I ruined my pajamas.” Sofia remembered the look on Gus’s face as they’d sped away and started to laugh.

  “Pajamas?” Tex, looking disgusted, walked away. She stopped to call over her shoulder, “Do yourself a favor. There’s a sale at Fredericks of Hollywood. Fifty per cent off till Thursday.”

  That was exactly the kind of thing Tex would know. Sofia waved to her back, took a deep breath, and gazed at the ocean. The sky lightened over the mountains behind her, and the water shone a pearly gray. It felt good to be there with her sea and her sky.

  Eventually, she reached her front porch. A white bird squawked from her roof.

  “Heya, Fred!” she called. “Bologna coming right up.”

  Fred settled on her railing and opened his beak, like a baby bird.

  “That’s over the top,” she told him. “Maybe come up with something a little more subtle.”

  Fred didn’t take direction. He clacked his beak and opened it again. She’d better get some food for him before he decided to take a chunk out of her arm.

  She turned her doorknob. Locked, of course, and her key was back at the rehab center with her stuff. Fred squawked impatiently. He didn’t concern himself with details like keys and locks.

  She cast a glance at Gray’s house. His lights were out. He had a spare key, or he’d let her crash on his sofa if he’d lost it, but she couldn’t wake him up so early. He had a morning call, and had to be at the studio in a few hours for filming. He needed his beauty sleep.

  That left one option. She looked at the newly mended window next to the door. Jacob did good work. She picked up the table leg that Van had removed. With a quick swing, she broke the window again. It was a lot easier than she’d expected, although noisy.

  Fred didn’t budge from his perch. Swinging clubs and broken glass didn’t bother him. He was a Malibu gull. He’d seen a lot worse.

  Still barefoot, she stepped carefully around the shards of glass and turned off the alarm. Then she slipped into a pair of flip-flops, fed Fred, and started picking pieces of glass out of the carpet. Déjà vu all over again.

  She was suddenly very tired, and her ankle hurt. She dropped the last big piece of glass into the overflowing garbage can and plopped onto her couch. Her hand landed on an old pizza crust. The trailer was a disaster.

  She made a list:

  1.Get the window fixed. Again.

  2.Clean up the kid messes in the living room.

  3.Do something about the newspapers and paint in the kitchen.

  4.Find a unicorn.

  Everything on her list seemed equally likely.

  No point in moping. She washed her ankle, dabbed antibacterial cream on the wound, and changed into intact pajamas. This pair had moustaches on them. She bet Tex had better lingerie than she did.

  She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. Sleep would not come. She was still too keyed up. She needed to relax. That led her to Jose.

  Jose was the bartender at her favorite restaurant, and they had an agreement. He was always happy to get a booty call at any time of night or day, and he never talked to the press. She wasn’t really sure how to describe their relationship, but it worked. He wasn’t a guy you’d want to have a deep, meaningful conversation with, never mind a relationship. He was pretty to look at, but as dumb as a post. Still, he gave the most amazing massages. She’d earned a good massage.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  CHAPTER 20

  Sofia was dreaming that Violet had a giant battering ram and was smashing her front door over and over. Just when she thought it would break in half, the sound changed and she woke. The knocking came from her real door, not the dream one. She groaned and sat up.

  She fumbled into her slinky red robe. She’d discarded it by the side of the bed last night, before Jose had started his massage. He was sleeping like a baby. He did look cute when he was asleep. He also didn’t speak, which made him all the more attractive. Jose had many fine qualities, but conversation wasn’t one of them.

  The knocking stopped, and her front door opened and closed. Someone must have unlocked it through the broken window, like she had last night.

  She started, suddenly wide awake, and grabbed the baseball bat she kept next to her bed for this kind of emergency. Any second now, the alarm would go off, the police would come, and the intruder would flee. She just had to hang tight until that happened.

  The alarm didn’t go off.

  She poked Jose in his perfectly toned shoulder, and he opened one eye. Good enough.

  “Someone came in the front door,” she whispered.

  Jose struggled to open both eyes. She wasn’t going to wait for him to wake up. That usually took forever.

  She stalked out with the bat held high. The hall had never seemed so long. But at least it was empty. The intruder must be in the front of the trailer.

  She tightened her grip on the bat and stepped into the living room, looking around wildly. Her mother stood by the couch, house keys in her hand, gaping at her. Emily was across the room next to the alarm system. Of course. Her family had keys and the security code.

  Sofia lowered the bat. “Isn’t it too early for this?”

  She looked over at the Mr. Smiley. It was already eleven. She was officially late for work. “Why are you back already, Mom?”

  Gray Cole entered and closed the front door. He gave a little wave, but he looked nervous. What was going on?

  Quick footsteps in the hall, and Jose ran into Sofia from behind. The bat flew out her hand and hit her mother’s arm.

  “Are you OK?” Sofia hurried toward her.

  Janet looked over Sofia’s shoulder. She turned to see what had caught her attention.

  It was Jose. Naked and ready for the morning. For a second no one seemed sure which bat was more worrying.

  Jose shouted something in Spanish that sounded like an apology and sprinted back toward the bedroom. He had a really nice butt from that angle. Janet had averted her eyes, but Gray had a small smile on his face.

  Sofia’s bedroom door slammed.

  Stricken, Sofia’s mother looked at Gray. She had this idea that Sofia and Gray were a couple because they sometimes attended industry events together, and the press went wild on rumors.

  “Gray?” her mother asked.

  Gray looked puzzled. “I thought we were here for Sofia.”

  Her mother turned back to Sofia. “How many men do you have running in and out of here?”

  “I’m a grown-up now.” Sofia pulled her silk robe closed and wished she’d grabbed the flannel one. “And that’s none of your business.”

  “But what about Gray?” Janet asked. “And Aidan?”

  “There is no Gray or Aidan,” Sofia told her.

  “I’m right here,” Gray said.

  “I mean we’re not a couple,” Sofia said.

  “Of course not,” Gray said. “Where would you get that idea?”

  “It’s all over the Internet,” her mother said.

  “That’s not why we’re here, Mom.” Emily straightened Sofia’s sofa cushions and dumped pizza crusts in the garbage can.

  Before Sofia could ask why they were there, her front door slammed open.

  Jeffrey Weiner burst into the room in full angry-agent mode. His shirt was half tucked into his slacks, and his hair stuck out in all
directions. He looked as if he’d been awake about as long as Sofia had.

  “Rehab!” he shouted. “Without cameras?”

  “That’s why we’re here.” Emily was the only calm one in the room. She’d finished cleaning the couch and was clearing the coffee table. “Mom saw a picture of you on top of the gate at Waves Rehab.”

  “Oh, that.” Sofia skirted the area in front of the broken window in case any glass was still lying around. She found a coffee pot and filters, then realized she was out of coffee. Of course she was. It was that kind of morning.

  “I had you signed up for Celebrity Second Chances,” Jeffrey said. “High six figures, plus points on the back end. Remember?”

  “I remember.” She opened the refrigerator. Nothing but bologna. Violet and Van were a couple of locusts. She thought about eating a slice, but figured it was best to leave that for Fred.

  “We can only help you if you let us.” Her mother clopped into the kitchen and pulled Sofia into a long hug. “You know how much we love you.”

  “We already did this, remember?” Sofia said. “I’m not taking drugs.”

  “There’s a picture of you breaking out of rehab, mooning the photographers, and being chased by an attack dog,” Gray said. “Quite a night.”

  “Muffin wasn’t going to hurt me. Probably.” She’d known someone had to be there, snapping a picture of her naked butt.

  “You said you’d call me if you ever went into rehab.” Jeffrey used his best ex-actor voice, and it did project nicely. “You said we’d set something up.”

  “I said no such thing.” Sofia wanted coffee, and then she wanted everyone to leave. Everyone but Emily, who was still cleaning. The living room looked like humans could live in it now.

  “Your seagull just about took my eye out,” Aidan announced from the doorway. Now he was here, too. One more member of the audience.

  “He does that,” said Gray. “He’s a scary bird.”

  “He’s just hungry.” Sofia felt she ought to stick up for Fred, even though he was scary.

  Aidan smiled at everyone. “Nice morning for a party.”

  Aidan might be annoying, but he had a coffee cup. She went over and pried it out of his hand. She took a nice long sip and felt much better.