by Donna Hill
Lenora placed her briefcase beneath the foyer table, set her purse on top, and walked inside, taking off her suit jacket as she did.
“What are you doing home so early” She plopped down on the love seat and crossed her legs.
Stan clasped and unclasped his hands.
“Are you all right Your skin is ghastly pale. Coming down with something” She looked left and right for her purse, got up, and retrieved it from the table. She fished inside for her pack of cigarettes before returning to her seat. She lit up a Marlboro and blew a long plume of smoke into the air.
Stan screwed up his nose and fought back a cough. He hated smoke. Lenora knew it and refused to quit. He’d once accused her of doing it just to get under his skin.
Stan struggled with his tie.
“What the hell is wrong with you” Her tiny features pinched into a roadmap of aggravation. “You’re fidgeting again.”
He placed his hands firmly on his knees. “We n-need to t-talk, Lee.”
“Really” She took a pull on the cigarette and blew out smoke. “About what”
He started coughing.
Lenora frowned, sucked her teeth, and got up. She returned moments later with a glass of water. Just as she was about to shove it in his hands, she glanced down at the coffee table.
The glass crashed to the floor. The water cut a path across the wood.
Stan raised pleading eyes to his wife’s astonished face.
“T-they want fifty-thousand dollars in t-three d-days.”
4
Eva strolled along Fifth Avenue during her lunch break, perusing the high-end fashion stores, hoping to spot something in their pricey windows that would be perfect for Rita’s birthday. Rita could be a real picky bitch when she wanted to, but Eva loved her to death anyway. It was always a challenge finding just the right gift for a woman who could spot an imitation a mile away.
She was fixing a big birthday dinner tonight and wanted every detail to be perfect, even if Jake’s brother Jinx would be in attendance. For reasons that escaped her, Rita and Jinx got on famously. Go figure. He’d tried to hit on her once right before she and Jake got married. She told him if he even dreamed about her, she’d turn him into a eunuch. He’d been a good boy ever since, but she still didn’t trust him. She’d never said a word to another soul—definitely not to Jake and not even to Rita.
They’d been to hell and back together, Eva mused as she stopped in front of Saks’s window. Coming up as young girls with no parental supervision left them to fend for themselves. Neither of them knew their respective fathers. But they looked so much alike, the rumor was that they weren’t cousins at all but half sisters, with both of their mamas having laid up with the same no-good man. Neither woman ever admitted as much, though. Rita’s mother died of a drug overdose when Rita was six. Eva’s mom went to the store one day and just never came back.
Their grandmother, Mary, grudgingly took them in and made it known that they were a burden and she was doing them a favor by putting a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. They did the best they could to stay out of sight and out of her way.
The fact that they’d made it this far was a testament to their resilience. They were survivors. When they turned fifteen, only two months apart, they made a pact that they’d never be poor, hungry, unloved, or caught dead in a bargain outfit again. And to this day, the pact was unbroken.
Eva smiled at her reflection in the Saks store window. She could give Tyra Banks a run for her money. Her shoulder-length hair was intentionally tousled to fall dramatically around her face and across her shoulders. The fitted black turtleneck and black pants gave her a look of sleek sophistication. Her accessories were silver: earrings, chain, wide belt, and matching cuff bracelet.
Hmmm, jewelry. You couldn’t go wrong with jewelry. Rita did love white gold. Eva’s cell phone chimed. She flipped it open. “Hey, baby.” She stepped away from the entrance and pressed a finger to her free ear.
“Just wanted to remind you pick up a bottle of wine on your way home.”
“Can’t you get it I’m going to have to race home as it is to get everything done.”
“We could have done this at a restaurant, babe. You’re making yourself crazy.”
“Rita is family, Jake. Didn’t I sit through Jinx’s arraignment even though I had a deadline at work”
“You had to bring that up.” He gave a good-natured chuckle.
Eva grinned. “I’ll pick up the wine if you get your handsome ass home early and put the chicken in the oven. It’s already seasoned.”
“I can think of much more enjoyable things to do if both of us get home early.”
Her nipples stood on end. “Jake…”
His voice lowered to that sexy timbre that made her crazy. “I was sitting here in my office, with my door closed and a picture of you on my desk, and as much as I tried to fight it, I got a hard-on that could cut glass.”
“Jake…”
“I’ll be home by four.… Dinner is at eight. Imagine what we can do in four hours.”
A slow smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s as good as a promise. Love ya.”
She giggled. “Back at ya. And don’t forget to put the damned chicken in the oven.”
Fortunately she kept an extra pair of panties in her desk drawer, she thought, pushing through the glass doors of Saks. She’d definitely have to change out of the wet ones when she got back to the office.
* * *
Eva sniffed the air the instant she walked through the door of their home. She breathed a sigh of relief. The aroma of baking chicken seasoned to perfection filled the air.
“Babe! I’m home and I brought wine,” she called out.
Jake emerged from the kitchen wearing nothing but a very short apron.
Eva covered her mouth and giggled. “You look … ridiculous.”
Jake pressed his hands to his chest. “You wound me, woman. I thought this was kind of a modern-day Olympian look.” He glanced down at the apron. “Sorta like a loincloth.”
Eva shook her head and laughed some more. “Whatever you say, baby. You’ll always be a god in my book.”
Jake came up to her, took the package from her hand, and set it down on the coffee table. “Clock is ticking. If we hurry, we can actually take our time.” He kissed her behind her ear, caressed her waist.
Eva’s eyes drifted closed. “Ooooh, you know that’s my weak spot,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I know. And this is mine.” He took her hand and cupped it over his throbbing erection. “What are you going to do about it” He unfastened her silver belt.
It dropped to the floor in concert with the ringing phone.
“Damn,” he spat. “Probably Rita.” He pushed up Eva’s sweater.
The phone rang again.
“We better answer,” she said, gasping as Jake massaged her breasts, his thumbs running across her nipples. “She’ll … only keep … calling. Ooooh, Jake…”
“Let her.” He pushed Eva back against the wall, unzipped her pants, and pushed them down her legs. She kicked out of them.
The phone rang.
Eva untied the apron.
“It’ll go to voice mail any minute,” he said, air rushing out of his lungs.
Eva spread her legs.
Jake lifted her by her hips. Her legs draped around his back.
The phone rang.
He pushed up inside her, and they both cried out.
“You’re on fire,” he groaned.
“You’re so hard.…”
The answering machine kicked in. Jake pumped faster. Eva moaned.
“This is Lenora Ingram.” They froze. “Yes, Stan In-gram’s wife. If you bastards think you can blackmail me and my husband, you have another thing coming. How did I get your private home number I’m the FB-fucking-I, that’s how. And if you two sorry bastards don’t want to spend the rest of your thieving lives in the pit of s
ome jail, you’ll start playing by my rules. Expect the next call from me. And don’t run. I can find you.”
Click.
Jake’s dick went completely limp and slipped out with a tiny pop.
* * *
A perfect dinner sat in the center of the long dining room table. The mouthwatering aromas floated gently around the room. The four diners sat in silence. Jinx twirled his fork. Rita stared at her French green beans. Jake shifted in his chair. Eva looked at Jake and rolled her eyes.
“I told you I had a bad feeling about this!” She threw her cloth napkin at him. It fell in his plate, right on top of his mashed potatoes and gravy.
He cut her a look from the corner of his eye.
“How do you know this isn’t some kinda joke” Jinx asked.
“Yeah, maybe it’s just some friend of his pulling your chain,” Rita added. She looked from one to the other.
“They have our private phone number, Rita.” Eva took a swallow of her wine.
“So what are we going to do” Jinx asked.
“We don’t know what they want,” Jake said.
“I know one thing: I’m not spending a minute behind bars,” Eva snapped. “Not even for you, Jake Kelly!” She searched for something else to throw at him, reached for her fork, and tossed it across the table.
“Throwing things at me isn’t helping, Eva!” He jumped up from the table and stomped off into the living room. Everyone else followed.
Rita sat down next to Eva and took her hand. “Don’t get yourself all twisted,” she said softly. “There’s nothing we can do until we hear their demands.”
“Exactly,” Jinx said.
Eva lowered her head. “I don’t want to even think about what they may want.” She looked at her husband.
Jake paced, getting that bad feeling that Eva had been talking about. “Neither do I.”
“The FB-fuckin’-I,” they all said in dejected unison.
5
Every time the phone rang for the next two days, Eva and Jake flinched. The third day, it came. Eva answered the phone. Jake picked up the extension in the bedroom when she mouthed It’s them.
“Listen and listen good,” Lenora said. “In three weeks, a shipment of diamonds and a half million in cash will be coming into the United States. You’re going to get it and deliver it to me.”
“What”
“No time for questions. Pay attention. The ship is called the Eleanor. It’s coming in from Brazil. Xavier Suarez will be bringing in the goods himself.”
Eva’s wide eyes widened even further. Xavier Suarez. Holy shit. Suarez was known throughout the underworld as the heir apparent to Carlos the Jackal—the notorious international hit man. Rumor had it that Carlos trained Suarez personally before he was finally captured and imprisoned.
“The boat will dock in Miami. That’s your window of opportunity. You’ll be receiving a package in the mail in the next few days. That’s how we will stay in contact. You fuck up, considered yourselves fucked.”
Lenora hung up.
Jake darted out of the bedroom, his eyes as big as balloons. “Did you hear that Suarez” He rubbed his brow.
“You got us into this mess. So get us out!” She folded her arms and paced. “This is too awful. I knew we shouldn’t have done it. I told you!”
He held up his hand. “Lemme think, will ya. I can’t think with you yelling at me.”
“Yelling! You think this is yelling You ain’t heard nothing yet.”
“How do we know this chick is even for real”
“She’s some-damned-body. She got our very unlisted number. Remember” Her neck rocked back and forth as she ranted.
“Maybe she works for the phone company.”
Eva twisted her lips into a snarl and looked for something to throw. “Phone company employees wouldn’t know squat about a diamond shipment coming into the U.S.!”
“Would you keep your voice down Do you want the whole neighborhood to know we’re up the creek”
Eva huffed, reached for the pillow on the couch, and hurled it at Jake.
He snatched it in midair. “Would you please stop throwing things at me” he snapped. He returned the pillow to its rightful place and sat down on the couch. He glanced up. “Would you please sit down You’re making me dizzy.”
“Good.”
“Babe, you were right,” he conceded. “Maybe we need to roll up the game board and disappear.”
Deflated, Eva sat opposite him on the love seat. “How can we disappear If she is who she says she is, she’ll find us. No matter where we go. We’ll be running for the rest of our lives.”
“Then we need to find out if she’s for real.”
“How”
“Jinx. There’s not a computer program he can’t crack. If she’s really FBI, he’ll find out.”
“Okay. So when he does find out, what then”
“We’ll deal with it. For now, one thing at a time.” He got up.
“Where are you going”
“To Jinx’s house. I don’t trust the phone. I’ll tell him what we need.”
Eva nodded slowly in agreement.
Jake came up to her, kissed her mouth softly. He cupped her cheeks. “We’re going to get out of this. I promise.”
She swallowed her doubts, needing to believe in her husband. “Hurry back.”
While Jake was gone, Eva went over every detail of that night with Stan Ingram. What had she missed Nothing. Nothing at all. There was no way to tell that he was married to an FBI agent. How was she supposed to know Maybe she should have asked more questions, but she’d just wanted it to be over, wanted to get out of there and be done with the whole business. She’d slipped the roofie in his drink shortly after they arrived in his suite. As soon as he was good and looped, she called Jake on the cell phone and they staged the photos. Same as they’d always done for years. There had never been a glitch. There had never been a mark who didn’t pay, and certainly never one who tried to turn the tables on them. There’s a first time for everything, some pain-in-the-ass voice whispered in her head.
Eva heaved a sigh. This was all new to her: this feeling of helplessness, being the pawn that was moved around the chessboard. She was accustomed to being the game master, not the other way around. And damnit, she wasn’t going to become a pawn now.
She grabbed her purse, car keys, and jacket. While Jake was with his brother Jinx, she needed a powwow with her girl Rita.
Eva smiled as she drove through the city streets. She had begun to formulate a plan. If this chick Lenora was for real, they needed to be ready.
* * *
Stan lay in bed next to Lenora. He stared up at the ceiling. He’d been wound tighter than a roll of aluminum foil since he’d confessed the affair to her. After she’d ranted and raved, calling him every kind of fool in the book, she’d made love to him like a woman possessed—the first time they’d been intimate in months. She kept asking all during the act whether “Leslie” was as good as she was. He wished he knew. So of course he told her no. No one was as good as she was. Then after that first night, not another word was said about the incident. When he’d tried to make love to her this evening, she turned her back on him.
She was up to something. It wasn’t like Lenora to let anything slide, especially something this big. He turned his head to look at her in the shadows of the bedroom.
How had their marriage come to this They’d been so in love once upon a time. They were going to conquer the world together. At first it seemed that they would, but somewhere up the ladder, his foot got stuck in one of the rungs while she kept on going. The higher she rose and the more money she made, the less she seemed to love him. She no longer looked at him with admiration in her eyes, just disdain. So he started to let himself go. It wasn’t as if she cared. Maybe he should have left a long time ago. But there was still a big part of him that loved Lenora and ached for her to love him back—again.
He turned his face to stare at the ceiling, fold
ed his hands atop his rounded belly. There was still the matter of the blackmail. Now that he’d told his wife, Leslie—or whatever her name was—didn’t have that hold on him, but she’d promised worse. He had one more day to come up with the money.
Lenora’s insurance policy was worth a hundred grand. But he didn’t have the balls to kill her. He started to sweat. His life had gone from zero to one hundred miles per hour in a blink, and he couldn’t even remember if it was worth it.
Lenora’s voice came to him in the dark, distant. “You need to plan on taking some time off from work.”
“What”
“You heard me. Put in for your vacation.”
Stan pushed himself to a halfway sitting position. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to understand. Just do what I ask, Stan. I’ll explain when it’s time.”
She reached for him. And he was thankful.
* * *
When Jake came back home with Jinx in tow, Eva and Rita were sitting in the living room. Jake saw the dark sparkle in Eva’s eye, and that wicked smile, and he knew she had a plan.
Now this was the Eva he knew and loved.
* * *
They stayed up until the sun was high in the morning sky, planning. Everyone knew what they needed to do. The moment Jinx verified Lenora Ingram’s identity, the pieces would begin falling in place. This would be their biggest sting yet, the first time they’d all worked together. If one of them failed, they all failed—and they had no intention of letting that happen.
“Everybody knows what they have to do. Right” Eva said.
“I’ll get cracking on breaking into the FBI files,” Jinx said, rubbing his eyes and yawning much too loudly.
Rita stood and stretched. “I’ll get started on the documents.” She looked at them each in turn. “I’m gonna need recent pictures of everyone. Better yet, y’all go get some new passport photos, and I’ll hook them up in Photoshop.”
