Guilty Pleasures

by Donna Hill

  “The pictures you take will show right up on this computer. It can take stills as well as video. Click the switch once, and it takes pictures. Hold it down for about five seconds, and the video will start to run.”

  Rita held the tiny gadget in her hand, turning it over. “This is some real James Bond shit,” she said only half-joking.

  The camera resembled a brooch that could be affixed to her purse or worn on her dress.

  “Just click right here.” He pointed to the small switch on the side.

  Rita nodded, pursing her lips. “Pretty neat.”

  “Let’s try it out.” He took Rita to stand on the other side of the room. “Okay, go.”

  She pressed down on the switch. Seconds later, a picture of Jinx appeared on the screen.

  Jake grinned.

  “I see you do have some skills,” Jinx teased.

  “Very funny. Now listen, Rita, when you go in there, try to get as many pictures as possible of the inside, any cameras, the metal box layout with the valuables, stuff like that.”

  “It’ll probably be better if I clip it onto my purse. I can get a better angle of stuff that way.”

  “Right,” Jake agreed. He worked with it a little until it was secure on her purse. It looked like a fancy buckle. He stepped back to observe his handiwork. “Ready”

  “Yep.”

  “Easy does it,” Jinx said, giving her a light peck on the lips.

  She used the pad of her thumb to wipe away the hint of lipstick on his mouth. She started for the door and then stopped. She turned, frowning. “Where’s Eva”

  “Went for a swim.”

  Rita eyed him for a minute, but Jake wouldn’t look at her. “Tell her to meet me at the casino around three. No, scratch that. Xavier will be there, I’m sure. He doesn’t need to see me and Eva together. Just tell her to call me so we can hook up later on. I’ll have my phone on vibrate, but she can leave me a message.”

  “Yeah, I’ll tell her,” Jake said, keeping his attention on the computer screen.

  Rita gave him one more look, slashed her eyes in Jinx’s direction. Jinx shrugged his shoulders, not knowing any more than she did.

  She closed the door behind her.

  Jinx meandered over to the bar and poured himself a glass of Coke. He waited awhile, hoping that Jake would open up and spill his guts. The suspense was killing him.

  “I know you’re waiting for me to say something,” Jake blurted.

  “Naw, not at all,” he lied. “But hey, if you wanna talk…”

  Jake chuckled, needing a bit of levity in his morning. He spun around in the chair to face his brother.

  “Things are pretty bad between me and Eva.”

  Jinx put his glass down and gave Jake his full attention. “You fucked up, didn’t you”

  Jake twisted his lips to the side, ready to protest. “Yeah, big-time.”

  “Is it about the kid”

  Jake nodded.

  Jinx was silent.

  “Made me sleep on the couch. That never happened before.”

  Jinx tried not to laugh. “Damn man, what did you say to the woman”

  “That’s just it, I didn’t say anything. I didn’t respond, react, nothing.”

  Jinx shook his head in disbelief. “You know better than that. I bet she had a fit.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Did you try talking to her this morning”

  He thought about their aborted conversation. “Not really.”

  “Then you need to talk to her, man. Tell her how you feel and why. She’ll understand. Eva is good people, bro, and she loves you.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “Of course it is. She’s your wife.”

  “Naw, you don’t understand. See…” He reminded Jinx about his confession to Eva regarding their friend Earl and that even though she acted like she understood, she still had him sleeping on the couch, knowing how bad the ship was rocking last night and what that did to him.

  “Jake, she was mad. And she had every right to be.”

  He jumped up. “And I don’t We promised each other: no kids. We agreed. So how did this happen She did it on purpose, and that’s what’s really digging at me, man. She tricked me. It’s what trifling women do to a brother when they wanna hook ’im. Not to somebody you claim to care about.”

  “Jake, be for real. Do you honestly believe that Eva is trifling Come on.”

  He couldn’t answer. It wasn’t Eva he was angry with; it was himself.

  “You have a chance that a lot of folks don’t get.”

  Jake looked at Jinx. “What’s that”

  “The chance to make things right.” He reached out and clasped his shoulder. “Right for both of us, with your kid.” He waited a beat. “Eva’s the best thing that ever happened to you. Don’t blow that for what you think might happen. The kid will have her genes too.” He gave his brother a crooked smile.

  “What if it’s a girl” he asked, trying to imagine a tiny version of Eva.

  “Then she’ll probably knock you upside the head every time you screw up, just like her mama.”

  They both rolled with laughter.

  “Yeah, man, you’re probably right,” he said, still chuckling.

  “So … you gonna talk to her”

  “Yeah.” He nodded his head. “I am.”

  “Tell her the truth. All of it.”

  26

  Rita walked up to the security booth that sat outside the ship’s safe. “Good morning.”

  The security guard, tucked away in a glass booth, looked up from reading a gaming magazine. He took her in all at once, his tongue slowly traveling over his lips.

  Rita smiled.

  “How can I help you this morning” He closed the magazine and focused on Rita.

  “I wanted to get into my safe deposit box.” She looked at his name tag. “Vincent.”

  His cheeks flushed. “I’ll have to see your identification.”

  “Of course.” She opened her purse, careful not to dislodge the camera, and subtly took a picture of the interior of the booth. She pulled out her wallet and took out her driver’s license. She handed it to Vincent.

  He looked it over, then gave back at her. “This picture does you no justice,” he said, his gaze doing another two-step all over her.

  “Aren’t you sweet.”

  “I aim to please.” He punched in a couple of keys on the computer, stared at the screen for a couple of minutes, then pressed another button. The printer next to him began to whirr, spitting out a blank signature card.

  He pushed it through the slot in the glass booth along with a pen. “If you can just sign here.” He pointed to the line where her signature went.

  Rita pulled the card toward her. Then acting very girly, she asked. “What is this for”

  “I need to verify your signature against what’s on file, and it also gives you permission to enter the vault.”

  “Oh, very thorough.” She signed her name.

  “Can’t be too careful.”

  “Is this where you’re stationed all the time” She kept her hand on the card and placed her purse on top of the counter, propping it up so that the camera had a perfect view of the interior of his glass booth. She set it to video.

  “Yep, this is my post. Eight hours a day.”

  “Get much business” she asked, her tone light and airy.

  He shrugged. “Some days are more busy than others. Generally it’s the high rollers who come back and forth, especially at night.”

  “Just how safe is my money with so much traffic I was a bit reluctant to leave it here. I thought it would be safer in my room.”

  He looked appalled that she would think such a thing.

  “The last place you want to leave anything truly valuable is in your room.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I mean, let’s face it—housekeeping has access to your room twenty-four–seven. Who’s to say they won’t get a case of the sticky fingers If you kn
ow what I mean.”

  Her eyes widened, feigning alarm. “You mean the staff would actually steal from the guests”

  “It’s been known to happen.”

  “And you say the safe is really the best place.”

  “Absolutely. We have complete video surveillance, state-of-the-art locks, and a foolproof system that prohibits anyone who is unauthorized inside the vault. I watch the camera right here whenever anyone goes inside.”

  “I see.” She pressed her palm to her chest, drawing his attention to her cleavage. “I feel much better.” She frowned for a moment. “I just had a thought. You can see me when I take out my money or jewelry That’s a bit tempting, don’t you think”

  “No, I can only see you when you go in. Once inside, you take out your box and go to a private area.”

  “Oh.” She smiled brightly. “Not that I don’t trust you, but everyone who sits here is not you.”

  He blushed. “Well, unless something happens to me, this is my spot for the duration of the trip. We’re kind of short-handed.”

  “That’s wonderful. Now I know I’m in good hands.” She made sure she got a good image of the card she signed before giving it back.

  He took the card and ran it through the scanner. He turned the computer monitor around to face her. “See, here’s the signature from the card.” He keyed in some code. Rita made sure to capture his every move. “And here is your signature when you signed up for your box in the vault.”

  The screen flashed, showing that it was a match.

  He turned to her, smiling with pride. “See, foolproof.”

  “All this technology goes right over my head.” She laughed. “As long as it works. Right”

  “It does, I can assure you.” He processed a card key and pushed it to her through the opening in the Plexiglas, then pressed a button, and the door to the right of him buzzed open. “Come through this door and walk straight down the corridor. Your box number is on the card, and all of the boxes are numbered. Use it the same way you would an ATM card. Once you insert it in your box slot, then it will open. You can take your box to the room that will be on your right.”

  Rita took the card and stepped through the door. She gave him a finger wave as she passed his glass booth.

  Inside the corridor, she held her purse against her chest, letting the camera roll to include each of the boxes that she passed, passing hers intentionally until she’d covered them all, then retraced her steps.

  “Oh, here it is,” she murmured for his benefit, knowing that she was being watched. She inserted the card, and the door to the box popped open. She took out the metal box and proceeded to the room on her right. She stepped inside and drew the curtain.

  She let the camera pan the room, paying special attention to the corners, where surveillance cameras could be hidden, even though Vincent said otherwise. One couldn’t be too careful. She opened her box and checked her winnings, staying a reasonable amount of time, and then left. The door buzzed again when she approached. She walked out to the other side.

  “Thank you so much, Vincent. Quite impressive. I feel totally confident that my valuables are safe.”

  “As long as I’m on duty, you have nothing to worry about.”

  She smiled brightly. “Have a good day. Maybe I’ll see you again—off duty.” Her brow arched in invitation, matched by a slow smile.

  He licked his lips and adjusted his tie. “I get off at ten.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” She waved again and walked away, being sure to give him a good look at her swaying hips.

  “Worked like a charm,” Jinx said as he and Jake watched the scenario unfold on their television monitor.

  “I’ll download all the video and photographs onto the computer and analyze them. Make sure all the bases are covered, and see what flaws are in their system.”

  “Doesn’t seem like there are any,” Jinx said.

  “Every system has a flaw. It’s only a matter of finding it and manipulating it.”

  “Well if Suarez’s stuff isn’t in his room, we better find that flaw.”

  Jake studied the screen. “Yeah,” he muttered. “We’d better.”

  27

  Rita headed back to Jake’s cabin, taking a circuitous route, hoping to catch a glimpse of Eva somewhere along the way. She was worried about her cousin. It wasn’t like Eva to disappear in the middle of a job. It was clear that there was trouble between her and Jake, but they couldn’t let that interfere with the job they were there to do.

  The whole baby thing was messing with Eva’s head, she had to remember. She’d heard all the stories about biological clocks and whatnot, and she supposed that it must have started its countdown with Eva.

  Was she really ready to kick the lifestyle they lived to the curb and become someone’s mother Of the two of them, it was true that Eva was more level-headed, more centered. But at the core of them both was the underlying need to live on the edge, take chances, wreak havoc among the unsuspecting—simply because they could.

  She rode the escalator up to the next level. But it was more than that, she reasoned. They were both searching for something, something they hoped to recover—their sense of worth. They both judged their own value by what they were able to attain at the expense of others, the same way it had been done to them.

  They’d been victimized since they were kids. Now the world was their victim, and any- and everything were up for grabs. Enough was never enough, almost as if what they acquired couldn’t fill the void in their souls.

  Could Eva really let that all go Was this baby a substitute to fill the gap—and would it be enough

  She crossed the expanse of the Lido Deck and spotted Xavier in close conversation with a woman. She halted her step, moved to the side to get a better view. She watched as Xavier worked his South American magic.

  Her stomach suddenly knotted.

  Damn.

  She turned and hurried off, going straight to Jake’s cabin.

  “Where’s Eva” Rita asked the instant she was inside the cabin.

  “Why What’s going on” Jake asked, turning away from the monitor to focus on Rita.

  “I just came from the Lido Deck. And Xavier was there.”

  “And” Jinx asked.

  “He was with some woman.”

  Jinx’s features pinched. “Why should that bother you”

  She turned hot eyes on him. “I’d swear it was that chick that Eva’s boss used to date. Whatshername.”

  “Traci,” Jake supplied.

  “Right!” She snapped her fingers. “They were very cozy.”

  “Yeah, Eva told me that she’d run into her on the ship, but she’d ignored her, acted like Traci was talking to the wrong person.”

  “Traci may be a lot of things, but she’s no fool. How long do you think it will be before she runs into Eva again Then what”

  “We’ll deal with it if we must. We all know that Xavier is a ladies’ man. And we all know that Traci is a man’s lady,” Jake said. “They were probably just talking.”

  “We don’t need her in the way. We have enough complications as it is,” Rita said.

  “Well, we can’t worry about that right now. Maybe it’s nothing. You don’t think you’ve lost your art of persuasion, do you” Jake asked.

  Rita rocked to the side. “Of course not.”

  “Then we have nothing to worry about. We go ahead with the plan.”

  “Yeah, and exactly what is the plan We have less than a day and a half before the ship docks. We don’t know for sure where he’s keeping the stash and how we’re going to make the switch.”

  Jake winked. “Jinx and I were working that all out when you busted in.”

  She pursed her lips. “All I know is, the only bracelets I want around my wrists are diamonds.” She sauntered off to the minibar and fixed an early afternoon drink. She turned to them with the drink in her hand. “So how did the pictures come out”

  “Perfect. You did a great job. Her
e, come take a look.” Jake moved over on the bed and pulled up the video on the television screen.

  Rita watched in awe. “Wow. That little camera thingy really works.”

  “As they say in the hood, I got skillz.” Jake chuckled.

  “Okay, Mr. Brilliant, how do we make the switch And what if the stuff is in the safe There’s no way to get in there without that card key and signature verification.”

  “You didn’t call me brilliant for nothing.”

  He laid out the scenario.

  * * *

  Lenora Ingram checked into the motel in Miami. Directly across the street from the airport. In two days, she would be a wealthy woman. The only thing hanging around her neck was her husband. She looked at him as he neatly put his shoes in the closet.

  When they first met, those little things were cute, his quirky neatness habits, his enthusiastic but often awkward lovemaking, and even his stutter. Now, she couldn’t stand any of it—or him.

  She wished she could blame it all on Jerry and their illicit affair. But she couldn’t. It rested with her, entirely.

  For years she’d had dreams of making her parents proud—as proud of her as they were of her two brothers, both cops, and of her sister, who was the light in her mother’s eye, with a minivan full of kids.

  Lenora was always in their shadow, from the time they were little kids growing up in the suburbs of Long Island. She was the sickly one, always with one illness or ailment after the other, the one who didn’t get the best grades or make the teams or have the handsome basketball captains ringing her doorbell on Friday nights.

  Everything for her had been a struggle. A struggle to keep up, to be seen, and her diminutive stature only spotlighted that problem.

  It was easy for her to be overlooked, passed over, go unnoticed. They all laughed when she said that she too was going into the police force.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” her retired detective father admonished. “The force is no place for you.”

  “You need to find yourself a good man like your sister and have some kids,” her mother said.

  Lenora was determined to prove them wrong. First she married Stan to please her parents. But when she discovered that she could never have children, she knew that was yet another disappointment to her folks. So she signed up for the police department against their adamant objections.