Behaving Badly

by Ursula Whistler

  “Good news.” Maybe her mood had lightened if she could greet people with a smile, and Jess had one for Bill. “If I can get four boxes to where Yvonne works, we can use their industrial shredding service. It’s there today only, and they do all the work. I’ll need to borrow a car, though.”

  He clapped. “How kind, and yes, use the car. I marked the boxes with an X. Pay no attention to the labels. I moved things around. They’re old boxes. Want help loading them?”

  “I’ll be fine. Moving around will help bring me out of this sour mood.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t a reason for this?”

  “I’m fine. Really.” She pointed to the flowers outside. “It’s Spring fever. I get it every year. The flowers, the breeze, the fragrance in the air; all that makes me unhappy to be inside. I’ll get these few boxes out of the way, focus on the meeting, and maybe ask to be seated in this loveliness.”

  “All right.” Bill narrowed his eyes. “Your sister says that you’re different lately. Talking helps many problems.”

  “Thanks, but it’s nothing.” She wouldn’t talk to either of them about her anger at Drew. They were innocent, of that she was sure. Neither of them seemed desperate for money, just attentive to those issues. They had drawn up a contract for how she should pay back the money they’d loaned her, and her sister gave her gentle reminders around the fifth of every month. The final payment neared. She planned to use any earnings from this movie deal to pay up in one lump sum. Then, she’d look for a new job and take gigs that wouldn’t reflect negatively on the church. “No worries about me,” she said as she left the office.

  Bill called after her. “Are you sure there’s not a problem with Mr. Favreau?”

  That stopped her. “No. Like I said, it’s not going to work.”

  “Is that because you found out what he does?”

  “No,” she lied. Something in Bill’s tone alarmed her. He was fishing for information. Although she possessed some, she didn’t feel compelled to share. “We’re just not compatible, and it took a few dates to know that.”

  “Ah.” He smiled, the kind with no teeth or any feeling behind it. “You do know what he does?”

  “Corporate security. One of the regulars at the breakfast now has a job as the doorman at his building. It’s a nice story. I think you’ve met Reggie.” Was she reading suspicion in his body language? She felt like the bones of her spine shivered.

  “What he calls security is really investigation. He’s a private eye.”

  “Oh.” She lifted a shoulder to show him that she didn’t care. She had nothing to hide except a bad credit history that would follow her forever, and he shouldn’t either. Teresa and Bill were comfortable. But this line of questioning made her wonder. “I suppose they need spiritual guidance, too.” She wanted out of this conversation. “I need to drop off those things for shredding and make my meeting. I’d prefer not to be late for either one.”

  Bill shook a finger at her. “You be careful of him. He might be chasing after you to get information.”

  “Got it, but we’re not seeing each other now. It’s over.” She pointed to the door. “I’ve got things to do, people to see.”

  “Take off, then.”

  Jess had never been so glad to leave a room. Instead of thinking Bill innocent, possible guilt grew in her mind. She chewed her lip as she headed to the oversized storage room.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Looking at the contents of the car’s trunk caused Jess’ shoulders to round and her body to sigh. She should have asked for help, because now her arms and back hurt from lugging the four boxes from the church. She’d tried to pull beside the shredding truck, but a parking enforcement officer told her to move and in not very nice language.

  With a tug, she got the first box out and headed to the sidewalk. She could make the walk with the box. It was only a block, and she only held paper. Balancing the box on her leg, she reached to close the trunk. She clipped the edge of her knee as it closed, and the box tipped over into the street.

  “Dammit!” A river breeze blew a few loose pages away. She ran to grab them, grateful that she didn’t have to be careful. As soon as she had three of the pages in hand, four more flew in the wind, making loop de loops. She shoved what she had in the box and chased after the others. After tripping twice, she had all the papers in hand.

  She sat on the curb next to the spilled box and laughed. “What a fucking horrible few days this has been.”

  Carefully, so that more pages wouldn’t escape, she tipped the box onto its bottom. As she placed the crumpled papers on top, she paused. Slid in between the pages was a disc, a kind no one used any longer, except the church, because it hadn’t updated the computers in years. No one thought it necessary. They could print, send emails, and make the monthly newsletter with what they had, and what they couldn’t do, a parishioner often volunteered to accomplish.

  The disc had no label, which meant that it came from Bill’s computer. She labeled everything. Why would he want this destroyed? He could just delete it. Wondering what else might be in the box, she flipped through the files, fussing as she did. The folders could be reused. If she had time, she’d take out all the folders and leave the contents for the shredders. But, a lunch date with movie producers awaited, and she knew this would take time from that. Yvonne would bitch her out as it was.

  At the bottom of the box, rows of numbers caught her attention. It looked like one of her reports. That should be recent enough to be kept for tax purposes. She’d only worked at the church for two years. She tugged it out to read it better.

  “Holy crap.”

  “What?”

  Jess shoved the papers into the box and slapped on the top. “Dammit, Yvonne. You scared me.”

  Her singing partner jutted a rounded hip out. “I thought I’d come check on you since you hadn’t made it to the building yet. We’ve only got fifteen minutes, and it’s a five minute walk, at least, to the restaurant. Usually I don’t mind being fashionably late, but for this kind of green, I’m going to be right on time smiling like there ain’t never been anything bad in my life.”

  “I know, but…”

  “Uh unh, there’s no buts in this business, honey.”

  “Let me drop you off at the lunch. Deidre will be there, and y’all can make nice while I get this taken care of.” She lifted the box after opening the trunk.

  “What you got to do that’s more important than this is gig?”

  Jess took a deep breath. “You know that sexy man who whisked me away from the yacht club?”

  “Ooo, honey, yes. You still getting some?”

  “Yes,” she shook her head. “No, but, crap.” She could explain more after lunch. She hit the highlights. “He’s doing an investigation, and I found what could be evidence. I’ve got to get these boxes to him.”

  “Serious?”

  She widened her eyes and pressed her lips together. “Yep.”

  “Get on then. I’ll walk, but don’t get tied up more with this. This producer guy likes you. Deidre and I are just cherries on the top.”

  Jess opened the car door. “Shut up. People love the cherries. It’s what they eat first.”

  “Girl, you right.”

  Jess sped away with new, stomach-churning suspicion about Bill taking money from the church tithes on her mind. She refused to consider if Teresa were involved. Images of their tense faces and the whispered arguing behind closed doors during the time she lived with them. No wonder Drew kept close to her. Everyone would think she would be part of it. She’d be open, laying all her past and crappy finances before everyone, but not to Drew. She swallowed the acid burning her throat. “I hope his boss is there and not him.” She couldn’t face him yet.

  ****

  Ward, with a wide grin on his face, clapped Drew on the shoulder as he returned to the office. “What magic did you weave around that girl?”

  “Nothing.” He curled his lip. “Remember. She caught me. I’m a dick.
I hurt her soul. I’m that guy.” Drew dropped into the chair at his desk.

  Ward watched him with an open mouth. “You didn’t send her here?”

  “Here?” He sat upright. “You’ve seen her?”

  “Yeah. She brought us presents.” Ward pointed to a stack of boxes two wide and two deep. “We’ve got work to do.”

  Drew rolled his chair to the white boxes with an X on the top and sides. “She must have been on her way here while I was going there. That sneaky pastor said that they’d taken care of all their shredding already. Clearly, she deceived him.”

  “But why?”

  “What did she say?”

  Ward took the top off the first box. “That she had a delivery for you. She looked frantic, like she might miss an appointment. I met her on the street and had the doorman help me with these.”

  “That’s it?” Drew rolled up the sleeves of his dark blue shirt. “We do have some work. She must have suspected something.”

  “You should be happy about this turn of events. She might trust you again.”

  Drew scoffed. “This is good, because I can finish the job in a short time frame. Nothing else has changed. I still suspected her, and she’s not going to get over that soon.”

  Ward clapped him on the back. “Look at it this way—you won’t be jilting her on a date due to working too late.”

  “Got that right. Look at this.” Drew held up a green disc. “We got anything that will take this?”

  Ward took the disc and turned it over in his hand. “We don’t, but I bet someone in the building can recover that data.”

  “That’s your job.” Drew pulled out the first folder. “Where’s that extra table?”

  Ward slid into the chair at his desk and picked up the phone. “Closet. I’ll get it when I make this call.”

  “Bandages.”

  “Huh?”

  “For the paper cuts I’m sure to get.” He wiggled a paper over the box. “She’s brought us a goldmine.” Maybe he hadn’t condemned himself to a life without her. If she’d cared enough about him to bring potentially damning evidence against her family members, they had a chance. A real one.

  Of course, her life would change, and not for the better. Forensic accountants would look over her financials if her brother-in-law were involved in any embezzlement. He paused and rubbed his forehead. She wouldn’t want him anywhere near her since he’d be a constant reminder of a seriously bad moment. Sometimes being an investigator royally sucked.

  ****

  At five that evening, Jess still sat at her desk. She’d intentionally messed up the newsletter so that she’d have to work late. All day she had planned and worried so much that the antacids in her stomach added to the queasiness. She’d turned to ginger ale, raiding the snack fridge in the teacher’s lounge.

  Bill stopped at her desk. “You’re still here. Go home, or come with me.”

  She put on her best sad face, the one that she used while singing a lonesome ballad. “I can’t. My computer crashed, and all the work I put into the newsletter vanished. I’m going to finish it tonight. That will make up for me being gone longer to lunch, too.”

  “How did that go? Good news?”

  No acting needed for this response, she thought. “Fabulous news. We’re signed up, and the first official rehearsals begin next week. The album will be released before the movie, and this is the best part. We’ve got a chance at being added to Jazz Fest for the second weekend. I nearly fainted.”

  “Wonderful, Jess. Wonderful. Thanks for taking those boxes to the shredder. Did you get to watch them?”

  “Um, no. Should I?” Her stomach rumbled. She’d hoped before that he had nothing to hide, but now she knew he did.

  He smiled, the patronizing one that he’d used on her before when explaining to her why some songs weren’t appropriate for her to sing. “It would have been nice to have confirmation, but I didn’t ask it of you.”

  She had to lie, and that caused a knot in her guts. “They were very professional, logging in the boxes. I have a receipt.” Ward had made her wait as she danced on the sidewalk, worried about being late and about the betrayal of her family. He brought her four boxes that weighed half as much, but she’d have something to give the shredding truck. His forethought saved her from a bald-faced lie. She’d only made a little white one.

  “Perfect. You did say they were professional.”

  Before he could ask, she offered, “I put it in with the other receipts for the year.”

  “Thank you. Are you sure you’ll be okay here?” He moved closer to her desk.

  She’d be better here than at home or eating dinner with them. Even if her sister didn’t know about what Bill was doing, she couldn’t tell her. She couldn’t even tell Yvonne or Deidre everything. The only person she could turn to for help was the one person she didn’t want to see again, ever.

  “Yep.” She smiled. “There’s still light. The walk home will be fine, and I have leftovers from lunch. The only bad part of the day was losing the newsletter, and that can be fixed.”

  Her relief came out in a sigh as he closed the door and walked to the car. He’d be gone on hospital visits this evening, and she didn’t need to worry about him returning. She watched him drive away before picking up her cell phone.

  ****

  Drew waited in his car three blocks from the church. He didn’t pretend to have a conversation on his phone. He opted to watch for the reverend’s car to leave and to wait for the call that she said she would make. Not that he’d heard any of it. Jess contacted Reggie, and the doorman had delivered every message to him and Ward as they waded through the boxes filled with evidence of wrong doing.

  She’d said two words. “He’s gone.”

  With the car parked along the street by her apartment, he strolled to the door, trying to keep his heartbeat even. The rhythm revved when she opened the door to the church office. The urge to wrap his arms around her, whispering his apologies and promising her nothing but happiness from here on out, nearly knocked him to his knees. The icy look she shot him helped bring him to the less forgiving reality. He let her speak first.

  “You parked by my place. Right?”

  He nodded. He understood her angst. He’d been undercover enough times to know that the first act of betrayal ate at your insides. She’d probably emptied a bottle of antacids by now.

  “You have at most an hour, but I’d make it less. And, you’re still an asshole. There will be no talking about us.” She looked out the window of the office door. “Teresa visits the nursing home tonight, and Bill is at the hospital. But he’s suspicious.”

  He noticed the reddened rims of her eyes. This decision hurt her. “I’ll be in and out. I need access to his computer.”

  She unlocked the door to the pastor’s office. “Leave the light off. He doesn’t use a password. He trusts me. Like I trusted you. That part of me is done.”

  “I’m sorry.” He was. He had no way of telling her how much he hurt. He’d never had a chance to tell her that she meant more to him than sex, because he didn’t understand it himself until she shoved him out her door.

  “That you got caught.” She turned away from him. “We aren’t talking about this. Just look for what you need. I saved all my files, the financial ones, to one of those thumb drives. He’s changed his. I know that. He’s hiding something.” She dangled a tiny memory device from her hand.

  He nodded and took her data. “All business, Jess.”

  “Damn straight.”

  He heard the clunk of a chair as she sat in it. He wasted no time searching the files. He copied what he could onto the drives he brought with him and searched the office as the bits of information transferred. He slipped out the door after half an hour with a whispered thank you. All he got from her was a grunt.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Five weeks hadn’t been enough for Jess to feel less pain about the day her brother-in-law and sister were arrested for theft. Her life had gotten m
ore interesting, but not in a good way. She liked to pretend the FBI search of her apartment, the court dates, and Bill’s plea agreement never happened. She lived for the happiness of her singing career and worked to be content in the hotel desk clerk job that she’d managed to get. The church wouldn’t keep her even if all evidence cleared her of guilt. Tainted by association, the elders told her. No one at the church trusted her. They shunned her.

  Instead of focusing on the ugly past, she looked forward to the rehearsals and to the recording session. With the album on sale at digital retailers, they’d caught an empty spot in the schedule of Jazz Fest. All three of them fanned themselves and sat down in unison when the cubes, or printed schedules, showed Tres Belles on the Fais Do Do stage. After weeks of waiting, their day in the sun had arrived. Or would, tomorrow.

  Jess and Yvonne tossed dresses on the bed as they tried to choose one for the biggest live performance of their careers. Deidre said she had no fashion sense and would wear whatever they told her to put on that day. The other two felt the pressure and had emptied Jess’s closet—even the demure dresses. Yellow and pink were out, as were blacks and browns. They’d almost settled on shades of reds and oranges when Jess blurted out, “We’re The Golds in the movie. Let’s wear gold.”

  Yvonne nodded, but suggested, “How about you in gold and us in silver with gold belts? That fits Tres Belles, too.”

  She clapped her hands. “Shiny. I’m talking shiny. The sun glinting off of us, making us glitter like stars.”

  “Hell, yeah. We’re stars. Album, movie, and a spot at Jazz Fest.” Yvonne fell on top of the dresses. “I signed on the line for private school yesterday. My girl’s gonna have the best now.” She pushed to a seated position. “Sorry. I know it’s not been all rainbows for you.”

  “Sure it has. We’ve got gigs galore and promotions to do. The shows at the WWII museum aren’t anything to turn our noses up at. I’d like it if all that money from the movie would get here, but life is good.”