Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds

by Christy Barritt

  “It’s a different trail this time than last. I only hope this whole drop off doesn’t get messed up on the second go around. If it does, they threatened to … ” A tear rolled down her cheek. “They threatened to kill Jacqueline if we messed up again.”

  I sat up straighter. “So the kidnappers were in touch again?”

  “That’s right. They called my phone. I couldn’t recognize any voices. They were all muffled. I thought maybe there would be a clue or something.” She waved her head back and forth, her chin trembling. “I couldn’t figure out anything.”

  “Did you tell the police that?”

  “No, Clint insisted it was better this way. It’s so hard to know what to do.”

  I tapped my finger against the couch. Of course Clint had insisted that they not tell the police. That would have gotten in the way with his plan. I wondered if Mrs. Harrington had been introduced to Clint’s sidekicks. They could be playing an important role in all of this. “Have you met Clint’s friends that came to town?”

  She frowned, obviously not approving of his buddies. “Once.”

  “Where are they staying? Did Clint say?”

  She raised a shoulder, flicking a piece of fuzz from her arm as she did. “They rented a cabin somewhere. Now, what’s this all about?”

  I sucked in a deep breath before unloading the words that would rock her world. “Mrs. Harrington, I think Clint may be after your money.”

  CHAPTER 21

  After the Attorneys’ Conference was over for the day, Riley met me back in my room. Thankfully, Veronica wasn’t there. We had a few minutes to kill before we met the rest of the gang up in Derek’s suite.

  Riley tried to tell me a few things about the conference and all that he’d learned today. My mind was in another world, though. I was thinking about Clint and Jackie and money.

  Had Clint arranged for his friends to kidnap Jackie just so he could get money out of her? Was that the primary reason he’d dated her in the first place? Perhaps their whole relationship was just an elaborate scheme to get rich.

  I played it out in my mind. Clint meets Jackie. Realizes she’s loaded. Figures out he could use a relationship with her to his advantage. Maybe his first plan was to marry her and get her money that way. Then he found out that Jackie wouldn’t get any of her money if she married him. Then he’d come up with an alternative plan.

  Kidnap her. Demand a ransom. Run away with someone else.

  Riley rubbed my shoulders as I stared off into space, letting everything sink in. “You want to talk?”

  I glanced up at that hideous picture of Delores Allen. “I’m thinking about people’s heritages, I suppose.”

  “What about it?”

  I nodded toward that painting. “Think about it. The Allen family has a heritage of starting this world-class resort. In their day, they were practically celebrities as they mingled with the affluent here at Allendale. Then there’s Jackie. Jackie has this heritage of wealth. Her family who could buy their way into whatever they wanted. She’s never wanted for anything. Whenever people hear ‘Harrington Enterprises,’ they think of Jackie.”

  “Look where their heritages took them? The Allens were disgraced when they lost the resort. Jackie has had numerous struggles, mostly because of her money.”

  I glanced at him. “Then there’s my heritage. My dad was a drunk. My mom was too exhausted to shave her legs half of the time. How would things have been different for me if I’d grown up without my struggles? What if I’d grown up in a middle class neighborhood with a mom and dad who loved each other, with a brother who hadn’t been kidnapped? What if I hadn’t had to drop out of college?”

  “Our struggles help to make us who we are. We may have never met if you’d grown up in the way you just mentioned. It’s best if we don’t toy around with the ‘what ifs’ in life. We can’t change our past.”

  His words were true. There was no changing things that happened yesterday. We just had to make the most of today.

  Riley squeezed my hand. “Besides, you have a great heritage now. You have a spiritual heritage. Your spiritual heritage is one of faith, sacrifice, courage.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t thought about that before, but it was true. When I became a Christian, I became a new person. My slate was wiped clean. There weren’t many occasions you could say that in life.

  Riley tugged me to my feet. “Want to skip out on my friends tonight?”

  I shook my head. The idea was tempting. Very tempting.

  But Riley had come here to see his friends, and that’s what we should do. I could tune out the conversation once we met them and mull over my theories for longer, if I had to.

  “I think they need someone to keep them straight. I designate you.”

  Riley smiled, but there was something sad behind his grin. My curiosity pricked again. When was he going to tell me whatever it was that was on his mind?

  Soon, I hoped. Because curiosity killed the cat.

  And I was pretty sure that would be my cause of death one day, as well.

  ***

  Everyone gathered in Derek’s room. Derek’s suite must have been the crème de la crème of the Allendale. He had a full kitchen, a massive living room with a pool table and a hot tub, a huge balcony, and three bedrooms.

  Everyone else—including Riley—seemed perfectly content to unwind with a movie blaring on the TV. Derek had apparently had some food catered because there were trays of fancy cheeses and crackers and fruit placed strategically around the room. Jack the Dipper stood over the veggie tray.

  I kept an eye on him. Sure enough, he was up to his old ways.

  While Riley chatted near the balcony with Lillian, I paced around, turning thoughts over and over in my mind. But turn is all I could do. My thoughts wouldn’t rest or be still or even attempt to settle down.

  Nor could I. I couldn’t stay still. I just kept wondering what was going on. I wanted to be in the action. But I was trying to respect Riley’s wishes and not let a guilty conscience get the best of me.

  The rest of the gang was talking about the workshops they’d attended that day when Derek came into the room.

  “Did you guys hear?” Derek asked.

  He had four beer bottles tucked into the spaces between his fingers, and his hands were on his hips. His shirt was untucked in a trendy sort of way and he wore expensive jeans. No, I didn’t recognize the label. But I already knew what kind of person Derek was, and he was the type who liked the best of everything. His job as a malpractice attorney must pay really well.

  “Hear what?” Veronica stepped closer, a glass of wine in one hand, and her other arm was slung fashionably over her waist.

  “You guys are never going to believe this. The police arrested Clint.” Derek’s eyebrows were suspended in the air, and I could tell he was proud of himself that he’d been the one to break the news.

  “What do you mean the police arrested Clint?” Riley joined me. I was standing the closest to Derek at a couch near the door.

  Derek shook his head, his voice alive with excitement. He probably fed on stuff like this. “He set up the whole kidnapping. He left the ransom note. He got his cousins to help with the whole thing. It was all about the money. Apparently this guy already had a rap sheet. I can’t believe Jackie even gave him a second glance.”

  Lillian fell back into the couch, her face white, and her eyes fluttering. “Poor Jackie. She’s always been worried about people using her just for her money and now this.” She glanced back at Derek. “Is she okay?”

  “Apparently the police are searching for her now,” Derek said. “They’re hoping that Clint will give up her location now that there’s nothing to hide.”

  Derek was a malpractice attorney. He had to know there was always something to hide. Always.

  “How did you find all of this out?” Lane asked. His hands were on his hips, his forehead wrinkled, his jaw tight. Out of everyone in the group, he looked the most worried. Could that be because he sti
ll had feelings for Jackie? Or was I reading too much into it?

  Derek finally set some of the beer bottles down on an antique-looking table. He shoved a silk flower arrangement out of the way like it was a piece of trash. “One of the valets told me. Apparently the police got an anonymous tip that led them to the arrest.”

  I held my breath. I dared not look at Riley and risk giving away something. Instead, I nodded. “That’s great news.”

  Derek froze for a moment before a huge grin stretched across his face and he jumped on one of the couches. “I’d say so. As soon as the police find Jackie, we can officially party without guilt. No more of this walking around subdued and respectful. We came here to have fun, and now we can finally do it!”

  “Derek, you’re a pig,” Lillian muttered. She waved a hand in the air as if to brush him off.

  Derek ignored her and addressed the rest of the group. “So, tomorrow I say we go four-wheeling and hang out in the hot tub. We get our party on.”

  “Oh, come on, man. We know you’ve been hanging out at the hot tub all week anyway,” Lane muttered. Was that a glimmer of admiration in his eyes? “We’ve all noticed how you’re skipping the workshops.”

  “There are advantages to being your own boss.” Derek shrugged, looking full of himself with that grin across his face. The words “full of himself” and “Derek” seemed to go hand in hand. This guy was a piece of work. His Light Bright teeth glowed at anyone looking his way. “You know me well, friend. You know me well. After we go four-wheeling, we can go hiking or maybe rent one of those Segways, maybe hit a bar or two wherever we can find one.”

  Lane remained silent. I was sure he would object, that he’d have some class.

  Instead, he raised his beer. “Sounds like a plan to me!”

  Riley and I looked at each other but said nothing. How would we get out of those plans without looking holier-than-thou? I wasn’t sure.

  “But for tonight … ” Derek ripped off his shirt. “We’re having a toga party!”

  I had to look away from the spectacle called Derek. Perhaps his first dream had been to be a Chippendales dancer? I could only imagine what the man’s commercials were like.

  As someone cranked up the music, Riley pulled me back toward the door. “I’m sorry.”

  I was amused, and I couldn’t hide it. “Toga party?”

  He shrugged, glancing back at his friends. “Reliving the glory days from college. You know, back before there were responsibilities.”

  I glanced back and saw that Lane had taken off his shirt as well. “I wish they wouldn’t.” Besides, I couldn’t relate. I’d dropped out of college to care for my ailing mom, so college was all about responsibility for me. There were times I dreamed about what it would be like to feel carefree, to not have to worry about paying my bills or if my dad would become homeless. I’d never had that luxury.

  Riley nodded toward the door. “Do you want to leave?”

  I shook my head. “No, I want to be a light in the darkness. I mean think about it. If you hadn’t decided to hang out with me, despite how messed up I was, then I wouldn’t have ever seen that you were different … in a good way.”

  Riley grinned and kissed my forehead. “I love you, Gabby St. Claire.”

  “I love you, too.” I love you enough that I didn’t go watch the drop or see Clint get arrested. I hadn’t totally stayed out of the investigation, but I hadn’t jumped in feet first, either. That was a good step for me.

  All around us, Riley’s friends were stripping sheets from the beds and out of drawers. Veronica sashayed over to me and began wrapping some bedding around my midsection. I raised my hands in surprise, though the action afforded Veronica a better opportunity to toga-fy me. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to get you into the spirit.” She looked at Riley and playfully raised an eyebrow. “You’re next.”

  I didn’t like the undertones of her statement. I’d like to say I wasn’t the jealous type, but I was. I knew she’d taken it hard when Riley broke up with her. She wasn’t still holding out for a chance with him, was she?

  Veronica had already expertly draped a sheet over her lithe figure. Lillian grabbed some flowers from a vase and began wrapping them into wreaths to go around people’s heads.

  Alcohol, already abundant, suddenly appeared from every direction. These people had just been waiting for the “burden” of Jackie’s kidnapping to be resolved, hadn’t they? I couldn’t judge. I’d been in bad places in my life before. I knew what it was like to seek temporary pleasures and relief from the demons in our lives.

  But something about all of this seemed sad.

  This scene around me was so foreign from how I’d pictured Riley. I couldn’t see him ever enjoying any of this. Had he been the good boy while everyone else partied? Had he been the designated driver to ensure no one got into accidents after a night of binging? Something just didn’t compute in my mind.

  “Beer?” Derek held out a bottle to me.

  I shook my head and yanked up the white sheet around me. “I don’t drink.”

  He stared at me like I was the most un-American person he’d ever met.

  “My father’s an alcoholic,” I explained. I hadn’t drank, even before Riley came into my life and I started going to church. Nope, I’d seen firsthand the negative impacts liquor could have on a person, and I didn’t want anything to do with it.

  Derek shrugged. “Suit yourself. Riley?”

  Riley shook his head and casually raised a hand. “I’m good.”

  Derek raised his hands in the air as his mouth dropped open. “Oh, come on. What happened to the King of Guzzling?”

  Riley grimaced. “I’m not that person anymore, Derek.”

  Derek finally shrugged and took a step back. “Just means more for me, I guess!”

  Riley and I really needed to talk. Like really needed to.

  We settled on the couch to watch the spectacle around us. I couldn’t help but laugh when his friends, now fully inebriated, started dancing Gangnam Style. I couldn’t help but join them when they started into the Harlem Shake.

  I was laughing so hard that my side hurt when I sat beside Riley again. “Maybe you guys can do a Dead Poets Society thing after this. Isn’t that what every rich college boy does?”

  Riley chuckled. “I’ll let you think that.”

  I licked my lips, realizing how thirsty I was, and then nodded toward the kitchen. “I’m going to grab a water, Oh Captain, My Captain. Do you want one?”

  Riley ducked as a beach ball flew by his face. “Where did that come from?”

  He didn’t look uncomfortable here. In fact, the way he lounged with his hand across the back of the couch and a smile on his face reminded me of all I loved about him. He had standards that he didn’t back down from, but he wasn’t afraid to be around people who weren’t like him.

  “Some water sounds great.”

  I walked into the kitchen and nearly stopped in my tracks when I saw Veronica there digging through the refrigerator. Her toga showed all of her curves and way too much of her legs. Suddenly, I wanted to grab one of those plush robes and throw it over her before Riley remembered what he was missing.

  She looked up when I walked in. A coy smile tugged at her lips as she stood, a canister of whip cream in hand. “Gabby. Nice moves out there.”

  I shrugged, trying to picture what I’d probably looked like. It was better if I didn’t know. “Just having some fun.”

  Using her foot, she shut the fridge door, a little too hard if you asked me. She leaned there, staring at me, her eyes assessing. “You know, Riley looks really happy. I wanted to say congratulations to you both.”

  I was impressed. Veronica was being very mature about this whole thing. I couldn’t honestly say that I’d do the same thing in her shoes. “Thank you.” I grabbed two bottles of water from the counter and started to take a step away.

  Veronica kept talking, though. “I was worried about Riley after I broke up with h
im, you know. I feared he’d be devastated for a long time.”

  I shook my head, thoughts colliding inside. She’d said, after I broke up with him. That wasn’t the story I heard. I tilted my head and chose my words carefully. I set the water back on the counter. “He broke up with you.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Is that what he told you? That’s so sweet. He probably just didn’t want you to feel like his second choice.”

  Anger ripped through me, but I pushed it down. I had to stay in control, but I clearly could see where she was going with this. “I realize that you’re mean and vindictive, Veronica, but why don’t you give it a rest? After this week is over, I’ll never see you again.”

  The way she raised her eyebrows and glided from the room made me wonder what exactly she had up her sleeve.

  I wasn’t smiling this time when I sat beside Riley. “Where’s the water?”

  I looked down at my hands, half expecting the bottles to be there. Whether I liked it or not, Veronica had rattled me. “I must have forgotten.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  I was determined not to let Veronica get to me, but despite my best efforts, her proclamation that I was Riley’s second choice still replayed in my head. “We really should talk sometime.”

  His eyes swam with emotions as he examined my face. Finally, he took my hand. “Let’s talk now.”

  CHAPTER 22

  He tugged me to my feet and led me from the room. As soon as the door closed, the loud music and raucous party noise instantly muted. We kept walking until Riley opened a door leading to a small porch overlooking the back of the resort. The pools glimmered under the moonlight, and the mountains seemed to guard the entire place.

  No one else was on this porch, so I took one rocking chair and Riley took the other. He looked off into the distance, and I could tell something was weighing heavy on his mind. Finally, he leaned toward me.

  “There are parts of my life that I’ve never told you about, Gabby.” His voice sounded scratchy.

  My heart began pounding in my ears. I’d gotten a few insights into how he was at college, but what if there was more? What if I didn’t like something he told me? “Like what?”