A Lover Awaits

by Patricia Rosemoor

  Grateful for the woman’s intervention, whatever her motive, Phoebe vowed to repay her somehow.

  In the meantime, where was Simon?

  And where was Vance’s car? Not in the drive. And Regina’s car still blocked the entry to the garage.

  Vance had purposely left his car away from the house, maybe on the old shell road used by tradesmen, so he wouldn’t alert her.

  His deviousness certainly pointed to his guilt.

  Clambering behind the wheel and starting the engine, she kept an eye out for some trace of Simon as she pulled away from the house. Nothing. Again she drove slowly along the same route to the main road.

  What if Simon was trapped in the house with Vance?

  Phoebe prayed the man would have the sense to stay hidden for as long as it took Vance to leave. Then what? How would he get away?

  She couldn’t hang around, waiting for him at the entrance to the property.

  Once away from the house, she craned around in hopes of spotting him through the thick growth. She was intent on the trees to the left when a sudden movement to the right made her whip around, jerking the wheel in the process.

  “Simon!” she gasped.

  Even as she swerved, he managed to hop directly over the passenger door and into the convertible.

  “That was close,” he said as she wrestled the car back under control. “I thought Laughlin wasn’t supposed to be home.”

  “That was the idea. He wanted me to believe it so I wouldn’t be on guard.” Relieved that he’d made it out of the place without running into Vance, she glanced his way. He seemed more relaxed than she was feeling. “How close?”

  “Another ten seconds and we would have been playing out a whole different scenario with the man.”

  An idea that made Phoebe a little woozy.

  “Thank God that didn’t happen. Wait a minute... what if he follows me?”

  “By the time he changes the flat tire, we’ll be long gone.”

  “Flat tire?” she echoed, suddenly smiling. “You found his car.”

  “Did I say that?”

  He didn’t have to. The startling grin splitting Simon’s face was proof enough.

  Leaving the property behind, Phoebe was starting to relax when he asked, “So, did you find anything?”

  The second diary at the bottom of her bag made her shift in her seat. She gave him a noncommittal shrug. “Did you?”

  “When you get back on the highway, find some place to pull over.”

  “Was that a yes?”

  “Someplace discreet.”

  Five minutes later, Phoebe pulled into a large strip mall and parked amidst a sea of cars.

  “So tell me,” she demanded.

  “Laughlin hid an envelope behind some books,” he said, undoing the top button of his shirt.

  “No wonder he was staring at that bookcase so intently!”

  “I figured it would be in your best interests to leave everything the way I found it. Including the envelope, just in case he got suspicious enough to check for it. But I smuggled this out.”

  He pulled an eight-by-ten glossy from the confines of his shirt.

  Audra in Boone’s arms.

  “She wasn’t imagining it,” Phoebe said softly, noting the unfamiliar setting.

  Considering she could see the fan section of an airboat, the couple had to be embracing on a dock in the Glades. Behind them, a small weatherworn house stood on stilts that would take it above the rise of water even during the wettest of seasons. A love nest?

  Something else Audra hadn’t told her about.

  “Vance was having Audra followed, then, just like she said. Spied on. Photographed. This is proof of his obsession with her.”

  “The police may not see a photograph of his wife and her lover as anything more significant than evidence for divorce proceedings.”

  “But he didn’t want a divorce.”

  “Doesn’t matter. He could say he knew the divorce was inevitable and he figured he needed some insurance so the judge would side with him when it came time to the financial settlement.”

  Phoebe didn’t want to believe that their first real break was of no value. “But if we could get the investigator to talk, maybe he could give us something more substantial to use.”

  “No return address on the envelope.”

  Her spirits plummeted. “So we don’t even know who took them.”

  “I didn’t say that exactly. On the back of one of the photos, someone scrawled a number and a message to call Bubba at eight.”

  “So what are we waiting for? Let’s find a phone and call this Bubba person.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up too high. Bubba might not be talking. Or it could be nothing.”

  “And it could be something.”

  Besides, she had already been as low as she could get. Up was the only option left open to her.

  THE PHONE NUMBER turned out to be that of the Osprey Nest, a bar on the road to Everglades City. Since he lived in the general vicinity, Simon knew the place. And being more or less acquainted with the bartender made it fairly easy to learn that Bubba was a regular.

  On the walk back to her car, he related all that to Phoebe and promised, “I’ll check it out tonight.”

  “You mean we, don’t you?”

  “If I meant we, I would have said so.”

  “What’s the problem, Simon?”

  She was the problem. Too headstrong...too daring... too tempting. She distracted him, and knowing the sort of clientele that frequented the Osprey Nest, he suspected he’d need all his faculties honed on his purpose.

  What he told her was, “No need for both of us to cover the same tracks.”

  “I have nothing better to do with my evening.”

  When he said, “Try catching up on your reading,” she started, and a becoming blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks.

  For a moment, she seemed dumbfounded, and something more—guilty?—then she pulled her eyebrows together and glared at him.

  “You have something against my company?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Then, what?”

  “The Osprey Nest is...”

  “What? A bar? I’m half owner of a bar and grill, remember.”

  “I was going to say primitive.”

  Bikers and swampers together in the same bar could mean a volatile mix.

  “You think I can’t handle myself.”

  “No. I’m afraid you will. I don’t want trouble.”

  Her mouth gaped open, but she snapped it shut just as quickly.

  “Good, we’re agreed, then,” he said before she could regain her wits.

  “Right,” she said sweetly. “We’ll each go on our own.”

  “Phoebe! You’re being impossible.”

  “One of my best qualities.”

  Simon could tell he wasn’t getting anywhere with this hardheaded woman. If he didn’t take her with him, he feared she would make good on her threat. Having her under his thumb rated slightly above her showing up as a loose cannon.

  Still, unused to caving, he narrowed his gaze at her. “Where will I find you?” He needed to get the upper hand in some way.

  “When?”

  “You have to eat.”

  “Then meet me at the Blue Crab.” Turning a guileless smile on him, she added, “You are familiar with the place, aren’t you?”

  She was teasing him about showing up there unannounced that morning. Simon chose not to react, merely saying, “At eight.”

  Which would give Bubba plenty of time to get to Osprey Nest before them. Assuming the man would be there at all.

  “Make it seven,” she said.

  “Why so early?”

  “You have to eat, too.”

  The verbal byplay reminding him of his earlier go around with Blair.

  Then, again, he’d won that one...

  HAVING SEVERAL HOURS to kill, Simon decided to spend them at Calderon Charters, ostensibly to learn m
ore about the business, but in reality to get better acquainted with Elise Navarro. He suspected she still had much stronger feelings for Boone than his ex-fiancée had ever had.

  Elijah Greer, the wizened black man who’d given Elise water when she had her fainting spell, was in her office when Simon tapped at the door. Seeing Simon, Elijah frowned and slid off the desk, where he’d been sitting. He said something to Elise in a low tone, then made for the exit, barely nodding at Simon as he went.

  “You have messages.”

  Wondering how anyone could know he would be there, he asked, “Who from?”

  “A vendor. Boone’s lawyer. And Blair Ratcliff.”

  He didn’t miss the slight shift in Elise’s expression at the mention of the other woman. She picked at the half-eaten lunch at her elbow.

  “Blair called?” he mused aloud, just to get her reaction.

  “She wanted you to know something came up and she couldn’t meet you at seven for dinner tomorrow night, after all.” Elise couldn’t quite mask her disapproval. “She said to make it at nine instead.”

  The time Blair had wanted to meet in the first place. So he hadn’t actually won anything at all in that corner, Simon thought wryly. Though Elise’s curiosity certainly seemed piqued. Now that could be promising. Choosing to make the most of the opportunity, he parked himself on the edge of the desk in front of hers.

  “Tell me about my brother’s ex-fiancée.”

  “She’s rich and, unless you’re blind, you know she’s model-beautiful,” Elise said as if she’d compared herself and felt she’d come up lacking.

  “I wasn’t asking about the obvious.”

  “What, then?”

  “I was wondering what went wrong between her and Boone? Before Audra,” he qualified.

  Elise toyed with a sandwich half, showing a greater interest in the food than Simon figured she really had. Because she didn’t relish thinking about Boone’s relationship with another woman?

  Then, as if making up her mind to satisfy his curiosity, she set down the food and said, “Your brother wasn’t ambitious enough to satisfy Blair’s daddy. And she couldn’t make him toe the line.”

  “What line?”

  “Name it. Everything had to be her way. She wasn’t interested in what Boone wanted, whether it had to do with business...or their wedding plans.” Her expression hardening her pretty features, she added, “Blair Ratcliff is what we common folk call a royal bitch.”

  Not having expected her to be so direct, Simon arched his eyebrows. “But tell me how you really feel.”

  Elise’s bronzed face grew ruddy. “Sorry. I assumed you wanted honesty.”

  “Honesty is what I want.”

  But how much would she give him?

  If he asked her directly about her own relationship to Boone, would she deny there had been anything personal between them?

  He said, “Even so, Boone obviously loved Blair. I found the engagement ring last night. The inscription said it all. Forever...”

  She smirked. “That doesn’t tell you a thing about the way it really was.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Boone had nothing to do with that ring but pay for it. Blair’s daddy is this big-deal, world-famous jeweler. She had the ring custom-designed for herself and had the bill sent to your brother. You have to appreciate the irony—when the bill arrived, Boone was trying to figure out how to break it off with her nice and clean.”

  “Was that before or after he met Audra?”

  “Before...I—I guess.”

  Elise appeared uncertain. Did that mean she wasn’t as privy to his brother’s life as he’d suspected...or that Boone had been trying to keep his affair with Audra quiet since both Blair and Laughlin continued to be part of the picture? Blair had indicated Audra had come between her and Boone, but that could have been part of her face-saving routine.

  “My brother must’ve been pretty ticked to tell you about the ring.”

  “Boone told me lots of things,” she murmured, sounding a little lost. “We were...close.”

  How close?

  Simon didn’t want to put her on guard by asking. He figured if he played it smart, she’d eventually tell him what he wanted to know...one way or the other.

  “Odd,” he said instead.

  “What?”

  “About the inscription, I mean. Why would Blair have the sentiment Forever engraved in the ring if she was dissatisfied enough with the relationship to end it?”

  “Blair told you she broke the engagement?” Elise sounded strangled. “Oh, add liar to bitch! You should have heard her when he told her it was over—she was fit to be tied! She said no man humiliated her and got away with it. She also said he’d be sorry.”

  “My brother told you all this?”

  “I heard it with my own ears.”

  An interesting turn of events. “Then he broke the news to her here at the office.”

  “No, at the house.” Her hazel eyes widened slightly. “Um, I’d stopped by to drop off some work,” she said unconvincingly. “Blair didn’t know I was in the other room. She goaded Boone...and he must’ve gotten angry enough to forget about me when he finally gave her the boot.”

  Simon thought about the open layout of the first floor of his brother’s home. What other room? The bathroom? Or had she been waiting for him in a room upstairs... like the master bedroom?

  With his suspicions about Boone and his attractive assistant pretty much confirmed, he asked, “Did she ever carry through with her threat?”

  “Threat?” she echoed.

  “To make him sorry?”

  Suddenly seeming uncomfortable, she shrugged. “I—I have no idea.”

  “Boone never mentioned anything?”

  Elise’s thick dark eyebrows furrowed. “Why is it you’re suddenly sounding like a cop?”

  “My apologies. I got caught up in your story, I guess. You can’t blame me for being curious.”

  But she wasn’t so easily appeased. “A little late to get interested in your brother, isn’t it?”

  The criticism being his invitation to leave it be for the moment.

  Only Simon couldn’t.

  Even though he knew Boone might have done it—knew his brother had been capable of watching a person whom he loved die—Simon wished with all his soul to prove that this time, Boone had been the victim.

  “I loved my brother more than anyone in the world.”

  Elise appeared disbelieving. “That’s why you never showed your face around here.”

  “We had our differences.”

  “You didn’t even come to his funeral, but you’re quick enough to grab onto his estate.”

  Coldly angry, he informed her, “His house...this business...they mean nothing to me.”

  “Then why are you here? Why aren’t you hiding in your swamp as usual?”

  “Because I want to find the murderer.” The words were out of his mouth too quickly.

  “Murderer?” Elise went wide-eyed.

  Not exactly subtle, Calderon.

  Then, again, perhaps this situation didn’t call for subtlety. Perhaps the shock value would give him an edge.

  “Murderer. As in the person who killed Boone. And Audra. Or do you, his good friend, really believe he did it?”

  “But the authorities—”

  “Adopted an easy theory.”

  Was Elise nervous or just shocked at his revelation? Her face had paled, and her arms were crossed around her middle as if she was holding herself together. Simon hadn’t forgotten her first reaction to him.

  “No telling how hard the police are working on finding other suspects.” He slid away from the desk. “I’d better get to those messages.”

  And figure out a way to get to the woman who might know more about his brother’s death than she was letting on.

  “YOU MIGHT AS WELL eat without him, Pheebs,” Kevin suggested as he poured beers for what looked to be an entire football team, “or the food’l
l get cold.”

  Almost eight and no Simon.

  Kevin had done his best to mellow her mood, but Phoebe’s patience was worn thin. Defiantly, she grabbed a giant shrimp from the seafood platter she’d had prepared specially for them and stuck it into her mouth whole.

  “Great,” she muttered over her mouthful, “it’s just about cold already.”

  And she’d lost her appetite waiting. The shrimp went down hard and settled like a rock in her stomach. She’d given Simon the benefit of the doubt when he hadn’t appeared at seven, had even waited an extra half hour before telling the cook to start her order. He’d made them a huge platter of his specialties—garlic shrimp, deep-fried conch fritters with cilantrolime sauce and pan-fried oysters, all arranged beautifully on a bed of rice pilaf and garnished with fresh chunks of pineapple and mango.

  To think she’d wanted to impress Simon Calderon. And why? Because she couldn’t stop thinking about the man, couldn’t stop feeling his bedroom gaze on her...

  Crazed hormones were responsible.

  Lust, pure and simple.

  Now Simon was so late that Phoebe suspected he was on his way to Osprey Nest without her. Which probably had been his plan all along. Disappointed and angry, she was trying to decide on her next move.

  Kevin said, “Maybe Calderon’s not showing is for the best. I mean, it sounds like he’s trying to protect you, Pheebs. Why fight it?”

  She glared at her partner. “I don’t need protection from anyone.”

  “How about from yourself?”

  Practically the same thing Simon had implied.

  If he was so concerned, why had he left her to her own devices after she’d threatened to go alone?

  “Do you realize how annoying you can be?” she snapped.

  “Hey, I’m on your side,” Kevin reminded her. “The Osprey Nest isn’t anything like the Blue Crab. I know that place. It’s pretty rough.”

  Again, like Simon!

  “So what’s the worst that can happen to me there?”

  “Use your imagination. Look what happened to Audra.”

  Phoebe didn’t want to. But a flash of her sister floating facedown in the pool, her lifeblood seeping into the water, came to her anyway.

  Swallowing hard, she said, “Audra wasn’t at that bar when she died.”

  “But would you ever have believed anyone would murder her? And she was someplace you undoubtedly considered safe.”