“Okay, okay,” I picked it up and gave him fresh water. Jazz had me fully trained. He meowed, and I jumped.
I opened the refrigerator door knowing I couldn’t make breakfast out of condiments. What I wanted was a caramel latte with lots of whipped cream from the Bakery Café. “I’m leaving now,” I told Jazz.
He had gotten what he wanted and had already gone back to sleep.
* * *
I sat at the curb listening to a Jimmy Buffett song, when I noticed Zach sitting at a table at the end of the walkway. Beside him sat an attractive woman. They were laughing and talking. It appeared as though they just finished breakfast. She licked her fingers, reached across, and rubbed his cheek.
I sucked in my breath and hunched over the steering wheel. The whole scene reminded me of my cheating, faithless, jerk of an ex-husband. Zach had jumped out of my bed to meet another woman for breakfast. I wanted to cry all over again, but I didn’t have any tears left. Last night was about sex – incredibly hot sex – but it was not a commitment.
I’d seen enough. I jumped out of my SUV. On the way across the sidewalk, a pitcher of water sat on a nearby table, just begging to be used and, two steps later, I dumped it all over Zach’s head. “You bastard.”
The woman began laughing and my anger turned to embarrassment, watching the water drip down his face. But as I spun around to leave, I walked right into a uniformed sheriff.
“You just assaulted Mr. Lazarro,” he said. We both stood staring at Zach, stunned disbelief written on his face.
“Assault?” I protested. “The pitcher slipped out of my hand.”
“Zach, you want her arrested?” the sheriff asked.
“You’re friends?” I said.
“This is a small town Ms. Westin. Everyone knows everyone else.” He returned my stare.
He looked familiar. “Aren’t you Julie’s brother, Kevin? The same Julie who lives in one of the cottages I own?”
His eyes turned steely. “What are you saying?” He clearly wanted to strangle me, but only if he could do so without going to jail.
“I’m not going to evict her. It’s hard to find a good place to live when you have a child.” Maintaining eye contact with him was hard, but I refused to turn away.
“Zach, whatever happened here you probably deserved,” Kevin told his friend.
“Kev, you’re a big pussy. Did you forget we’re friends, and grew up together?”
“I’m not telling Julie she got evicted because of you regardless, of what this one says she may or may not do.” The sheriff continued to stare. “Try and stay out of trouble,” he said and returned to his car.
I got back into my SUV and realized Zach had never said a word. The woman had sat there and continued to laugh the whole time.
Once I started towards Zach, I’m not sure anyone could’ve stopped me. Common sense and restraint vanished. Throwing water on Zach hadn’t been as satisfying as I’d hoped.
It was inevitable that he would meet my other personality: “crazy”. But this was definitely too soon.
When I started the day, my plan had been to get coffee and go to Tucker’s office. But the morning had gotten off to a bad start. So much for the coffee. The restaurant was a favorite of mine; I hoped I wouldn’t be banned.
Adrenaline was still pumping through my body when I arrived at Tucker’s office. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to my plan to try and talk to him. I hoped by going in person under the pretense of making an appointment, he’d take a few moments and talk to me. The man needed to know I had every intention of taking over the management of The Cottages.
Eventually, I’d get rid of Will, but at this point, I needed to be reasonable. In the meantime, I’d tolerate Will. First, I wanted to go through all of Elizabeth’s files. Since I’d been unable to find them in her home office, I assumed they must be in the offices at The Cottages. I knew her to be detail-oriented, so everything should be well documented and in order.
“I came to make an appointment with Mr. Davis,” I said to the receptionist. “Or, if he has a few minutes, could I speak to him?”
Ann appeared instantly. “You don’t have an appointment.” Her face was drawn into an annoyed smile.
“No, I don’t. I was just telling your receptionist…,” I began.
She waved her hand, cutting me off. “I heard everything you said. What’s this about?”
“I have a few things I’d like to go over with Mr. Davis.”
“What things?” she demanded.
“The Cottages.”
“I’ll tell him you came by. He can call you and schedule something if necessary. Good management is already in place at The Cottages. Please don’t stir up problems where none exist. I assure you Mr. Davis is looking after everything.”
There was a long pause while we both stared at one another.
“Here is Mr. Davis’ card.” She handed it to me. “Call next time and save yourself a trip.” She walked to the front door, and held it open.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. I was shocked speechless. The receptionist kept her eyes glued to her desk.
What in the world? Maybe I had overstepped, but I was anxious to get started. Frankly, I didn’t understand the resistance. I was the beneficiary. No one was contesting.
* * *
I love coming home. I live in a tropical paradise. A fence runs the entire length of the house. Within the gates is a courtyard filled with plants and flowers. I can either walk across the courtyard and enter the house through the front door, or go around the back and in through the French doors by the patio. On the first level are the living room, dining room and kitchen all looking out to the pool area.
I went around back. I always love seeing the pool before going inside. I walked by the kitchen window toward the French doors, and the woman who had been with Zach at the café stood in my kitchen. She gave a friendly little wave. This day just keeps getting better. I certainly didn’t want to face what’s-her-name.
“Is Zach here?” I demanded, when I got into the kitchen.
“No he’s not. I came on my own.”
“How the hell did you get in?”
“Getting in was the easy part. I picked your lock.”
“Is that how Zach gets in?”
“Probably not. Zach’s lock-picking skills aren’t as good as mine,” she smirked.
It was hard to find anything wrong with her. A dangerously seductive woman with the bluest of eyes, full sensuous lips, a tangle of waist-length brunette hair and a dark tan. She wore a white skirt and a tank top that molded to her rock hard body.
She extended her hand. “My name is Fabiana Merceau, but please call me Fab.”
“I apologize for my rude behavior earlier,” I began.
“That was pure entertainment. I came by to tell you that Zach and I are friends. Occasionally, we work together. We met this morning to discuss a case.”
“Oh great, that makes me feel worse.” I closed my eyes for a second, the beginnings of a massive headache banged my temples. “Emotion overcame good sense. Zach and I are … I have no idea what we are. Seeing him sitting with you, oh, I don’t know, reminded me of another time, and I took it out on him.”
“Did I mention I enjoyed every minute?”
We stared at one another for a moment and then we laughed.
“Why are you here?”
“Whatever your relationship is with Zach, I’m not ‘the other woman’ and never will be. I’m more of an associate.”
“An associate? What does that mean?”
“Zach and I work together on cases. He lacks my specialty skills.”
“Lock picking?”
“That would be one.”
It was hard to believe they wouldn’t have a personal relationship.
“Zach and I used to be lovers,” she said candidly, “but our relationship has been over for a long time. Now we’re friends. We work well together, know each other’s style. You need a person you can trust to watch you
r back. Zach and I are both intense people,” she continued, “which doesn’t translate well to a personal relationship.”
“Did Zach send you here?”
“No but, knowing him, he’ll show up soon. I wanted to meet the woman he talks so much about. He definitely likes you. When you poured the water on him, he was impressed. He likes a little crazy in his women. He’s pretty sure you like him.”
“Men are stupid.”
“That may be, but he’s right, isn’t he?” she asked, giving me a knowing smile.
I ignored her question. “I try not to do things I have to apologize for later. I hate apologizing.”
“Keep it brief,” she laughed.
This was certainly an interesting way to meet someone, and I liked her. “How about a lock picking lesson?”
“Do you have a particular one in mind?”
As if on cue, Axe walked through the French doors. He’d perfected the beach boy persona, in his usual shorts and tropical shirt, but the laid-back attitude was deceptive. He gave us a wink. It was easy to be charmed by him.
“Hey ladies. Hear I missed a scene this morning at the café. Sounded like fun, I wish I’d been there. Word is you blackmailed yourself out of an arrest, Madison.”
“See what I mean?” I said to Fab. “Any reason why you can’t knock on the front door?”
“This is much more fun.”
“What if I had been doing something, well uh, private? And what are you doing here anyway?”
Axe arched his eyebrow, “I’ll call out next time,” he chuckled. He crossed the room and picked up my phone. “I’m going to put in Fab’s number in case you can’t get a hold of me or Zach.”
“You can take Zach’s number out. I doubt I’ll need it.”
“It’ll take more than a pitcher of water to get rid of him,” Axe said. “He’s interested.”
“I told you so,” Fab said. They both laughed.
“Those are four very annoying words,” I told her.
“Yes I know, but you have to agree, they’re so much fun to say.”
“Zach,” Axe cleared his throat, “wants to talk to you. I volunteered to stop by and check to see if the coast was clear for a visit.”
“When would this be?”
“Now,” Zach said, as he walked in through the same doors Axe had just come through.
“Hi,” I said, letting out an exasperated breath. “About this morning, that was my twin, Crazy.”
“I’m here to reassure you that you have nothing to be jealous of.”
Jealous? I gritted my teeth. I would never admit to that.
“We should leave, Fab,” Axe suggested.
“No one’s going anywhere,” I said. “Axe just told me you wanted to talk,” I turned to Zach. “Another cool car needing to be serviced?”
“I need a favor.”
“Are you using an IOU?”
“No. I want to keep the only one I have.”
“IOU’s? How many of his do you have?” Fab asked.
“Seven.”
“Very nice.” Fab said and we looked at each other and laughed.
The guys appeared confused by our private joke. “Girl thing,” I told them.
“Back to my favor,” Zach said. “This is about a case we’re working on. My company is investigating the theft of millions of dollars of inventory. Without going into a lot of detail, my brother Dario’s involved. I need a place he can stay for a couple of days. I’m hoping he can stay here.”
“Would I be doing anything illegal?”
“No. He’ll keep out of sight, stay in the house, and won’t be any trouble.”
“When is he coming?”
“Axe and I will bring him here later tonight.”
“I have to go,” Fab said. “Nice meeting you.” She leaned toward me, “If that brat Dario gives you any trouble, call me. I’ll come over and kick his ass,” she whispered.
Chapter 11
Dario watched me watching him being dragged through the French doors by Axe. Dario was fresh out of high school, with wiry, spiky jet-black hair, and a spoiled, entitled look on his face; unlike the hard-edged Zach. One would certainly notice the family resemblance between Zach and Dario. He made the same all black clothing choices as his older brother, but he sported a snake tattoo on his left arm.
He crossed the room, took my hand, and pulled it up to his mouth. “Call me Dario.”
I jerked my hand away, almost laughing at him. He stared at me in a bold way, sizing me up, and not appearing to have come to any conclusions.
Zach walked up behind him and hit him in the back. “Behave yourself. This is my girlfriend.” He winked at me.
“She must realize she can do better than you,” Dario said.
Zach’s smile vanished. “Sit the hell down. Listen up.” His voice was hard and unyielding.
“Not going to happen,” Dario answered.
Zach yelled, “Sit! Down!”
You could’ve cut the tension in the room. I had an instant stomach ache. Thankfully, Dario did what he was told, and sat down.
Zach stuck his finger in Dario’s face. “I’m going to say this just once. So you better listen. What you did tonight was stupid. You keep talking about what a big tough guy you are, but the people you’re involved with will figure out you’re working both ends. Trust me. You’re not that smart.”
“I wasn’t going to tell anyone anything.” Dario sounded whiny.
“Shut up. You keep saying you’re a man, you can live on your own, take care of yourself, but you’re acting like a little bitch. You know what the problem is? The entire family has spoiled you your entire life. Me, most of all. Well, I’m done. This is the last time. From now until this is over, you’ll keep your mouth shut. Stop disrespecting our family. Stay here, out of sight, and don’t even look cross-eyed at Madison. If you don’t, I’ll make you. Stand up and tell Madison you won’t be a problem.”
“Fine.” Dario stood up and faced me. “I’ll be the perfect houseguest. Where am I sleeping?”
I pointed upstairs. “First door on the right.”
Dario picked up his bag, and actually seemed contrite. “I’m sorry, Zach. I get that I messed up. It won’t happen again.” He disappeared up the stairs.
Zach put his hands over his face. “It’s up to me to get him under control before he ends up in prison or dead. He believes that, no matter what he does, I can get him out of trouble. I have to stop if he’s ever to become his own man.”
Zach turned to me and pulled me into a hug. “Thank you, again. Soon I’ll stop asking for favors and show you how appreciative I am. Any problems, call one of us.”
“Stop asking for favors? Oh no, you don’t. How will I collect more IOU’s?” I smiled.
“I hope you don’t cash them in all in at once,” he said.
“Please be safe. All of you,” I said.
“Don’t worry about me. I have plenty of backup on this job.”
“You mean the gun holstered under your shirt?”
“That would be one. And don’t forget pretty boy over there.” He pointed to Axe.
“Watch out for Fab.”
Both Zach and Axe laughed.
“You don’t need to worry about her,” Axe said. “She’s like a cat; she still has lives she hasn’t used up yet.”
“Later,” he said, pulling me into a kiss, and then left with Axe.
Other people’s family drama was hard to witness. Totally exhausted, I picked up Jazz, climbed the stairs to my bedroom, then closed and locked the door.
* * *
I lay in bed the next morning thinking about my houseguest, realizing I knew nothing about him, and darned little about his older brother. What was Dario’s role in this big case? It sounded both criminal and dangerous. I said a quick prayer in hopes Dario would do as he promised, and not cause any trouble. Downstairs, Dario was working on his laptop. He had his feet on the table and looked quite at home on my couch. “Good, you’re awake. You
don’t look all that bad in the morning.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“There’s nothing to eat in this house. I went through the refrigerator and cupboards and made out a grocery list. And there’s no sports package on the TV. If you call now, they can get it hooked up and running in an hour or two.”
His arrogance knew no bounds. “Try and remember you’re supposed to be a trouble-free houseguest. Food is one thing. I’m not adding anything to my TV.”
“Aren’t you a self-righteous bitch? I don’t need you reminding me of how to act.”
“Let’s get something straight,” I said, with simmering anger. “You’re not going to stay in my house and yell at me and call me names. Make an effort or go somewhere else.”
An expression of utter contempt crossed his face.
“I’ll call Zach; he can find you another place to stay.” I crossed to the kitchen to pick up my phone.
“Don’t bother. I’m sure Super Brother will wrap this up in a day or two.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Suddenly I realized there was no meowing, no big ball of fur walking between my legs. “Where’s Jazz?”
“Who?”
“A big black long-haired cat.” I noticed his food bowl was almost empty.
“I threw it outside.”
“You did what?” I yelled.
“The thing was meowing and wouldn’t stop. How do you stand the racket?”
“Where?” I asked.
“Out the back.” He pointed to the closed French doors.
I raced to the doors and, as soon as I opened them, I saw Jazz asleep on a pool float that was on the patio. I walked out, picked him up and carried him inside. “Don’t you ever touch my cat.” I kicked his feet off the table. “Don’t even look at him funny or I will personally kick your ass.”
“Okay, calm down. I’ll never look at him again.”
I walked up the stairs to get dressed for my meeting with Tucker. He had finally called and set up an appointment.
Crazy in Paradise Page 7
