Full Disclosure (Real Estate Relations Book 1)

by DJ Jamison

  “It smells like sex in here. Why does it smell like sex in here, Reid?”

  Shit, I really should have stopped to clean up better. I was running late and thinking of Lee’s safety, and I’d had to take the few minutes needed to set Cam straight. I couldn’t have him thinking he was just a piece of ass to me. But man, if I’d been a cheater, I’d have been busted immediately.

  I laughed. “Sorry, man.”

  Lee’s eyes popped wide. “You fucked someone in this car. The Realtor?”

  “No!” I protested. “God, no.”

  “Then what?”

  “It was in the kitchen.”

  "Fuck’s sake, Reid! You fucked Camden where I eat?”

  Well, when he put it that way it sounded disgusting. But Camden was tasty enough, I wouldn’t mind the lingering memory at every meal.

  Lee punched my arm. “Stop smiling.”

  “Sorry.”

  He huffed and slumped back. “I’m so pissed right now.”

  I rolled to a stop at a red light and turned to look at him. "Come on, why? It's not like you’re jealous.”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  WTF? Lee had never shown the slightest bit of interest in me. In fact, he went out of his way to assure me that I did nothing for him, which was a relief, frankly. Last thing I needed was a witness getting too attached to me. That was messy and dangerous and all kinds of trouble I’d never wanted to engage in.

  Lee laughed. “Don’t look so panicked, I’m not jealous of Camden. Or you. No, that’s not it. But you got to have sex? Do you know how much I want to punch you in the face right now? It’s been so fucking long since I’ve gotten laid, and you won’t let me hook up with anyone!”

  He punched my shoulder again, and I winced. Lee might be slender, but he had some serious muscle packed on that thin frame.

  “Ow, fuck, Lee. Take it easy. I’m trying to drive.”

  He huffed. “I should have figured that as soon as Camden learned you were single, he’d be all over you. I knew he was desperate.”

  “Watch your mouth,” I snapped as I turned into the driveway and killed the ignition. Camden’s car was gone, so I knew he’d packed up and left as he’d said he would. I was still a little disappointed he hadn’t waited, but I couldn’t blame him for wanting to avoid Lee’s bitchy reaction. “Don’t ever speak that way about Camden again. It’s not remotely true, and he doesn’t deserve it.”

  Lee crossed his arms and pouted. “He still jumped all over you,” he grumbled.

  “Actually, I made the first move. Which, if you knew Camden, would be about what you’d expect. He’s actually kind of shy.”

  “Fine. It’s not his fault. It’s yours. Whatever.”

  Lee’s tone was turning petulant, and I was more equipped to deal with that. Lee was jealous because he was lonely and restless and his life was in turmoil. I could understand that.

  “I’m sorry if this makes you feel more alone in all this,” I offered. “It’s not easy having your life upended, and it won’t stop here. You’ll never really go home again.”

  Lee gave me a dark look. “Yeah, I feel tons better. Thanks, asshole.”

  Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best pep talk in the world.

  He climbed out of the car, and I followed him.

  “I’m still annoyed,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  "And I want to get laid,” Lee added. “You better find a place to take me this weekend where no one knows us. I'm going to snap and start eating bratty teens if I don’t get some."

  There were risks, but I had backed myself into a corner. If I didn't help Lee with this, he might take off and try on his own. With some planning, I could make sure Lee was safe while going out to hook up. Witnesses were kind of like children, you had to know when to hold strong and when to give in lest they rebel and do something even worse.

  So, I agreed. “Fine ... but we do it my way. Careful planning and exit strategies. Okay?”

  “Whatever.”

  I rolled my eyes at that mature response. Lee stood back while I unlocked the front door, then strutted in ahead of me.

  “And you’re cleaning the kitchen,” he threw back over his shoulder. “With bleach!”

  Chapter 17

  Reid

  I hit the work around the house hard. I’d mostly suggested the improvements to slow down the sale timeline and allow for Lee and me to wait for the trial date. But once I got started, it was addictive.

  I’d been burned out on my career track for a while, and this leave of absence was supposed to help me figure out what I really wanted. I could continue with Moore Security, spending long hours watching surveillance video and keeping an eye on minor celebrities, which isn’t what I ever imagined when I joined the Marshals Service, or I could find a new calling.

  Digging out weeds, layering in mulch and planning out landscaping was oddly relaxing. Maybe the office cactus that wouldn’t die should have been a clue that plants and I would get along.

  I could stop thinking while my fingers clawed through the fresh smell of soil. I could let down my guard while taking up debris in the back and hacking down overgrown trumpet vines. I knew I shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Danger could still find us, but it seemed unlikely at this stage.

  Slowly a yard emerged, and as it did, so did an inkling of thought about my future. Maybe it was time to stop living for other people and do something for me. I’d been handed this house out of the blue. I had some savings from years of work with no family or obligations beyond the bare minimum. I could start fresh.

  “Wow, you’re making great progress!”

  I jumped and swore as my neighbor Patrick laughed. I wasn’t used to someone being able to catch me unaware. Even though I enjoyed letting go, I needed to remain alert.

  “You scared the heck out of me.”

  “Sorry,” he said, a smile lingering on his craggy face.

  He stood on his side of the property line, his weight braced on the handle of a shovel. I couldn’t help but think of those damn holes in the yard. Could he have heard me and Camden when I found those baseball cards? Might he be digging in the hopes of finding other valuables?

  “No worries,” I said, standing and brushing dirt off the knees of my pants. “You digging?”

  He glanced down at the shovel, then nodded toward his house. “Just had a load of gravel delivered for the alley. Been shoveling it around and smoothing it out all morning.”

  I glanced at the shovel’s blade. It was caked in a chalky gray substance, not grass or soil. I believed him, mostly. But I had a good deal of doubt the holes in the yard had anything to do with gophers.

  “I see you hauling in tools and paint and all. I am getting mighty curious about this place. You flipping it?” Patrick asked.

  “Not really. Just some basic improvements.”

  He nodded. “It’d take a lot to restore this beauty to her heyday.”

  “You see it back then?”

  “Yep, sure did. The nursery flooring used to be inlaid with the two children’s names, and the living room had the most gorgeous wood floors designed in a diamond pattern before carpet was brought in.”

  “Wow, that sounds interesting.”

  “Yep. That house sure has seen a lot in its time. It’s sad what happened with Aaron Winters.”

  “Yeah. I don’t know much about it. I was very young at the time.” I climbed to my feet and dusted my knees. “Want to come in and see it?”

  He brightened. “Really?”

  “Sure. I’ll get us some ice water and you can tell me about the house and about Aaron and his dad.”

  I’d been getting increasingly curious about my family as I worked on their house. I’d heard the vague stories about Robert Winters becoming a hermit after his son died, but that was about all I knew.

  Patrick and I took a spin through the house, where he pointed out a few special features that were missing. The intricate molding in the living room was g
one, but the massive fireplace remained. He was tickled to see the wrought-iron gates to the dining room were still in place, but frowned and shook his head at the peeling wallpaper in the bedrooms upstairs.

  Once we’d made the rounds, I got us water, and we sat down at the table. I let Patrick catch his breath and take a drink. He wasn’t the spryest guy anymore. But I was too curious to let it lie.

  “Can you tell me more about Aaron and his accident?”

  Patrick rubbed his jaw. “Well, let’s see. I recall Aaron as a little boy, mostly. He was happy but mischievous. He was always stomping all over my Margaret’s flowerbeds. Lord but she wanted to strangle that boy,” he said with a laugh.

  “Margaret was your wife?”

  He nodded, growing solemn. “The Lord took her three years back. She had a good life, gave me three children who have given me a gaggle of grandkids too. I was blessed, not like poor Robert. First his wife died of breast cancer when the boy was around 11, and then his son had that accident.”

  “Damn. That’s tough.”

  “Aaron had just gotten married too. I didn’t go to the wedding, but I heard it was ostentatious. Aaron’s young wife liked to spend money like water, Margaret told me. The church ladies are awful gossips.”

  I smiled because I could see a bit of a gossip in the gleam of Patrick’s eye. But I wanted information, so I wasn’t about to call him on it.

  “Do you remember his wife?”

  “Oh, not well. She was around here for a couple of years after Aaron died. She lived with Robert for a bit, and rumors had it she was trying to seduce the old coot and get access to his money.”

  I grimaced. “Think there’s any truth to that?”

  “I don't rightly know. She eventually remarried a banker or lawyer or something like that and everyone forgot about her. Robert was too far in grieving for it to work if she did try. He stopped showing up at community events, then he stopped going to the grocery store, having deliveries made instead. By the end, he didn’t even come out on his porch anymore. It’s a darn shame. Neither Rachel nor Aaron would have wanted that life for him.”

  “Yeah.” Heartache for family I'd never really known tightened my chest. I didn’t know why my mother had never talked about them more, but she’d be getting a phone call now. “It is too bad.”

  ***

  That night I called my mother. Lee was in front of the television with a pile of junk food on the coffee table. He’d told me he needed the comfort food to cope with all the nasty customers he had to deal with at work. I was fairly sure he wouldn’t be choosing food service as his new life’s work, even if he stayed in witness protection program indefinitely.

  “Reid? It’s so nice to hear from you,” she said warmly. “I figured you’d be busy with the house. How are you liking Fields?”

  “I’m liking it okay,” I said. More than okay when I thought of a certain blue-eyed real estate agent. “It’s a nice place.”

  “And how’s the house?”

  I laughed ruefully. “In need of work. I’ve been clearing out the weeds, and my real estate agent helped me come up with a list of improvements.”

  “Good. But that’s not why you called, is it?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “You always have a purpose when you call me. You’re not a small talk kind of guy. So, out with it.”

  My mother was one of those blunt, tough love types. She knew me better than anyone, even with me living hundreds of miles away. I didn’t beat around the bush.

  “I talked with the neighbor about Aaron and his wife, and Uncle Robert too. How come you didn’t tell me more about them?”

  “I did,” she objected.

  “I don’t remember us talking about them much at all.”

  “Well, I did tell you about them when you were young. I don’t think you were all that interested at the time. You were just a kid, and relatives in another state didn’t mean all that much to you. Unfortunately, we couldn't maintain a relationship with Uncle Robert. I tried for a few years after Aaron died. I thought maybe if he met you that it would help. That he would see he had family and something to live for. But he would never return my letters or calls. I even went up to Fields one weekend when you were in summer camp, and he wouldn’t answer the door.”

  “What do you remember about Aaron and the accident he had?”

  “I know he had a boat, one of those little speedboats, that he would take out on the lake nearby. I went out with him one summer. He loved that stupid boat and he loved being on the water. I was absolutely shocked he died that way. But that lake was known for being choppy at times. People do die there. I try to remind myself that Aaron probably died doing something that made him really happy, but it seems like such a waste. He was so young.”

  “Were you guys close?”

  “Not really. We were a few years apart, and we didn’t have a lot in common. He loved being outdoors, either on the boat or off-roading in ATVs. He had a bit of the daredevil in him, I guess. I was more interested in clothes and makeup, and there was no way I wanted to subject my beautiful hair to that nonsense,” she said with a laugh. “After I moved to California, we only saw each other every few years.”

  “And his wife?”

  “Wow, you are really digging in, aren’t you?” My mother laughed. “I feel like I’m on 20/20 here. There was nothing sinister about what happened, Reid. I know the marshal in you is always suspicious—”

  “Mom, I’m not a marshal anymore,” I told her for the hundredth time. “But point taken. I was more curious than suspicious, though. Being here in their house makes me feel closer to their lives. I feel a little ashamed for not knowing or caring more, especially with Uncle Robert giving me this house in his will.”

  “Now, that was a surprise,” Mom said. “I always figured Aaron’s widow would get the house. I heard at the funeral Uncle Robert and she were quite close. I don’t know what happened there.”

  “The neighbor said she lived here a while and then remarried. Maybe Uncle Robert figured she didn’t need the house anymore or wanted to keep it in the family.”

  “Maybe,” she mused.

  “I guess we’ll never know for sure.”

  “Guess not,” she said.

  “Oh, I just remembered. I ran into a lady named Sherrilyn who works in real estate. She said she was friends with you and Aaron, and she wanted me to say hello.”

  “Huh? That’s strange. I don’t remember any Sherilynn, but it’s been a long time. And Aaron had lots of admirers. He was quite handsome and charming in that bad boy sort of way. When we were teens, he had all the girls hanging on his every word. Kind of like you.”

  I snorted. I came out to my mom a few years ago, and she’d taken it surprisingly well outside of being a little sad that she wasn’t likely to watch me marry and start a family. But even if I’d been straight, I’d have let her down there, considering my track record with relationships, which was nonexistent.

  “I would have preferred boys to hang on my words,” I said. “Still do, actually. Especially the blond, blue-eyed ones.”

  She laughed. “Oh? Do tell.”

  “Nothing to tell.”

  “I call bullshit.”

  “Jesus, Mom—”

  “Just cough it up. You gave it away with your comment, so just own it, Reid. I don’t know why you always feel the need to hide your love life from me. I’d love to meet a boyfriend. I hope you know that.”

  I sighed. My mother was too damn good at reading between the lines. “I don’t hide my love life. Mostly, I don’t have one.” She made an excited sound and I quickly added, “I still don’t have one.”

  “But you are interested in someone? Yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s not the witness, is it?” She sounded concerned. “You’ve had enough trouble with your job lately, as it is. I don’t want to discourage you if you actually care about someone, but …”

  “No, it’s not the witness.” I chuckl
ed. “No worries there, trust me. I’d never get involved with someone I was protecting. Talk about a mess.”

  “So? What then?”

  “Give me a second, Mom. I’m going to move to a different room.”

  With a glance at Lee, I got up and headed up the stairs to the bedroom. There was no way I was going to talk about my interest in Camden in front of him, even if he could see it with his own eyes. I didn’t need to give him any ammunition.

  “Reid?”

  “Sorry, I’m here,” I said as I got settled on the bed. “You’re going to be disappointed when I tell you this because it’s nothing to get excited about.”

  “Fuck’s sake, Reid. It’s like pulling teeth,” she said.

  I laughed and gave in. I kind of wanted to talk about Camden with someone. “There’s this guy,” I said. “He’s gorgeous. Sweet and kind, too. A really good guy.”

  “Mm-hmm? So far so good. What’s he look like? Blond hair, blue eyes?”

  I chuckled ruefully. “Yep. Camden looks like an angel.”

  “Oh, he’s an angel now,” she said playfully. “This does sound serious. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you talk about a guy like this in your whole life. Have you been holding out, or is this one special?”

  Damn, how did she always do that? She was right. Cam was special. He was more than a pretty face or great body. He was becoming a friend, and I could see so much more with him in the right circumstances. But the circumstances weren’t right, and I had to accept that.

  “Nothing can come of it because of my cover. I’m not free to date.”

  “Aw, honey. This case, whatever it is, won’t last forever. Maybe you can approach him when you are free?”

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “Don’t give up,” she insisted. “You deserve someone who will make you happy. And then you can adopt babies and make me a grandmother after all.”

  “Way premature there, Mom.”

  “Well, a girl can dream.”

  When I hung up, I was smiling. I don’t know why I didn’t call my mother more often. She had a way of looking at life that always buoyed me. I took the stairs two at a time, and hummed as I went to the fridge to grab a beer.