Tahoe Blues

by Lane, Aubree

  Leah opened her eyes and petted her affectionate little Tabby. Apollo was her buddy. She rubbed her hand over the distinctive striped pattern of his brown and black coat. Apollo purred and snuggled against her neck. “Hey, big guy,” she cooed. “I bet you’re hungry.”

  Apollo jumped off the couch and began to meow loudly. With his tail straight up in anticipation, he trotted excitedly over to his dish. He paced anxiously back and forth around the bowl as he waited for Leah to fill it.

  “Settle down A-man. I’ll give you a bit extra for being so patient and letting me sleep.” Leah picked up the dish and filled half of it with kitty kibble, then stirred in some moist canned cat food. Apollo rubbed against her leg and purred. She placed the dish on the matt and Apollo attacked his meal. Leah ran her hand down his body and up his lithe tail. “So what is your opinion of that hot cop that was here last night?”

  Apollo’s face was deep in the dish and all Leah heard in reply was the sound of the kibble crunching in Apollo’s jaws.

  She sat on the floor and ran her fingers absently down Apollo’s head. Rubbing behind his ear, she continued her deliberation. “It started out so promising, then more and more it felt like I was being interrogated.” Leah looked down at her pet demolishing the food in front of him and scrunched her nose. “I think Nosy Nate was trying to gather some incriminating information about Cara and our alleged money laundering scheme.” Leah shook her head and frowned. “I really wish he hadn’t turned out to be such a jerk.”

  The runway music from Leah’s last fashion show radiated from her cell phone in a series of clicks until the strings joined in at the refrain. It was the special ringtone she set up for Cara. Leah picked it up and replied to Cara’s unasked question. “My shop was kept closed. I didn’t open anything for the cop. All we did was sit on my sofa and talk. The longer it went on, the more I felt that all he was interested in was trying to gather evidence against you and maybe me. It was kind of hard to tell after the seventh or eighth hour.”

  “You closed your shop?”

  Leah chuckled. “Not my dress shop, my shop is almost always open, whether I’m there or not, but I did not let Officer Waters into my―” Leah couldn’t believe Cara didn’t get her euphemism. She shook her head, it wasn’t worth the trouble. “What’s up?” she demanded.

  “I want to hear about your date with Officer Waters. He seemed really into you. I can’t believe he was only trying to prove our collusion in this fictitious caper. There should be a law against that.”

  Leah furrowed her brow. There was something up with Cara. She could hear it in her voice. “I already told you. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

  “No, I need more details. You spill it.”

  There was zero amount of enthusiasm in her friend’s voice and an understanding light bulb went off in Leah’s head. “Are you holding back because of what I said at Rosie’s? Are you trying to be a good friend? If you are, knock it off and tell me what happened.”

  Cara sighed and cried out, “I broke off my relationship with Tanner until we know who planted that bogus evidence in my home. I didn’t want to do it, but I had no choice.”

  Leah’s first instinct was to tell Cara she had made the wrong decision. That Tanner James Reed, high school hottie and faithful husband to Kate until death they did part, would never betray her trust, but like Apollo earlier, she retracted her claws and showed her friend some love. “That must have been hard to do. I’m proud of you.”

  “I think it’s time to call my parents. Except for you and my paid help, I’m all alone.” Cara choked back a sob. “I have never felt so isolated in my entire life, even Mrs. Grimes is avoiding me. I was going to have to cool it with her too, but it doesn’t look like that will be necessary. She has already cooled it with me.”

  Leah didn’t know what to say. Cara was under house arrest. It wasn’t supposed to be a walk in the park, but Leah was pretty darn sure the apartment was a million times better than being held in the slammer and that the judge had shown her a huge amount of leniency.

  The silence between the women droned on longer than what was considered comfortable. Determined to put a positive spin on the situation, Leah finally said, “At least you’ve had time to brush up on your cooking.”

  Cooking?

  Cara wanted to laugh, but it was just too sad of a statement to dignify with any type of response.

  In the end she couldn’t hold back and a chuckle slipped out. “That’s all you got?”

  “I’m in a mood. Spending so much time with Nate the Neanderthal and realizing I was the target of an undercover op was draining, but at least Apollo is being nice to me.”

  Cara understood the feeling. She was also in a mood. A whiney mood that wasn’t appealing in any way. She needed to wrap up this conversation before they ended up exchanging words again. “I’m going to let you go so I can throw a few casseroles in the oven. I’m sure the moment I call the folks, they’ll be coming in for a visit. You get some rest. I’m sorry your date with the cop turned out so badly. I thought he was a nice guy.”

  Cara could almost feel Leah nodding her head. “Tanner is the nice guy. I’m sorry you had to put a halt to your budding romance, but I guess we don’t always know who the good guys are. At least with Duncan you knew what you were getting yourself into.”

  Anger flashed red hot in Cara’s eyes. She hadn’t had any idea what her life would become when she married Duncan Alexander. He swept her off her feet. The man had literally promised her the moon, and she had fallen for his spiel hook, line, and sinker. She believed him when he told her he loved her, and she loved the picture he painted of what their life together would be. She didn’t want to believe she’d been impressed with his money and power, but it was hard to deny. He portrayed himself as a prince with her as his princess. Duncan was every little girl’s fantasy man. He was a dream come true until the day she woke up and discovered it was all a lie, and that the rising tide had washed away her sandcastle.

  Leah punched Cara in the gut with her callousness. Her best friend truly believed Cara’s eyes had been wide open, but they had been clouded with love. The kind of love she thought would last forever. Cara bit her tongue to keep from screaming her innocence and blasting Leah for not being able to see how completely she had been fooled. She had to get off the phone and she had to do it now! “The water is about to boil over on the stove. I have to go.”

  Sarcasm dripped from every word, but she successfully hit end and stopped their conversation.

  Cara stormed around the living room. She picked up a potted plant, but just as she was about to smash it against the wall, she realized she would end up with a mess, which she had no desire to clean.

  After she returned the plant back to the counter she gave the eyeball door a once over. It was solid and sturdy. She would never be able to break the gawking peeper. It was just what she needed to let off some steam. She opened it and slammed it shut. It felt good, so she opened it wider and slammed it with such force the peephole fell out.

  Infuriated that the all-seeing atrocity wasn’t able to keep its iris intact, Cara banged the door closed one last time, and leaned down to pick up the broken piece off the floor. She cocked her head confused. It wasn’t like any peephole she’d seen before. She didn’t even remember having a peephole. Puzzled, she examined it closer. The mechanism was small and had a disc type battery attached to it.

  Cara had never heard of a peephole which needed a battery. It was something you looked through, no power was necessary. Her first instinct was to call Tanner. She sighed knowing that wasn’t possible. Her second was to go over to Mrs. G’s and see if she had any knowledge of the device, but since it wasn’t Tuesday that too was out of the question, besides, Cara was under orders not to fraternize with her neighbor until she had the all-clear from either Martin, Hunter, or the detective she had yet to meet, David Crandall.

  That left only her defense team to turn to. Stepping over to the cork-board on the wall near the ki
tchen, she pulled out the tack which held Hunter Henderson’s business card. Cara flipped it over to get the number for David Crandall. Mr. Henderson had directed her to call the lead detective on her case if anything more had come to light.

  David Crandall scrubbed his face. Six hours of watching Cara moving the boxes Brett Boden hauled into the apartment wasn’t exactly Oscar material. The most riveting scene he’d seen so far consisted of a pizza being delivered and the duo clinking the long necks of a couple of brewskies before they dug into the chicken, artichoke delight.

  Cara must have placed the order. No man would call that thin crusted, vegetable laden concoction a pizza. Watching Brett and Cara sitting on the floor and shoveling a slice in their mouths made his gastric juices start to grumble, and he realized how long it had been since his last meal. “Henderson,” he barked out commandingly. “Order us a pizza. I’m in need of a thick-crusted, mega-meat monstrosity.”

  Hunter nodded appreciatively and picked up his cell phone. “I’m on it, boss.”

  David raked a hand through his light brown hair and shook his head to stay awake. Just as he turned back to the computer screen and the mind numbing never ending reel of everyday life, his phone chimed. No name popped up on the display, but he picked it up anyway, grateful for the distraction. “Hello,” he answered absently, expecting a telemarketer of some type.

  “Mr. Crandall, this is Cara Greene. I believe you’re working on my case with Martin Langley. Hunter Henderson gave me your number and told me to call if anything came up.”

  Hunter was seated at his own computer with his back towards him. David’s deal with Martin was that he wouldn’t have to speak to the client, yet Hunter found a way to make that very thing happen. “Ms. Greene,” David voiced loudly in order to get his devious partner’s attention. “What can I do for you?”

  Hunter’s square shoulders began to shake with silent laughter. David shook his head and sighed. He knew he had to get back in the saddle at some point. Their client didn’t care that he was recovering from a disastrous event. It wasn’t Ms. Greene’s fault the shooting had caused his partner to lose the use of his legs, or that the death of a client had forced David to have to kill a man. The lovely young woman on the other end of the line was completely unaware that he alone was responsible for uprooting his entire family and bringing them to the Tahoe Basin.

  David had no desire to speak one-on-one with Cara Greene, but since he found himself at the intersection of Suck It Up and Move On, he reluctantly sighed and sucked it up, but before he moved on, he planned on giving Hunter an ear full!

  Cara’s voice was wobbly and nervous. “I just found something I think you should be aware of. I slammed my front door a few seconds ago, and something that looks like a recording device popped off. I don’t know what to make of it.”

  David cringed. They had neglected to inform Cara about the camera. In the rush to view the footage, it completely slipped his mind. He turned his phone on speaker so Hunter could hear about their blunder. “I’m sorry, Ms. Greene. We should have told you about the camera.”

  “The camera!” she shouted angrily. “You planted a camera in my home?”

  David rushed to explain. “Ms. Greene you misunderstand. We are not responsible for the placement of the camera, your landlord installed it.” The back of Hunter’s head was bobbing up and down, and his shoulders shook violently with mirth.

  “Tanner Reed is spying on me! He’s the one who set me up?”

  David rolled his eyes. He was getting in deeper and deeper. “Ms. Greene, let me start over. Beth Rainey, the woman you sublet the apartment from, installed the camera. She simply wanted to make sure her home was being taken care of properly. From what I understand, the arrangement you made with her was hastily put together and the camera has a limited lifespan. We’re hoping to discover who planted the incriminating documents from the footage.”

  Dead silence greeted the end of his explanation. David gave her a moment to digest the news. He looked at the wall clock. Thirty seconds went by with no reply. “Ms. Greene, are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m here.” Cara’s words were firm and full of outrage. “I don’t know what I should be more upset with, the fact that my privacy was invaded by Beth Rainey or by you!”

  Hunter spun around in his chair. His eyes glistened with tears from holding back his laughter. David took a play out of his partner’s book and turned his back on the conniving dick. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Ms. Greene. Let me assure you we have not seen anything inappropriate, if we are allowed to continue, we have every hope of settling this mystery once and for all.”

  “This is my life we’re talking about,” Cara raged. “If you’re going to continue to watch all my comings and goings, and everything in between, then I’m coming over there to watch it with you!” She paused to catch her breath. “I’m not at all comfortable with this.”

  “Please calm down. I assure you we are treating this with the epitome of professionalism.” Hunter snickered behind him, and David cut him the look that was capable of silencing both his children in an instant.

  Unfortunately, it did not have the same effect on Hunter. David gave up and turned his attention back to their client. “I feel I should remind you that you are under house arrest and therefore unable to join us tonight.” David thought he had nipped the problem in the bud.

  “You are absolutely correct, Mr. Crandall. I am not able to join you.” Her voice raised several octaves as she screeched over the air waves. “So I suggest that you and Hunter Henderson get your asses over to my place ASAP!”

  Cara disconnected and left David scratching his head.

  Hunter was the first one to speak. “What do we do now, boss?”

  David shrugged. “Get our asses over there ASAP!”

  Cara was incensed with anger, she was livid, she was infuriated! She could not believe the gall. She was barely acquainted with Hunter Henderson, and she had never even laid eyes on David Crandall, but there they were viewing her private life without consulting her. And Beth Rainey! What right did she have to spy on her? Her mind whirled. On one hand she was outraged, but on the other hand she was overjoyed that her vindication could be only hours away.

  Her mind spun again, searching her memory for any inappropriate activity between her and Tanner, which the camera might have picked up. Whatever had been captured out in the living room would be slightly embarrassing, but nothing she couldn’t handle.

  She continued to relive the last few weeks in her mind. She hadn’t been in the apartment all that long. There couldn’t possibly be that much she didn’t want seen by strangers. Cara cringed when she remembered how she acted like a jealous idiot the day Blackjack Barbie came for the job interview with Tanner.

  Thankfully the BJ that transpired afterward happened over at Tanner’s.

  She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Her newly dubbed champions of the realm were about to get an eyeful of her trying on the bare-assed beaded disaster for Leah. Not only would her Super Heroes be able to see the outline of her rear through the translucent gauzy material, but also of her breast when it popped out of the peek-a-boo bodice. Panicked, she racked her brain for how many times she walked out of the bedroom nude to get something from the kitchen. Oh lord, had she used one of her toys out on the sofa? She didn’t remember doing that specifically, but it didn’t seem like an impossibility.

  She picked up her phone and redialed David Crandall.

  “We’re packing up right now, Ms. Greene.” David said before she had a chance to introduce herself. “We should be at your place within the hour.”

  Cara took a deep breath. “Please call me Cara, and please stop packing. I have reconsidered my earlier decision. I think we would all be better off if we were not together while you examine the contents of the camera.”

  Dead air ensued as David processed her change of heart.

  “Please don’t ask me why,” she jumped in before he could pose his query.
“You’ll have the answer soon enough.”

  Puzzled but not opposed to staying in the office, David nodded. “If that’s what you want, we would be more than happy to oblige.”

  Hunter’s eyes grew wide behind the monitor he was viewing. He jumped, knocked over his beer, and choked on a bite of pizza. He sat straight up in his chair and began to pound the keyboard. “Where in the hell is the rewind button on this thing!” he yelled.

  Cara Greene heard Hunter’s outburst through the phone line and a barely audible groan escaped through her lips. “Since we are about to be close, intimate friends, I think I should call you David.”

  David took a step towards Hunter to get a better look at what was on the monitor. Hunter had it paused and zoomed in on Cara’s bare breast. His crotch instinctively jerked. Oh yeah, this was getting personal. He placed the phone back to his ear. “I agree, Cara. Being on a first name basis is probably a good idea.”

  ~~~**~~~

  Tanner could not believe he let Mrs. Grimes talk him into this. Confronting his new assistant and falsely accusing her of breaking into Cara’s unit and planting evidence had not been on his list of scheduled activities for the day. Yet here he was, with Mrs. Grimes, who had taken Cara’s suspicions that Duncan’s girlfriend had a part in the frame-up as the only explanation possible and morphed the facts to fit Cara’s theory. Mrs. Grimes had said herself that Lisa Hill had not stepped foot in Cara’s unit.

  The old dame was ready to tar and feather the fragile ex-black jack dealer and Tanner doubted he would be able to stop the overzealous bulldozer. He prayed that Lisa had been truthful with him and that she hadn’t played him for a fool. Lord help her if Cara’s assumptions were correct and his new assistant was in cahoots with Duncan Alexander.