“You can thank me later.” Stella winked. “By the way, in case you were wondering, it was the twelve point two Big Realistic Massager with suction cup and ball base for everyone’s pleasure.”
With that I was snorting again.
“Not that I’ve ever seen a real twelve point two, but hey,” Stella said in all seriousness.
She was one of those people I never wanted to piss off.
“Anyway, the real reason we are here.” She pulled the duffel bag over and opened it. “We took this from Damon. He had bought this for the model homes when he thought that they had a squatter.”
I rolled my eyes and then turned my attention to Katy, who just gave me a shrug.
“Anyway, I want to know if someone is watching you. If it isn’t Taylor, then who? Who has it out for you? Why do they want to pin this on you?” Stella took a bite of her pizza and chewed as we pondered her words.
“I don’t know how we will figure that out.” I tucked my legs up under me, too stressed to eat.
“That’s what this camera is for.” Stella waved it in the air.
“I figured that whoever is trying to frame you must be watching you,” Katy explained, and Stella scowled as though she was not pleased to have her limelight stolen.
“Yeah, what Katy said. We figured it was time to watch them back and where better to do that than the place you are most.”
“You think someone is spying on me?”
“How else would they know when you are lacking an alibi so that they can get you in even more trouble?” Stella suggested, and I realized she was right. It was the only thing that made sense.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked, but not totally sure that I wanted to know. Part of me just wanted to crawl under a rock and hide until everything blew over.
“First things first.” Stella reached into her duffel again and pulled out her laptop, which she placed on the coffee table beside the camera. She linked the two together and pressed a few buttons and keys before she turned back to me. “The camera is linked to my laptop. Now, we just need to figure out where to mount it.”
“How about by her bedroom window?” Katy suggested.
“It doesn’t show the parking lot and the street.” Stella shook her head.
“Above the doorway?” I asked. I didn’t have many options.
“Too obvious.” Stella sighed and then her eyes zeroed in on the large maple tree that grew close to the apartment building and right outside my kitchen window. “That tree will hide the camera.”
Stella stood and headed into my kitchen. She jumped up onto the counter and stood in my sink. After sliding the window open, she removed the screen and straddled the windowsill.
“Give me the camera.” Stella held out her hand.
I placed it onto her open palm.
“Give me some of the sticky shit.” Stella snapped her fingers.
Katy ran back to the duffle bag and rummaged through until she found a roll of some sort of putty. She pulled off a piece and handed it to Stella. Stella mounted the camera high above the kitchen window.
“Hand me the screwdriver and two screws, please.” Once again Stella stuck her hand out. I ran to the living room and grabbed the entire duffle bag and brought it into the kitchen. I handed her the Phillips screwdriver and one screw. Then, once she had it fastened, I handed her the other.
She pulled a small cord in through my window, climbed back inside, and closed the window behind her. The three of us moved back into the living room and copped a squat in the middle of the floor. Logging in, she confirmed that the camera and laptop were still linked and let out a cackle.
“We are a go, girls.”
Katy and I looked over her shoulder to see the screen. Stella pressed a couple of keys and the camera moved to point in the direction of the street. It was pretty empty, save for one woman who was standing with her back to the camera on the corner across the street.
“Who is that?” Stella asked, pressing a few more keys to zoom in.
"Is that...”
“A she-man? Yes. Yes, it is.” Katy laughed.
“Katy! You can’t call them that!” I gaped at her.
“It’s a man dressed as a woman. What else do you expect me to call them?”
“Anything but that!” I smacked her arm.
“I bet she’s a real ball buster.” Stella lifted her hands up in mock suggestion. “I’ve got it. We’ll call her, Georgia O-Queef.”
I sat in silence and looked at Stella for a beat before I lost it laughing. I fell back, holding my stomach as the full force of her words still washed over me. Poor Georgia O’Queef’s soul would never be the same in my eyes again.
“That’s perfect.” Katy sat back up and focused in on the screen. “Look, I think he, I mean she, is getting ready to pick up some hot date.”
“I thought we were supposed to see who was watching my apartment.”
“Shush. This will keep us entertained until we notice something suspicious.” Stella brushed my hand off the computer keys as I went to move the direction of the camera.
“I mean seriously! How can we not watch? Consider it our civic duty. Look at those thigh-high boots and that skimpy little dress. He’s a walking fashion felony. What would Ringo say?”
“He’d say, the bitch was obviously not charging enough.” Katy pointed to something on the screen. “Look, I think she might be getting a client.”
Stella and I followed her finger just in time to see a car pull up to the corner where Georgia was standing. He-she stepped up and leaned into the driver’s side window. We had no way of knowing what transpired between the two, but a moment later she was shoved backward from the car and almost fell when her stiletto heel caught in a crack in the pavement.
“Looks like O-Queef struck out,” Stella said disapprovingly.
“Maybe she isn’t a hooker. Maybe she’s just down on her luck.” But when a second car pulled up, I knew I had been wrong. The three of us put our heads together and leaned closer to the screen as if we were suddenly going to be able to hear something.
“Oh, wow!” Stella leaned back and covered her face. “Even I didn’t need to see that.”
“Was that what I think it was?” Katy asked. “Or maybe I should say wasn’t.”
“Sorry, Stella, but I think we should have named him David instead.” Katy and Stella looked at me like I was stupid. “Yeah, as in David Cockerfield. I swear when she lifted her skirt and flashed that guy I’ve never seen someone disappear so fast.”
“Pass me another slice of pizza before it goes stone cold.” Stella held out a hand. “Miss O’Queef must be on her A-game today.” Stella pointed at the screen where another car had pulled up. “I had no idea that your area saw so much action, Leo.”
“Me neither.” Okay I knew my neighborhood wasn’t fabulous, but I didn’t know that it was like this.
“Georgia has a live one.” Katy clapped her hands with excitement as Georgia slid into the car and let the driver whisk her away.
“Well, wasn’t that fun. What am I supposed to do with the camera when we aren’t being entertained by David?”
“Georgia,” Stella and Katy said in unison.
“Fine, Georgia.”
“Watch it. I’m leaving this laptop with you since it’s my old one. I also brought you a few thumb drives.” Stella reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of small devices.
“How old are you?” Katy asked Stella. “No one calls them thumb drives unless you are like sixty. They are USB drives, memory sticks. Thumb drives went out with floppy discs.”
“Excuse me, Miss Softwhore Police.” The words left Stella’s mouth before she realized what she had said, and then we cracked up. “That was funny. Even for me, that was funny.”
“I love you, you guys know that, right?”
“Yeah, we know.” Stella bumped my shoulder. “But it looks like Georgia isn’t getting any love. Look.” Georgia was walking back up the street to her corner. �
�I wonder how long it took them to notice the Adam’s apple. People really need to get the memo.”
“What memo?” I asked albeit apprehensively.
“Diversify. It’s the new ‘it’ word. These johns need to learn to diversify. Stop being so judgy. I bet Georgia could suck a grapefruit through a straw.”
And with that, Stella had refused to allow me to wallow in my pity, swim in that pool where I felt I owed them for taking time to cheer me up and needed to show my gratitude.
Other than Georgia, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.
“Well, at least you are set up. When you are here, keep an eye out. When you go to bed, pop one of these bad boys in and record. Okay?” Stella placed a memory stick into my hand.
Before they left Katy pulled me to the side. “What’s going on with Ian?”
“He’s decided he wants to slow it down. I think this”—I waved my arms in the air—“is all a little too much for him to handle.”
“Give him time. I saw the way he looked at you at the wedding. I saw it again that day you’d been taken in for questioning. He’s falling in love with you. Maybe he’s confused right now but he’s falling.”
With those final words Katy and Stella left, and I stared out my window. Tough Leo, biker boots, one of the guys, that was me. But once upon a time, I thought the moon followed me, just waiting to illuminate my world and show my prince where to find me.
My breath fogged the glass and blurred my view of the moon. How apropos, my view of Ian had totally been blurred as well.
19
Ian
When I woke up, I had nine missed calls and fourteen unread text messages that were waiting for me, but just as I had done yesterday, I ignored them and got ready for work.
When I got there, Taylor was there with a smile on her face.
“Good morning, Ian. Don’t you look sharp?”
I forced myself to smile and look her in the eyes, reminding myself that she may be innocent. But if she was involved in this maelstrom, did she not feel guilty for Leo being blamed? Or fuck that, how about the deputies being injured? How could someone be so calculating? She moved around her desk and propped her hip against the corner. Did she really not have a conscience? I just didn’t get it.
Letting out a sigh, I tried to keep myself from reaching forward and strangling her. With effort, I steeled my shoulders and my resolve at what had to be done. “I’m sorry, what did you say, Taylor? I have a lot on my mind. Leo and I broke up yesterday.”
Her excitement nearly bubbled out of her. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. If you need someone to talk to, I’m a good listener.”
I just shook my head and walked into my office and tried to distract myself with work. I must have checked my phone a million times, I wasn’t sure why, maybe hoping that Leo would call. It would serve me right since I couldn’t answer and was avoiding everyone else. I needed to stay away from her. I needed to make this believable. If someone was following Leo, then odds were they were following me. I just needed to make Taylor think I was interested in her without vomiting and find out once and for all whether she’s involved in all of this. But I had no clue how to get her to use my phone again since I didn’t have a classified meeting this week.
By lunchtime, I was shoving folders into my briefcase and shutting down my computer.
I was going home. I’d worked late several nights this week thanks to bogus late meetings that Taylor had somehow managed to get scheduled just like rearranging Lara, so taking the afternoon off wasn’t going to cause any issues.
“Where you going?” Taylor stopped me as I passed her desk.
“Not feeling great. I’m heading home.”
“Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Sure.” I turned my back and was out. Tomorrow, I told myself. Tomorrow I would flirt with Taylor and try to get her to open up.
When I got home, I changed into trunks and started doing a few laps. Swimming always helped take my mind off things. It was my relaxation. I was just starting to feel the ache in my shoulders from stretching, the throb in my thighs from pushing too far, and the weight on my chest that was my telltale sign that I had been controlling my breathing a little too long when I heard the faint sound of my doorbell.
Hopping out of the pool, I slowly righted myself as I tried to find my bearings on legs that had turned to jelly. I grabbed a towel and padded through my house. Swinging the door open, I immediately felt nude. Okay, I wasn’t nude, but I felt vulnerable because Taylor was standing on my porch.
Hurriedly, I wrapped my towel around myself. “Taylor, what are you doing here?” I leaned out to see if anyone else was with her.
“I was worried about you. You said that you weren’t feeling well, so I brought you some food.”
“Umm, how did you know where I live?”
“It’s in the company records.” She said this as if it were obvious and not at all a big deal that she stole my private information.
Taking a step back, I held the door open. Reminding myself that it was game time. Quickly I tried to remember where I’d left my phone, oh yeah, on the kitchen counter.
“I’m going to go change. Be right back.” I pointed to a stool at my kitchen bar, hoping she’d get the hint. But when I came back out, Taylor wasn’t sitting, she was in my kitchen, rummaging through my cabinets.
“Umm, can I help you with something?”
“Oh, I brought you some food. I thought that we could sit and eat.”
I moved and grabbed two plates and helped to set the table. “So what did you bring?” I took a step to my left in an attempt to give myself some more distance from her.
“Chicken soup.” Taylor pulled out a large container from an upscale deli. “Since you weren’t feeling well, I thought this would help.”
I changed out the plates for bowls and then grabbed some spoons.
“You look like you’re feeling better.”
“Mhmm.”
“You’ll have to give me a tour of your home, it’s beautiful.”
“It’s not clean.”
“Oh, I don’t care about that. I just want to see a different side of you. I had the hardest time finding this place, my GPS stops just before I turn onto Pent.”
“Pente.” I corrected her.
“Oh. Sounds Hispanic, ole’.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s Greek, for five.”
“That’s neat that you’re Greek and live on a Greek-named street.”
“Hmmm.” I wasn’t even going to get into the whole explanation about how this was a private street and my dad named it.
“Well, I’m not shocked that you and Leo broke up.” Taylor cut right to the quick. “You two are so different.”
I took a deep breath, fighting back the urge to tell her to fuck off, to tell her that she had no clue what she was talking about.
“You really do belong with someone a little more...I don’t know...” Taylor swung her arm around my house as if pointing to everything and yet nothing in particular. “Someone more fitting.”
I wasn’t sure what point she was trying to make or if she was just trying to beat a dead horse, but I was officially at my limit of Taylor for the day.
Unfortunately I discovered that I was sadly mistaken because it was at that moment my phone rang and it was next to Taylor. But even from where I was seated I could see the name…Leo.
Taylor slid the phone to me and I could feel her eyes burning holes into me to see what I would do next.
“Hello?”
“H-hi, I-I just called to check in on you. How are you doing?”
There was a moment of silence as I thought about what to say next. “I’m doing fine. I’m okay. I’m still at work and I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Can I call you back later?”
“Yeah, I just haven’t heard from you.” Leo’s voice sounded broken and sad.
“Ian, do you want me to get you some more soup or do you want me to put it in your refrigerator?” T
aylor’s voice was louder than necessary and fuck the bitch, she’d done it on purpose. She wanted to prove to Leo that I was lying and that she was at my house with me. Fuck her.
“Leo?” But there was no response. Pulling the phone away from my face I looked at the black screen and knew that she’d disconnected.
Laying my phone down, I stood. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.” I left the kitchen and headed up to my bedroom. I needed a moment to get my shit together. I was shocked that in such a short time I’d fallen for Leo, and having Taylor here was wrong on so many levels. And the hurt that Leo was feeling right now was crushing me, I wanted to go to her. But damn it all to hell, I needed Taylor to use my phone. But not in my house, I could leave it out while I was at work, I could leave it on my desk and go to lunch. I just wanted that conniving woman out of my house.
Moving next to my bed, I knew that there was one thing or should I say one person I could always count on. I picked up my house phone and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Mana...”
I gave my mother what I needed in an abbreviated version, hung up, and headed back downstairs. Sophie and Stella scared me, but my mother could scare the Pope.
“So, tell me about yourself, Taylor.” I looked for my cell phone and spied it in my kitchen, nowhere near the bar where we had been eating.
“For the most part I was raised in Chicago but my dad was transferred here when I was in high school.” She twirled a strand of hair around one finger. “I’m an only child, daddy’s little girl and all that.”
Yeah, I would have never guessed.
The rest of Taylor’s words were interrupted by my doorbell, which was followed by my front door opening.
“Ian, it’s Mana. I’ve brought you dinner.” Her words rang through the house.
“In here, Mana.”
“Don’t you move, my precious boy, I’m coming. I know you work so hard. But you—” My mother stopped and looked at Taylor. “You don’t look as if you’ve worked a hard day in your life. Why don’t you get over here and help me. I’ve made this boy of mine some food.”
“Oh, but I brought him some food.”
Often (Iron Orchids Book 4) Page 15
