Crazy in Paradise (9 page)

“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 your 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.

* * *

After showering, I looked in the mirror and laughed. My hair was bigger than usual, and I lacked patience when it came to taming my red curls so I twisted it up into a clip. I did the minimal makeup thing, satisfied that I appeared presentable for a business appointment.

I slipped into a linen dress that was a bright shade of lime green – my new favorite color since moving to Florida – and matching slides. If I didn’t need to appear professional, there’d be no way I’d put on a bra.

“Dario,” I said as I came down the stairs. “I’ll be back later. My cell phone number is on the counter.”

“Whose bright idea was it to make a dress in the same color as baby puke?” he laughed, enjoying his own humor.

“See you later.” I closed the front door, happy he wasn’t my brother.

Chapter 12

I made the short trip to Tucker’s office in record time. “Hi, Ann,” I said, as I walked in the door. “I’m here for the meeting.”

She had an odd way of pinching her nostrils together and looking down her nose at a person. “Mr. Davis likes his clients to be on time,” she said glancing at her watch.

“I don’t believe I’m late.”

“This way,” Ann motioned, and led the way down the hall to Tucker’s office. She gave a short knock and opened the door. “You can go in,” she said, never making eye contact.

I was surprised to see that Will Todd had been included in the meeting. “Hello, gentlemen.” They both turned in my direction, but neither stood up. Tucker gave me one of his weasley smiles. “Take a seat,” he motioned.

“I understand there’s no need for introductions.” Tucker started shuffling through paperwork. “We’re not here to discuss the unfortunate situation that took place at The Cottages. I wish everyone had waited for me to bring the two of you together for an official introduction, and avoid any misunderstandings.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Tucker cut me off. “I’ll take comments and questions later.”

I wished I’d come better prepared, with my own notes in writing rather than in my head. I felt defensive, and talked down to. Not a pleasant way to start.

“I’ll spell out how everything will proceed. Elizabeth hired me to draw up her will, and named me executor. She thought a strong hand would be needed to make the transition go smoothly. This process doesn’t happen overnight.”

He stopped talking and pushed the intercom button. “Ann, would you bring me some coffee?”

He didn’t bother to offer Will or myself anything to drink.

“The estate is under my control until everything is finalized. I make all of the decisions. Let’s face facts, Madison. You lack managerial experience. In fact, I’m not sure what your background is. At the end of the meeting, I’d like to talk to you about other options.”

“Before Elizabeth’s death, she appointed Will to be the manager. She trusted him, and was satisfied with the job he was doing, and he’s proven himself more than capable. As such, he’ll continue as manager, reporting directly to me, until the estate is transferred.”

Joseph had told me that Will hadn’t become manager until after my aunt had died; there was no reason for Joseph to lie. Why would Tucker?

“The court dictates the time frame, which can fluctuate depending on any claims made, and frankly, how backed up the court is. Elizabeth bequeathed you her entire estate, other than the measly bequests she left to your mother and brother.”