3 Men and a Body (26 page)

Carlotta swung around, waiting.

His shoulders sagged. “Give me a break. I have to do my

job.”

“And tormenting me is just a bonus?”

“No, I…” He stopped and squinted. “Wait a minute. How

did you know the tap was stil on the phone?”

She turned her back on him and kept walking.

28

Wesley opened the lid on the aquarium that housed

Einstein, his adult male, black-and-gray axanthic python,

and dropped a live white mouse inside. As was his quiet

way, Einstein didn’t appear to notice, and the mouse

didn’t seem to know it was in imminent danger of

becoming dinner, because it set about exploring the

aquarium, its whiskers twitching.

The mouse was probably relaxed because this was its third

trip into the aquarium and Einstein had yet to move a

muscle. The snake was finicky that way, seeming to eat

only when it had to. Wesley spent more money feeding

the mice to keep them alive until his snake worked up an

appetite, than he did on the mice themselves.

Settling back on his bed, he reached beneath the mattress

and withdrew his father’s file that he’d taken from Liz’s

cabinet. It was crammed with lots of forms and legal

motions that didn’t mean much to him, but he did find the

trial number and dates that he needed to search the

courthouse databases. What fascinated Wesley most were

the handwritten messages his father had scribbled on

yel ow sticky notes and letterhead from Mashburn, Tul y &

Wren.

Liz, what can you do about this?

Liz, what do you think?

Liz, check into this.

It was fascinating to see his father’s handwriting, to

imagine him sitting at his desk, jotting down notes to his

attorney. It made the man seem more real, and his

concern more immediate, more palpable, as the notes

became more abbreviated and the tone more grave.

Liz, take care of this.

Liz, this worries me.

Liz, help me.

The notes were stuck to letters that his father had

received to be deposed, notices of foreclosure on the

house, summonses to appear in court. There was a letter

of dismissal on the company letterhead that bore his own

name, signed by Brody Jones, chief legal counsel for the

firm. And warnings from the IRS of taxes and penalties

due, pending legal action.

Wesley remembered seeing his father sitting at the

kitchen table with his head in his hands just a few days

before he disappeared. Wes had asked him what was

wrong. His dad had smiled and said that he was in a little

bit of trouble, but he was figuring out a way to fix things.

He had ruffled his son’s hair and told him that no matter

what happened, to remember that he loved him.

And Wesley had never forgotten.

His cel phone rang. When Liz’s name came up on the

screen, guilt blipped through his chest. But he decided

he’d better answer.

“This is Wes.”

“Do you have something of mine?” she demanded.

He decided to play it cool. “Who is this?”

“You know damn wel who this is. You stole your father’s

file from my cabinet.”

“You told me I could look through his files, remember?”

“Only what I decided to show you. Those files are

confidential, between attorney and client.”

“I only brought them home so I wouldn’t have to bother

you.”

“Bring them back, Wesley. Now. Don’t make me come to

your house.”

A snapping noise in the corner startled him. He looked

over to see that Einstein had decided to eat, after all. With

a twist of its body, the snake had grabbed the mouse by

the neck in a tightening coil. The mouse’s tail and feet

jerked for a few seconds, then stopped.

Wesley knew how it felt.

“Okay, Liz, calm down. I’l be over in a few minutes.”

He could feel her anger vibrating across the airwaves

before she disconnected the call. Setting aside his phone,

he flipped through the file quickly just to see if anything

else interesting caught his eye.

A tan stationery envelope fel out onto his lap. The outside

was blank. The tab of the envelope had been tucked

inside. He opened it and withdrew a single, folded piece of

matching paper. When he opened it, the date made him

catch his breath—December of the year his father had

disappeared. It had to be just before or around the time

that he’d left town.

My darling Liz,

I have to go, you know I do. There are too many things to

work out, and I can’t do it here. But I’l be back someday,

and the people who have done this to me wil pay. Thank

you for believing in me, and for loving me. I wil miss being

in your arms every day that I’m gone.

Love, Randolph

White-hot anger whipped through Wesley’s chest. His dad

had been having an affair? With Liz? How could he have

done that to Wesley’s mother? Had she known about it?

God, Carlotta would die if she knew. She already didn’t like

Liz…

Then he straightened. Maybe Carlotta did know, maybe

that was why she’d been so upset when he’d called his

father’s attorney after his arrest for hacking into the city’s

computer system.

Wesley shook his head. That was Carlotta…always

protecting him from the truth. And even though they

disagreed about their father’s guilt, she’d never said

anything about his character to make Wesley think less of

him. She had allowed him to form his own opinions of the

man as he remembered him.

He refolded the letter and stuffed the file into his

backpack, then took a look at Einstein’s progress. Kil ing

the mouse was a quick process compared to swallowing it

and digesting it. The snake’s jaws had unhinged to allow it

to draw the mouse into its mouth whole, one centimeter

at a time.

Wesley bet that Liz could swallow him whole if she wanted

to.

It took him forty minutes to ride to her place. The lights

were on in the guesthouse, where they normally

rendezvoused. Liz answered the door in a long silky robe,

holding a martini. She glared at him and held out her hand.

He pul ed out the file and passed it to her. “Why didn’t you

tel me that you were my dad’s mistress?”

She blanched and turned to walk inside. “I didn’t mean for

you to find out. He wouldn’t have wanted that.”

Wesley fol owed her. “How could you do that to my

mom?”

“The vows were your father’s to break, not mine.”

“How long did it go on?”

“Years,” she said simply. “You asked me yesterday if I’d

ever met the right man.”

“You said you did, but he wasn’t available. Were you

talking about my dad?”

She nodded. “I loved him desperately.”

“So did my mom,” Wesley muttered.

Liz smiled. “I’m sure she did. But your mom

had…problems. She was frail. It was hard for her to take

care of herself and your father.”

“So you took care of him?”

“It’s not what you think,” she said. “I never asked your

father to leave your mother. I never expected him to.

When things got rough, I was a soft place for him to land,

that’s all.” Liz set the file on a table, then lifted her hand to

Wesley’s cheek. “You are so much like him.”

Wesley grabbed her wrist. “Is that why you like screwing

me?”

“Yes,” she said simply, then tossed back her martini and

swallowed. “I’m attracted to you because you’re so much

like your father. Is that so bad?”

Wesley thought about it. When he realized his cock was as

hard as a steel rod, he realized it wasn’t so bad being

compared to your old man in the sack. In fact…it was kind

of cool knowing he could turn on a woman that his dad

had turned on.

He pul ed her to him and kissed her neck, sliding his hands

inside her robe. Underneath, she wore a pink panty and

bra set. He rounded his hands over her hips. “I’m stil mad

at you,” he muttered, then pinched her ass.

She shuddered in his arms. “I know. Sleeping with your

father and with you was a bad thing. But I can’t help

myself. What are you going to do to me?”

Wesley swallowed hard, not quite sure he was ready for

the power shift that she was suggesting. “I…I guess I’m

going to…punish you?”

“Okay,” she murmured, then pushed him down on the bed

and climbed over his lap in prime spanking position.

Wesley blinked at the woman sprawled over him, trying to

take it in. Chance would never believe this.

“I don’t believe you, man.”

Wesley held up his hand. “Dude, I swear.”

Chance threw a leather couch pil ow at him. “Liar. It’s

more likely that she put you over her knee, you little tool.”

Wesley dodged the pil ow and went back to playing Poker

Smash.

Chance was revved up, though, high on uppers. “Man, I

can’t stop thinking about getting punked the other night at

that poker game. I’m so pissed off.”

“We’re lucky we weren’t kil ed,” Wesley said.

“I told that bastard Grimes he wasn’t getting any more of

my money. I can’t believe he didn’t have security, man.”

“He probably figured a shootout would attract attention.”

A splintering noise startled Wesley and he looked up to

see Chance pul ing his bloody fist out of the drywall.

“Dude, are you crazy?” He jumped up to survey the

damage. “Can you move your fingers?”

“Yeah, nothing’s broken,” Chance said, spreading his

fingers and shaking off the pain. “I’m just so pissed that

you played like a superstar and then we got stripped.”

“Find me another game. Tel Grimes he owes us one.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

Wesley toyed with the idea of tel ing Chance his suspicions

about Leonard being one of the armed robbers, but

Chance could be a hothead. Wesley knew that the muscle

head could probably kil Chance with a twist of his wrist.

No, he was going to slow-bid his hand for now.

He left after dark, feeling good on the back of another

white pil , his head stil a little swol en from the earlier

session of naughty sex with Liz. The woman was a ball-

buster. Who would’ve guessed she got off on being

spanked?

He wonder if E. liked being spanked…or Meg.

Wesley frowned as he unlocked his bike from the rack.

Where had that thought come from?

A big hand clamped down on his neck.

And where had this guy come from?

He looked up in the smiling face of Leonard.

“Dude, it’s dark out here. You really need to start carrying

pepper spray or something. Man could get mugged. Or

worse.”

“What do you want?” Wesley growled.

“The Carver’s upset with you.”

“What else is new?”

“You’d said you’d come through on the favor he needed.”

“I did the best I could. He said he’d erase my debt. I did my

part.”

“That’s not good enough. The deal’s off. I’m authorized to

col ect a payment right now. You got any cash on you?”

“No. You took it all at the card club.”

Leonard blinked. “What the hel are you talking about?”

“I know it was you who robbed the club. Did you share any

of that with The Carver, or does he know about your side

jobs?”

“You’d better keep your mouth shut, punk.”

“Get lost, Leonard. Or I’l tel E. that her boyfriend is a

thug.”

Leonard pul ed him up until they were nose to nose. “You

really don’t want to bring women into this. They could get

hurt.” The man released Wesley so abruptly that he

stumbled backward.

But he must have touched a nerve, because the bul y

jogged away.

29

Carlotta glanced at her watch, wondering where Wesley

had gone when he’d left the house earlier. Not to Liz’s, she

hoped. The thought of them together was just too

incongruous for her to imagine.

Almost as bad as thinking about her father and Liz

together.

Or Jack and Liz together.

Carlotta sank down deeper in the couch and immersed

herself in the documentary she was watching about Kiki

Deerling’s life. The media was stil trying to wring out the

last bit of newsworthiness from the young woman’s death.

The only related developments were that Matt Pearson

was stil barricaded in a Buckhead hotel, and that Kiki’s

BFF, Naomi Kane, had signed with Kiki’s former publicist,

Marquita White.

Everyone seemed to be going on with their bad behavior

and their careers. Carlotta wondered idly if Matt Pearson

had given Kiki a lethal dose of heroin. It would definitely

explain why he was so distraught over her death. She

wished she could figure out a way to talk to him, but had a

feeling that even her extensive party-crashing skil s would

fal short of A-list celebrity security. And she doubted Jack

would be in a helpful mood if she got her ass arrested for

trespassing.

Hateful man.

Hannah was working tonight. With the night yawning

before her, Carlotta considered cal ing Peter to see if he

wanted to catch a movie. The thought of him plucked at

her heartstrings…the way his face had lit up when she’d

stopped by the office. The man did love her. And he was