Crazy in Paradise (13 page)

“I’m calling the police,” Will interrupted.

“The police? Why?”
What now
?

“Spoon’s a criminal.”

“You wouldn’t help me, and he offered. Go back to your cottage and mind your own business. The sooner we get Miss January out of the bushes, the sooner we leave.”

Will stomped off, but stopped a couple of cottages away to spy from the shadows.

“Can you help me with Miss January? I need to get her back to her cottage. She’s drunk and I don’t want her sleeping on the lawn.”

“Stand back,” Spoon said. “I’ll pick her up and carry her.” He picked her up effortlessly. “Lead the way.”

“This way,” I motioned. “She lives in the middle cottage.”

Thankfully, the door was unlocked, so I didn’t need to ask Will for the key. “Put her on the bed and I’ll take care of the rest.” Her bedroom opened off the small living room.

I went in after him, took her shoes off, pulled the sheet over her, and turned off the light. “I appreciate your help.” I started to lock the door, and spotted her cat sleeping on the couch. “Hi, Kitty. Let me just check the cat’s food and water.”

“That cat’s dead,” Spoon said.

“Dead?” I reached out to pet her. She was hard as a rock. “Ooh,” I jumped.

He came over and examined her closely. “No, it won’t be needing any food or water. She had the damn thing stuffed. But whoever she went to didn’t do a good job. It’s lumpy.”

“I was here a week ago, and Miss January had Kitty in her lap, petting and talking to her.”

“That cat has been toes up for a while,” he chuckled.

“Let’s get out of here.” The gruesomely stuffed cat was more upsetting than finding Miss January in the bushes.

Spoon walked me out to my car. “Once again, thank you. I couldn’t have moved her by myself.”

“I noticed your SUV parked here and stopped. I meant to tell you the other day how sorry I was that Elizabeth died. I liked her.”

“Thank you.” I turned and noticed Will still lurking and listening from the shadows.

“I need a favor.”

“From me?”

“Your aunt owes me. And since I can’t collect from her, I’m going to collect from you.”

I laughed at his brass. “What exactly did you do for her?”

“One of her girl pals from the poker group went through a late life crisis and got herself arrested for shoplifting. Elizabeth asked for my help.”

“What kind of help?”

“The kind where the charges get dropped.”

“How’d you accomplish that?”

“I introduced myself to the owner of the liquor store, and after a short conversation he couldn’t remember the details of what happened.”

“You’re telling me one of my aunt’s friends robbed a liquor store?” I laughed. “So you went there, scared the hell out of the guy, and he conveniently had a memory lapse.”

“Elizabeth’s friend made a bad choice. As for the owner of the store, I didn’t scare the hell out of him, as you put it. We had a conversation about how much better it is to have me as a friend, than an enemy. Win-win,” he smiled.

The all-dressed-up Spoon was extremely appealing. “So, what’s the favor?”

“One of my boys is getting released from prison and needs a place to stay for four months. It’s one of the conditions of his parole, plus having a job. I’ll guarantee the rent, and there won’t be any problems. Ask anyone, but that rodent manager of yours, and they’ll tell you I’m a man of my word.”

““Why did he go to prison?”

“He stole a few cars.”

“A few?”

“He was good at his craft. Now he’s getting a second chance; already has a job waiting. One where he won’t walk around with one eye over his shoulder and not feel inclined to run when he hears a siren.”

I liked Jimmy Spoon, and that surprised me. Would I regret this? I sighed. The question had dogged me a lot lately. “He can stay here at The Cottages on two conditions. One, he doesn’t tell anyone he’s on parole. And two, if asked, he’s a friend of the family.”

“Done. Liz said you would keep her word.”

Liz again. She’d certainly known some interesting people. I wondered why she kept so many people secret.

“When we first met, why didn’t you mention that you and my aunt were friends?”

“Because I had kissing you on my mind. Then you broke my heart, telling me you were in a relationship with Zach.”

I smiled at him. “I’m sorry.”

He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Here’s my card. My cell number is on the back.”

“One more thing,” I said. “Rodent over there isn’t to know anything about this. I’ll call you in the morning after I get a set of keys.”

“I like you,” Jimmy Spoon laughed. “Call me anytime, Madison. And keep an eye on that manager of yours. Word on the street is that he has a big deal brewing. I’m sure it won’t turn out well for anyone involved. He’s stupid and arrogant. Not good qualities for a con man.”

I drove through the deserted streets of Tarpon Cove, thinking about Spoon’s warning and about my options. Will needed to go, sooner rather than later.

Chapter 17

Rain beat hard against the windows. A summer thunderstorm had rolled in, dropping inches of fat raindrops before moving on down the keys, leaving another sizzling day.

Jazz had his head on the other pillow, asleep and softly snoring. All I wanted to do was stay in bed, listen to the rain, and read. Or go back to sleep.

Instead my phone rang. “Hey Jazz, who’s calling us this early?” The screen showed Zach’s number.

“Are you awake?”

“Barely. We both just woke up.”

“Both?”

“Jazz says good morning.”

“He’s a lucky cat, getting to sleep with you. I wanted to check on you from last night. I thought Axe would follow you home.”

“As it turned out I didn’t come straight home. I had to run by the county jail.”

He laughed. “You’re going to make me ask, aren’t you?”

“One of my tenants needed a ride after being released.”

“Let me guess, Joseph?”

“Never mind him. Were Jimmy Spoon and Elizabeth friends?”

“Spoon? Where did you run into him?”

“At The Cottages last night.”

“You had quite a night,” he laughed. “Well, I saw them together several times. I heard he helped her out with a problem she had, but she never gave me the details.”

“You pretty much confirmed what Spoon told me.”

“Why was Spoon at The Cottages?”

“He saw my SUV and stopped. When I was leaving, I found Miss January lying face down in the bushes, drunk. Spoon carried her back to her cottage. I couldn’t do it by myself.”

“Spoon’s an okay guy. He walks a grey line most of the time.”

“Most of the people I’ve met here walk that grey line, myself included.”

“So your mother fixed you up on a date and didn’t tell you,” Zach laughed.

“Did you just call to amuse yourself? Honestly, it’s not funny yet. My mother and I need to have a chat, because this will never happen again.”

“Go easy on her. Her intentions were good.”

“Whatever. Thanks for the warning on Connor Manning. Half way through dinner, I had a bad feeling about him. I was happy to get away.”

“He likes to control everything in his life, women in particular. He also has a bad temper. How are you going to get rid of him?”

“I’ll start by not taking his calls. I hope he’ll get the message, and go away on his own. If not, I’ll make my mother tell him to take a hike.”

“Don’t worry. If he doesn’t leave you alone, I’ll personally feed him to the alligators, and consider it a public service.”

“Poor alligators. He probably wouldn’t digest well,” I laughed.

“We’re wrapping up this case of ours, and I’ll be back to spend some quality time with my girlfriend. Miss me?”

“Sort of.”

“I miss you. See you soon.” He hung up.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, smiling, and playing over and over in my mind the part where he told me he missed me. “Are you ready to get up, Jazz?”

* * *

At The Cottages, everything had been washed clean by the rain and the flowers and tropical plants thrived. Elizabeth had shared her idea of painting each cottage a different color, resembling Miami art deco and I was skeptical, but all the color made the property stand out.

The office was closed, and this time no sign taped to the door. The overhead vacancy sign hadn’t been turned on either and I knew there were available units.

I knocked on Will’s door. I listened for movement and, though all was quiet, someone was definitely standing behind the peephole. I debated creating a scene. Whoever was inside would be out in a hot second.

Joseph’s door stood open. I called out to him.

“Hey girl, come on in. Thanks again for the ride.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m not in jail.”

“I came for some gossip.” Behind me, I heard a door close. The man in Cottage Four had just walked out. He briefly looked my way, and then disappeared around the corner of the building.

“Was that Creole?” His skin was the color of a caramel latte, his dark hair slicked back.

“That was him. Disappears fast, doesn’t he? That’s the most anyone ever sees of him.”

“I need to talk to you, and I want your word you won’t tell anyone, especially Will.”

“Word. What’s up?”

“Smart ass. Bet you’ve been told that before.”

“Whatever. What secret am I keeping?”

“If Will tries to evict you or Miss January, you let me know immediately, and I’ll handle him.”

“Did he tell you he wants me out? If his grand plan is to get rid of everyone who was here when Elizabeth ruled, the place will be empty.”

“My hands are tied until the property is legally transferred to me, but some things I’ll derail even if I have to make a nuisance of myself at Tucker’s office. I can’t fight every issue, so I need to choose my battles.”

Joseph gave me an assessing look. Clearly, he hadn’t decided if he could trust me or not.

I continued, “How much do you know about Tucker Davis?”

“I know he’s a real dick,” Joseph said. “Most of his clients are criminal. Hard-core, not like the bullshit I get myself into.”

“What about the relationship between Will and Tucker?”

“Tucker’s been here twice, maybe. He stands out in the front, never sets foot on the property. He came by right after Elizabeth died. Will jumped in his car, and they drove off. An hour later Tucker dropped him back off.”

“Interesting. I knocked on Will’s door, and no one answered. I can’t be positive, but I thought someone was looking through the peep hole.”

“Sissy boy left a while ago and hasn’t come back. It was probably Forrest,” he laughed.

“I haven’t met Forrest yet.”

“And you won’t, if he has his way. He leaves for work every day at the same time, and when he comes back, he stays inside and never talks to anyone. The only time he comes out is late at night. He walks around the neighborhood, his baseball cap pulled down low. He’s stupid if he thinks no one recognizes him.”

“He sounds a little odd.”

“My opinion is he’s wanted, and keeping a low profile.”

“What’s his last name?”

“No idea. I think Forrest is a nickname. He’s a mean-looking bastard, thin and well over six foot. Scarred face like he’s been in a few too many fights. Don’t go around asking questions about him,” Joseph warned. “You’ll piss him off, and he might pay you a visit like he did me. He scared the hell out of me.”

“Do me a favor and keep an eye out for Miss January. If Will bothers her, call me.”

“She’s an old drunk.”

“People say the same thing about you. But you can stick up for yourself, and she can’t.”

“Want some free advice?” Joseph asked. “Be careful where Will is concerned. He came out of nowhere and got in tight awful damn quick. Both he and Forrest sneak around at all hours.”

“He’s certainly a piece of work.”

“One night, Will and Creole got into a fight in the driveway because someone had gone through Creole’s cottage, and he pointed the finger at Will.”

“Thanks for the info,” I said, turning at the sound of footsteps. “Isn’t that Will walking down the drive?”

“Don’t leave until he gets inside. He knows you’re on the property, and I don’t want him to see you coming out of my place. Letting him think you were here is one thing, but he doesn’t need to know for sure.”

“You hear anything, I’m your first call,” I said getting up to leave.

“Will and Forrest are bad news, and this ain’t the ramblings of a crazy old man.”

“Just remember this is a ‘no blab’ conversation.”

Joseph grunted, and I left with more questions than ever. I needed someone to talk to. Brad would go into over-protective mode. Mother would be here in a hot flash, trying to kick ass.

I knocked at Will’s cottage for the second time. He opened the door slightly, a smile firmly planted on his face. “Did you need something?” He walked out closing the door behind him.

I guess he wouldn’t be inviting me in. “A family friend is coming to town, and needs a place to stay for a couple of months. I’d like the key to Cottage Ten. What’s the rent?

“Everything will be in the report I give you,” he said.

“When? I assumed I’d have them by now since we agreed in Tucker’s office.”

“When I get them done.”

“Could you be more specific? You told Tucker and me they were completed.”

“I’ve been busy,” he muttered. “I’ll have them done by next Monday. You and that accountant of yours will be getting your reports.”

“I’ll call you on Monday to set up a time to come by and pick them up.”

“You do that.”

“As a personal favor to me, please do not evict Joseph or Miss January. My aunt rented to them and they have lived here a long time, and I want to respect that.”

“I thought after a night’s sleep you would come to your senses. Guess not. Even you have to realize they’re crappy tenants, and make it impossible to get good ones.”

“We can figure this out later, when things are more settled.”

“Anything else?”

“The key to Cottage Ten. Then I won’t need to bother you again. And when you give me the reports, I’d like an entire set of keys.”