Exclusive (21 page)

“What about those booking reports that I saw? Isn’t there a law against that?”

“I’m sure there is, but again you’ll need proof that he accessed encrypted files. This is probably nothing more than a glitch in the county’s system.”

“He better thank his lucky stars I didn’t lose my job over this. I’ve printed teasers for the past three weeks building up to this exclusive interview. I would like to choke the bastard, but since I can’t, I’ll have to chalk this experience up to desperation and unprofessionalism.”

“So, now that I’ve fulfilled my duty, when are we having that dinner you promised me?”

He heard her sigh over the wires. “Let me call you back; I need to check my calendar,” Abby said.

“Don’t wait too long. I promised your mother I’d have dinner with her and your godmothers. She invited me to come out to the beach house and see all the changes. Personally, I think she has something up her sleeve. I told her I would get back to her with a time and date. I was waiting to see when you wanted to go to dinner first.”

“Oh. She didn’t tell me that.”

“Your mother doesn’t tell you everything, Abby,” he observed, then wished he could take the words back before she read something into them.

“How do you know that? Is there something you know and you’re not telling me? Because, you know, if there is, and I find out you’ve been keeping secrets, I’ll have to kill you.”

Relieved, Chris laughed. Yes, there certainly were things he knew about her mother that she didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to tell her what they were.

“I don’t have anything on your mom, Abby.”

“That’s good to hear. Seriously, though, I do have to check my calendar before I can confirm dinner plans. Truly, I am not lying to you.”

“I didn’t think that you were,” Chris said, knowing that that was exactly what he’d thought. Abby had her information. Now she would try and squirm out of having dinner with him.

“Yes, you did. I know you, and I know me. I usually make excuses. You have my word I am not doing that this time. I really want to have dinner with you.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for your call.”

“Count on it,” Abby said, then hung up.

The acorn didn’t fall far from the oak. Abby was certainly her mother’s daughter, big on having the last word. Chris smiled. Suddenly he had that kid-at-Christmas feeling again.

Damn, life was good.

************************************************************************************************

Before she had a change of heart, Ida took her cell phone from her purse and dialed her banker in New York City. After several minutes, she was put through to her personal account manager. Though she didn’t have all the banking information she needed, she instructed her manager to be prepared to wire $3 million to an account in California as soon as she called back. He, Russ was his name, had asked her if she was buying property. If so, he could send the funds directly to the seller. She’d quickly told him it was none of his business, just make sure that amount was ready for transfer when she called back. If not, she would take her business elsewhere. Banks were falling like rain these days. Ida was sure she and her fortune would be welcomed with open arms at any number of banks. She told him this before she ended the call.

Ida gave the driver a fifty-dollar bill and told him to keep the change before she got out at the end of the driveway. She thought Sammy would be waiting for her when she arrived, but he probably didn’t know she’d left so soon. It didn’t matter, she told herself, as she walked the length of the drive.

She heard raised voices when she reached the front door. Undecided whether to knock or just walk inside, her manners got the better of her and she knocked, then waited. When no one came to the door, Ida knocked again. Hand on the knob, she was about to turn it when the door opened.

“My dear, Ida. I was about to walk to the end of the drive to meet you. You should have called me when you arrived,” Sammy said. He took her hand in his and led her to his bedroom. Not wasting time today, Ida thought. After she got over what had happened the night before last, she’d missed him last night. More than once she’d wanted to call him but changed her mind. She didn’t want to appear too eager. Let him come to her.

“I was worried when you didn’t answer my calls this morning.” He motioned for her to sit down on the bed.

“We were outside having our morning coffee. I couldn’t hear the phone.” She didn’t need to lie, but for some reason she felt compelled to make an excuse for not answering her phone.

“Wonderful, I know how much you enjoy your time with your friends,” Sammy said. He hesitated for a few seconds, then continued. “I am so ashamed of myself for the way I acted the night before last. Can you accept an old man’s apology?”

Ida really wished he would stop with the “old man” business. She should tell him, but didn’t want to remind him that she was only two years younger than he. “You have nothing to apologize for. I offered to lend you money for the clinic. There is no shame in accepting help, Sammy. I want to help you. As a matter of fact, my banker in New York is waiting for me to call him with your banking information. I called him on the ride over.” She was so proud of herself, she beamed. For once she’d taken the initiative, grabbed the bull by the horns, whatever one called it, and she’d made a decision on her own concerning a man. Sammy hadn’t begged or bribed her. This was simply the right thing to do. If not for the Center for Mind and Body she wouldn’t be sitting here right now. The way she figured it, she owed Sammy and the clinic her life. If not for his medical knowledge and kind, caring ways, she would still be holed up in a room somewhere scrubbing her hands and worrying about dying from some unknown germ.

He appeared to be genuinely shocked by her generous offer. “I still don’t know what to say…you don’t have to do this, Ida. How can I ever repay you? This is such a large sum of money, it could take years before I am able to pay this back to you.”

Ida almost wished he had declined her offer, though she wasn’t sure why. It didn’t matter anyway. Now all she had to do was write down his banking information, and it was as good as done.

“Consider this a gift, a donation to the clinic if you will. I’ll have my accountant take care of all the necessary forms. All you have to do is accept this and give me your banking information.”

He shook his head. “Bless you, Ida. You’re a true angel, you know that? I will make sure your generosity is known to my patients. Here.”

He reached inside his pocket and removed a slip of paper. “This has everything you should need to wire the funds to the account.”

That was fast, Ida thought. He must have known she was going to give him the money. Why else would he have the information ready to give her? Maybe she’d hinted at it on the phone? She couldn’t remember, and it didn’t matter. She’d made an offer to help with the center’s finances, and now she would follow through on that commitment.

She took the paper from him. “This may take a few minutes.”

“Of course, I’ll leave you to make your phone call. When you’re finished, maybe we will have lunch, then we can…visit.” Sammy gazed at the bed when he said they could “visit.” Ida smiled; she wouldn’t mind a “visit” either.

“I’ll just need a few minutes,” she said.

Sammy took her hand in his, kissing her wrist, then the palm. Yes, she was definitely ready for a “visit” with Sammy. She’d gotten used to having a fulfilling sex life with him over the past few months. He was a very skilled and patient lover. There was no need to stop now simply because they were business partners.

“I’ll leave you to make your call,” Sammy said.

Ida dialed Russ’s private number at the bank in Manhattan. When he answered, she skipped the niceties and got straight down to business. “These are the numbers,” she said, then rattled off the bank’s routing number, the account number, and a tax identification number. “Is there anything else?”

“This seems to be everything; if not, may I call you back?” Russ asked.

Ida must have scared him with her threat to take her business to another bank. “Of course. Now how long will this take before the money can be withdrawn?”

“No more than forty-eight hours.”

“Good. Thank you, Russ.” Ida punched the END button on her cell phone. She couldn’t wait to tell Sammy that the money would be the clinic’s in forty-eight hours. She waited for ten minutes, allowing him time to return. When twenty minutes passed, Ida went in search of him. She peered out into a small, well-lit hallway. There were three other bedrooms in the house, one of them belonging to Amala, though Ida had never been inside the young woman’s room.

Ida had spent most of her time in Sammy’s bed. That was fine with her; it was precisely where she wanted to be. She peered inside the two other bedrooms. The first one had a computer desk, a chair, and a laptop. There wasn’t a bed or a night table, nothing to indicate that the room was used for anything other than a home office. Ida closed the door. Across from the office was another bedroom. She tapped on the door before opening it, then when there was no answer she peeked inside the room hoping to find Sammy. The room had an air mattress on the floor, an inexpensive lamp placed on a stack of what looked like thick medical books. Odd, she thought. Why wouldn’t Sammy have a bed in what she assumed to be a guest room? She stepped fully inside the room, more out of curiosity than anything. A canvas bag lay open on top of the blue mattress. Ida wanted to look inside, but that wasn’t her style. She’d already nosed around in areas that were obviously off-limits, or the doors would have been open. She left the guest room, again being careful to close the door behind her quietly.

Around the corner and to the left of the office and guest room, Ida spied the door to Amala’s room. It was open. Sure that Sammy was inside, she started to step inside, then stopped dead in her tracks. She closed her eyes for a minute, then opened them again. Ida was sure she wasn’t seeing things, but this?

Sammy held several pairs of women’s panties in his hands. Pale blue, a lacy white G-string, and a red-and-black pair. The red-and-black pair that she’d thought she’d misplaced months ago!

Oh my God! Ida was rooted to the floor, shocked, as she watched Sammy bring each pair of sexy underwear to his nose, inhaling each pair as though he were smelling a fine wine. When he brought her red-and-black pair up to his nose, he kissed the crotch, then took a big whiff of the same area.

Ida turned away so fast she became instantly dizzy. She raced back to Sammy’s bedroom, unsure of what to do. She sat on the bed and took several deep, calming breaths. She swallowed several times. Her mouth was as dry as a bone. Ida was in the bathroom getting a drink of water when she heard Sammy enter the bedroom.

“Ida, dear, are you in here?”

God almighty!

What to do? Act, Ida, you stupid ass. Act like you’ve never acted before.

She cleared her throat and took a sip of water before calling out to Sammy. “In here. I’ll just be a minute.”

“Wonderful. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Ida was screwed, or as Sophie and Toots would say, she was fucked. Yes, she liked the sound of that. She was fucked. Big-time. Now, if she could manage to get through the next few minutes without alerting Sammy that she knew his dirty little secret, then she might start a new career as an actress. At least a grade-B one. She opened the door and stepped back into the bedroom, where Sammy lay on top of the bed completely nude touching himself in places that she’d touched him.

Oh God, this was much worse than she thought!

“Sammy,” Ida said loudly. He yanked his hand away from his privates.

“My dear, as you can see, I can hardly hold myself back. I want to make love to you right now. Take off your clothes, Ida.”

She wasn’t sure what to do! Part of her was turned on by the sudden turn of events, another part of her was mortified. What the hell, she thought. She might as well go for broke.

She stripped off her navy blouse, kicked her shoes aside, and removed her capris. Down to her pale pink bra and panties, Ida suddenly had a flash of Sammy as he’d stuck his nose on the silky undergarments, inhaling deeply as though he were on oxygen. She kept her bra and panties on. She couldn’t go through with this knowing what she knew.

“Sammy, I am not feeling well. Would you mind if we didn’t make love? I’ve been feeling…dizzy.” That was an understatement.

“You would leave me like this?” He nodded downward.

“I’m sorry. Can’t you just relieve yourself? You seemed to have no trouble doing so a few minutes ago.” Ida felt her face flame with embarrassment. Never, ever in her sixty-five years had she been so humiliated!

With a wicked grin, Sammy said, “I suppose, but only if you will watch me.”

Eyes widened in horror, Ida raced out of the room, not bothering to stop for her clothes. She ran outside to the deck, where Amala and Mohammed were in a heated conversation.

They stopped when they saw her. To say that both of them appeared surprised would be putting it mildly. Shocked, maybe. Ida didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. She just stood there in her silky pink bra and panties while Mohammed ogled her. “Stop staring at me like that, you…pervert!”

“Amala, do you have a robe or something I can use to cover myself?” Ida asked.

“Sure.” She stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Ida held her head high as Mohammed continued to rake his gaze over her nearly naked body. “Not bad, old woman, not bad at all. No wonder the good doctor likes fucking you.” He smiled at her, a depraved look on his olive-skinned face. She wanted to run and hide, cover herself, but Ida was sophisticated enough to know that doing so was exactly what he would expect her reaction to be, so she stood there, letting him gaze at her.

Feeling more brazen than she should, Ida spoke up. “Do you like what you see?” God, she was going to hell in a handbasket for sure!

“As I said, not bad for an old broad,” Mohammed stated.

Amala reappeared with a robe. Grinning, she said, “This should help.”