Key Lime Blues (18 page)

“Look,” I said. “Bob had the gun and I was going where he told me to go. This isn’t my fault here. But I am sorry for your loss.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” Frankie said. “If you’d kept your nose out of this Bob wouldn’t have been chasing you all over Key West. Where’d it happen?”

“Under the bridge where Bob and Willie found me. The police are there now.”

“You called the cops?” Frankie asked.

“No. My guess is someone heard the shots and called them. Or maybe it was the shooter. I didn’t ask.”

“You did mention my name, did you?”

“I didn’t have much choice.”

He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “I need you to go back to your boat and pick up Willie.”

“I don’t think so, Frankie. You said yourself he’ll be anxious to kill me. I’ll let you know when I find the diamonds.”

“It’s not about the diamonds anymore,” Frankie said. “It’s about family. Now get your ass out there and bring me Willie. Understand?” He sounded calm, and his voice took on a deadpan quality, but there was no doubt in my mind he was pissed. I considered the best way to tell him no, but when I couldn’t think of one I disconnected the phone and continued on my way.

I knew Frankie would not be a happy camper, but I figured he couldn’t get any angrier than he was at the moment. There was no way I was going to go out to my boat and break the news to Willie that his brother was dead.

I should have known better than to get involved with the agency again. I’m sure Nick and my mother both expected this to be a simple case. It was all about finding a girl and calling the client; that was it. Instead, Nick was dead. As for me, I’d been attacked by an Amazon stripper, shot at, knocked out, interrogated, and now the client wanted me dead.

My stomach burned and my head felt like a volcano might erupt in there at any moment. At twenty-nine I was too damn young to be suffering from heartburn. I was regretting letting my mother guilt me into helping on this case.

While I walked back to Tanya’s house I had plenty of time to dwell on my situation. Despite Frankie’s protestations about the importance of family over the diamonds, I suspected he would be much happier with me if I could turn those diamonds over to him. As for Destiny, if it wasn’t for the fact I needed to get the diamonds from her to make things right with Frankie, I’d be happy if I never saw her again.

It was four in the morning by the time I got to Tanya’s place and I was exhausted. Tanya wasn’t home yet, so the first thing I did when I got into the house was head for the bathroom. My head refused to stop throbbing, my body felt like it had been used for a tackling dummy, and I was coated with blood and dirt. I needed a hot shower and I needed to get my ass into bed.

I figured Tanya would be home soon, but I couldn’t wait up for her. I’d barely fluffed the pillow and I was out, but not for long.

The creak of the bedroom door opening woke me. I was lying on my side away from the door, so I couldn’t see her, but the scent of her perfume tweaked my nose and erased the last vestige of sleep from me. I sensed movement when she made her way across the room, and when she stopped alongside the bed I held my breath, unsure if I should let her know I was awake. To my surprise, she drew the covers back, climbed into the bed, and slid over next to me.

I let my breath out while she curled up against my back and ran a hand along my side. I smiled, and when I began to roll toward her she whispered in my ear, “Miss me, Darling?”

I jumped out of bed like my ass was on fire, trailing the covers behind me. I stubbed my toe and cursed as I stumbled over to the light switch, and snapped it on. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. Despite my anger, I was unable to take my eyes off the naked six-foot femme fatale lying there, grinning up at me.

“I thought you’d be glad to see me.” Destiny patted the bed next to where she lay and spoke in a husky voice. “Usually guys are anxious to get into bed with me. This is the first time someone’s jumped out.”

I forced my eyes away from her, and walked over to where I’d thrown my clothes. Turning my back to the bed I pulled on my shorts. “Get dressed, Destiny. Now.”

My clothes were beginning to take on a personality of their own, and I was surprised when my thoughts turned to my need to get them cleaned rather than the naked woman lying in my bed. Either I was getting senile, or I was way over any attraction I might have felt for Destiny. Maybe it was a little of both.

“I don’t want to get dressed.” Her voice almost purred when she talked and I wondered how long she had worked to get the effect just right. “Come on back to bed,” she added. “I want to play.”

I spun around and saw Destiny still lying in bed. She was also still naked and still gorgeous.

“It’s not going to happen,” I said. “You set me up tonight, and you’re going to tell me why.”

“I did not,” she said. She raised herself up onto her elbow and asked, “Don’t you like what you see?”

“What I like and what’s good for me isn’t always the same thing,” I said. “Now get up and get dressed. We need to talk.”

“It’s more fun to talk in bed,” she said.

“We both know we won’t get any talking done if I climb back into bed.”

“So?”

“So like I said—we need to talk.”

She grimaced and said, “Oh all right.” Sliding out of the bed, she stretched to her full height and put on a show. Destiny knew how to work an audience, even if it was only a gathering of one. The sight of her standing there naked made my entire body quiver. My resolve almost weakened when she stretched her arms above her head and took a deep breath, but her sudden laughter made it clear she was withdrawing her invitation.

“I hope you can appreciate what you passed up in order to talk.” She made quotation marks with her fingers when she said the word ‘talk’, and then she turned and strolled from the room like she was on a stage. Despite the fact that every time I saw her she pissed the hell out of me, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her until she was out of sight. I suspected that when she performed, she was used to having that effect on her customers.

After she strutted through the doorway, I sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed the back of my neck. I hoped to hell she was dressed when she came back. A guy can only take so much temptation.

Five minutes later she walked into the room wearing a short white robe and carrying an ashtray in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. She stopped in front of me, took a drag from the cigarette and asked in a bored voice, “So what’s so important that we have to talk about it right now?”

“Well for one thing, you could tell me where the hell you were earlier. I was at the dinghy dock where we agreed to meet. Bob and Willie were there too. Bob said you told him he could find me there.”

“That’s a lie. I was a little late. When I drove by the place was swarming with cops. I drove on by and headed here. I was hoping you’d show up.”

“A little late?” I said. “Try an hour-and-a-half.”

She shrugged. “I don’t have a watch. What happened to get you so riled up? And why were the cops there anyway?”

“Someone shot Bob. You remember Bob, don’t you?”

“Well that’s good,” Destiny said.

“What do you mean good?”

“Now we don’t have to worry about him. You can help me sell the diamonds, and I’ll give you the cut I promised Elvis.”

“Destiny, I don’t think you understand. Now you have the cops to worry about as well as Frankie Szymanski.”

“I can handle Frankie, and unless you tell them, the cops won’t even know about me. It was probably Elvis who killed him. He didn’t want to give up the diamonds.”

I figured she was making things up as she went along, but I tried to reason with her anyway. “Frankie still wants his diamonds,” I said. “And on top of everything else, he’s pissed about Bob. Turns out Bob was his nephew.”

Destiny stubbed out her cigarette, placed the ashtray on the bureau, and sat down next to me on the bed, her hip butting up against mine. She reached out and took my hand and said, “So what do we do, Wes. You told me you’d help me.”

“And I will. Right now I think things have gone way past the point where we can call Frankie and return the diamonds. We need to turn them over to the cops and let them handle Frankie.”

“I don’t know if I can do what you’re asking, Wes. I don’t want to end up in jail for stealing the diamonds.”

“Somehow, I don’t think Frankie’s gonna press charges.”

“Why can’t we keep them? He’s going to be mad either way.”

I looked over at Destiny. Her eyes were bright and alive, but the rest of her face had a cold, sculpted look to it. “Because if we tell Frankie the diamonds are in police custody, he’ll know we don’t have them. He’ll be pissed, and he might still want to hurt us, but I’m betting on the cops. If they’re watching him, I think he’ll cut his losses and go back home. Either that, or he’ll be busy trying to convince the cops the diamonds belong to him.”

“All right, Wes.” Destiny gave my hand a squeeze and jumped up. “I’ll get the diamonds for you. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

She was whistling when she walked out of the room, I was sweating. This woman was a little crazy, and no doubt more dangerous than a black widow spider. A few more minutes of her stroking my hand and strutting around half-naked and I would have rolled over on my back and begged her to rub my tummy.

The light went on in the kitchen and I heard her opening drawers and shuffling around before the light went back out and she headed off to the room she had shared with Tanya.

She was gone a good ten minutes, and I was about to go looking for her when I heard her footsteps in the hallway. When she walked into the room she was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a sweatshirt. She was also holding Bob’s gun in one hand and a roll of duct tape in the other.

“What’s going on?” I tried to keep my voice steady, but wasn’t sure I succeeded.

“Sorry Wes. I know you’re only trying to help, but I’m not giving up the diamonds. Not to Frankie, and after all I’ve been through, I’m sure as hell not turning them over to the cops.”

“Frankie won’t let you keep them.”

She shrugged. “He has to catch me first.”

“Why take the chance?”

“Have you ever been poor, Wes? I don’t mean tight, I mean don’t know where the next meal is coming from poor?”

I shook my head and she continued. “Well I have. After Alvin kicked us out my mother had a hard time making ends meet. She was too old to be stripping and eventually too old to be turning tricks.”

“You’re not your mother,” I reminded her.

“No, I’m not. And I can make some pretty good money stripping for another couple of years. But the younger girls are already getting the prime customers. I saw the diamonds as my way out and I still do.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I said.

Destiny cocked the revolver like she’d done it a hundred times before. “Don’t make me shoot you Wes. Now take your shorts back off.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Moisture began to bead on my forehead, and I considered jumping her. She must have sensed something in my demeanor, because before I could move she raised the gun and pointed it at my chest.

“Take them off,” she repeated. “Now. One of my mother’s boyfriends was a cop. He taught me how to shoot a pistol. After that, he took me back to my mother’s apartment and while she was off turning tricks, he taught me all sorts of other things.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You don’t have to be. He wasn’t the first, or the last for that matter. Actually, he was pretty nice to me when he wasn’t pawing me. Now, I’m not going to tell you again. Take your damn clothes off.”

I looked at the gun, studied the determination in her face, and stripped off my shorts. After I dropped them on the floor, she tossed the roll of duct tape in my direction.

I caught it, and she said, “Wrap it three times around your right wrist.” I followed her directions and when I’d finished she added, “Now turn around, face the bed and put your hands behind your back.”

She moved up behind me and placed the muzzle of the gun against the back of my head. “I don’t want to shoot, Darling. But I will if you make me. Right now I’m going to tape your hands and feet, and then I’m going to take my diamonds and get out of here.”

“Frankie will find you,” I said, while she ran the tape around my wrists. “It’s still not too late to go to the cops.”

She tapped my head lightly with the barrel of the gun. “Shut up, Wes. You’re beginning to piss me off. Now roll over onto your back.”

I did what she asked, and she kneeled on the bed, pointed the gun between my legs, and said, “Lift your legs and hold them real steady. We don’t want the pistol going off now, do we?”

My body was covered with a fine layer of sweat by the time she finished taping my ankles. She ripped the rest of the roll from the tape, tossed it across the room and slid over alongside of me.

“Things could have been much more pleasant than this if only you’d stayed in bed in the first place,” she said

“I guess I made a mistake.”

“Big time.” She lay the gun down on the bed, reached out and touched my cheek, and then she bent forward and gave me a soft lingering kiss. While I caught my breath, she reached out and ran her fingertips along my stomach.