Pretty Dangerous (18 page)

“That no-good lying son-of-a...” MiMi huffed
and cut off the rest. He was Sage’s father after all. Even so, if
Jack hadn’t already died, MiMi would have happily taken a bat to
him.

Jazz rose quickly. She went to MiMi and
pulled her a few feet away from Nairoby. “Focus.”

“He cheated on me with this piece of foreign
trash,” MiMi spluttered.

“We need information, not a cat fight over a
dead guy. Let it go,” Jazz whispered. She glanced over MiMi’s
shoulder at Nairoby, who had sat down again and looked satisfied
with herself. “She’s pushing your buttons and enjoying it. She must
need something bad to come all this way.”

MiMi huffed and puffed a few times, then
gained control. “Okay.”

“I’ll do the talking, in case you’re tempted
to take a swing at her,” Jazz replied after a few seconds.

“I’m good.” MiMi tried not to think of Jack
wrapped up in a naked embrace with the leggy woman, and failed.

“Uh-huh.” Jazz gave a snort of skepticism,
then went to sit across from Nairoby again. The young man who’d
come inside with Jazz seemed to be enjoying the show.

“Good you talked some sense into her. She’s
decorative and not much use otherwise,” Nairoby said to Jazz.

Jazz glanced at her male companion. He moved
closer to the woman. “Stop wasting time and get to the damn
point.”

The smile faded from Nairoby’s face. “Jackson
made a lot of money because of me, but he had expensive habits. I
never cared about her,” she jerked a head. “But I discovered he
raided a joint account we had. He bought this house, a Jaguar and a
car for her. Why? Because she was stupid enough to get
pregnant.”

Jazz studied Nairoby for a few moments. Then
she smiled. “Jack had his faults, but he’d do anything for his
kids. And his baby’s mama.”

“He stole from me for to support that breed
cow of a bitch! What he bought belongs to me. This house, those
fancy cars are mine.” Nairoby tapped her chest with a teal
lacquered fingernail.

“Ha, how you gone get ‘em?” Jazz
retorted.

“Not all of the deals Jack and I did were
exactly legal. The FBI would like to know about your property, huh?
Yes, I know a bit about American laws. I could put his entire
estate in jeopardy without causing much trouble for me or my
business partners. Maybe he put some of that dirty money into Crown
Protection. Felipe Perez would be disturbed to learn that your
friends are living off his money while he sits in prison. Things
could get nasty for you in a variety of ways.” Nairoby pursed her
lips.

MiMi gasped. In one big swoop this woman
neatly threatened her, Willa and Jazz. Her mind spun in crazy
circles trying to sort through the twists. “Oh. My. God.”

“You, watch her,” Jazz said to the young man
as she stood.

“Sure,” he rumbled. He didn’t move, but
remained close to Nairoby with his hands clasped in front of him.
“Relax, baby. Look like we gone be here a while longer. Don’t
worry. My guys are keepin’ your dude company outside.”

Nairoby surprised him by merely shrugging.
She sank down to the chair. “I’m not worried. Your police officer
friend won’t be a party to us getting hurt.”

“Like he cares.” When Nairoby blinked rapidly
at him, the man smiled widely as his gold tooth gleamed.

Jazz heaved a sigh and went to MiMi. “Get
your shit together. Show panic and she’ll know she’s holding all
the damn cards.”

“Are you kidding?” MiMi shouted, then took a
deep breath and lowered her voice. “She already knows that,
Jazz.”

“Maybe.” Jazz glanced back at Nairoby with a
thoughtful frown. “Why didn’t she go to the judge over Jack’s
estate and demand her property.”

“She still might, the evil witch,” MiMi spat.
Then she breathed in and out. “No, she didn’t present a claim to
the courts. If she’s telling the truth, then she would be a
creditor of the estate. So that means she has a problem.”

“Now you’re thinking clearly.” Jazz gave a
nod.

They both turned to stare at Nairoby. The
longer they stood across the room without speaking, the more uneasy
Nairoby seemed to become. She tried to hide it, but MiMi could
smell the sweat of anxiety.

“She mentioned business partners, right?”
MiMi said quietly.

“Yeah, so?” Jazz gave her a puzzled look.

“I have an idea.” MiMi marched back across
the room as Jazz started to speak. “Why don’t you cause us all this
trouble you’re talking about? Go on. Tell the world Jack stole your
money.”

“I’m not an unkind person. I know what it’s
like to be poor, and Jackson’s little girl would suffer. A
reasonable settlement will quietly resolve the matter,” Nairoby
said.

“Bull. You don’t strike me as reasonable at
all. I want to negotiate with the full team.” MiMi sat across from
Nairoby.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nairoby blurted out.
“What--”

“You mentioned other business partners. Maybe
they will be less willing to go public, air their problems in a
court. The police could start to get a little too interested. Let’s
have a nice chat in the morning.” MiMi looked at Jazz.

“We can use Willa’s conference line,” Jazz
chimed in with a grin.

“Great idea since this involves Crown
Protection, not to mention her children. There’s no need for
threats. We’re reasonable women just like you, Ms. Villa.” MiMi
felt much better as she watched the woman’s face. The warm brown
color took on a grayish look.

“Hmm, let’s think it through first.” Jazz got
up and pulled MiMi aside. She turned her back to Nairoby, but only
lowered her voice a little. She gave MiMi a play-along-with-me
wink. “Girl, don’t negotiate with these Dominican thugs. It’s too
dangerous.”

“She says they’re business people,” MiMi
replied in a stage whisper.

“Yeah, and I’m Michelle Obama,” Jazz retorted
with a short laugh. “You know damn well what’s up. Look, give her
to the FBI. They wanna follow the money. Maybe they’ll give you a
deal, forget about taking your house.”

“Makes a lot of sense. I get her and the FBI
off my back in one move.” MiMi nodded slowly.

“Excuse me, but I have excellent hearing,”
Nairoby called out. “You don’t want to involve those FBI scum in
our affairs. You’ll lose a lot more than a house.”

Jazz’s companion standing guard reached down
and snatched something from her ear. He held up a small blue tooth
hands free headset. “This ain’t for her cell phone. You can use it
to listen in on people. We got a couple of ‘em from overseas.
Latest tech shit.”

MiMi leaned close to Jazz. “Who is the ‘we’
he’s talking about?”

“Freelance security. I’ll give you details
later,” Jazz whispered, and then she spun around.

“Here’s the thing, Nairoby. MiMi has less to
lose because she really wasn’t involved in the game. Aside from
being dumb enough to fall for Jack Crown...”

“Hey!” MiMi protested.

“Jazz continued as if MiMi hadn’t spoken.
“Sure, the FBI will make her life difficult for a minute. But
eventually they’ll clear her.”

“You on the other hand won’t be so lucky,”
MiMi picked up. “I suspect your partners didn’t know you had a side
hustle going with Jack. Maybe you want cash fast to fix your
problem.”

Fear, anger and calculation took turns
chasing across Nairoby’s pretty face. Calculation won. She gave
MiMi a sly smile. “I must apologize, MiMi. You’re not the
empty-headed decorative piece of ass Jack described. I’ve totally
underestimated you.”

“I’m flattered,” MiMi shot back. “Convince me
not to sick the FBI on you.”

Nairoby nodded. “You’re only partially
correct in your assessment of my situation. My associates found out
about the money. I had to tell them because they were about to
audit the books.”

“Crooks who audit?” MiMi glanced at Jazz.

“They keep track of their transactions like
any business,” Jazz replied.

MiMi blinked at her friend. Jazz knew way too
much about organized criminal enterprises for her own good. She’d
talk to her about that later. “I see.”

“They’re not happy with me, but that doesn’t
mean they don’t want their money. They’ll contact you, dear, once
they... chastise me.” Nairoby wore a tight smile.

“What?” MiMi turned to Jazz for translation,
but the man spoke first.

“They’ll deal with her and still come for
you. Gettin’ her picked up by the police won’t get you off the
hook,” the man said. He shrugged when MiMi and Jazz both stared at
him in surprise.

“They know where to find you,” Nairoby said
more bluntly. “So we’re in this thing together.”

“She’s right,” MiMi said.

Nairoby stood with a cautious glance over her
shoulder at the rough young man. “I suggest you find a way to raise
cash. Paying me is the only way to satisfy my associates. Now I’ll
be going. I hope my driver is in good health.”

“Humph, they didn’t trust her to come alone,”
Jazz said quietly to MiMi. Then she nodded to the young man. “He’s
fine. I just wanted to make sure we could talk without
interruption. Now that I know he works for your buddies, even
better we kept him outside.”

Nairoby nodded. “Ramon works for me.”

“Tell your pals you stuck to the script,”
Jazz said promptly. “Keep letting them think MiMi is a, how did you
put it?”

“An empty-headed decorative piece of ass,”
Nairoby said with a relish at each word.

“Yeah, that,” Jazz said. “We’ll figure
something out to satisfy them.”

“Only money will satisfy them,” Nairoby
replied sharply. “Nothing less than the six hundred thousand
dollars Jack owes me.”

MiMi swallowed hard. She glanced from Jazz to
the young thug. He responded with a low whistle. “Six... Did she
just say six hundred thousand?”

“Damn,” Jazz said, drawing out the word until
it had four syllables.

“I’m in so much trouble.” MiMi gazed at the
stylish messenger of doom.

****

Life had to go on. MiMi had a baby to take
care and a job to keep. She worked at home the next day. To her
surprise Kerry didn’t object. But eventually she had to go into the
office. So off she went despite a throbbing headache. Elle asked
her several times if she was okay. Tyler kept eyeing MiMi each time
he passed her office. The fourth time he walked by MiMi stood at
her desk.

“Yes, Tyler. I’m still in the office. You can
take a break from stalking me,” she called out.

Tyler came back to stand in her open door.
“You’re not that important.”

“Funny, Darcas thinks so. Just got an email
praising my last marketing idea. Wanna see?” MiMi pointed to her
lap top.

“Humph.” Tyler gave her a sour expression and
strode in the direction of his office.

MiMi resisted the strong urge to throw her
heavy paperweight at his back. She’d earned and a bonus for
exceptional performance. Not even for the satisfaction of seeing
Tyler drop like a stone. Instead she settled for muttering insults
about him. Elle’s voice interrupted her revenge fantasies.

“I’m pretty sure assault is against the law.”
Elle folded her lanky frame into a chair. As usual she looked
comfortable and elegant at the same time. “What’s the little chump
done now?”

“Spying on me as usual,” MiMi plopped down in
her chair and massaged the back of her neck.

“Yeah, me and half the office noticed.”
Elle’s expression turned serious. “Something is going on. I don’t
know if we’re going to have a layoff or the company is being bought
out or what.”

“Could be both. They go hand in hand you
know,” MiMi said. She rested her head against the back of her chair
and closed her eyes.

“Gee thanks, Miss Sunshine. Now I’ll look as
haunted as you. So you want to tell me what’s up?” Elle crossed her
arms. “I’m not buying you lunch until you tell me.”

“I’m not hungry,” MiMi retorted, eyes still
closed.

“Crap, but I am. Now I have to come up with
another way to twist your arm.” Elle pretended to pout.

“I’ve got one. Threaten to force me on a work
retreat alone with Kerry and Tyler.”

Elle gave a grunt. “Nah, I’m not that cruel.
C’mon, just tell me.”

“I’m stressed about life. My sister and
parents are acting... like they do. I have bills to pay. The
usual.” MiMi sat up straight. She wasn’t about to pull Elle into
the world of FBI investigations, Dominican underworld figures and
murder.

“I know what it is,” Elle said, her tone
serious. “Roderick’s death must be hitting you hard. When is the
funeral?”

“Saturday, but I’m not going. I’ll just send
flowers and a card to his parents.” MiMi didn’t want to see the
handsome man she knew lying in a coffin.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do.
Grieving can sneak up on you, even though he was a lying,
narcissistic over-sexed cheater. Forgive me for speaking ill of the
dead,” Elle whispered with a look toward the ceiling.

“Girl, the Lord knows you aren’t sorry.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Forgive me for not being
sorry, Lord,” Elle joked. “Sure you’re okay?”

“If you ask me that one more time...” MiMi
squinted at her.

“Last time, promise. So like I told you,
something is up. Yesterday two grim looking guys in suits showed
up. They were in Kerry’s office for almost two hours. I can’t find
out who they are though...” Elle gave a grunt of irritation.

“I thought you had Chuck and Drew so whipped
they’d do anything for you,” MiMi replied, referring to the
building security guards.

Elle frowned. “They wouldn’t talk.”

“So ask Lana,” MiMi said, referring to the
receptionist on their floor.

“She called in sick yesterday. Tyler got the
call from downstairs. You know he won’t tell me.”

“Then for once you’ll have to settle for
finding out the facts along with the rest of us,” MiMi said. She
tapped out a reply to one of the reps at a clothing
manufacturer.