Pretty Dangerous (28 page)

“I didn’t find anything,” Willa said.

MiMi gasped. “You looked for dirt on my
sister?”

“Sorry, I should have asked you first.” Willa
wore a sheepish expression. “I went over the line.”

“No, you did what a real friend would do.”
MiMi got up, hugged Willa and sat back down. She dabbed at her eyes
with a napkin.

“Our background checks from usual data
sources turned up zero.” Willa crossed her legs.

MiMi leaned back in her chair and took a nice
long sip of the lemonade. “I rattled one particular skeleton. As
your Aunt Ametrine would say in her church lady voice, I think them
dry bones are about to fall out into the light.”

Willa frowned. “What does that mean?”

For the first time, MiMi didn’t have to force
the smile she wore. “Adrienne probably doesn’t even remember
telling me about her hubby’s mistress.”

Jazz waved a hand. “Girl, please. Everybody
has a side piece these days, wives and husbands. Naw, you need
something juicy. You know, pictures of him goin’ into a seedy
massage parlor or with a street prostitute. Maybe a few pictures of
him dressed in a diaper getting a spanking. Yeah, I’m liking these
ideas more and more. ”

“Oh hell no!” Willa blurted out loudly. When
Mikayla’s head snapped around, Willa waved at her. “Just saying
hello to you guys. Let me know if you want more lemonade.”

MiMi laughed. “Thanks for the creative
solutions, but let’s save the scorched earth approach as a last
resort.”

“Okay, but remember I’ve got the resources.”
Jazz gazed back at Willa, undaunted by her scowl of
disapproval.

Willa hissed, but turned her attention back
to MiMi. “Okay, now give us the delicious details. This sounds
really good.”

“I did a little investigating on my own with
some friends, and friends of friends. Chris is sleeping with a
divorced ex-debutante in their social circle. Nedra is a bit needy,
and she’s hoping he’ll leave Adrienne.” MiMi paused to sip more
lemonade.

“Amazing how women believe married men when
they say that stuff,” Willa said.

“Apparently she’s counting on it. Nedra
attended a big charity event put on by Baton Rouge Links, Inc. I’ve
skipped the last two or three, but not this year.” MiMi grinned
widely. “I might have dropped a few hints about the happy couple,
how they’re going at it hot and heavy to have a baby; how Chris
just adores his trophy family.”

Jazz shrugged. “So what? Side-line women
expect their married guys to put on a front.”

“I have to agree, MiMi. Plus I don’t get how
dropping that knowledge on her will help the custody case.” Willa
blinked in confusion as though trying to figure it out.

MiMi rested her head against the chair. Her
plan had sounded so smart a few days before. Describing it to her
pals made it sound flimsy, and very uncertain. Still, she had hope.
“We’ll see. I need insurance even with things looking a bit
better.”

“Hey, mama, we got company. Anthony gave a
short jerk of his thumb over one shoulder when the women looked
around.

Don strolled in ahead of Detectives Drake and
Forrester. His expression was unreadable behind the dark sunglasses
he wore. The two detectives walked onto the patio wearing mirror
frowns.

“Afternoon, ladies,” Don said, speaking up
first. “My colleagues wanted to talk with y’all again. They agreed
to let me tag along.”

“Coming was all your idea,” Drake retorted.
“Not that it’s going to help your little friends here.”

“Ladies.” Forrester gave them all a curt nod.
“We’re having a problem finding Miss Nairoby Villa.”

“Mostly because you gave her the heads up and
time to run,” Drake put in, pointing a meaty forefinger at
MiMi.

MiMi shrunk back into the canvas of the
chaise lounge in the face of his fierce gaze. “I... I don’t know
what you mean.”

“You visited Ms. Villa on April
twenty-seventh. Two hours later she checked out of her room.
Coincidence?” Detective Forrester took off his sunglasses and
shoved them into a shirt pocket.

“I wanted to talk to her, sure. She claims I
owe her and her business partners a lot of money. My lawyer has
been discussing that claim with them, but I wanted more
information.” MiMi glanced at Willa for a signal.

Drake moved forward as if he’d seen the
non-verbal cues bouncing between the women. “You told us you and
Mr. Jefferson weren’t in business together.”

MiMi resisted the urge to look at Willa or
Jazz. Instead she lifted her chin to gaze back at Drake. “The
supposed business was with my deceased fiancé a couple of years
ago. Jack Crown.”

“Damn, how many murdered ex-boyfriends does
this woman have?” Drake gave a grunt and looked at his partner.
“Some bad mojo getting romantically involved with you, girl.”

“So you come in here insulting me and expect
cooperation? Well let me tell you a few things, detective.” MiMi
sat up straight.

“No, we’ll do the talking for a little
longer, and then you’ll cooperate,” Forrester said in a tone that
sliced through the atmosphere like a steak knife. His measured,
reasonable persona dropped, he crossed to sit in the empty chair
near MiMi.

“Look guys, these ladies are good people.
MiMi might be fumbling around playing amateur detective,
but...”

Drake held up a palm. “Addison, we agreed to
let you come on one condition. So stay outta the way and keep it
shut.”

“Hey, don’t you talk to him like that,” Jazz
said jumping to her feet. She put both hands on her hips. “Don’s a
decorated and very respected cop. He wouldn’t put his career on the
line even for me.”

Drake shot his partner a look. Then he
glanced from Don to Jazz and back again. “Oh, so that explains why
you wanted to come today. Seems we’re out of the loop on station
house gossip.”

“Put your smart remarks on hold, Greg, or
else...” Don spoke in deceptively even tone.

“Or else I’ll let the boss know you’re
interfering with our investigation to protect your lady friend,”
Drake replied.

“Detective Addison, my partner has a point.
Let us ask the questions and let Ms. Landry do the answering,”
Forrester broke in. He raised a palm to his partner as if telling
him to back down. Drake huffed, but said nothing. “Ms. Landry, we
only have your word that you and Ms. Villa aren’t associates of
some kind.”

“I didn’t help her go back to the Dominican
Republic,” MiMi blurted out.

“Ms. Villa found out from you we’re looking
for her. Now why would you warn a suspect?” Drake crossed his
arms.

“I didn’t warn her. I only wanted to get more
information before she left. I mean once she was out of the country
learning more would have been impossible.” MiMi didn’t flinch when
his dark eyes narrowed to slits.

“Except she’s not out of the country,”
Forrester said.

“But she...” MiMi stopped at a hiss from
Jazz.

Drake gave a short humorless laugh that was
more a growl. “Surprise.”

“Your behavior implies that you know more
than you’ve told us. Interfering with a police investigation is a
crime,” Forrester said and glanced at Don as if warning him to keep
quiet.

“Might make us think you helped these folks
kill Jefferson, maybe some sweet payback for him slipping around
behind your back. Let’s go.” Drake jerked his head toward the door
leading into the house.

Don took off his sunglasses as he stepped
forward. “Hey, wait up guys. You didn’t say anything about taking
her in for questioning.”

“I’m not going anywhere today. My little girl
is here. I’ll set up an appointment for Monday.” MiMi glared back
at Drake.

“You’ll come now, Ms. Landry. We have a
warrant for your arrest based on forensics from the crime scene,
your actions with Ms. Villa and circumstantial evidence.” Forrester
placed a hand on Don’s chest. “Stand down, Addison. Our case. The
boss was clear. You want to call him?”

“Look man, I know these are friends of yours.
But getting in the middle now is a bad idea,” Drake said
quietly.

Willa went to MiMi and put an arm around her
shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of Sage and make sure she
doesn’t get upset.”

MiMi stood. “At least let me go tell my baby
goodbye. Willa, call my lawyer.”

****

Two hours later MiMi was at home. She
wouldn’t answer questions without Edselle Cunningham. Once he got
there, they had to let MiMi go. At home with Sage, MiMi tried to
relax. She moved around doing chores with Sage perched on one hip.
She put clothes in the washer and started. Next Sage’s dinner went
in the warmer and her own leftovers warming in the oven. MiMi
worked on making their Saturday evening normal. When she yelped at
the front doorbell, MiMi realized she wasn’t doing a very good job.
Sage blinked at her with a baby frown as if deciding whether to
cry.

“Calm down, baby girl. Mama’s just being
silly.” MiMi laughed and made a funny face. When her little frown
eased into a smile, MiMi sighed with relief. “Now let’s see who’s
at the front door. But we won’t open it unless it’s somebody nice
to us, will we?”

“Baba,” Sage replied.

MiMi placed her on the living room floor and
piled up toys. She went to the front door. “I’ll just take a look
and see who we’re going to ignore tonight.”

“It’s me, open up,” Willa called out. She
stood back to make sure MiMi could get a good look under the lights
on either side of the door.”

Once she’d undone the locks, MiMi glanced
around. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you, and finding out what
happened.” Willa didn’t wait for more of an invitation. She walked
past MiMi. Hearing Sage’s baby talk, she continued into the living
room. “Hello sweet pea.”

“My nerves are on edge,” MiMi said.

Willa picked up an over-sized stuffed pink
horse. When she squeezed it a children’s tune played. Sage bounced
to the beat with a laugh of delight. “No kidding. Lucky Sage is too
young to understand all this craziness right now.”

“She’ll be telling a therapist about me by
the time she’s twenty-one.”

“Umm, are we still talking about Sage?” Willa
raised an eyebrow at MiMi.

“There’s nothing wrong with seeing a
therapist,” MiMi shot back. “The world wouldn’t be so screwed up if
more people got help with their issues.”

“What I meant was... I didn’t say... Stop
tripping,” Willa said finally.

MiMi blew out a long breath. “Sorry, like I
said--”

“On edge is an understatement. Sheesh. What
have you got to eat?” Willa picked up Sage along with the pink
horse and headed for the kitchen.

“I’ve got enough Greek takeout left for three
people. My appetite has been off lately. Have a seat and I’ll fix
dinner for all of us.”

Willa placed Sage in her high chair and
continued to entertain her. MiMi checked the double warmer that
held Sage’s toddler dishes of mashed potatoes, green peas and
sliced wieners. Then she tested the food in the oven. Since it
still wasn’t hot, she decided to feed Sage. Once she placed the
food on a plate, Willa took it.

“I’ll do this. Kinda nice, reminds me of when
my two were small.” Willa fastened the bib around Sage’s neck.

With a nod of thanks, MiMi went to the
laundry room. She emptied the washer and loaded the wet clothes in
the dryer. Then she returned to the kitchen just in time to see
Sage happily slurping a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

“She loves that stuff. And she’d eat green
peas every day if I fixed them,” MiMi said with a laugh.

“Yeah, well I’m getting the vegetable in her
before she starts in on the meat,” Willa said as she wiped Sage’s
already food smeared cheeks.

“You know a lot about being a good mother.
I’m obviously making a mess of it.” MiMi sat down hard across from
them.

“Don’t even start with that crap. I know
you’re not saying Adrienne could do it better,” Willa said.

“Hell no,” MiMi blurted out. When Sage’s big
brown eyes widened at her, MiMi hissed. “Sorry, little miss. Mama
will wash her mouth out with soap and be more careful.”

Willa smiled at MiMi before giving Sage
another serving of mashed green peas. “I’m pretty sure she’ll be
okay.”

“I have a confession.” MiMi twisted part of
the hem of the too big t-shirt into a ball.

“Good thing the police or FBI aren’t around,”
Willa quipped.

“You think they’ve planted listening devices
in here?” MiMi sat straight and scanned the room.

“I need to stop kidding around and watch what
I say to you right now.” Willa put the plate down when Sage refused
potatoes or more peas. She gave Sage a slice of wiener. Then Willa
placed two soft squeeze toys within her reach. “Okay, you ate most
of it, so here you go.”

“Hmmm.” Sage happily gnawed on the meat
clutched in a tiny fist.

“Now, what’s the confession?” Willa wiped her
hands on a dish towel.

“Being a mother scared the crap out of me. I
didn’t exactly have the best role model. Sometimes I have to stop
myself from dressing Sage up like a mini sorority debutante. I
catch myself sounding like my...” MiMi gave a shudder, shoulders
shaking. “I sound like my mother when I fuss at her about
something.”

“You’re not your mother,” Willa said
firmly.

“I can’t be sure. What if I slip into being
rigid and judgmental? I can be a bit calculating you know.” MiMi
chewed her lower lip.

“Tell me something I don’t know. You were my
late husband’s mistress and had the nerve to sashay in my office
trying to find out about his will.” Willa laughed at the grimace
that twisted MiMi’s face.

“For the one-hundredth time, Jack was almost
your ex-husband. You’d been separated for a year,” MiMi
snapped.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop for real, but that was
too good to pass up.” Willa grinned at her. “Seriously, everything
you do is to for Sage, to make her life better. You’re a good
mama.”