Pretty Dangerous (29 page)

“That means so much coming from you.” MiMi
blinked away sudden tears.

“How you go about it needs some work.” Willa
went to the oven. She used pot holders to remove the hot food.
Moments later she’d heaped rice pilaf and roasted lamb on two
plates.

“Yeah, like picking Roderick as her new
daddy.” MiMi frowned.

“Don’t forget going asking about laundered
money in the Dominican Republic,” Willa added over her
shoulder.

“My choices may help Adrienne put together
her perfect family. One boy, one girl and a handsome, successful
husband.”

“So your plan to get the side piece stirred
up hasn’t worked out?” Willa came back to the table with their
food.

“Nothing, not one peep. Add one more bad idea
to the other stupid moves I’ve made.”

“Hey, I didn’t come here to have pity party.
Besides, it was a pretty clever idea. Might still work. Now let’s
eat before this little dynamo gets restless and wants to get down.
I’m hungry.” Willa stabbed a piece of lamb with her fork. She
tasted it and made happy sounds.

“Enjoy. Ali Baba’s has some of the best
Mediterranean food in town.”

MiMi smiled at Willa with affection. Then she
popped out of her seat and got a damp dish cloth. She cleaned up
the mess Sage had made while eating. Clumps of cold mash potatoes
were on the floor as well as the high chair.

“Sit down and eat. You’ll lose those curves
you used to lure so many men into your clutches.”

“Right, and look how well that has turned out
so far. Keeping busy helps settle my nerves,” MiMi said as she
scrubbed the kitchen table around Willa’s plate.

“At least let me eat in peace,” Willa
protested.

“Alright, alright. Just don’t make a mess.”
MiMi scuttled beyond her reach with a laugh when Willa pretended to
jab at her with the knife.

In a few minutes, MiMi had cleaned up most of
the dishes, emptied the trash can and took clothes out of the
dryer. When she returned to the kitchen, Willa had Sage in her lap.
She gently rocked the contented toddler.

“You’re a natural with kids,” MiMi said.

“I had practice with my younger siblings
before I had mine,” Willa said quietly. “In a minute this one will
be sleepy. Get her cleaned now because the bath will wake her
up.”

“Right. Up we go boo-baby.” MiMi lifted Sage
into her arms. She breathed in the sweet smell of her. “Mama’s good
girl.”

“Mah-mah,” Sage said. She clapped a palm on
MiMi’s right cheek.

Willa followed upstairs and watched MiMi
bathe Sage. They swapped mother to mother chatter as Sage enjoyed
the warm sudsy water. Bright yellow rubber ducks and a tiny swan
floated around her. The toddler squealed with joy when ripples made
them bounce. By the time they got her into the pink onesie, Sage
showed no signs of being sleepy. In fact she chattered baby talk
and played as if bedtime was not on her agenda.

“Dang, she’s wide awake again. You know what
that means.” Willa shook her head.

“Maybe sitting in the rocker will help.” MiMi
picked Sage up. Once she settled into the rocking chair, Sage
promptly whined and twisted to get out of her lap. “Lord, another
bedtime battle.”

“Humph, been there and done that too many
times. Screaming baby is my cue to go home.” Willa waved.

“Aw c’mon. At least keep me company during
the struggle, girl,” MiMi quipped.

“Nah, I’m out for the terrible toddler blues.
Sung my own twice,” Willa retorted.

“You ain’t right.” MiMi started to say more
when the house phone rang. She picked up the cordless handset on a
small table in Sage’s room. “Hello.”

“I’ll lock up on my way out,” Willa
whispered.

MiMi covered the phone with one hand. “Don’t
leave,” she whispered. Then she spoke into the phone again. “Hi
Nairoby. I thought you were getting out of town ASAP.”

“What?” Willa mouthed and then hissed her
displeasure.

“Yeah, so why didn’t you follow the plan? Oh.
Huh? No, I can’t help you with... Listen to me, the police are
anxious to talk to you and Ramon. Trust me, it won’t take them long
to track you down and...”

MiMi gave Willa a series of hand signals.
Sage blinked at her as if wondering if mama had lost her mind. When
Willa shrugged and wore a baffled expression, MiMi waved again.
Willa mouthed at her to hang up three times and huffed in
frustration when MiMi pretended she didn’t notice.

“Wait, you what? Okay, so maybe going back to
the DR is a bad idea right now, but I don’t see how...” MiMi
listened to the rising panic in the woman’s rapid explanation. “Oh
shit.”

“Language in front of the baby,” Willa said
sharply.

“No, I’m alone. That’s the television.” MiMi
frowned at Willa as she flailed a hand at her to keep quiet.
“Talking to the police is unavoidable. I mean they’ll find you. No,
you have to show ID at hotels these days and... Uh, I see.”

Willa shook her head slowly. She whispered,
“I don’t like the sound of this conversation.”

“Right. What? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Ramon left you? I told you he was loyal to them. I didn’t get you
into anything, Nairoby. I...” MiMi paced with the phone as she
listened. “Let me call you back in fifteen minutes. No, I’m not
telling you now. Give me the number or work it out by yourself.
Decide.”

As Willa again shook her head and huffed with
a frown, MiMi rushed out of the bedroom. “What the?”

Moments later MiMi came back with a slip of
paper. She dropped the handset into the charger again. “Her number.
She wants an answer.”

“Easy, the answer is hell no,” Willa muttered
low. She darted a look at Sage who played nearby.

“You haven’t heard what she said yet.” MiMi
stared at the small square of note paper in her hand.

“Oh I can tell you what she said. I want to
pull you into deep sh... trouble and make your life even more messy
than it already is.” Willa went over to where Sage sat on the
carpet and picked her up. “You were nuts to give her this
number.”

“I didn’t give it to her, but these days of
no privacy she could have gotten it anywhere. On the internet in
some search database. But that’s not what matters. She said...”
MiMi waved her arms.

“I don’t care what she said, and neither
should you. Put your baby to bed. Drink some chamomile tea, and
forget her.”

“Just listen to me,” MiMi insisted.

“What part of ‘No’ is confusing you, MiMi?
She’s in trouble with her gangster friends or partners. Her
problem, not ours, and let’s make sure it stays that way.”

Willa tried to put Sage in her bed. The
toddler squealed in protest and twisted until Willa put her down
again. She made a dash for a pile of toys instead.

“Yes, but you don’t--”

“I don’t care what she said. Nothing is going
to change my mind. We’ve had like way too many close calls with
American thugs. I’m not looking to expand internationally. She’s
running from them, which means we should stay out of her problems.”
Willa faced MiMi with her arms crossed.

“But--“

“I’m not hearing it,” Willa turned her
back.

“Nairoby says Jack transferred up to four
hundred thousand dollars out of the US,” MiMi blurted out fast and
loud.

Willa gasped and froze in place. “Did you
just say...”

MiMi nodded. “Maybe more.”

Two hours later they had dropped Sage off at
Mama Ruby’s house. Papa Elton scowled at Willa and MiMi seconds
after they walked through his front door. Mama Ruby went off to put
a half asleep Sage into a comfy bed. Papa Elton took that time to
deliver a firm lecture. Not that it did any good. After the
lecture, a round of goodbye kisses to the kids and half-truths they
left. Willa didn’t say anything for the first ten minutes. When
they stopped at a red light in a section of Baton Rouge called Easy
Town, Willa heaved a sigh.

“Crazy; we’re all bat shit out of our minds,”
Willa muttered. “And why do I let you suck me into crazy right
along with you? If it’s not you, it’s my sister. Not only that, I’m
dumb enough to be driving my SUV. It’s only a year old. ”

“Jazz said driving my Lexus is a bad idea,
let alone parking it.” MiMi barely listened as she stared out of
the window at the passing houses.

“Humph, they’d just think we were drug
dealers.” Willa took off when the light winked green.

“Drug dealers don’t drive Lexus SUVs. They
prefer Range Rovers,” MiMi replied absently.

“You’re suddenly an expert on drug dealers
and they’re preferences. Impressive,” Willa drawled.

“Jazz told me. Most dealers are low level.
They don’t make much money anyway. They drive old cars they fix up
with those fancy wheels and stuff.” MiMi kept thinking.

“Right, fascinating. Now we’re going off to
learn about foreign gangstas. We could write a book, maybe get a
movie deal. If we survive,” Willa grumbled.

“Hmmm.” MiMi flipped a hand as her only
response.

Willa mumbled barely above a whisper as they
continued on. MiMi didn’t pay much attention to her sour commentary
and foul mood. In spite of her bad attitude, Willa came along. No
matter what she said or how many times she rolled her eyes, Willa
had MiMi’s back. More and more MiMi considered Willa’s extended
family as her own. So a few minutes later when they pulled beneath
the flashy red electric sign with Candy Girls in bold letters, MiMi
felt right at home.

“Jazz was supposed to change the name of this
place and move to another location,” Willa griped.

“Don’t pick a fight with her. Just don’t,”
MiMi clipped. Before Willa could reply she hopped out of the front
passenger seat and got into the back.

Jazz strode out dressed in a tight dark top
with matching knit pants. She wore a pair of sneakers. She climbed
into the passenger seat MiMi had vacated. “Hey y’all. So, Willa,
you had enough time to get out all the bitchin’ on the way over
here? Or do we need to drive around a few more minutes, give you
more time?”

Willa shot a heated glance at Jazz. “Blow it
out your...”

“We don’t have time to fight each other. We
have to focus on the business at hand,” MiMi said to head off a
fiery exchange. “Nairoby says Ramon is gone, but she could have
lied. Or she might have more hired help.”

“Yeah,” Jazz agreed. A frown replaced the
smirk on her face.

“So let’s get our game on. I don’t want to be
surprised.” MiMi tightened the band that held her thick hair back
into a ponytail.

They rode in tense silence for the next few
minutes as Willa negotiated heavy Baton Rouge traffic. The volume
of cars and trucks became thicker when they got on Interstate 10
toward New Orleans. Once they crossed the East Baton Rouge Parish
line and into Ascension Parish, MiMi allowed herself to relax a
bit.

“We should have taken time to let Don check
if Ramon really is gone,” MiMi said.

“Don would have asked why and seen through
any lie we told. Plus I won’t get him involved. This is the best
plan on short notice anyway,” Jazz replied.

“What if Nairoby hired local dudes?” Willa
chewed on her bottom lip.

“I checked around and didn’t hear anything,
but with it being so last minute...” Jazz shrugged. She glanced out
the windows as the SUV rolled down dark streets.

“Just great. We’re going in blind, deaf and
dumb; emphasis on the dumb,” Willa retorted.

“Look, Nairoby has no ties in Louisiana, not
to mention she’s in a hotel in Kenner. She’d be crazy to trust
gangsters she’s never met before. Let’s all just calm down. We’ll
be on our way home in no time.” MiMi forced cheer into her
tone.

“Yeah.” Jazz sat on the edge of the seat. Her
gaze darted between both of the outside rearview mirrors.

“I don’t believe her story. That’s why I
think it’s got to be a trap.” Willa frowned as she glanced briefly
at MiMi in the interior rearview mirror.

“She knows Jack moved money,” MiMi
replied.

“But that can’t be. Banks have to report
transfers over ten thousand dollars. There would be a paper trail
and we’ve found nothing. And Cedric and my team are good at skip
tracing.” Willa rubbed her forehead as if that might help her
understand.

“Nairoby says she’ll tell me the details.
There’s a legal way we can get the money,” MiMi said.

“Uh-uh, not possible. She’s lying. And what
was all that about some guy named Ramon?”

“Ramon is the muscle that came with her.
Turns out he was sent to keep an eye on her. He took off, left her
on her own.” MiMi squinted. “Anyway, she’s scared of what he might
tell the others.”

“Yeah, which is a very good reason to stay
far away from her. They could be sending a hit team on her. I say
we avoid getting caught in the crossfire,” Willa said firmly.

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Willa. They
already know about us so we have to take action,” MiMi said.

“What you mean ‘us’ and ‘we’? Sweetie, you
and Jack, and then Roderick got yourselves mixed up in gangsta
drama. Tell the police and FBI what she said, turn it over to them
and leave it alone. We can still turn around and go home,” Willa
said.

“Ramon or those dudes in the DR can’t set up
any kind of hit on Nairoby long distance,” MiMi argued.

Willa heaved a deep sigh and let it out. “She
told you they’ve done business here before. They could hire
somebody local. You have no clue how many thugs they’re connected
to in Baton Rouge.”

“Jazz checked, and she didn’t.”

“No, Jazz did a rush job and isn’t sure,”
Willa said with force.

“If we hurry we can talk to her, get the
story and then talk to the cops.” MiMi nodded eagerly.

MiMi ignored Willa’s eye roll and loud grunt.
Jazz remained quietly vigilant. For the next hour the air inside
the SUV remained charged. MiMi’s attempts at small talk fell flat.
Finally she gave up and found a smooth jazz station. They rode in
silence with music playing softly. When the large green exit sign
loomed up ahead, MiMi pointed.