Separating Riches (26 page)

Meg looked at me, a smirk on her face. “In the meantime, Melinda, why don’t you dance with the ape, and see if you can get him to reveal himself.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” I said, shaking my head. “Why don’t you use your ninja detective skills on him, while I find out why Tori is here with him, instead of his wife, Teresa? She’s the person we asked to bring John.”

“And I’ve got an even better idea than that,” Chris asserted. “I’ll dance with Tori. It will catch her completely off-guard, and maybe she’ll slip up.”

“Oh, hell no!” I roared. “I don’t want you anywhere near her, not alone.”

“I won’t be alone if you’re dancing with John, I mean, the gorilla. Besides, Meg will be close by in case Tori gets too familiar with me.”

“I think it’s a good idea, Chrissie,” Meg agreed. “I’ll dance with my wife and be right beside you.”

“And if she tries to slip you a roofie?” I asked, irrationally terrified that might happen.

“Then I’ll pay her for it,” Chris laughed. “If I can reach her with the pretense that I approved of what she did to you, she will trust me. It’s a disgusting thought, but I realized that you’re probably not the only one she’s drugged before. She needs to be stopped, and we have an opportunity to call her on it.”

“I don’t like it,” I declared, shaking my head. “But I can’t stop you, if that’s what you really want to do.”

“I’d be upset if you did like it, honey,” Chris assured me. “Trust me, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay, baby. Just keep her hands in sight at all times,” I said, knowing that I would also be doing that.

Chapter Twenty

May I have this Dance? — Chris
, Melinda, Meg, Frankie, Tori
and
King Kong

I couldn’t let Melinda know how nauseous I was at the thought of dancing with that woman.
I could really use a drink right now.
I shook that thought out of my head and walked over to Tori by the bar.

“What the hell kind of party is this where they don’t serve liquor?” Tori growled. “Who’s the idiot who made that decision?”

“That would be me,” I said with a smile. “I have too much of a fondness for the stuff and it gets me in trouble.”

“Yeah, well, drink long enough and you won’t care,” Tori replied, pulling out a tiny flask from the folds of her breasts.
The same breasts my wife had lain between.
She drained the contents in one swallow. “Ahh, that feels better.”

I watched her face as the liquid poured down her throat. I knew that look of satisfaction. “Um, would you care to dance?”

She looked at me like I had slapped her. Then she laughed boisterously. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked playfully.

“Because of what your wife and I were doing in the pool room,” she stated, obviously proud of it.

Bitch!
I envisioned myself scratching her eyes out. “Yes, I was there, remember? Melinda explained it all to me.”

“Really? You’re certainly calm about it,” she said in surprise. “When you saw us having a little fun, and ran out like that, I was sure you’d never speak to Blackie again.”

“Was that your intention? Because, as you can see, it didn’t work,” I assured her. “Come on, let’s talk on the dance floor.”

She couldn’t resist, as I had hoped, and followed me to the dance floor. Melinda was dancing with the ape, but never took her eyes off of me. Meg and Frankie also were dancing, and though they weren’t as obvious as Melinda, I knew they were watching as well.

The orchestra switched to a slow song, I think at Meg’s suggestion, because it makes it easier to talk. I took Tori’s hand and put my other hand on her shoulder, keeping her as far away from me as possible. I wanted a confession, not a groping.

“So, what did Blackie tell you about me?” Tori asked.

That you can’t get a woman to touch you without drugging her first.
“She said that you were just a patsy.”

“A patsy? What kind of crack is that?”

“Don’t take it the wrong way. You might say that she was giving you a compliment,” I explained. “Blackie knows that you didn’t want to humiliate her like that, but you had no choice.”

“She said that?” Tori asked, softening her edge a little bit.

“Yes, she said you were best friends in college, and she always took care of you. I guess she’s still trying to take care of you now, because she pleaded with me to understand.”

“And do you understand?” she asked.

“Yes. I understand that it wasn’t your fault. As I said, you were just a pawn in someone else’s game. ”

Tori pulled me closer in spite of my resistance. “You’re wrong, honey. I knew what I was doing, and I’d do it again, if it would please her.”

“Her? Do you mean Blackie?”

“Are you kidding? Blackie had too many scruples to be any fun.”

“We are talking about Blackie Blackstone, right?” I knew that Melinda had scruples, but Blackie’s reputation said otherwise.

“No, we’re not. We’re talking about somebody else you know.”

Well that’s One Way to find Out — Melinda
and
King Kong

My skin was beginning to itch from the fake fur rubbing against it. King Kong agreed to dance with me, but he never said a word, no matter how hard I tried to engage him. So I danced, ignoring him and watching Chris. My whole body flushed hot when Tori pulled her closer. I felt almost like she was purposely punishing me. Or was it Chris who was punishing me by allowing it? I needed to get her out of Tori’s arms, and fast, before I lost my temper.

“So, what’s a classy gorilla like you doing dating a nutcase like Tori?”

That got a rise out of the ape. He stepped back and shook his head, which actually was quite comical the way the rubber mouth contorted with each move.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak gorilla. What are you trying to say, that Tori is a slut who can’t get laid without drugs?”

He shook his head again, waving his hand in the air.

“Look, I’m getting tired of this game. Just answer the damn question. Is Tori a slut or isn’t she?”

And again he shook his head.

“This is bullshit, John. We know who you are so give it up already.”

Even through the rubber mouth I could tell that he was laughing at me. He was a confident bastard, I’ll give him that. Then a thought occurred to me. What if it wasn’t John? We’ve been waiting this whole time for John to show up, thinking that this gorilla was him, but what if the person in the gorilla costume was a red herring?

I looked around to find my father. He was talking with my mom, his bodyguard standing nearby. He was fine. I knew he was the key to luring John here tonight, because when Chris called to invite them, Teresa seemed overly excited that my father would be here when Chris mentioned it. She assured us that they would come tonight. Yet, they don’t appear to be here.

What I’m just now realizing though, is that maybe she did come after all and was dressed as a gorilla. Looking closer at the costume I decided to test my theory. I grabbed for his crotch and squeezed. That provided two clues. One, there was no penis, and two, the gorilla screamed like a soprano, and I’m not talking about the television show.

“Okay, who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” I demanded to know. “You weren’t invited.”

“Yes, Blackie, I was,” she said as she pulled off the mask. “Hi, we spoke on the phone. I’m Teresa Mooney, John’s wife.”

The Jig is Up — Meg
, Frankie, Chris, Melinda, Felicia, Robert, Elizabeth, Derrick, Tori
and
Teresa

When I saw Blackie grabbed that gorilla’s crotch, I hoped that she was on to something and not making a spectacle of herself, as she’s so fond of doing. I was surprised to see that it was a woman under that mask, and confused to learn that it was John’s wife. Does that mean John won’t be making an appearance at all tonight? Are Tori and Teresa partners, or sisters, or maybe they’re the blackmailers? Just as I was about to find out, Derrick came running over to me, panting with excitement, insisting that I listen to him. Blackie and Tori were exchanging cuss words so I stepped away from the group so I could hear what Derrick had to say.

“I heard the voice,” he exclaimed. “It’s him, I know it is.”

“Whoa, slow down,” I said. I needed to verify what he was trying to tell me. “You think the man who hired you over the phone to take photos of Blackie a few years ago is here in this room right now?”

“Yes, that’s him, over there against the wall.”

“Do you mean the guy in the black suit?”

“No, the cowboy standing next to him,” Derrick clarified.

“Holy shit!”

I couldn’t believe it. Derrick was talking about Robert Blackstone, Blackie’s father. That couldn’t be right. Why would a father blackmail his own daughter? He’d be extorting his own money, which I could understand if he were embezzling, but to do that to his daughter? Perhaps he’s bankrupt and this was a way to gain sympathy from his board of directors.

The only way to get the answers was to gather the suspects together and make them talk, so with the help of Frankie, we herded everyone across the hall to an empty banquet room and told them to sit down. They weren’t happy with the request, but we phrased it in such a way as to convince them that they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Now listen up, people,” I said, ready to play hard ball. “Something is going on here, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it, and no one is leaving here until we do.”

“You can’t keep us against our will,” Tori complained.

“Ah, our first volunteer,” I remarked, feeling cocky. “For those of you who don’t know, this is Tori Wilson. She drugged Melinda and then made it look like she was sexing her up on the pool table. But as soon as Chris saw you two together, you suddenly disappeared, leaving Melinda passed out.”

“It’s not my fault if I’m too much woman for her,” Tori retorted.

“Bullshit!” Blackie yelled.

I ignored Blackie’s outburst and looked at Teresa. “And for those of you who don’t know, this is John’s wife, Teresa. Please explain to everyone where John is at, Teresa. You were supposed to bring him, not Tori.”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Teresa declared.

“You do if you want to stay out of jail,” I bluffed, noticing her nostrils flare. “Here’s what I think.” I looked over at Frankie and winked. This was my favorite part that I rarely got to do; lay all the cards on the table and shoot from the hip, metaphorically speaking, of course. “I think John had absolutely nothing to do with the second blackmail scheme. It’s obvious to me that you are the one who set the whole thing up, Teresa. You saw the commercial on television, called Blackie and blamed her for John’s failure as a man, and then dared her to help him out. You knew that would lure Blackie to San Francisco where you could put your plan into play.”

“That’s nonsense,” Teresa refuted. “How would I know how to get in touch with her once she got here? The only phone number I had was the scholarship line.”

“Well, that’s actually the brilliant piece of your plan, and how John fits into all of this. Once you were forwarded to Blackie’s cell, John hacked into it. And when Chris called you to set up a lunch date, John hacked into hers also. After that he could see their calendars and GPS coordinates, or he could teach you how to see them.”

Blackie took her cellphone from her jacket pocket and placed it on the floor. Then she stomped on it with the heel of her boot.

“My John?
Please.
He couldn’t hack his way out of a paper bag,” she scoffed.

“But, in fact, he hacked Mr. Blackstone’s radio station when he was in college. I imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to hack a cellphone after that. So, all three of you are looking at a jail sentence. John for two counts of illegal hacking. Tori for illegally drugging Blackie, and you, Teresa, for conspiracy to commit blackmail. Now, personally, I urged Blackie to press charges and throw your asses in jail immediately. But she is much nicer than I am and wants to give you a chance to tell your side of the story. Tori, how about we start with you? Who told you to drug Blackie and act like you were having consensual sex?”

I structured my sentence to give Tori a way out, or, a way to hang herself. If she was acting alone, she would take the way out.

“We were just having some fun,” Tori replied.

“Bullshit,” Blackie scoffed. Chrissie patted Blackie’s leg, and she calmed down.

“And who is we?” I pressed on.

“My lover and I,” she responded. “We were horny as all get out and she wanted to have an orgy in the pool room.”

She wasn’t giving me a name, so I back ended my next question. “So, you two like having orgies at other people’s expense. Tell me, does Teresa let you be on top sometimes?”

“No, she likes to be the dominatrix,” Tori said proudly, and then realized that she had just confirmed who her lover was. She looked at Teresa, who glared at her. Tori had the look of a child caught in a lie.

I just had an inspiration. “You’ve been on the bottom of that relationship since college, haven’t you, Tori?”

“If you mean that we’ve been lovers since then, than yeah, I was,” Tori replied.

“But she wasn’t willing to leave her husband, who she clearly detests, for you.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” I said with a smile. “So the plan was to blackmail Blackie, take the money and split it three ways, is that right?” I asked.

Tori laughed. “No, Teresa said we’d fly down to Rio and have a party. John wasn’t invited.”

“Shut the hell up, bitch,” Teresa chided.

“Excuse me, but I just have to say this. You suck at being a Christian, Teresa,” Chris said, shaking her head. “Everything you said at our lunch was a lie. You’re nothing but a liar, hurting people for the fun of it, using people you supposedly love. You’re the devil incarnate, and if Tori had half a brain in that pink head of hers, she’d drop kick your ass into next month.”

It was obvious to me that Teresa intended to leave John behind as a scapegoat. But what wasn’t obvious was why John hacked into the radio station in the first place. “Teresa, there’s one piece left to the puzzle. Why did John hack into the radio station playlist?”

“He did that on his own to impress me,” she stated mockingly. “It was just a stupid college prank.”

“He wanted to program love songs so that they played while he asked her to marry him,” Tori explained.

“That’s romantic, in an illegal sort of way. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Blackstone?” I asked, turning to look at him.