T. Lynn Ocean - Jersey Barnes 03 - Southern Peril (35 page)

Lindsey was bubbly and bright and captivating as always. She seemed to have grown an inch in the short time since I’d seen her last and looked way older than a senior at New Hanover High. “Welcome home, girl.”

“Thanks.” She passed me an envelope. “FedEx just delivered this and I signed for it. I mean, like, I do still have a part-time job here, right?”

“Of course you do, as long—”

“As you keep your grades up,” Ox finished.

The envelope was addressed to my father. I recognized the sender—a gourmet food distributor. Fully prepared and flash frozen meals, shipped by mail order.

I found Spud doing Jell-O shooters with Fran and some of the NABs. I wasn’t aware that anybody at the Block even knew how to make a Jell-O shooter.

“Spud, why are you ordering gourmet food when you live above a restaurant?” I handed him the envelope.

He ripped into the FedEx mailer and smiled, displaying his blazing white teeth. “It’s not a receipt, for crying out loud. It’s my check!”

I looked at the numbers on the check and my mouth fell open.
Fifteen thousand dollars.
“What’s this for?”

“Remember how I saved that man’s life at the cook-off?” Spud talked with his cane.

“As I recall, you stumbled and your cane accidentally hit the man.”

Spud shook his cane at me. “That’s neither here nor there. The point is that I saved his life and they interviewed me on Channel Six.”

Fran walked up, fluffing her hair. “Then the AP wire picked up the story, sweetie! How your daddy won this cook-off with his amazing recipe
and
saved a judge’s life. And then got his prize money taken away because his daughter had never put him on the Block’s payroll, and he’s not an employee.”

“What?” I eyed my father. “You told a reporter it’s
my fault
the Block got disqualified from the cook-off?”

Fran patted my arm. “Oh, you know your daddy. He didn’t say it exactly like that. Anyway, Spud’s story went all over the place. Even got a mention on Jay Leno. So these gourmet food people, they called Spud and bought his recipe.”

“Fifteen thousand smackaroos!” Spud held up his check and kissed it. “They bought the rights to use the recipe and my name. Might even put my picture on the label, but I told ’em that will cost extra.”

“They’re changing the name a teeny bit,” Fran said. “It will be called Spud’s Buoy Base. You know, like a buoy that floats in the ocean? And they’ll put ‘fish stew’ below that in parentheses.”

“He’s done it again,” I told Ox. “How does he manage it? I’ve been working my ass off for free, as a
favor,
and my father somehow ends up with fifteen grand because he accidentally poked somebody in the stomach with his cane?”

“Hey, kid, if it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll give you the rights to serve Spud’s Buoy Base here at the Block.”

“We already
are
serving the bouillabaisse, Spud. Garland gave me his recipe!”

“Yeah, but now you can call it Spud’s Buoy Base.”

Ox took my hand and pulled me into the core of the party. “Let’s go get a beer and you can catch me up on everything I’ve missed.”

“I helped bust up a drug ring, I’m officially retired again, and my father continues to completely flabbergast me.” I looked up at Ox’s familiar face and focused on the wide jaw and square chin, realizing how much I’d missed him. “That’s pretty much it. You’re caught up.”

“In that case”—Ox grinned enough to make his dimple deepen—“let’s go upstairs and catch up on
other
things.”

Present Day
Greenlawn Memorial Park

It’s been a
wild ride,” Leo said to his partner. “I’m happy to have been on the coaster.”

“It has been a wild ride,” Michael agreed. “But I’m happy to be
off
that coaster.”

The two physicians watched reflections of a blue jay as the bird flew across a shallow lake. The sprawling cemetery was lush and secluded, with plenty of aged hardwoods and shade. Jonathan had loved the outdoors. He would have liked it here, they knew.

“Roller coaster or not, at least we’re getting to keep our medical licenses,” Leo said. “I really don’t mind selling Divine Image Group. Might be good to get a group of youngsters in there. Somebody who wants to do medical dermatology. Skin cancers and such. We’re getting more and more retirees in this area. Lots of sun-damaged skin.”

“That would work well.” Michael picked up a pecan that had dropped from a nearby tree and rolled it in his fingers, studying his
hands. “We designed our building with enough space to accommodate five doctors. Maybe they’ll do a combination of medical and cosmetic.”

“Speaking of cosmetic, what’s your first case?” Leo asked.

Michael tossed the pecan toward the lake, thinking of all the surgeries his hands had performed in the past, realizing that he really would make a difference in people’s lives now. “I’ve got a six-year-old girl, car accident, no seat restraint. They stitched her up and saved her life, but the scarring on one side of her face is hideous. Drooping eyelid. Deformed bottom lip. Both parents work, but they don’t have health insurance. And they make just enough money so that they don’t qualify for Medicaid or other assistance.”

“I suppose that describes all of our new patients,” Leo said. “People in need who are falling through the cracks.”

Michael nodded. “When I finish with this little girl, she’s going to be beautiful. She’ll look just like every other kid at her school, and there will be nothing to tease her about. In fact, she gets to dating age, her father had better watch out.”

Leo chuckled. “Guess we won’t be doing any more lipo procedures. My next surgery is a breast reconstruction. Double mastectomy patient.”

“Ah, I never liked doing lipo anyway,” Michael said. “Wears you out. And the patient always thinks that you can make them look like Angelina Jolie.”

The doctors had struck a bargain with prosecutors, and both sides were happy. They had agreed to sell their medical practice, but they could keep the proceeds. More important, they could keep their medical accreditations as long as they followed the rules. For the next three years—a probationary period of sorts—they would be volunteer physicians for a nationwide organization that provided free services to low-income and uninsured families. They’d have to travel to various participating hospitals and outpatient clinics, but
there were enough people falling through the health insurance system cracks in the Carolinas and Virginia to keep the men close to home.

Leo squatted to prop a Duke University student ID card against the engraved headstone.

“We love you, John,” Michael said.

Leo stood, put an arm around his partner’s shoulder. “Let’s go make him proud.”

Jersey Barnes keeps trying to leave home without a weapon strapped to her body. She’d love to get an eye-stopping tan and maybe take up golf or tennis. She wants to retire. Well, sort of. When her judge friend asks Jersey for a favor, the unconventional security specialist readily agrees. The judge’s brother, an introvert from Dallas, Texas, has moved to Jersey’s stomping ground because he inherited a restaurant. But Argos isn’t just
any
eatery—it’s the hippest place in town where Wilmington’s elite dine. It’s also the site of a mysterious and dangerous secret that could land the judge’s brother in jail… or worse, a cemetery.

1. Southern Peril
   is the third Jersey Barnes mystery, and in this book the author has delved deeper into Jersey’s upbringing as well as her conflicted thoughts about being raised without a father. Do you think that knowing more about Jersey’s past adds depth to the current story?
   
2. Do you like the nontraditional relationship between Jersey and her father, Spud? Note that Spud is a retired cop and Jersey was a government field agent. Do you think that their past careers make the interaction between father and daughter believable?
   
3. In
   Southern Peril,
   Jersey has begun to realize that there is much more to Spud than a grumbling, troublemaking, poker-playing old man. At what point in the book did Spud begin to help Jersey solve the Argos dilemma? What actions did he take and what conclusions did he reach?
   
4. All of the Jersey Barnes mysteries combine action, drama, and humor. Were there any scenes in
   Southern Peril
   that you found particularly funny? In your opinion, does the author effectively mix suspense and humor?
   
5. At what point did you realize that Morgan, the judge’s brother, was hooked on eavesdropping?
   
6. What are some of the topics of discussion that you’ve shared with a friend or lover over a dinner table at a restaurant? When dining out at a nice restaurant, do you normally feel as though you have a sense of privacy?
   
7. Have you ever (intentionally or unintentionally) overheard somebody’s conversation in a restaurant or other public place? If it was interesting, did you keep listening?
   
8. Do you think that black market prescription drugs are as much of a danger to society as other illegal drugs such as cocaine or marijuana? Why or why not?
   
9. At any point in
   Southern Peril,
   did you suspect that Jersey and the DEA agent, Brad, might get romantically involved?
   
10. Do you have any predictions as to Jersey’s future with Ox, her business partner and best friend?
    

Did you know…

Wilmington, North Carolina, is more than 250 years old, sits between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean, and is home to a large container shipping facility?

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has a Center for Marine Science that ranks among the top in the country.

Wilmington is home to EUE Screen Gems Studios, a full-service motion picture facility.

While the author uses many actual locations, landmarks, and restaurants in the historic port town of Wilmington, Argos is a fictitious eatery. Bradley Creek and its lovely views, however, are real.