Christmas in Paradise (Florida Keys Mystery Series Book 13) Page 9

  “You’re going to protect me, aren’t you?”

  “No worries there. I’ll go all cavegirl and scare them.” He laughed. “Then they’ll go back to their home country and tell their friends I’m bat crazy, and the reservations will fly in.”

  Having overheard, Mac said, “We stay booked year round. They come for entertainment and I deliver. No more planned fights,” she reassured Creole, who’d told her to stop them before someone got hurt. “But when one breaks out spontaneously, it helps.”

  “There’s Joseph and his, uhm…” Creole nodded toward the man in question.

  “Svetlana,” I reminded him. I turned to say hello to Joseph, kissing his blow-up girlfriend on the cheek. “She’s looking fabulous,” I told Joseph, who had dressed her in a red dress with a slit up the thigh, showing a tanned leg. “You doing okay? I heard you quit your elf job.”

  “I tried it for a few days with the replacements, and it wasn’t a stick of fun. The ladies stopped coming around. All my co-workers did was complain about sore feet and…” He paused, looking at Creole. “…other stuff. Not having the guts to quit, I came to work drunk. That worked.” He hacked out a laugh.

  “You mind if I touch?” Creole asked, indicating Svetlana. “I haven’t seen one up close.”

  Joseph shoved Svetlana into his arms. “I’ve got to run into the house. Don’t take your eyes off her. She’s been kidnapped a couple of times.”

  I nodded with open amusement, letting him know nothing would happen in his absence.

  “She’s so lifelike, it’s a little creepy,” Creole said.

  “Svet’s my favorite tenant. Like Kitty, Miss January’s long-deceased cat, she has a permanent home here. You’re lucky Fab’s a no-show. She’d already have her camera out and a handful of pictures of you and the beautiful blonde taken to blackmail you with.”

  “I’d sic you on her.”

  Mac returned with Joseph. “Everyone wants to say hello to you. You’re the star, as they only get glimpses of you from time to time.”

  “You want me to mingle and do small talk? I’m so bad at it.”

  Mac snorted. “This from the woman who can talk to anyone. Leave the boyfriend here; I’ll entertain him.” She smiled at Creole.

  He shook his finger at her. “You’re a troublemaker.”

  “Only sometimes.” She smirked.

  Miss January stumbled through the gate. It was late for her to be out and about. Normally, she’d be passed out by this time of day, sleeping off her all-day drunk.

  “Keep an eye on her,” I told Mac. “I don’t want her falling in the pool.”

  “Hi, hon.” Miss January patted Svetlana on the arm. Joseph had taken her back and sat her in a chair next to him.

  “Where’s your new beau?” I asked, looking out into the driveway.

  “He’s not a people person.” She cackled and pulled a flask out of her pocket, unscrewing the lid and taking a long swig. “Sure miss having you as a neighbor.” She winked at Creole.

  That was so long ago, I was surprised she remembered.

  “Congratulations on the new relationship. He better treat you right.” Creole flexed his muscles, which had her giggling.

  Crum stuck his head out his bathroom window, peered around, and disappeared, shutting the window.

  “Why isn’t Mr. Life of the Party out here?” I asked Mac.

  Joseph answered. “He’s embarrassed that people know he got hauled in for questioning in the bank heists.”

  “Someone needs to have a talk with him.” I stared at Mac. “Point out that it has the potential to enhance his bad-boy image.”

  “You tell him. He never listens to me.”

  Just then, Kevin walked through the gate. “Food and beer. My kind of party.” He tipped his bottle at us.

  “What’s the latest on the bank robber case?” Creole asked.

  Kevin laughed in disgust. “Turns out Santa was a bored twenty-something. James Howell the fifteenth or some such BS. Made sure we knew his family’s stinkin’ rich. Good thing for him, since they had to post a hefty cash bail. He exercised his right to remain silent, not saying a word until his high-priced attorneys showed up, all three of them.”

  “I’d say the case is a slam dunk,” Creole said. “He was, after all, caught running out of the bank, leaving behind a gun with his prints on it and a handful of eye witnesses. He’ll be doing prison time.”

  “Howell doesn’t seem to think so. Got an attitude that he can do whatever he wants; boasted he’s got enough money to buy himself out of trouble.”

  “Bored rich kid?” I asked. “His answer was to rob a bank?”

  “Pretty much.” Kevin downed his beer, passing the bottle off to Mac with a wink. “Happy it’s not my case. According to the arresting officers, he was a whiney pain on the way to the hospital and didn’t shut his mouth until they put him under anesthesia to fix that shoulder.”

  Creole tapped his watch. “We need to leave if we’re going to get to your mother’s party on time.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes.” I grabbed Mac’s arm, and we made the rounds. Although I’d waved whenever someone new came through the gate, I knew they wanted something friendlier. I thanked everyone for coming and let them know I’d be around more after the first of year and that Mac was the queen of problem-solving.

  It took more time than I expected. Every time I looked over my shoulder, the group of men laughing and joking near the bar had grown larger. Seeing Creole at the center had me smiling.

  “Your party is a wild success,” I congratulated Mac.

  All the tenants and their guests were caught up in spirited conversations around the pool. Not a single person was left out. Mac led me over to the table and handed me two gifts that she had sitting in a chair. Then she wrapped her arms around me in a bear hug.

  “This was fun,” I squeaked.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I don’t want to go,” Creole whined, jerking on the knot of his tie until it didn’t choke him any longer. At least, I assumed so, since he stopped complaining and making sound effects.

  He’d come close to braking for every green light on the way home from The Cottages, until I reminded him that the only thing worse than being late was calling with a last-minute excuse.

  “Hot.” I made a sizzling sound, my eyes sweeping over his black suit.

  He’d refused to go rent a tux, which it turned out he didn’t have to since the whole black-tie idea had been a joke my brother thought would be funny to pull on his friends. Didier had been the one to find out after bringing up the subject with Mother.

  “Didn’t Brad tell you? That’s his idea of a joke,” Mother had said.

  “It’s funny all right,” Didier had said sarcastically.

  Spoon had added to the drama by threatening to wear an ugly sweater, which he said was better than any “damn monkey suit.”

  “Your decision,” I said. “We can be the one couple that bails, but the catch is you have to be the one to make the excuses. I’m telling you now, it better be a doozy, something along the lines of you got a call from one of your law enforcement friends and he tipped you off the end of the world is happening tonight.” That made him laugh and his frown disappear.

  “I’ll need some incentive.” He checked me out from head to toe.

  I twirled around in my red silk, short-sleeved, above-the-knee sheath dress, which got Fab’s approval in the store as soon as I held it up. She’d bought something similar, only in black and sleeveless.

  “If—” I shook my finger at him, and he nibbled on the end. “—you’re really good, you can peek under my dress later.”

  “I want to do it now,” he said with a wolfish smile.

  “So sorry.” I gave him a pouty frown. “Fab and Didier are waiting. And we wouldn’t want to be late.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him into the hall.

  “Ta da,” I said as we descended the stairs.

  “Très belle,” Didier said to me, and
I smiled back. “I’m surprised you didn’t rebel and wear bathing trunks.” He laughed at Creole.

  “I could change.” He looked at me hopefully. “My red trunks, no shirt, and a black leather tie.”

  “I want to dare you…” I laughed. “…but I’m afraid you’ll do it.”

  “Let’s get this party on the road,” Didier said.

  “We’re already going to be late.” Fab headed for the door. “You know your mother hates that, and then we’ll have to hear about it for a week.”

  ~ ~ ~

  The entrance to the Key Resort was beautiful at night, palm trees wrapped in lights running the length of the long driveway from the road to the lobby of the building. Creole waylaid one of the valets and got directions to the restaurant. Once there, the hostess led us out onto a pier that extended out over the Gulf. Lights were strung overhead, sparkling off the water, with Christmas trees every few feet, the largest one at the end where we were to be seated.

  One long, oblong table had been set in red, white, and green linen, with silver and crystal, the red-and-green striped umbrellas overhead also draped in lights. Small square lanterns dotted the middle of the table, each holding a candle surrounded by seashells.

  Mother and Spoon greeted us, and we exchanged kisses. Mother had chosen a knee-length green dress, and Spoon had worn a suit after all, no tie. She introduced us to four other couples I’d never met, explaining that they were business associates of Brad.

  Frankly, I was impressed that she could keep the names straight. “Where is my brother?” I asked, looking around.

  “Brad called to say he and Phil had just pulled into the parking lot. They should be here in a minute or two.”

  The back half of the deck had been cordoned off, with a full bar set up in front of a small sitting area of chairs and side tables that wrapped around a dance floor. All of Brad’s friends had drifted toward the bar and were talking, drinks in hand. I recognized one non-family member that had me groaning inwardly, a business associate of Brad’s that he’d recently partnered with on a local project.

  What was Mother thinking? More than half the people at the table would be unknown to the other half. My brother and his lawyer/girlfriend, Philipa Grey aka Phil, would be the only ones his business associates knew.

  Brad had yet to find out that I’d had a background check done on his girlfriend. It had come back clean. But something about the woman still nagged at me. Phil had bartended at Jake’s for years while going to law school, and Fab and I had trusted her implicitly then, but the second she passed the bar, she’d morphed into a completely different person.

  I leaned into Fab. “We need to search the table for place cards, snatch them up, and change the seating to our benefit. I’m not sitting next to a stranger all night, schmoozing for my brother.”

  “Already done.” Fab smiled devilishly. “Don’t tell, but Didier and I worked the table as a team.”

  It wasn’t the first time we’d pulled that trick. Until Mother caught one of us red-handed, it would continue. I had no doubt Fab could get herself out of trouble; as for myself, I’d need some help.

  “Let’s hope when it’s time to make small talk, you remember all the names,” Fab said. “I forgot already.”

  Creole laughed. He’d just come up, drinks in hand, and handed Fab a martini and me a glass of wine. “Me too. When your brother mentioned a couple of business associates, I thought he meant his new partner, not a whole crew of people.”

  “Whose idea was it to combine family and business?” Didier asked.

  “Mother/Madeline,” Fab and I said at the same time.

  “My guess,” I said, “is that Mother talked Brad into it, telling him what a great idea it would be. You know how she loves putting dinners together, and this way, she has the opportunity to check everyone out.”

  A woman at the opposite end of the pier began setting up her microphone and attracted some attention by performing a sound check. Curvy in a colorful Boho maxi dress split up the front, her dark curly hair hanging down her back, she settled on a stool under a spotlight. After some banter with the people sitting nearby, she picked up her guitar and unleashed her beautiful bluesy voice.

  “Heads up,” Creole said. “Liam’s here with his… date.”

  I groaned. “What’s Kevin done now?” I’d cringed when I heard he was fixing Liam up with a friend of a friend. “This girl is supposed to be a college student and only a couple years older than him.”

  Didier watched as the two talked to Mother and Spoon. “She’s twenty?”

  Peering around Creole’s side, I could only see their backs. “Let’s go meet her.”

  Didier took Fab’s drink from her hand. Setting it down, he pulled her into his arms, and they made use of a small section of the dance floor.

  Spoon waylaid Creole, asking him a question, and they got caught up in conversation, leaving me to go check out Liam’s date.

  “You look nice,” I said to Liam.

  Mother gave him a nod and a wink, showing her approval.

  Liam had told me he asked Didier for help in picking out the black suit and they drove to Miami after making an appointment with one of Didier’s connections.

  “This is Becca,” Liam introduced his date.

  The twenty-year-old, if she was one, looked closer to thirty. Her body shape reminded me of Dolly Parton, and she had a head full of springy blond curls. Her short black dress hit her at mid-thigh and framed her curves, and she was wearing the highest stilettos I’d ever seen. Fab would have a case of shoe envy when she got a look at that pair.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said sincerely. “I hear you two met through Kevin.”

  “I got to know Kevin when he lived next door. My sister and he were briefly neighbors… until his building burned down. My sister had always commented on how safe she felt, having him so close,” Becca said, making a good first impression.

  “Happy to hear Kev’s fulfilling his oath to protect and serve,” whispered Creole, who’d just showed up at my side.

  I nudged him.

  The music ended, and Fab and Didier joined us. Liam made the introductions, and Fab immediately engaged Becca in a conversation about shoes. Creole and I moved to the banister, facing one another.

  “Before dinner would be a good time for us to make the rounds and say, ‘Nice to meet you. What’s your name again?’” Creole suggested.

  “Maybe.” It was the last thing I wanted to do. I grinned up at him. “I’d rather stand here and gawk—messy hair, open shirt, the way your pants hug your hips.”

  He leered down at me. “What was I saying?”

  “Not sure.”

  He brushed a kiss against my lips.

  Brad cleared his throat, tapping a knife on the side of a glass, and motioned for everyone to find their place card and take a seat. Fab had arranged to have Mother, Spoon, Brad, his friends, and their dates at one end of the table, and the rest of us at the opposite end, next to the tree. From what I could see, everyone appeared to be relaxed and having a good time.

  I whispered to Liam, “You’re sitting down at this end with the fun people. Another plus: Creole and Didier won’t be staring at your date like she’s a delectable morsel like I caught a couple of the others doing.”

  “Becca’s used to the attention, and it doesn’t bother her one way or the other. She mostly ignores it. Because of her, I ignore it too. When we go out, our attention is on each other.”

  “I like her.” I kissed his cheek. “You two having a good time is all I care about.”

  Mother glanced at several place cards, then straightened and shot me a glare. In return, I smiled at her, adding a subtle thumbs up, pretending I had no clue what was up.

  Liam pulled out Becca’s chair, and before he sat, Fab whispered her approval. He told the two of us, “This is our third date, and so far, we’ve had a lot of fun doing low-key things. I’m looking forward to hanging out with her during break.”

  Once everyo
ne was seated, Brad, who had stayed standing, raised his glass in a toast and thanked everyone for coming.

  ~ ~ ~

  As the servers cleared the plates, one came around and refilled drink glasses. Even though I wasn’t driving, I waved off a refill, as did everyone at our end of the table.

  The music came to a halt when four uniformed officers made their way down the deck. In true Keys style, all eyes were on the unfolding drama. No one moved, instead settling back in their seats for a ringside view. Creole had his back turned, and I lightly kicked him and motioned with my head.

  “Look, Mommy,” a small kid shrieked. “Cops.”

  The officers came to a stop surrounding a table where a young couple sat. The woman hung her head, and the man did all the talking. After an exchange, the woman kicked her chair back, knocking one officer in the knees, and in two steps, hurled herself over the deck railing, swan diving into the water.

  Several nearby people flew out of their seats and over to the railing, phones out and aimed down at the water. All the overhead lighting twinkling off the inky water made it easy to see where she landed.

  “She’s swimming away,” one man shouted.

  One officer yelled for everyone to remain seated as the others took off running.

  The man the jumper had been with had waved when she made her leap. Now he moved to the railing and watched the drama below, a smirk on his face.

  Fab and I looked at one another and rolled our eyes, both of us thinking, “not a good getaway plan.”

  “Dude set her up,” Creole whispered, just loud enough for those at our end of the table to hear. “Looks pretty proud of himself.”

  “She’s swimming over to the beach,” a woman updated everyone.

  Minutes later, the sound of speedboats could be heard approaching.

  The man she was with fist-pumped and called out, “Got her!” He threw some cash on the table and started back up the pier.

  Someone yelled, “Hey pal, what did she do?”

  The man paused, appeared to be about to say something, then continued on his way instead.

  “Hey man, it must be something good. Tell us,” someone else yelled.