2 Queenie Baby - Out of Office (23 page)

"Yeah, this is my friend Mark's boat," I replied, cutting into Bob's pirate rant. "Well, actually it's his Uncle Ed's boat, but he's been staying on it while he's in town. You met Mark, remember?" I reminded John.

John nodded. "Now was he the one there at the bar fight, or was he there when your neighbor thought she saw a vampire?" he asked.

"Actually, both."

John's face lit up. "Yep! Nice fella. Is he around?"

"Uh, no. He's away until tomorrow. But I have the key," I said, shaking it in the air and hoping this would be the end of it.

There was banging from below followed by a loud "Dagnabit!"

"What was that?" Bob asked.

"What was what?" I replied.

John looked uncertain. "We'd better take a look around since the tenant's not on board. Just for the report," he added.

I sighed.
It
had almost worked
, I thought as I opened the door and led them down the staircase.

It took them only a few seconds to confirm that everything was in order in the open living area and the galley kitchen. As they headed towards the bedroom, a knot formed in my throat. The suitcase was still lying open on the bed. The closet door was shut. A glance in the bathroom showed the shower curtain partially open. John reached for the closet door, and I cringed.

The door creaked as it opened. But inside, there was no sign of Granddaddy. John turned and glanced at the suitcase. "So sorry to disturb you, Diana. I can see you're trying to get settled in." He indicated the open suitcase.

His partner nosed around in the bathroom for a second, not going any farther in than the sink.

"Okay, Bob, let's leave her in peace. Sorry about the intrusion, Diana," John said again.

I made appropriate replies and hurried them up the staircase and out the door. I returned to the bedroom and looked around.

A loud sneeze from the bathroom made me jump. I hurried in and tore back the curtain. Rick and Granddaddy were squeezed into the farthest corner.

"Don' chop my head off!" Granddaddy cried.

"Shhh! You'll bring them back."

"I figured they'd check the closet, but hoped if we left the shower curtain open they wouldn't bother checking any closer," Rick explained.

"Quick thinking!" I replied.

"Yeah, but your Granddaddy tripped on the way in here."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, climbing out of the tub. "Did we throw them coppers off our trail?"

"Yes."

"Hallelujah! So what's next?" he asked, rubbing his hands together.

"You're going home to bed," I said firmly. "Rick will take you. We need to hurry up and get out of here before she comes back." I pointed at the suitcase.

Rick looked at me questioningly. "And what are you going to do?"

"I'm going on a stake out."

"Dressed like that?" he asked, pointing at my gown.

He had a point. I wasn't actually incognito in this.

My phone rang. It was Mark. "Oh, no," I whispered.

"It's him, isn't it?" Rick asked.

I nodded.

"Well, answer it. He doesn't know you're here, right?" Rick grabbed Granddaddy's arm and walked him out to the living room.

"Hi, Mark," I said cheerfully.

"Were you just on the deck of the boat talking to two police officers?" he asked without preamble.

"That's crazy!" I replied.

"I know. That's why I'm pretty sure it's true. Here's the kicker: the neighbor two slips down claims he saw Cinderella talking to the two officers. You wouldn't be dressed as Cinderella by chance?"

I gulped. "No, not Cinderella…"

"What's going on, Diana?" he demanded.

"Nothing. Granddaddy needed to use the bathroom after the show, so I brought him here." That was all true.

"Sounds like a lot was left out of that statement," he said after a pause. "Look, my plane is delayed. I'm not going to make it until early tomorrow afternoon. We have a lot to talk about. Please, just stay out of trouble until I get there."

It was on the tip of my tongue to holler, "Oh, you bet we've got some things to talk about!" but I had more investigating to do. I wanted to know exactly what I was dealing with before I confronted him about his female guest.

A question popped into my head and out my mouth unfiltered. "Your sister isn't particularly big-chested is she?"

"What are you talking about?" he ground out. "No! She's very slim. What is wrong with you, Diana?"

"Nothing. Just wanting to know more about your family," I deflected.

"You're weird," he said half-heartedly. "But I really miss you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes. "I've got to go Mark." I hung up.

I walked back into the living room, my resolution increasing with every step.

*  *  *

With Granddaddy and Uncle Grover safely tucked into bed for the night, Rick and I made our way back to Dock Street on foot, dodging late night revelers and coming up with a plan. I felt normal again, having changed into sneakers and jeans with my hair pulled back into a pony tail.

"Your uncle is smitten," Rick said with a chuckle as we rounded the last block.

"Yeah, a little too smitten," I muttered, vowing to go see Sybil as soon as possible for a counter-spell.

"It's nice to see that love is just as exciting at eighty as it is at eighteen. Only probably not as active," he added.

I grimaced. I didn't want to think about Uncle Grover and Mrs. Kester's activities.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" he asked.

I glanced over at him. "I'm doing this to confirm my suspicions before accusing Mark of any wrong-doing. You're here just to annoy me."

"Wrong," he countered. "I'm here to protect you."

"From what?" I scoffed. "Weirdoes?"

We both watched as two guys stumbled out of a bar and began skipping down the middle of the street holding hands like two school girls.

Men skipping. Didn't see that everyday. Come to think of it, nobody skipped much anymore.

"Honey, you are a weirdo," he laughed. "I'm here to protect you from yourself."

I stuck my tongue out at him and marched on.

When we reached the docks, Rick said, "I think we should make like we're a couple—hold hands and cuddle—so we look less obvious."

"You wish," I shot back.

"Got a better idea?"

I thought about it. There wasn't really anywhere to hunker down for the stake-out on the docks. I suppose taking a moonlit stroll on the docks wouldn't look suspicious if we were holding hands like a couple.

I grabbed his hand; he pulled me closer with a laugh.

We approached the boat silently. I could see a light on through one of the windows. She was back.

I pointed excitedly at the window. He nodded.

I made a move to climb onto the boat to peer in, and he pulled me back. We continued on our walk down the dock.

He finally said, "You're too clumsy to go climbing around that boat. I'll take a look around."

"No! I need to see her," I argued. "I can't very well confront Mark if I don't see it for my own eyes."

Rick sighed. "Okay, have it your way, but I really don't want to spend the night in jail."

"We'll take our shoes off," I said suddenly. "Then we can walk across the boat and get on the ledge at the bow. The bedroom has windows we should be able to peek in without being seen."

Rick reluctantly agreed to the plan, and within minutes we were proceeding silently across the boat to the narrow ledge that wrapped around the bow. I got there first and crouched down to peer through the window.

The bathroom door was shut, but a light shown through the door. A Renaissance Fair gown of scarlet and black was draped across the bed. My stomach churned when I realized I'd seen that gown several times today. Maybe it was that common…

The bathroom door opened suddenly, and a woman with thick, brilliant red hair emerged wearing a gossamer, cream nightie. Her white skin glowed in the dim light giving her an ethereal quality. My heart ached as I watched her shove the dress off the bed and climb in. Just like she'd done it a hundred times before.

Rick had gone still beside me. He tapped my arm and indicated we should head back the way we'd come.

Once we were safely off the boat, he turned to me and said, "Something strange is going on, Diana."

"I know," I said, stifling a sob, "Mark's girlfriend is beautiful and perfectly at home on the boat."

"No," Rick said as we hurried down the dock, "that's the woman that stopped me in front of your house."

I gasped. "You're right! I recognized the dress. She's been following me all day!"

My phone rang shrilly in the night. It was Mark.

"Oh, god!" I cried. "I can't talk to him right now."

"Answer it," Rick ordered. "Rip the Band-Aid off."

I stared at the phone as it buzzed for a third time.

I answered the call. "Hello?"

"Are you and Andre peaking in the windows of my boat? The neighbor is ready to call the police," Mark said with a weary sigh.

"No," I snapped. "Rick and I were watching your psycho red-headed girlfriend through the windows of your boat!" I ended with a shout and then a sob as the tears started to flow.

"What are you talking about?" he cried. "What is Rick doing there?"

Rick motioned me to hand him the phone. I handed it to him.

"Hey, Mark, looks like you've fucked this up pretty well. I'll be taking over now," Rick said.

I could hear shouting from Mark. "Yeah, anytime is fine with me, buddy," Rick responded. "You've got some balls sicking Red on Diana. She's been following her around all day. Even talked to me at the house this morning."

I cringed, holding back tears.

"Yeah, I was there helpin' out with The Grands. Something you don't have time to do evidently. What's it to you?" he asked sarcastically. "Red looks like a hot number. You startin' a harem or something? Got a brunette tucked away somewhere, too?"

There was a pause. Mark's voice seemed calmer, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

"Your partner?" Rick said in surprise. "Boy you really know how to spin some yarns." Rick handed the phone back to me.

"Don't talk, just listen," Mark ordered. "That's Marsha. I didn't know she was staying on the boat. As of yesterday she was in a hotel. She's there because I asked her to keep an eye on you. Tyrell is dangerous, and he's unpredictable."

"Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?"

"Because I knew you'd flip out and probably still think there was some ulterior motive to her being there," he said in exasperation.

Well, he was right about that. I didn't doubt Mark asked Marsha to keep an eye on me, but I bet Marsha had more on her agenda.

"Go home. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for Marsha being on the boat. I will let you know as soon as I talk to her. Okay?"

"Sure," I ground out. How did I always end up the bad guy in these situations? My gut told me that Marsha was up to no good.

Rick shook his head as I hung up. "Boy, he's something else. What exactly does he do that's so important?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

As we rounded the last block to my house, I let everything that had happened sink in. I thought about the unknown calls. Marsha was staying on Mark's boat and following me around to make sure Tyrell didn't get me. I'm sure her main priority was not my safety, but what was her angle? Was she hoping to endear herself to Mark by watching over me? My phone buzzed with a text:

Mark: The hotel where she wanted to stay was booked for the fair, and she couldn't find anything else close by. Are you home yet?

I typed a terse 'yes' and stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

We reached Rick's truck. "Thanks for all your help tonight," I said, turning to him.

Things seemed to be headed downhill with Mark, but I wasn't going to add gas to the flames by getting tangled up with Rick in a weak moment.

"Not gonna invite me up for a drink?" he asked.

"Nope. I don't need the complications."

He sighed. "When this thing with Mark is finally over, I'd like to give us another chance." He took a step towards me.

"It's not going to happen, Rick," I said gently. "We've been through this before. Please, stop bringing it up. I want to be your friend, but I can't if you keep pushing me."

He stared at me for a minute. "Okay," he held up his hands, "we're friends. I get it. No more pushing." He opened his truck door and climbed up. He gave me a wave as he headed in the direction of his hotel.

That had been a little too easy, I thought, as I turned up my walkway. I was sure I'd not heard the last of it.