Intimate Portraits (34 page)

Kinda nice he hadn’t had to off
the photographer.

She and the big guy made a good-looking
couple.

****

Some days after the tragedy at
the High Museum, Autumn worked in her condo while Rennie hung out. She was
studying real estate specifications for an office in a new building near
Lawrenceville when Rennie’s cell rang.

After he hung up he relayed an
invitation. Laney wanted him and Autumn to come to her house for dinner the
following evening.

“Mom got in, and she and the rest
of the family will be there. I think the idea’s to throw a kind of engagement
party for us.”

Autumn dropped her papers. “Your
mother knows? Who told her? What did she say?”

Rennie, his back to her as he
searched for the remote control, shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her or
talked to her.”

“Well, what did Laney say she
said? She doesn’t approve, does she? Of you and me, I mean. That’s why Laney’s
having us over to her house instead of us going to Reseda’s.”

“Don’t be silly.” Rennie turned,
remote in hand. “I imagine Laney’s having us over to help cheer up John. From
what she says, he’s pretty concerned about the hearing coming up.”

“But John didn’t know about Gus’s
connection to that drug cartel. He’s an innocent victim. He and Fran both.”

Rennie sat down beside her. “The
government lawyers may not believe that. He and Francisco will both have to
answer some pretty hard questions. But they’ll be all right.”

She sighed, went back to her own
personal worries. “So what did Reseda say when she found out about us? Laney
must have said something.”

He shrugged. “That she’s a little
disappointed because she had you and Francisco paired up, but that as long as
one of us had the good sense to get you in the family, she’s okay with it.”

“She didn’t say that. You made
that up.”

Rennie chuckled. “She’s thrilled,
absolutely thrilled according to Laney. I can’t tell you her exact words. I
told you, I haven’t talked to her.”

“Then you’d better pick up the
phone, don’t you think?”

He cut his eyes at her and made a
sound of disgust. “There’s a program on Georgia football about to come on. It’s
a preview of their bowl game.”

She handed him the phone.

Reseda was volubly thrilled.

****

A smell of rice and beans and
roast pork met them as they entered Laney’s apartment. They had come early, and
no one else was there.

A normal family evening except
that everyone was still trying to make sense out of what had happened with the
Huertoles.

“Dani’s letter told everything,”
John said.

He had taken the Huertoles’
deaths hard. He’d been close to both Gus and Dani for years.

“She told about Gus’s connections
to the cartel from South America, how he promised if they helped him get elected,
he’d ease off enforcement so they could transport the drugs through Georgia,
how long he’d been working with them. I can’t believe I never guessed where his
money was coming from.”

“How could you?” Laney asked. “You
were busy finding political agendas that would get him elected, making sure he
kept appointments with the right people, keeping track of the paperwork. You
had nothing to do with whatever deals he made with those people.”

“I hope the investigators see it
like that,” he muttered.

“Of course they will. You had
nothing to do with Gus Huertole’s bad decisions.” Autumn reinforced Laney’s
reassurances. “But what about Sarita? How did Dani get involved with her?”

“The Huertoles met Sarita last
spring, when they were at the Islands. Sarita had come down to be with Fran,
but she and Dani struck it off right away. Evidently it was love at first
sight.” John looked perplexed. “I would never have thought Dani Huertole was a
lesbian.”

“Sarita swung both ways,” Rennie
said tonelessly. “I learned that in California.”

“Dani must have been latent. All
those years I saw her with Gus, I knew they weren’t overly affectionate, but
they got along.” John was still bewildered. “They were so suited to each other.
It’s just so hard to believe.”

“So Dani borrowed the jewelry for
Sarita?” Autumn asked. “How could she get away with it?”

“She was in charge of security
arrangements. She had her own keys. The pieces arrived in Atlanta ten days
before the exhibit was to open, and she was the one to check them out, make
sure they’d arrived unharmed, then put them in the safe. The security folks
witnessed it. Nobody thought about her taking them out again. Since they weren’t
going into their cases till the day before the exhibition, she figured Sarita
would have them back.”

“So she loaned them to Sarita,”
Rennie murmured.

“That’s what she said.”

“Because of the photo session,”
Autumn said sadly. “Sarita was pleased with the jewelry, but I never guessed it
was from the exhibition. I just took pictures of her in it.”

John nodded. “Then Sarita took
them with her to LA. Dani had to tell Gus. He hit the roof. He knew if the
story broke, he’d never get elected. I imagine he was running scared, because the
cartel wouldn’t like investing all that money and time for nothing. So he used them
to get the jewelry back.”

“Which they did, but they also killed
Sarita,” Rennie said. “After Autumn had taken the photos with her wearing the
jewelry.”

“It’s all so horrible.” Laney
shuddered.

John took his wife’s hand. “They
think Gus didn’t know about the pictures. When his backers found out, they were
the ones who decided Autumn had to go, too.”

“So that guy with the gun I saw
in Helen was real after all.” Laney smirked. “Even though my husband refused—”

“Laney, I’ve apologized and apologized
for making fun of you. What do you want? Blood?”

“I have something much better in
mind,” Laney said demurely.

“But it didn’t matter in the end,”
Autumn interrupted the marital mending of fences. “When Dani heard about Sarita’s
murder, she knew Gus and his friends were behind it.”

John sighed. “She called Gus,
hysterical. Fran said she was upset, but he didn’t know what about. When she
came into the office looking for him, she looked wild. Well, you saw her. But
still, I would never have guessed she meant to kill him.”

Autumn shivered, remembering Gus Huertole’s
terror-filled scream and the shots that followed. “No one ever knows what goes
on in a marriage.”

“No one ever knows what goes on
between two people,” Rennie said. “Except for the people involved.”

We’ll share that. Rennie and I
will know and everyone else can guess but we’ll stand up and face the world
side by side. And I won’t be shut out any more. I’ll have him.

It was a nice vision, her and Rennie
making their way through life together.

The doorbell rang and Norma came
in followed by a lively Reseda, an older version of Laney. “Autumn!” She hugged
and kissing her on both cheeks. “Sweet, sweet Autumn, you don’ know how happy I
am. I was so scared some insensitive arrogant person like that Victoria
whatshername that Laney brought home would catch Rennie.”

Her daughters’ mouths dropped
open. “Mom! Victoria is a perfectly nice person.”

Reseda ignored them and turned to
Rennie. “And you.
Mi nino retrasado
.” She playfully patted his cheek. “It
took you long enough to see what was right under your nose, didn’t it? I could
have had grandchildren by now.” She glared at Laney and Norma. “Maybe the only
ones I will ever have if I leave it to my daughters.”

Norma huffed. “I’m not even
married.”

Laney opened her mouth and
snapped it shut. If she were a teapot, steam would be pouring out of her ears.

Rennie distracted his mother from
her daughters’ shortfalls. “So I’m slow, Mom.” He put one arm around her and
the other around Autumn. “You’ll have to bear that in mind.”

“So long as you make up for it.” Reseda
beamed. “You are not getting any younger.” She frowned at her daughters. “Any
of you.”

Laney rolled her eyes.

Norma sighed.

Autumn looked at Rennie.

Rennie flicked his trademark
glance toward her, and her heart swelled.

She’d love to photograph that
slanting glance. Have him face his computer, but turn his eyes toward the camera.
With that same laidback smile.

Had she ever been this happy? If
she had, she couldn’t remember. Maybe she’d never be so happy again. This moment
deserved to be packed away in silver wrapping along with that of their first
night together.

Reseda plumped herself down and
took Autumn’s hand in both hers. “So tell me,
chica dulce
,” she
murmured, “do you think you and Rennie will be starting your family right away?”

“No,” Autumn said promptly. “We
have to get married first. We’re thinking about five years or so for an
engagement period. What do you think?”

After her shriek, Reseda told
them what she thought.

At great length.

##