Orange Blossom Brides (10 page)

Finishing the report, he glanced at his watch. Too late on a Saturday for any new business. He swiveled in his chair, propping his booted feet on the windowsill. It didn’t take long for Lilli to enter his thoughts.

When was the last time a woman had grabbed his attention so completely?
That night, twelve years ago. Face it
—Lilli had gotten under his skin. Then and now.

She’d looked great today, in a cute outfit that highlighted her curvy body, her hair framing her pretty face, her floral scent setting his senses on fire. He lost all rational thought when she was around.

Women. Couldn’t live without them, couldn’t forget their perfume.

He gathered a bunch of papers together, trying to dispel the images of Lilli that continued to tinker on the edges of his mind. He needed a diversion.

Time to go Bart hunting.

He hooked up his spy-cam equipment before leaving the office. His interest in technology went way back, so when he’d decided to go into business for himself, security and surveillance had seemed like the obvious choice, especially with his experience in law enforcement. Chasing after Bart might earn him a paycheck and a reputation, but that end of the business didn’t interest him any longer. He’d chased enough criminals in his years as a cop. Now he wanted a different challenge and hoped to find it in Cypress Pointe.

He exited his office building, stepping into another picture-perfect spring afternoon. Odds were pretty good that Bart would be busy relieving the tourists of their personal belongings. This close to dinnertime, he should be right in the thick of things, especially while folks went out for a bite to eat and meandered down Main Street to window-shop. With a determined stride, Max left his office and stepped onto the sidewalk, smack into tourist central.

Making his way along the thoroughfare, Max searched for his target. Bart’s MO was to chat up unsuspecting marks as they made their way to the numerous restaurants dotting the street. It took him all of ten minutes to find his man. Bart sat on a sidewalk bench, stopping folks to talk. As a couple strolled by, Max saw the moment Bart focused on his next target.

Max moved closer as Bart began to stroll behind the man and his wife. The couple stopped at an ice cream vendor. Max saw the man pull his wallet from his back pocket. Bart bumped into him. A classic pickpocket move. Only Bart didn’t take off. He stopped and bent down, as if retrieving something from the ground.

At this point, Max came upon the scene. Bart looked over. His eyes grew wide and he started to rise. Too late. Max’s clapped his hand on Bart’s shoulder and pushed him away from the couple. In the old days, Max would have yanked Bart by the shirt collar and dragged him to headquarters, not worried if the guy went kicking or screaming, but he wasn’t a cop anymore. Despite the trouble Bart had been giving him, Max restrained himself. Especially now. He had a professional reputation to maintain.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“But I—”

He snatched the wallet from Bart. “The buck stops here, my friend.”

Bart grabbed at it. “What’re you talking about?”

Max opened the leather billfold searching for ID. “You’re Walter P. Klingman, fifty-three years old, from Pontiac, Michigan?”

Yeah. Bart had to be a whole nineteen years old.

“You got it wrong. The guy dropped his wallet and I picked it up for him.”

“Helped yourself is more like it. I should drag you over to the station right now.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“From where I was standing, you were holding the wallet.”

Bart squirmed.

“Look, the Merchants Association wants this to stop. You’ve managed to tick off the wrong people.”

“So why are you telling me this instead of hauling me to the station?”

“I’m going to in a minute. I wanted to give you a friendly warning to stop bothering folks.” He paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. “Bart, you’ve got to get a life. Something else to focus your attention on. A better job. School. A girlfriend. Something other than the way you’re headed.”

Bart turned red.

“You have a girlfriend?”

“No girlfriend.” Defensive. “Do you?”

Lilli’s pretty face flashed in his mind.
Not going there.
“We’re talking about you, Bart. Look, I’m telling you this because you need a new direction.”

“Like where? On a bus out of town?”

“Is that what you want?”

Bart’s lips closed tight.

Why did the guy’s reaction matter so much? Maybe Max wanted to help Bart because he saw a little of his old self in the younger man. Max had run wild, when what he’d needed was someone to care about him. He’d been so bent on destruction he hadn’t listened to the one person who loved him unconditionally. Gram had loved him no matter what he did. When that finally sank in, he took the first step toward changing his life. Once pointed in the right direction, Max had done well. Bart could certainly do the same.

“I’ve heard about you,” Bart said. “About how you used to be a troublemaker. So I checked you out and found out about your cool security business.”

“It is cool. And I got there by working hard. How can I get you to see you’re headed down a dead-end road?”

Bart stared over Max’s shoulder for a long time before giving Max an answer. “How about you take me to the church?”

“Excuse me? Did you say the church?”

Bart’s shoulders squared. “Yeah, I did.”

Of all the things Bart could have said to him, this never even would have made the list.

He sighed over the corner he’d painted himself into. “I guess that would be the place to learn you aren’t supposed to steal.”

Bart blinked. “Not for the service. For the business forum at St. Luke’s gymnasium tomorrow afternoon.”

Max started at the younger man. “Business forum?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard about it, since the Merchants Association is your boss.”

Max knew. He’d had his secretary register him last week. In light of his need to network, he wanted face time with the community. “I know about it. So?”

“We should go together. Show people you’re good at your job. I’m like free publicity.”

“I don’t think they’d see it that way.”

“They would if I was part of your business.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “You’re not part of my business.”

“Sure I am. Think of me as your first success story.”

“After I put you in jail?”

“I thought we could skip that part.”

Max wondered when he had lost control of the conversation.

“You just said I need something more exciting in my life. Like working for you. You know, to give me direction. Keep me out of trouble.”

“I’m not hiring,”

“I could intern.”

Hmm.
Max took a good look at Bart. The earnest expression on the young man’s face made him consider the possibility. “Intern?”

“The chief told me all about how you were opening a security business, and I’ve been thinking that your side of the law is better than what I’ve been doing. I could learn the ropes from you. And I’m a whiz on the computer. No one can top my skills.”

Max had his own skills, but extra help might come in handy.

“So we’ll go to the forum?” Bart asked.

“I haven’t said yes yet.”

“But you will, because like it or not, you’re looking out for me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“If you weren’t, you’d have hauled me in without all this talking. Besides,” he said almost shyly, “there’s this girl.”

“Huh. So there
is
a girl.”

“She’ll be there. I haven’t had the nerve to ask her out, what with my reputation and all, but if I set a new course for myself, she might take a chance.”

Max blew out a long breath. If he agreed to this internship, he’d have to work with Bart on a daily basis. Someone had to cut the guy a break, just like the chief had when he’d helped an angry teen realize trouble would never get him anywhere good in life. Max had listened. Maybe Bart would do the same. Still, the prevailing question lingered. Could he trust Bart?

“Here’s the deal. I’ll go along with this internship as long as you’re on time and ready to work every day.”

The younger man’s eyes lit up. “I can do that.”

“No more following tourists around.”

“Okay.”

“Attending the forum is out, though. You’re going to have to prove yourself, and that takes time.”

Bart went silent, as if pondering the weightiness of his decision. Max remembered the same moment in his life, when he’d finally made the right choice. When he walked away from trouble and began his journey down a better path.

“Now, let’s go to police station.”

Bart’s face fell. “But you just took me on.”

“Yes, but you have a wallet you need to return.”

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t stealing. The guy dropped it and I was gonna give it back to him when you stopped me.”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.” Max grabbed Bart’s arm, pushing him down the sidewalk. “I need proof, so my client can see I did my job by nabbing you in the act.”

They’d walked a few yards when two boys on skateboards careened down the sidewalk. Max veered out of the way, but Bart stayed put. As the boys skimmed by, one decided to cut directly between Max and Bart. Max jumped back and the wallet fell from his hand. Once the boys passed, Bart bent down to retrieve the wallet then turned to run in the opposite direction.

“So much for a new leaf,” Max muttered as he took off after Bart, rounding the nearest corner. Nothing. “This is not happening.”

Hands on hips, he stood there, shaking his head in disbelief. Trying to decide his next course of action, he heard someone yell, “That’s my wallet, officer.”

Max turned in time to find Bart handing the wallet to the older man.

* * ** * *

T
EN
MINUTES
LATER
Max explained his story to the on-duty officer at the police station. The chief showed up, trying hard not to laugh.

“I’m done with this Merchants Association gig,” Max groused in way of greeting.

The chief waved off the officer interviewing Max and led him to his office. “Bart again?” he asked after closing the door.

“Yeah. Almost had the goods on him.”

“Enough proof to close the case?”

“If he really picked the guy’s pocket.”

The chief sat behind his desk, rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepled his fingers over his chest. His shoulders shook in a hearty chuckle. “You know why you can’t catch him, don’t you?”

Max shrugged.

“Same problem I have. You like him.”

“Talk about a conflict of interest.”

“So how did you get hauled down here?” the chief asked as if he didn’t know. The man knew everything that went on in Cypress Pointe.

“I had to confirm his story. When Bart picked the wallet up from the ground, he told me he was going to return it.”

“You believed him?”

“’Course not. But we started having this conversation and, long story short, he ended up doing the right thing.”

Silence filled the room for several moments while Max tried to figure out if Bart really had planned to return the wallet as he claimed. Bottom line: he did the right thing. Max should be happy, but couldn’t help wondering if he’d made a mistake making Bart his intern.

The chief’s perceptive eyes pinned Max. “Looks to me like you’ve got something on your mind.”

Max hesitated before saying anything to the Chief, but knew the older man would weasel Max’s thoughts out of him sooner or later. “I told Bart he could intern for me.”

“Didn’t know you were lookin’ for an intern.”

“I’m not.”

Surprise lit the chief’s eyes. “Didn’t see that coming.” He picked up a pen and drummed it on the desk. “Intern, huh?”

“What do you think?”

“We’ve tried to get him involved in some programs to turn him around, with no success. For whatever reason, you’ve made an impression on him.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Can’t always explain things. Just gotta go with ’em when they work.” He caught Max’s gaze. “Bart needs to focus his energies elsewhere. Interning with you is a good place to start.”

“I see some of me in Bart. I want to help him.”

“I understand.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“You sure you want the answer to that?”

“Not really. I’ll hope for the best.”

The chief settled back in his chair. The aged leather creaked as he moved. “Looks like you’re settling into life in Cypress Pointe.”

“It’s a good place to start my business. I’m close to Gram. Making connections in the community.”

A twinkle gleamed in the chief’s eyes. “Thought maybe you were preoccupied by a woman.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Son, I’ve got a few years on you. I’ve seen that look on countless young men’s faces.”

Max grunted. “I suppose it ain’t pretty.”

“To tell you the truth, it’s about time a good woman got your attention.”

“How do you know it’s a good woman?”

“After seein’ the two of you in action the other day, I figure your mind is focused on Lilli Barclay.” The chief nonchalantly straightened the files on his desk. “So, you thinkin’ about asking her to the Merchants Association fish fry next weekend?”

“Hadn’t planned on it.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re working together. Nothing more.”

“Working together? Since when?”

“A few hours ago. We were discussing the Wingate collection. I need to work undercover and the volunteer groom thing will allow me to do that.”

“Let me guess.... You let her think it was all her idea.”

Max shrugged.

“You should take a chance, Max. Lilli is a good person.”

Max eyed him suspiciously. “Why does it matter to you?”

Now the chief shrugged. “Just sayin’.”

“Meddling is more like it.”

“Can’t help it if I take an interest in your life.”

“As much as I appreciate all you’ve done for me, keep your advice about my lack of a love life to yourself.”

“Seems the mention of Lilli Barclay gets you all riled up.”