Amy Maxwell & the 7 Deadly Sins (The Amy Maxwell Series Book 2) (14 page)

Our version of a home office is a butcher’s block island in the middle of the kitchen, with papers scattered all over it, sticking to food that has never been wiped up, and a junk drawer housing pens, pencils, broken crayons, an empty tape dispenser, and Girl Scout patches I keep forgetting to put on Lexie’s sash. You would think since Girl Scouts is the only activity she actually participates in outside of school, I would take it a little more seriously, but alas, I don’t. Who has time for that crap when I’ve got to shuttle Colt to soccer, baseball,
and
basketball, just to help him burn off energy and prevent him from smashing all our breakables in the house with his enthusiasm?

This
home office has two entire walls of book shelves, a desk that looks more like a NASA command center with not one, not two, but
three
computers spread over its vast space, and a marble countertop that runs along one wall. The counter houses a cappuccino machine and a mini fridge underneath with walnut cabinets on either side. There are several plush chaise lounges throughout the room, including one underneath the very window we are gazing into. Thank goodness no one is sitting on it. I feel like I’m looking in the window of a very posh Starbucks or some other uber cool coffeehouse.

Despite the abundance of lighting choices in the room, including recessed lighting along the ceilings, the only current source of light is a desk lamp. At the desk, a heavy set middle aged man is sitting in a comfortable looking chair, feverishly typing away at the computer. He appears to be agitated by something, sighing audibly and nervously running his fingers through his hair as he pauses in his typing. He must do this a lot because even in the dim light, I can tell his hair is thinning at the temples and balding on top. After a moment, he rises to his feet and paces with his hands clasped behind his back. He is dressed unremarkably, except for the fact that his gut is clearly larger than the waistband of his khaki pants. I can tell he is muttering to himself, but I can’t make out the words. He is interrupted by the shrill ring of the phone. He retrieves a cell that is sitting on the desk and after punching a button, places it to his ear.

He’s silent, presumably listening to whoever is on the other end of the phone. He stops in front of the counter and reaches into a cabinet, retrieving a bottle of some sort.  The man groans as he flips open the top of the bottle, places what looks like a few antacids into his palm, and then pops them into his mouth. I’m not sure what this guy’s deal is, but I am certain that this must be some relative that they have taken in out of pity. Or maybe he’s their accountant. He definitely has that accountant look to him.

“Beth, that’s not Jillian.” I point out the obvious to my sister. She doesn’t appear to hear me.

“Maybe we should try to get his attention,” Beth whispers to me.

I stare at her for a second as I contemplate having her committed. “No way! Do you want to get your ass kicked for trespassing?”
And I’m the dumb sister?

“Don’t be silly! He’s on our side. That’s
Kevin
,” Beth whispers in a giddy middle school girl with a crush voice. My jaw nearly drops on the ground.

This is Kevin? What the hell is she thinking? Derek is so much better looking than this clown. Not that I think about Derek that way but, oh my God…this guy is almost repulsive.

“Isn’t he handsome?” Beth asks dreamily.
Surely she is being sarcastic?
I cock my head to the side to look at her. She looks like Cupid has just shot a big ass arrow straight into her butt.
Nope. No sarcasm there. I should have known; Beth is incapable of being sarcastic.

I ignore her question because I really don’t want to get into the specifics of her needing to sue her eye doctor. Instead, I just continue to watch our friend through the window.
Kevin
now has his back to us as the door in the corner of the room is flung open carelessly. Claudia saunters into the room, flicking on several lights and flooding the room in brightness.

Kevin holds up a finger, indicating to his wife to wait a moment. She lets out an exasperated sigh and flops down dramatically on one of the chaise lounges. Unfortunately for us, it is the one closest to the window. Beth grips my arm and I resist yelping in pain.

Finally, Kevin tosses his phone down on the desk with aggravation.

“What was that about?” Claudia questions in a bored voice.

“We have a problem, Claudia. Your brilliance may be backfiring…” Kevin starts to say, but Claudia holds up her hand to stop him midsentence.

“Everything is
fine
, Kevin. Everything is right on schedule,” Claudia remarks with a dismissive wave.

Right on schedule? I really hope she is talking about the delivery of their Christmas ham and not my niece’s kidnapping.

Kevin indicates his phone. “I just got a very long winded voice mail from Beth.” He crosses his arms over his wide girth. “You maybe want to explain what the hell happened? Like maybe that you lost your ever loving mind and didn’t mean to kidnap Beth Phillip-Katz’s daughter?”

Beth pokes me impatiently, like this is the best part of a movie that I’m missing or something, and I see her nodding out of the corner of my eye. “That’s right, Kevin,” she whispers. “You give it to her.”

“You sent him a voice mail?” I whisper in Beth’s ear.

She nods. “Like an hour ago; before we left your house. I guess the service at your house is bad if he’s just getting it now.” I ignore her dig as I turn my attention back to the scene unfolding before us.

Claudia sighs and even though I cannot see her face, I just know that she is rolling her eyes. “Oh, that,” she replies. “Well the opportunity just presented itself and I really couldn’t resist sticking it to her-”

Kevin picks up a coffee mug and flings it angrily against the wall, causing both me and Beth to jump. Claudia however, remains unruffled.

“Oh for God’s sakes, Kevin,” Claudia moans. “Being a little melodramatic, aren’t you?”

Kevin grits his teeth and stares at his wife. “Melodramatic? I don’t think so,
dear
.” He pokes the air in her general direction. “You’re the one being melodramatic! You had to go and snatch the kid, didn’t you? Now everyone is going to be on the lookout for
you
.”

“Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it…I didn’t know…” Claudia stammers.

“That’s the problem! You didn’t think and acted hastily!” Kevin throws another mug onto the ground. Shards of ceramic fly everywhere. “Why couldn’t you just stick with the plan?”

The plan? What is he talking about?
This does not sound good. I try not to look at Beth, but I can feel her trembling next to me.

“The plan was stupid. It worked out fine my way…”

“You got lucky! You were supposed to wait for the aunt to pick the kid up and then we would take care of the sister!”

The sister? Does he mean me? And what does he mean by ‘take care of’?

“Oh potatoes, patahtoes! What difference does it make if we did it this way or stuck with the plan?”

“The reason for the
plan
was so this wouldn’t be traced back to
us
! Why couldn’t you just stay out of it like I asked you to?”

I let out an involuntary gasp. But I don’t think that’s what catches Kevin’s attention. I think it’s the muffled scream that comes from my sister’s lips that does the trick. I slap my hand against her mouth to shut her up while pulling her to the ground.

Kevin freezes for a second and then steps over to the window. He leans in, dangerously close to where Beth and I are crouched, and cocks his head to the side.

“Did you hear that?” Kevin asks his wife. I pull my body flush against the side of the house, my arm still holding Beth against the ground. I cannot trust her not to give away our location.

“What? No, I didn’t hear anything,” Claudia replies in an uninterested tone. Obviously all of Kevin’s ranting and raving is boring her.

“Oh. Thought I heard something outside. Like a person screaming.” I hear Kevin’s shoes squeak as he walks away from the window. I relax my grip on Beth as I struggle to my feet.

“It’s probably your imagination,
dear
.” Claudia practically spits out the last word. “If anyone was outside, the security cameras would pick them up.”

I peek in the window just in time to see Claudia point to the scores of security monitors mounted to the wall. She runs her hand down the front of her sweater to smooth out the creases, after rising to her feet. Stepping over to Kevin, she pokes her finger into his squishy middle. “And you better not raise your voice to me ever again like that or I will take you down so fast your head will spin. I let you get away with it this time because you’ve had to deal with that lunatic Beth and
God knows
that’ll make anyone explode.”

Beth stiffens next to me and lets out a little whimper. “But next time, I won’t be so lenient.” Claudia straightens her body and leans closer to Kevin’s face. “Don’t forget where all this money came from to begin with. You’ll lose
everything
if you tangle with me.”

With a swish of her perfectly proportioned hips and a flick of her silky mane, Claudia saunters out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Kevin gives the finger to her back as he runs his other hand through what’s left of his hair. Then, he throws the same door open and charges through, slamming it angrily behind him.

We can vaguely make out voices arguing in the hall, but cannot decipher the words. Letting out a sigh of relief, I lean against the house. Beth rises to her feet.

“Oh my, I had no idea I was so tense,” she moans, rubbing her neck.

“Yeah, that was quite the interesting conversation,” I remark while widening my eyes at her. “Looks like our friend Kevin isn’t our friend after all.” I’m not trying to be smug, but I have a feeling my statement comes out ‘
smuggy’
anyway.

Beth shakes her head. “No, you don’t understand. He’s just acting that way because…well, you don’t know what Claudia’s like. She’s a spoiled brat and she’s constantly reminding Kevin that the money is really hers and that she can throw him out on the street at any time. She waves toward the house. “You just heard it. That’s what she’s like all the time.”

I cannot believe she is still defending him after what we just heard. I grab her by the shoulders and give her a little shake. “Do you hear yourself? You are completely in denial.”

“About what?” Beth asks airily like we are discussing what to serve for Thanksgiving, rather than the fact that we just overheard a conversation between her lover and his wife regarding the kidnapping of her daughter. No, scratch that. If we were having a conversation about menu planning, Beth would certainly be acting much more animatedly than she is now. Hell, last year when I suggested we serve baked potatoes instead of mashed, she threw a glass of water in my face, infuriated at my audacity.

“Kevin was part of this whole thing! Didn’t you hear that conversation they just had?” I am trying to whisper but Lord knows I want to shout at Beth.

“Yes! He was yelling at her for taking Jillian!” Beth replies, head bobbing up and down.

“Yes, because she didn’t stick to the
plan
! They had a
plan
, Beth! A plan that involved ‘
taking care of the sister
’! That’s me! What were they going to do to
me
?”

“Aren’t you being a tad bit selfish here?”

Oh my God! Resist the urge to shake her until her brain rattles around in her head, Amy! Take some deep cleansing breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Yeah, screw that. I need to rattle her brains.

“
Selfish
? Is this really coming from the woman who doesn’t want to call the police about her daughter’s kidnapping because she doesn’t want everyone to know she’s the town trollop?” I practically shriek as I raise my hands.
They would fit perfectly around her delicate white neck.

“My God, is that what you think? You think I don’t want to call the police because of
my
selfish needs?” Beth’s voice takes on an unnaturally high quality. She notices my hands and takes a step away from me.

If the shoe fits sister.
I lower my hands, which I notice are now trembling.

Beth is still going on her tirade, however. “I’ll have you know the reason I don’t want any publicity is not for my sake, but for Derek’s sake! Imagine the fallout in his practice if word got out about-”

“Hello ladies.” I hear a sinister male voice. The skin on the back of my neck prickles. I really don’t want to turn around because I know exactly who that voice belongs to. I turn anyway and am met by the scowl of my sister’s “man friend”.

Beth has no problem turning around. “Kevin! Thank God it’s you!” She practically falls into his arms. He seems shocked at first, but then he wraps his own arms around Beth. I cringe, thinking that he is going to strangle her right here in the garden and then I will be the next to go.

“What are you doing here?” he asks in a gentle voice, quite unlike the one he was using just moments ago in the house.