Getaway Girlz (34 page)

Lucy stepped between her and the swing. “Hold it right there. God knows what kind of germs are on that thing. Let me look for some Lysol in the bathroom.”

“It’s under Shorty’s sink,” Wendy informed her.

She reappeared with a spray can and took it over to the swing and doused it top to bottom.

“I can’t believe you want to touch it, much less get in it,” Lucy said as she went to put the Lysol up.

“You and Shaun must be kinky!” Wendy said.

“I’m workin’ on him!” Kate said and laughed, then skillfully maneuvered herself into the swing.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been in one of those before,” Vivian said, watching her contort herself. “That would kill my sunburn.”

Kate gave her a sly smile.

Wendy and Lucy just stood and stared. “Wow” was all they could manage.

“Voila!” she said. “Give me a push!”

“No push, but I am taking a picture,” Vivian said.

“Damn girl, you look like a pro,” Lucy commented.

“Okay, let’s see you get yourself out of that contraption so we can head downstairs,” Wendy said. “We need to find Pierre. He’s probably wondering where the hell we went.”

“Million bucks he wouldn’t guess where Kate’s at right now!” Vivian said.

Kate wiggled out of the swing and grabbed the remote. She pushed buttons trying to get it to retract back into the ceiling. Lights flickered, the flat screen turned on and off, the fan moved and the drapes started to close.

The swing remained.

“Crap! What are we going to do?” Vivian asked.

Wendy, already standing at the door, said, “We get the hell outta here. Leave the swing.”

“Maybe it’ll give them inspiration tonight!” Lucy said.

This got a round of “ewwwees” as they headed out the door.

THE GIRLS snuck out of Shorty’s domain, through the man-cave and back downstairs. They found Rodney, the masseur, in the middle of the living room gleefully dancing, waving and making a fool of himself. “Hey, girls!” he called.

Lucy waved and made a drink sign. He gave the okay, then pointed toward the kitchen.

They made their way through the crowd to the bar. Rodney got there first and scooted the bartender out of the way. “I’ve got this one, honey,” he said.

The bartender didn’t look too happy about Rodney being in her bar.

“I’m making you girls a Rodney Special,” he said excitedly, reaching for martini glasses. He grabbed several ingredients and started pouring and shaking.

“You’re shakin’ it better than Shakira,” Lucy said and laughed.

He skillfully poured five beige beverages, then dropped a little red kiss of grenadine in the middle of each glass. So lovely. So Rodney.

He delicately handed each of them a glass.

Vivian gave hers a sniff. “This smells pretty foofy-lala.”

“Just wait till you taste it, honey, but first a toast.” Rodney lifted his glass dramatically. “To life ended without permission,” he looked directly at Vivian, shaking his head. “To love ended before fruition. To Jon.”

Love?
Fruition?
What the????

Everyone clinked and started sipping except for Vivian. She was too busy staring at Rodney, who wasn’t sipping but pouring his drink down his throat.

After a quick beat, he put his empty glass down and said cheerfully, “Who wants another?”

The girls had barely made a dent and Vivian hadn’t even had a sip, being too shell-shocked, but he started grabbing for fresh glasses.

Vivian scooted over toward him. “Um, Rodney?”

“Yes, honey, drink up.”

“What’s this love and fruition crap? You looked at me.”

“Did I?”

“Yes, you did. Looked right at me.”

He started mixing fresh drinks. “I might have,” he stopped to think. Then shrugged his shoulders and resumed. “Well, what the hell, everybody knows. No offense sweetie.”

“Knows what?”

He started the ass shaking again. “Well, that you’re the…” He paused, leaned in close, whispering, “Suspect.”

It was hard for her to hear the word spoken out loud, and she almost dropped her glass.

“Excuse me, but I am
not
the only one. There are several,” she hesitated and lowered her voice “suspects.”

He poured out the drinks, handed another to Vivian and lifted his own.

“Well you’re the only one I’ve heard about,” he said, picking up a drink. “Plus, I saw you that night at Club Caliente. The two of you made that place really sizzle, and it was already hot.”

She took a ginormous first gulp of the Rodney Special.
Damn, that’s tasty
. Everyone else had already grabbed their second pour. Two-fistin’ it. Apparently the Texas girls liked the Rodney Special, too.

“We were just dancing! He taught me how to salsa!”

He held his drink out to the side with his pinky out. “I’ve seen a lot of salsa, and let me tell ya, the heat between you two was scorching. The ignition of fruition was beyond comprehension for those of us who’ve seen love before. And honey, that was love.”

More like lust
.

“Just how many Rodney Specials have you had tonight?” Vivian asked. “Because yes, that was some sexual tension that
could have
led to fruition had my inhibitions not been hindered by my intuition. Instead, there was some masturba…”

“
Whoaaaa
…y’all sound like U2’s “Let It Go” gone
way
wrong,” Wendy said loudly, waving her Rodney Special in the air.

“What?” Rodney questioned.

“You know,” she said, then sang a few lines. Every word ended in “ion.”

“That was lovely, but shhhhhhhhhh. I’ve heard enough!” Rodney slurred and put his finger to his lips.

Dammit. Suppression
.

Lucy pointed at Rodney, “You need to get away from the bar,” she pointed to Vivian, “and I’m guessing you could use some fresh air.”

Rodney started to protest but Vivian pushed him outside with the girls. He didn’t protest.

Kate took a swig of her drink as she stepped onto the patio and almost spit it back out. Managing not to choke, she said, “There’s Shorty over there on that lounger, with The Ladies. And there’s Al and Adrienne. Right next to him!”

“Interesting,” Vivian said, then turned her back to them and finished off her first Rodney special and half of the other.

Adrienne saw them almost immediately and walked over. “Hi, girlfriends! Can you believe this house? It’s amazing!”

“Oh my gosh, we know. And the pool! Wow,” Vivian said glancing over at it, then introduced Adrienne to Rodney.

He put down his drink and grabbed both of Adrienne’s hands, pulling them out to either side of her. “Let me get a good look at you, honey. You are bedazzling from head to toe.” He twirled her around.

She wore a sexy, scarlet, clingy dress with rhinestones around the low-cut V-neck. It showed every curve, leaving nothing to the imagination. She had on enough bracelets to be heard from miles away, and her sky-high silver strappy heels provided just the perfect accent.

Rodney whistled. “Yes, ma’am, you are quite the diva.”

“Aren’t you cute,” Adrienne said with a big smile on her face, obviously loving the attention. “And how do you know these girls?”

“I had my hands all over that one,” he said, pointing to Lucy. “I’m just kidding. I’m a massage therapist. These ladies were privy to my services earlier today and invited me to the party. Said it was ‘the more the merrier.’ ”

“What are y’all doin’ here?” Vivian asked her.

“Beats me. This isn’t generally Al’s scene, though you never know with him. He’s full of surprises,” she paused looking Vivian over. “I see you had a bout with the sun today.”

Vivian groaned. “Yeah, and the sun won.”

Rodney took Adrienne’s hand again. “It was so nice meeting you. There’s a guy over there I know from my gym. He’s a trainer, actually, and let me tell you, I’d like him to teach me a few things. I’ve had enough Rodney Specials, I think, to work up the courage to go talk to him.”

“Go get ’em, Tiger!” Lucy waved her fist in the air, Rocky Balboa-style.

“See you later, I’m sure. Unless I get lucky!” Rodney said with a grin and a clap, then flitted off toward the trainer.

Vivian watched his approach and saw the trainer smile at him and touch his arm. “He just might be a lucky little leprechaun after all.”

The girls were laughing at Vivian’s comment when Pierre appeared suddenly at Kate’s side. His face was flushed and he looked freaked out.

“You are
not
going to believe who I just spoke to.”

“Who?” They all asked in unison.

“Crazy Stella.”

“I WAS over by the fire pit, sitting down,” Pierre motioned in that direction, then continued telling the girls about his encounter with Stella. “She came up and sat next to me. Like, right here.” He indicated how close.

“What did she want?” Vivian interrupted.

“She asked me where Dominik was.”

Vivian shook her head, frustrated at Stella’s inability to grasp reality.

“I didn’t even bother to try to explain the character thing to her. I just told her he was murdered on the beach a few nights ago.”

“Did she seem shocked? Or surprised?”

“She was definitely shocked,” he replied, wiping his brow. “She put her head in her hands and just started sobbing. I sort of felt bad for her, she seemed so distraught, but then again, I’m not sure what to think.”

“She didn’t ask anything about the police, or if they knew who killed him or anything like that?” Kate asked.

“No, but I did try to ask her a few questions. She got even more upset, then just jumped up and ran inside the house. I ran after her but lost her in this crowd. She is quick.”

“Let’s split up and see if we can find her,” Vivian suggested. “Maybe she’s still around.”

“I’ll help, too,” Adrienne said. “Upstairs isn’t as crowded. I can run through the game room and bedrooms quickly.”

Vivian’s brain was in overdrive at Pierre’s tale but it did register that Adrienne must have gone upstairs snooping around.
Was that who went into the master bedroom while we were searching the study
?

“Great!” Wendy said and came up with a game plan on the fly. “Pierre, why don’t you go check the front of the house and down the road, just in case she’s leaving. Kate, Lucy, y’all hit the kitchen, dining room and part of the living room. Viv and I will check the far side of the living area and the media room. Meet back here on the patio when you’re finished.”

Vivian felt like they should all throw their hands together and yell “break” but there was no time and they all took off.

The house was packed, and it wasn’t easy to make their way through the crowd.

Vivian and Wendy took their time weaving through the living room, checking every face. The DJ was set up in the far corner with a “dance floor” in front of him. They boogied their way across to get to the media room where couples lounged about on oversized chairs. A huge flat-screen TV played music videos without sound.

Vivian tried to get a good look at the girls’ faces, which wasn’t always easy. There seemed to be some tonsil inspections going on, a lot of groping, and apparently clothing was optional in this area of the house.
Didn’t need to see that.

“You won’t find me sitting on any of this furniture!” Wendy shook as if she had the heebie-jeebies. “No Stella, though I tried not to look too closely at the girls in here.”

“Oh, I don’t think they care,” Vivian told her. “I got a good look. A little too much of a good look.”

Wendy shook again at that and they went back out to the patio. Lucy and Kate were already there.

“We didn’t see her,” Lucy said, hands on hips.

“There must be half a gazillion people in this house,” Wendy said. “I think a fire code is being broken, if they have fire codes down here.”

“How can this chick keep vanishing into thin air?” Kate asked with exasperation.

Vivian scanned the backyard in vain. She didn’t see Stella, but instead, Al. “Look, Al’s over there talking with Victor and Joel.”

“Who?” Lucy asked.

“The guys who work for Shorty.”

“What’s up with that?” Kate said. “Al’s always in places or talking to people that seem a bit odd for a guy who just owns a restaurant in Chicago.”

Vivian couldn’t hear their conversation, but saw them all laugh at something Al said. He shook both of their hands and then wandered off.

Pierre came back after a minute, looking sweaty and frustrated. “I didn’t see Stella anywhere, and I ran up and down the road a little.”

“Maybe somebody should check the study and the ‘love nest,’ ” Kate said with a grin.

Just then Adrienne came barreling out of the house, which was not an easy feat for someone of her small stature.

“I found her!” she exclaimed, sounding winded. “And I think she’s the killer.”

“What?” Vivian exclaimed. “Where is she?”

“Upstairs, on the couch in the game room. I’m supposed to be getting her a glass of water. Y’all go stay with her.”

Pierre led the way as the group rushed as quickly as they could through the crowded house.

As soon as Pierre stepped on the landing, Vivian knew. She knew Stella would be gone and there’d likely be no finding her.

The couch was empty.

Kate unhooked the rope blocking off access to Shorty’s study and bedroom and flew up the stairs.

Lucy was hot on her heels.

Pierre ran toward the bedrooms to the right of the man-cave.

Vivian and Wendy ran through the ones on the left.

Everyone returned within seconds of each other and started back down the stairs, passing a surprised Adrienne on her way up with the water, who turned and followed them down.

Pierre bolted out the front door.

The girls split up and ran through the house again, shoving people carelessly out of the way.

Adrienne, still holding the glass of water, waited on the patio for the girls when they returned.