Swindled (6 page)

“And how did you end up in Brian’s little black book?” Beth said pointedly. This was going to be really good.

“And yes, of course I slept with Brian,” Charlotte replied exasperated. She laughed. “It was about a year ago. I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about,” she paused for dramatic effect while the other two gasped in laughter, “And I can tell you it was all hype and no action. I started calling him slinky after that little indiscretion. The things I do for science,” she added trying to sound huffy. Beth couldn’t believe it two of her friends had slept with that reprobate. Just thinking about it was starting to make her skin crawl. Charlotte continued, “He was just so slimy with it. I swear that man thought his tongue should be bronzed!”

“Oh stop,” begged Beth laughing so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “I really don’t want to hear the details.” The three friends tried to catch their breath.

“Doesn’t sound like he learned anything over the years then,” Karin mused when she could speak again.

“Like that is it?” Charlotte asked with a note of interest in her voice.

“Ugh I can’t believe that two of my closest friends have slept with my brother.” Beth said before the two of them could start to compare notes. She decided she just wasn’t going to think about it. “Ick you two just ick,” she said shaking her head. “Did the police tell either one of you that you were a suspect?” Beth added. Whatever they had experienced with the dearly departed was probably cause enough for his murder. She wondered if Detective Joe had considered bad sexual performance as a motive in the case.

“No,” they both replied in unison and Beth’s stomach dropped to the floor.

“Hey look at the bright side of all this,” Karin continued cheerfully ignoring the panic that they were all no doubt feeling.

“Bright side?” Beth asked hoarsely.

“It could have been worse! Brian could have gone through all of your friends.” Karin replied sounding nonchalant and distracting Beth amazingly well from her suspect status. It wasn’t going to go away but Beth appreciated that her friends were going to such lengths not to let her dwell on what was happening. Then she thought about what Karin had said.

“There is just no way that …no,” Beth stuttered stunned. There was silence as they all paused.

“No way... she wouldn’t,” Charlotte confirmed sounding slightly shocked.

“Not in a million years,” Karin agreed, “although there is only one way to truly be sure. Hang on.” A phone rang in the distance and another voice got on the line.

“Matsuma residence,” a slightly husky eloquent female voice answered slightly breathless.

“Hello Bee,” The three friends chorused. Beth grinned. It was such a pleasure to talk among friends after the day she had. She just wanted to regroup and this was the best possible way. Sneaking out on a one night stand, finding out her brother had been murdered and being considered a suspect took a lot out of a person.

“Hello!” Bee replied cheerfully and then grew quiet. “Beth, are you okay?” she asked conveying her worry in a few simple words.

“We’re fine thanks,” Beth replied readily. She really was feeling much better with the support of her friends. Brian was dead but life had to keep going. People still worked and even Brian’s own office was business as usual. If she was really honest the world might probably be a bit better off without him being around. At least the woman in his office would be safe from his affections. On the plus side as well, was the fact that Beth wasn’t the only strong suspect the police would be investigating. She didn’t know how her friends had managed it but once again they were in as much trouble as she was from the sounds of things.

“Cut out all the chitchat you two. Okay Bee, how did you know?” Charlotte cut in. She was not one for patience when there was gossip afoot.

“What?” Bee asked surprised sounding puzzled and then said, “Oh a detective phoned me and asked me some questions.”

“Ah the elusive detective again,” Karin snickered. If it was the same one that came to visit her, he really did get around Beth thought. She wondered if this was routine for an investigation or if he had some clue he was pursuing. Whatever it was, he was looking into Brian’s little black book with gusto. Maybe he was giving the bad sexual performance motive some credit after all.

“What have I done?” Bee asked with a note of resignation in her voice. She was used to being dragged into trouble so all the chortling on the other end of the phone didn’t phase her a bit. Bee had always been calm and collected. She also had an amazing talent for getting the friends out of the trouble they might have found themselves in. Nothing shook Bee up.

“Well we’ve established that Karin was a dumb youth and slept with Brian when we were eighteen,” Beth began gently leading up to their ultimate goal of getting Bee to spill the beans.

“Way to go,” Charlotte hooted in the background.

“That’s gross,” Bee said with a snigger.

“And Charlotte is just a glutton for punishment so she slept with him last year,” Beth had to stop for a second as Bee gleefully screeched in outrage. As she was giggling, Beth finished, “The question now is how did you end up in Brian’s little black book?” Could it be that they had caught their sensible friend in some act of rebellion? Well in an act of rebellion that the other three hadn’t instigated, Beth amended to herself.

“Oh that. Well he kept calling me to ask me out. Blah,” Bee, who was normally never fazed by anything, sounded embarrassed. “I finally had to tell him I was a black belt in judo and wasn’t afraid to use it. He sort of backed off after that. Seriously guys, I can’t believe that the two of you slept with that man. That’s bad even for the two of you. Yuck.”

“Hey!” Karin yelped.

Before anyone could say anything else, the phone suddenly ticked in Beth’s ear. “Hang on everyone I have another call coming in,” she muttered and clicked over to the other call.

Chapter 12

“Hello,” she said using her best ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ voice in case it was the detective again.

“Elizabeth?” a deep very male voice asked. If a telesales person had this kind of voice they would probably get a much better response rate, Beth thought briefly. She picked up a pencil from her desk and twiddled it between her fingers. At least it wasn’t the detective.

“Yes?” she replied wondering who it was. The voice also sounded warmly familiar. Where had she heard it before? Tossing down her pencil, Beth fiddled with the volume buttons on the telephone to get a better earful.

“It’s David Andrews,” Ah yes Beth thought nearly dropping the phone. That would be why her insides were feeling all warm and gooey.

“Oh. Hello,” Beth replied pensively trying to get the thought of a telesales person out of her mind. She never thought he would actually call her. One night stands didn’t call, did they? She thought about it. With her luck it could be anything. She went over the possibilities in her mind, they wore a condom… which ruled out most sexually transmitted diseases and he certainly couldn’t be pregnant. What was going on? Believing that he was calling for anything but bad news was just giving in to her romantic side, Beth decided. Maybe he wanted her to pay half the hotel room rate. That would just be the type of thing she would expect today.

“What can I do for you?” she asked hoping that she came off nonchalantly.

“Yes that’s sort of the response I figured I’d get,” David replied dryly making her insides churn in their liquid state. His voice sounded like hot melted chocolate- rich and creamy. “You sound worried,” he added.

“What do you mean?” Beth asked feeling breathless, so much for sounding nonchalant. Beth tried to stop getting distracted by the sound of his voice flowing over her.

“Well usually after a one night stand,” David said drawing her back into the conversation, “one of the participants doesn’t leave the other to be woken up by the police.” He waiting patiently for the penny to drop. Beth shook her head to stop herself from being distracted and thought through what he said. For a brief minute she had forgotten Brian and his murder but it all came flooding back.

“OH!” Beth leaned down and banged her head against the desk top. “I’m sorry. My brother was murdered last night. The police needed to verify everyone’s location. I wouldn’t have given your name unless it was truly necessary.” She assured him feeling very contrite. He must have thought he had slept with someone psychotic.

“And I appreciate that, I assure you. The detective explained the situation this morning. They were particularly keen that I give a blow by blow account of your time here,” he said quietly.

“WHAT!” Beth exploded mortified for both their sakes. There was no accusation or stress in his voice. Beth realised he actually had called her just to let her know.

“Wanted to be sure that I could account for you the entire time you were here. I explained that given there was some actual sleeping involved, they couldn’t expect full disclosure. It sounded like he wanted to find a loophole in your alibi to me.” David replied sounding slightly amused and then asked, “Exactly how involved are you? Did you have anything to do with your brother’s death?” There was some wariness in his voice. No doubt he was thinking of ways to defend himself from a would-be murderer Beth thought and rushed to reassure him.

“Thank you for dealing with the detective and no – yes – I mean I didn’t have anything to do with my brother’s death but the police think I might be a suspect. They needed to speak to you to prove I was where I said I had been,” Beth wanted to run screaming from the room. What was she saying? This conversation was going from bad to worse. She couldn’t see it getting better either. Maybe if she hid in her bedroom for a few weeks it would all blow over?

“So you’re a suspect?” David asked. He sounded bemused and Beth realised that she wasn’t making things any clearer for him. Her mind was going in all sorts of different directions. How was she going to get out of this one?

“No – well maybe – I threatened to kill him so the police have to follow up.” Beth explained taking a deep breath. This was really going from bad to worse.

“So what you’re telling me is that I slept with a complete stranger who is a murder suspect,” David summarised succinctly. “Did you do it?” he asked in a matter of fact tone of voice.

“No, absolutely not,” Beth wailed. What could this guy be thinking? One thing was for sure, she wasn’t giving him a great deal of comfort with her answers. She wasn’t giving herself a great deal of comfort come to think of it. She quickly tried to explain again, “It’s not like that, promise. I didn’t have anything to do with the murder but the police have to make sure.” There, that sounded calm and collected. It even made sense.

“But you did threaten him,” he stated. David sounded like he didn’t know if he should be laughing or asking her if she was insane.

“Well, yes but he deserved it,” Beth explained. “He was a sneak.” She couldn’t believe it. Even dead Brian was making her life a misery.

“A sneak, I see,” David said. Beth shook her head. A man had been murdered, her brother and all she could think about was how amazing David’s voice sounded. Something must be wrong with her.

“Look it’s not like that.” Beth still couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. So much for hearing this sexy voice again she thought and quietly sighed.

“So what exactly was it like?” he asked sounding a bit like he was laughing.

“He was a thief and we had this business deal. In the end, he stole money from us and I just lost it. In the heat of the moment I said I wanted to kill him. It just came out.” Beth kept trying to explain. This was sounding weak even to her.

“Uh huh,” David drawled. There was defiantly a hint of amusement there.

“No. Look it was a legitimate business deal and he swindled the business out of money,” as Beth bumbled along trying to explain, she heard a muffled snicker. She frowned. That wasn’t him. Where had that come from? She looked down at the phone. NO! This couldn’t be happening. She heard another muffled noise. Yes it was happening. She had conferenced everyone into the call. Trust her friends to just listen to her bumble into one mess after another without hanging up. Beth wondered how long they had been listening. The only time she had touched the phone was when she was trying to adjust the volume. Oh Beth let her head drop back; she was never going to hear the end of this.

“Look Elizabeth I don’t know what is going on but you can relax. I told the detective you were with me. I just wanted to find out what was going on,” David said with his very calm and soothing voice. “I don’t suppose you made sure you were with me while someone you hired killed your brother?” he asked after a pause. Beth wasn’t sure if he was asking because he was seriously concerned or just to listen to her tie herself in a knot again.

“No! I wouldn’t do that,” Beth replied scared that that might be what the detective thought. She felt the panic begin to build again. All the worry that had been defused by speaking to her friends came flooding back. In this state what could she say to David to explain that Brian’s murder had nothing to do with her? What made it worse is that her rather vocal friends were listening to every word.

“She really wouldn’t,” Charlotte’s voice chimed in just as Beth reminded herself they were there. Charlotte had decided to finally take pity on her inability to coherently explain the situation. It was time for more direct intervention. Beth figured, given her inability to think clearly, the interruption was not a bad thing.

“Who is that?” David demanded surprised to hear a new voice on the line. Beth could almost feel him shift the phone from his ear to stare at it in shock.

“Charlotte. I’m conferenced in on the call,” As Charlotte replied, Beth slowly banged her head on the desk top again. This was going from bad to worse. This couldn’t be happening… shouldn’t be happening. And she was getting a headache with all the banging. While she calmed her racing mind, she reminded herself that she never had to see him again. As much as that thought saddened her, it also meant that once she got through this conversation she could forget about it. Well forget as much of it as her body would let her. Shut up body! Beth thought sternly and put her attention back to the call

By the time she was focused again, all three of her friends had introduced themselves. They were currently trying to give David a bit of background on her relationship with her brother. All at the same time.

“Enough everyone!” Beth said pulling herself together and taking charge of the situation. “I am sure that Mr Andrews has better things to do then listen to us go on about my problems. Thank you, David for answering the detective’s questions. I appreciate your honesty. Now I think we’ll let you get on with your day. Best of luck,” Beth paused hoping that David would take the hint and hang up.

Never again she told herself. Never again would she have a one night stand or for that matter was she ever having sex again. It just wasn’t worth the embarrassment. Beth quietly sighed to herself. There was still the option of hiding in her room until it all just went away.

“Bet it was a shock waking up to a police man knocking on your door,” Bee said after a brief silence, her dulcet tones encouraging an answer.

David gave a chuckle and replied, “I thought it was her husband and spent a few minutes panicking. They don’t make back doors to hotel rooms.” Karin, Charlotte and Bee all started giggling. Beth sat in her study hoping that she could find a way to rewind the whole conversation and pretend it never happened. Now, more then ever, the world needed a time machine she decided.

“Beth’s not married,” Karin said slyly once they had all paused for breath. Beth groaned quietly to herself.

“And rest assured I am saying thank you with every fibre of my being,” David responded to Karin with another chuckle. He sounded relieved.

Ugh! Beth looked at the phone. There was no going back in time, no erasing this from living memory and no hiding in her bedroom until it was all over. She looked at the phone a minute longer and then quietly hung up. How mortifying! There was no way her wayward friends were going to let this one go until they were good and ready. She didn’t even want to think about what her friends were saying to David.

*

David shook his head as he hung up the phone minutes later. He wasn’t sure what had just happened. This woman had, he decided, a strange ability to blindside him. Beth also had a very devoted and confident group of friends. Just by their protective manner and gentle bickering, he could tell they were a very close and special group of people. They obviously were devoted to Beth and it seemed to underline that she was the kind of person that David had thought she was. He may not have known her for long, David smiled but he did see quality there. She was interesting. More then that, she made him want to see her again and talk to her face to face.

David left the hotel feeling cheerful. He strolled down the embankment with his hands in his jean pockets relishing the fresh air. It was a start he thought. Finding a group of friends and one potential girlfriend in the first day of arriving back was definitely a good start he decided. A good start indeed.