Aimee smiled. “Poor thing.”
“Oh, don’t feel sorry for her. She took half of his eighteen million dollar estate. She works for the fun of it, not because she has to.”
“Were you her lawyer?”
“No, thank goodness. Otherwise, she’d have to recuse herself from the case. No, actually it was my mentor. I learned everything I know from him.”
“He must be very proud of you.”
“He was. Before he died.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Aimee, feeling bad about the pain she saw in Marcus’s eyes.
“Complications of AIDS, I’m afraid. He was one of the group that had it before all these great medication cocktails came along to fight the disease.”
Kiki walked over and sat down, breaking the mood and causing a distraction. “So, are we taking this guy downtown or what?”
“All the way downtown,” said Marcus, smiling again. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll have this put together by the end of the day and presented to him by five o’clock. I’ll keep you in the loop, of course, Aimee. I’m going to give him a five-day deadline. I don’t want him sitting on it too long or coming up with any nonsense.”
“What if he says no?”
“Then we go to court. And take half of all of his assets, not just the ones we found this week. The amount will be much higher, and he’ll have to pay attorney’s fees and costs too. He’d be colossally stupid not to take our offer.”
“He’ll counter probably,” said Kiki.
“And we’ll consider it when he does. I’m not inclined to accept anything he offers, but it’s up to my client.” Marcus nodded at Aimee.
Aimee felt powerful all of a sudden, as if for once she was going to be in the driver’s seat with Jack riding in the back. It felt good.
Marcus stood. “I need to get going. If that’s all, I’ll show you to the door.”
The girls stood and went out with him.
“Aimee, as always … it has been a pleasure.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it. He did the same for Kiki and Elizabeth as they passed by.
Out in the lobby of the building the girls regrouped to discuss the meeting.
“Wow, that was amazing, wasn’t it?” asked Elizabeth. “I love Marcus.”
“He’s awesome. I’m so lucky he’s on my side,” said Aimee. “And you too, Elizabeth. You found most of that stuff. You’re just brilliant!”
Elizabeth smiled. “It was my pleasure. Really.”
“Your ex is a serious prick, Aimee. No offense,” said Kiki.
“Believe me, none taken. He is a prick. I cannot believe all the stuff he hid from me. I feel like a total … I don’t know … idiot.”
“Don’t feel that way,” said Elizabeth. “Some of the most brilliant, wonderful women have been taken for fools by the men they loved. It just goes to show what a loving person you are … that you forgave him all his issues and loved him anyway.”
“More like it shows how blind I was. I just don’t know why I let myself be so used.”
“Stop. I can’t allow you to go back in history and beat yourself up about something you had no control over. Come on. Let’s go have some drinks,” said Kiki.
“Well, actually, I have a date,” said Aimee, smiling her head off. She was already getting butterflies over her upcoming dinner at Joe’s house. He said he cooked a mean quiche, so she was going to go see for herself that real men do, in fact, eat it. She hoped the dessert included more sexy stuff. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it and the way it felt to have his body against hers.
“Well, excuse me,” said Kiki. “Fine, go on your date with His Hotness. Lizzie and I will just go ring in the new year six months early.”
“Seven,” said Elizabeth.
“Who’s counting? Come on.”
Aimee rode back with Kiki to their place, listening to her friend sing off key, thinking about how lucky she was to have met these two girls. She had Jack to thank for that - Jack and his stupid golf clubs. She’d never been so happy about her husband’s selfishness in her life. Even if he never paid her a dime, those golf clubs and her putting them on Craigslist had gotten her friendships and allowed her to benefit from circumstances that were worth way more than any settlement he’d ever agree to.
Chapter 35
KIKI FINISHED AIMEE’S MAKEUP AND stood back, admiring her handiwork. “Done. You are gorgeous. Now go tear his clothes off and show him your stuff.”
Aimee smiled. “I plan on it. Now that I know what the Big O feels like, I want more.”
“Oh, boy. Does Joe know he’s created a monster?”
“Yes. But I don’t think he minds.”
“As well he shouldn’t. Go put your shoes on. I want to see the whole look.”
Kiki busied herself with putting away the makeup and brushes she’d used on her friend, smiling to herself at the transformation she’d seen in her. It went way deeper than the shadows and powder she’d just put on Aimee’s face. It was in her heart. She was feeling good about herself again, and Kiki was so happy to be a part of it. It made her feel all choked up a minute later when Aimee came dancing into the room, spinning around to flare her dress out, her cheeks a rosy pink.
“What do you think?”
“Amazing. Did you douche?”
“Kiki!” Aimee shrieked, giggling but acting like she was trying to stay serious. “Stop saying that!”
“Well, did you? What if he goes down on you tonight?”
Aimee’s hand flew up to her mouth. “Oh my god. I’ve never had anyone do that to me before. Not really. He kind of did a little … last time.”
Kiki smiled, trying not to get so much pleasure out of teasing her friend. “I’m only kidding. You took a shower, you’re fine.”
“Maybe I should go put some perfume on it?”
“Perfume on your va jay-jay? No. Cologne does not taste good, so I have to assume perfume doesn’t either.”
“Okay, what then?”
“Nothing, goof,” said Kiki, pushing Aimee out of her room and then gently down the stairs. “Let your girl just be herself. I’m sure he’ll love it.”
Kiki sat down at her laptop and clicked on her Skype icon.
“What are you doing?” asked Aimee, looking over her shoulder.
“I’m Skyping Lizzie.”
“She’ll kill you if you keep using that name.”
“That’s why I’m doing it.”
Aimee slapped her playfully. “You’re so bad.”
Elizabeth picked up. “Hey, girls!” Her cheerful face was beaming on the screen.
“Why are you so happy?” asked Kiki.
“I just got a caaaallll … ” She held up her cell phone so they could see.
Aimee squinted her eyes. “You got a call from … artist guy? Who’s artist guy? Oh, wait … oh, that’s so cute! You got a call from Sebastian!”
“Yes. He wants to show me the painting.”
“I’d like to see it too,” said Kiki.
“Well, me first. If it’s good I’ll take a picture for you.”
“Cool. Are you going to see it tonight?”
“Yes. In a couple hours. I’m going to take a raincheck on those drinks, if that’s okay. Oh, Aimee, you look gorgeous. Are you meeting Joe?”
“Yep. Going to his house.”
Kiki typed a message into the Skype screen when Aimee turned around.
Elizabeth read it and got a frown on her face for a second. Then she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Hey, Aimee?”
“Yeah?” she said, turning back to the screen.
“Did you douche?”
“Oh my GOD, you guys, you are so mean!”
Kiki nearly busted a gut laughing so hard.
“You told her to say that, didn’t you?!”
Kiki shook her head in denial, but Elizabeth sold her out.
“Yes, she did. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she was teasing you.”
“Do you think I should???
?
“Should what? Douche?”
“Yes.”
“God, I don’t know. No? Yes?”
“Would you?”
“I don’t know. It depends.”
“On what? Whether you thought he was going to go down on you?”
Elizabeth barked out a laugh, nearly choking on the sip of water she’d just taken. “Uh, no. More like it would depend on what time of the month it was. You know. If some … freshness was in order.” She waved her hand back and forth. “Why are we talking about this? Don’t worry about it. Just go have fun.”
“But what if …”
“No. Don’t say it. Just go. Enjoy yourself. Get naked. Don’t stress about it.”
Kiki finally got a grip on herself when she heard the doorbell ring. “Gotta go. Prince Charming is here for his lover.”
“Bye, girls!” said Elizabeth before her face disappeared with a pop.
Aimee ran to the door, and flung it open. Joe stood on the front stoop, looking as gorgeous as ever.
Kiki moved to the kitchen to give them some privacy. A minute later she was joined by Joe, who said hi and then looked around the room, checking all the counters.
“Looking for cookies?” Kiki asked.
“Yep.”
“Here.” She reached into the fridge and pulled out a small tupperware box. “She made you some.”
He took it and frowned. “Kind of a small box.”
Kiki shrugged. “You gotta earn ‘em, babe.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Mission accepted.”
Kiki laughed. “Good for you.”
She watched Aimee and Joe walk out the door and grinned. Life is good.
Chapter 36
ELIZABETH LOOKED DOWN AT HER phone. There was a text from Aimee’s number on her screen.
HAVE YOU SEEN AIMEE?
She frowned. What the heck? Her fingers typed out her response.
WHO IS THIS?
Three seconds went by before the answer arrived.
JOE.
Elizabeth ran over to her laptop and flipped the lid up, clicking on the Skype button for Kiki’s contact. Kiki picked up within two rings. “What’s up?”
“Did you just get that text from Joe on Aimee’s phone?”
“Yeah. What’s the deal?”
“I have no idea. Wasn’t she with him tonight? And why is he on her phone? I don’t want to leave for Sebastian’s until I know what’s going on.”
“I’m going to call him. Hold on a sec.”
Elizabeth watched as Kiki dialed. She held the phone away from her ear. “I’m putting it on speaker.”
The phone picked up. “Yeah, this is Joe.”
“Hey, Joe, it’s Kiki. What the hell, man? Is this a joke?”
“No. Unfortunately, it’s not. I seem to have lost my date.”
“How could you lose your date?” laughed Kiki.
Elizabeth wasn’t feeling as entertained by the notion as Kiki was. Maybe because she knew her cousin had transmitted that settlement file to Jack earlier this evening and had received a furious phone call in return an hour later from a nearly incoherent Jack Parsons. The guy had been beyond angry and issued all kinds of threats. Marcus called Elizabeth and told her the gory details, mentioning offhand how it had reminded him of a guy one time who’d kidnapped his kids shortly after getting bad news from his lawyer.
Joe’s voice came over the speaker phone again. “Well, we were in my car, driving over to my house, when I stopped for gas. I went in to pay for it, and when I got back, she wasn’t here. She’s not in the store and she’s not in the bathroom. She just disappeared.”
“And she left her phone?” asked Elizabeth. This was not looking good.
“Yes, in her purse.”
“Oh, shit,” said Kiki. “This is bad.”
“My thoughts exactly. Joe, did she tell you what’s going on with her divorce right now?”
“No, not really. She said she got some good news today, that’s about it.”
“Well, yeah, even Kiki and Aimee don’t know the stuff that just happened recently, though.”
“Tell us,” demanded Kiki. “And make it fast. I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this.”
“Well, Marcus called to discuss some of the financials with me. I learned that he presented the documents and settlement offer to Jack. Without divulging any confidential stuff, he let me know that Jack absolutely flipped out. The guy went nuts. Marcus said he was glad he wasn’t anywhere near him since he seemed a little unhinged.”
“And he didn’t bother to tell Aimee this?” asked Joe, clearly upset.
“Well, Aimee had assured him Jack wasn’t anyone to fear. And Marcus knows that she lives in a gated community and dates a cop. He probably figured the news could wait until tomorrow.”
“Listen, girls, thanks for the info. Aimee mentioned she thought she had seen Jack’s car outside your neighborhood when we pulled out, but I didn’t see it, so we blew it off. I have to go call this in. I think we can assume for now that Jack has her somewhere. I’ll call you back.”
The line disconnected.
“Holy fuck,” said Kiki. “I cannot believe this.” Her voice wavered a little.
Elizabeth tried to keep the feelings of nausea from taking over. She swallowed several times in a row before saying, “Joe is going to get the cops involved. Maybe there’s something we can do.”
“You have the addresses of Jack’s condo and townhouse in your stuff?” asked Kiki.
“Yeeessss,” said Elizabeth, not sure she liked the direction Kiki’s mind had gone.
“Give ‘em to me. I’m going to check them out. Maybe he’s brought her to one of those places.”
“How about if we give them to Joe instead?”
“Fine, give them to him, too. But I want them also.”
Elizabeth hesitated. She was worried about both of her friends getting into danger. One of them was bad enough.
“I’m not kidding, Lizzie. Hand them over. You can go or not, I don’t care either way. But I am, even if I have to come steal the files from you.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s fierce determination. “Okay, on one condition.”
“What?”
“I drive.”
“No way.”
“Why not?
“Because you drive like a granny in a granny’s car.”
“Kiki!”
“I’m sorry, but now is no time to spare feelings. We need a car that can kick ass and take names. A Buick just doesn’t cut it. Sorry.”
“Fine. But no guns.”
“Fine. No guns. How about knives?”
“No! No weapons. We use our brains to get her out of this.”
“I’ll be over in ten.”
The picture of Kiki on her screen dissolved, sending Elizabeth’s screen saver into motion.
Elizabeth reached over and grabbed Aimee’s file, writing down the two addresses of the properties she knew Jack had nearby. She prayed they’d find Aimee before Jack did anything stupid.
Chapter 37
JACK’S TRUNK SMELLED LIKE SMELLY shoes and leather. Aimee was wedged up next to his second-string golf bag, her skirt tangled in her legs. She had started screaming as soon as he’d shoved her in there, but that only made him pull over and slap the crap out of her. She could feel the split in her lip with her tongue. It was still bleeding, and it stung like hell.
“Jack!” she yelled. “This is a really bad idea! You’re going to get in big trouble!”
“Not if they don’t catch me, I won’t.”
His answer made her blood run cold. Is he going to kill me? What else could he possibly mean besides that?
“If you kill me you’ll lose your law license!” she yelled.
“Not if they don’t catch me, I won’t!” he yelled back, his insanity only made more obvious by the hysterical laughter that followed.
Ohshitohshitohshit. Isn’t this just my luck? I finally have my
first orgasms and then I get killed before I can have a third one.
Jack drove over something that felt like a speed bump, and it made her head hit the hard metal side of the car. “Ouch!” she yelled.
“Shut up!” he growled. “If you make another sound I’m going to come back there and smash your fucking face in.”
Aimee gritted her teeth together. It took all of her strength not to tell him to go screw himself. Man, am I glad I’m not married to this turd anymore. Even Tiffany the cheating slut doesn’t deserve to be locked in a trunk and smacked around. She amended her thought: Well, maybe just a little.
The car stopped and a few seconds later the door to the trunk flew open. She saw that she was in an underground parking garage of some sort, and opened her mouth to scream; but the sound was cut off by his fist smashing into her face and knocking her unconscious.
Chapter 38
KIKI SQUINTED AT THE ADDRESSES on the high-rise condos that passed by her window.
“There!” yelled Elizabeth, leaning over and pointing out Kiki’s side of the Camaro. “That one. With the pink marble on the front.”
Kiki did a quick, illegal u-turn and pulled over, ignoring the ‘No Parking’ signs. “Let’s go.”
They jumped out of the car and went to the lobby doors. They were locked.
“Now what?” asked Elizabeth, her eyes scanning the keypad near the entrance.
“We buzz a few,” said Kiki. She noticed there was a video camera above them, and hoped it was hooked up to the condo owner’s security systems. “Just don’t press the one that’s Jack’s.”
“Which one is that?” asked Elizabeth, her voice going into a higher, nervous pitch. “I didn’t write it down!”
“I’m not sure. But he’s an ass, so let’s assume he picked one of the top three floors. His ego wouldn’t allow for anything lower.”
“Good point. Okay, I’ll start with the first floor.” Elizabeth pushed a button on the directory screen.
Kiki unbuttoned the top of her blouse, making sure there was ample cleavage showing.
“Hello?” came a voice over the speaker.