Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
"You did what?" Rodrigo said, his voice low and tense.
They were sitting beside the pool because her mother had been adamant that they should all have lunch together. Violet had tried to get out of it. She’d explained that she wasn’t up to joining everyone for lunch because the ordeal at the warehouse had been too much for her.
Of course, her mother didn’t buy it. She’d patted Violet’s arm and told her she needed a nice, quiet time by the pool to help her calm down. When Violet had insisted on going back to her room alone, her mother had threatened to tell Max the meaning behind the flowers she'd chosen.
And that was how you made a threat.
"I did what I had to," Violet said, speaking softly. Not that you would hear their conversation over the noise her nieces were making in the pool. "The pockets of my shorts were full of dirt from the plant monitors. If I'd shown that to him, he'd have known we’d messed with the estate plants."
As Max watched with concern from the other side of the umbrellaed table, Rodrigo let out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah, but there had to have been another way to handle things because now we're stuck waiting to see if this guy goes running to Damien.
This whole op could go to hell fast." He gestured to her family, laughing at the table next to them.
"Did you think about what could happen to them if this goes sideways? "
Now it wasn't the guard's arm she wanted to break. "Of course, I did," she snapped. "He isn't going to tell Damien anything."
"What makes you so sure." He frowned at her.
She almost laughed. "Years of experience. The male ego generally can't cope with being beaten by a woman my size. Men don't tend to tell people about their experience."
Rodrigo wasn't convinced. "I'd report it if it happened to me."
"That's because you don't have a criminal ego. With those guys it's all about credibility. You don't survive in the game if you let someone smaller and, supposedly, weaker beat you up."
He thought about it for a minute. "I'll give you that, but you still can't guarantee he won't say anything." He rubbed his temples. "Plus, you took the guy's phone and radio. How's he gonna explain that?"
"I don't care. All I care about is that Katrina is ferrying them to Evan as we speak.
Hopefully, he can hack them and get some information that'll help us.
" She glanced at the clock on the screen of her phone.
"The listening devices should be live now too.
With the footage Evan got of the estate, we won't be working in the dark when we go snooping tonight.
" She considered that for a second. "I mean communication darkness, not the cover of night. That we want."
She glared at Max. His verbal diarrhea was contagious.
The fool grinned back and Violet's stomach did a little flip. She put it down to hunger.
Over at the pool, Harvey shouted "Geronimo!
" and did a cannonball into the water. Her nieces screamed and Jasmine, who'd been sitting on the edge, shouted at him for ruining her hair.
All Violet could think was that somebody had better have applied a bucket full of sunscreen to Harvey's blue skin.
Otherwise, they'd need a paramedic by dinner time.
Her mother waved from the table beside them in a far from subtle attempt to get Violet's attention. When Violet looked over, she was met with a sweet smile under eyes of steel.
"Don't you feel much better," she called.
"I'd say you were well enough to show me your dress now.
As soon as we're done here, we're heading to your room for a viewing.
Be prepared to model it for us." Before Violet could protest, her mum turned to Max.
"You need to be occupied elsewhere. A groom shouldn't see the bride in her dress before the wedding day.
" She narrowed her eyes. "You haven't already seen her in it, have you? "
"No, Mrs. Lee." Max shook his head fervently. "I know the rules."
A little demon took hold of Violet, and she gleefully threw him under the bus to get her mother's attention off herself.
"That's because he's been married before," Violet said, with all the innocence she could muster.
All Lee family eyes turned to Max and there was a second of heavy silence before the questions started. Violet couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
"That was evil," Rodrigo said, amused.
"He deserves it. Plus, I've decided his new role in this mission is to keep my family occupied. It's the least he can do."
As she watched him fend off questions, even from the pool where her nieces and brother-in-law were hanging on the side listening in on everything, it occurred to her that there might actually be some benefits to getting married after all.
For one, whenever family became too much, she could throw her husband at them like a sacrificial lamb.
It was almost enough to make a woman want to walk down the aisle.
"I'm texting Abasi," Rodrigo said, ruining her fun by making her think of work again. "Maybe he's heard whether the guard has gone running to Poole."
"Maybe," Violet said. "But it's pointless because I'm telling you, he won't do it." She knew her victims. This one was far too proud to talk about their encounter.
Their discussion came to a halt as her grandmother wandered over and took the empty seat beside Violet.
She was wearing red silk pants and a matching shirt.
The outfit flowed as she walked. Meanwhile, her gray hair was in its usual bun, low in the back of her head.
While everyone else looked like they were on holiday, Lian looked like she was attending a royal garden party.
She patted Violet's arm with a hand that was deceptively fragile. Her gran was one of the strongest people Violet knew. Anyone who couldn't see past her paper-thin skin, and the lines of age around her eyes, deserved everything they got when they dealt with Lian.
"I like your young man," she said, her eyes on Max.
"Technically," Violet said. "He belongs to himself. It's illegal to own another person."
Beside her, Rodrigo snorted then focused on his drink. Violet was pleased to see it came with a pink umbrella. Served him right for doubting her expertise when it came to cowardly men.
Lian ignored the comment and carried on as though Violet hadn't spoken. "He tells me you haven't decided where to live yet."
And just like that, they'd hit another damn landmine. "We might do the long-distance thing for a bit until we know where we want to settle," Violet said, hoping her gran would be satisfied.
She wasn't. Dark, intelligent eyes captured hers. "Violet Lee, you cannot have a marriage when you live in different countries."
Violet was genuinely bewildered. "I don't see why not. It sounds pretty damn perfect to me."
"No, it doesn't," Lian said. "Save your amusing comments for your mother. I see right through you."
"Really?" Violet challenged, even though she knew better.
"You're afraid," Lian said with understanding.
"Getting married can be very scary for a strong woman.
" She smiled a soft, knowing smile. "Women like us, we need men who will let us be who we are, and refrain from trying to change us.
" She paused. "I find it interesting that you're both investigators. "
"We do very different types of investigating, Gran. In fact, there's hardly any overlap at all." She was totally going to hell for the lies coming out of her mouth.
"It's purely an observation," Lian said, sounding suspiciously innocent. "Maybe, in the future, you'll be able to help each other with your very different types of investigations."
Violet's mouth was suddenly dry. "I think Max can dig up stories all on his own. He's managed fine for years without my help."
"Is that right?" Lian flashed a far too serene smile. "I imagine it would be difficult for each of you to resist getting involved in the other's obsessions. And it is very easy to become obsessed with issues of justice, is it not?"
Oh, Lian Ferguson was suspicious for sure. "Well, Max will have his reporting work in Canada, and I'll have Benson Security in Houston, and we'll have a fabulous time meeting up for holidays in between."
"A marriage made of holidays?" Lian mused. "That's an interesting notion. It almost doesn't sound real. Sorry, I mean, it sounds too good to be true."
Violet narrowed her eyes at her gran. The woman never said anything she didn't mean. Ever. "I'm sure we'll work it out," she said.
"I'm sure you will." Lian stood and stroked Violet's hair. "Just be careful you aren't so busy working it out that you forget about each other all together." With that she wandered over to join her daughter.
Max came around the table to take the seat Lian had vacated. "What was that about?" he said.
"She's suspicious," Violet said. "I'm not surprised.
The woman has a sixth sense for subterfuge.
We need to be really careful around her.
I don't want her telling my mum about her suspicions.
That would not bode well for either us or the mission.
We probably shouldn't have told her we planned on living in different countries after our wedding. "
"You told her that?" Max cast a glance her grandmother's way. "I told her we were settling in Toronto."
Sneaky woman. Violet went over everything her grandmother had said and, more importantly, the things she hadn't. Her heart sank. "She definitely thinks we're working together, and the wedding is fake," she said at last, coming to the only conclusion possible.
"Which is true," Max said helpfully.
"Yes," Violet told him, speaking slowly so he'd understand. "But she's not supposed to think that. It could get her in trouble."
His smile was wicked, and the dimples appeared, making her stomach flutter. Then making her want to vomit because she was pretty sure she'd never used the word flutter in her entire life before that moment.
"We should do something to put her mind at ease," he said, his voice low and dark.
"What do you suggest?" She sounded hoarse.
"Pucker up, Vi, I'm going to kiss you," he said. "Try not to climb all over me this time. Remember we're in public."
She started to growl, and he captured the sound with his lips. For a millisecond, she felt tense, aware her family were watching. Then Max angled his mouth, and she felt him cup the back of her neck, and suddenly she didn't care who saw them.
Salt toffee.
Warm heat.
Soft, clever lips.
She sighed into their kiss.
Her nieces made loud whooping calls and the moment shattered. Violet broke the kiss, mortified that her cheeks were heating. She glared at the teens before catching her grandmother's eye. Lian cocked her head, unimpressed.
Of course that hadn't been enough to convince her.
Violet wondered if coming clean and begging for her silence might be the better strategy.
It was hard to say. Lian had her own code of honor and Violet wasn't sure if her reasoning would meet her grandmother's standard.
And if it didn't, she wouldn't keep their secret.
It was one more problem to add to her growing list.
On the other side of the pool, Violet saw a murmur pass through the guests like a weird Mexican wave. Faces showed shock. Voices became hushed and urgent. People turned to each other with questions. It was a ripple she'd seen before—on the outskirts of a crime scene.
"Something's happened," she said to Rodrigo.
He looked over to the other side of the pool. "Yeah," he said, sounding worried. "Can't be your tussle with the guard. That news wouldn't affect the guests."
"Must be something else," Violet said.
They watched as guest turned to guest, and faces showed shock. At last, someone beside Violet's mother raised her voice.
"Did you hear?" she said, sounding both excited and horrified. "Someone's been killed. They found a body out behind the little shops. They're saying it was one of the security guards."
Her mother gasped as Violet's eyes flew to Rodrigo. "I left him alive," she whispered furiously, praying he believed her.
Max put a hand on her knee, gently rubbing. Strangely, she found his touch comforting.
"Are they talking about the guy who harassed you?" he said quietly. "What's going on? You only hurt his arm."
She almost thanked him for believing her. But before she could say anything at all, a waiter approached with a tray. On it was a glass filled with ice and an unopened can of Irn Bru. The waiter smiled as he handed her a folded piece of paper.
"The gentleman at the bar sent this over," he said.
Violet spun around, but there was no one sitting at the bar. She turned back to the waiter who was about to decant the glass and can to the table in front of her.
"Would you mind leaving it on the tray?" she said quickly, thinking there might be fingerprints on the can that could prove useful.
He was confused at the request, but did as she asked, placing the tray on the table before leaving. Violet stared at the drink, famous in Scotland but entirely out of place in the Caribbean.
"I didn't know they sold Irn Bru here," Poppy called with some excitement. Obviously, the news she could get Scotland's other national drink in the resort was far more interesting than gossip about a dead man.
To her surprise, it was Max who replied, obviously realizing something was very wrong.
"You can't," he said, affecting a sheepish air. "I brought this as a surprise for Violet."
Violet cast him a look of gratitude as the women in her family turned to mush and made matching 'awing' sounds.
"Read the note," her mother prompted eagerly. "This is so romantic." She beamed at her husband with clear approval. He was unmoved.
Beside Violet, both Max and Rodrigo were tense and alert, although no one else seemed to notice. With everyone watching, Violet slowly and carefully unfolded the piece of paper and read the words inside. There were only two.
Your welcome.