“Jean reminded me of her scheduled get-together today,” Nick said, when Rachel was seated at the table across from Jean. “I think we should introduce ourselves to the mom, and have a chat.”
“No, Nick…don’t even -” Rachel began, a horrified look on her face.
“Calm down.” He cut her off with some disappointment, but understanding her leap in logic. “I meant a simple chat to be sociable.”
“Oh… Sorry.”
“God, Mom, what’d you think he meant, kill her?” Jean clucked, while shaking her head at Rachel. “I’m done. Thanks for breakfast, Nick. I’m going to take a shower and get ready.”
“You’re most welcome, my dear.” He watched Jean run off. He could feel Rachel looking at him appraisingly. “I think your daughter likes me better too.”
“Yeah, right! That’s because she doesn’t know you like I do. It’s all fun and games until someone gets their nose bone driven into their brain.”
“Ouch.”
“I hope Suzan isn’t a Diego fan,” Rachel whispered sideways at Nick, as Jean ran ahead to her new friends’ door. “Your beard is coming in nicely, but Brewster freaked me out.”
“I’m more worried about whether it was Brewster’s idea to come visit, or Suzan sending him to check us out. You said she acted strange at the pool when you told her we were renting one of the cabanas,” Nick replied in an equally hushed voice, glancing up at the noon day Las Vegas sun. “Damn, it’s hot out here.”
“Deke should be happy grinding his soup bone into dust rather than rearranging furniture today.”
“We won’t be long.” Nick grinned, thinking of Deke working over the soup bone on his kitchen floor.
Kelly and Garth opened the door before Jean reached it. Nick heard their mother admonishing them for answering the door without her. The kids’ laughter receded as they ran together away into the house. A mid-thirties brunette in blue shorts and a white blouse smiled at them from the doorway, opening it for Nick and Rachel. Nick watched the woman for any sign of recognition.
“Come in. I’m Suzan Benoit, and I believe you’ve already met my two children,” she greeted them, gesturing Nick and Rachel inside. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more at the pool, Rachel. The guy my husband hired as security for us gets really obnoxious when we meet anyone new while my husband’s out of town.”
“No problem – this is my husband Roscoe.”
“Just call me Ross.” Nick shook Suzan’s hand.
“Would you like something to drink?” Suzan led them through the western ranch style house into her kitchen. “I have soda, iced tea, juice…”
“I’ll have a soda,” Rachel said.
“Iced tea sounds good,” Nick added. “We were wondering about Mr. Brewster. He came over to see us yesterday afternoon, mentioning he worked in security for your family. He asked us some questions about our stay in Las Vegas, and then left.”
“He actually stopped by to see you?” Suzan looked genuinely surprised, as she served the drinks, taking iced tea for herself. “Carl usually asks my husband if he should check someone out. I hope he didn’t upset you. Carl can be rather abrupt and a little scary.”
“Not at all,” Rachel put in immediately. “Mr. Brewster was very nice to us.”
“Good.” Suzan sounded relieved. “I’ll ask him about it Monday when he comes over. He has the weekends off, because we locals stay away from the crowds. Carl knows we don’t go anywhere on the weekends, other than the smaller restaurants and grocery stores away from downtown. My husband, Jim, has been getting more and more uneasy about the new gang conglomerate formed in the city called ‘Squad Up’. He says they don’t need a reason to shoot at someone. Gang members even fired into a gated community just for the hell of it.”
“Thanks for the warning. We’ll watch ourselves.”
“Rachel said you own a house over on Fort Bowie. It’s funny we haven’t run into each other before.”
“Actually, I’ve owned the house for quite a while, but only spend a couple weeks a year there,” Nick explained. “Do you have much gang activity around here?”
“No, not really, and the school near here is real nice. What do you do for a living, Ross?”
“I’m a troubleshooter for a large firm,” he answered, hurrying into the question he wanted answered. “What does your husband do?”
“He’s in the import/export business on both coasts, which is why he’s away a lot.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing we met. My parent firm deals off shore. Do you have one of your husband’s business cards around? You never know when a need for someone with your husband’s expertise and contacts will come in handy.”
“Sure, I’ll get you one.” Suzan left the table and the kitchen for a few minutes before returning with a couple of cards. She handed them to Nick.
“Thank you.” Nick pulled out a business card he had made up that morning with his name and the Fort Bowie phone number on it. He handed one to Suzan. We’re going to have a barbeque later after Jean gets home. Would you and your kids like to join us?”
“Sure,” Suzan accepted gratefully. “It’s a treat being with adults. Should I bring anything?”
“Nope,” Nick answered, standing. “We’d better move along, hon. It was nice meeting you, Suzan. We’ll see you later then. How about around five?”
“Great, I’ll bring Jean with me.” Suzan walked Nick and Rachel to the door.
“That’ll work. If Jean starts acting up, call me, and I’ll come drag her home.”
Suzan laughed. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Goodbye.”
“It’s a Tanus subsidiary,” Nick said, handing Rachel one of Jim Benoit’s business cards in the car. “I’ll check on Benoit when we get home. It does explain how a mook like Brewster came to have a picture of you, Jean, and Rick.”
“And you invited her over for a barbeque…why?” Rachel asked caustically.
“Suzan will do one of two things, call her husband immediately, or take us at face value and forget the whole thing. I want to see which one she does.”
“You’ll actually know without her telling you?”
“I’ll work it into the conversation. Tanus Import/Export is a huge conglomerate on both coasts, which means they’ve been able to hide some very big undertakings. I’m certain their employees were given your picture long ago. I doubt more than a few people even knew Tanus was under indictment. I’d wager Mr. Benoit gave the picture to Brewster because he couldn’t be bothered with it.”
“Having Suzan and her kids over a day after you whacked their security guy would be unthinkable for anyone human…no offense meant.” She smiled at him, leaning a little so she could see his reaction.
“None taken.” Nick pulled the Escalade into the open garage and shut the door. “It’s all the more reason to have them over. I don’t suppose you’d like to model your black bikini for me until Suzan arrives with the kids for the barbeque.”
“You write some more Diego and research Jim Benoit. I’ll prepare everything for our get together.”
“Throw the potatoes into the microwave, brush barbeque sauce on the steaks, cut up the French bread, and boil the corn on the cob. That’s about five minutes work. You’d have a long time left to model,” Nick pointed out as he exited the Escalade.
“Ever hear the old Jim Croce song ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’?” Rachel began singing as she danced into the house. “You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with…Nick.”
Nick laughed. Damn, she can carry a tune too. “Ah…when I was asking you to model the black bikini, I wasn’t considering it as a prelude to unarmed combat, Rach.”