The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club - Book One (22 page)

With a solemn expression, the boy extended a
hand. When I shook it, he grinned at me. It was such an infectious
and totally joyous grin, I grinned back. I looked up from greeting
the boy to see Lill standing behind Mac with a questioning
expression. I gestured for her to come in as well.

“Mac, Lill, I don’t believe you know my son,
Jeffrey. Jeff, this is Lillian Fitzel and Detective Darren McElroy
of the Montgomery police force.”

Jeff stepped forward and, with a wary look,
shook Mac’s hand but not Lill’s. Mr. Souter looked on, obviously
uncomfortable.

“I understand Josephine asked you to leave,
but you refused?” Mac said.

“Josephine,” Mr. Souter said, making me
clench my jaw, “knows we have every right to enter the apartments
of our residents if we have cause to believe something is
amiss.”

“Oh, is that what you’re calling it?” I
said. “Something amiss?”

Mr. Souter shrugged at Mac as if to say,
You can see, can’t you, how unreasonable she is?
But his
actual words were, “We’re here because Josephine’s son just
reported to us that she owns a painting worth millions of dollars
that was not included on her inventory list. That’s not only a
violation of her resident agreement, it’s a security
nightmare.”

Mac stood blinking in obvious surprise, and
I wished I’d told him about the painting, but the subject never
came up.

“I didn’t neglect to include the painting on
the inventory. My son insisted on taking care of all the paperwork
for me. I had no idea I was supposed to report it.”

“You told me management knew about the
painting,” Jeff said.

My heart sank. There was no way I was
telling Mr. Souter that Devi had known about the painting and not
informed him. He’d likely fire her.

While we were talking, Teddy and the dog
walked carefully around the room, looking at everything. Now Teddy
came and stood in front of me.

“May I have a drink, please?” The words were
thick and not completely clear, but he’d spoken so slowly, I was
able to understand, and I could have kissed him for taking
everyone’s attention away from what Jeff had just said.

Mac moved toward the boy, but I raised a
hand to ward him off.

“Of course you may,” I told Teddy, taking
him by the hand and leaving the room. The dog, Bruno, followed us
into the kitchen.

All I had to offer was either orange juice
or grape juice. After careful consideration, Teddy chose the grape
juice, and I poured him half a glass. I also filled a bowl with
water that Bruno lapped up, slopping most of it on the floor. Oh
well, it was time I mopped anyway. While I was in the kitchen, I
listened as Mac dealt with my unwelcome visitors.

By the time Teddy, Bruno, and I returned to
the living room, Mr. Souter was being escorted to the door by Mac,
who promised to come speak to him shortly. Lill sat primly on the
couch, and Jeff stood, arms folded, next to the painting.

“Okay,” Mac said to Jeff, once the door
closed. “Can you explain why you felt the need to bring this matter
up to Mr. Souter?”

“I’m her son. And it’s not safe for my
mother to have a painting worth millions just hanging here where
anyone can help themselves.”

“You don’t contest the fact that she owns
it?”

“No.” He looked away, and his tone was sulky
when he continued. “I’m just concerned for her safety.”

“Seems to me, you’re the one who compromised
her safety by announcing to the world the painting is here.”

“I don’t understand. How is it my mother
knows you?”

“Your mother and I are friends,” Mac
said.

I wanted to kiss him. Instead, I went over
and sat next to Teddy, who’d taken a seat next to Lill and was
carefully sipping his grape juice. Bruno flopped at my feet,
dribbling a bit of spit on my shoe. I found I didn’t mind a
bit.

“And I don’t intend to stand by and watch
anyone bully her,” Mac added with one of those commanding looks I’m
partial to.

The power of that was obviously not lost on
Jeff, who shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. I wanted to
give him a
see, I have friends
look, but I didn’t dare.
Instead, Lill and I exchanged a conspiratorial glance.

Jeff finally stopped fidgeting and glared at
Mac, and Mac looked back with that serene look I also find so
attractive. The one that should melt Devi’s heart.

“Jeff doesn’t need to worry about me or my
upkeep anymore,” I told Mac. “I accept that I am fully responsible
for myself from now on.”

“Responsible? You think it’s responsible to
have a painting like this on your wall? And what was all that you
said to Souter? About him helping himself? You think he’s a thief
and yet you take a chance like this?”

“I wasn’t taking a chance until you told
him.” I kept my tone even so I didn’t upset Teddy. Or Bruno, who
nevertheless raised his head, looking mournful, and letting out a
brief, odd woof.

I glanced at Mac, who was giving me a
piercing look, but when he spoke, his words were addressed to
Jeff.

“Your mother has stated in front of
witnesses that she accepts all responsibility for herself and for
her belongings. Given that she’s of sound mind, I think you need to
honor her request that you leave her alone.”

I thought there was little chance of that,
now that Jeff knew about the painting and suspected I had even more
in reserve, which I did.

“Good-bye, Jeff,” I said, stepping around
Bruno and going to the door and opening it.

Jeff gave me a
this isn’t over
look
before stepping through the door. I closed it behind him, took a
deep breath, and walked over to sit down, my legs suddenly
wobbly.

“Thank you, Mac.” My voice wobbled as much
as my legs.

“You accused Souter of being the thief?” His
tone was stern.

“He made me angry, insisting I should have
listed the painting on lists that he controls. And just look what
good that’s done other people.”

Mac shook his head. “It would have been
better if you hadn’t said anything about that.”

“Sorry. Yes, you’re right, of course. But
what right did he have to come in here and tell me I can’t have
something valuable in my apartment?”

Teddy shifted next to me. I’d forgotten for
the moment he was there.

He held out his glass to me. “May I have
more?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll see to that,” Lill said, getting up
and taking Teddy by the hand. Bruno lumbered to his feet and
followed the two.

“Is he your son?” I asked, nodding toward
Teddy. It occurred to me that if Teddy was Mac’s son, one thing Mac
would never have to worry about was the boy having him declared
incompetent.

Mac shook his head, appearing distracted.
“He’s my neighbor, and exactly how valuable are we talking?”

“Based on the last time a Hopper sold at
auction, some where in the neighborhood of twenty-five to
thirty-five million.”

Mac cleared his throat. “Dollars?”

When I nodded, he stepped over to the
painting and examined it.

“I see,” he said.

I had no idea what it was he saw, but just
then Lill, Teddy, and Bruno trooped out of the kitchen and back to
their seats on the sofa.

“He’s going to try to take it all away from
me,” I said.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,”
Mac said. “But right now, I need to speak to Souter. Could Teddy
stay here with you while I do that?”

“Of course,” I said.

After Mac left, Lill, who has grandchildren,
offered to get some books and toys for Teddy. When she gave Teddy
his choice of what to do, he wanted us to read to him. So we did,
using funny voices that made Teddy giggle.

By the time Mac returned, we’d finished all
three books Lill had brought.

“How did it go with Mr. Souter?” I said.

“He agreed that he had no business harassing
you, but now that he knows, he doesn’t want the responsibility for
having the painting in this facility. We can talk about all that
later, though. Okay?” He nodded toward Teddy, who was looking
sleepily through the book we’d just finished reading. “Let me take
them home. Then we’ll talk.”

He gathered up the boy and dog, and left
Lill and me sitting there in a bit of a daze. I finally pulled
myself together and made us tea.

“What are you going to do, Josephine,” Lill
asked after an interval of quiet contemplation of our tea cups.

“The painting will have to go, of
course.”

“Yes. I expect that’s what Mac will advise
you to do.”

We continued to sip in silence for several
minutes.

Finally, Lill set her cup down. “You know,
this situation does offer definite possibilities.”

“What do you mean?”

“If Edna is our thief and she found out
about the painting, she’d probably try to steal it. And we could
catch her in the act.”

“She sure couldn’t tuck it in her
pocket.”

“No, but for millions, I bet she’d find a
way. My guess? She’d probably ask Eddie to help.”

“Two birds,” I said.

“Exactly. I doubt Eddie would know a Hopper
from a hula hoop. Is there something you can hang in its
place?”

“That’s what I did the last time Jeff came
to visit. Of course, that time I had a bit more warning than I did
this morning.”

Lill settled back, her expression smug. “So
there we are, Josephine. You take steps to protect the Hopper. And
I’ll make sure Edna finds out you have a painting worth
millions.”

“How will you manage that?”

“I’ll tell Myrtle, of course.”

“We’d better not tell Mac,” I said.

“No. I expect he’d make us promise to do no
such thing. Oh my, he would.”

“Do you think we should ask Devi to
help?”

Lill frowned, then shook her head. “I
believe the less she knows, the better off she’ll be.”

I debated whether to tell Lill that Devi
already knew about the painting, but then I decided it no longer
mattered very much.

Mac

After taking Teddy home, I returned to discuss Josephine’s
situation with her as both a police officer and a friend.

She agreed that the painting would have to
be removed from her apartment, and asked me to help with that. And
so later, while most of the residents were at dinner, I returned to
Brookside, loaded the painting into the back of my SUV, and with
Josephine providing directions, drove to a climate-controlled
storage facility.

“You know, it’s odd,” she told me as we
drove. “For some reason, I never got around to canceling the unit.
Maybe I always knew I wouldn’t be able to keep the painting with
me.” She sighed, and I could tell she was upset.

I, on the other hand, was relieved to know
the painting was some where other than Josephine’s apartment. After
we dropped it off and made sure the storage unit was secure,
Josephine asked me to take her to dinner.

“You will let Souter know, immediately, that
the painting’s been removed?” I said, cutting into my steak. She
had chosen one of the nicer restaurants in Montgomery, and the food
was exceptional.

She made a humming noise, not answering my
question, but that was something I considered par for the course
with Josephine.

“Devi is under the impression you’re
married,” she said, effectively pulling my attention away from my
perfectly cooked meal. “But you’re not, are you.”

“No. I’m divorced.”

“Why let her think you’re a married man? Are
you involved with someone? Teddy’s mother?”

It was the most direct Josephine had ever
been with me, and I didn’t like it. When I didn’t respond right
away, she sighed.

“Lill looked at your handwriting and Devi’s.
She said you two are an almost perfect match. You do realize you
don’t get many chances like that?”

I sat blinking at Josephine, remembering how
unconcerned, self-satisfied really, I’d been about turning over a
sample of my handwriting to her.

The waiter stopped by and asked how we were
doing, and that gave me the chance to shift topics, but Josephine
was having none of it.

“Lill said your handwriting does have
caution strokes. And that means you’re probably overcompensating
for a past mistake and it could be keeping you from committing your
heart. But if you take the leap, you and Devi would have a better
chance of making a go of it than eighty percent of couples.”

Lillian’s analysis about me being cautious
hit the nail on the head more squarely than I’d like to admit. “So
you’re saying there’s a twenty percent chance we’d fail. That
doesn’t seem like very good odds to me.”

That obviously annoyed Josephine, but
frankly, I was annoyed with myself for defending a position I
wasn’t all that interested in defending. They’d all gotten to
me—Josephine, Lillian, Devi. Devi most of all. I’d let down my
guard and opened my heart, despite my determination not to.

But right now I couldn’t ask Devi out,
regardless, because Colter’s suit made a personal relationship
between us a conflict of interest. When I told Josephine that, her
lips tightened. Shortly after that, she said she was ready to go
back.

When I signaled for the bill, the waiter
came over. “That’s been taken care of, sir,” he said.

“I arranged payment when I went to freshen
up.” Josephine looked quite pleased with herself as she accepted
the card and receipt the waiter now handed her.

I shook my head. “Not only do you beat me at
poker . . .”

“You can pay me back by taking Devi out.
Just keep in mind, she eats mostly vegetarian, so this might not be
the best choice.”

And on that note, I drove Josephine back to
Brookside.

As I helped her out of the vehicle, she took
one last parting shot. “Don’t let stupid male pride get in your
way, Mac. I’m quite certain you’re courageous enough to overcome
something that’s no longer doing you a bit of good.”