A Small Fortune

A Small Fortune Read Free Page A

Book: A Small Fortune Read Free
Author: Audrey Braun
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Kidnapping
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I’m president of a bank. It looks bad.” He walked over and retrieved the BlackBerry from the floor. It had left a black mark on the glossy white floorboard. “These things cost a fortune. There’s no excuse for them not to work.”
    I wonder if it really was the bank he was texting in the car or if it had something to do with one of his investments. Jonathon loves playing the market more than my mother did. I always know when he’s “riding the Dow Jones,” as I like to tease him, because little beads of sweat break out on his lip while his fingers creep like cautious spiders across the keyboard of his laptop. It occurs to me that he might be having an affair. I imagine scrolling through his messages while he showers. Room 120. I cannot wait to be inside you. All the waiting and sneaking around is killing me . Deep down I suspect I wouldn’t find a single thing of interest, and for a moment I’m not sure which bothers me more.
    The pool is a long, rectangular design of small lapis-colored tiles giving the water the artificial blue of toilet bowl cleaner, and yet it’s undeniably gorgeous and inviting. An elderly, pear-shaped woman in a black-and-white polka-dot one-piece is reading a paperback through dark sunglasses that nearly cover her face. A palapa shades the rest of her. Several chairs down, a deeply tanned middle-aged man is sunning himself in a blue Speedo while reading a copy of Le Monde and sipping a can of Jumex through a straw. The sound of laughter, and then a man in the garden twenty yards away catches my eye. He’s Mexican, early to mid-thirties, dark blue T-shirt, khaki shorts, and work boots. He’s watering the potted plants and picking up the pink fuzzy blossoms, which continue to fall like snow. But he’s also maneuvering in and out of the affections of a small blond dog. I guess the dog belongs to the woman the way she’s smiling and shaking her head at the two of them. It’s clearly a game, and the man simultaneously works and teases the dog with the swift movements of a matador. He’s striking. A look of elegance is clear from a distance in the strong lines of his jaw and nose, and in his lean, muscular arms and chest.
    He steps clear of the Chinese windmill palms and grins. “ Buenos días ,” he says to me, with an upward nod as if we already know one another. The dog licks his bare leg, and the man laughs and jumps back. “You cheat, Pepe,” he says to the dog in perfect English. “I was distracted. But all right. One point for you.”
    “ Buenos días ,” I say, feeling silly and, strangely, a little high-spirited at once.
    He glances up again with the same friendly grin.
    The sun penetrates my skin. It sinks into my bones, relaxing me in a way I haven’t felt in who knows how long. I choose a lounge chair off to myself with the most direct sun, plop my things down, and peel off my cover up. I lather my skin in SPF 30 cocoa butter, knowing instinctively that the matador is watching. I lounge back, open an old Joella Lundstrum novel, and lose myself in someone else’s troubles.
    I also fall asleep.
    When I wake, everyone’s gone and the breeze has picked up, scattering more pink blossoms in and around the pool. I check my watch. Nearly an hour has passed. My face feels warm and tight. I roll onto my stomach and adjust the crotch of my bottoms. My finger is still hooked inside when the gate opens and the matador nods hello.
    I jerk my finger free and smile, conscious of the fact that we’re alone. I fold my hands beneath my cheek and close my eyes. Why do I expect him to walk right up to me? I brace for the sound of his work boots on the concrete. When they never come, my eyes spring open to find him across the pool, his back to me as he winds the hose against the building. It’s my first look from this angle, and my heart gives a single pound against my chest. He removes his gloves and drops them into a white bucket, which he bends over and picks up. This is such a

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