Smugglers 4 - South Beach Heat Read Free Page A

suitcase full of money in front of her. She’d stashed it inside the credenza beneath a stack of papers she intended to file someday.
    Feeling antsy, she decided to take a walk and collect some more rent while she tried to clear her head. Her thoughts kept going back to the briefcase in her closet, and her strange conversation with Glenn.
    Is he for real? she wondered as she stepped onto the dock. Is the money clean and good? Don’t be stupid, she told herself. It can’t be clean. But knowing how thorough Glenn was with everything in his life, it’s probably good money, and one thing was for sure, the foreclosure was for real and looming on the horizon like a burning Florida Keys sunset.
    The “Major” appeared on the dock in front of Nikki, cutting off her thoughts of impending doom. This time he was in civvies, and he didn’t remember being out earlier or talking to Nikki or anything else. He walked around aimlessly, drinking coffee from a large foam cup and looking sharp. His clothes were custom made. In fact, he reminded Nikki of the guy in “ Scent of a Woman ”, but he wasn’t blind. On the contrary, sometimes he saw things that others couldn’t.
    She had forgotten to call the diver for Mark, so after helping the Major back to his boat, she returned to her office and placed the call. He couldn’t make it until Saturday, so Mark would have to keep the house boat pumped out until then. She left to find him, and after she gave Mark the scoop, she strode back to her office to call the attorney for an appointment about her ex-husband and the two hundred fifty thousand. She decided in a rush that she would keep the money in the briefcase and deal with Glenn’s rules later.
    On Wednesday morning Nikki headed out for the appointment at her attorney’s office scheduled for nine o’clock, and she was late as usual, this time because she’d forgotten the briefcase and had to go back to get it. He made her wait in the outer room twice as long because she was tardy. She finally got in and started the conversation with “Will my divorce be final in two weeks?”
    “You betcha.” he said.
    “Will Bill release all rights, title, and interest in all my stuff including the marina?” Nikki asked.
    “He already has, that is, pending the divorce being final.”
    “How about the house boats?” she asked.
    “He’s already signed off on those,” he replied.
    “I have another issued I want to discuss with you.” She took a seat in the chair in front of his desk and set the briefcase on the floor next to her feet. “I’ve been served a foreclosure notice on the marina for about one-quarter of a million dollars. Just supposing a friend of mine had that kind of money, but in cash, could you deal with that?” Nikki voice was low.
    The attorney got up and closed the door, even though there was no one in the outer office. “What do you mean, some friend of yours, Nikki? Who is it?”
    “You have no need to know, and you’ll never meet this friend. Ever!” She met his stare with a stare of her own. “Can you deal with the cash and the foreclosure?”.
    “First, I want the money here so I know it’s not smoke being blown up my ass,” he said. “And we can’t do anything until your divorce is final, so that Bill can’t find out, or he will jump back in. Second, there is no paperwork between you and me.”
    “Never mind when and what,” Nikki said. She picked up the briefcase and moved it onto his desk. “Open it,” she ordered. “There’s two hundred thirty five thousand in there. You can count it.”. The attorney opened the case and stared at the money, then fingered a crisp stack of bills.
    “I guess your friend ain’t smoking. Is this money cool?” he asked.
    “It’s cool.”
    Nikki drove back to the marina. As she was opening her office, she noticed Mercedes and a man stepping out of Mercedes’ apartment. The man gave her a lingering kiss goodbye. Mercedes was tall and thin and wearing a silk