Forever in Love by Nadia Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

Martin.”
    “Huh. Dumb name for a car.”
    “It is?”
    “Who the hell wants to drive something called an ass-ton? Sounds slow, like you’re hauling fertilizer or something.”
    “Aston, not ass-ton. It’s British.”
    “Oh.”
    “I’m telling you, that’s a Bond car, man. Like what Sean Connery had.”
    “No shit. And Catherine drives it?” Dusty gazed out the window for a few moments. “That’s hot.”
    The woman was hot, car or no car, but Blaine pushed the thought aside. Catherine was not his type. She was one of those wealthy, entitled women who liked to stir shit up to gratify their egos and amuse themselves. Sort of like Zoe Simpson…and very much like Ceinlys, who’d never come back to Cooter’s Bluff after what he thought of as “The Fiasco”.
    “Good thing Rick’s busy with Janey. Less competition,” Dusty said. “Think I’m gonna ask her out.”
    Mimi, one of the waitresses, came over. “Who, Catherine? I wouldn’t if I were you,” she said in a low voice. Short and amply endowed, with a generous mouth that was never without a coat of bright red lipstick, she’d lived in Cooter’s Bluff all her life and was popular among the male customers. It didn’t hurt that she wore push-up bras and left a couple of buttons undone on her shirt.
    “Why not?” Dusty said.
    “Word is, she’s a drug dealer.”
    “
What?
” Blaine said. “Come on, Mimi.” She was a great waitress, and he liked her, but she was one of the biggest gossips in the town and had an overactive imagination to boot.
    “I ran into Irene on my way here, and lemme tell you, she was pretty shell-shocked.”
    “So?”
    “So I asked her what was the matter, and turns out she was on her way to deliver a bag of cash to Catherine.” Mimi leaned closer. “A bag of frickin’
cash
. I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. She had one of those big garbage bags.” She paused, waiting for someone to urge her to continue. It was a familiar routine.
    “Well, go on,” Dusty said.
    “Inside the bag was a lotta cash. Irene and I counted it in her car.
Ten thousand dollars
.”
    Dusty and Blaine looked at each other. Ten thousand in cash? Holy shit. “But why was Irene delivering the money? If Catherine’s a drug dealer, wouldn’t she have her own guys do it?” Blaine said.
    “The property management company ordered Irene to do it. I’m telling you, that company’s a front. Why else would they do that?”
    “Yeah, but…Irene? You know that woman can’t keep her mouth shut.”
    “No idea, but you mark my words. Catherine is a drug dealer. Or worse.”
    Dusty looked confused. “What could be worse?”
    “I dunno.” Mimi shrugged. “Mexican cartel? You know, the sort of people who chop off your head with a hatchet because you took something of theirs? I told Irene she better make sure Catherine got every scrap of paper in that bag or else get ready to kiss her own head goodbye.”
    “Jesus.” Blaine shook his head. “But there could be some other explanation. Not just drugs.”
    “Like what? And besides, it’s not just the money. I saw her yesterday over in Greensville,” Mimi continued. “She was buying a new phone.”
    “Lots of people buy phones, Mimi,” Dusty said.
    “Yeah, but why would
she?
She’s got this expensive car, nice clothes, all that jewelry, you think she doesn’t have her own phone? I betcha she uses those burner phones, like on TV. She can’t have a regular one for more than a day or two, ’cause then the Feds would track her down.”
    “Or maybe her old phone just died,” Blaine said.
    “You never know.” Mimi sniffed. “But there’s more. This morning, as Irene and I got close to the Blue House, we saw Catherine get a special courier delivery. We watched, and it was this big, heavy looking package. I’m guessing heroin or a gun. Probably unmarked. You know, like with the serial number filed off.”
    “Who the heck mails heroin?” Blaine asked.
    “Drug dealers, duh.”