Trouble in Paradise - [2]

When Drew brought our drinks, I raised my glass. “To white sand, warm water, and ice-cold drinks.”

“Ten days of nothing to do,” Bailey said as she clinked.

“No suits, no calendar, no judges,” Toni declared.

Drew started to pull out his cell phone. “Hold on, now. I think I’d better call J.D.”

J. D. Morgan was Toni’s boyfriend-and he also happened to be a superior court judge. Toni put down her drink and grabbed at Drew’s phone. “Give me that!”

Drew laughed and stepped out of reach.

I sighed happily. “To ten days of nothing but play.”

“This place is incredible,” Bailey said as she craned her head out through the window of the taxi and tilted her face up to the midmorning sun.

I was doing the same on my side. It’d been raining and in the forties when we left Los Angeles, but here in Aruba the sky was a clear, limitless blue and the balmy wind was so soft it felt like cashmere. Though the landscape was more austere than Hawaii, its openness beautifully showcased the glittering sand and topaz water along the coast. I breathed in the fresh, salty air and closed my eyes. Heaven.

Toni looked out at the view over the rim of her sunglasses. “I’m going to be on that beach with a drink in exactly ten minutes.”

I held up my hand for a high five, and she slapped it. “Then you’ll be about three minutes behind me,” I said.

But when we got to the hotel, there was a long line at the front desk and the lobby was packed. Toni rolled her eyes and Bailey groaned.

“Take out your gun,” I joked.

Bailey seemed to be seriously considering it when a voice called out, “Ms. Knight!” I turned to see a tall, blonde, apple-cheeked man hurrying toward us, his hand extended and a wide smile on his face.

“What a pleasure to meet friends of Graden Hales!” he said as he vigorously shook our hands. “He’s quite the hero around here. And I must say that I’m delighted to have members of the Los Angeles Police Department as guests. Welcome!”

“Well, actually, we’re-,” Toni began.

I quickly jumped in to keep her from correcting him. “Prosecutor” was close enough, wasn’t it? “We’re delighted to be here, Mr…?”

“Call me Diederik. I’m sorry about these crowds. It always fills up for the Carnival celebration.”

“Carnival?” I asked.

“Kind of like our Mardi Gras. It’ll be like this until it ends on Ash Wednesday. Parties, parades, people go a little bit crazy, but it’s all in good fun. Now let me show you to your suite. It’s a beautiful day and”-he looked at his watch-“it’s only ten o’clock, so you’ve still got most of it ahead of you.”

He pulled us out of the line and summoned a bellboy to take our bags. The twentysomething couple who’d been ahead of us turned and glared. I shrugged, gave them a phony smile of apology, and trotted out of the lobby behind Diederik. When we reached a glass-walled corridor, I noticed a camera crew set up at the edge of the restaurant’s patio.

“What are they shooting?” Toni asked.

Diederik made a face. “A reality show. About a Mississippi family and their nine-year-old wunderkind, Tammy Susie. Though what makes her a wunderkind isn’t entirely clear to me.” He sighed. “We’re all hoping they’ll be finished shooting soon. They’re… a challenging group.” Diederik stopped abruptly. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“Said what?” I grinned.

Diederik gave me a grateful smile. “Just let me know if they bother you.”

“Why would they bother us?” Bailey asked.

Diederik sighed. “Because they have the suite next to yours. It’s one of our best suites, and all the others in that class were taken.”

“We’ll be fine,” Toni said. The steel in her voice told me she intended to deal with any issues the Tammy Susie clan might pose herself. I smiled inwardly. If they did cause any problems, it wouldn’t be for long. Toni gets what she wants, and she gets it now. Last summer, we’d gone to a Steely Dan concert at the Greek, a beautiful outdoor amphitheater. The band had barely played the first notes of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” when a couple in front of us stood up and started to dance (badly), which completely blocked our view of the stage. Toni leaned forward and said something to them. After a quick backward glance, the male pulled his girlfriend down onto the bench so fast they bounced. Toni wouldn’t tell me what she said, but the couple stayed in their seats for the rest of the concert. Bottom line: the proximity of the Tammy Susie company didn’t worry me.

We got out of the elevator at the top floor, which was occupied by only our and Tammy Susie’s suites. When I got inside, I found out why. Our suite was probably bigger than most single-family homes: three spacious bedrooms-each with its own bathroom-a dining room, a living room with a wet bar, and a wide balcony that wrapped around the entire suite and afforded an unobstructed 270-degree view of the ocean. I’d never seen anything like it.

Personally, I would’ve been happy to just plop down on one of the plushy lounge chairs on that balcony for the rest of the day. But Toni wasn’t having it. The door had barely closed behind Diederik when she gave an authoritative clap and ordered, “Let’s hit it. Into our suits and onto that beach. Now.”