Just One Taste...(28)

Lucas had learned about the widow being a former girlfriend from  Vanessa, of course. But the possible marriage was new. "And third?"

"A not-so-pretty scandal that somebody with influence and money doesn't want out."

"There's definitely a connection between Gilbert Switzer and this stripper?"

"Oh, yeah. Candy Anderson is one of the premier dancers at the Flamingo Room, a charming pink-neon gentleman's club off I-95."

"I'll bet you were a big hit there."

"I sent one of my guys. Chicks in clothes make the patrons restless."

"So who'd you threaten with the pistol?"

"The paramedics."

Lucas resisted the urge to comment. Jade did things her own way for her  own reasons. He knew from the past that whenever somebody encouraged  restraint, they only netted a glare from those piercing green eyes-a  trait that tied them in genetics and temperament.

"I didn't actually shoot anybody," she added into the silence.

"So I don't need to come home and defend you?"

"Where would you find witnesses?"

Nowhere, I'm sure. Jade's security operation handled everything from  investigations to bodyguards, and their biggest strength-other than the  owner's kick-ass attitude-was discretion.

"So Candy and Gilbert were an item?" he asked, steering the conversation back to the case.

"He used to come into the club a couple of times a month, then once a  week, then he'd stay several days. Between lap dances and scotch on the  rocks, they took a shine to each other. To some it seemed an obvious big  bucks to big boobs attraction. Others claim there was genuine  affection."

"So we can figure the truth is somewhere in between."

"Probably. One thing's for certain … the lovely blonde-who dyed her pink  locks during her mourning period-with an exceptional pair of double-Ds,  is no dummy. She's going to night school to be a paralegal."

"No kidding."

"An interesting development, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah." If smart, double-D Candy learned about this two-wills  business, life was liable to get very interesting for Joseph Douglas.

"Anyway, affair confirmed and confirmed easily. They didn't even seem particularly discreet."

"He was away from his usual circle, his home and family."

"No doubt that played into it. The only thing I really got on top of  what you suspected is that she's the one who called 911 in response to  Switzer's cardiac arrest in their hotel room."

Lucas's hand tightened around the phone receiver. "She was with him when he died?"

"She was performing CPR when the paramedics arrived."

"Well, well. Paralegal, nurse, stripper."

"She's multitalented all right. The medics shocked him, shot meds into  him, everything, but he flatlined. They took him to the hospital, but he  was gone long before they got there."                       
       
           



       

"And the salacious detail missed the newspaper?"

"That's where the old-money-influence thing comes in. All involved were sworn to secrecy for the sake of the family."

"And how did Candy feel about that?"

"She didn't seem to care. She's grief stricken, remember?"

Hearing the cynicism in his cousin's voice, Lucas mirrored it. "Her nipple tassels were droopy."

"I imagine so." She paused, and he could imagine her kicking her  gator-skin boots up on her desk. "My guy seemed to think her grief was  genuine, though."

"Your guy was distracted by those double-Ds."

"Maybe. But I have no doubt he's seen some pretty good boobs in his time."

"Still, the whole business doesn't paint an upright and proper picture for the Switzer family."

"If Joseph Douglas really has two wills on his hands, he's in just as much trouble."

"It certainly looks that way." He paused, spinning his chair to stare out the window.

"Isn't this what you hoped? What you wanted? You have Douglas's balls to the wall."

"Maybe so." But he couldn't find any joy in it. "I've met the widow.  She's elegant and lovely, hurt and confused. She has kids to get through  college. She gave up her career at her husband's request, then he  couldn't keep his pants zipped, and she's out? As much as I hate it, I  think Douglas is doing the right thing."

"But not necessarily the legal thing. And certainly not anything he'd want made public."

"Like I have a right to rat him out."

"It's not about ratting out. It's about leverage." Wearily, she sighed. "Hell, you really are getting a conscience."

"It's about time, don't you think?"

"No."

But Lucas knew she lied. Jade had an unimpeachable moral code. She just  wasn't too particular about the means to the end if the cause was  justified.

"You have something on him," she said, her voice hard. "Don't let that go."

"I won't. You're coming to visit soon?"

"Sure. When somebody offers me a truckload of money."

"In the meantime, have a beignet for me."

"I will."

"Thanks."

"Let me know how it comes out."

Thinking of Vanessa and how all this would impact her-and them-he simply  closed his eyes. "I'll give you an update in a few days. Try not to  threaten anybody else."

She snorted. "Yeah. Right."

As Lucas hung up the phone, he was adding up the sequence of events and already calculating his next move.

Gilbert Switzer had had an affair with a stripper in Daytona Beach.  Maybe genuine affection had ensued. It hardly mattered legally. The big  event was that Switzer got attached. He decided to change his will. He  went to his attorney, the esteemed Joseph Douglas, to make that happen.  Douglas put him off, or more likely disagreed with him. He obviously  didn't want to make those changes, thinking his friend would snap out of  the stripper infatuation.

Added to that complication was Douglas's past relationship with  Millicent Switzer. Some affection could linger there. His loyalty to his  client and friend and his old girlfriend was tested.

Plus, if you knew the man-which Lucas felt he did-Douglas valued  tradition and reputation above all else. He must have been appalled at  Switzer's request. Leaving out family for some transient affair? That  wouldn't be tolerated in Douglas's world.

Of course, he'd cut off his own daughter without a second thought when  she hadn't followed the path he wanted her to travel. Though Lucas  figured Douglas justified that by assuring himself her desertion would  also be transient.

But in the Switzer will business, Douglas had had no control over his  client's wishes, so he'd tried to talk him out of it. Maybe he even  refused to make the changes. At first.

Switzer was determined, though. He didn't change his mind. He was  frustrated by his attorney's stalling. Maybe he threatened to go to  another lawyer. So Douglas gave in. He drew up a new will, with his boy  Anthony as a witness. But then he never filed the new will as he should  have. He swore Anthony to secrecy, knowing his client would come to his  senses.                       
       
           



       

He just didn't count on Gilbert Switzer dying.

Still, Douglas kept his cool. He got the details covered up, even though  he couldn't do anything about the nasty affair rumors. He pretended the  new will didn't exist and filed the original one with the court.

Yet there were some dangerous loose ends. Even if Douglas destroyed the  copies from his office, Lucas couldn't imagine an intelligent man like  Switzer not getting a copy of the document. So where was Switzer's copy?  There was no way he'd given it to his wife.

What if Anthony blabbed? Which he had. What if Switzer told the stripper  about him changing his will? What if the stripper blabbed?

Careless, Douglas. Very careless.

Lucas's secretary buzzed the intercom. "Mr. Broussard, I'm leaving, if that's okay."

"Sure. Thanks, Kelly. Good night."

He sat at his desk for a while longer as the sky beyond his windows  turned orange, then pink. He wished he could be out there, on the  street, breathing the air, even if it was sticky with humidity.  Air-conditioning felt like a luxury. Heat reminded him of his  beginnings, of hunger and need, of desperation and anger.

But lives changed. People made decisions every day to ruin or improve  their lives, or to just go on with the way things were the day before.

Joseph Douglas had been a good friend, and maybe even a good attorney. He'd just broken the rules in the process.

And damned if Lucas didn't admire him for that.

Shaking off the problem, he packed his briefcase, then headed home to change for his date with Vanessa.

They'd seen each other a lot over the past couple of weeks, and he'd  enjoyed every moment. She'd captured his attention, his libido and his  emotions. They'd had such vastly different upbringings, yet they had a  great deal in common. And while many-especially her family-might  consider their relationship forbidden, he recognized her as he never had  another.