Thin Skinned, Margo Collins [recommended reading TXT] 📗

only Lori came home on the plane with me. Apparently, Hale had a better offer than mine and was willing to sign over his parental rights permanently in order to take it.

But Lori really did love her child—and I hoped that, away from Hale, she would be able to get straight.

At the plane before we departed, Antonio offered to give me several of the diamonds.

“No, thanks.” I shuddered.

His laugh was genuine. “Perhaps another form of reparation for your unfortunate day?”

I shook my head and gestured at Lori and Paige. “If this works out, it will be payment enough.” I glanced around, seeing only a few of his men and the pilot standing nearby. “Where are Phil and Ron?”

Antonio’s nostrils flared. “They are learning some essential lessons for working with me.”

Panic flared in my chest. “Don’t hurt them on my account. Please.”

“I will not. I will make sure their lessons are not physically painful.”

I wasn’t sure that was enough reassurance, but I suspected it was all I would get.

Antonio reached out one hand to my cheek. “It has been a true pleasure meeting you, mi serpiente.”

I started to board the plane, then stopped and looked back at him. “Tell me: whose abuela was she?”

He shook his head. “I do not know. But perhaps once upon a time, her family knew yours?”

I blinked thoughtfully, then turned to make my way onto the plane, still puzzled by more than I cared to admit.

The flight home was much less eventful than the one there.

It took less than three hours to get back. Lori still watched me warily during the flight, but she seemed much calmer. I wondered if Antonio’s people had given her something to calm her down.

I tried not to worry too much about it. She was headed to rehab, after all.

When we landed—at a different airstrip than the one we’d left from—a freaking limo was waiting for us. I used the phone inside to call Courtney and tell her that she wouldn’t have to go to court.

She cried when I told her Paige would be coming home with her that evening.

I called my bosses to let them know, too.

And then, when everyone had congratulated me on a successful conclusion to my first case, I began fretting about ethics again.

I SHOWED UP AT WORK the next day as if nothing all that unusual had happened.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my office was that the sofa the Beaumonts had peed on had been removed. I wasn’t sad about it, to be honest.

The second thing I realized was that there was a stack of money placed neatly in the center of my desk, on top of a small stack of papers.

I approached it slowly, as warily as if it were the snake and I was a mere human about to get bitten. I couldn’t tell by sight alone if it was the same money that had been hidden away inside Abuela. It certainly wasn’t all of it, even if it was the same money.

I stared at it for a long time without touching it. Finally, I slid the papers out from underneath the pile and flipped through them. It was the paperwork I needed from the Beaumonts, signed and notarized.

Antonio Lobo worked fast. And efficiently.

I went back to staring at the money.

It was drug money. That made it blood money.

I couldn’t keep it, that was for sure.

What the hell was I going to do with it?

I glanced over at the empty wall where the pee-sofa had been. The answer came to me suddenly.

I pulled the number from the file and dialed. Voicemail picked it up.

“Hi, Courtney. It’s Lindi Parker. I need to make an appointment to see you for just a couple of minutes. I’ve got some things to finalize with you. Give me a call when you get this.”

The money would go a long way toward making Baby Paige’s life even better. I didn’t know if Lori would manage to get herself straight. But whether she did or not, I wanted Paige to have the best head start she could possibly get.

Before I handed the money over, though, I was going to replace that sofa. I picked up the stack of bills to peel a few hundreds off the top, and something heavy fell out of the paper band wrapped around them, clunking to the desk.

It was the pendant, the gold metal gleaming slightly in the light filtering in through the blinds. I turned the money over to look at the bottom, and discovered a note tucked inside the band, too.

I opened it and read the lines within.

Mi Serpiente,

I send this to you in hopes that it will help you remember that you are also a goddess.

~Antonio Lobo

I ran my thumb over the words couple of times, wondering if I would ever see Antonio again, before I folded the paper and put it, the pendant, and—after I pulled enough out to replace the couch—the money.

I shut the drawer and started to turn toward my computer to turn it on. But then, on second thought, I reached back into the drawer and pulled the pendant out. With a wry grin, I slipped it on over my head.

I slipped it into my shirt and sat down to start trying to write a report about my first case at Sams & Sams & Associates.

I WAS STILL TRYING to write up my report an hour and a half later when a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” I said absently.

A large man with green eyes and a disconcerting stare came in. “Ms. Parker?”

“Yes. Can I help you?”

“I’m Detective Daniel Moreland. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions.”

My heart pounded, but I nodded. “Sure.”

“I understand you met with Hale Beaumont yesterday?”

I paused, gathering my facial expression and making it as serpentine and opaque as I could.  “I did. His wife, too.”

“Was there anything interesting about that meeting?”

I shrugged. “Well, they agreed to give up custody