Island of Deceit

  “What’s he doing

  feeling up your legs?”

  Harper was steamed. As long as he’d fantasized about caressing Barbara, not just her legs, but all over, and another young man had his hands up her leg…he saw red.

  Barbara sighed. “I’m hiring Trent to help in the shop. Not that I need to explain, but he’s giving me a pedicure,” she said patiently. But the way her eyes were sparkling at him, he could tell she did not like explaining herself.

  “He feels your legs like that during a pedicure?”

  “He’s not feeling my legs, he’s massaging them. And so did Vicky when she gave pedicures.”

  “Well, you already know his skills. He doesn’t need to be feeling you up anymore.”

  “Yes, sir,” Trent said.

  “You haven’t finished my pedicure,” Barbara said to Trent. “I don’t see any polish on my toenails.”

  “Barbara…” Harper started.

  Other books by Candice Poarch

  Golden Night

  Long, Hot Nights

  Bittersweet

  Discarded Promises

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  ISLAND OF DECEIT

  CANDICE POARCH

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is

  Attributor Protected.

  In loving memory of my father, the late Alfield Poarch, for being such a terrific man who gave with his heart. He was an inspiring role model, not only to his family, but the community as well. He influenced others to follow his untiring work ethic. We all consulted him and my mother for advice and guidance. When I think of romance I think of my parents’ story. I couldn’t have asked for a more loving father. Thank you, Dad.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  During a chat with RAWSISTAZ, I asked what type of story they’d like to see. Tee C. Royal responded that she wanted more stories with plus-sized heroines. So here’s to you, Tee C.—a book that celebrates womanhood regardless of her size. Women are wonderful, creative, and sexy at any size.

  I give my sincere thanks to readers, book clubs, book sellers, and librarians for their support. I also thank Sheriff Raymond Bell and Mary Porter for background information.

  As always, I extend profound thanks to my parents, my sister, Evangeline, who travels with me to promote my books, and Sandy Rangel, for their unswerving help. Most of all, I’m deeply grateful for my husband’s continued support for my writing. Thanks to my writer friends for keeping me sane. Many thanks for guidance from my editor, Selena James.

  Last but not least, I am very grateful to have had the late Kate Duffy for my editor. We all miss her, not only for her editing skills, but for her friendship and as one who always offered great advice.

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  EPILOGUE

  DEAR READER

  PROLOGUE

  Dorsey McNair placed her fancy new Easter hat on her head and looked at herself in the mirror, hoping it would make her feel better. Nobody could say she didn’t pull out all the stops for Easter Sunrise Service. She prided herself that she looked at least ten years younger than eighty-five, but she didn’t pride herself in letting some young pup make a fool out of her.

  At seventy-five, Elliot Stone should know better. At least he told her he was seventy-five. He could have been younger or older. Some men didn’t age well. But she was going to fix his bacon if she didn’t get her money back. Every single penny of it. He wasn’t going to get away with waltzing into her life to steal her money.

  She’d shampooed, cut, and permed lots of heads to make that money. Sometimes her back had hurt so bad it felt as if it would crack in two. But did she take a sick day? No. She took a pain pill and kept on working.

  Right now as she lifted her hand to powder her nose, she felt every year of her age. Her face had darkened with age to a deep brown complexion. It was an old face with few wrinkles. There were more wrinkles on her neck. Even considering that, she’d held up well.

  She’d never felt old before, not really. There was still too much to do. No, she’d never had time to feel old. Not until now.

  Suddenly weak, Dorsey stumbled to the bed and sat down hard on the soft mattress. She needed that money. Her house was paid for, and she and Barbara had even had it renovated five years ago. But there were medical bills. Lots of them.

  She’d never been a burden on anyone, and she wasn’t about to start now. She’d saved enough to take care of herself in her later years, and she just couldn’t let Elliot get away with stealing her life savings.

  Every year, she contributed to the College Fund to give some child a boost in this tough world. When the Lord saw fit for her to leave this earth, what little was left over was earmarked for her granddaughter. Not that Barbara needed it. She’d done well for herself. But she certainly didn’t want it to go to Elliot and his band of thieves.

  Had she not gone to the bank to take out another CD, she would never have known he’d cashed in several of her CDs. Nearly $400,000. That’s the trouble with bank branches. He’d sent someone to a branch where the folks didn’t know her. At her local small branch, every last person knew her.

  He’d worked fast, the scoundrel. How did he know how much money she had, anyway? And how did he get ahold of her things? He must have broken into her house and taken her certificates when she wasn’t home.

  She’d thought about it all night. She should have kept them in a bank lock box like Barbara had told her. But she liked to have them in her house, where she could put her hands on them.

  She was going to deal with Elliot after church services. She’d pray on it. The Lord would find a way for her to work this through. He’d gotten her through many tough battles, and the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law. He’d let her live long enough to raise Barbara and to know that the girl would have a good life—and that she was self-sufficient. She only wished that Barbara could find a good man like her own late husband. A woman needed somebody who cared.

  But she had to look on the bright side. Barbara was ready to retire and had done well. The two of them planned to travel together before they moved back to her birthplace in Virginia—Paradise Island. She was finally going home.

  Yes, indeed. The Lord had surely blessed her. She had no doubt that he’d get her through this, too.

  An hour later, Dorsey thought she might as well not have gone to church. She didn’t hear a word of the preacher’s sermon. After the service, she didn’t linger to talk to friends. She drove directly to Elliot’s house and punched the doorbell. No one responded.

  Back at the car, she slipped off her heels and slid her feet into flats before she left the car again and eased around the side of the house. If he could sneak into her house, she could sneak into his. Before she rounded the corner, she heard voices coming from the back yard. She plastered herself against the side of the building and listened.

  She could distinguish four voices, two female and two male. One was distinctly Elliot’s.

  She listened as they discussed moving to another location and setting up more “marks.” They discussed how they needed more money before they could retire.

  No kidding, she thought. But they willingly stole most of her retirement. And how many
other people had they hoodwinked? Dorsey tightened her mouth into a thin line. Somebody had to stop them.

  “Whatcha doing, lady?” a kid, no more than four, asked, squinting at her. He held a huge ball in his hand. And he had the prettiest brown eyes. Dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved knit shirt, and sneakers, he obviously hadn’t been to church today. Even if folks only made it to church once or twice a year, most families attended Easter Sunday service.

  “What’s that on your head?” he asked, frowning up at her.

  Dorsey put her gloved fingers to her lips. “Quiet,” she whispered. Didn’t kids know about hats anymore? Had he been a boy from her neighborhood, Dorsey would have sat on the front porch with him and told him stories about church and hats and appropriate attire.

  She listened for the Stones while the boy regarded her curiously. But the Stones had quit talking.

  “Can I have that feather? I never seen purple strawberries. Are they real?”

  “No.” Hurriedly, Dorsey raced to the car as quickly as her legs would carry her, started the engine, and drove off.

  She’d traveled a mile before reason began to re-assert itself. She couldn’t deal with these people alone. There were too many of them and they were obviously skilled thieves.

  At the red light, she fumbled for the cell phone Barbara had given her. She should pull into a parking lot to use the phone, but this was an emergency. And she didn’t want Elliot to catch her in his neighborhood.

  She didn’t usually depend on other people to do things she could do for herself, but she realized she was in over her head. Elliot lived with an entire family of thieves.

  Barbara’s phone rang and rang until the answering service picked up. Impatiently, Dorsey listened to the long spiel until she could talk.

  “Barbara, honey, I hate to bother you, but I’m in a scrape. Remember the man I told you I was dating? Elliot Stone? Well, he’s stolen nearly half a million dollars of my certificates. I’ve met Elliot’s son, Andrew, and his sister, Minerva, but it sounded like Minerva is really his wife. There are four of them. Two women and two men. I don’t know who the other female is and I didn’t get a look at her, only heard her voice.

  “Elliot’s like you in that he doesn’t like taking pictures. But I sneaked one at a church brunch. It’s in one of my jewelry boxes. Not the real one with my good pieces, but the pretty Valentine’s box you gave me filled with chocolates a couple of years ago. I keep it in my bedside drawer. The picture is on the bottom turned upside-down with some heavy costume jewelry on top.

  “Honey, maybe we can put our heads together to come up with a solution. I guess I’m going to have to go to the police. And they were talking about my family’s golden bowl. He must have seen the picture I have or read the article in my scrapbook. I need to get my money back, and I need to save the bowl. I really don’t want to be a burden…”

  When Barbara Turner returned home that night, she listened to her messages. Fear and anger shot through her. She knew Dorsey. She’d try to handle this on her own.

  She called her grandmother immediately, but got the answering machine. She dialed frantically for the next hour. Dorsey never stayed out this late. Without bothering to pack a bag, Barbara caught a train from Penn Station to Philly.

  But when she got home, it was too late. She found Dorsey dead at the bottom of the stairs.

  CHAPTER 1

  Six months later

  Barbara Turner had timed her walk along the beach perfectly. It was eight-thirty in the morning. Bundled up against the cold ocean breeze, Minerva Stone came outside for a breath of fresh air with Lambert Hughes.

  In an isolated area off the marsh, Lambert’s house had as lovely an ocean view as Barbara’s. Only Barbara’s shoreline was sandy.

  Barbara felt like some lewd stalker peeping through trees and thick bushes. A wet leaf fell on her nose. Swiping it away, she glanced up. The limp brown leaves on the tree would fall with the next high wind.

  She wiggled her toes. Mud squished beneath her feet and soaked through her shoes. Her next trip to Virginia Beach, she was getting herself a pair of Timberlands. Uncomfortable and cold, she glared at the couple through small but powerful binoculars.

  Minerva urged Lambert to sit on the glider, and that tramp plopped her butt right beside him. There wasn’t an eighth of an inch of space between them. Using her foot, she pushed the glider to set it in motion. Dorsey had had one painted in blue and white when Barbara was a child.

  Minerva smiled up at Lambert and sidled closer, brushing her ample breast against his arm. Barbara watched with growing alarm when the woman took his wrinkled hand in hers and stroked it. Innocent lovers. She let his hand go and rubbed the inside of his thigh.

  Lambert was ninety-something, for heaven’s sake. Barbara watched with disgust as Minerva’s hand worked its way closer to his groin.

  Love between older couples was healthy and good, but this had nothing to do with love. Some massages were therapeutic, but not this one. Of course, if one had a sense of humor, this could be considered therapy of a sort.

  Minerva was somewhere between sixty and sixty-five, and wore every year on her face. Lambert was in surprisingly good health, but what would it do to him when he found out that Minerva didn’t love him, that she was out to get his money? Would he be too charmed by Minerva to believe she’d con him? The problem with situations like this was the victim was so enchanted with the swindler, he wouldn’t even believe he was victimized.

  Barbara shook her head. To the unsuspecting, they appeared to be a couple in love, a couple who’d weathered the pleasures and storms of a lifetime together and were now enjoying their sunset years.

  If he only knew, Barbara thought grimly, that it was all an illusion, a pretense of caring and love that Minerva used to build trust. Barbara felt saddened, not just that Minerva would get the opportunity to fleece him, but the emotional baggage she would leave behind was much worse. She’d give Lambert’s life purpose beyond golf and existing. His kids didn’t live close by. Minerva was someone to love. And who didn’t want that emotional connection even if the only pleasure he got was petting and touching? When you didn’t have it, it was one thing. But to have that illusion suddenly snatched away…

  Suddenly, Barbara felt sick. Her own life was as barren as Lambert’s. Once she returned to New York, she’d have her friends and activities to keep her busy. Except there was no New York for Lambert. His lonely life was here.

  But Barbara had woven her own illusions. Not only on the Stones, but on the island in general. She was known as the hot New York hairstylist and customers had come in droves. She had many more than she ever expected or wanted.

  Most parents encouraged their girls to learn typing skills to fall back on in hard times, but Dorsey had insisted Barbara learn the hairdressing trade. While her friends worked retail during summer vacations, Barbara had used hairdressing for spending money and to help pay college tuition.

  A beautician was a good cover. Everyone talked in hair salons. Most black women got their hair done. More than likely, Dorsey had bragged to the Stones about Barbara working on Wall Street. But Barbara didn’t think she’d mentioned the hairdressing.

  The phone rang and Barbara jumped. Fumbling in her pocket, she retrieved it before the sound carried to the house. A quick peek revealed Minerva hadn’t heard it.

  Barbara whispered a greeting.

  “Where are you?” her friend, Liane Harding, asked. “In a conference or something?”

  Barbara laughed. “I’m spying.” Liane had worked on Wall Street with Barbara.

  “So what’s going on?”

  “They finally found a mark. I was a little confused at first because Elliot usually does the cons, but this time he’s using his wife, Minerva.”

  “Who did they set up?”

  “My neighbor. His previous companion vanished a month ago. She was in her mid-twenties and people assume she left for a better job. And, of course, Minerva stepped right in to fill the void.
”

  “You think they did something to her?”

  “What else? They’ve done it before. More than likely, they’ll be out of here by Christmas. The bastards.”

  “Calm down, girl. They aren’t going to get away with it this time. You’ve got the old man’s back.”

  “I hope it’s enough.” Barbara slid the small binoculars into her jacket pocket and turned, striding quickly down the beach along the Atlantic. After standing still long enough for her body temperature to drop, the breeze grew uncomfortable and she pulled the collar tight against her neck, still talking to Liane.

  “It seems like such a coincidence they ended up there. Wouldn’t they have more sense than to go to a place Dorsey mentioned?”

  “What better place? This is the last place I would think to look for them. The only reason we were moving here in the first place was because Dorsey wanted to.”

  “Be careful, Barbara. It’s a small town. Don’t you think you can get the sheriff involved?”

  “I’m not taking that chance. The police in Philly couldn’t help. I don’t see why it’ll be different here. Besides, if I tell the sheriff, I won’t be able to retrieve the money and distribute it to the people they stole from.”

  “I worry about you.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “Famous last words. I have a meeting. Keep me updated and let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  “Thanks, Liane.” They disconnected and Barbara shoved the phone in her pocket.

  After the Stones fled Philly, Barbara hired a private investigator to find them. It had taken him a month to find them. She hadn’t expected them to be hiding out in Paradise Island, her grandmother’s home.

  Barbara lifted her face to the breeze. Although the Philly police hadn’t taken her accusations seriously, she believed Elliot had pushed Dorsey down the stairs, killing her in the fall. Dorsey had left Elliot’s address and Barbara had gone there with the police, but they’d already cleared out.