Raising Prosperity Read online

  “Ooookay. Care to explain?”

  “I caught my tie in the car door when I was getting out to meet Apex at the bar.” He rubbed cautiously at his neck. “It’s a miracle I’m still here.”

  “How was your meeting with Apex?” Prosperity just couldn’t bring herself to call it a date.

  “It was … productive. She’s a lovely young lady.”

  “I’m sure. What do you mean by productive?”

  “She was surprisingly willing to open herself up.”

  “How lovely for you.” Prosperity felt unexpectedly tense.

  She silently ‘ohmmmmed’, remembering to use some of Serendipity’s tried and true meditation techniques to calm herself. She needed to go buy some rose quartz crystal and a lump of amethyst to keep on her desk for moments like this.

  Reuben looked as if he was about to say something more but instead he pointed at her sheaf of notes. “I’ve been through mine twice now. Have you found anything worth discussing?”

  “I was about to read through all that we have on Pinnacle again. I know it isn’t much, but every bit helps.” She tapped the end of the pen against her bottom lip. “Did Apex tell you anything about her daddy?”

  “She’s very protective of him. They seem to have a close relationship. He raised her as a single parent after the death of her mother from an overdose.”

  Prosperity raised an eyebrow. “His partner overdosed? I guess that makes him staunchly anti-drugs.”

  “I don’t know about that. I probed in as far as she’d let me but I backed off once she started giving me the signals.” Reuben’s eyes glazed over as he rubbed again at the bruise on his neck.

  “TMI.” Prosperity dropped her gaze back down to her folder of notes. “As long as you enjoyed yourself I guess that’s all that matters.”

  “Yeah, I enjoyed myself. Anyway, I should get back to it. Time to make like a tree and leaf.”

  He was nearly at the door when she suddenly remembered the ice hockey tournament. “Hey, a friend of mine is playing in the Police vs Fire Ice Hockey match tomorrow. Are you on the cops’ team? I thought I might go along to watch.”

  Reuben blinked, obviously caught off guard by this news. “A friend of yours is on the Fire team? I didn’t know that.”

  “I didn’t know it either until yesterday. Will you be playing?”

  “I will.” He gave her a long, hard look as he left her office. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the ice arena.”

  15

  Fight on the Ice

  The ice hockey game had already started by the time Prosperity parked the Beetle in the parking bay next to Madame Ruth and bought herself a ticket. The match—or game, or whatever hockey contests are called—had drawn a good crowd and she pushed along the middle row, looking for an empty seat. A middle-aged man hastily scooped his discarded jacket up and sat it on his lap as she approached and Prosperity plonked herself down beside him.

  “Who’s winning?”

  “The firefighters. At this stage anyway.” His eyes roamed over her before coming back to rest on her face. “Are you here by yourself?”

  She smiled thinly as she shuffled an inch or two away from him. “I’m spectating by myself, but I guess you could say I’m not exactly alone. I’m here to watch two of my friends play.”

  He was still staring at her and she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. She gazed around, wondering if she could find another empty seat anywhere else.

  “Say, don’t I know you from somewhere?” His expression was distinctly lecherous now and he’d somehow already managed to close the small gap she’d made between them.

  She pulled her eyebrows into a deep frown as she gave him a quick once over. She had to admit that he did look kind of familiar but then again, she’d had plenty of beer-bellied, middle-aged men leering at her during her stint at Tail Spinners. From the blatant way he was staring at her, as if he was about to pull out his wallet and ask for a lap dance, he certainly seemed the type to frequent a strip joint.

  “I don’t think so,” she said, inserting a pointed ‘back off, buddy’ edge into her voice.

  “Ever worked at a place called Tail Spinners?” It was obvious that the man wasn’t about to give up easily.

  Prosperity stared straight ahead. “Never heard of it.”

  The play-by-play commentator’s voice crackled excitedly across the rink. “Well, as I said before this game began, this player was the one to watch and it looks like he’s about to prove me right.”

  She sat up and craned her neck to see over the heads of the people in the rows in front of her, attempting to glimpse the player who the commentator was talking about. The crowd suddenly roared, a great rushing crescendo of noise that rose like a wave, and jumped as one to their feet. Prosperity jumped up to join them.

  “What’s happening?”

  “Someone’s down on the ice.” Her seat companion, standing at a good eight inches taller than Prosperity, had no problem seeing the arena. “An accident of some sort.”

  He said it with relish, as if this was exactly what he’d come along today to see.

  “Is he all right?” Prosperity still couldn’t see anything other than the back of the people in the next row’s heads.

  Frustrated now, she zipped past her dubious new friend and hurried down the middle aisle to the edge of the rink.

  The sportscaster’s amped-up voice flooded the rink. “Jiminy, it looks like we have a fight on our hands. This is unprecedented folks, unprecedented. I’ve never seen the likes at a charity game and I’ve seen my share of matches over the past two decades. Randy, have you ever seen anything like this before?”

  “No, Dick, I can’t say I have. I remember I was commentating an ice hockey match down in Tennessee in ’89 and a couple of players … whoa! Did you see that? Is someone going to stop them? Get security out there now!”

  Prosperity had finally reached the fence that bordered the rink and got her first real glimpse of the game, although there was no game underway right now. Instead, the players stood milled around in a semi-circle as a beefy man wearing a red uniform with a stylized flame on the back grappled with a man in a blue uniform bearing a large cartoonish Sheriff’s star logo. The man in red was still wearing his hockey headgear but the man in blue had removed his and there was no doubt who it was—she’d recognize that Romanesque profile anywhere.

  She shoved her way through the booing, catcalling crowd as she attempted to make her way around to the players’ entrance beneath the Bud Light sign. The two commentators’ voices were still floating across the sound system as they incredulously debated the unlikelihood of a fistfight occurring during a charity match. The crowd’s shouts were deafening. Her anger propelled her on; anger at Ruby that he would choose to make such a fool of himself in front of all these people and anger at the man who’d dared to raise his hands to attack her dear friend.

  She reached the entrance at last, ignoring the shouts of the game attendants who told her to stop, and marched out onto the ice. Oblivious to anything other than breaking up the fight and giving Ruby his pedigree, she stomped past the two teams and security men to grab hold of the back of Ruby’s shirt.

  “Reuben Jackson, what in the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  Prosperity had heard the term Silence is Golden before—heck, it was one of her mama’s favorite sayings—but this was the first time she’d ever seen it come to life in living, breathing color. The entire arena fell into a deathly hush, the two players standing before her dropped their hands from each other’s bodies, and even the effusive commentators appeared to hold their breath while they waited to see what would happen next.

  “Errr, lady.” One of the security guards placed a tentative hand on her elbow. “You shouldn’t be out on the ice without any protective gear. Perhaps you should go back to your seat.”

  “Don’t touch me,” Prosperity hissed, shaking off his hand. She did not take her eyes off Reuben as he slowly turned to face h
er. “Ruby? Can you explain this? Have you completely lost your mind?”

  “Prosperity!” To Prosperity’s horror, the player in the red shirt unhooked his headgear and stared at her in open-mouthed shock. “What are you doing out on the ice? Go back to your seat.”

  “Blaine!” Prosperity felt as if she’d just stumbled onto the set of a black comedy. She stared between the two men, feeling her entire body vibrate with barely suppressed fury. “The two of you have made utter idiots of yourself in front of the whole island. You’re a disgrace to your uniforms.”

  Reuben and Blaine had the grace to look shamefaced. Reuben made the first move, holding out his hand to shake Blaine’s in a peace offering of sorts. “Sorry, buddy. No hard feelings.”

  Blaine pursed his lips, hesitating a bit too long for Prosperity’s liking, and she punched him on the bicep with her closed fist. “Well? What have you got to say for yourself?”

  “No hard feelings,” Blaine grunted, reluctantly shaking Ruby’s hand for the briefest of seconds before dropping it again. “Although you started it,” he muttered in an ungracious display of poor sportsmanship.

  “And I’m finishing it,” Prosperity said firmly. “Are you two boys going to allow the game to continue in a civilized manner? Plenty of folks have turned out today to see a decent game of ice hockey for a very worthy cause.”

  The crowd stamped their feet and roared their disapproval—apparently, they were not above a good fight on the ice.

  “I’m in.” Ruby strapped on his headgear and picked up his hockey stick from where it lay on the ice. “Where were we?”

  “You still on for dinner after the game, Prosperity?” Blaine gave his hockey stick a warm up thump on the ice, apparently unaware that the entire arena was now waiting with bated breath for the game to resume.

  “Actually, no.” Her tone was cool enough to become part of the ice rink. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

  She turned a steely gaze on Ruby.

  “And I’ll see YOU in the parking lot as soon as you’ve finished up here.”

  “It’s a terse standoff, folks,” Randy, obviously recovered from his shock, gushed through the loudspeaker. “I said before the game began that those players were the ones to watch, didn’t I, Dick?”

  “You did Randy, you did.”

  The referee blew his whistle and Prosperity threw one final, frosty glare at Ruby before turning on her heel and leaving the rink. She pushed through the gawking spectators and made for the exit, needing to get herself as far away as possible from those two idiot men and their ridiculous antics. So much for a pleasant afternoon watching a competitive and skilled game of hockey.

  She wandered across the parking lot, feeling irrationally disappointed by Ruby’s antics. He was someone she respected and looked up to. She might’ve expected that appalling show of ego from Blaine, but not Ruby. She sat in the car and stared out the window, wondering what had caused the fight in the first place. Unfortunately, her lack of a decent view and the distraction offered by the man in the seat beside her meant she hadn’t seen the lead up. Ruby sure had some explaining to do.

  Fifteen minutes later, still lost in her thoughts, she looked up when Ruby tapped on the car window. He turned his mouth up in a sheepish grin and indicated for her to unlock the door. She held his gaze, in half a mind to start the car and leave, but instead she sighed and opened the door.

  “What?”

  16

  Change of Plans

  “I’m sorry you had to see that, Prosperity.”

  “I’m sorry I had to see it too. What were you thinking?”

  They were taking a walk through the park next to the ice arena and Prosperity was still trying to make sense of Ruby and Blaine’s mid-rink brawl.

  “I didn’t know he was your friend.” Ruby’s voice held a sharp note of condemnation that Prosperity knew she didn’t deserve.

  “What’s that got to do with anything? You were supposed to be playing a charity match. No one in his right mind starts a punch up during a live game. Did you forget that half of the island was watching?” She sighed again. “I seem to recall that Blaine said you started it.”

  “I would contest that point. If he hadn’t shoved in like he did, the altercation would never have happened.”

  Prosperity was suddenly exhausted beyond reason with the entire incident. “Can we drop it now? Just be aware that it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever bother to offer to watch you play in future.”

  “I seem to remember that you were going to the arena to watch your friend.” He said the word as if it were something nasty he’d found on the bottom of his shoe. “The fact that I was playing was completely incidental.”

  “Whatever. The point remains that two grown men decided to act like babies at a charity event and I had to go out there and pull you apart.”

  They’d started on a second circuit of the park. Prosperity glanced over to the parking lot to see Madame Ruth chugging toward the exit, although she was unable to see Blaine from here.

  “I am allowed to have friends, Ruby. Speaking of which, you never got around to telling me much about your date with the delectable Apex.”

  Ruby, suddenly defensive, put his hand up to cover the fading bruise on his neck. “What do you want to know?”

  “What do you want to tell me?” Prosperity countered.

  “She’s very attractive. Small but well-formed, if you know what I mean. Has very soft … ” He seemed to lose his train of thought for a few seconds. “Hands. She has very soft hands. And a way of looking at a person as if he’s the only man in the room.”

  Prosperity mentally rolled her eyes. “Go on.”

  “She was at the party that Ophelia attended, although I can’t remember seeing her interview notes. She said she knew Ophelia distantly but I had the feeling she wasn’t being altogether truthful. However, she did admit that Pinnacle and Ophelia had dated a few times but she said her comment was strictly off the record.”

  “Interesting. Seems we need to set up an interview with Pinnacle now that it’s confirmed he and Ophelia were an item. Is he still on the island?”

  “Not currently. He’s in Vegas doing a show but Apex said he’s due back on Wednesday.”

  “Great.” Prosperity sunk back into her own thoughts, unable to stop her mind wandering back to the debacle at the ice rink.

  She remembered the man in the stands who’d recognized her from Tail Spinners. She shouldn’t have been surprised to be recognized; she’d had plenty of avid fans when she was one of the Spinner girls.

  “Ruby!” She suddenly grabbed his arm and shook him hard. His sheepish look immediately returned and he looked decidedly nervous.

  “I had the impression we were going to move on from the hockey fight.”

  “No, I’m not talking about the fight. Tail Spinners! Don’t you see? It’s another Spinner reference! Do you think the club could have anything to do with the note in Ophelia’s bra?”

  “The strip club?” He looked doubtful now. “I can’t see any connection. It’s not the type of place that Ophelia would frequent.”

  “Maybe not, but what if her killer did? What if he works there?”

  “Why wouldn’t she have just written Tail Spinners on the note if that were the case?”

  “Why wouldn’t she have written anything on the note other than Clutch Cargo? It’s still a lead worth investigating.”

  “You’re right. I’ll send Ryley down there on Monday for a sniff around.” Reuben pulled his notebook from his pocket and scrawled a few words. “How are you getting on with the case of the lunchroom thief?”

  “I don’t have a great deal of time to work on it but Ryley has an idea that he plans to try out next week.”

  “Are you coming in on Tuesday again?” They’d completed their second circuit of the park and had now arrived back at the entrance to the rink parking lot, which was nearly empty. Reuben glanced over at his car. “I should make like a m
issile and cruise.”

  “Yeah, I should go too. I’ll try to get into the office on Tuesday.” Prosperity hunted for her keys in her bag and noticed the bag of candy Blaine had given her. “How did your niece like her little charm?”

  “She loved it. I’m her favorite uncle right now.” He tossed his own keys in the air and caught them. “It’s nice to be someone’s favorite person.”

  “It’s lucky she wasn’t here today to see your little performance then, wasn’t it?”

  Prosperity walked over to the Beetle, opening the pack of candy as she walked. You had to take the sweet with the sour in life and that uncalled for fight at the rink had definitely left a sour taste in her mouth. She’d let Blaine know on Monday just how she felt about it, if he hadn’t already got the message loud and clear.

  She sat in the car munching on candy as Ruby left in his vehicle, absentmindedly reading the package in her hand. Blue Jay Candy For Your Daily Burst of Happiness! According to the sticky label on the front of the bag, every pack purchased could have a ‘lucky charm’ inside. The more packs you buy, the higher your chances of winning! Mildly interested, she rooted around in the bag in the hopes of finding a trinket but it seemed her pack contained only candy. Still, it was very tasty candy. She tossed the remainder of the bag onto the seat beside her and started the engine. Her evening was free now that she’d canceled her date with Blaine and it seemed as good a time as any to drive down to Menemsha Public Beach to watch the sunset.

  She found a place to park in the lot near Spinner McKee’s iron likeness and wandered down to join the small crowd gathered on the sand. The evening was still and pleasantly warm, and the scent of fried fish and clams floated on the air. She found a comfy place to sit on the cooling sand, smiling to see a little girl in a spotted pink and white bikini toddling into the gentle surf under her mother’s watchful gaze. The remainder of the family, a boy of around seven and his father, looked on from a blanket spread on the sand not far from where Prosperity sat.