Page 20 of Entertaining Distraction
Disconnecting the call, he stood. “Um, hi, Ms. Roth. I ... um ... didn’t expect you.”
Striding over, she gestured for him to sit as she took the seat across from him, setting his file down on the table in front of her. “You weren’t supposed to expect me, Jose. I’m sorry I interrupted your phone call.” Actually, she was curious about whomever he’d been talking to. His face had paled when he’d spotted her, and that, combined with him rushing to end the call, piqued her interest. “I hope everything’s all right.” She glanced at his phone and then back to his face.
“Um ... yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. That ... um ... that was ... my fiancée, Dina.”
Between her training to become a parole officer and a Domme, Charlotte had gotten very adept at reading a person’s body language and verbal responses. From how Jose’s eyes had shifted left before mentioning his fiancée, his stuttering, and the way he’d squirmed in his seat, she was positive he was lying to her. But why he was lying was something she had to figure out. Had he been talking to a girlfriend he had on the side he didn’t want anyone to know about? Or had he fallen back in with the wrong crowd? There could have been any other number of reasons he’d lied, but if she came right out and called him on it, he’d shut down completely. “How’re she and your son doing?”
“They’re ... um ... good, I guess.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “You guess? You mean you don’t know?”
“No! I mean, they’re fine. Dina and Tomas are just ... um ... visiting her parents for a few days so I haven’t ... haven’t really seen them. But they’re fine, really.”
Her eyes narrowing, she leaned forward. “Jose, what’s wrong? It’s obvious you’re upset about something. If you tell me, maybe I can help you.”
He stood and started pacing with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of the white pants that was part of the cooking staff’s uniforms. “Nothing’s wrong. Dina and I ... we just got into an argument, that’s all. She’s staying with her parents for a few days while she cools off. Nothing’s wrong, I swear.”
Charlotte still didn’t believe him, but when he wasn’t more forthcoming with anything while she glared at him, she changed the subject. “Okay. Then how are things here at work?”
The tension eased from his shoulders as he sat back down. “Good. I like the job a lot. I’ve been on time every day. The people are ... um really nice.”
“That they are.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s something you should know, Jose. I’ve known the owner and his family for several years now, so there’ll be times you may see me here when I’m not working. I just wanted you to be aware of that and not think that I’m here watching you.”
Surprise had flashed in his eyes when she’d said she knew Mike, but he nodded, his gaze darting everywhere but to her. “Oh, okay. Thanks ... thanks for ... um ... telling me. That’s exactly what I would’ve ... um ... I would’ve thought. I’m staying straight, Ms. Roth. No worries there.”
Uh-huh. Charlotte’s bullshit meter was bopping into the red. Something was up with Jose, and she hoped she wasn’t going to have to lock his ass back up. The first thing she could do was check him for weapons. Then she’d demand a urine test. Great. Just what she wanted to do before lunch. “Empty your pockets for me, Jose.”
His eyes widened briefly, but then he stood and started doing as he was told. He’d gone through this the first time she’d done a pop-by at the apartment he shared with Dina and Tomas. After tossing his wallet, a lighter, a half-empty pack of cigarettes, and a bus pass onto the table, he stepped back and let her look through the items. Charlotte examined and sniffed the cigarette package for signs of illegal drugs. Finding none, she went through his wallet. Nothing out of the ordinary there.
Gesturing to the picnic table, she said, “Assume the position.”
Placing his hands on the wood, he spread his legs. His head hung down between his shoulders as she patted him down from head to toe until she was satisfied he didn’t have anything an ex-con wasn’t allowed to have. “All right. You can take your things.” As he stuffed the items back into his pockets, she pulled a specimen cup in a sealed package from her purse. “Need a sample.”
When she held it out, he took it from her then gestured to the door. “There’s a bathroom off the kitchen for the help.”
She followed him inside and inspected every inch of the small room, including lifting the toilet’s tank lid. Once she was sure there was no hidden bottle of piss or anything that would alter the drug test results, she stepped out to let Jose in with a few orders. “Don’t flush or turn on the water. Leave the cup on the sink.”
Charlotte shut the door, and let him do his thing. It didn’t take long, and when he came out, she reentered to test the sample in the little plastic cup. Pulling on a pair of plastic gloves, she dipped the test strips into the urine one by one. There were twelve in all to detect marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines, methamphetamines, barbiturates, and six other categories of drugs.
After they all came back negative, she poured the last of the urine into the toilet and flushed it. Tossing the plastic cup and strips into the garbage, she turned to Jose who was waiting outside the door. “All good. You can go back to work. I’ll see you next Wednesday, right?”
“Yeah, Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Um ... I just have to wash my hands.” They changed places again, and after he was done, Jose nodded at her. “Thanks, Ms. Roth.”
As she watched him hurry back to his work station, she wasn’t sure what he’d been thanking her for, but she sensed it was because she’d dropped the line of questioning he’d been uncomfortable with. Charlotte was torn between mentioning her suspicions to Mike without evidence that something was up with his employee and waiting until she had evidence. She’d hate to have Mike fire him based on a hunch. After stewing over it for several moments, she decided to stay quiet for now. That didn’t mean she was dropping it though. Tomorrow or Friday, she’d do another drop-in at Jose’s apartment—this time, with a uniformed officer in tow.
Picking up the file, she made a few notes, then slid it into her large purse. As she cut through the kitchen, she gave Jose a final glance before heading into the main restaurant. She found Mike and his family still sitting there. Charlotte’s sandwich was on the table with a silver cover over it. When Mike saw her approaching, he stood, pulled out the chair for her, removed the lid from her lunch, then hurried over to the bar and got her a fresh Diet Coke. Nick chuckled at the other man, and both Jake and Charlotte glared at him. Wisely, the younger man wiped the grin from his face and held up his hands in silent surrender.
Once he was sure Charlotte had everything she needed, Mike sat back down next to her. While she ate, the conversation around the table resumed. From the sound of things, Mrs. Donovan was willing to go see the assisted living facility, but she was still not convinced it was the place for her. “There’s so much in the house. Where will it all go?”
Jake patted his mother’s arm. “The apartments are a nice size, Mom. You can take the things that mean the most to you, and if there’s not enough room for something, Nick and I or Mike will hold onto it for you. But there’s a lot in that house you don’t need anymore.”
“But it’ll take forever to go through everything.” She frowned. “Maybe I should just stay in my house. I’m comfortable there. Charlotte, what do you think? Are your parents still in their own home?”
Startled, Charlotte grabbed her napkin and held it in front of her mouth while she chewed and swallowed the bite of the sandwich she’d just taken. “Um. Actually, Mrs. Donovan, my mom passed away a few years ago, and about six months ago my dad moved into an assisted living facility near my sister in New Jersey, where I grew up. Like you, he was hesitant about it at first, but now that he’s there, he loves it. There are plenty of people his age to talk to. The staff is really nice, and every time I talk to Dad, he’s running off to participate in one activity or another. They have people who come in and do musical shows, teach yoga classes, and play games. He’s in a cribbage club with a few people, and they play three afternoons per week. Then at other times, the staff loads everyone into a bus they have and takes them out for a few hours for shopping or events. Dad really has a lot of fun. In fact ...” she added with a twinkle in her eye, “... my sister and I think he’s got a girlfriend there now, but he won’t admit to it yet.”
Mrs. Donovan grinned. “Well, good for him. Why shouldn’t he have a girlfriend? We old people aren’t dead yet. There’s still a lot of hot romance left in these bones.”
Wide-eyed, Nick, Jake, and Mike all coughed as if choking on their own tongues, to Charlotte’s immense amusement. Emma waved her hand in the air and chastised her sons. “Oh, hush. I know no one ever wants to hear about their parents having sex, but how do you think I got pregnant with you two. Just because your father’s dead doesn’t mean I am. Maybe I will check out this place. I wouldn’t mind a boyfriend who’s still up for it.”
As the Donovan boys had a combination of embarrassed pink and appalled green spread across their faces, Nick roared with laughter. “Way to go, Emma! Jake had a field day when Ian told me how he’d walked in on our folks going at it a few years ago. I’m so glad it was Ian and not me. I would’ve had to bleach my brain.”
Charlotte winked at Mike who shook his head in disbelief and chuckled. At least Mrs. Donovan was smiling again. Being part of a good, close family was something Charlotte knew well, however, with the physical distance between her and her dad and siblings, she missed feeling the comfort and sense of belonging that came with seeing them on a regular basis. But as she sat there with Emma, Nick, Jake, and Mike, she felt as if she’d come home to where she belonged—and damn, if that didn’t scare the crap out of her.
