The Law of Attraction
Page 52

“Great,” Cam said without much enthusiasm.
“What? You would have rather been a pirate?”
“Maybe.” He smiled. “Would you be a wench?”
“It doesn’t matter what we are, actually, since we’re just dressing up in case something goes wrong and we have to try to get in or at least blend in outside this place. I should probably pick out something dominatrix-like too though.”
“Anyway,” he continued, “I set up a special e-mail account and I’ll get the location of the party and a code that morning. That night we’ll show up at nine and they give the doorman the code. They go in and from there it’s just like a cocktail party except that there are rooms where people have sex and do kinky things publicly and there are other rooms where they can do them privately if they prefer. He said that we could expect to see about twenty people there.”
“What if Cole’s with somebody?” Jess asked.
“Then you’ll have to distract her. Maybe Mark…”
“Could solicit a prostitute?” Jess asked.
“They’re not all professionals.”
“Right. Maybe he could just publicly screw an amateur.”
“Okay. Maybe not. We’ll play it by ear.”
“Speaking of prostitutes, what are we doing to get Marla’s sample?” Cam asked.
“Well, if her parents cut her off and she needs money she would probably be just as happy for a chance with you, Cam. You could go to her place and distract her, and Jess and I could sneak in and try to find something with her writing on.”
“Um, Gab?”
“Yes, Jess?”
“When you say, “sneak in” do you just mean trespass or actual breaking and entering? And when you say, “find something,” are you talking more like theft or receiving stolen property? Just asking.”
“Okay, technically, this may sound kind of illegal.”
“Cameron, let me just turn this into a teaching moment. When Gabrielle says something sounds ‘technically kind of illegal,’ that’s the same thing as ‘illegal’.”
“Okay. I have another idea then. Anything that’s thrown away is considered abandoned property. If she puts her trash out on the curb then it’s not on her private property and we’re not trespassing or stealing.”
“You want us to dig through Marla’s trash?” Cam asked, making a disgusted face.
“Fine. I’ll dig through her trash. You act as lookouts. In fact, maybe we should just take her trash with us to a safer location.”
“I’m not driving that night,” he replied.
“Jess can drive.”
“Only if we take your car, honey.”
“I have a Mini Cooper.”
“How much trash can she have?”
“Okay,” I said, reminding myself that they were doing me a favor. “We’ll take my car. You’ll drive. Cam can act as lookout and I’ll dig through the trash. If it seems unsafe to do so at that location I’ll take her trash. Does that work for everyone?” They both agreed and I hopped on the computer to check on trash pick-up times in Marla’s neighborhood.
“I think we should shoot for tomorrow night. We can go as soon as it gets dark and move fast. Hopefully, it won’t take more than an hour. And if we don’t get anything, then I’ll just have to think of something else.”
“We haven’t even thought about Mrs. Mason.”
“I know. I’ll have to give it some more thought.”
“So, do we get tonight off?” Jess asked.
“Sure, did you have plans?”
“No, how about you?”
“Braden wants me to come to game night with Mark and Adam again at his place.”
“Oh, are they watching the Phillies?” Cam asked.
“I guess. Do you guys want to come?”
“Sure!” Cam said enthusiastically.
“Sure,” Jess said, unenthusiastically.
At about six-fifteen Braden called up from the lobby and I buzzed him up. I went over to open the door when I heard him ring. He was standing in the hall with an adorable smile and I couldn’t help being charmed and smiling back. Then I heard it. A yip. I looked down. Way down.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“What in the hell is that?”
“This is Bruno.”
“Bruno? Braden, that’s a Chihuahua. Naming him Bruno won’t make him a bigger dog.”
“That was the name he came with.”
“And whose dog is this, Braden?”
“Bruno,” he said, addressing the dog. “This is mommy.”
“Mommy? Braden, this isn’t a baby. This is a dog. A very small dog.”
“Your building had strict size requirements.”
“And what do you think that Bruno would do if I were attacked? Trip the guy?”
“He would bark and alert people that you were in distress.”
“He would bark and alert people that there was an annoying little yippy dog around and they should head the other way.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, addressing Bruno. “Daddy will convince her.”
“Daddy? We’re the parents of a Chihuahua?”
“You never know what the future holds. It would be good practice.”
“For when we had puppies?”
“Can we come in?” I stepped aside. Braden took Bruno off of his leash and he promptly checked the place out and made it his own by peeing on a rubber tree plant. Bruno, not Braden.
“Hey!” Jess exclaimed. “Here, doggy!”
“He answers to Bruno,” I explained.
“Bruno?” She looked confused.
“Apparently Braden and I have a Chihuahua together.”
“I hope he has primary custody,” she said, following Bruno as he headed toward her room. “Wait, doggy. Don’t go in there!”
“Hello, Cameron,” Braden said.
“Hello, Braden. Nice dog. And, um, why?”
“She needs protection. Didn’t she tell you about the letter?”
“A Chihuahua?”
“I promised her father I would get her a dog and her building doesn’t allow pets over twenty lbs. Do you know how small that is? Bruno can bark as well as a big dog can. He’ll alert people.”
“Who’s going to take care of Bruno when I’m at work? He’ll be all alone. And I’ll have to walk him in the evenings. He’ll have to wait all day to pee.” I glanced at the plant. “He’d better wait.”