“Threaten you, mi amor? I’m hurt.” He gave her a playful pout. “How can you say that?”
“I can say that,” she said through clenched teeth, “because it’s true.” Stealthily, she shifted her purse closer to him. “Don’t you admit that you’ve called me after midnight, even at two in the morning?”
“But don’t you see? It is because I love you.”
“So you admit it.”
“Of course, mi amor. What won’t I do for love?” Raul was turning on his Latin charm now, full force.
“And you admit that you barged into my home?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘barged in’. You wanted me there. I could see it in your eyes. That’s why I came in.”
“And what about when you threatened violence if I showed interest in anyone else?” She was warming up to the questioning. She knew exactly what to ask to get him to tie himself up. She hadn’t watched all those episodes of ‘Law and Order’ for nothing.
“I never threatened you.” Raul’s brows fell. “All I said was, you’d better not-” He stopped short, his frown deepening. “Hey, why all these questions?” Still frowning, he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “What are you up to?”
Solie slid her hand across the table to draw her purse onto her lap. “Oh, nothing.” She shrugged then reached up to toy with her hair. A stray lock had fallen onto her cheek and she curled it around her finger, all the while giving him a coy smile. “I guess I’m still a little peeved that you’ve been so bossy to me. That’s not nice.”
“Ay, mi Solie, you know me so well. I must always be the man in charge.” Relaxing visibly, Raul unlocked his arms and leaned forward to take her hand. “Nobody knows me like you do.”
“Ah, yes, I know.” She was smiling back but inside she was frantically trying to figure out a way to beat a hasty retreat. She glanced at the thick gold watch on Raul’s wrist. “Oh, my Lord,” she gasped. “Look at the time. I had no idea it was so late.” She pulled her hand from his grasp, throwing him an apologetic smile. “I promised to watch the Jackson’s kids tonight while they go to the movies. You remember Rick and Shirley Jackson from across the street?”
He looked like he didn’t remember them nor did he really care. He just looked annoyed that she was about to leave. “Can’t someone else do it?”
“No. I promised.” Before he could find a way to stop her Solie gathered her purse to her and stood up. “I’m so sorry, Raul, but I’ll call you tonight. Promise.”
He opened his mouth as if to respond but by that time she was waving and backing away. As soon as she got the chance she whirled around and practically ran out of the restaurant, intent on getting as far away from him as possible. If he had any idea what she’d just done he would probably run after her and throttle her right there in the parking lot. She had to get away.
Solie didn’t breathe easy until she got home, went into the house and closed the door firmly behind her. She locked the doors, the windows, everything, then headed for her bedroom where she lounged around for a couple of hours before she picked up the phone. Now it was time to execute part two of her plan. Time to call Raul.
When he answered the phone he sounded sort of slow, almost sleepy. “Sol, you’re finished babysitting?”
If the situation weren’t so serious Solie would have laughed. He’d actually bought that story? “Raul,” she said, her voice cold, “I want you to leave me alone.”
“Huh, what?” That seemed to jerk him awake. “What are you saying? This evening-”
“Was a farce. I only asked you to meet me so I could get you to implicate yourself. And I did.” She sat up on the bed as she pressed the phone to her ear, feeling triumphant. “I got you to confess and I have it all on my digital recorder.”
“What the hell?” The words exploded into the phone, making Solie jump. “You played me? You were just toying with me?”
“You could say that. Now I have all that I need to make a formal report to the police. You can’t deny any of it. I have it on tape.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, wouldn’t I?” She was getting bolder by the minute and she was not afraid to let him know it. “If you set one foot on my property, if you even so much as try to call me, I’ll get you thrown in jail so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
Her declaration was greeted with silence. When Raul spoke again his voice was strained. “So that’s why you ran off so fast. You wanted to get away with your tape.”
“Of course,” she said, her tone almost flippant. “You didn’t think I would tell you this while sitting across the table from you, did you? You would have grabbed it or made me hand it over.”
His answer was a grunt of disgust or annoyance, she didn’t know which, but it didn’t really matter. He was trapped and there was nothing he could do about it. She was in total control and he knew it.
“Here’s the deal,” she said. “You stay the hell out of my life and you have nothing to worry about. But you just so much as take a breath in my direction and I’m going straight to the police. Got it?”
Another grunt.
“Got it?” she said again, more vehement this time.
“Got it.” It was little more than a mumble.
“Good.” And with that she hung up, satisfied that she’d eliminated the one obstacle to her happiness.
And when it came to getting rid of annoying pests, that was how you did it.
***
Saturday night was finally here. Time for her first real date with Ransom. She couldn’t count the day at the mall as a date, not when it had happened by chance, no matter how happy it had been. Tonight, though, she’d planned everything to a T – her clothes, her hairstyle and her make-up. Tonight she was going to be a knockout.