Nosy by Nature Page 8

  But even though Daphne’s ass felt like it was on fire, her pussy was absolutely drenched. Still holding onto the tiled wall with one hand, she reached down with the other to give her throbbing clit some much needed attention. She made slow circles with her fingers at first, then gradually quickened her pace until she could feel her orgasm beginning to build. It started directly beneath her fingers, then slowly spiraled outward until her entire body was trembling with it.

  Daphne always came hard when she touched herself, but doing it while Zak watched made her orgasm even more mind blowing. She climaxed so hard, she made herself dizzy. When she was done, all she could do was lean against the wall and try to catch her breath.

  “You have no idea hot that was,” Zak rasped in her ear. “I can’t wait any longer. I need to be inside you.”

  Putting the bath brush on one of the shower’s built-in ledges, he reached down to give her ass a firm squeeze. She let out a little moan and pressed back against his hand.

  Chuckling softly in her ear, Zak gave her ass another squeeze before sliding his hand between her legs to dip his finger into her pussy. She was wet and more than ready for him to be inside her. With a groan, he slid his finger out of her pussy. Repositioning himself so that he was standing behind her, he grasped her hips in his hands and plunged into her with one, deep thrust.

  Daphne caught her breath as he filled her. She couldn’t decide what felt better, his hard cock inside of her or his hips grinding up against her tender bottom. She gave up trying to decide and just reveled in both sensations.

  As Zak plundered her with each and every thrust, something told her this wasn’t going to be some slow, languid lovemaking session. That was more than fine with her. With all of the foreplay from the spanking he’d given her, as well as the way she’d been priming herself with her own fingers, she was more than ready to come again.

  Daphne slipped her fingers down between her legs again to touch herself again. Between the fast circles she was making on her clit and Zak’s hard cock pumping into her, she immediately began to spiral out of control in pleasure. She cried out and pushed her ass back against her husband, wanting him to come at the same time with her.

  As if reading her mind, Zak tightened his hold on her hips and began to pull her back even harder against him. A moment later, he let out a hoarse groan of release as he reached his own climax. The knowledge that he was coming made Daphne’s own orgasm that much more intense and she reached up with her free hand to thread her fingers in his hair as he buried his face in the curve of her neck.

  Zak chuckled softly as he nuzzled her ear. “Now look what you’ve gone and done. I’m sweatier now than I was when I finished mowing the lawn. I’ll have to shower all over again.”

  Daphne grinned. “That’s good,” she said as she turned in his arms. “Because I didn’t get a chance to lather you up before.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he said. “I think you lathered me up nicely.”

  She laughed and she reached for the shower gel.

  * * * *

  Daphne wasn’t sure how she and Zak managed to make it to dinner on time that night, considering they spent the rest of the afternoon in bed making love and totally lost track of time. But somehow, they had gotten showered and dressed and were on the Anderson’s doorstep promptly at six o’clock.

  As they stood waiting for their neighbors to answer the door, Daphne felt Zak lean in close to whisper in her ear.

  “Behave yourself tonight,” he warned softly.

  As he spoke, her husband moved his hand from her waist to the curve of her derriere, making it quite clear the spanking Daphne would be in for if she didn’t.

  Daphne opened her mouth to tell him that she would be on her best behavior, but the door opened before she could answer. Zak, however, couldn’t resist giving her bottom a light, little lovepat as a reminder under the guise of ushering her into the entryway when John invited them inside.

  “I’m so glad you two could come,” Claire said, giving them a warm smile. Then her brow furrowed a little as her gaze settled on the plate of brownies Daphne held. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”

  Daphne returned Claire’s smile. “It was no trouble,” she insisted as she handed the plate to the other woman.

  John gestured to the couch. “Have a seat and I’ll get you something to drink.”

  While John went to get their drinks, Claire joined them in the living room. As she sat down on the couch alongside Zak, Daphne let her gaze wander around the house. She couldn’t help but notice that though it was beautifully decorated, there weren’t any of the usual personal touches that she expected to see. Which wasn’t unusual, she supposed, considering she had found a box of photo albums and picture frames in the trash the other day.

  Abruptly remembering Zak’s warning to behave herself, Daphne pushed aside any thoughts of the photo albums and concentrated on having a good time. It had been so long since she and Zak had been invited to a neighbors’ house for dinner and she was going to enjoy it.

  During dinner, the conversation centered on the other couple and how they were settling into the area. John told them he liked the realty company he was working for while Claire excitedly announced she had found the perfect little spot in the downtown area for the gallery she was going to open.

  As they had coffee and dessert, however, the topic drifted from how expensive it was to finance a gallery to the subject of personal finances. Zak mentioned a new retirement plan that was being offered at the police station, asking what John thought about it.

  The other man laughed. “Claire is the one you should be asking about that,” John said. “I just sell property. She’s the financial whiz.”

  Daphne’s brow furrowed at that. As she listened to Zak and Claire discuss retirement plans, she couldn’t help but remember the newspaper articles she’d read about John and Claire earlier that day. They had said the couple had been suspected of laundering money. From the sounds of it, if any money laundering had been going on, then Claire would have been the one doing it. But that couldn’t possibly be true, Daphne told herself. Claire seemed like too much of a sweetheart to be involved in something like that.

  But what if Daphne were wrong? What if the newspapers had gotten it exactly right? She and Zak could be living next door to criminals.

  Daphne wanted to tell Zak what she suspected, but she knew there was no way she’d be able to bring herself to do it. He would demand proof and when she couldn’t give him any, he would spank her so hard she wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week. If she was going to go any further with this, then she was going to have to dig even deeper into their new neighbors’ privacy. She hated to do it, but it was going to drive her crazy if she didn’t find out what their friends were hiding.

  Chapter 6

  Though Daphne had been torn all weekend about what to do, she finally came to the conclusion on Monday morning that it wouldn’t hurt to dig a little bit more into John and Claire’s background. She needed to know what they were hiding and the best way to do that was talk to the lead detective who had investigated the case. But as she sat at the kitchen table with the cordless phone in her hand, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to go through with it. The last time she had stuck her nose into something like this, she had destroyed a friendship. Did she really want the same thing to happen with Claire?

  Daphne sat staring at the phone in her hand for a long time, going back and forth about what she should do. Finally, she shook her head. It was no use. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she shouldn’t do it, ultimately it came down to one thing. She couldn’t stand not knowing the truth.

  Glancing at the number she had written down earlier, Daphne dialed the police department in Miami and waited anxiously for someone to answer. She probably wouldn’t be able to get through to Martin Thompson anyway. To her surprise, however, the officer who answered the phone immediately connected her to him.

  For a moment, Daphne�
�s mind went blank as she completely forgot the story she had made up. She stammered for a few seconds, trying to remember the cover story she had come up with over the weekend. Finally, she got the words out.

  “Detective Thompson, I’m Jennifer Evans from the Virginia Beach Sentinel,” she said, naming the local area newspaper. “I’m doing a story on how the drug cartels in Miami are moving their drugs up the eastern seaboard and since your name came up quite frequently during my research, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. I promise it will only take a few minutes of your time.”

  Daphne held her breath as she waited for Martin Thompson’s reply. Most cops didn’t like reporters, so by using that cover story, she was taking a risk that he would hang up on her. But a common citizen asking detailed questions about a drug case would certainly have aroused his suspicions. So, it was either pretend to be a reporter or impersonate a cop, and she decided it would be way too easy to get tripped up if she said she was a cop. To her relief, however, Detective Thompson didn’t seem to mind talking to reporters at all. In fact, he seemed to like the idea of getting his name in the newspaper.

  She started out with background questions, first focusing on Detective Thompson, then drug cartels in general After that, she slowly worked around to the Meradino crime family and their money laundering operations.

  “I’ve heard the Meradinos use realty companies to help launder their money,” she said. “Is that true?”

  “Unfortunately, we were never able to prove that,” Thompson said. “But it’s common knowledge that the Meradinos have used at least one realty company to launder their drug money.”

  Daphne listened with fascination as he explained how a drug cartel went about doing that, and she was stunned to learn how complicated the whole thing was. She could certainly understand why it would be hard to prove anything about it in court. She could barely comprehend it herself and she doubted most juries would either.

  “This is very helpful, Detective,” she said when he had finished. “It really ties in well with the angle of my story on how drug cartels insinuate themselves into the legitimate business community. In fact, just to emphasize the point, I was going to mention the case of John and Claire Fredericks. Can you give me any details about them?”

  “Where did you hear about them?” Thompson asked.

  Daphne shrugged. “I just came across their names when I was doing some research for my story,” she said smoothly. “I read that they were killed several months ago when their boat exploded and that they were neck deep in this whole money laundering scheme.” She paused, then added, “You were the investigating officer on that, weren’t you?”

  “Actually, I was,” he said. “You’re certainly thorough in your research.”

  She felt a surge of pride. “Thank you. So, do you think you might be able to give me some more information on exactly what happened? I wouldn’t want to get any of the facts wrong.”

  Detective Thompson was silent for so long that Daphne thought she had pushed too far, too fast.

  “Of course this is all conjecture on my part,” he finally said. “We were never able to prove it, but it’s our belief that the Fredericks were more than just passively involved in the money laundering operation. Not only do we think they were running the entire scheme for the Meradinos, but that they were also becoming involved in the movement of the drugs as well.”

  Her grip tightened on the phone. “Really? I didn’t read anything about that.”

  “And you wouldn’t have. The DA’s office was just putting the case together when the Fredericks’ boat exploded, killing them and putting an end to the investigation.”

  Daphne said nothing for a moment. “Could you ever connect the explosion to the Meradinos?” she asked.

  “Nothing conclusive. It’s possible, of course, though it’s more likely that the Fredericks were trying to make a run for it, and in their haste, caused an accidental explosion that resulted in their deaths.”

  Daphne felt ill. Oh God. Claire and John must have blown up their own boat to make it look like the Meradinos had killed them. This as good as proved that they really were criminals.

  “I was wondering if I could have your email, Ms. Evans,” Detective Thompson said into the silence.

  Daphne was so deep in thought that it took her a moment to comprehend what he’d just said. “M-my email?”

  “So I can send you some other information on the case,” Thompson explained.

  “Oh! Actually, I think I have everything I need,” she said, then adding a quick, “Thank you,” she hung up before he could say anything else.

  Daphne cringed as she stared down at the phone. She probably shouldn’t have hung up on the detective like that. It might have made him suspicious. But it was just so incredible to think John and Claire were not only involved in money laundering, but drug trafficking, too. They both seemed so nice. But Detective Thompson wouldn’t have said all those things if he hadn’t been sure about them.

  She chewed on her lower lip. Why hadn’t she told Detective Thompson that John and Claire hadn’t died in a boat explosion, but instead, were living next door to her? If her neighbors were dangerous criminals, then it would have been the right thing to do.

  But despite what she had learned, it didn’t feel like the right thing, and as the day wore on, Daphne began to regret calling Detective Thompson at all. On the one hand, Claire and John had been nothing but good friends to her and Zak. And she was definitely in short supply of good friends these days. On the other hand, it was possible that Claire and John were wanted criminals on the run from the police.

  After Daphne thought about it a little while longer, it really wasn’t that hard to decide what to do. On her scale, keeping a friend was way more important than exposing some alleged criminals. The Miami police might have their suspicions, but for all she knew, Claire and her husband could be completely innocent. Regardless, if they were on the run, they weren’t involved in any criminal activity now. If anything, they were trying to get away from it.

  As Daphne made dinner that night, she frowned as she thought back to her earlier conversation with Detective Thompson. Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about anyone finding out that Claire and John were still alive. The cops in Miami thought they were dead and since she wasn’t going to tell anyone they weren’t, everything should be fine. She was glad now that she hadn’t said anything to tip off Thompson. She had done that right, at least.

  But even with that weight off her mind, she would have liked to talk to Zak about the whole thing and get his take on it anyway. She knew she couldn’t, though. Aside from the fact that he would give her one heck of a spanking for snooping again, she just couldn’t bear to see the look of disappointment in his eyes when she confessed that the snooping she’d been up to lately made all the other stuff look like child’s play.

  Besides, if she did tell Zak, he might want to investigate their new neighbors. If her suspicions about John and Claire were wrong, then she would end up destroying their friendship with the other couple. Her compulsion to stick her nose where it didn’t belong had already ruined one friendship and she wasn’t going to let it happen again.

  * * * *

  Daphne was just finishing up with the laundry when Claire came over to see her the next day.

  “I found the perfect spot to open my gallery,” she said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Want to come take a look at it with me?”

  Daphne nodded. After sleeping on it, she was more sure than ever that she had made the right decision not to tell anyone else her suspicions about John and Claire. The other woman was just so nice and friendly that there was no way she could have been involved in all of those things that Detective Thompson seemed to think she was.

  As they drove downtown, the other girl told her all about the store space she had leased and when they got there a half hour later, Daphne had to admit Claire had been right. The place would be absolutely perfect for a gallery. Not only was
the building smack dab in the middle of the tourist part of town with tons of foot traffic passing by, but it also had an extremely inviting storefront that was bound to bring people in as well. The floor plan was fantastic, with lots of small rooms that would work great for showing off the art. There were even skylights, which made the place look bright and airy.

  “Claire, this is great!” Daphne said as she walked around the empty building. “It must cost a fortune to lease, though.”

  Her friend smiled. “It is pricey, but I couldn’t pass it up. And for the amount of foot traffic moving through here, the price is actually pretty reasonable. I can’t wait to get all the art in here.” She walked over to where Daphne stood. “Hey, you know, I could really use your help deciding where to hang the paintings. You said you had an art background, right?”

  Daphne’s eyes went wide. “Well, I have an art history degree, but I really haven’t done a lot with it. I’m definitely not an art expert.”

  Claire nodded enthusiastically. “It’s more about good taste than being an expert. I’ve seen the way you’ve decorated your house and it looks great. I definitely think I could trust your judgment. I couldn’t really pay you anything right now, but once the gallery is up and running, that would certainly change. What do you think? It’d be a lot of fun.”

  Daphne chewed on her lower lip as she considered the other woman’s offer. She had to admit it did sound like fun. And she’d finally get to use her degree, which would make her parents very happy.

  When she continued to hesitate, Claire held up her hands. “No pressure, okay? Just think about it.”