Free Courting Disaster by Carol Stephenson

tax season managed to overcome anyone’s reservations.”
    The accountant had lost clientele over the scandal. Chalk up another motive for murder. Drew could have killed his lover in passion, but Borys’s murder had been cold and calculated. However, I wasn’t about to push any buttons to find out.
    “Where did Borys keep his business records?”
    Drew shrugged. “In his office at home. Would you like to see his room?”
    “You bet.” I gave a slight nod toward the fertilizer plant. “Have you found any reason why Borys may have been afraid of working here?” I could feel sweat trickling along my temple and ran my fingers through my hair.
    Drew watched my movement. “He called you Natasha after his favorite Bullwinkle character because of your dark hair.”
    My neck muscles were protesting my holding the phone to my ear for so long. “Yeah, I never quite got that as I’ve always worn my hair short.” The better to ignore its baby fine straightness. “The cartoon character wore hers long.”
    Drew shrugged a shoulder. “I think it had more to do with the tilt of your eyes. It gives your face a rather exotic touch.”
    I looked so exotic that I would run right out and became a belly dancer. Not.
    “I was jealous of you, you know.”
    That statement got my attention. “Huh?”
    “I thought Borys had a crush on you. He gave you his most prized DVD collection of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show for safekeeping. It hurt that he didn’t trust me with his damn collection.”
    He glanced at his watch. “I must go back inside. Can you meet me in an hour at the house?”
    I glanced at my watch. Enough time to check in at the office and tell my partners about the lost account. Fun.
    “I’ll be there.”
    “Do you remember the address?”
    Without thinking, I rattled off a street address in Delray Beach.
    “That’s it.”
    Of course it was. It had numbers in it. Whatever changes were happening to me, my photographic memory for figures remained intact.
    “Thank you, Miss Dent.” Drew hesitated. “Be careful. I think Borys was into something way over his head.”
    Like drug smugglers. “You need to be careful as well.”
    “Everything that mattered to me died a year ago, Miss Dent. I have little left to fear.” He began to step back and then paused, looking embarrassed.
    “I’m sorry. All this time I’ve never contacted you, didn’t want any reminders of his death. But Borys gave me a message for you in case you didn’t drop by the jail that day. The message made no sense, and then with his death…” Drew shrugged. “But he made me promise and I’d like not to fail him again.”
    “What was the message?” I asked quietly.
    “He said, ‘Tell Natasha that I’m sorry. I’m trying to fix things but that she may have to go to the ride after all.’”
    “Have to go to the ride? Did he mean ‘take a ride’?” Had my client messed up the American expression? His English had been impeccable, but colloquiums gave him pause.
    “I asked him but he insisted that I give you this exact message. He said you would know the ride when you saw it.”
    How strange. I’d certainly been on a ride since the shooting, but how did Borys’s message relate to money laundering?
    “I have to go.” Drew disappeared into the coverage of the palms.
    I gingerly slid onto the fabric-covered front seat. Although one rental car had enticed me with a leather interior, all it took was sun-baked leather searing the back of your thighs one time to learn a valuable lesson. I fitted the key into the starter, cranked the AC to full blast and sped out, hopefully leaving the fertilizer plant for the last time.
     
    My pit stop at the office lasted longer than I anticipated, so I was running late for my meeting with Drew by the time I left. Fortunately, both Kate and Nicole had been in court, and I’d been able to postpone telling them the bad news about Rocket. I wound through the warren of streets, making my way toward the entrance