“I figured. Anyway, I told him I’d let you know. He’s asked me to do a portrait of his dad, too.” Frankie grinned. “He pretty much said money wasn’t an issue.”
“If he said it, he means it. You’re really getting busy, aren’t you?”
“Sort of,” Frankie said. She made a little face. “It almost feels too good to be true. I don’t want to jinx it, but things feel like they’re coming together in a way that’s heaven-sent.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Harper tipped her head toward the guest house. “I’ll check in with Jack, then get to work on some dinner.”
“Okay.” Frankie picked up her tablet.
Harper took the breezeway to the guest house, knocking on the door when she arrived.
Jack answered, wearing a bathrobe. His hair was damp, the smell of sandalwood and soap drifting off him. “Hey, there you are, man.”
“Did I come at a bad time?”
“No, just got out of the shower, it’s all good. Come on in. I was just about to make some grub.”
Harper stepped inside, closing the door behind her. “So am I when I get back to the house. Frankie said you were looking for me?”
“Yeah, I was.” He sighed. “She called me today. Monica. Asked when I was sending the money. I don’t know what to do.”
“You talked to her?”
“No way, man. She left a voicemail.”
Harper thought a moment. “That’s good.”
He frowned. “It is?”
“Sure. It’s proof that she’s trying to blackmail you. Get an attorney. Sue her for extortion.”
“You think I could?”
“Do you have any other proof?”
“I’ve had a few other phone calls with her, but nothing that was recorded.”
Harper sat on the arm of the couch. “Can I hear the call?”
He nodded and went into the bedroom, coming back with his phone. He tapped the screen a few times, then his voicemailrecording came on, the phone set to speaker. He punched in his pin number and selected the number to hear saved voicemail messages, then held the phone out before him.
A woman’s voice filled the room. “Hi, Jack. Guess who? Still waiting on that check you promised me.”
He shook his head at Harper. “I never promised her a check.”
The voicemail went on. “I’ll give you a few more days, but if I don’t hear from you soon, I’m going to have to…let’s just sayescalatethings. You know what I mean. Bye now.”
Harper sighed. “I’m not sure that’s enough for an attorney to act on. It sounds like she deliberately chose her words so as not to say anything incriminating.”
He stuck the phone into the pocket of his robe. “Yeah, it does.” He groaned softly. “What am I going to do?”
“Maybe you could text her back? Play dumb. But not so dumb she suspects anything. See if you can get her to text something incriminating.”
He shook his head. “I make my living being told what to say. I get what you want me to do, but I’m not sure I know what the right words are. Help me?”
“Sure, but I have a better idea. I think I do, anyway.”
He took a few steps forward, hope springing to life in his eyes. “What? Anything. Just tell me, I’ll do it, man, I swear.”
