Sunset Beach(130)

“Come on in,” Yvonne said, after Drue knocked on the screen door.

“What’s wrong with your car?” Drue asked, following Yvonne into the living room.

“What’s not wrong with it?” Yvonne said, seating herself in the recliner. “Needs new tires, new battery, new everything. My nephew’s supposed to start working on it, when he gets the time.”

“How do you get to work?” Drue asked.

“Sometimes I get a ride from somebody, but mostly I just take cabs,” Yvonne said resignedly.

Drue handed her the Target bag. “This is for Aliyah. How’s she doing?”

Yvonne accepted the bag without comment. “You want to see her? She’s in the bedroom coloring in that book you brought her. She’s about wore out those glitter markers.”

“I do want to see her, but in the meantime, have you seen the news?”

“No. Cable’s out.” Yvonne leaned forward, a glimmer of hope in her dark eyes. “You got news for me? About my case?”

“I do,” Drue said. “There’s been an arrest.”

“Praise Jesus.” Yvonne raised her hands. “He is good all the time.”

She quickly filled the older woman in on the latest developments, leaving out the more sordid details of Jazmin’s uneasy arrangement with her killer.

“I knew it,” Yvonne said, nodding vigorously. “Jazmin was afraid of that man.”

“Jazmin’s friend Neesa was also arrested,” Drue said quietly.

“That nice girl? I can’t believe she would do that.”

“Herman Byars bullied her into it,” Drue said. “She was just as afraid of him as Jazmin was, but she helped him conceal the crime and lied to the police, so I’m afraid she’s in real trouble.”

“I’ll have to pray for her,” Yvonne said. “But now, what does that mean for my case against the hotel?”

“That’s the other thing I need to discuss with you. First off, we’ve discovered a lot of new information, including the fact that Jazmin should have been off work at the time she was killed.” She paused, as she considered how to put a good face on Ben Fentress’s betrayal of their client and his employers.

“We also just learned this weekend that one of my colleagues at the law firm knew that Neesa and Herman Byars staged it to look like Jazmin was working that late shift, when in reality, she was already dead,” Drue said. “He went to the hotel’s insurance company and demanded a payoff to keep quiet about it.”

“That dirty, dirty dog,” Yvonne said indignantly. “I hope your daddy fired that bad man.”

“He did. And Ben’s in jail. I don’t think he’ll be getting out any time soon,” Drue said.

“Now that we know that Jazmin had finished her shift when she was murdered, we can pursue a third-party wrongful death claim against the hotel. So, I need to ask you, first, if you’d like us to continue to represent you. And I also have to warn you that the process is going to take time. It’s a whole lot more likely to get a bigger settlement for you, but it won’t happen overnight.”

“Did your daddy send you over here to talk to me today?” Yvonne asked.

“No, ma’am,” Drue said. “I just wanted you to hear the facts from me, instead of from the television or newspaper.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Yvonne said, her lips pursed. “To tell you the truth, Miss Drue, I’m not sure I trust your daddy no more. I did, but then look how he did me. My sister said that man is too pretty to be real. She says get you an ugly lawyer.”

Drue laughed, thinking about her father’s morning camera-ready makeup session. “To tell you the truth, I felt the same way about my dad when I first went to work for him. But I’ve come around now.”

“And what changed your mind?” Yvonne asked.

“I realized I was judging him by what kind of a father he was to me, which probably isn’t really fair. He’d be the first to tell you, now, that he was a lousy father. He’s not perfect, but he’s not a crook. He really cares about clients like you, and he wants to win for them,” Drue said.

Yvonne gave her a world-weary side-eye. “You ever meet a perfect man?”

“Nope,” Drue said. “There are a lot of dogs out there, and I think I’ve known or dated most of them. But there’s this guy I know. Let’s just say, I think he might have potential.”

“Can’t ask for more than that,” Yvonne said.

“Grandmama?” Aliyah stood in the doorway.

“Look who came to see you today, Aliyah,” Yvonne said. “Miss Drue brought you a present.”

The little girl ran over to Drue, her eyes sparkling. “Are we going swimming today, Miss Drue?”

“Not today, I’m afraid,” Drue said. “But soon. And this is for you for when we start our mermaid lessons.”

Aliyah tore the bag open and held out the swimsuit. “Look, Grandmama. That’s Ariel. I’m gonna be just like her.”

“What do you say to Miss Drue?” Yvonne said.

Aliyah beamed. “Thank you.”

Yvonne walked Drue to the front door. “Tell your daddy I said I’m still his client,” Yvonne said. “And about that man with the potential? You tell him for me that I said he needs to step up and do right by a nice girl like you, got a good job and a car of her own and a pretty daddy.”