The Troublemaker Next Door

Chapter 2




“Maddie, open the door!” Vanessa’s stern voice refused to lower in volume. Determined to be heard, she also refused to go away.

Weary, puffy-eyed, and miserable, Maddie dragged herself off the bed and unlocked her door. Then she stumbled back to bed and flopped down. Vanessa entered with Abby right behind her, both looking worried—Vanessa looked worried and annoyed, but then, Vanessa needed stress to make her life complete.

“Okay, I want the whole story from beginning to end.” Her cousin liked order as much as she liked giving orders. Straight and to the point, Vanessa would have been a terror to grow up with. She had a year on Maddie and used to lord the fact over her during family visits until they’d decided to live together a little over a year ago. Now she no longer had to mention what she’d drilled into them from move-in day. Abby, the little traitor, gracefully gave in, ceding Vanessa’s dominance over the household.

Maddie ran through her situation, hitting all the pertinent points. “He took me out to lunch at a posh spot, and he made a ton of comments about me going places. How I was such a talented designer, how he’d seen me working so hard and was impressed. Then we returned to the office to work. Not an hour later, he brought me in to make me an offer—so I thought. Instead, he showed me something else.”

“His etchings,” Abby muttered.

“Might as well have been. He dangled the contract for Mishton Plaza, that new condo near Pioneer Square. I would have had carte blanche over the lobby and a few of the predesigned spaces, with an option for more. It’s a primo job. And if I didn’t want Diane to get it, all I had to do was say yes to spreading my legs and keeping my mouth shut about it.”

“You, keep quiet? He didn’t know who he was messing with.”

She ignored Vanessa. “To seal the deal, a handjob right there in his office, smack-dab during the work day.”

“This makes no sense.” Vanessa frowned.

“You think I just blew a chance at making a living doing what I love, on what, a lie?” Incensed, Maddie tried to rise but Abby sat on the bed and latched on to her like a dead weight.

“No, I believe you. I just have a hard time believing no one’s ever said no to him before. I bet he’s harassed a lot of other women.”

Maddie didn’t know. She only knew he’d done it to her. Made her feel like a victim, and she hated it. “At first I just listened to him in shock. I mean, this is Fred, my gay boss, hitting on me. He’s at least twenty years older than I am. I didn’t expect it. Not of him.”

“I’m getting grossed out all over again.” Abby had a squick factor Maddie had never understood. The woman wrote dirty books, for God’s sake.

“I don’t like any of this. I’m going to look into an attorney for you.” Vanessa held up a hand. “Stop. It won’t cost you a dime, and I just want to see how you can fight this, if you even can. Unless you had witnesses, I think you’re right about it being a case of he said–she said.”

“No witnesses.” Bitterness filled her once more. “Fred’s office is his sanctum.”

She told them everything, leaving out her terror about how she’d make a living in this downtrodden economy. Maddie had been working since she’d been ten. She’d always known what she was doing, where she was going. But now? Would she end up serving lattes at Starbucks? Her tears returned.

“Honey, it’ll be okay.” Abby muscled Maddie into a hug.

“Not if she spends her days like this.”

“Nice, Vanessa.” Abby huffed.

“Look, we all know that jerk will probably get away with it. But at least go on record about what happened.”

Sound advice. “I did,” she said, muffled against Abby’s ample chest.

“Good. It won’t help your career to get labeled as a whistle-blower, and by now Fred’s had time to paint you as the company whore, but at least you did the right thing.”

Abby scowled. “God, Vanessa, now even I want to go hang myself, and I’ve never met the guy.” She patted Maddie’s back, her best friend through thick and thin.

Oddly enough, Vanessa’s blunt words made her feel better. “Actually, it helps to hear the truth. Let’s say I get my job back. Then I have to pretend nothing happened. And after the stink I made when I yelled at the other partners about what he did, I don’t want to work for Fred Hampton again. Ever. Worst case, he’ll tell everyone he fired me, even though I said I quit. And I don’t have to see that place again.”

Vanessa cocked her head, the way she did when she pondered a deep and interesting problem. Like how to make two kids count as more of a tax credit. “What do Kim and Robin have to say about this?”

Maddie blew out a deep breath. “I haven’t told them yet.”

Vanessa snorted. “Like they don’t know. Maddie, they do most of your contract work; they have friends all over that office. Of course they’ve heard by now. Knowing you, the floors below you heard how upset you were—with good reason. You’re not exactly quiet, even on your good days.”

Maddie glared. “I only told Pat and Jean, the partners. They said they’d look into it, but I know they won’t. They do everything Fred tells them to.”

“And Olivia, the receptionist, probably heard you,” Vanessa continued. “The office isn’t that big.”

“So?”

“So Olivia has a big mouth. And she’s part of the gay club.”

Maddie’s head pounded. “It’s not a club. She’s gay. Robin and Kim are gay. Lesbian. Say it with me, Vanessa. Gay is not a bad word.”


“I didn’t say it was. My point is that the gay people I’ve met in my profession tend to stick together, because they have more than one thing in common. I guarantee you Olivia already told Kim and Robin what happened. Five bucks says they’re either calling you or knocking at the front door before the night is through.”

As if on cue, someone leaned on the doorbell.

***

Four margaritas and two buttery nipples later, Maddie felt no pain. Surrounded by her friends, she laughed and drank as if she had no worries. As if she wouldn’t soon start on the same path her mother had taken so many years ago.

“To you guys. You rock.” She licked the salt on the wide glass and took a large swallow, followed by a larger burp.

“Nice, Maddie.” Kim sighed, taking dainty sips of her drink. “She’s a sloppy drunk, who knew?”

“I knew.” Vanessa tapped glasses with Robin. “Ever since she turned twenty-one. Can’t hold her liquor either. That’s why she never goes out to bars. Two tequilas and she’d be some guy’s mattress for sure.” She paused. “Or some girl’s mattress, I suppose.”

Robin grinned. “Cheers to equal opportunity.”

Kim frowned.

Maddie sighed. “Oh, Kimmie. Don’t worry. Your girl has never looked twice at anyone I know.”

“Really?”

Robin coughed before clearing her throat. “Come on, Kim. You know you’re the woman for me. So I look. I’m human.”

Kim took another sip. “So you are. But don’t forget where you put your boots every night. Under my bed.”

Robin and the others laughed, looking at her construction boots. But to Maddie, their love was the sweetest thing. Robin, with her short spiky brown hair, her pretty blue eyes framed by the thickest lashes. She tried to be so tough and butch. But when she looked at Kim, her partner, she of the designer dresses, killer heels, and manicures, she had that soft gleam in her eyes.

A tear trickled down Maddie’s cheek. She sniffed and took another drink. “Maybe I should switch sides. I haven’t found any luck with men.”

“Hear, hear,” Robin and Kim said as one.

“And I… Where’s Abby?”

Vanessa shrugged. “You know how she gets. When the guys have their poker nights, she’s in the hammock.”

“What are you talking about?” Kim asked and ran a hand through her long blond hair. Classically beautiful, Kim was every inch the blue-eyed blond. Maddie wished she felt something more than admiration for the woman’s looks. Something like the lust she’d felt, despite her earlier embarrassment, when the hunk had been gaping at her.

Talk about hot. Such a broad chest, corded arms, thick thighs. He had to be seriously hung, a guy that large with such big feet… And why the hell should she care about that? Had to be the drink. “Vanessa, have you seen our neighbors?”

“Mike and Colin? Yeah.”

“No, I mean the brother. The green-eyed stud. Finn, Frank, Flynn, something like that.”

“I don’t think so.” Vanessa frowned. She didn’t look nearly as drunk as she should be.

“How many drinks have you had?” Maddie heard herself slur but didn’t care. She was sliding into numbness feet first.

“Two, Sloppy Sally. Geesh, what a lush.” Vanessa shook her head. “Hard to believe we’re related.”

Kim laughed. “Give her a break. She broke up with her boyfriend, held her boss’s dick, and quit her job all on the same day. She’s entitled.”

Robin shuddered. “Fred’s dick. I think I just threw up in my mouth.”

Kim kissed her. “See, that’s true love, that I kiss you even though you say something so disgusting. Now someone tell me where Abby is.”

Maddie leaned forward. “You wanna know? She’s outside in a hammock, listening to the guys playing poker.”

Kim blinked. “Why?”

Maddie had no idea, but Vanessa answered. “It helps her get in touch with her male characters. She needs to make her men sound like men. The neighbors get together once a week and talk about guy stuff.”

“Guy stuff?” Maddie frowned.

“Tits and ass, who’s getting laid, you know, guy stuff.” Robin downed her drink. “And on that note, Kim and I are taking your room, Maddie. We’re too buzzed to drive, and all this talk of tits and ass is making me need some Kimmie time.”

“Bleh. Get out of here with your love talk. Making me sick.” Actually, she did feel a little nauseous.

“Need help?” Robin asked.

“I have her.” Vanessa swore. “Hell no. Not in here. Come on, princess.” Her cousin hauled her to her feet and helped her to the bathroom just in time. The buttery nipples weren’t so buttery when the schnapps discharged from her body. And then the margaritas stood up with a shout, demanding to be noticed.

***

“I’m telling you, from behind, I thought I was seeing a ghost.” Flynn polished off another Heineken, ignoring Cam’s gripe about hurting the local microbreweries.

“Seriously. You’re giving in to the corporate breweries. Support real beer makers. Try one of these.”

Flynn snorted. “I’m not drinking anything that has a rose and a dog on it. It’s beer, for Christ’s sake.”

“It’s actually pretty good. Light but full-bodied.” Brody, Colin’s collaborator on the tears-for-suckers play, twirled his bottle while they waited for Mike to put Colin down for the night. “So back to this woman.”

“Abby Dunn.”

“Right, the neighbor.” Brody looked interested. “What was she like?”

Cam answered. “She’s kind of short but really pretty. Black hair, brown eyes, and has a very curvy build. She’s very nice.”

“How the hell would you know?” Flynn glared at his younger brother, dressed in pressed slacks and a designer shirt, unlike the rest of them.

The McCauleys came from a long line of middle-class working stiffs. Even Brody, though not related by blood, fit the mold. But Cam, with his fancy degrees, smooth hands, and stylish clothes… They still teased their mother about bringing home the wrong baby. If not for the fact that all of them looked so much alike, Cam might have believed them.

“Because, you cretin, Mom and Dad trust me with the truth.” Cam sipped from his beer like a girl. “I met them a few months ago, when Mom rented the place. She wanted my opinion.”

“And?” Brody asked.

“And what? They’re all employed, attractive, nice to talk to.”

Flynn and Brody exchanged a look, and Brody said, “I know, right? It’s like he’s not human.”

Cam flushed. “Screw you. Okay, fine. You want me to talk on your level? Yeah, all three of them are sexy. You wouldn’t have to do any of ’em doggie style because they’re not bad to look at. Better now?” He stopped when they looked over his shoulder at Mike, who stared at Cam in shock.

“Holy shit. Maybe he is a McCauley after all.”

Flynn and the others laughed, ribbing him until Mike joined them at the table in the dining room. He had the windows open, letting the evening breeze settle over them. Between the neighbors’ flowers and Mike’s assortment of color outside, Flynn felt like they were playing in a greenhouse, their only concession to poker night chips and beer.

Tonight they’d agreed on spades instead of poker, since Mike had bills to pay. He wanted electricity next month, not to line Flynn’s pockets, or so he said. Frankly, Flynn thought he was just tired of losing. God knew Mike had money stashed in so many places it made Cam crazy trying to organize it all. But hell, Mike’s house, Mike’s rules.


As they started the hand, Flynn brought out the big guns. “So why the hell didn’t you warn me Abby looks like Lea?”

The table grew still.

Brody blinked. “She does?”

Everyone stared at Mike, who sighed. “Who cares? Lea is gone. Abby’s her own person and a neighbor. I barely even know her. And no, I’m not carrying some secret torch for my dead wife’s look-alike. Get over it already. I’ve dated other women.”

“Not recently,” Cam added.

Mike scowled. “Not since before they moved in. It has nothing to do with them, okay? Now drop it before I put your hard head through my wall. We’re here to take Flynn and Brody down, not to discuss my love life.”

“That you don’t have.” Flynn grinned. “So you’re okay. Good to know you’re not about balling Abby. I liked her.”

Brody choked on his beer. “‘Not about balling Abby’? Jesus, Flynn. It becomes clearer to me every day why we get more customers when I man the phone.”

Cam nodded. “I’d believe that.” He glanced at Mike as he slapped down a five of hearts.

“Hey, no table talk.” Brody glared.

“What? I said nothing. I played my card.”

“You slapped it. So he knows to come back with hearts again and not cut you.” Brody never let Cam cheat. On the other hand, Brody defined the term card sharp.

Predictably, after Flynn’s turn, Mike played a king of hearts, won the hand, and led the next round with hearts again.

“What about Abby’s roommates?” Cam asked the question without care, a little too much disinterest.

Flynn shared Brody’s knowing look and glanced down at his cards again. “Hmm. I haven’t met Vanessa yet, but Maddie’s a real firecracker.” His brother didn’t react one way or another, and he wondered if he’d misjudged Cam’s interest. “A redhead with a temper.” Hell, now the others looked interested, not what he’d intended. “Apparently her boss made some move on her today, and she told him to shove it.”

“Good for her.” Cam nodded. “It still surprises me professionals pull this crap. Mom would have a field day if anyone ever tried that with her.”

“Yeah, but she’d have to wait until Dad pounded him through the floor first.” Mike grinned, and they all laughed.

“I want to know why no one mentioned the neighbors to me before now.” Brody frowned as he took the next hand. He and Flynn played with a harmony that soon had his brothers more than annoyed. “I mean, I get not telling Flynn. He acts like he’s perpetually in heat. But I’m trustworthy.”

“Bullshit.” Flynn dealt a new hand. “Trustworthy? Then how about you tell Mike what you taught his kid to do.”

Mike didn’t mess around when it came to Colin. Mother bears had nothing on the protective instincts of his big brother. Only older than Flynn by two years, Mike had nevertheless made it his mission in life to defend him, Brody, and Cam all the way through high school.

“Brody, I’m waiting.” Mike didn’t look happy.

Brody muttered to Flynn, “You’re an a*shole, you know that?” To Mike he said, “I might have shown him how to palm a card or two.”

“Not that.” Flynn started to enjoy himself. He and Brody took the next few tricks not even trying.

“Ah, okay. Well, let me see. We haven’t started pimping yet, and I was saving the crack pipe for when he turned double digits, the big one oh.”

Flynn snickered and Cam laughed.

Mike huffed out a breath and threw down his last card. “You two aren’t even concentrating. Cam, wake the f*ck up and win a hand.”

“Me? Quit browbeating Brody and concentrate. You know he’s fine with Colin. Hell, all of us have changed that kid more times than I want to think about. He definitely takes after you in too many ways.”

“That’s my boy.” Pride glowed in Mike’s blue eyes. He was a helluva father. Just like their own dad. It made Flynn wonder if he’d ever be as good, if he’d ever meet a woman he’d love enough to even think about having a kid with.

“So just what did he teach Colin?” Mike had to know.

“The little punk had the nerve to cry. Had me shitting myself thinking something was really wrong with him, until I realized he’d gotten me to change the channel to his favorite cartoon and hand him my Coke.”

“Which he’s not supposed to have in the living room.” Great, now Mike was frowning at him.

Brody laughed. “Sucker. The crying thing was to get women. I told him to practice until he can do it on command. Watch.” In seconds, Brody had streams of tears down his face. “Please, I’ll do anything. Don’t leave me.”

“Not bad.” Cam seemed impressed. “I thought you were just a no-talent card player, but you’re a second-rate actor too. Oh, and a knuckle-dragging toilet troubleshooter, I forgot.”

“That’s plumber, geekboy. You keep adding your silly little numbers while Flynn and I get rich off manly work. Please, you’re barely a glorified secretary.”

Cam’s grin turned evil. “Oh, man, I am so telling Mom you said that.”

Considering their mother had been a secretary for over twenty years, Cam had serious leverage on Brody, and Brody knew it.

“Hell. If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.” He leapt from his seat and tackled Cam to the ground. “Swirly time, mathboy. Courtesy of your neighborhood toilet troubleshooter.”

Flynn was laughing so hard his stomach hurt, while Mike argued with the guys not to bust any heads and keep the noise down. He had a hard enough time explaining to Colin why he shouldn’t act like his uncles in public.

While Brody wrestled Cam on the floor, both of them whispering insults and swear words so as not to wake Colin, Flynn grabbed another couple of beers for himself and Mike.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.” He toyed with the label. “Seriously, why didn’t Brody or I know about the neighbors? It’s not like I’m a dog. I’m not going to hump them in public.” At Mike’s look, he flushed. “For God’s sake, I was twenty years old and drunk. The girl wasn’t even real. It was a mannequin and it was all Brody’s idea.”

Brody and Cam started laughing on the floor while they tried to outwrestle each other. Brody had height and brawn, but Cam had agility and appeared as if he’d been bulking up.

“Hey, some muscle on the youngest.”

“Yeah. I hear he’s hitting the gym more.” Mike flexed. The guy was huge. Hauling lumber around and hammering crap all day did that for a guy. “But still smaller, little man,” he said in his best Schwarzenegger impression.

“F*ck you.” Cam put Brody into a headlock.

Flynn wanted an answer from Mike. “Hey, I went over there and fixed that sink without a problem. Didn’t even make a stink when the redhead went postal and started throwing her shoes and purse around. Not even when she yanked off her shirt and told me if I wanted to see them, I could. Then she invited me to touch them, and I…” he trailed off when everyone stopped to stare at him.

“No kidding? Maybe I should have gone over there.” Mike scratched his head.

“Of course I’m kidding. Idiots.” Flynn dodged the napkin Mike threw at him. “But she did have a hard time with her boss. And she did throw her shoes. I’m thinking Mom should invite them to a family barbecue to be nice. A late welcome-to-the-neighborhood deal. Abby didn’t make a fuss about the sink, and she even tried to pay me for helping.”


“I’m sold. I’ll mention it to Mom next time I talk to her.”

Which would be tomorrow. The woman called Mike every damn day. Flynn loved his mother, but he was okay hearing from her every few days. Not like he needed her reminding him to find a woman and settle down more often than that. Besides, if Mike mentioned to their mother the idea of inviting the neighbors for a party, it wouldn’t set off any alarm bells.

“Okay, you losers. Want another shot at the title?” he asked Mike and Cam. “Let’s drop the p-ssy games and go straight-up Texas Hold’em.”

Cam shoved Brody off him and stood, brushing the dust off his pants and shirt. “Fine, but Brody doesn’t get to deal.”

“Agreed,” Mike and Flynn said at the same time.

Brody scowled. “And in exchange, swear you’ll forget the secretary crack. I love Bitsy.” What he called their mother. “Besides, she hears that shit, she’ll skin me alive.”

Punishment enough, Flynn thought.

“Fine.” Mike gave Brody the dad stare. “But if Mom invites the neighbors to the house, you and Flynn—”

Flynn huffed. “Why am I lumped with him again?”

“Have to behave yourselves. I live right next to these women. I don’t want to deal with shit because of you two.”

Brody shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Yeah, sure,” Flynn muttered. “Now cut the cards, Nancy. And prepare to lose your ass off.”