Borrow Trouble. Mary Monroe

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BORROW TROUBLE

      ALSO BY MARY MONROE

      The God Series

      God Don’t Like Ugly

      God Still Don’t Like Ugly

      God Don’t Play

      God Ain’t Blind

      God Ain’t Through Yet

      God Don’t Make No Mistakes

      Mama Ruby Series

      Mama Ruby

      The Upper Room

      Lost Daughters

      Gonna Lay Down My Burdens

      Red Light Wives

      In Sheep’s Clothing

      Deliver Me From Evil

      She Had It Coming

      The Company We Keep

      Family of Lies

      Bad Blood

      ALSO BY VICTOR MCGLOTHIN

      Sinful

      Down On My Knees

      Sleep Don’t Come Easy

      Borrow Trouble

      Ms. Etta’s Fast House

      Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.

      BORROW TROUBLE

      MARY MONROE

      VICTOR MCGLOTHIN

      KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      CONTENTS

      NIGHTMARE IN PARADISE

      MARY MONROE

      BAD LUCK SHADOW

      VICTOR MCGLOTHIN

      TEASER CHAPTER

      NIGHTMARE IN PARADISE

      MARY MONROE

      CHAPTER 1

      I had been on hold for five minutes when the jailhouse operator came back on and thanked me for my patience. She turned me over to the international operator, who put me back on hold for another five minutes before she connected me to my home telephone number in the States.

      I was afraid that I was going to faint again and end up back in the same roach-infested detention infirmary where I’d spent last night. I had fainted during my arrest. I’d never been in jail before in my life until now. And it was all because my “innocent” one-night stand with a local man constituted prostitution by the island’s standards. I was surprised that I hadn’t suffered a nervous breakdown last night, too.

      “Leon, please answer the phone,” I begged, whispering to myself in a voice that was getting weaker by the second. My wrists were still throbbing from the handcuffs I’d had on earlier.

      The officer who had removed the cuffs stood next to me. He flicked a crude lighter and lit a long cigar that was dangling from his thick lips and started blowing smoke in my face. Despite the fact that he was doing it on purpose, I managed to smile at the officer, anyway. He just glared at me, the same way they had all been glaring at me since my arrest.

      My head was spinning, pounding, aching, and ringing. I was silently praying that if I did faint again, it would be after I’d communicated with my husband in Ohio. Ohio was my home, but I’d always complained about its dullness. All of my life I had cursed the severely cold winters and fantasized about jaunts to tropical locations. Well, I had finally made it to a sun-kissed, palm tree-lined beach paradise. But never in my wildest imagination did I think that my fantasy would turn into the vacation from hell. And I was not in one of the many crime-ridden foreign hot spots where careless Americans were always getting into one mess or another. Like the war-torn Middle East or one of the Asian countries where some Americans had paid for their illegal indiscretions with their lives. I was in a little, Mickey Mouse country that I had never even heard of until a few weeks ago!

      It was an island in the Caribbean called Paraíso, which was Spanish for paradise. Up until last night, it had been the vacation paradise that I’d been dreaming about all my life. It had beautiful weather, beautiful people, fantastic drinks, all-night parties, and beaches lined with palm trees that went on for miles. I couldn’t believe that I was still on the same island. It was now the last place on the planet that I wanted to be. I was going to kiss the ground as soon as I made it back to Ohio.

      “Hello,” my husband Leon’s eager voice on the other end of the line finally greeted.

      “Baby, it’s me,” I started. I was sniffing, itching, and trembling all at the same time.

      “Renee? Hey, girl! I am so glad to hear from you, honey. Forget all of that shit I said before you left. I really do want you to have a good time.”

      Leon paused, and I jumped in before he could continue.

      “Baby, I need to tell you something,” I began, struggling to keep my voice level.

      The three officers in the room with me were getting impatient. I could tell by the way each one kept glancing at the large clock on the wall and his watch, clearing his throat, and giving me more dirty looks. I ignored them all. There was nothing more that they could do to me to make me feel any worse.

      The international telephone connection was bad. There were spurts of static and a faint whistling sound coming through the line. “Leon, can you hear me?”

      “Uh-huh, but hold on, honey. Let me get my coffee.” Leon was back on the phone in less than a minute. “How’s the weather down there, honey?” he asked, making a slurping noise.

      “Leon, let me talk. Please don’t say anything else until I finish.” I took a breath so deep, my chest ached. “Honey, I am in trouble. I am in real trouble.”

      “What? Are you sick?” my husband asked in a worried voice.

      “Uh…well, kind of. I spent last night in an infirmary,” I stammered.

      “Shit, baby! Was it something you ate? Are you all right now? I want you to come on home now. I don’t trust those third-world doctors.” Leon grunted, and then he let out a sharp laugh. “I hope you didn’t drink too much of that exotic island joy juice.” It was good to hear him laugh. Especially since it would probably be a while before I heard him laugh again after he heard everything that I had to tell him.

      “Leon, it wasn’t something I ate, and it wasn’t too many margaritas. I fainted last night because of something that happened. Something stupid,” I moaned and rubbed my stomach.

      I didn’t know how to interpret the brief silence on Leon’s end. “Renee, will you get to the point?”

      “I’m…I’m calling you from j-j-jail,” I stuttered, speaking so low, I could barely hear myself.

      “Baby, you need to speak up. This is an overseas call, and I can hardly hear you as it is. It sounded like you said you were in jail.” Leon laughed again.

      “Buhhh…buhhh…ummmm…I…I,” I mumbled. Gibberish was all that I could manage.

      “Shit! Renee, take a deep breath!” There was a lot of concern in Leon’s voice now. “Take your time, honey, and tell me what’s going on.”

      I held my breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Leon, I’ve been arrested.”

      CHAPTER 2

      “Renee, I don’t have time for games. If this is your idea of a joke, you need to do better than this. This is