Malice In Miami

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"For God's sake, Kip, just admit it. You're an adrenaline junkie!"

"I knew you'd say that." Kip laughed, beguiling me with his dimples. "Come on, Jamie, you act like I'm bungee jumping into the Grand Canyon. It's not that dangerous if you know what you're doing--"

"--Which you don't!" I pointed out. "Why do you torture me like this? Don't you love me?" I batted my eyes, exerting all of my feminine wiles, which only made him laugh again.

He glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the kitchen wall. "Better get going." Kip took a swig from his Save the Whales mug.

"Why, big plans today? Maybe wrestling an alligator naked?"

Choking on his coffee, Kip squeaked out "Which one of us is naked?"

"Who do you think?" I said, slamming the dishes into the dishwasher. I turned to face him, hands on my hips. "Let's recap, shall we? I wait months for you to come home from Australia--where all your love and devotion was lavished on wombats who didn't appreciate it--and now you spring this on me? This…this…craziness."

He stood up and stretched, still waking up. "Which is the crazy part, working nights?" he feigned innocence.

I shook my head, flummoxed by my tree-hugging boyfriend's bizarre behavior. "I never knew you had this blood-thirsty Rambo, Die Hard, Call of Duty side to you and it scares the hell out--"

Suddenly, Kip rushed me like a defensive tackle, pulled me into a hug and spun us around. He set me back on my feet and kissed me. I ruffled his hair affectionately, locking my arms behind his back and squeezing as hard as I could.

"Are you taking me prisoner?" he teased.

"No. I'm showing you what you signed up for." Then I gave him a nip on his bare shoulder.

"Ow! Is this what girlfriends do now?"

"No," I said. "It's what pythons in the Everglades do. You'd better get used to it."

An hour later, Kip waved good-bye as he backed his Chevy Volt out of my driveway. Still in pajamas I returned the wave from the front stoop muttering, "This isn't over yet, buddy". Then I went back inside to start my morning routine: feed Mr. Paws his stinky food, scrub the coffee pot, etc. My body was on autopilot as my mind worked overtime. It was hard to believe that only a month before I had been dying for Kip to come home, praying my dad would get his visa, and deciding what I wanted to do with my life (if I could quit family law, all options were on the table). Now I had everything I wanted but was feeling stressed out. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Although I was thrilled to have Kip and my dad home and I couldn't wait to start my new gig as trustee for The Andrea Lowenthal Art Fund, nothing was going as planned. Let's just say there were a few issues, a couple of complications, and some major headaches. All I wanted was one day without a crisis, was that so much to ask?

In response to my rhetorical question the phone rang. I held my breath as I answered it.

"How bad is he today?" I asked.

"Oh, mi amor," Ana Maria whispered, voice fraught with emotion, "I think you should come see for yourself."