Complicated Care (Blanche Binkley Book 2) Read online

  “It could be worse,” she said out loud trying to get it into her soul. It’s just that she needed new tires, an oil change, an air filter, and now a new back window. She’d live with the damaged paint and scratches.

  She buckled down to business. She called the landscaping company, but Seaside Flats was not top on the list for clean up. Blanche’s phone soon started ringing from condo folks. She called Rachid on the third floor and Melchior from the fifth floor to see if they could help move some branches. Rachid was still at work. She’d bet that was a fun night in a convenience store during a hurricane waiting for something to break. She found someone who agreed to pull the branches into a pile so people could get in and out of the parking lot.

  Blanche made rounds to the board members and each floor. Some water had seeped into storage in the basement which required some more phone calls to insurance offices. All in all it wasn’t massive and her car had been the worst case in the parking lot. It was just something to fix. She needed a sit down and drink a big glass of iced coffee.

  But she was caught on her way back to the fourth floor.

  Blanche shifted her weight and looked longingly at the condo elevator for escape.

  Sal and his wife, Ella, stood blocking her way out of the lobby.

  “How’s the alligator injury holding up?” Blanche managed to ask without a trace of sarcasm and a nod at his leg. Sal’s sins on the condo board leaked out when he’d been in the hospital after a minor encounter with one of Florida’s local reptiles and a subsequent heart bypass.

  “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Not quite back out on the golf course yet but shouldn’t be long. Look, see since you are the board president with Edna gone and all,” he managed to make it all sound like an insult. “I gotta talk to someone. Things can’t go on like this.”

  His mousy wife seemed to start shrinking. It was like the more bluster Sal brought out the more life seeped out of her. The truth was Blanche felt sorry for her, but she couldn’t get close because that would mean being around Sal more often.

  Sal used his conciliatory tone for the moment, but he was a bully straight up.

  He made a shoot the cuff motion on a rolled up dress shirt exposing a heavy gold bracelet on one wrist.

  “The flood in the basement last night. That kind of thing. The residents on the third floor, they aren’t happy. I’m telling you. See, I’m doing you a favor to tell you. Since the pool discounts went away, well, other problems in the condo are more...noticeable.”

  Blanche knew for sure Sal was stirring people up. She didn’t like seeing people being taken advantage of and worse yet, it upset the happy balance of Seaside Flats.

  “You mean the illegal kickback on the pool fees you were getting?” Blanche saw his face darken and realized he would come after her, but his type never stayed at peace with anybody anyway. Ever since she’d known him in the condo he filled every conversation with threats. When they moved down from the north permanently rather than being winter snowbirds, he’d gotten elected to the board and forced his decisions to be the only ones. She’d gotten off the board.

  The board had decided not to prosecute his recent indiscretions as they didn’t want to pay legal fees. Sal kept a lawyer friend on retainer and always seemed to be suing someone. It would just drag on for ages and cost money.

  “The third floor needs new carpet and paint. That might help things smooth over. You understand me?”

  “We do the carpets in a rotation every five years. You know that. One floor each year.”

  “Those people they might sue.”

  “Hmm. I suppose it’s their right. I can show the schedule to the courts too.” Blanche looked up to the ceiling to pretend to think. Bullies were horrible. She wondered what he was angling at; he always had ulterior motives. It always benefited him.

  “I have a guy who can do the carpet probably get you a deal on the whole building all at once.”

  “And new carpet in your apartment too for free in the deal?” Blanche arched an eyebrow.

  He turned four shades of red and his wife started shuffling her feet and looking at her Rolex watch.

  “Look here, you old bitty. You aren’t the queen of this mansion. There’s people here that need attention. You’re gonna get that board off it’s duff and get it moving or else I’ll eat you and the condo for lunch.”

  Blanche had had enough. “Bon appetit, old man. I didn’t vote to not prosecute you. Maybe we could reconsider.”

  She had walked past them and he spoke to her back.

  “Like to see you try. Who do you think you are?”

  “Name’s Blanche Binkley,” she said without looking back.

  The elevator was mercifully at the bottom floor. It would have been awkward to wait after her snarky retreat. Mr. Achmed rushed out of the elevator with a hello and she stepped in without a wait. When the doors closed she felt herself start shaking all over.

  Al had called it. She was back on the board and it turned out to be a lot of work to get the condo back to rights after all the fiascos lately and in the end the board hadn’t pressed charges against Sal as the former conniving president. Too much sympathy for his alligator bite on the golf course. Blanche was sure she’d not heard the end of this.

  Chapter Five

  Blanche held her ice coffee to her forehead after gulping down a quarter of it. She didn’t want to think.

  A knock at the door startled Blanche out of her moment of peace.

  She stood to go to the door when a demanding banging rather than normal knocking began. It had better not be Sal. She’d had enough of his threats for one day. The front door buzzer hadn’t sounded, so someone in the condo had their pants on fire. Good grief. The world had bigger woes than condo crisis and branches in the parking lot. Cities a few miles away were practically under water.

  Blanche patted her bouffant strawberry hair into place, then stood on tiptoe to peek out of the peep hole. She jumped as keys banged against the door. She focused and her heart skipped a beat.

  Hide the retirees and the children, it was the Dragon. How had she gotten inside the condo? Blanche struggled to remember the woman’s real name again as she opened her condo door locks but nothing came. She composed her face into what she hoped was a neutral smile. This was Edna’s daughter who had spirited her away from her first floor condo with no notice.

  The Dragon pushed past Blanche without asking to come in or greeting her. A tall lean middle aged woman in a business suit that probably could be sold used for the cost of Blanche’s old car.

  “We need to talk.” The Dragon ran a fist full of diamond rings through hair that had that new silkie treatment Blanche had read about at the beauty salon. Big bucks.

  “How’d you get in here?”

  “I kept Mom’s key.”

  “That’s against condo rules. Residents can’t move out and keep the keys. I’m on the board.”

  “So sue me.”

  “We can’t just have anybody walking in here. People have been robbed.”

  “I know including my mother before,” she snarled to emphasize the word, “I moved her out. I ought to sue you, but look, that’s not why I’m here.” She flashed her perfect predatory smile.

  “What have you done with Edna?” Blanche surprised herself at the force of accusation in her own voice.

  “I’ve moved her somewhere where she won’t get robbed. Somewhere safe. You know Royale Cove?”

  “The island?”

  “Is there another one?” The Dragon flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and put a hand on her hip.

  Blanche found herself balling her hands into fists. The woman reminded her of sand paper.

  “My ex has a house out there, so I was able to get Mom into their exclusive care center.”

  Isolated, Blanche thought. The island was accessible only by water from Florida’s peninsula. Despite the 10 million dollar homes on the island, Blanche would bet the “Care Center” was just another nursing home. Her soul shrank a
little at the idea.

  “When did you last talk to her? Is she okay?” Blanche didn’t want to give Edna away.

  “Of course she is.” The Dragon snarled.

  Emotional snarking didn’t count as abuse you could call a hotline for, Blanche guessed. “What are you doing slumming it over here then?”

  The tall elegant Dragon lady actually paused. Hesitated. This made Blanche’s internal radar pick up.

  “The care center has great references, but well,” again that significant pause. “I’d like you to go over and visit her for a few days. I want to make sure the money is worth it.” She met Blanche’s eyes with her dark gaze and a confident smile. “Tell me what kind of people are there. Especially her suite mate.”

  “Suite mate? No private rooms?”

  “They share a bath but it’s private. This lady...I couldn’t seem to meet her while I was there.” The Dragon kept her eyes locked on Blanche’s.

  “Why me?” As much as Blanche knew she had to help Edna, the Dragon’s motives rang untrue.

  “You got to the bottom of that condo business, so I thought you’d give it more than a cursory glance. Besides, if you go snooping, no one’s going to notice one more old wom...uh elderly person in there.”

  “Why me though? Can’t you just use your own...resources?” The woman dripped money after all and altruism wasn’t her forte.

  The Dragon considered for a moment. “I did my research before I put her there. I’m not stupid. I want to know what people are living there.”

  Blanche narrowed her eyes. “What people? Is someone a danger to Edna and you still leave her there?”

  The Dragon raised her perfectly groomed brown eyebrows. “No, nothing like that. But I haven’t been able meet her suite mate and...well when I’m there, the staff seem to put on a show. If you go, I think they won’t notice you hanging around.”

  Blanche paused and waited.

  “I just want reassurance they aren’t overcharging me, uh, her, and who is out there. It’s terribly expensive and I want to know it’s worth it.”

  Blanche would bet what little money she did have that Edna didn’t want to be there at all. Edna would rather be in her little condo with daily in-house care if she actually needed it. Last Blanche saw, Edna was doing fine as long as someone took her to the store now and then.

  A shadow passed over Blanche’s soul. Everyone her age living in their own home dreaded the time family decided you couldn’t make it on your own and moved you to the ominous “assistance facility.” They had fancy names, but it gave her the creeps to even go near one.

  “I’m not going to stay in one of those places,” Blanche said. She swallowed hard.

  “I’d pay for everything. It won’t cost you a dime. Get lots of pictures of what goes on and see if the meds are doled out properly, who is out there and how people are treated. Talk to people. Make sure there’s no fraud.”

  Pictures? Fraud? Fishier and fishier and the Florida beach was a mile away from the condo.

  “You mean to say she’s still getting robbed?”

  The Dragon shook her head. “No. I’m not sure.”

  “So the move didn’t help? She’s getting robbed worse by them than anything that ever happened in the condo, I imagine. We solved our problems here. Why not just bring her back?”

  “Yes, that’s just it. I want reassurance that Royale Cove is the right place for her. You found the person who was robbing her before. Take a look at the situation now.”

  Blanche could see that the woman appealed to her weak spot: her ego at having solved other dilemmas as well as throwing down a challenge.

  Blanche narrowed her eyes again, “Why wasn’t the condo the right place for her?”

  The Dragon flipped her dark sleek hair again. “Did you not just roust a human trafficking ring and in-house condo robbers? She’s almost 90. I can’t leave her somewhere risky.”

  Touché, Blanche thought. “That’s all over now.” Blanche winced at the weakness of her argument and looked at her lavender paint job on her nails. Now she knew where Edna was she could do something for her. But she did not have to do this woman’s bidding. “No, this isn’t the job for me.”

  The Dragon had no idea she was inviting Blanche to go stay at what, in her mind, was elder hell. It would be hard to make it attractive to Blanche’s soul or even her ego. Poor Edna.

  “Why don’t you just investigate them through the Florida state resources?” Blanche suggested. “I could find the care giving supervisory organizations and you could have an investigator look up their records. Do some checking with families; see if their bills were right and their loved ones cared for properly? If you think your mom is in any danger or any doubt at all about her situation, we need to call in authorities who know what they are doing in these, these...facilities. Now.”

  Blanche threw down her own challenge. She even moved toward her phone. Why would a professional person like the Dragon not go the official route she wondered? Or just put her mother somewhere else since money seemed to be no object. Blanche offered no advantage over anything on the government agencies that investigate fraud in nursing homes could do.

  Blanche could help Edna on her own terms. The Dragon left out some details and the faux concern didn’t sit well. Nor did Blanche believe she’d told all. The Dragon had never been friendly with anyone in the condo on her rare visits to her mother. Good grief. Edna dreaded her own daughter.

  “I’m not moving out to that island. I’m not your spy.”

  “I can make it worth your while.”

  Blanche could hear cheapskate Harry, God rest his husbandly soul, saying ‘Ask how much?’ The man had been a first class skin flint who loved to pinch the budget and bring in unexpected bucks. She knew she’d have to cash in on one of her IRA’s soon to replenish the bank account and do all the car repairs, thanks in part to Hurricane Miguel. This pressure and bullying wasn’t cool, as her grandson would say. The Dragon was a pro though, Blanche had to admit.

  Blanche pinched her lipsticked lips together tightly.

  “You could stay with my ex on the island? I’d say you’re a cousin of Edna’s from up north. You could just walk over to the center.“

  It looked like the Dragon came prepared for every argument, Blanche thought. She didn’t even take a breath before she came up with that convenient residential plan.

  While getting an eyeball on the exclusive island community tempted Blanche just for shear curiosity’s sake, Blanche said, “I’m sure you can sort this out without me going out there. I have obligations here in Boca. I can’t just pick up and leave.”

  “You’re retired. What obligations?” The Dragon’s incredulity didn’t give Blanche’s schedule any credence, brushing Blanche’s plans aside with a gesture of her hand. The un-retired never understood.

  “I have volunteer work I do and the condo board has a meeting coming up. Perhaps it’s a surprise but I have a life too.”

  “I think Edna would appreciate a visit from one of her old friends. Uh, I mean long time friends.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean.” So now the woman turned to guilt. Blanche thought she’d be able to help Edna now that she knew where she was without the Dragon breathing down her neck about who was there. What was that about anyway?

  The Dragon slid a business card out of a diamond studded silver case with initials on it. “Here’s my card. I think you should think about it. It’s just a favor for a good friend.” She gave a disingenuous smile. “You wouldn’t want to regret...not helping.” She raised one eyebrow in a way that reminded Blanche of a serial killer movie poster she’d seen. Was that a threat?

  Blanche took the card. A stiff little number with a punched out diamond shape in one corner. Blanche vaguely thought she was a lawyer, but this didn’t really indicate any kind of business.

  Blanche looked at the card: Diane Sforato. Diane the Dragon.

  The Dragon turned and took long elegant strides to the door. She paused, “I wo
uldn’t want to have to sue the condo for the trouble Mom had. I’ll call you in a few days and see if you’ve changed your mind.”

  Chapter Six

  The woman felt tears squeeze down her cheeks. She felt the breath of her tormentor against her ear.

  She grasped the hospital bed bars pinning her in. Praying in Spanish for it to end.

  She felt his body weight fully on top of her. He would obliterate her. He didn’t care what her health was.

  Diablo.

  She would welcome death if he would just finish her. She knew from experience that no one would believed her.

  No, no, he’s so nice. You had a bad dream.

  No man is going to climb on the old ladies. Oh no. It could never happen. She prayed some more.

  “We wouldn’t want them to find you, would we? Quiet, dear heart.” He said it all in Spanish.

  She struggled and writhed under him. She couldn’t get air.

  She let out a haunted howl. The best she could do. Surely someone could hear. Even if her roommate would come. She made as much sound as she could with him on her.

  He would be punished for this.

  “Shhh. I will keep your secret. You want me to keep your secret, don’t you?”

  “Diablo,” she cried, as she struggled to take a breath again, but her lungs wouldn’t respond.

  Chapter Seven

  Blanche had rushed down to report the Dragon siting as soon as she could to Al.

  “So doesn’t the Dragon’s request make you even a wee bit curious? Royale Cove, you know, that’s the big time on the dough. You gotta be interested. You always like a look-see; you’re one nosy retiree.” Al chuckled at himself.

  Blanche paced back and forth on the disintegrating green carpet in Al’s condo. They needed to finish removing his hurricane shutters it was too dim in here. She couldn’t breathe.

  “Speak for yourself. But sure, big mansions that’s all interesting. Probably most people around here would like to look. Other than the occasional aerial photograph or waterside shot on the news, it seems,” she paused, “mysterious and well protected.”