Jaci Stone

"She's already called the police, Jaci," Leigh put her hand on my shoulder. "She hopes to make it about property and take possession while the incident works its way through the courts."

"Good," I said. "All of the cops who have worked The Hills for the past twenty years know me."

"Miranda Olsen, isn't it?" Leigh said. "I thought you were supposed to be one of the good gals, champion for the environment. Now I get to see you up close, and you're nothing but a thief."

"Leigh Landreau, promising movie star, reduced to doing someone's garden," Miranda retorted. "Scraping the bottom of the barrel aren't you?"

"I make two hundred thousand dollars-plus a month with my investments," Leigh countered. "I could do flowers for the rest of my life if I wanted to."

"Whatever," Miranda went back to fiddling with my nitrogenator, fiddling with the knobs and trying the latches.

"The latches aren't going to open, there's too much pressure," I warned. "The controls are locked into position until the task is complete."

"Too much pressure? There can't be more than three bar in there," Miranda said.

"Madame Olson, that device is three-oh-six stainless. It's rated for one hundred bar and is using about eighty bar at the present moment. If this device actually belonged to you, that basic specification would be known."

Miranda stepped back from the trailer. Knowing there was a fourteen hundred psi pressure cooker next to you was a bit disconcerting. "Yes, of course I knew that."

Leigh giggled. "She's scared, Jaci."

"I know. My first generation of nitrogenator was an ice-cream maker. I can prove every generation and model in court. Hint, there's a patent on generation three, I can prove that as well."

"This device was manufactured at Taylor-Wilcox! We have one sitting in the garage right now!"

I shook my head. "No, the device at Taylor-Wilcox was assembled by me and sold to them. They managed to overpressurize it and caused the explosion that wiped out one of their buildings and severely damaged two more."

Miranda suddenly dropped her posturing. "The device was sold to them?"

Just as I was getting ready to reply, I heard the whoop-whoop of a police car. A cruiser with the light, so-called 'stealth' paint and low light bar pulled up to the cul-de-sac. I knew the lieutenant who exited, she had been on patrol duty when I first started out. She saw me and called for another unit to come settle the dispute. I knew that because we had been intimate a few times and didn't want to appear biased in case the incident made it to court.

Corporal Cameron Swann came over to talk to me and Leigh. "Missus Stone, Miss Landreau."

"Ma'am." Leigh said.

"Jaci, I had to call another unit from another district. You know why."

"Yes, I know. It was worth it."

"So what's going on here? The call was grand larceny, what did you supposedly steal?"

"My tank," I replied.

"Your compost converter?" Cameron asked in disbelief. "Whatever for?"

"Apparently Miss Miranda Olsen is on such a kick to save the planet that she'll steal anything she can to do so," Leigh answered.

"Well I've personally have seen Jaci lugging around this thing for twenty years. Hell, half of the greater LA cops know what it is. Jaci has a habit of parking close to, but not in front of, fire hydrants. Once we see what she is doing, we leave her alone to plant her things"

"Excuse me," Miranda called out.

"Just a moment," Cameron called back. "Thank you again, Jaci."

"You're welcome, Lieutenant."

Cameron walked away, going over to my trailer and making a show of examining my nitrogenator. Another car pulled up a minute later, disgorging two officers this time. One went over to assist Cameron, the other to me and Leigh.. After getting our ID's and running my plates to check for the usual things, he came back over to us. "Ladies, here are your ID's. Miss Landreau, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Officer Shane."

"The Sarge is getting things all finished up. The trailer and the tank are obviously yours, even I've seen you out and about in the El Monte area."

"El Monte?" Leigh asked. I knew what she was thinking, was Officer Shane out of his jurisdiction? No, I'd been doing L.A. for over twenty years, he was probably a kid when I did some park around his house.

"Born and raised. The Gardener has been around a while, I can't see how this woman doesn't know that. Excuse me."

"Magic. They were looking for you but couldn't find you," Leigh murmured. "What changed?"

"The press," I answered. "I'm known, but farther and wider now. Maybe that exposure in Monrovia..."

"I'm sorry, Jaci," Leigh blurted out. "You obviously had some sort of..."

"All done here, Jaci," Cameron said. "We've got a report on file, and if Miranda tries this shit again anywhere in California, she's going to jail. It doesn't help her case any that all of her bodyguards are armed. That could mean that they were ready to take it by force if necessary."

"Thanks for the response, Cameron," I nodded.

"You're welcome. Bradley is doing fine."

"Glad to hear it," I nodded.

Miranda and her Amazon goon squad pulled out first, followed by the police cars. While we were laying the flower beds, Leigh finally let her question out. "Bradley?"

"Cameron's son by me," I replied.

Because of the delay with Miranda Olsen, Leigh and I worked past sunset. I finished my fertilizer injection a little after twenty-one hours, and we were packing up when the owner came out. She was more than a little inquisitive about why the police had been there, and surprised that someone would try to use the cops as a club to steal something. Leigh handed her a card, and the old woman scanned it with her passbook. I heard mine beep in the truck, meaning the transaction was complete. Upon request, Leigh handed the woman a few more cards and we watched her walk back to her house, stopping to admire every patch of flowers as she went.

Chuck was started and cooling us down before I asked for one of the cards from Leigh. She pulled open my armrest and pulled one out of a box. My name, title, and number were on the front, and a passbook QR code and other payment methods were on the back. I gave her a kiss for ingenuity, and we were on our way.

We made it to my house at zero hour. By the time I was done parking my truck, Leigh had a car summoned to take us to a nearby hotel. The shower together was just a shower, Leigh promising me a chance to plant my seeds in her later on. We went to a local club, paying a cover like normal non-star people, and dancing what was left of the night away.

***

I called Gabrielle early the next morning, but she begged off having breakfast with me because she was already working. Leigh sensed my disappointment, and encouraged me to have breakfast by myself so that I wouldn't see her as trying to replace Gabrielle.

Leigh did catch up with me tending a garden in a park in West Hollywood. She stayed long enough to tell me that she was going to do a screen test and would catch up with me on Friday.

There was a pang of loneliness in my heart as I watched her get back into the Beemer that was driving her away from me. I had to remind myself that Leigh and I were just sex partners, no strings attached.

Friday morning there was a message on my service asking me to meet a developer downtown. The job was tending to some window boxes on the floors that had them.

The problem was immediately apparent, and I had to explain to her why the plants looked so sick. They were getting a lot of light, they just weren't getting the right kind of light. The window glass was filtering out all the UV light that the plants needed to flourish.

LeAnne almost fainted when I quoted her the fourteen thousand dollars it would cost to have low-power ultraviolet lamps hidden in the boxes. The cost for each floor would be five hundred dollars, four hundred fifty dollars in parts, fifty in labor.

She asked me to give her a few minutes, and walked off thumbing her cell. I knelt to give the plants a little love, talking to them as I straightened them out. I would have been paying attention to who was behind me if I hadn't been so concentrated on the plants.

I stood and turned to confront Francine Talbot and the bodyguard who was far enough away for me to be comfortable. "Jaci Stone," she said. "I'd like to apologise to you."

"The contents of the passbook were quite enough," I assured her.

"Funny you should mention that."

"I would be happy if you disconnected the expense account you attached to it."

"Why haven't you used it?" Francine asked.

"I didn't care for the circumstances surrounding that account," I answered. "I'd happily have a relationship with Marcie over the money."

"But you're married," Francine countered.

"My wife and I have an understanding," I shrugged.

"Of course," Francine nodded. "I'd like you to come do one of my houses. You were there, you saw how barren the surroundings were."

"I don't remember where it was," I said. "Temporary memory loss caused by being SAPped."

Francine reached into her purse and pulled out a card. She scribbled an address on it, then offered it to me. "Is that a yes?"

I took the card. "Yes," I sighed. Maybe Marcie would recognize me this time.

"Stop in any time next week," Francine said. "Good day."

LeAnne was patiently waiting for Francine to leave before she approached me. "Your estimate is acceptable."

"I'd like fifty percent up front to order the equipment, I should get them by Thursday next."

"Excellent. Means of transfer?"

I handed her one of my cards, showing the passbook code. "Passbook."

"Great." LeAnne pulled hers out and scanned my card. "I'll just put the whole fee on there, okay?"

"Fine," I shrugged. A moment later, my passbook beeped to let me know a deposit had been made. "I'll have it done by Friday."

"Great. Oh, Miss Tanter, I'll be with you in five."

"No problem, Mrs. Simon," Gabrielle said from behind me.

LeAnne walked away again, and I turned to face Gabrielle. "Hello, Miss Tanter."

"Mrs. Simon is very conservative," she whispered. "Cute toy. Passbook Platinum, about seventy grand."

"Perk of the job. How are you doing?"

"Some job. People just send you fourteen grand because you quote it to them?" Gabrielle demanded. "I thought you were gardening out in Montclair or Beverly?"

"I just happened to get a call downtown today," I explained. "How about we have lunch?"

"Miss Tanter?" LeAnne called out.

"Hold that thought," Gabrielle held up a finger, then spun around and started walking toward LeAnne.

"The Lilac Lounge is a good place for lunch," Francine said from behind me, making me jump and whirl around. She held out a silver plastic card. "On me."

"Please don't do that again," I said.

"All right," Francine nodded. "I don't want you to get paranoid around me. Who's the young lady?"

"That's Gabrielle, my wife. Before you ask, she doesn't like my last name so she kept her own."

"Of course," Francine waved the card around. "Lunch on me."

"Why are you doing this? Throwing money at me?"

"Because I made a mistake and I'm trying to atone for it," she replied.

I took the card from her hand and put it in my shirt pocket. "Thank you."

Francine looked over my shoulder, telling me that Gabrielle had returned. "Good day, Miss Stone."

Gabrielle was nosy about my relationship with Francine Talbot in the elevator, but I quickly shut her down. When I told her that I'd meet her at The Lilac Lounge, she asked to tag along with me.

Right then I knew something was wrong. Not only did she dislike my truck, she complained constantly about how I drove. I didn't say anything as I opened the passenger side door for her, and she didn't say anything until I pulled into the parking garage adjacent to the building that housed Leigh's condo.

Even though Leigh had freely given me a key to her place and told me to make myself at home anytime, I felt uneasy letting myself in. After announcing myself and listening for signs of life did I dare tread past the entry. Leigh had given me a drawer for my undies and section of closet in which hung a suit and party dress.

I was going to shower in her bathroom, but after examining the bedroom more closely, that seemed like a bad idea. The mess on the bed told me that two people just recently enjoyed passionate sex, and the clothing on the floor told me it had been two women.

The ache I felt was quickly pushed aside. Leigh wasn't my wife or even committed girlfriend. We shared a bed and some food and that was it. My feet caught on a pair of panties on the floor, half under the bed. They were my panties, I could tell by the misprinted pattern that they were from my favorite outlet store. I giggled inside at the thought that Leigh got off on smelling my dirty panties.

I entered the closest guest room and pushed the door so it was just open a crack. The room smelled like...new shoes. Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled on the closet door. There was a note pinned to the garment closest to me.

Jaci,

I got you a few things, everything in here is in your size and custom tailored to that marvelous fucking body of yours. I've gotten past the point of caring about what Gabrielle thinks of me. She's spending the week with her ex, so you should be taking advantage of me!

So, now you don't have any choice. Take advantage of me or feel bad about the eighty grand worth of non-returnable shit in this closet.

Enjoy. That's not a request.

So who was the other woman that had been with Leigh? The way that bed looked, it certainly wasn't her sister. I stripped down and put my clothes in a nice pile. The shower was nice and hot and stocked with pretty much everything. While I was drying off, I studied the suits in the closet, comparing them to the one on the bed. I picked out a blue suit and looked it over while I slipped on a brand new bra and panty set that was in the dresser. The suit fit like a sexy glove and the matching shoes were just as awesome. There was a beautiful Stage purse on the shelf above, and I didn't waste any time transferring my purse over and haphazardly tossing in the contents of my uniform pockets.

I was at the makeup table when I heard the racket in the foyer. The entry door slammed shut, and there was a thumping sound like a body hitting a wall.

"Damn, Chas. Can't you keep your hands off me for a damn minute?" Leigh asked.

"You're kidding right?" Came the voice of another woman. "You wanted this, you forgot your purse!"

Then I heard loud, sloppy kissing and the sound of fabric ripping. "Oh, my, goddess, Chas!" Leigh shouted.

More sloppy kisses and ripping. The thumping got lower as they made their way down the hallway toward the master bedroom. I heard giggles and laughs and moans as I grabbed my things and slipped out of the condo.

Gabrielle seemed to sense that something was off when I climbed back into my truck. I hadn't finished my makeup and spent half the drive to the restaurant taking it off.

"It's a nice suit," Gabrielle commented as we entered the restaurant. "I feel underdressed."

"Oh, stop it," I grunted.

I didn't even have to pull Francine's card out of my purse. The hostess smiled at me and asked us to please follow her.

The waitress brought us each a Corona, saying she would be back for our orders. "What is it, Gabrielle?"

"Jaci..."

"You were white-knuckling the door handle all the way here. Something is important enough for you to put up with my driving in my truck."

"I need seven thousand dollars," Gabrielle blurted. "Three thousand for supplies and another thirty-eight hundred to get my truck fixed."

"And Kaitlyn doesn't have it?"

"She does," Gabrielle shrugged. For one thing, I don't want to owe her any more than I already do, and for another, I know you have it "

"Do explain yourself," I growled.

"You've got a Passbook Platinum. They have different tones depending on how big a deposit you get. On the night Leigh picked you up, the tone that came through signalled a deposit of fifty thousand dollars or more. You should probably change the default tones or turn all but one off."

"Good idea."

"Please, Jaci. I'll do anything."

"Will you move in with me?" I teased.

"Um, yeah. About that..."

Here we go. She wants to move out, probably someplace close to Kaitlyn. "You're moving out, Gabs?"

"Jaci, I've got a place in town. The entire place is about the size of your kitchen and dining room, but it's a start. I'm not moving all the way out, just for weekdays and I'll come home on weekends."

A tear rolled down my face, I immediately rubbed it away. This couldn't be real right now, her wanting to move out. "I'd like to stay with you sometimes. I do some work in the downtown area and the commute home would be just as long for me."

"You're more than welcome to stay sometimes, but what about your truck?"

Yeah, it was hard finding parking for both truck and trailer most times. "I don't need my trailer all the time," I shrugged. "You promise?"

"Of course," Gabrielle nodded. "I'll get another key made."

They gave you two and Kaitlyn already has the other one. "How do you want it?"

Gabrielle pulled out a card and handed it to me. The business named on the front was a sketchy body shop that was sometimes called out for shoddy work. "This place?"

"I'm sure they'd like a nice flower bed," Gabrielle panned.

My passbook was in my purse, and I unlocked it before pulling it out. The menu allowed me to skip over Francine's expense account to my private deposit account. I set the amount and scanned the code on the back of the card. A confirmation number came up on the screen, which I scribbled under the bank code.

Gabrielle handed me her business account number and I put the remainder of the seven thousand dollar gift on there. "There you go," I handed the paper back to her. "I'm glad that I could help you out, Gabs, maybe you can help me out sometime." That was a subtle jab at her hoarding her money. I had no idea how she had come up with the five hundred dollar debit card she had slipped me Friday last if she was so broke.

Our conversation over dinner was always on a thin line. She didn't ask about Leigh, and I didn't ask about Kaitlyn. Gabrielle had went to the bathroom, and I was pondering what I was going to do with the rest of my day when Leigh sat down beside me. "You were in my condo earlier."

"I just needed to change for lunch. This isn't the kind of place for a gardening uniform."

"The suit looks great, I'm so glad I got it for you," Leigh clasped my hand. "Why didn't you say 'hello?'"

"You and your...guest...were occupied."

"Chastity is a fuck buddy from way back. She feels bad that she scared you off, she would have preferred you join in," Leigh squeezed my hand, and that warm fuzzy feeling was back. "Why don't you take your wife to one of the back rooms? VIP's rate those and they are all empty at the lunch hour."

It sounded good. "Thanks for the advice."

"We're still on for tonight? TetraDemon? Zero hour?"

"Sure," I nodded.

My thought to take Gabrielle into one of the back rooms was dashed by her harried look when she came back. "I've got to go, Jaci," she said. "I got a callback."

"Sure, let me just settle the bill..."

"Jaci, I'll call a cab, okay?" An air kiss, and then she was gone.

The waitress seemed to think I was a lunatic when I asked for the check, saying that I was a guest of Madame Talbot and didn't have a bill to settle. I moped for a second and went to the restroom. When I exited the restroom, I heard another door open. Leigh came out of a room further down the hall.. She made a beckoning motion, and I had to act on that horny feeling she had given me just a few moments ago.