Deep Waters

again. She was not entirely certain what was going on, but she knew she would eat every bite on her plate even if it resulted in the first fully documented case of spontaneous human combustion.
    The sound of a big car in the drive came as a welcome distraction.
    "You've got a visitor," Charity announced with relief. She put down her fork.
    The gleam vanished from Elias's eyes. The familiar enigmatic expression returned. "I'm not expecting anyone."
    A car door slammed. A moment later someone knocked loudly on the kitchen entrance.
    "I'll be right back." Elias rose from the low cushion. "Go ahead and finish the curry. Wouldn't want it to get cold."
    "This stuff wouldn't get cold if you froze it in a glacier for a few thousand years."
    Elias's mouth tilted at one corner. He crossed the room into the kitchen and opened the back door.
    "Sorry to bother you, Winters," Leighton Pitt said. "Wondered if I could talk to you for a few minutes."
    "I've got company."
    "This is important," Leighton muttered.
    Charity looked up from her seat on the cushion. "Hello, Leighton. I'm very sorry about Gwendolyn. I know the two of you were divorced, but, still, it must have been a terrible shock."
    " 'Evening, Charity." Leighton nodded distractedly as he stepped through the doorway. Behind the lenses of his aviator glasses, his eyes looked haunted. "It was a shock, all right. Look, I don't mean to intrude, but I need to talk to Winters, here, if you don't mind."
    "No, of course not," Charity said.
    Elias moved to shut the door behind Leighton. "Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Charity."
    Leighton scowled. "This is business, Winters."
    "The nature of water and the nature of business share certain properties," Elias said. "Neither is as simple as each appears at first glance."
    Leighton stared at him. "How's that?"
    "Don't pay any attention to him, Leighton." Charity waved him to a cushion. "He gets into these moods. Have a seat."
    Leighton started forward and then came to a halt when he saw the two low cushions on the floor. "That's all right. I'd rather stand."
    "First, take off your shoes," Elias said.
    "Huh?"
    "Your shoes. You can leave them at the door."
    Leighton stared, obviously bemused, at Charity's bare feet, and then he noticed that Elias was also shoeless. Awkwardly, he stepped out of his tasseled taupe loafers.
    Charity could not help but notice that the richest man in town had holes in his socks.
    Elias glided around Leighton and went back to his cushion. He sank down onto it with an effortless movement. "What did you want to talk about, Pitt?"
    Leighton glanced uncertainly at Charity and then appeared to steel himself. "Look, I'll be blunt here, Winters. I want in on whatever you're setting up for your off-shore clients. I can carry my own weight. I've got the kind of inside information you're going to need to pull off your project."
    "There is no project," Elias said.
    "Don't give me that bullshit," Leighton exploded. "I know you've got something brewing and that it involves that pier. The whole damn town knows it. Let me in on it. I can make it worth your while to take me on board."
    "I didn't acquire Crazy Otis Landing for off-shore clients or anyone else," Elias said quietly.
    "Look, I'm going to put my cards on the table." Leighton began to pace the small room. "I admit that I'm in kind of a bind, financially speaking."
    Elias studied him. "A bind?"
    "Gwen screwed me over but good." Leighton's mouth thinned. "She had her revenge, all right. Just as she promised at the time of the divorce. She ruined me. And I was such a fool that I never even saw it coming until it was all over."
    Charity watched Leighton pull a handkerchief out of his pocket and mop his brow. "What do you mean?"
    "She conned me." Leighton turned and trundled heavily back across the room. "It was a hell of a scam, and I fell for it. Just about wiped me out. I've got almost nothing left. I think Jennifer's going to leave me if I don't do something to recover from this quagmire. Things have been getting a little tense between the two of us lately, and this will tear everything apart."
    "What was the scam?" Elias asked.
    Leighton drew a weary breath. "A couple of months ago I got a phone call from someone who claimed to represent a California developer. The guy said that his firm wanted to acquire view property along the bluff for a golf course and spa resort. Maybe eventually put in a community of resort condos. Naturally they wanted