Page 59 of Just My Luck

“I met Zara when we were both working at the Royal Leilani. She needed childcare. Anything to make ends meet, you know?”

“That’s the thing.” In his rumpled cream linen trousers and vintage aloha shirt, Lou had a certain flair to him. He was personable, likable—if you didn’t know anything about him. “I don’t buy into that system. You work your whole life just to end up with some pension fund manager making off with your life savings. It’s a scam, my friend. I know a scam when I see one.” He gestured at the mess in the living room. “Does the nanny gig include cleaning up?”

Lincoln’s jaw tightened. “I usually encourage the kids to tidy up after themselves. That would make it your job.”

Lou shrugged and bent down to pick up a stack of ancient VHS tapes. “Surfing videos. Want to light up and watch Zara shredding it at Banyans?” He pulled a joint from behind his ear, like a magician.

“Is that what you were looking for when you tossed this place? Your weed stash?”

“Nah, I bought this right outside the prison. Been looking forward to that first drag for two years and four months.” He plopped onto the couch and put his feet on the koa wood coffee table. “Join me?”

“Sorry, I’m on the job.” To emphasize the point, he scooped up an armful of books and began repopulating the bookshelves.

Lou shrugged and lit up. The scent of marijuana filtered into the room. Lincoln had never been any kind of drug user, unless you counted all the fish oil and longevity supplements he’d consumed over the years. He coughed, hoping to keep the smoke out of his nostrils.

“So… is canoodling with my daughter part of your job?”

Was Lou waving the smoke toward him? Lincoln moved a few steps farther away. He picked up a box to collect Eddie’s Legos.

“That’s between her and me,” he said shortly. He didn’t owe this man any kind of explanation.

“Well, I hope you know what you’re getting into. My daughter has issues. That’s probably my fault, if I’m being honest.”

Lincoln coughed as he tossed Legos into the box. “You can skip this part. I don’t need any information about Zara that I can’t figure out myself.”

“Maybe, maybe not. My girl deserves the best. She should be a champion by now. She could have been, if she’d just stuck with it. That’s her problem. Attention span.” He tapped the side of his head. “She always has to move on to something or someone else. There’s your warning, Nanny-boy. Don’t expect her to stick around.”

Lincoln ground his teeth together. He couldn’t stand hearing this Zara slander. “She stuck around for her brother and sister, unlike you.”

“I was trying to do my best for my kids and make them enough money so they don’t have to be slaves to the system. You know what’s priceless? Freedom. That’s something I taught Zara too. Always be ready to walk away from any situation.”

“Wish I could walk away from this one,” Lincoln muttered to himself. But if he did, he might miss a golden opportunity. “Would you like some help finding that go bag you were looking for? Might as well, while I’m tidying up.”

Lou Morrissey finished an inhale and released a puff of smoke. “No need. I’m not going anywhere after all.”

Lincoln was starting to wonder if that go bag even existed. “I’m surprised I never saw it around here. I’ve been all through this place, cleaning up and that kind of thing.”

“That kind of thing?”

“Yeah, you know, nanny stuff.” He tried to remember what his housekeeper did. “Picking up laundry, folding laundry, taking things to the dry cleaners.”

“The dry cleaners?” Lou squinted at him through the smoke. “Those kids live in shorts and slippers. What the hell needs to be dry cleaned?”

Oops. “If you could tell me exactly what you were looking for, I might be able to help. You know, what the bag looks like. Or anything else you were looking for, that maybe you don’t want Zara to know about. I can be discreet.”

“Heh heh. Man to man, you mean? Or man to manny?” Lou found that so funny he let out a series of hearty chuckles. “Say, I just thought about something. Do you run into any ultra-rich folks in your line of work? That’s who hires nannies, am I right?”

“Sure. I give Zara a discount because⁠—”

“Because you’re hot for her. Saw that from the word go.” He filled his lungs with another massive amount of smoke, then released it with a happy sigh. His eyes were already red. “Damn, the weed got a lot stronger while I was inside.”

Lincoln wished he could flee to a less smoky room, but he had to keep an eye on this guy. Something told him Lucky Lou was pure chaos.

“Any billionaires on your client list?” he asked after a few more puffs.

“Maybe,” Lincoln said, curious to know where this was going. He thought about Zara’s warning not to reveal his own billionaire status. “But I had to sign NDAs so I can’t talk about them.”

“But can you say things to them?”