by Tara Sivec
He shakes his head with a hint of a smile. “It’s good to know I was completely wrong about you at first. You do have balls. And by the way, so does your cat.”
He turns Snowball around and she hisses at me. I mean, he hisses at me.
“That could be why he hates you. You’ve been calling ‘him’ a ‘her.’ I’d be pissed at that too,” he says with a laugh.
He sets Snowball down and we watch as he runs off to another room.
“So, let me guess? Stephanie or Miles?” he asks, running his fingers gently over the bruise on my cheek.
I sigh. “Even though they’re both suspect at this point because I called around about each of them today, it had to be Miles. He was wearing a mask, but there’s no way that was Stephanie. She doesn’t strike me as the type of person who would—or even could—attack someone. Plus, I didn’t feel her huge boobs against me when I was pinned to the ground.”
Dallas chuckles. “Stephanie has huge boobs?”
I scoff and smack him in the arm. “Oh, please, like you didn’t notice.”
He pushes himself up off the ground and grabs my hands, pulling me up from the couch and into his arms. “Baby, I haven’t looked at anyone’s boobs since the first time you insulted me.”
After what he just said to me a little bit ago, I actually believe him. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I press the unbruised side of my face against his chest.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed. We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”
As he leads me down the hall to my room, it hits me that I might just be falling in love with Dallas Osborne.
CHAPTER 19
Dallas didn’t want to leave me alone this morning, but he said he had a meeting about another case he had to handle quickly and I promised him that I would call him immediately if I saw anyone suspicious.
I know he trusts that I can take care of myself, but it’s kind of nice to have someone worry about me. After a quick phone call to my mom, I find out she didn’t go through with the tattoo. At least that’s something I don’t have to worry about right now.
I didn’t want to bother Kennedy with what happened because I knew she was away with Griffin and quite possibly getting proposed to. As I get in my car to head to the police station to finish the report, I check the clock and figure she’s probably home by now.
“Why the hell didn’t you call me last night?” she answers.
“Well, hello to you too,” I reply with a laugh.
“This is serious, Lorelei. Someone came into your home. Whose ass do I need to kick?” she asks.
“You’ll be happy to know that I did just fine kicking some ass on my own,” I tell her.
“Did you use the eye gouge and the head butt?” she asks excitedly.
I laugh at her exuberance. “No. I used my elbow to his eye and my foot to his face.”
Kennedy sighs. “I think I’m going to cry.”
“Enough about me; how did it go with Griffin? Did he pop the question?” I ask.
All joking aside, when she speaks next, I really do think I hear tears in her voice. “He did. It was so romantic. It was first and ten and Notre Dame had the ball. He passed me a can of cheddar cheese Pringles and the ring was at the bottom.”
Only Kennedy would think that was romantic.
I congratulate her and tell her to make up a story that includes flowers and a string quartet to tell Paige, otherwise she’ll be the one crying.
Pulling into the police station, I can’t keep the smile off of my face as I make my way through the doors. Regardless of how the evening started off last night, it ended pretty well. We’re getting close to finishing this investigation.
I wave to a few of the officers as I make my way to the front desk to ask for Ted. I have to come in here a lot to file reports for Fool Me Once and also to speak to officers for my court cases, so I know pretty much everyone in here by now.
“Hey, Lorelei. Ted said you’d be stopping by to finish that report.”
I smile at one of the younger officers as I step up to the front desk. “Is he here?”
He nods and points down the hall behind him. “Yep, he’s in his office. You can go on in.”
I tell him thanks and head off down the hall. As I get closer, I can hear Ted’s voice talking to someone. I slow down and listen for a second. If he’s in with someone else, I’ll just go back out to the lobby and wait until he’s finished. I start to turn around and head back down the hall when another voice makes me pause.
“I swear—I’m making sure nothing gets screwed up,” Dallas says.
My heartbeat speeds up. I know I should just continue back to the lobby, but something keeps me rooted in place.
“I don’t like this at all, Dallas. I’ve got people up my ass wanting this case solved,” Ted replies.
“Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do. Obviously she doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing. Look what happened last night,” Dallas tells him.
What’s that supposed to mean? Someone attacked me and I fought back.
“She wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this case,” Ted complains.
“I know, and she’s not. Not really. I just let her believe that. Why do you think I’ve been spending so much time with her? I don’t want this screwed up any more than you do,” Dallas answers.
I gasp and my hand flies up to cover my mouth.
“I trust that you know what you’re doing and that you’ll solve this case. Just get it done. The faster you find out who killed Richard Covington, the sooner you’ll be able to stop babysitting my sister’s friend.”
Both men laugh and I squeeze my eyes closed to keep the tears at bay. They move on to other topics like sports and the weather. I turn and run back the way I came.
The officer at the front desk calls to me as I race past. Swiping angrily at the tears, I compose myself before I turn to face him.
“Hey, we just got a report in from the ME’s office on the Covington investigation. I know I’m not supposed to show this to civilians, but I heard you were working with Osborne on this thing. You want to look at it before I hand it over to him?” he asks.
Sucking up my wounded pride, I walk back to the desk and grab the report from his hand. Scanning through the pages, my eyes zero in on the section showing the traces of particulates that were found on Richard’s clothes. My jaw drops when I see one unusual item in particular. I thank the officer and quickly hand the file back to him, exiting the police station before Dallas and Ted realize I’ve been there.
Starting up my car, I quickly back out of my parking space and peel out of the lot. Dallas won’t have to worry about “babysitting” me for much longer. I just solved this case and he can kiss my ass when he finds out I did it on my own.
Pulling into Stephanie Covington’s driveway, I take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves as I walk up to her front door and ring the bell.
The door is swung open moments later and my mouth drops open in shock. Standing in front of me isn’t Stephanie, but a very butch-looking woman. She’s a few inches taller than me, with short, spiky blond hair and enough muscles to make a bodybuilder jealous. That isn’t what has me momentarily speechless, though. The black eye and busted lip she’s currently sporting does.
“Aw, shit,” she mutters.
Before I can react, she grabs on to my arm and hauls me into the house, slamming the door closed behind her.
She drags me into the living room and pushes me onto the couch.
“You! You’re the one who attacked me last night. Who the hell are you?” I ask, standing back up from the couch.
She stalks over to me and places her hands on my chest, shoving me down again.
“Sit there and shut up. I need to think,” she tells me angrily.
“YOU need to think? Screw you! Are you covering for Stephanie? Did she hire you to come to my house because she killed her husband and she knows I’m onto her?” I fire at her.
“Swee
tie, your tea’s getting cold.”
I look up as Stephanie walks into the room, stopping in her tracks when she sees me there. “Oh, dear.”
Standing up from the couch again, I shoot the crazy, manhandling woman a dirty look before she can shove me back down.
“Mel, what did you do?” Stephanie asks, turning to the woman currently glaring at me.
“She attacked me in my home last night. And you killed your ex-husband, so you’re both going to jail,” I tell her.
“What?! I didn’t kill Richard! What are you talking about? Mel, what is she talking about?” Stephanie asks, turning to this Mel person.
“Oh, cut the bullshit, Stephanie. The medical examiner’s report is in. They found traces of taheebo bark all over Richard’s shirt the day he was killed. If I remember correctly, you drink taheebo tea, don’t you?”
Stephanie glances down at the cup of tea in her hand and quickly sets it down on an end table. She looks back and forth between Mel and me nervously.
“Oh, Mel, tell me you didn’t?” Stephanie whispers.
Mel sighs and walks over to Stephanie, placing her hands on her shoulders.
“Baby, I had to do something. He was gonna shut down my business and tell everyone about us. I couldn’t let that happen.”
What the hell is going on right now?
I watch in strange fascination as the two of them embrace. Stephanie pulls away first and looks over at me.
“Lori, this is my herbalist and . . . lover, Melinda. She really didn’t mean to do this. Can’t we just pretend like it never happened? I mean, you’re just a reporter. You could say I wouldn’t comment or something, can’t you?” she begs.
“I’m not a reporter and my name’s not Lori Wagner. It’s Lorelei Warner and I’m a private investigator. I was hired to solve Richard’s murder,” I explain.
Well, technically I was only hired to deliver a subpoena to Richard for their divorce. She doesn’t need to know I coerced my way into solving Richard’s murder with a man I thought I was falling in love with and thinks I’m worthless when it comes to this job. Those are just silly little details when I’m standing in front of a murderer and her accomplice.
“What? You lied to me? How DARE you!” Stephanie shouts. “I can’t believe this. I even had Mel put together some herbs for you and run your astrology chart. Your third house is in Neptune, by the way, which means your rational mind is going to try and deceive you in your pursuit of the truth in your heart.”
I have no idea what she’s blathering on about. Ignoring her, I reach into my back pocket for my cell phone to call the police. As soon as I pull it out, Melinda smacks it out of my hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” I scream at her, moving to pick up my phone.
As I bend down, I hear the click of a bullet being loaded into the chamber of a gun. I pause, and lift my head slowly to see Melinda aiming a gun at my face.
“Melinda! Put that away! You know how I hate guns. They completely mess with my aura. I feel a headache coming on,” Stephanie complains.
“Yes, listen to Stephanie. How about you put the gun away and we can talk?” I tell her, trying not to freak out that there is a loaded gun aimed right at me.
“What’s there to talk about? I love Stephanie and she loves me,” Melinda says with a shrug. “Her loser of an ex-husband found out about us and was gonna tell everyone. It didn’t matter that he only married her so no one would know he was gay and that the affair he was having was with another dude, his secretary, no less. He said if I didn’t leave town for good, he’d have my business shut down. I didn’t want Stephanie’s reputation ruined, and without my business we wouldn’t have any money. So I went over there one day and got rid of the asshole.”
Well, that explains Stephanie’s anger when she walked in on Richard having sex with his secretary. I suddenly feel her pain.
Stephanie covers her heart with her hand. “Melinda, I can’t believe you did this.”
Melinda turns to look at her and nods. “I might as well tell you I killed Andrew Jameson too. Richard told me right before I shot him that Andrew knew all about us. He confided in Andrew back when they were still friends, before Richard fired him. I’d been keeping an eye on him for a few days and it seemed like he was too busy drinking to care. But then this one showed up at his house and I knew he would tell her,” Melinda says angrily, pointing in my direction. “You probably hate me now, huh?”
Stephanie shakes her head back and forth frantically before running up to Melinda and throwing her arms around her. “I could never hate you! That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”
With the gun still aimed at me, Melinda wraps one arm around Stephanie’s waist and plants a passionate kiss on her lips.
“If you knew about Richard, what was the point of telling everyone he had a porn addiction? Wouldn’t it have just been easier to tell everyone he was gay?” I ask Stephanie.
She pulls away from Melinda and shrugs. “I was afraid. I figured if people knew about him, it would only be a matter of time before they found out about me and Mel. I wasn’t ready for the world to share our love. He never had a porn addiction. I just made that up so people wouldn’t find out the truth.”
Right then, the front door bursts open and Dallas charges in with his gun drawn. “Drop the weapon! NOW!”
CHAPTER 20
As happy as I am to see someone else here to help me, I’m downright pissed off that it’s Dallas.
Melanie turns her gun away from me and aims it at Dallas. “I’m not putting my gun down. YOU put your gun down.”
Dallas takes a few careful steps into the house, glancing over at me. “You okay, baby?”
I scoff at him and roll my eyes. “Don’t call me ‘baby.’ And while you’re at it, fuck off.”
He stares at me in shock and I turn away from him. Melinda shoves her gun into my ribs. I wince at the pain.
“Put your gun down or I shoot her,” Melinda tells Dallas.
He puts his free hand in the air as he bends down slowly and places his gun on the floor by his feet. “I’m putting my gun down. You don’t need to shoot anyone.”
“But, hey, if you’re in the mood, feel free to shoot him,” I tell Melinda, nodding in Dallas’s direction.
“Lorelei? What the fuck?” Dallas asks in confusion as he stands back up.
“I wasn’t born yesterday. Kick your gun away from you,” Melinda tells him.
Dallas huffs and uses the toe of his boot to slide the gun across the room.
“Now, let’s have ourselves a little chat and see what we’re going to do about this situation,” Melinda says.
“Oh, that sounds like fun. I think he should go first. He could tell us all about how he’s a lying sack of shit,” I say angrily, staring at Dallas.
“What in the hell is your problem?” Dallas fires back.
“MY problem? That’s rich coming from you. Hmmm, let me think.” I tap my finger against my chin and pretend to contemplate. “I don’t know what I’m doing, you only slept with me to make sure I didn’t screw anything up—am I forgetting anything? Oh, that’s right! The sooner you can solve this case, the sooner you can stop babysitting little old me.”
The anger on Dallas’s face melts away and he closes his eyes.
Melinda whistles next to me. “Wow, that’s pretty low, dude.”
Dallas sighs and finally opens his eyes, ignoring Melinda and looking right at me. “You heard Ted and me talking.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t even think about denying it. I was standing right there.”
I refuse to let the pain in my heart show. I will not be broken by another man.
“I’m not denying it. I said every word,” Dallas admits.
I think my heart might actually still be intact right now if he had tried to deny it. Hearing him openly admit what he really thinks of me makes it shatter into a million pieces.
“The chakras in this room will never be the
same. I’m going to have to move,” Stephanie complains with a sigh. “At least your aura isn’t gray anymore, Lorelei. It’s a lovely shade of pink, so that means you’re in love. Congratulations!”
My eyes widen and I quickly glance at Dallas, hoping he didn’t hear that last part. He’s staring at me with a smile.
“You’re in love with me?” he asks.
“Oh, please! She has no idea what she’s talking about. You can go right to hell!” I yell at him.
“I’ve studied auras for years. I definitely know what I’m talking about,” Stephanie adds.
I roll my eyes at her and cross my arms over my chest.
“Lorelei, I didn’t mean what I said to Ted. I swear,” Dallas confesses.
“You expect me to believe that line of bullshit?” I shout.
“Yes, I do! After what’s happened between us, I sure as fuck expect you to believe that I’m in love with you, Lorelei, and I would never do that to you,” he argues back.
My jaw drops at his admission, but it doesn’t change anything.
“Miles actually went to the department and said something about us working together. Ted headed him off, but he was worried the guy would just go talk to someone else. I was covering for you. I didn’t mean any of those things I said to him. He suspects we’ve been lying to him, but as long as he’s not sure, there’s nothing he can do.”
I shake my head and look away from him.
Could he be telling the truth? I don’t know what to believe.
“Um, hello? Can we get back to the important matter at hand? I’m the one with the Goddamn gun here!” Melinda yells.
“Honey, just put the gun down. We can pack up some things and run away together,” Stephanie tells her.
Melinda looks at Stephanie for a moment and then back to me. She forcefully shoves me away from her and I stumble, falling to my hands and knees in front of Dallas while she runs over to Stephanie and scoops her up in her arms.
Smacking away Dallas’s outstretched hand, I push myself up from the ground and watch as Stephanie and Melinda embrace.
