Welcome to Blissville

by Walker, Aimee Nicole

  Adrian looked up from his desk and spotted me. He let out a loud whistle then said, “Look at you. You’ve been strutting your stuff for over a week now. Plus, you sent my wife flowers to thank her for the massage gift certificate she gave you for your birthday. That must’ve been one hell of a massage to have you looking that happy a week later.”

  “Good morning, partner.” I wasn’t about to acknowledge his comments or leering grin.

  “It sure looks like it,” Adrian replied. “You ready to interview Commissioner Wallace this morning?”

  We had gone to his office to talk to him the day we saw the video, but he had taken his family out of town for vacation. I found the timing odd because school wasn’t out yet for the Thanksgiving holiday and, according to his secretary, the trip was a spur of the moment decision. It appeared to me that Jack Wallace took his family on a literal guilt trip to Disney World. The longer I cooled my heels, the angrier I became at the situation, but it gave us time to dig a little deeper into Jack Wallace’s background.

  He had a cousin with an extensive criminal record who looked quite capable of killing a defenseless woman soaking in her bathtub while she read a book. But how did he get in? Did someone make a copy of a key or did he pick the lock? Was it possible we were barking up the wrong tree altogether? Maybe Georgia’s death had nothing to do with Rocky or their affair. Someone trashed her house looking for something and didn’t bother to take any of her expensive jewelry or high-dollar electronics, which meant they were looking for something very specific. Was it possible that Georgia had information on someone who didn’t want it leaked? If so, who had a secret worth killing over?

  That brought me back to Jack Wallace. People had killed for a lot less than getting outed to their families. No matter how Jack categorized his sexuality, his affair with Rocky wasn’t something he’d want to get out until he was ready—if he ever was ready. I disliked cheaters with a passion, but no matter how angry he made me, I’d never willingly out the man. If we eventually arrested him for any involvement in the crime, there’d be no way of keeping his affair with Rocky quiet.

  “I’m ready to solve this case, and I have a strong feeling that Jack Wallace is a piece of the missing puzzle we need to bring Georgia’s killer to justice.” I was convinced of it. I had that tingling sensation that told me we were on the right path.

  “Let’s show up at his office and take him by surprise.” Adrian rose from his chair and slipped on his jacket.

  The short drive to the commissioner’s office was quiet. I had expected Adrian to rib me some more, but it was obvious his mind had turned to the case, as had mine. Jack’s wide-eyed secretary told us that the county commissioners were all in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed.

  “That’s not how this works.” I pulled back my jacket and showed her the badge I wore clipped on my belt. She knew damn well who I was and her stalling tactics pissed me off. “You either go in there and quietly ask the commissioner to come out and have a private conversation with us, or we go in there ourselves and pull him out. Which do you think he’d prefer?”

  Adrian chuckled when the secretary bolted from her chair to get Jack from his meeting. “So, you’re the bad cop today?”

  I didn’t have time to respond before the secretary returned with a thunderous-looking Jack Wallace fast on her heels. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded hotly.

  “Can we talk somewhere private?” Adrian asked him politely.

  “Or we can do it right here,” I offered, taking my role as bad cop seriously. Wallace didn’t need to know I was hesitant to out his cheating ass.

  Jack Wallace stood down immediately when he heard the tone of my voice. “Come to my office.” He pivoted on his heels, and we followed behind him. “Do I need to have an attorney present?” he asked once he shut the door to his office. He sat behind his desk, but Adrian and I remained standing in front of it in a move to intimidate him.

  “Did you do something wrong?” I asked flippantly.

  “Having an attorney isn’t a sign of guilt, Detective,” Wallace sneered at me.

  “Of course it’s not,” Adrian said, using a cajoling tone of voice. “We’re not reading your rights, and we’re not charging you with a crime, sir. This is simply an interview.”

  “If it’s ‘simply an interview’ then why the hell didn’t you wait until my meeting was over or better yet, schedule a time to meet with me?”

  “We get a more honest reaction when we take people by surprise,” I told him. “By scheduling an appointment, we give you time to cover all your bases. Oddly, we want the truth and not some sugar-coated version of it or blatant lies.”

  “You offend me,” Wallace said, pointing his finger in my direction.

  He offended me too, but I wisely kept my mouth shut. “Let’s discuss your trip to Tennessee with the mayor.” I wasn’t playing around, and he needed to know it.

  Wallace turned an ashen color, giving himself away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His denial would have sounded weak and unconvincing to the greenest of rookies.

  I placed my hands on his desk and leaned toward him, invading his personal space. “Do not play games with me, Wallace. We have video footage from a gas station showing the two of you together in Knoxville.”

  “So what. We went on a hunting trip that we didn’t want others knowing about.” Wallace shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” Adrian began, “why did you deny it when Detective Wyatt mentioned it?”

  “I do mind, actually,” Wallace replied with a sneer. “But I’ll tell you anyway. The town thinks that Rocky and I don’t get along. In fact, I’ve run against him for mayor the past few elections. It wouldn’t look good to the people who are encouraging me to run again if they knew that Rocky and I were friends.”

  “Really good friends, I’d say.” I laughed derisively at the confused look that crossed Wallace’s face. “You don’t recall the kiss that you and Rocky shared at the gas pump? Did you not hear me when I said we had video footage of the two of you or did you think I wasn’t serious?”

  “I-I-I…”

  I pinned him with a menacing glare and didn’t bother waiting for him to stammer out an excuse. “I can tell you that I’m very serious when it comes to solving homicides.”

  “H-homicides?” Wallace asked in disbelief. “What… are you implying that I killed Georgia Beaumont?”

  “Or hired your cousin to do it,” I answered.

  “You must have some seriously big balls to accuse me of something so heinous.” Wallace was either a good actor or innocent, but I wasn’t letting up.

  “They’re pretty damn big,” I replied, causing Adrian to snort from beside me. “Look, let’s go over some facts. You are having an affair with Rocky Beaumont who, like you, is married and not interested in outing the affair. Rocky was also having an affair with his first wife for the past six months leading up to her death. After Georgia’s homicide, someone broke into her house and ransacked the upstairs looking for something but didn’t steal any of her expensive jewelry. I find that odd. Do you find it odd, Detective Goode?”

  “I find it very odd,” he replied. “Here’s where we go from hard facts to supposition,” Adrian told Wallace. His good cop façade was starting to slip. “It makes me wonder if Georgia had something in her possession that could hurt someone or even multiple people and they wanted to silence her before it got out.”

  “Rocky was fucking Georgia?” Wallace asked. “After all this time, he went back to her bed?” He sounded angry and disgusted at the thought. “Look,” he threw his hands up in the air, “I had nothing to do with Georgia’s death. Nothing,” he reiterated. “There was no love lost between us, and I was glad when Rocky divorced her, even if it was for Nadine, but that doesn’t mean I wanted her dead. She was nothing to Rocky anymore.”

  “She was everything to Rocky,” I countered. “He never got over her.”

  �
��Lies,” Wallace countered.

  “Or you’re lying to us right now. Suppose Georgia approached you about your affair with Rocky and threatened to go public with it. Perhaps she even said she had evidence to prove it. You have connections to a cousin with a less than savory past—one who’s wrapsheet includes arrests for murder. Of course, he’s never been convicted because something bad always seems to happen to a witness or they recanted their statements. It seems to me that Andrew Morningside would be the right guy to hire to take care of a nuisance like Georgia.”

  “I didn’t,” Wallace denied emphatically. “I wouldn’t.” He swallowed hard and looked away from me for a few seconds before he returned his eyes to mine. “I was willing to tell my wife about Rocky. I was willing to live openly with him. I told Georgia that when she came to my office and threatened me.”

  So we were right. “How long did this meeting take place before Georgia died?” Adrian asked.

  “A week, maybe two.” He shook his head. “A part of me wanted her to out us so we could end all of the lies. Sure, I knew people would be hurt, but I also knew they’d get over it after enough time passed. Georgia was going to do me a favor so I wouldn’t have killed her. I haven’t talked to Andrew in probably ten years or more.”

  “Did Rocky feel the same?”

  I knew what his answer was by the way his body seemed to deflate right there in his chair. “No,” he admitted after a long silence.

  “Did Georgia tell you what kind of proof she had of your affair?” I asked.

  Wallace raised his head slowly and looked into my eyes. “Rocky and I got careless about a month before she died. My wife and kids went to her folks’ house for a long weekend, and he came over. We had always gone out of town for sex, so I was surprised when Rocky called and asked if we could get together. Georgia must’ve followed him or something. She showed me the photos that she’d taken of us through my bedroom window.”

  “Does Rocky know about Georgia’s visit?” Adrian asked.

  Wallace shook his head vigorously. “Not from me. I worried that he’d break off our relationship if he found out. He doesn’t know about the photos unless Georgia told him.”

  “One last question,” I said, earning a nod from a defeated Wallace. “Was your trip to Tennessee with him planned or spur of the moment?”

  “It was sudden. Rocky said he couldn’t take all the stares and whispering after Georgia was killed and needed to get away. My wife thought I went to Columbus to have a weekend with my fraternity brothers. It’s something we do several times a year, and sometimes plans are made at the last minute, so I knew she wouldn’t question it.”

  “Thank you for your time,” Adrian said, staying with his good cop routine.

  “Not like I had a frigging choice,” Wallace said under his breath, earning a scowl from me.

  Adrian and I showed ourselves out and kept silent until we got in my car. “He looked and sounded pretty sincere, but I’ve seen the same from cold, hard killers with no conscience.” I looked over at Adrian and said, “Say we give him the benefit of the doubt. He didn’t know Rocky was back in Georgia’s bed and he was hoping to get outed, which I find hard to believe. Say he didn’t hire Andrew to kill Georgia…”

  “But there are two other people who might have,” Adrian completed as if reading my mind.

  “Rocky and Jack’s wife, Felicity, would both know about his criminal for a cousin,” I added.

  “What’s the likelihood that Georgia only showed the pictures to Jack and left it at that?” Adrian asked.

  “Slim to none.” I thought about it for a few seconds and then said, “I think we can rule out Nadine. She wouldn’t likely have knowledge about Jack’s distant cousin.”

  “Why do you think Georgia took her affair with Rocky to the grave? Why not rub it in Nadine’s face?” Adrian asked. “Especially when Nadine started talking trash to Georgia in the salon.”

  The mention of the salon brought warm memories of Josh to the forefront of my mind for a few minutes before suspicion wiggled in to ruin it. Why hadn’t I thought about it sooner? I had already drawn the conclusion that clients got chatty with their stylists, but I didn’t truly connect the dots between Georgia and Josh because I was too busy trying to get close to him. Damn it!

  “I bet Georgia told someone about her affair. It’s doubtful she kept it just to herself. She would’ve told someone she loved and trusted. I think I know just the person.”

  “Who?” Adrian asked.

  “One feisty salon owner,” I replied.

  “Oh, shit.” Adrian was quiet as I drove back to the station. “Why wouldn’t he tell you?”

  “To protect Georgia’s reputation or because I didn’t ask.” I shook my head in irritation. “Who knows what makes him tick, certainly not me.”

  “You’re not going in there with guns blazing are you?” Adrian asked.

  “Verbal ones, maybe,” I replied.

  “Partner, it sounds like you’ve already convicted the guy before you’ve had the chance to talk to him. Don’t ruin something good.”

  I wanted to believe that Josh and I were working toward something good, but how could we if he knew something that big and didn’t tell me? Adrian was right though; I was mad at him before I knew the truth. I wanted to drop Adrian off and go to the salon, but I didn’t. I knew I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to Josh and I was also afraid I was right. If so, where did that leave us?

  I woke up feeling great and told myself that it was the day I’d give up being stupid and call Gabe and invite him over. In fact, I gave serious thought to inviting him over to Sunday dinner with Mere and Chaz. That alone was enough to make me pause but even more shocking was how much I missed him in the week that passed since our date.

  I missed the sound of his voice, the heat of his body, the taste of his mouth, and especially the look in his eyes that said I was special to him. I was half convinced that I saw things that weren’t there because I wanted it to be true. Then I’d recall the way his eyes would gleam when he smiled over something that I said, whether I intended to be funny or not. Yes, it was time to be brave and see where things would lead with Gabe.

  Bright sunlight streamed in through the windows of the salon when I went downstairs, but I wasn’t fooled into believing the outdoor temperature was anything other than freezing. I could see the ice clinging to the bare tree branches and grass. I couldn’t help but hear Gabe’s grumbling in my head about the frigid weather. I decided I would show him all the benefits of cold weather, namely cuddling together under a blanket—preferably naked with his dick in my ass.

  Someone cleared their throat behind me, and I turned to find Meredith watching me with a huge smile on her face. “Deep in thought over your guy, I see.”

  “He’s not my…”

  “Shut up, Jazz.” She rolled her eyes and went to her station that was directly across from mine to get ready for her day. “Lady Chatterbox is first up this morning,” Meredith told me.

  I was grateful for the change of subject because I didn’t know how to talk about Gabe and the way he made me feel. That was a first for us; I’d always been able to talk to Mere about anything and everything. I worried that her feelings were hurt, but the smile she sent me through the reflection in the mirror told me that things between us were good.

  “Why are the chattiest ones morning people?” I asked her. “We’re all going to need an extra dose of caffeine to handle her.”

  “You know it,” Meredith replied.

  I added an extra scoop and a half of ground coffee beans for a stronger brew when I made our pot of coffee. We drank our heavenly nectar from the gods and embraced the calm silence before our day began. Chaz was next to arrive, and he went straight to the coffee pot with a wave of his hand as his only greeting. He looked exhausted as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Something was going on with him, but I couldn’t figure it out. I respected his privacy and hoped that he’d come to Meredith or me if he needed us.
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  I looked over at Meredith to find her watching him closely. “He’ll let us know if he needs us,” I told her.

  “I hope you’re right,” she replied.

  “When aren’t I?”

  She placed her finger over her lips, tilted her head to the side, and pretended to think about it for a few seconds. “You want to go there?” she asked.

  “Not really,” I replied honestly, earning a delighted laugh from her.

  Too soon we gave up our quiet and embraced the day when our first clients showed up. My mood stayed high through the morning into early afternoon but took a dive when the dark clouds moved in and eclipsed the sun. It felt like a premonition of something bad to come, but I couldn’t figure out what it could be until I saw Gabe enter the salon right before we closed for the day. The expression on his face was every bit as dark and threatening as the snow storm we were sure to get that evening.

  Meredith and Chaz shot me inquisitive looks but didn’t comment. I also saw Meredith hesitate to leave me alone with Gabe, but I nodded to let her know that I would be okay. The last thing I worried about was Gabe hurting me physically; I wished I could be as certain about him not breaking my heart. The tight clench of his jaw warned me that doom and heartache lurched around the corner.

  “Why do you look so angry with me?” I asked, breaking the ice. No sense in beating around the bush.

  “Did you know that Georgia was having an affair with Rocky?” he asked.

  “What?” I was surprised that his thunderous countenance was work-related and that it was aimed at me.