Scene of the Crime: Who Killed Shelly Sinclair?

by Carla Cassidy

  He leaned forward and gave her a charming smile. “Sure you don’t want to give me a hint about who the murderer is?”

  Olivia laughed and shook her head. “No matter how much you attempt to charm me, my lips are sealed until we have the culprit under arrest.”

  “Then I guess I should let you get back to work,” he said and stood.

  “I promise, I’ll keep you informed,” she said as he opened the office door to leave. She breathed a sigh of relief the second he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

  She had no idea what this newest plan of theirs might stir up. She couldn’t begin to guess whether it would be successful or not.

  She was aware that if it was successful, then something bad was probably going to happen very soon.

  Chapter Nine

  It had been another long day. Daniel and Olivia had spent most of the morning out on the streets, drifting in and out of shops, listening to the gossip on the street and waiting...waiting for something to happen.

  They’d eaten lunch at Jimmy’s Place and then had returned to the station where Olivia had holed up in her office and Daniel had sat at his desk studying again and again the files and information they’d gathered about Shelly’s murder to see if anything or anyone had been overlooked.

  He’d gathered everyone’s alibis for the night that Olivia had been attacked in the parking lot from the other members of the task force and needed to share the information with Olivia. She wouldn’t be pleased by the fact that several of the men had unsubstantiated alibis.

  After five, he knocked on her office door. He entered the office to find her staring out the window. She turned when he called her name.

  “Sorry,” she said, a faint flush of color filling her cheeks. “I was lost in my own head for a few minutes.” She looked at her wristwatch. “And it’s time to go home.”

  “I have another offer for you,” he said. “I’ve got cold beer in my refrigerator and a frozen pizza. Why don’t we go to my place and do a little brainstorming?”

  She hesitated.

  “I’ve finally gotten all the alibis from the suspects we had concerning your attack in the parking lot,” he continued as an added incentive.

  “Okay,” she relented. “Pizza and beer and brainstorming and then I go home.”

  “Of course,” he agreed. “I’ll follow you to my place.”

  It wasn’t long before he drove behind her car toward his house. He hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted her to come over until the moment he’d asked her. He hadn’t realized how lonely his evenings now seemed since he’d shared dinner with her and Lily and Rose a couple of times.

  Maybe before this was all finished and before she left town, he’d throw a big pizza party with Rose and Lily included. He’d go all out and order the pizza from Jimmy’s Place. An inward smile lit his heart as he thought of Lily stringing cheese down her chin, her green eyes twinkling with happiness while she enjoyed a piece of Jimmy’s pizza or a big order of mozzarella sticks just for her.

  Olivia was lucky to come home to a loving child and mother each evening. This thought surprised him. He’d never yearned for a family before. He’d always been comfortable in his aloneness. He didn’t have to answer to anyone else and had always relished the quiet and peace of being alone after a day at work.

  Something had changed. The silence in the evenings now felt a bit stifling. Maybe this new attitude had begun when Josh had hooked up with Savannah Sinclair.

  He’d seen his friend and partner happier than ever in love with Savannah. Josh rushed home in the evenings to share dinner with her, to spend time with her. It was obvious he believed he’d met his soul mate and he and Savannah were making plans not only for a wedding, but also for a family.

  Daniel had never thought about finding a soul mate, a woman who could fill his life with love and laughter, with shared secrets and passion.

  Something about Olivia and her little family definitely had him rethinking his confirmed bachelorhood. Or was it that he was just feeling the loss of Josh in his life? The two had often spent dinner together at Jimmy’s or hung out for drinks after work, shortening the time of silence Daniel would have to face when he came home each evening.

  He shoved all these thoughts out of his head as he opened both garage doors and Olivia pulled into the garage on the right and he drove into his place on the left.

  When they were both out of their cars, he closed the doors and together they went into the kitchen. He turned on the overhead light and motioned her to the table. “Sit and relax and I’ll set the oven to preheat.”

  She removed her gun belt and placed it on the floor and then sat at the table in the same chair she had when she’d last been there. She placed her purse on the floor next to her gun and holster and then smiled at him. “I hope this isn’t one of those cheap, cardboard pizzas. I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “Of course not,” he replied with mock indignation. “It has a rising crust and a trio of meat toppings.” He grabbed a couple of beer bottles from the refrigerator and carried them over to the table.

  She unscrewed the top and took a drink, then set the bottle back on the table and released a deep sigh. “I expected something to happen by now.”

  He took the top off his bottle and tossed it into the nearby trash can. “I have to admit, I did, too.” He set his beer bottle on the table and grabbed a pizza stone from under the cabinet and then walked back to the refrigerator and took a boxed pizza out of the freezer.

  It took him only a minute to pull the pizza from its wrapping and set it on the pizza stone. He turned to look at her. “To be honest, I don’t know if I’m disappointed or relieved that nothing has happened so far.”

  “I’m on pins and needles,” she confessed. “The waiting to see what happens is driving me half-crazy. I’m jumping at shadows. You said you had alibis for the time I was attacked in the parking lot?”

  He sat across from her at the table, took a sip of his beer and nodded. “Eric Baptiste was at the swamp gathering herbs and roots for his mother. Unfortunately, nobody saw him there. Mac’s wife swore that he was home with her at the time in question. Bo and Claire were having dinner at Jimmy’s Place and were seen there by several people. The last person I had checked out was Ray McClure.”

  Olivia raised an eyebrow and at the same time the oven dinged to announce that it had reached the appropriate temperature. Daniel got up from the table.

  “I had Ray checked out just because something about him has always rubbed me the wrong way. He’s the one person in the department I’ve never really trusted.”

  “Besides, he’s the one who found the package with the dog inside,” Olivia said.

  “A package he could have easily put together and brought to your office,” Daniel replied. “We only have his word that he just happened to see it in front of the building.”

  “So, what was his alibi?” she asked.

  Daniel shoved the pizza stone into the oven and then returned to the table. “He left the station approximately thirty minutes before you did. He says he went directly home, drank a few beers and didn’t have any interaction with anyone that night.”

  “So the only person who has a definite, solid alibi is Bo.”

  “That’s about the size of it,” Daniel agreed.

  “If Bo wasn’t the one who attacked me, then I definitely don’t believe he killed Shelly,” she said thoughtfully and took another sip of her beer.

  “I always doubted that Bo was responsible,” Daniel agreed.

  She frowned and reached up to the clip that held her long dark hair in a tight ponytail at the nape of her neck. “If you don’t mind...” She took the clasp off with a sigh of relief. “By this time of the day having my hair held so tight always gives me a bit of a headache.”

  Did he m
ind? He reveled in the sight of her lush dark hair falling around her shoulders and his fingers itched with the desire to touch those strands, to feel them wrapped around his hands.

  He jumped up from the table and went to the oven to check on the pizza. The heat of the oven had nothing to do with the heat that burned in his belly, a heat of want to take her to bed.

  Pizza, beer and a little shoptalk—that’s all she signed up for, he reminded himself. “Just another couple of minutes or so and this should be done,” he said. He leaned against the cabinet next to the oven.

  “How’s the investigation into the deputies going?” he asked, desperate to get his mind on anything other than the very hot images of the two of them together in his bed that was shooting off like fireworks in his head.

  “Thankfully, I’ve pretty well cleared everyone of any wrongdoing. My last challenge was Randy Fowler, who finally came clean to me this afternoon when I spoke with him. He’d received several large direct deposit payments into his bank account over the past couple of months from a company called Jesse Leachman and Associates. When I first questioned him about them, Randy was vague and mysterious.”

  “Hold that thought.” Daniel pulled the pizza from the oven, set it on a hot pad on the nearby countertop and then used a pizza slicer to cut it into eight pieces. He then carried it to the table, got plates and napkins and finally sat back down.

  “Okay, now tell me the mystery about Randy’s money,” he said.

  “It’s a structured settlement from a drug company. He was embarrassed to talk about it because apparently he had been on a drug that was pulled off the market because the side effects messed up...uh...male performance.”

  Daniel stared at her. “For real?”

  “For real. He’ll receive checks for the next year and by then he hopes the side effects will wear off. I checked it out. I finally managed to speak to several lawyers at Jesse Leachman and Associates, who faxed me over court documents confirming what Randy had told me.”

  Daniel gestured for her to take a piece of the pizza. “Well, it’s a relief to know it isn’t dirty money.”

  “You can’t tell anyone about it.” Olivia pulled a piece of the pie onto her plate. “He was mortified to have to tell me about it.”

  “I can imagine. Men don’t like to talk about their sex lives unless they’re bragging or lying,” Daniel said jokingly.

  For the next couple of minutes they ate and stayed silent. Daniel tried everything in his power not to think about his sex life with the woman sitting across from him.

  “Maybe one evening we could take Lily and your mother to the ice cream parlor,” he said in an attempt to get inappropriate thoughts out of his head.

  She smiled, that warm, open smile of a sexy woman that had nothing to do with Sheriff Bradford. “I’d like that. I was planning on taking them before the attack in the parking lot, but that changed everything and of course I haven’t been allowed to leave the house without my deputy escort.”

  “Maybe your deputy escort could arrange for an ice cream date tomorrow night after work,” he replied.

  “That would be nice,” she replied and then frowned. “As long as you think it’s okay for all of us to be out and about.”

  “I don’t think our man will try anything in a public setting. Besides, trust me, nobody is going to hurt you or anyone you love as long as I’m with you.”

  Unable to stop himself, he reached across the table and grabbed one of her hands with his. He half expected her to pull away, but instead she curled her fingers with his. Their gazes remained locked for several heart-stopping seconds, and then she finally pulled her hand away from his.

  “You know I really don’t need your bodyguard detail.” Her eyes had grown dark and she straightened her back against the chair. “I’m not a poor damsel in distress. I’m a trained officer of the law and I know how to take care of myself. I’ve faced a lot of bad actors in my career and I’m still here. I’m good at my job.”

  Sheriff Bradford was definitely present and in the room, Daniel thought. “Olivia, I’m quite aware that you aren’t a damsel in distress. I’m not shadowing you because I think you’re not capable. We’ve been working as partners and knowing that somebody has a target on you, I’m acting as any partner would. I’ve got your back and I would do the same thing for any of the men I was partnered with.”

  She studied his features for a long moment and then relaxed her shoulders and the darkness in her eyes lightened. “All right then, just so that we’re clear.”

  “We’re clear, now eat another piece of pizza and I’ll grab us each another beer.” He got up from the table and grabbed two more beers from the fridge.

  Every word he’d told her was the absolute truth. He’d do the same thing for any man in the department who found himself at the heart of a dangerous investigation.

  What he hadn’t mentioned was that part of the reason he had insinuated himself into her life as much as he had was because he liked her and he liked her family.

  There had been women in his past, but none had ever stirred such a fierce need to protect like she did inside him. He didn’t remember ever feeling this way about any other woman, and it confused him.

  He told himself it was because he couldn’t forget the passion-filled night he’d experienced with her five years ago.

  He couldn’t ignore how much he wanted that same experience again. It was easier to chalk it up to lust, and that thought made it okay for him to want her once again.

  * * *

  OLIVIA GRABBED A second piece of pizza and tried to ignore the overwhelming pull she experienced whenever she was around Daniel.

  Five years ago he’d been a sexy man in a bar offering her a night of sex, a night of temporary forgetfulness of her grief over her partner’s death. He’d been a one-dimensional man who had unexpectedly wound up being the father of her daughter due to their carelessness.

  He was so much more now. She admired his intelligence. He was a man of honor and committed to his job and the town he served. He respected her as his boss, but also saw and respected the woman behind the badge.

  She wanted him again. Not as a husband, not as a committed boyfriend—she knew better than to wish for such things from him. But, she definitely wanted him again.

  And she knew without a doubt that he desired her, too. He’d done little to hide it. It was in his eyes when he gazed at her, in the heat of his hands when he touched her in even the most simple way. It had definitely been in the kiss they had shared. It would be just a one-night stand, just like it had been years ago. Only this time she was aware that her heart would be involved.

  Still, she had no illusions. If they did make love again, it would only be a memory she’d take back to Natchez with her. It wouldn’t be the beginning of anything between them.

  “You’ve gotten very quiet,” Daniel said, pulling her from her thoughts.

  She stared at him for a long moment. If she said what she wanted to say, then there would be no going back. She needed to be sure of what she wanted to happen. She was sure.

  “I was just thinking about us making love again,” she said.

  The piece of pizza he’d been about to bite into hung midair between his plate and his mouth. His eyes widened and then narrowed. “And what, exactly, were you thinking about it?”

  “That it would be wrong on all kinds of levels, but I still want it to happen.”

  He slowly lowered his slice of pizza to his plate, his gaze locked with hers. “Do you have a specific time in mind for this to happen?”

  Her heart suddenly thundered with the anticipation of what she was about to set into motion. “I was thinking maybe after we finish eating.”

  He shoved his plate away. “I’m full.”

  Olivia fought the impulse to laugh, but his actions and words fired
a heat of want through her, a want she had battled since the moment she’d walked into the sheriff’s office and seen him again.

  “I’m finished eating, too,” she replied, surprised that her voice was half-breathless.

  “Then why are we still sitting here at the table?” He got out of his chair and walked around to her. He pulled her up and into his arms.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he bent his head to meet her lips. He tasted of pepperoni, beer and a sweet hot fire that spread heat from her head to her toes.

  In the back of her mind she knew this was all wrong, but her body and her response to him screamed that it was all right. One more time, that was all she needed from him.

  One more chance to feel his body against hers, one more time to revel in the pleasure she knew he’d give to her. One more time it would be enough because it would have to be enough.

  The kiss lasted only moments and then he stepped back from her, took her by the hand and led her down the hallway to the master bedroom.

  On the night he’d cleaned up the wound on her head, she’d noticed the black-and-gray spread on the king-size bed, the matching black lamps on the cherry wood end tables and a large dresser.

  This time he gave her no opportunity to notice anything as he pulled her back into his arms for a searing kiss. He pulled her so tightly against him that she could feel that he was already fully aroused and that only increased her own desire.

  This kiss lingered, was more intimate than the last. Their tongues met and swirled in frantic fervor. His hands stroked up and down her back, as if eager to get beneath the blouse she wore and feel her naked skin.

  She ended the kiss and stepped away from him. Evening light filtered through the curtains and lit the room with a romantic golden glow. Her fingers trembled as she began to unbutton her blouse.

  By the time she shrugged it off her shoulders, Daniel had already placed his gun belt and cell phone on the nightstand and had his shirt and slacks off. He peeled off his socks, leaving him clad only in a pair of navy boxers.