A Dark Horse

by Cooper, Blayne

  The blood drained from Adele’s face. She stepped away from Billy and whispered directly into Natalie’s ear, “It was a cop.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Adele glanced uncomfortably over at Natalie as she pulled their car up to the Hilton Shreveport Hotel. It was almost nine o’clock and too late to make the nearly five-hour drive back to New Orleans tonight.

  Adele had interrogated Billy for longer than expected and ended with a series of questions about what happened to Natalie at the inn and Josh’s cell phone. Reasonably certain Billy had nothing to do with any of that, she’d insisted that he text Morrell and demand a meeting in New Orleans in forty-eight hours’ time. She needed that much time to prepare. Adele would be the one who showed up to that meeting, not Billy.

  Satisfied with the text, and Morrell’s profane, but surprising prompt answer, Adele had come to an agreement with Billy and a plan. She cut the tape from one of his wrists and then left him to deal with the rest as she and Natalie drove away.

  Adele had been on the phone nonstop since, but all the arrangements had been made. Tomorrow, Billy’s girlfriend would board a Greyhound bus to Shreveport. Billy and the pregnant woman would then take over the room she and Natalie would vacate in the morning. He would be safe, and out of the way, while Adele worked to bring down Morrell, along with whoever was pulling his strings.

  Unbeknownst to Billy, a private detective would be watching him the entire time to make certain he didn’t run. Adele didn’t want to involve the DA just yet, but soon they would need Billy’s official statement.

  Natalie shot Adele an aggrieved look that Adele knew she sorely deserved. Adele had been in a rotten mood since driving away from Billy’s hovel. Her mind raced with future scenarios and plans, and her stomach twisted with shame and disgust at the thought that a cop had killed Natalie’s brother. She endured a lot at the hands of her brothers and sisters in blue, and even Landry. But this… For one of her own to have inflicted this boundless suffering on someone she…on Natalie. It was almost unthinkable.

  “You don’t have to keep looking at me like that, Natalie.”

  “Yes, I’m looking at you. But I don’t know what looking at you ‘like that’ means, Ella.”

  Adele tossed the keys to the valet then impatiently waited for her valet ticket.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” The valet, who looked all of eighteen years old and had braces on his teeth, glued wide, frightened eyes on Adele’s chest.

  Adele lifted an eyebrow. “Eyes up, kid!”

  “She’s fine,” Natalie interjected smoothly, exiting the car. “She gets nose bleeds from time to time. It’s the dry weather.” Her charming smile disarmed the young man immediately.

  Natalie’s confidence had improved with her appearance and nearly twenty-four hours of continuous rest. The bruises on her neck and around her eye were still there, but they had faded to the point where they could be covered with makeup. The valet didn’t seem to notice that she’d slipped on a pair of sunglasses even though it was dark outside. “We’ll take care of the bloody nose inside.”

  “Oh, okay, then,” he said, suddenly unconcerned. “Enjoy your stay, ladies.”

  Adele rolled her eyes at the love-struck expression he directed at Natalie.

  “The weather isn’t dry. It’s supposed to rain tonight,” Adele said under her breath as she held open the hotel lobby door for Natalie. Her cane sounded unnaturally loud as it struck the marble floors with every step.

  “Should I have said that you got all that blood on you when you were punched in the nose by our kidnap victim?” Natalie adjusted the strap of their bag on her shoulder as she walked.

  “It might have made junior think twice about drooling all over you.” Adele skipped the line at the front desk and headed straight for a kiosk in the lobby where she ran her credit card through the machine. She felt a hot flash of irritation. “It wasn’t a punch. Just a lucky elbow.”

  After a few seconds of processing, a screen prompted her with the option to upgrade to a suite for thirty more dollars and a choice of two beds or one. Adele’s finger hovered over the touch screen, unmoving, as her mind began replaying the night’s events.

  “Ella?”

  Billy’s words ran through her mind on a high-speed loop as she tried to work out the identity of Morrell’s boss.

  “Ella?” This time the word was laced with worry.

  “Huh?” Adele’s unseeing eyes never left the screen.

  Natalie snaked a hand around Adele, selected a king-sized bed and declined the suite option with the touch of a couple of buttons. When a room key popped out of the dispenser at the bottom of the machine, Natalie grabbed it and looped her arm around Adele’s. She guided them toward the elevators.

  Adele’s attention was suddenly drawn back to the present. “Hey! How did you know I didn’t want a suite?” She looked over her shoulder at the kiosk with a frown.

  “Because you didn’t reserve one to begin with. I picked the king bed because I want to share a bed with you tonight.” Natalie’s eyes cut sideways. “Do you have a problem with that?” Her voice was stern, but Adele didn’t miss its teasing undercurrent or the hint of concern in her blue eyes.

  “No, Professor. No problems.” Adele couldn’t help the tiny grin that twitched at her lips. She appreciated that Natalie had given her some space and silence on the drive over so that she could brood, but her friend clearly wasn’t going to let her dwell in dark places for too long. Adele also knew Natalie had questions about what Billy had said, and her pronouncement that they were looking for a cop. Natalie was patiently biding her time, and Adele felt a wave of affection nearly bowl her over. She was lucky to have Natalie in her life and she knew it.

  They were barely through the door of their room when Adele kicked off her shoes and began to wriggle out of her jeans. “I feel gross.” She made a face. “I had the heat in the apartment cranked to put the screws to Billy, but it wiped me out too. I’m going to take a shower.”

  Next Adele stripped off her socks, using the desk for balance. Then she remembered they hadn’t eaten, and Natalie needed to keep up her strength. “Will you get us something to eat from room service for dinner? Just pick whatever. I like everything.”

  Natalie flopped back on the bed, letting her arms rest above her head. “Yes. And some ice for your nose. It could be broken, Ella. Maybe you should see a doctor.”

  “Nah.” Adele left the bathroom door open as she spoke. She winced at her reflection in the mirror, and her eyes welled with tears. “Unfortunately, I’ve taken hits to the nose before. It’s not broken, just a little tender.” She stripped out of her bloody shirt and stuffed it into a garbage can too small to be useful.

  Adele turned the shower to the hottest setting and let the water pressure and heat beat into the sore muscles in her shoulders and back. Her breath hitched into a sob. Everything was riding on her questioning of Morrell. Failure wasn’t an option.

  Anger, fear, resentment and worry all built up and simply overflowed. She had her proof that Crisco had been coerced, but with so much still hanging over them, the victory felt hollow. Adele let the tears come, her forehead pressed against the cool gray tile of the shower as she silently wept and her body released its pent-up stress and burned through any lingering adrenaline. By the time she was finished, she felt significantly better.

  Forty-five minutes later the women sat cross-legged, in flannel pajamas, on their bed, both freshly showered and taking their last few bites of dinner. Natalie’s stolen, concerned glances told Adele her tears hadn’t gone unnoticed. But thankfully, neither seemed to be in the mood to dredge it up now that the storm had passed.

  Natalie cleared their plates and wheeled the room service tray outside while Adele gathered the plastic bag full of ice and pressed it against her nose.

  They both sat back down on the bed. “Lemme see it.” Natalie scooted closer and examined the body part in question with a solemn expression. “The swelling is already almo
st completely down.”

  Adele smirked. “Will I live, Doctor?”

  “Too bad for you, I’m not an MD and have no idea whether it’s really broken, but I’m pretty sure you’ll live. However, you have a cute nose, and my not-so-esteemed medical opinion is that you need to let me kiss it to make it all better. Stat.”

  Adele softly laughed, but apparently Natalie was serious because she framed Adele’s face with warm palms, and dropped a feather-light kiss against the abused flesh. She hugged Adele tightly against her chest.

  “Nat…” Adele’s heart constricted. “I’m sorry about tonight. I know it was…scary. I—” She buried her nose in Natalie’s neck. “I’m not like Morrell, I don’t get off on making people suffer.”

  Natalie eased away with a gentle kiss on the cheek, her eyes brimming with equal parts adoration and understanding. “Of course you don’t. You’re the most caring person I’ve ever met, Ella. Yes, you frightened Billy, but you didn’t hurt him, and you did what needed to be done. You don’t have to apologize for that. Not to me. It’s not like you didn’t warn me about what you were going to do. I just…” She lifted one hand then let it helplessly drop to the bed.

  “It’s just different to see it with your own eyes?”

  A sigh. “Something like that. C’mon. Let’s get ready for bed. You look wrecked.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Natalie bumped hips with Adele as they walked to the bathroom. “Okay, a gorgeous wreck then.”

  Bedtime routines completed, Adele clicked off the light. The room was cool and she snuggled under soft, clean-smelling sheets and a comforter with a wiggle of pleasure.

  Natalie settled down half on top of Adele, tucking her face into the side of Adele’s neck. Soft hair tickled Adele’s chin, and Natalie slung one leg over her in a slightly possessive pose that made Adele smile.

  Adele wrapped a contented arm around Natalie.

  “Why would a police officer have killed Josh? It just doesn’t make sense.”

  Adele’s eyes closed tight at the aching quality to Natalie’s soft, raspy voice. “Sweetie, it sounds like he and Misty were just in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. They saw a drug deal or something equally shady go down. I think Josh caught his killer’s attention, and then the killer eliminated him as a potential witness. But it’s never going to make sense.”

  “But-but what kind of witness would he have even been? They were inside a dark warehouse, and Josh was stoned out of his mind.”

  “A terrible witness. Who knows what goes on in someone’s demented brain before they do something so…so wasteful and horrible.”

  Adele rolled onto her side and took Natalie with her, spooning them snugly together. It was an act of giving comfort, but also of receiving and accepting it because the contact she craved with every fiber of her being was so lovingly offered in return. “You’re the first person I’ve got to be the big spoon with.”

  “It feels good.”

  “To me too.” Adele greedily absorbed Natalie’s warmth, and sucked in a deep breath of soap-scented skin. She rubbed her cheek against the silky skin at the nape of Natalie’s neck.

  “Why are you sure the killer is a cop? Because Morrell is one?”

  “Anyone could have called Morrell after the murder and told him to head to the Dixie Brewery to clean up his mess, but only a cop would have been able to make sure the dispatch didn’t go out until Morrell and Hobson were already in place to take the call instead of a Mid-City police cruiser.”

  Natalie tugged up the sheet and tucked it beneath her chin. “Misty said she called the police from outside a strip club.”

  “The club she’s talking about is called the Pink Pony, and it’s about a five-minute walk from the brewery, less if you’re hurrying. She said she told the police there was a fight of some kind so they’d come?”

  “Right. A fight the police needed to break up.”

  “That call would have been dispatched right away,” Adele said confidently. “Even though it sometimes takes officers a while to get to the scene, the dispatch goes out immediately.”

  Adele bitterly recalled when she’d needed backup the most, but the minutes had ticked away with no help. “According to Billy’s timeline, the dispatch didn’t happen until maybe forty or forty-five minutes after Morrell got called on his personal cell and was told to head to the brewery. That means, even allowing Misty five or ten minutes to make the nine-one-one call, there’s thirty-plus missing minutes.”

  Natalie snuggled deeper into Adele’s embrace. “But if this person had the power to have the dispatch delayed, why not just kill the call from the very start?”

  “Misty’s call created the perfect excuse for Morrell and Hobson to be at the scene, it just came too quickly. Even the storm helped.” Adele vividly recalled the lashing rain, the explosive thunder, the flashes of brilliant white light that lit up the crime scene, and Josh’s body in gruesome detail. “On nights like that the emergency calls flood in, and a supervisor triages them before dispatch. He or she would be the perfect filter.”

  “But…how did the killer know Misty would call?”

  “He couldn’t have known. My guess is that he was making sure that Morrell and Hobson didn’t get dispatched to someplace back in the Tremé while on their way to the brewery, and then also made sure no other patrol units ended up at the brewery.”

  Natalie rolled over in Adele’s arms, her mouth so close to Adele’s they were sharing the same minty-flavored breath. “We’re getting closer, aren’t we?”

  Adele felt a surge of short-lived excitement that came with the thrill of the chase. “So close.”

  Natalie drew her hands up between her and Adele and traced her collarbone with a light touch. “I don’t want to talk or think about dirty cops or what happened to Josh any more tonight, okay?”

  Adele shivered at the tender touch and dropped her voice to match Natalie’s barely-there whisper. “Deal.” She yawned, her body coming down hard from the roller coaster of emotions. “Aren’t you sleepy?”

  “I should be, I guess. But after getting so much sleep over the last couple of days, I’m really not. I slept all the way to Shreveport while you drove, remember?” Natalie’s finger moved to Adele’s lower lip where she continued her gentle stroking. “But you need rest. Relax. There’s nothing more to do or think about tonight. Just let your mind float.”

  Natalie’s voice was hypnotizing. “I…” Adele sighed and felt herself sink deeper into the mattress.

  “Good ni—”

  Adele silenced Natalie with a slow, lingering kiss, designed to show affection rather than entice.

  Even so, Natalie moaned quietly.

  Rather than escalate the contact, Adele drifted there for a moment with their lips pressed softly, warmly together. Then, ever so delicately, she sleepily nipped and sucked the delicious lips so tantalizingly close. “You know I’m crazy about you, right?”

  “Likewise.”

  Adele could feel Natalie’s smile against her lips.

  “Only sweet dreams tonight,” was the last thing Adele thought she heard before the sandman stealthily dragged her under.

  * * *

  The next day…

  “You’re not listening and you’re not being reasonable!” Breathing hard, Natalie slammed the carriage house’s refrigerator door closed, causing the few bottles that were in the door to careen across the shelf and crash together violently. She tried not to wince. She was furious, but she hadn’t meant to do that.

  They’d been arguing off and on ever since they’d gotten back to New Orleans and Adele had casually announced that she wouldn’t be taking Natalie with her when she confronted Morrell the following afternoon. After politely disagreeing, but neither one yielding, things had finally come to a head. Both women had brick-red faces, and the volume of their voices had inched upward with each passing minute.

  Adele’s eyes narrowed to angry slits. “Pitching a fit like a three-year-old when yo
u don’t get your way doesn’t look good on you, Natalie.”

  “And being a dictator doesn’t look good on you, Ella.” Natalie squared her shoulders and forced herself not to burst into tears. “You don’t just get to say no and then expect that I’m going to obey without question, like I’m your pet. We need to talk about this!”

  “We really don’t.”

  Only a few feet separated them, but it felt like miles.

  Natalie knew a confrontation with Morrell was inevitable; that had always been the plan. But it all seemed so much more terrifying now that she wouldn’t be there to see it. Fear for what could happen was making her nauseous.

  Both her and Adele’s emotions were running high and close to the surface. It would have been the perfect time for each woman to back away and take a deep breath.

  Neither one did.

  Adele ran both hands through her hair. “Argh! You are the one who is being unreasonable, Natalie! As much as you want to be there while I question Morrell, I can’t worry about your safety and my own. The thought of you being in danger paralyzes me!” The words were spat out harshly like a deep dark secret that was never meant to see the light of day.

  Natalie felt a twinge of guilt for pushing but not enough to make her stop. “We both know that’s not true, Ella. When I was in danger at the inn you were far from paralyzed.”

  “But I didn’t make it to you in time. Don’t you see? You were dead! If the paramedics hadn’t shocked your heart you would have stayed dead.” Adele looked suddenly bereft.

  Natalie tried to calm her voice and queasy stomach. “I won’t do or say anything while you question Morrell. I could stay hidden or even at a distance. Morrell never has to know I’m there. If I’m not personally close enough to help you if something goes wrong, at least I could call for help.”

  “Anywhere near me talking to Morrell is unsafe. I’m sorry, it just is.”