by Diane Bator
He bowed his head. “That’s hurtful.”
Gilda sniffed the blossoms. “You’ll get over it. I’ve had to deal with the mess you left me for two years and I don’t plan to make that same mistake again. Go find someone else who’ll be happy to swallow your cheesy lines.”
“There is no one else, sweetie.” Thayer reached for her hand. “You’re the only girl I want in my life now. You’re so sweet and honest.”
“And you can’t have me, so suddenly I’m far more interesting than ever before.” She tapped his chin with the rhododendron. “The answer’s still no.”
He first glanced then lunged in her direction and planted a firm kiss on her lips. Gilda squirmed and tried to back away, finally she let him finish his hard, dry kiss. When he sat back with a wide grin on his face, she shoved him backward into the rosebush.
“What was that for?” He thrashed amid thorns and a shower of red rose petals. “Get me out of here. This thing’s going to eat me.”
“It can’t eat you. It’s a rosebush. The worst it can do is prick you and draw blood.” She watched him struggle. “You should be right at home there. You both have a lot in common.”
He crawled onto the walkway, leaving a trail of foliage. “You’re a witch.”
Gilda stood, prepared to defend herself if he tried anything else. “Why? Because I’m completely over you? Keep the roses. At least you’ll smell nice at the office.”
“Funny.” Thayer brushed petals and leaves off his clothes. The whole time, he cursed her and her garden.
“Do you want me to ask Fabio to get you some rose dust?” she asked. “I don’t want you to get bugs or anything.”
With one last curse, Thayer stormed away, still picking thorns out of his clothing.
Her gaze locked on a dark blue sedan across the street where Gary howled and wiped tears from his eyes. At least she’d made his day.
After a quick shower, she made a protein shake before the doorbell rang. She scowled at the door and sipped her drink. Six rings later, curiosity got the best of her.
Xavier stood on the front step holding a bouquet of burgundy sunflowers, their faces drooped to the wooden floor. “I’m sorry. I never meant to kill you.”
Gilda curled her fingers into a fist and prayed for the strength not to punch him in the nose. At least he didn’t bring her more coffee. “Why did you do it? I could’ve died, you know.”
“I never intended for anyone to die. That’s why I used such a small amount and spread it out over a long time,” he said. “I was mad at Mick and took it out on you. Not a smart move, considering you’re Thayer’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not Thayer’s girlfriend.” She snapped. “I’m not Thayer’s anything.”
Xavier frowned. “You might want to tell him that. He’s telling everyone in town you two are back together and plan to get married next summer on Ponderer’s Point.”
“Well, I’m sure he won’t be doing that now she said. I shoved him into a rosebush, so I hope he got the point. Are you saying you poisoned me more than once?”
“Five times, actually.” He stepped back. “I’m sorry. It was wrong and I feel like dog doo. I even turned myself in to the police.”
“Thanks. Please don’t try it again though.” She closed her eyes and let the tension drain away. Since Xavier had come to apologize, she accepted the sunflowers. “These are beautiful. Thayer’s a jerk all on his own, no help required. I thought he was over me before we broke up.”
“Don’t tell me he cheated on you.”
“Repeatedly.” She sat on the top step, which she seemed to be wearing a groove in lately.
“Wish I’d known. I would’ve poisoned him instead.” Xavier sat next to her. “You deserve a lot better.”
Gilda blinked, flattered and repulsed at the same time.
“I’m kidding,” he said. “Doc called and lectured me until my ears burst into flames. Considering the minute dose, he said he’d tell Thayer to give me a misdemeanor assault charge or something like that.”
“Did he?”
“So far Thayer hasn’t mentioned it.” Xavier fidgeted with a red petal that lay on the step beside him. “Doesn’t that seem odd to you? I mean, I know he’s focused on finding a murderer, but after what I did, I thought he’d have locked me away by now.”
Gilda kicked away a broken twig. “Unless Thayer blew you and Doc off because nothing happened. I mean, technically, no one got sick or died, right?”
With two recent murders it seemed odd. Were Doc, Thayer and Fabio focusing on another suspect or did they consider the poisonings more evidence and were biding their time?
“I should go talk to Doc.” Xavier sighed. “I need to settle this before it festers.”
Gilda patted his arm. “No. I’ll talk to Doc. It was my coffee cup, after all. If you do it, he might think you actually want to go to jail.”
“Jail’s probably a lot safer than being at the karate school right now.” Xavier’s face softened. “You’d really do that for me? Even after what I did?”
“For both of us.” Mostly to help figure out who murdered Walter and Erik. She hoped Xavier’s meager attempt at poisoning was only a small piece of the problem.
He hugged her then left, shuffling his feet down the sidewalk.
Gilda remained on the front step absorbed in thought. Just like with Walter’s murder, the doors of the school were locked when she found Erik. She’d used her key to get inside. Logically, the killer must have locked the door from the inside to carry out the murder then escaped after knocking her out cold. Someone had to see the killer leave. Unfortunately, if the killer was a black belt, no one would have realized there was a problem inside.
Chapter 25
Gilda’s work life invaded her dream world, where all the black belts made special guest appearances. All of the wrongs. All of the secrets. All of the lies. They all swirled into a suffocating fog. Walter. Erik. Xavier. Razi. Mick.
She sat and opened her eyes with her heart beating like she’d run a marathon.
Mick said he loved her before she kneed him in the crotch and quit her job. Not her finest moment. She pulled her pillow over her face and groaned. He’d hold her to her word, which meant she needed a new job, a new school to train in, and new friends. She might even have to leave Sandstone Cove. Maybe Gary had a contact who could help her create a new identity and disappear. Either that or she’d have to move in with her mom.
After a shower and breakfast, the world didn’t seem any brighter. She slid on her sunglasses and decided to walk to the corner store to buy a copy of every newspaper on the shelf to begin her job search and apartment hunt in Erie.
She opened the front door of her house and froze. “What happened to you?”
Mick sat on the top step wearing the same clothes he had on the day before. His hair rumpled, he handed her a coffee and averted his eyes. “You.”
“I see.” She took the cup, comforted by the notion he needed her too much to bother adding poison, and sat next to him. “You still think it’s a bad idea for me to look for Walter and Erik’s killer.”
“I think it’s a bad idea for you to team up with Thayer, for one.”
Gilda hesitated. “And for two?”
“I was serious,” Mick said. “I think I love you.”
“You think you do?” Her heart seemed to hover in her chest, waiting breathlessly for a punch line. “Were you drinking again?”
“No. Once I sobered up, I poured the rest of the scotch down the toilet.”
When the lid on Gilda’s cup popped off and coffee splashed her hand, she relaxed her grip and refastened the lid. “You’re with Chloe.”
“No, I’m not,” he said. “Chloe placed a large bet with Gary on my behalf, lost a ridiculous amount of money then locked me out of my condo. She also posed as my wife and changed my phone number.”
“How could she do that?” Gilda resealed the cup lid. “Isn’t that theft or something?”
Mick s
mirked. “Only until I cancel the phone and sell the condo.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Ooh, devious. I’m impressed.”
“Glad I could make you smile.” His face softened as he took her hand. “Forget about her. Can we get back to the problem at hand? I told you I love you, remember?”
Her heart fluttered. How could she forget? She remembered from head to toe. “You’re on the rebound. It was the scotch talking.”
“Maybe, except it was morning and I was sober.” He entwined his fingers with hers and inched closer. “You’re the one person who’s always there to watch my back when I make a mistake then have to pick up the pieces and start over. Maybe it’s time to move on.”
“What is it you want?” She swallowed hard and inched away.
He met her gaze. “To be with you.”
Gilda blew out a breath. “What if it doesn’t work out? What if we figure out we really can’t stand each other? You know I can’t work for you then.”
“I know.” He picked a rose Thayer hadn’t destroyed off the bush.
She wiggled away from him. “Then you’d be off to your next mistake before I reached for a tissue and the help wanted ads.”
Mick raised his eyebrows. “You don’t think I’d be upset too?”
“Maybe for a minute.”
“Show’s what you know.” He nudged her right to the edge of the step. “I’d give up women completely and become a monk.”
Gilda laughed. “That I can’t picture.”
“To be honest, me neither.” Mick tucked the rose into her hair then dropped his head onto her shoulder. “You’re the only person in my life I can count on, Sherlock.”
“Even if you’re at the top of my suspect list?”
“Especially if I am,” he said. “That means you have no illusions about me, which is a pretty good place to start, considering everything.”
She sipped her coffee, with no idea what to say.
“It’s a lot to think about.” He sat up and gave her hand a squeeze. “I just wanted you to know I was serious. I’m going to take a shower and do some paperwork. If you want to talk, you know where to find me.”
Gilda frowned. “Where are you going to shower?”
“At the school. My clothes are in my car. At least it’s still my car until Chloe gets her hands on the keys.” He stood and rocked his head from side to side like he had a stiff neck. “Do you get nervous when you go to the school now? If I were you, I’d be a basket case.”
“That’s why I haven’t been there since Erik died. And because I quit. I’ll come in later to pick up my personal things.”
“You didn’t quit because of me, did you?” he asked.
“Not until now.”
“Fair enough.” Mick bowed his head. “Rather than quit, why don’t you take a couple days off? I’ll deal with things at the school. You deserve that much.”
She muttered beneath her breath. “I deserve a lot more than that.”
“Yes, you do.” He threw his arms around her and gave her a hard hug. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll make sure you get exactly what you deserve.”
Her stomach turned a somersault with a double twist. What did he mean she’d get what she deserved? While she worked in the yard later, elbow deep in a blue hydrangea, a thought occurred to her. She needed to talk to Mick again. One sentence continued to coil around her brain while she washed her hands, changed her shoes, then ran to the karate school. The front door was unlocked this time and voices echoed through the front lobby.
“I do not think you understand how serious this situation is.” Yoshida shouted from Mick’s office. “Someone stole a thousand dollars in merchandise. That could ruin my school.”
Gilda’s scalp tingled. Missing merchandise? Why had no one said anything to her? She hid behind her desk to listen.
“Two men are dead and we’re missing merchandise. I get it. It’s my business too.” Mick’s anger was palpable. “You were the one who said not to go to the police about the thefts, so I’m looking into it. What more do you expect me to do?”
“Get rid of that woman,” Yoshida said. “She must have helped steal everything. There is no way one man did this alone.”
“I haven’t found proof anyone stole anything,” Mick said. “Besides, what would she have to gain?”
Yoshida snorted and his voice raised a full octave. “A job at his school. She is the only one here all the time who had access and I want her gone.”
The she in question had to be Gilda.
“She’s not the only one who had access to the missing merchandise. You and I have keys. Hell, all the black belts have keys.” Mick closed his office door like he knew she was there.
Gilda slid into her chair with her hands shaking. If only she’d stopped to grab a coffee, she would have missed hearing how much Yoshida doubted her. Hated her. No wonder he gave her those odd looks every time he saw her. No wonder he attacked her. Mick stood by her. There was no way he would let her go without a fight. Not unless he was dead. Of course, the odds of that had risen significantly in the past week. There were still two kanji left.
From Mick’s office came the reverberation of muffled, raised voices. She leaned forward and strained to at least get the gist of what they were saying. No such luck.
Once the office door opened, Yoshida stomped around the corner and stopped short. His dark eyes widened. “Miss Wright.” Curt, but he remembered her name. Did he have access to a hit man?
She bowed her head slightly, not taking her eyes off him. Her arms tensed, ready to block if he threw a punch like he had in class. Instead, he left the building. She stared after him, not quite sure what to do.
“For the record,” Mick leaned on the desk to block her view of the door, “you didn’t hear anything we said.”
“Actually, I didn’t hear much,” she said. “I just got here.”
He grimaced. “I thought you quit and I told you to take a couple days off. Do I have to start telling you the opposite of what I want you to do?”
“You also told me where you’d be if I wanted to talk to you.” Gilda studied the faint lines etched into his face. “You never told me merchandise was missing.”
“I thought you didn’t hear anything?” Mick seemed to have aged five years over the past week. “It wasn’t something you needed to know. You’ve had enough on your shoulders lately.”
“Is that why Yoshida is here?” she asked.
“He thinks you and Erik stole all the missing items to pawn so Erik could start a new school. “Now that Erik’s dead, he wants me to fire you and close down the school. I stopped listening after he started to sound like a teenage girl at a concert.”
“I never stole anything and I’d never jeopardize you or this school.” Gilda struggled to catch her breath. Yoshida despised her more than she thought. “What’s missing?”
“I have a copy of the list.”
The hairs on her neck stood. “You’ve already done an inventory and have a list?”
Concern flickered across Mick’s face. “Yoshida noticed we didn’t have as many sparring gloves and gis as usual. He thought it was because our stock was low for the summer.”
“It is,” she said. “I always keep minimal stock until late August, then I do inventory and refill the shelves. As a matter of fact, Yoshida was the one who drilled the idea into my head for the past year.”
“Really?” He flinched. “That’s interesting. He also told you to keep a running inventory list on the computer, right? Can you print me a copy?”
“Of course.” She paused. “Do you think Yoshida fudged the list?”
Mick shook his head. “I don’t think anything. So far, I’ve gone on his word. Now that you’re on my side, I want proof.”
“I’ll print two copies and do a physical recount,” she said.
“Just print off a copy for me and I’ll worry about counting while you grab coffee.” He met her gaze. “Please. Make mine a large. This could take a while.�
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She was reluctant to leave since she wanted to know what was going on just as badly as he did. After printing off the list, she ran up the street for two coffees and cinnamon buns, hoping to sweeten the deal and bribe him to let her stay.
When she returned, he set his coffee and pie on the counter then steered her toward the door. “Go home. You’re already nosy enough and I don’t want you getting hurt or...”
“Killed” hung unspoken in the air between them.
She sat on the floor, blocking the doorway. “If you want me out, you’ll have to pick me up and throw me out.”
“You’re a stubborn little thing, aren’t you?” Mick looked at her then at the coffee and cinnamon bun. “Okay, babe. You count. I’ll dig out Yoshida’s list.”
Considering she’d done inventory in June and no stock had come in since, a recount would be easy. She already had a mental list of what was in stock. Armed with her coffee and a copy of her list, she walked into the backroom. There were twenty belts where there should have been forty. Six gis sat in the drawer, all in different sizes. She’d counted twelve last month and had only sold two. All the T-shirts were accounted for, but five pairs of sparring gloves and ten mouth guards were gone. She hadn’t sold any.
“Yoshida’s right.” She leaned in Mick’s doorway and handed him her marked up list. “We have a problem.”
He swore and crumpled up a page on his desk. “What the hell’s going on, Gilda? You’ve yelled at all of us not to touch any stock without letting you know.”
Organization was her biggest strength, or weakness, depending on how you looked at it. Mick and Erik knew she kept meticulous records. Yoshida might not have been as aware.
She slumped onto the thin plastic chair, flimsy to ensure his private meetings were short and sweet. “Why would anyone steal from the school?”
“Erik wasn’t the brightest bulb in the socket,” Mick said. “Someone either put him up to it, or set him up.”
Gilda stared at the floor. “Someone like Yoshida?”
