“And don’t you look adorable.” Deena reached out and touched Ricki’s French braid. “You really should let your hair down, though.”
Ricki felt a moment’s discomfort at the familiar way that Deena touched her. Deena had liked to touch Ricki from the beginning, in a friendship kind of way. It had never before felt so intimate as it did in that moment. The way Deena was looking at her and touching her gave Ricki an uncomfortable feeling, a tightness in her body.
“I pulled it back to keep it out of the way while I’m in the hot tub and while getting a massage.” Ricki tried to make it seem natural as she turned away from Deena and looked out at the sky. “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
“It’s lovely,” Deena said. “Come on in. I just need to find my purse and we can go.”
Ricki stood in the living room as Deena disappeared down the hallway. The Arizona morning news show was on and Ricki watched the newscasters as they finished up an inane fluff topic on exotic doggie hairdos.
The camera focused on a more serious looking newscaster. “We have breaking news.” A news clip started of a covered body on a stretcher being carried down a mountainside by law enforcement agents.
“The burned remains of a female were discovered by hikers two days ago in the Santa Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson. The remains have been identified as belonging to Celia Parks who has been missing since last fall.”
Ricki shuddered as the newscaster continued. “Tucson Police are searching for the whereabouts of this woman, Diane Donatello, in connection with the disappearance and murder of Parks.”
A photograph of a woman appeared on the screen. She was brunette, blue-eyed, and pretty. And she looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she’d come into the bakery sometime in the past.
“If you have seen or know the whereabouts of the woman in this photograph, please contact the Tucson Police—”
The TV clicked off. Ricki looked to see Deena holding the remote control. “Time to go.” She had an odd look in her eyes as she set the remote on the coffee table then hitched her purse up on her shoulder as she straightened. “This is going to be so much fun,” she said, but Ricki detected something almost frantic in Deena’s gaze.
Ricki headed back to her car and climbed in while she waited for Deena to lock up her house. As usual, Ricki’s mind turned to Garrett while she was waiting. It had been another great week with him. It was hard getting to see him enough with her working so much at the bakery, but she’d decided to hire someone new since the business was going so well.
She’d been hesitating because Deena had asked if she had any openings. As much as she liked Deena, Ricki didn’t think it would be good to change their friendship by becoming her friend’s boss. So she’d been procrastinating, hoping Deena would find work elsewhere.
Deena jogged down the steps, wearing a broad smile, then opened the passenger side door and slid into the seat. She strapped on her seatbelt. “I am so ready for this,” she said.
Ricki put the car into gear. “Me, too.”
The hour and a half drive to Sedona was pleasant. Deena, as always, was fun and easy to talk to. Ricki didn’t mention Garrett because Deena always seemed to change the subject anyway, whenever he was mentioned.
Sedona was beautiful with its massive red rock formations, a high desert area that blended into forest at the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon. The community was filled with art galleries and shops that sold New Age/metaphysical items, jewelry, Native American Arts, leather goods, as well as places that sold rocks, gems, and minerals.
Deena had selected the Sedona spa that had been voted best of Sedona for several years. She had booked massages for each of them as well as scrubs, facials, and pedicures.
It had been years since Ricki had been to a spa and this one was amazing with its magical Sedona desert setting.
The massage relaxed her tight muscles, which were the result of being on her feet all day while working at the bakery. The masseuse had great hands, relaxing and almost lulling Ricki to sleep. While she was being worked on, it occurred to her that she’d forgotten to call Garrett and tell him which spa Deena had chosen. She’d call him later, after she and Deena left the spa.
Ricki couldn’t help thinking about Garrett throughout the day. When he’d told her he loved her last weekend, she knew she could never be happier than she was at that moment. Then she’d thought of having a child with him, or several children, and she knew that she could be blessed with happiness for years to come. Just thinking about having children with him made her smile.
But then again, she was rushing things. Just because he’d said he loved her, didn’t mean he wanted to marry her and raise a family together.
She mentally shook her head. She wasn’t about to let thoughts like that spoil the wonderful feelings she had about her relationship with Garrett.
The massage was followed by a facial with different technician who worked her fingers over Ricki’s scalp, and the headache that had been hovering at the edges of her consciousness faded.
Ricki was feeling so relaxed by the time she had her pedicure that she sank into the spa chair and sipped the champagne that had been provided. She and Deena chatted about Deena’s new home, the next event Ricki was catering, and the sights in Sedona. They decided they’d like to come to Sedona another time to go hiking on the West Fork Oak Creek Trail that Ricki had heard so much about from her friend, Tess. Deena and Ricki decided they’d have to come down for an overnight stay at one of the resorts sometime in the future.
Nearing the end of the day, Deena and Ricki decided to relax in the hot tub. Ricki wondered just how much more she could possibly relax. She wasn’t sure she could drive considering the wonderful, nearly boneless feeling she was experiencing from her body being worked over and from the champagne.
When they got to the hot tub, no one else was using it. Deena dropped her robe onto a chair and Ricki felt a rush of discomfort as she saw that Deena wasn’t wearing anything. True, this was the women’s side of the spa, and clothing was optional, but Ricki didn’t feel comfortable being in a hot tub with any naked woman.
Ricki dropped her own robe onto a chair, but she was wearing a simple black bathing suit. She followed Deena into the hot tub and sank into the warm water, the heat relaxing her even further as selected a side of the tub and settled in. Ricki closed her eyes, breathed in the steam, and enjoyed feeling the water whirl around her body. The jets felt great against her lower back and legs.
She detected a movement near her and then felt skin slide against skin, a body moving against hers. She opened her eyes, and saw Deena smiling at her, their faces inches apart. Tingles erupted at Ricki’s nape. Deena was too close, much too close for comfort, and she had a sensual look in her eyes. In that moment, Ricki thought about how her friend had told her over dinner one night that she preferred women.
Ricki swallowed and her eyes widened as Deena put her hand on Ricki’s upper thigh, and brushed Ricki’s lips with hers.
* * * * *
Garrett pushed his fingers through his hair as he stared at a file on his desk. It was Sunday and he shouldn’t be at work, but with Ricki out of town with Deena, he’d felt restless and had decided to come in and catch up on mundane tasks like filing and organizing. He was a one-man show with no assistant and he liked to keep it that way.
He pulled the sticky note from his monitor that had the information about Craig Morris’s victim and the woman they were looking for. Garrett had never gotten around to taking a better look at the photo. He’d told Craig he would, so he pulled up the program he used to work with photos.
As he scrolled through the photographs that had been synched from his phone to the computer, he came to the one that Craig had sent him. He enhanced the picture and enlarged it, then frowned as he studied the woman and glanced at the sticky note. Diane Donatello was her name and the victim had been Marie McAdams. Donatello looked so damned familiar, and he had the feeling he’d seen her before and it had been recently.
His mind worked through this new puzzle. Why would Deena have a picture of Diane Donatello, a woman who might be involved in the death of a friend?
He studied the picture more closely. Diane and Deena looked like they could be related. Sisters even. Diane was curvier than Deena by about forty or so pounds, and Diane had thinner lips.
Garrett thought about the photograph at Deena’s house and remembered that the woman in the picture had blue eyes as opposed to Deena’s brown. Deena had short white hair instead of long brown hair, although he’d noticed that Deena’s roots were dark brown before she’d bleached her hair again.
The facial structure was the same and the expression on Diane Donatello’s face was so similar to Deena’s that it was eerie. If he gave Diane all of Deena’s differing characteristics, from fuller lips to eye color to size…he’d be looking at Deena.
His instincts told him something was wrong. Really wrong.
He pulled his cell phone out of the holster at his belt and cued up Craig’s number. Craig answered on the first ring.
“What are you doing working on a Sunday?” Craig said as he answered. “Shouldn’t you be off with some young thing instead?”
Yeah, he should be with Ricki.
“Wanted to ask you about that case you called me on.” Garrett studied the picture. “This Diane Donatello. What can you tell me about her?”
“You find her?” Craig’s attention was focused wholly on Garrett now.
“I’m not sure.” The more Garrett stared at the photo on his computer screen, the more he saw Deena in the woman. “Have you heard about her losing weight or changing her appearance in any way?”
“Not that anyone’s said to me.” Garrett could picture Craig shaking his head. “But of course it’s possible.”
Before Garrett could ask another question, Craig continued, “A hell of a lot of people are looking for Donatello now.” He sounded serious. “A couple of hikers ran across a burned body in the Catalinas. Turns out they were the remains of Celia Parks.”
Garrett frowned. “Celia Parks?”
“Donatello's roommate, before Maria McAdams, was Celia,” Craig said and Garrett’s skin started to crawl. “Less than a year after Celia disappeared, Donatello moved in with Maria. A few months later, Maria was found murdered on Mt. Lemon.”
“What other information do you have?” Garrett asked, trying to remain calm even as hair prickled at the back of his neck.
“I located a couple of women who’ve slept with Donatello,” Craig said. “She’s a real man hater and prefers women. But she also has a violent streak. She’d get a little rough with the women she had relations with.”
“Shit.” Garrett pushed his fingers through his hair as he worked through things in his mind. Ricki was with Deena now in some Sedona spa. Ricki had said she didn’t know which one and she’d let him know, but she’d never called.
“You find Donatello?” Craig asked. “She’s officially been a suspect with the Tucson Police Department since Celia’s body was found.”
“Maybe.” Garrett slid his handgun into the shoulder holster that was over his T-shirt, then pulled an over-shirt on while talking. “The woman who I think may be Diane Donatello goes by the name Deena Samson here.” Garrett headed to the front door of his office, opened the door and stepped out on the sidewalk.
“What can you tell me about Samson?” Craig asked.
Garrett closed and locked the office door behind him as he spoke. “Samson has close-cropped bleached white-blonde hair, her lips look like they’ve been enhanced, and if it is her, she’s lost a good forty-plus pounds. She has brown eyes, but those could be colored contact lenses. I’d bet the house that it’s her.” Garrett turned and hurried down the sidewalk. He was only a few feet from his truck and he used the remote to unlock the vehicle before he jerked open the door.
“Holy shit,” Craig said. “We need to call the cops. Do you know where she is now?”
“In Sedona.” Garrett swung himself into the truck. “With my girlfriend.”
Chapter 27
“I love you, Ricki,” Deena said as Ricki froze, unable to move. Deena rested her palm on Ricki’s breast as her other hand moved up the inside of Ricki’s thigh. “I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you in the bakery.”
The moment was intensely surreal and Ricki’s mind reeled even as her body stiffened and her heart started to thud erratically.
“You’re so beautiful,” Deena continued. “You’re perfect for me in every way.”
“No.” Ricki shoved Deena away from her and Deena’s eyes widened, as if she’d expected an entirely different reaction. “Don’t touch me, Deena. Not ever again.”
“Sweetheart, please.” Deena reached for Ricki. “Come back.”
“I’m not your sweetheart.” Ricki scrambled out of the hot tub and was so rushed she slipped on the wet tile and barely caught herself with the handrail. She faced Deena who was coming toward her, water dripping from her naked body, her brown eyes begging Ricki to return.
“Ricki—”
“Stop.” Ricki put up her hands, her palms facing Deena. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Ever.”
A stunned expression crossed Deena’s face. “You don’t mean that.”
Ricki grabbed her robe off the lounge chair and slipped it on as Deena rose up from the water like some kind of Greek siren, water running in rivulets down her body.
“You know that I’m in love with Garrett and that I’ve just considered you and I to be friends, nothing more.” Ricki straightened. “I’ve known you like women and I don’t have a problem with that. But when you touched me the way you did and kissed me, you crossed a line.”
“I’m so sorry.” Deena’s face fell. “Please, let’s go back to how things were.”
“They can never go back to the way they were before.” Ricki’s breathing was rapid, her heart beating even harder. “I think we need some permanent distance.”
Deena picked up her own robe and hurried to slip it on. “I promise, this will never happen again.”
Ricki’s mind was a jumble. She’d driven, so she couldn’t just leave Deena here. Ricki needed to take her back to Prescott. What else could she do?
But she couldn’t be in the car with Deena for an hour and a half, either.
She closed her eyes and rubbed the corners with her thumb and forefinger. Had she been giving off the wrong signals to Deena all this time? Had she been too friendly? Should she have told Deena earlier that it wasn’t appropriate to touch her so much? She’d been so naïve in believing that Deena’s touchy-feely personality was all in a friendship sort of way.
“I tell you what.” Deena was only a few feet away when she spoke. Ricki opened her eyes and took a step back. “We can go home and talk when you’re ready.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Ricki turned away and walked from the hot tub and pushed the glass door open that led into the women’s locker room.
“Ricki, please.” Deena followed Ricki as she went up to her locker. “I told you that it won’t happen again.”
“You’re right, it won’t.” Ricki pulled the locker key out of the robe’s pocket and bit her lower lip. She opened the locker door and paused for a moment, staring at her clothing. When she turned to Deena, she said, “You’ve made this all really uncomfortable. I can’t spend an hour and a half in the car with you when I’m trying to work this out in my head. I know there are a couple of companies that provide shuttle services between Prescott and Sedona that you can take.”
Deena looked away. When she returned her gaze back to Ricki, she said, “Maybe that’s for the best.”
Sick to her stomach, Ricki turned and pulled out her ski
rt, blouse, sandals, and other belongings from the locker, as well as her gym bag. She gathered them up in her arms before walking away from Deena to change in another part of the locker room.
When Ricki was alone, she dressed quickly, no longer feeling relaxed and happy. As she stuffed her bathing suit into her gym bag, her whole body felt tight and her head ached again. The day was ruined, but it was better that she know than to continue oblivious to Deena having feelings for her.
After she had slung her purse and her gym bag over her shoulder, Ricki pulled her cell phone out of the outside pocket of her purse. She wanted to talk with Garrett. She wasn’t ready to tell him what had happened, not now, but she needed to hear his voice.
The phone service was on roam and she grimaced. She’d forgotten that the way this spa was situated in Sedona, and because of the elevation, she couldn’t get good service. Once she got out of the spa and down the road, the signal should be clear and she wouldn’t have a problem calling then.
Her head ached even more as she clenched her jaw. Would she run into Deena in the lobby? She remained tense and wary as she paid for her share of the services and then walked stiffly out of the building to her car.
The early evening was perfect outside but she couldn’t enjoy it feeling the way she did. She unlocked her Prius and climbed in before pressing the start button and bringing the quiet hybrid vehicle to life. She glanced back at the doors to the spa and her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw Deena standing there, watching her.
Deena looked almost sinister as she stood there, staring at Ricki. Like a dark cloud had passed over her, swallowing everything good about her. It all made Ricki even more relieved that Deena wasn’t returning with her.
A shiver ran down her spine even as she felt a combination of guilt and anger. She felt guilt because she was leaving Deena here and anger because Deena had ruined what Ricki had thought to be a great friendship.
If Deena had told Ricki how she felt without touching Ricki so intimately and kissing her, it would possibly have been different. Ricki could have said she was flattered and that she cared for Deena as a friend, but that was all.
Playing With You Page 16
