Illegally Blonde

by anna snow

  A knock sounded on the door. "Dallas Police Department. Open up."

  Silas hurried over to the door and opened it. Tyler and another officer stepped inside.

  "Kelly, I'm sorry to have to do this," he said in a gentle tone.

  "I understand." She nodded. "Can we stop on the way? I'm starving."

  Tyler looked surprised. "Um, I can get you something once we get you booked," he said hesitantly.

  "Oh, and I need to pee. Will we be at a bathroom soon? And I need some ChapStick if I'm going to be stuck in one of those cells. And some fluffy socks because my feet get cold," she continued to rattle on.

  I wanted to laugh. Apparently Kelly's plan was to irritate the stuffing right out of the police until I could find a way to secure her release and free her of all charges. It was good to see Kelly getting back to her snarky old self.

  Tyler read Kelly her rights and loosely cuffed her hands.

  I grasped her arm and tugged her against me. "I'll get you out of this. I promise."

  She nodded her head. "I know you'll try. Until then, these guys are going to wish they'd never met me." She winked at me.

  Tyler handed her over to the second officer, who escorted her from the room. Mona and Mandy grabbed their purses and followed them out.

  "We'll let you know what happens," Mona said. "Go do whatever it is that you need to do to get our girl out of this mess, and be careful while you do it."

  Tyler took me in his arms and kissed me on the top of the head. "I'm trying, Barb. I really am. I don't think she killed him, but the evidence…"

  "I know," I said. "I'm trying too, but I feel like I'm just running in circles on this one."

  He kissed me one more time on the forehead and released me. "The only good news I have is that the gun we found in Mark's apartment isn't the murder weapon."

  "So the gun that killed him is still floating around out there somewhere."

  He nodded. "I have to get going. The police department is a madhouse, and it's only going to get worse once word gets out that Kelly's been officially charged."

  "Wait." I grabbed his arm.

  I told Tyler about the lock on Mark's window, what Two-Toes had told me about Mark owing him a lot of money, what Silvia and Jamie had told me about Melody the groupie being obsessed with Mark, what we'd gotten out of her when we questioned her, and about the band members lying about their alibis. In short, I spilled the beans about everything.

  "Well," he ran his fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. "I don't want to know how you got information out of someone like Two-Toes or how you even knew where to find him in the first place." He scowled down at me. "But I'll look into what you just told me. There may be something there. In the meantime, be careful. You're reckless on your best day. With Kelly being involved, I don't want you taking any more chances than you absolutely have to. I talked to Melody, but I didn't get anything out of her different from what she told you, and there's no reason for the judge to give us a search warrant, according to him, anyway."

  "I didn't think Melody would tell you anything," I said. "And I'll be careful," I promised.

  Tyler released my hand and turned to leave then turned back and looked at Silas. "Watch her."

  Silas nodded, and Tyler walked out of the apartment.

  "What now?" Silas asked as soon as the door closed. I could practically feel his agitation. It matched my own.

  "With The Rebels having lied about their alibis, that narrows down our suspects to…everyone," I said wearily. "Two-Toes, Melody, the band…"

  "Well, I can already tell you that there's no way in the world you're going to be able to find out where Two-Toes was the night of Mark's death, especially after that mess last night. His guys would shoot you on sight."

  "I might not be able to find out, but I know someone who can. Come on." I turned and waved for Silas to follow me.

  He locked the door behind him and jogged to catch up with me as I stepped onto the elevator.

  "Where are we going?" he asked while I pressed the button that would take us to the garage.

  "I need Dickie's help again," I began to explain. "He has all of the connections to help me find out what Two-Toes meant about taking care of Mark."

  "You want to go back to Dickie? You're already in his debt. Are you sure you want to dig yourself in any deeper?"

  I hated to admit it, but Gerald had saved my rear the night I paid a visit to Mr. Two-Toes because Dickie sent him to watch out for me. I didn't know why, and I wasn't sure I wanted to either.

  "That's the only choice we have," I said to Silas and peeled out of the parking garage and in the direction of the track once again.

  * * *

  We found Dickie in the lounge area of the Lone Star having a glass of red wine and prime rib in a private booth. He spotted us as we walked in. Gerald stepped forward to frisk us, but Dickie waved him away.

  "It's fine, Gerald. Ms. Jackson isn't a threat." He smiled and stood until I took my seat. "What can I do for you this afternoon?"

  "The cops have my friend in custody, and a murder charge is about to be slammed on her. I need to know where Two-Toes was the night Mark was killed."

  "You didn't find out the night you talked to him?" he raised his eyebrow in a surprised expression.

  I frowned. "No. I didn't." I wasn't about to admit to Dickie that I should've thought my plan for that night through a little bit better. Truth be told, I was still new at the whole catch a murderer thing. I considered my missteps as learning experiences.

  "I can find out where Tommy was." Dickie nodded and rubbed his chin with his forefinger. "But you're racking up the debt with me," he said lightly. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

  "I don't have much of a choice," I said firmly.

  Dickie lowered his eyelids, raised his chin, and regarded me for a long moment then nodded slowly. "When do you need the information by?"

  "Yesterday."

  "I'll call you in an hour." Dickie waved Gerald over as we stood to leave.

  "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me yet, Ms. Jackson," Dickie smiled. "One hour."

  Gerald leaned down, and Dickie whispered something in his ear. Gerald stood, straightened his suit jacket, and then nodded once.

  I didn't want to know what Dickie had whispered in his goon's ear. Surely with the way the corners of Gerald's mouth tilted up slightly, whatever he'd said wasn't good.

  Silas and I hurried out to the car and got in then pulled out of the gate and back on the highway.

  "What now?"

  "We need to do some more digging on Melody. I didn't find anything in Mark's apartment that would prove she'd ever even been there or killed him, but there could be some kind of proof at her place. The murder weapon is still out there, and it could be somewhere at her house."

  "What if Melody is home? How are we going to get inside?" Silas asked as he fastened his seat belt.

  "Then we park at the corner and wait her out." I changed lanes. "Until Dickie calls with Two-Toes' whereabouts, Melody is our best bet. If we find that gun in anyone's other than Kelly's possession, and if her fingerprints aren't on it, she goes free, and the real killer is put behind bars."

  Those were a lot of ifs, but I had to try. My friend's life was on the line.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Evening was approaching when we turned onto Melody's street. The lawns were well manicured with shade trees dotting the backyards and along the sidewalks.

  From the address I'd pulled up on the online white pages, Melody lived in a hip urban neighborhood in Uptown which was located north of downtown Dallas and west of the North Central Expressway.

  "That's it. Right there." Silas pointed to the third house on the left. "It looks like she's home. There's a couple of cars parked in the driveway."

  I slowed down. A blue Honda and a black Jeep sat beside each other in the drive.

  "The blinds are closed. Maybe she has company," I said.

  "Looks like this wa
s a bust," Silas agreed. "We can't search the place if she's home."

  "Maybe we can wait her out," I said. "Let's wait a little while and see if she leaves."

  "Sounds good to me," Silas agreed.

  I circled the block then parked at the end of the street where we were still able to see her house but not be conspicuous.

  "Thanks to Mandy, we know that Melody doesn't own a gun."

  "Maybe not. But she could have an illegal one like Mark."

  "It's definitely a possibility," I said.

  Silas nodded. "I had a thought," he said while watching the door to Melody's house. His expression was serious, and he rubbed his thumb across his chin the way I'd noticed he always did when he was thinking hard about something important.

  "I'm listening."

  "The members of Mark's band seem less suspicious than before because we were able to go through Toby's Instagram and see them all at the club. So that leaves the most suspicion on Melody and Tommy Two-Toes."

  "We've already gone over this," I said with confusion.

  "I know that, but hear me out." He turned sideways in his seat to face me.

  "If Melody did kill him, what would she get out of it?"

  "People don't always kill other people with the expectation of getting something in return," I said. "Jealousy is most likely the reason she killed him. Mark wouldn't leave Kelly for her, and she finally snapped and killed Mark then framed Kelly. Two birds with one stone." I shrugged.

  "True." He held up a finger. "But I think we're looking at this all wrong. I think the fact that our dear friend is the prime suspect is clouding our judgment."

  "Go on," I said.

  "I think we need to ask ourselves who would benefit the most from Mark's death. Sure, Melody would get a sense of revenge for being nothing more than Mark's side piece, but that's it. Two-Toes would also get revenge but not the money Mark owed him. Don't you think he would want Mark to stay alive at least long enough to pay back the money he owed him?"

  I had the feeling Silas was onto something.

  "Well, if we follow this train of thought…" I tapped the steering wheel. "According to Kelly, Mark was an only child, he didn't have any children of his own, and he didn't have a will, so all of his assets would go to his mom, which might not be all that much if what Two-Toes said is true, and Mark was struggling financially."

  "True," Silas said, and I sensed his excitement building. "But I'm not talking about the money he had already made." Silas became even more animated. "I'm talking about the money that could be made in the future."

  "I'm not following," I shook my head.

  "The Rebels are huge right now. What's going to happen to the band without Mark there as the lead singer? Do you think they're just going to quit while they're hot?"

  "No way," I said as I latched on to his trail of thought. "They'll have to replace him."

  "And they most likely won't want some outside guy," Silas said.

  "Which means that someone who's already in the band will step up and take his place." I nodded.

  "And with taking Mark's place comes a whole lot of fame. Isn't the lead singer always the most popular person in the band? Who wouldn't want that?"

  "So the only question is…" I turned in my seat to face Silas fully. "Who would be the guy to step into Mark's place?" I asked, thinking Silas might really be onto something. I'd been so focused on Melody and the scorned lover angle and Two-Toes and the drugs angle that I'd never thought to consider someone else benefiting from Mark's demise. Silas was right. Kelly's involvement in the investigation was causing more stress than usual, which was fogging my reasoning. I hadn't been thinking straight.

  "All four members of the band have alibis," Silas said. "But what if somehow they were covering for each other? What if one of them really did kill Mark? They all admitted that they hated him."

  "But how?" I countered. "We saw the pictures of the band at that club."

  "I don't know," he admitted. "So who do we talk to in order to find out? Who would know which band member would step into Mark's shoes?" Silas asked.

  "My money's on Henry as Mark's replacement. When we talked to him he said he was a better front man and that he was going out on his own after he made a little more money. But, first I think we should talk to their manager," I said and felt my excitement grow. "If anybody would know for certain who would take Mark's place in the band, it would be her. Tyler said he was having a hard time pinning her down. We don't have time to play chase the manager. We need to find her now. Call Mandy, and see what she can dig up."

  "No need for that." Silas turned around and grabbed my laptop out of the backseat and connected it to my mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. "Mandy showed me a few things. I think I can handle this." He fired up a search engine and went to work.

  "I still want to search Melody's place and see what we can come up with," I said. "Just to cover all of our bases. She's still very much on my suspect list." I kept my eyes trained on Melody's place, but the way things were looking, she wasn't leaving her house anytime soon.

  "Okay. You drive, and I'll track down The Rebels manager and where we can find her." Silas clicked away on my computer.

  We weren't getting anywhere sitting at the end of Melody's block like a couple of lumps, and I was getting antsy after hearing Silas's theory, so I started the car and pulled out of the neighborhood and back onto the expressway.

  As I weaved in and out of traffic, Silas continued his search.

  "Found her," he said with a triumphant smile. "Who says only Mandy can do research?" he joked.

  "Impressive," I said with a smile. "Okay, smart guy. Where is she?"

  "Loretta Paulson is her name, and according to this article posted about an hour ago, she is hosting a type of memorial gathering at the Omni Hotel for fans of The Rebels this evening."

  "What time does this shindig at the Omni start?" I asked.

  "In about half an hour. I say we crash the party." He grinned.

  "You just read my mind."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The Omni Hotel was considered by most to be the crown jewel of downtown Dallas. With everything from upscale restaurants, a terrace pool deck, high-end shops, and rooms with fabulous views of downtown Dallas, one could understand why. Multicolored lights rippled up and down the hotel on every floor, lighting up the night in an array of bright colors. The hotel would fit into Vegas perfectly. It was spectacular.

  I pulled up in front of the hotel, and within seconds the valet, a trim young man in a white dress shirt and black slacks, opened my car door and helped me out. I handed him the keys then took the parking ticket he offered me with a smile and put it in my pocket.

  "This place is insane," Silas said as he and I approached the busy front entrance. "I've stayed here a few times in the past while I was working, but I've never seen it this busy."

  I looked around. "By the looks of it, most of these people are here for the memorial," I said as two girls with blue hair and nose rings passed us and entered the hotel.

  "Good," Silas said. "That should help us find who we're looking for."

  He placed his hand on the small of my back and led me into the building.

  The lobby was just as hectic as the sidewalk.

  "We need to find the conference room." I looked around and spotted a bellhop. "Let's ask him."

  We wove our way through the bustling crowd until we reached the young man.

  "We're looking for the—"

  "The Rebels event is being held down that hallway. Last room on the left." He cut me off before I could finish my sentence then turned and hurried in the direction of two guys riding down the side rail of the escalator. I let my gaze follow the harried young man through the chaos surrounding us. The guys on the escalator looked like they were having the time of their lives as they slid down the rail, their Mohawk's whipping around as they laughed and punched each other in the shoulder.

  "Busy guy," Silas shook his head. "I'd hate to be him right no
w," he said as we watched the man and a security guard help the guys off the escalator. The guys didn't look too happy with being made to stop horsing around but quickly changed their minds when a wave of women in short shorts, crop tops, and too tight dresses sauntered by.

  There were more The Rebels T-shirts than I'd ever cared to see and more piercings than I could count.

  Silas and I made our way through the thick crowd and down the hallway. The door to the conference room came into view, and we heard music playing over the loudspeakers. People were crowded around the entrance, but we were able to force our way inside past a tall man with purple hair and a woman I assumed was his girlfriend with a nose ring and a tattoo of a snake slithering up her neck.

  "Looks like a party is in full swing. I thought this was supposed to be a sad event or something."

  "Apparently, we were wrong."

  We had just pushed our way into the room when I felt my phone vibrate through my purse. I reached down and pulled it out. I didn't recognize the number.

  "Barb Jackson."

  "Two-Toes was at the Double Trouble Gentleman's Club the night of your boy's murder." Gerald's voice sounded in my ear.

  "Do you have proof of that?" I asked.

  "I talked to one of the girls down there—Cindy. She said he was there until after two in the morning. She said most of his crew were there, too. I wanted to make sure for myself, so I paid him a visit. Believe me when I tell you he didn't have anything to do with your boy's untimely passing."

  "If that's the case, then what did he mean when he said he took care of Mark for not paying him?" I asked with confusion.

  "He stopped supplying him with the drugs he liked so much," Gerald said simply. "And not only that," he continued. "He put out the word that Mark liked to stiff his dealers so no one else would take the chance of supplying him because he wouldn't pay up."

  "I see. So I'm guessing that he was strapped financially because he owed Two-Toes so much money?"

  "That's exactly right. He paid Tommy some of what he owed him, but he was still in debt to him. Then he just stopped paying. Tommy said he was going to send his guys after him, but the guy was offed before he had the chance."