Heard it Through the Grapevine

by Lizbeth Lipperman

  A glance Lainey’s way showed a tiny bit of color had returned to her cheeks as she leaned back in the chair. It felt good sharing a meal with her and sitting quietly afterward, but he had come for a reason. As much as he hated destroying the moment, he had to get things out in the open.

  “Did you know Quinton Porter was killed last night?”

  He studied her face. Other than a hint of sadness, she didn’t look surprised.

  “Maddy told me,” she said, shaking her head. “The guy was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve to die.” She hesitated before she looked up, her eyes questioning. “Unless he was the one who killed my sister.”

  “I don’t think he was,” Colt reassured her. “But that remains to be seen.” He pressed on. “Did you also know we found another body at the Conquistador this afternoon?”

  Her eyes widened. “Another body? Whose?” She struggled to hide her confusion.

  “A small-time thug from Waco who more than likely was the one who killed Porter.”

  After her sharp intake of air, he debated whether to tell her about his suspicion that Thornton was the one who put the note under her door. He decided against it. “We’ll know more when the test results come back.”

  Reaching across the table he grabbed her hand. “The point is, we are no longer looking for some disgruntled woman who thinks Tessa screwed around with her husband. It’s become more serious.” He was suddenly aware he had been massaging the top of her hand, and he jerked his fingers away. “It’s dangerous, Lainey. I can’t have you and your sisters jeopardizing my investigation, not to mention putting yourself on the killer’s radar.”

  She met his stare, and for a minute, Colt thought she would deny everything.

  Instead, she stood up. “Okay.”

  He couldn’t believe it. He’d come here expecting a fight, or at the very least a little resistance, and all she had to say was okay? “I mean it, Lainey.”

  “I heard you. I’ll stay out of your way.” She pointed toward the door. “I’m sure you’ve got a busy day tomorrow, and so do I, so let’s call it a night.”

  His face flamed.

  Damn this woman. She had no intentions of backing off.

  He stood, jerking the table in the process and headed for the door. As he passed her, she stepped back and stumbled. He caught her just before she crashed into the wall. “Whoa!” His anger dissolved when he realized this was his fault. “Maybe you’d better sit down for a minute.”

  But she didn’t move. He was acutely aware of the way she felt in his arms, her breasts burning a hole in his chest, her lips dangerously close to his.

  “Colt?” She looked directly into his eyes as if she could see into his soul and read his mind. “Kiss me.”

  He took several quick breaths, all the while still watching her. Had she read his mind she would have known he wanted to do more than kiss her. He wanted to possess her, to hear her cry his name when he brought her to a thundering orgasm.

  But he couldn’t.

  She must have sensed his hesitation because she raised up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips across his, gliding her tongue over his lower lip in a way that sent tingling sensations everywhere south of his eyebrows.

  “Lainey,” he protested.

  She answered by pressing her body farther into him.

  God help him, he tried, but it was a losing battle. He reached behind her head and dug his hand into her hair, loving the silky feel as he pulled her mouth to his. This time there was no gentle touch as his tongue met hers and probed, licked. It had been so long and this woman smelled so damn good.

  Then he remembered not only was she feeling a buzz from the wine, she was also his ex-wife’s sister. He pulled his lips from hers. “We can’t do this.” He released her and headed for the door, not willing to take a chance and look back at her.

  Afraid he would be lost if he did.

  Hesitating only momentarily while his self-control went the last round with the ache in his groin and won, he pushed open the door and walked out. In all his thirty-two years, he’d never taken advantage of a woman who had consumed too much alcohol despite many opportunities to do just that. He was not about to start now.

  He bent down to give both Ginger and Fred one last pat on the head before he forced himself to move toward his house, away from hers. Behind closed doors, he reached up and touched his lips still burning from her kiss. He would have to be extra careful around Lainey until the investigation was over and she moved out.

  He had come damn close to picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom, and that was absolutely not acceptable.

  For godsakes! She was family.

  SEVENTEEN

  LAINEY REACHED INTO HER purse for the ibuprofen bottle and twisted off the cap. The little man hammering away at her forehead was a painful reminder never to drink a whole freakin’ bottle of wine alone.

  She popped three pills, then gulped them down with the icy cold water she’d picked up at the 7-Eleven on the way over, along with the gigantic black coffee.

  Leaning back in the driver’s seat, she held the water bottle to her forehead as she stared at the front door of Spirits of Texas. She wanted one last go at Jerry, convinced he knew more about the wine than he’d let on yesterday. While she was at it, she intended to find out why Tessa’s lawyer had stopped in for a secret meeting with Moretti. He was supposed to be working for her, not Tessa’s partner.

  After Maddy called last night with the news that a foreign substance had been isolated from the pieces of glass found among the ruins of Tessa’s house, Lainey realized Jerry might well be the one who had killed her sister. Not even Colt’s lectures warning her to butt out could keep her from digging for the truth. It’s what she did for a living, what she was good at—getting people to slip up and say things when they didn’t mean to.

  At the thought of Colt, she felt a warm flush climb up her face, further encouraging the little man in her head to play his bongo drums. She lifted the cold bottle again to her forehead, leaving it there as she breathed deeply, begging the medicine to do its thing.

  Unfortunately, the hangover was not her only regret from last night. What in the hell had she been thinking when she’d kissed Colt? That he would kiss her back, and they would live happily ever after?

  Funny how alcohol did that to you. The words of the country song popped into her brain, the one about tequila making your clothes fall off. Substitute wine for the tequila.

  Thank God, Colt had already left for the station before she woke up. She didn’t know how she could have faced him. It was embarrassing enough she’d actually kissed him but outright humiliating that he’d basically said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  She took another deep breath, grateful the headache was beginning to slack off. She’d sit here for a few minutes longer before confronting Jerry once again. Moretti and a blinding headache were more than she could stomach.

  Her thoughts meandered back to Colt and the look on his face after the kiss. To him, Lainey reasoned, she was just Tessa’s little sister. She’d seen it in his eyes.

  But who kisses a younger sister the way he’d kissed her last night?

  She ran her fingers across her lips, remembering the fire he’d ignited when he’d pulled her mouth to his, the burn of his five o’clock shadow brushing against her cheeks. Her breath caught as she thought about the way his body had meshed into hers, the unexpected bulge in his jeans letting her know he wanted her.

  Wanted her? Not hardly. Otherwise he wouldn’t have turned and walked away without a word after she so blatantly threw herself at him. All that heat, all the electricity was apparently just a guy thing. Somewhere, she’d heard women need love and emotions. Men simply need a naked woman.

  Remembering how provocatively she’d offered to be that naked woman, like some damn cat in heat, she wondered how she would ever be able to look him in the eyes again. What did it say about her that he’d turned her down flat? She didn’t know what hurt worse, her hangover or
her crushed ego.

  She glanced down at the empty coffee cup. Add a full bladder to that mix.

  She’d waited as long as she could before confronting Jerry. The man was a jerk, had always been a jerk, and probably would die a jerk. She wasn’t looking forward to another sit down with him, but nature was calling—with a bullhorn.

  When she couldn’t wait any longer, she opened the door and slid out of the seat, hoping to make it inside without embarrassing herself. She made a mental note never again to drink that much liquid while scrunched in a small car.

  Her first thought when she opened the door to the winery and walked into the empty room was that she’d wasted her time and gasoline driving there. Then Roxy emerged from Tessa’s office, the look of surprise on her face as obvious as the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra. Lainey tried not to stare, but her boobs were gigantic, like two water balloons ready to burst.

  Tell her the garden club called and said they’re missing a ’ho.’

  Lainey was getting used to Tessa sneaking up on her and barely flinched. She gave her sister a cursory glance, narrowing her eyes in a look that said “be quiet and let me handle this.” No such luck!

  Great body! Too bad its only purpose is to keep her useless head from flopping off.

  “Good to see you, Roxy.”

  Liar!

  Lainey pointed to the bathroom. “Excuse me a minute.” She nearly ran to the other side of the room.

  When she came back out, Tessa was standing beside Roxy holding two fingers behind her head, her adolescent attempt to make Lainey laugh.

  Lainey ignored her and focused on Roxy. “Jerry around? I need to go over a few things with him.” Lainey did a quick scan of the most recent Mrs. Moretti.

  Dressed in a tight red mini that didn’t begin to cover her long tanned thighs and a sequined black sweater that showed off where she’d invested her money, Roxy smiled, then held out her hand.

  “Elaina, isn’t it?”

  She knows damn good and well who you are.

  Lainey agreed. It was a ploy she’d used many times herself to make someone think she wasn’t impressed enough to remember their name.

  She grabbed Roxy’s extended hand. “Call me Lainey.” Then she nudged her head toward the other office. “Jerry?”

  “He’s not here,” Roxy said, unable to hide the tinge of fear that crept into her eyes. “Two cops picked him up and took him down to the station about an hour ago.” She flopped in the chair behind Carrie’s desk. “I’m sure I can help you, though. I’ve been promoted to Vice President of Marketing.”

  Wonder how many blow jobs that took? Tessa eased down in one of the chairs facing Roxy and pointed to the other. Sit, Lainey. I have a feeling this is gonna get good.

  Lainey kicked around the notion of bursting Roxy’s bubble by reminding her she owned fifty percent of the company and therefore, had fifty percent of the voting rights. Roxy wasn’t a VP unless Lainey said she was, and the last she remembered, nobody had asked.

  She decided it might be to her advantage to pretend Roxy was an equal in the company, practicing that more-bees-with-honey thing her mother had always preached.

  “Congratulations. I’m sure you’ve earned it.”

  She glanced sideways as Tessa mouthed, Blow job. Then she used both hands to make an exaggerated imitation of peeling a banana before she put her hand on the back of her head and shoved it down on the imaginary fruit.

  Despite herself, Lainey laughed out loud at Tessa’s imitation, noticing the sparkle in her sister’s eyes when she did.

  “Sorry,” she apologized to Roxy. She was definitely sorry, but not because of laughing. Her little outburst nearly brought back the guy with the hammer. She rubbed her forehead, wishing for the ice-cold bottle as she tried to get the image of Tessa and her banana out of her head. “Where’s Carrie?”

  “She had some errands to run this morning. Said she’d be in after lunch.”

  “Why’d Colt need to talk to Jerry again? He was just here yesterday.” No sense beating around the proverbial bush.

  “You’d have to ask Colt that.”

  “Do you think your husband had anything to do with my sister’s murder?”

  Roxy jumped up. “Are you out of your fucking mind? Jerry wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

  Yeah right. If Jerry’s a nice guy, then I’m not freakin’ dead. He’d kill his own mother if he thought he could sell tickets to the funeral. Tessa huffed. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made money at my funeral.

  Lainey ignored her sister’s ranting and propped her elbows on the desk. “What about you, Roxy? Did you hate Tessa enough to poison her wine?”

  For a minute Lainey thought the woman was going to come around the desk and smack her up the side of the head, but then Roxy smiled. “It wasn’t me.” She eased back down into Carrie’s chair. “Don’t get me wrong. I hated your sister as much as everyone else. Suspected she still had eyes for my Jerry. Working with him every day, she must have realized what she’d let slip through her fingers. The man is a ball of fire in everything he does, if you get my drift.”

  Christ! She’s kidding, right? He’s so dull, some nights I had to put a mirror under his nose to see if he was still breathing.

  “Funny how things work out, right, Rox? Two weeks ago, my sister died. Now you’ve not only taken over her office, but you also have her old job title.”

  “Now wait a minute, sister, before you go flapping at the mouth and saying things your ass can’t back up.”

  Whoa! You’ve hit a nerve.

  Lainey glared, unwilling to give Roxy the satisfaction of staring her down. If she wanted a cat fight, she was ready. “What makes you think I can’t back up my claims?”

  Roxy’s color went from strawberries to beets in a micro minute. “What could you possibly have on me that would make you think you can waltz in here all high and mighty and spout off asinine accusations? This is my company now,” she said, then added, “Mine and Jerry’s.”

  Lainey smiled. She had Roxy exactly where she wanted her. Mad enough to say things without thinking. “Are you forgetting I own as much of this company as you and Jerry combined?”

  Roxy let out an audible breath. “I never figured you to be a bitch like your sister.”

  Those are fightin’ words, Lainey. Rip her a new one.

  “There’re a lot of similarities between my sister and me you can’t even pretend to know. For instance, we were both aware you were doing Quinton Porter at the Shady City Motel.”

  Roxy gasped. “Colt told you?”

  “I was there the night Porter admitted it to Colt. Who was blackmailing you with the pictures?”

  Roxy’s mouth dropped, but no sound came out. Finally, she closed it and leaned back in her chair, a resigned look on her face. “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t see you and Porter having much in common, Roxy. What’d you want from him?”

  “The same thing he wanted from me.” She made a sweeping motion around the room with her arms. “This place is worth millions, but Tessa and Jerry were so against letting Quinton’s company come in. He tried to convince them it wouldn’t hurt the vines, but they wouldn’t listen. We were only trying to figure out a way to make them come to their senses. One thing led to another …” Her voice trailed off.

  “So, you have no idea who blackmailed you?”

  Roxy stood abruptly and walked into Tessa’s office. When she returned, she held a manila envelope with her name printed on the front. “This came this morning. They want me to take five grand to a post office box in Lakeview before noon.”

  She handed the envelope to Lainey. Inside were the same pictures Maddy had shown her at the police station, the ones they’d found on Tessa’s computer along with a typewritten instruction sheet.

  “I thought it was Tessa. She’s the only one I know who was hateful enough to do something like this. Plus, I think she overheard me one day talking to Quinton.”

  Lainey glanced toward her s
ister who was shaking her head.

  Wasn’t me, I swear. I would have gone after Porter with the Polaroids, not Roxy.

  “Unless you believe in ghosts, I doubt that.” Lainey lowered her head to hide the smile.

  I’ll be damned. You do have a sense of humor behind all those brains.

  Lainey relaxed in the chair as she thought about what she should do next. When she looked up, Roxy was beside her. “You’re not going to tell Jerry, are you? There’s really no reason he has to know, with Quinton dead and all.”

  Lainey saw the sadness flash in her eyes as she spoke about Porter. This woman had genuinely cared for him. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did. That old saying there was someone for everyone must be true.

  “Can you get your hands on five thousand dollars in the next hour or so?”

  When Roxy nodded, Lainey continued, “Okay, here’s what I want you to do.”

  _____

  Lainey shifted in the front seat of the rental car, her eyes trained on the Lakeview Post Office entrance, her mind racing in anticipation.

  “Let me have a look,” Deena pleaded from the back seat.

  Lainey had called her sisters the minute the idea popped into her head. Maddy and Deena had insisted she pick them up from work, but Kate couldn’t get away. Lainey had to promise to call her the exact minute they found out anything.

  “What if whoever it is knows we’re here?”

  “How could they?” Lainey answered. “We’re parked far enough away no one would suspect what we’re doing.”

  “We’re actually on a stakeout.” Maddy giggled. “Colt is gonna kick our butts.”

  Hearing Colt’s name brought a fresh blush to Lainey’s cheeks. Thank God, her sisters didn’t know about her little seduction disaster the night before.

  “But what if they don’t show?” Deena asked. “What if they think the money isn’t going anywhere and decide to pick it up after work?”