I exhaled sharply. "Did they run his fingerprints? Were they found in Colin's hotel room?"
Brian shook his head. "I'm afraid not. If he was there, maybe he wore gloves. The police obtained a search warrant for his house today. He's been on their radar for quite a while now. Maybe something will show up there to link him to Colin's murder. If they find a gun, perhaps we'll come up with a match."
"I hope so." An uneasy chill ran through me, and I rubbed my arms for warmth. Something about this whole situation didn't make sense. I wanted to believe Ramon was the killer, but my gut instinct told me there was more to this scenario.
"What is it?" Brian asked. "You know something."
I sat down at a table, and he joined me while Josie remained standing. I pointed at the door. "Go home to Rob and the kids. I'm fine."
Josie glanced from me to Brian with apprehension. "Are you sure?"
Brian put his hands behind his back in a mocking gesture. "She'll be safe with me, I swear."
Josie frowned. "Oh yeah. You might be wearing a cop uniform, but she's about as safe with you as a guppy is with a shark."
"Go home," I hissed at her.
She leaned down to give me a hug. "Call if you need me." She turned and walked into the back room. A moment later, I heard the door to the alley shut.
Brian shifted in his seat. "Nice to know I have a fan club. Okay, spill it. What is it you're not telling me?"
I leaned forward and propped my head on my hands. "God, I hate that I'm saying this. Plus, I promised Krista I'd wait till tomorrow. But—I think there's a chance the killer might be in New York."
He narrowed his eyes. "Do you mean Krista Eldridge, Colin's sister? What does she have to do with this?"
I shut my eyes for a second. "I'm not positive, but Kyle Brown might have something to do with the murder." I went on to tell him about the discussion we'd overheard at the funeral home. "There was an expensive diamond ring found on Colin, too."
"I know. It was in his pocket," Brian said. "When Krista came to collect his personal belongings, she said it was yours. That you returned it to him after the divorce."
"That wasn't my ring. Colin's family was hoping to sell it to pay for his funeral expenses."
His eyes blazed into mine. "You should have told me about this sooner."
"I hoped it might lead me to the killer. A crazy idea but all I had to go on." Then I told him about Mitzi and the baking competition.
Brian drew a small pad out of his pocket and made some notes. "Sounds like she needs to be brought in for questioning. Anyone else?"
I swallowed hard. "Level with me. Does the grand jury have enough evidence to charge Mike?"
He tapped his pen on the table thoughtfully. "I honestly don't know, Sally. If we can prove Ramon was in New York the night Colin was murdered, there's a good chance Mike will be cleared. I hate to speculate on anything though."
"What about security camera footage at Colin's hotel?" I asked.
"We've already checked into that. Hotel Six's camera was broken. We have no idea who was there that night—besides Mike."
Of all the worse luck. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, defeated. "Well, thanks for your help."
He got to his feet, and I stood as well. "What about that guy Colin came to New York with—Luke something—the one who has eyes for you. I questioned him at the bar after the fight. What do you know about him?"
"Luke went to high school with us, but he's a couple of years older. I didn't know him at all until we moved to Florida. He's a good guy and probably Colin's only friend. He's heading back to Florida tomorrow."
Silence hung in the air between us as Brian put his hat back on. "I guess I should get going. I know it's none of my business, but did you straighten everything out with Mike?"
The truth of the matter was no, but Grandma Rosa's conversation with my boyfriend had left me a tad bit more hopeful. "There's nothing to straighten out. He trusts me, and I trust him. That's really all that matters."
Brian's gaze locked on mine. "He's a lucky guy. You deserve the best, Sally. I mean it."
He moved toward me, and for a moment, I was afraid he might try to kiss me again. Instead, Brian tucked a curl behind my left ear, gave me a wistful smile, and then disappeared into the night.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I had finished the cleanup, locked the front door of my shop, and was starting up the stairs when a knock on the front door startled me. I glanced at my watch. It was only five minutes after seven. If that was Luke, he was early.
I rushed down the stairs to unlock the door and take some of the packages from his hands. He grinned sheepishly at me. "Sorry I'm early."
"That's okay." I sniffed the air. "Chinese?"
"Hope that's all right. I've got egg rolls, fried rice, sesame chicken, and wonton soup."
My stomach growled. Again, I had eaten nothing all day. At least it was paying off since I'd stepped on the scale this morning and discovered my weight was down by five pounds. This was also thanks in part to the difficult week I'd been having. "Sounds perfect. I'm starved."
I closed and locked the door behind him, and we carried the food upstairs.
Luke surveyed my apartment with interest. "This is nice. How long have you lived here?"
I set the bags down on the kitchen table and opened a cabinet in search of plates. "Since September. It does make it very convenient with the bakery right downstairs."
"I'll bet." He glanced at my couch and examined the spot near the bottom that Spike had enjoyed digging his nails into. "You should have this fixed before it gets worse."
"Oh, thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot." I opened the junk drawer under the counter and withdrew a roll of duct tape. "My grandmother told me to use this in the meantime."
Luke removed the tape from my hands. "Allow me."
"Thanks." I grabbed a bottled water out of the fridge. "What would you like to drink?"
"Water's fine for me, too." He waited a moment then smiled. "Uh, scissors?"
"Oh, duh. Of course." I reached into the drawer again and handed a pair to Luke. Within seconds, he had covered the hole. He left the tape and scissors on my coffee table and joined me in the kitchen.
I bit into an egg roll. "Mm, delish. Is this from that new place over on Perkins Street?"
Luke nodded as he spooned some fried rice onto his plate. "Yeah. I heard they were pretty good." He glanced at the plastic bag that held the condiments. "No way. They forgot our fortune cookies. What good is Chinese food without fortune cookies?"
I laughed. "I think I can handle that for you." I ran downstairs, switched on the light, grabbed a piece of waxed paper, and removed a fortune cookie from the display case. I thumped my way back up the stairs in my boots and handed the cookie to Luke. "Ask and you shall receive."
He laughed. "I forgot you had these. Awesome." He broke the cookie apart and frowned. Then he held the pieces up so that I could see that it was empty. "No fortune in here. Double cheated."
The hairs rose on the back of my neck. I didn't know much about fortune cookie lingo but was aware that an empty cookie supposedly meant death. Would Luke be the next one to die at the killer's hands? Or had that cookie been destined for me?
Okay, stop it Sal. This is ridiculous. These pieces of dough cannot predict the future.
Luke stared at me with a question in his eyes. "Everything okay? You look kind of pale."
I forced a mouthful of food down my throat and reached for my water bottle. "Fine. Sorry about the cookie. I can grab you another one."
Luke wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Don't worry about it. So how are things between you and Mike? I heard rumors that you guys weren't getting along so well."
I stared at him in surprise. "Where'd you hear that?"
"I was at the sub shop earlier," Luke said. "An old lady was in line in front of me. She mentioned you by name to the guy she was with. Must have been her husband. He looked about two hundred years old. Anyhow, she s
aid you and Mike were broken up and that it was a good thing because she'd known you since you were a little girl. Something about what a shame for your grandmother and wacky family that you were running around with a murderer."
Ugh. Mrs. Gavelli strikes again. "I think I know whom you're talking about. That's my parents' next door neighbor. She tends to exaggerate a bit."
He gazed into my eyes and smiled. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans and looked away. He was a nice guy, and I liked him, but this made me uneasy. I sure hoped he wasn't reading anything more into this so-called dinner date.
Luke leaned forward on the table. "Did you tell Mike I was coming here? I wouldn't want to make him jealous."
"Well, he won't know, so don't worry." At least I hoped not. If he did get here early, which I doubted, at least I'd be wearing clothing this time. That in itself was a plus. I glanced at my watch. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Luke bit into an egg roll. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Kyle may have something to do with the murder."
I froze, my fork in the air. "Why? What do you know? Level with me."
He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I should have told the police, but after I left the bar that night, I drove by Colin's hotel. I wanted to see if he'd made it back okay and then try to persuade him to go to the police. It was only a matter of time before they would have shown up to arrest him for stabbing Mike."
"And?" I prodded.
Luke sighed. "Kyle's car was there. I went inside and was about ready to knock on Colin's door when I heard them screaming at each other. Kyle told him he was a loser and to stop giving their mother heartache. He said everyone would be better off if Colin's drug dealer just offed him and ended everyone's misery."
A giant knot formed in the bottom of my stomach, and I put my fork down. My once ravenous appetite had disappeared again. "What did you do?"
"I got the hell out of there," he said. "Kyle's never been a fan of mine. You know what he said to me the other day? That I'd been enabling his brother. Isn't that rich? You try to help someone, and then you have to listen to that garbage."
I exhaled a long, careful breath. "You've got to tell the police, Luke."
He nodded. "I'll go first thing in the morning. But I have no proof he's the one who shot Colin, and I didn't want to cause any more trouble for the family, especially his mother. She's been through enough hell, you know?"
I pushed my plate forward on the table. "I do know, but this will help to clear Mike. There's also a chance the killer might not be Kyle." I relayed what I had discovered about Ramon's arrest.
Luke was silent for a moment. "Sally, it sounds like there's a good possibility Mike's case won't even go to trial. I'm no expert, but I'm betting they need to have something more concrete to convict him. It's another week before it goes before the grand jury, right?"
I twisted a napkin between my hands and sighed. "I want to believe that so much."
He reached a hand across the table to squeeze mine. I looked up. His hazel eyes were warm and soft. "He's so lucky he has you."
Uh oh. I smiled politely and withdrew my hand. "Thanks."
Luke seemed to get the message and finished his egg roll. "So where's that picture you found?"
I pushed back my chair and walked into the living room with Luke following. My purse was sitting on the coffee table. The envelope with the two photos was still inside.
Luke sat down on the couch, and I joined him. "I know this one is Amber but no idea about the blonde. Maybe I should give them to the police. They might be able to find out something."
"I doubt it." He examined the picture closely. "Like I said before, she's probably just some lowlife whore." The lines around his mouth tightened.
My nerves tingled as I watched his expression. "Are you okay?"
Luke put the pictures down on the coffee table and smiled. "I'm fine. Sorry. I guess I'm caught up in my own private hell."
Puzzled, I drew my eyebrows together. "Talk to me. What happened with your girlfriend? Did you break up?"
He opened his mouth in surprise. "You knew about her?"
"Colin mentioned her once, right before I caught him cheating on me. He said you'd recently started seeing someone, and you were crazy about her. I'm guessing it's the same girl you broke up with?"
Luke leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. I glanced at my watch again. I wanted to be a friend and lend an ear to his troubles, but I was starting to panic at the thought of Mike finding him here. Plus, I didn't want to lead Luke on.
He glanced sideways at me. "Sorry. This really isn't your problem. You've got enough to deal with."
"Hey," I said. "We're friends, right? Tell me what happened."
He blew out a breath. "She was cheating on me, so I called it off."
I patted his hand for a brief second. "I'm so sorry. I understand how it feels, believe me."
He nodded. "I know you do. I felt awful about what Colin did to you, but I didn't realize how much it hurt until the same thing happened to me." His face took on a faraway expression. "Her name was Elise, and we'd just gotten engaged. I even had a ring designed for her. She was so beautiful."
"Her loss."
Luke smiled. "Thanks." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "How long before the pain goes away?"
I sighed. "I guess it's different for everybody. Colin hurt me pretty bad, but now that I have Mike, I try not to think about it anymore. I don't know if I'll ever forget though. When you find the right woman, it will help. Trust me."
"I needed to hear that, thanks." Luke stared at me so intently that I looked away in embarrassment. "Do you know what true love is, Sally? What it really means?"
I laughed uneasily. "Well, I hope so by now. It's taking care of each other and being true to one another for the rest of your lives. It's realizing that no one is perfect and accepting each other along with the flaws that you have."
He nodded in approval. "Exactly. It should never be taken for granted. Love is a gift."
I experienced a giant niggle at the back of my brain. Where had I heard that phrase used before recently?
Luke's eyes bore an odd expression, similar to Brian's the evening before. Oh no. Why me? I tried to move away but wasn't fast enough. He reached out and pulled me into his arms, pressing his mouth over mine.
Panicked, I pushed against his chest. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Don't play coy," he said. "You know I've always had a thing for you." His arms tightened around me again.
"Let go of me," I said. "I'm in love with Mike. If I gave you any other idea, I'm sorry. And I think it would be best if you left now."
I struggled to free myself, and he laughed. I managed a sharp kick to his knee with my boot, and Luke's right arm jerked out in surprise and collided with my coffee table. The table landed on its side, and everything on top went flying, including the duct tape, scissors, a magazine, and my purse. My bag turned upside down, and all of its contents spilled out onto the floor.
"Ouch." Luke gripped his knee between his hands.
I glared at him. "Get out of my apartment."
Luke raised a hand in defense. "Look. I'm sorry. I guess I went too far."
"You guessed right," I snapped.
"Let me help you clean up everything before I leave," Luke said. "It would make me feel better." Before I could protest, he'd righted the coffee table.
"It's not necessary." As I stooped down on the floor to clean up the mess, a light bulb clicked on in my head, and I remembered where I had heard that phrase.
Love is a gift.
A tremor of fear ran through my body. Of course. It was the inscription in the engagement ring that Colin had had on him when he died.
The same ring Luke was holding in his hand right now, waving at me.
"Nice," he said. "Where'd you get this?"
I studied his face. The color had disappeared, and his lips were compressed together in a thin, tight line.
There was an expression in his eyes I'd seen before. Cold, calculating, and royally pissed—at me.
A killer's eyes.
Words stuck in my throat. I was afraid my expression—as always—might give me away, so I stared at the floor. I started stuffing the contents back into my purse and clutched my cell phone in my left hand, hoping he wouldn't notice. I tried to sound casual. "Oh, it belongs to a friend. I told her I'd have it resized for her."
He examined the ring more closely. "Someone went to a lot of trouble picking this baby out. They also paid a great deal of money. Don't lose it."
Fear and nausea consumed me at an alarming rate. Colin's killer had been right in front of me all along. His one and only friend. Why hadn't it dawned on me earlier? Everyone had their limits. And my ex-husband pushed people to their breaking point.
Colin's own brother hated him. He owed money to loan sharks. There was a young girl whose boyfriend had died because of his carelessness, who sought revenge on him.
During all of this, Luke had stood by his friend—until Colin betrayed him by sleeping with his fiancée.
I tried to keep my voice steady. "Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom for a second." I managed to throw a small smile in his direction before I headed down the hallway. I turned to go into the bathroom, my phone in hand. I was just about to shut the door when Luke's face appeared before me.
"What are you doing?" I attempted to slam the door on his hand, but he moved too quickly. Luke reached in and gripped me by the hair. I screamed in pain as he jerked me through the opened door and threw me onto the rug in the hallway. Startled, I lay there motionless while he came at me again. I raised my boots in the air and caught him square in the face with one. He groaned and fell backward against the bathroom door frame in obvious pain. I stuffed the phone in my pocket and scrambled to my feet, running as fast as I could for the apartment door.
My heart thudded against the wall of my chest, threatening to explode. All I needed was to get out of here and call Mike. Or 9-1-1. Anyone who could help me get away from this lunatic.
I breathed heavily as I unlocked the door. Before I could open it, Luke grabbed me from behind. I struggled, but he managed to lift me off the floor and into his arms. I flailed out, kicking at the air with my feet while trying to reach backward and claw Luke's face. He was much stronger, and I was clearly no match for him. He threw me against the side of the fridge where my head collided with a thud against the metal.
Baked to Death (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 2) Page 19
