Sadie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I get it. That’s not the good part.”
“There’s more?”
“Jane was apparently getting more from Jonelle’s than a luxurious spa experience.”
“You don’t mean . . .”
“Yup.” Sadie nodded. “Apparently she was one of Emilio’s regulars, and if you’re one of his regulars he gives you a little bonus to make sure every inch of your body receives some special treatment.”
Dean’s mouth dropped in shock, and for the first time since Sadie had known the detective, words couldn’t seem to find their way out of his mouth.
Sadie allowed Dean a moment to absorb that information, and then she continued. “Regardless, just because Martin wasn’t a sex machine like yourself, that doesn’t mean he killed her.”
“What’s his alibi? Where was he when it happened?”
“He says he was on his way home from work when he heard about the shooting on the radio.” Sadie refilled her water glass and drank some more. “He went home and called the cops to see if it involved Jane.”
“He went home?”
“Yup.”
Dean had an eager look on his face and Sadie knew why. If it had been her, or anyone else, they would’ve gone straight over to the spa. Regardless of traffic and roadblocks, if you knew your loved one was inside a place where there was a shooting, you would rush over there instinctively. Doesn’t matter that you wouldn’t be able to get close to the crime scene . . . you’d want to be there. If it had been her, and Zack was inside that spa, she sure as hell wouldn’t’ve gone home and phoned in her concern.
“He admitted to arguing with Jane about her going to the spa and spending so much money.”
“It was my money she was spending too,” grumped Dean. “Martin’s just a momma’s boy who barely made enough to put food on the table.”
“When I met up with Martin he was having a coffee around the corner from the dealership. After we talked, the woman who ran the coffee shop told me that she witnessed a heated discussion between Jane and Martin and the manager actually had to ask them to leave. She also said that the day after news broke about Jane’s death, Martin was there sipping coffee like always, like it was no big deal.”
“Not home grieving like a normal boyfriend? Jane deserved better than that.” Dean’s face was dark. “Martin did it. He shot Jane.”
“You don’t know that. If you actually worked this case like a detective instead of . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“Instead of what?” He threw his hands in the air.
“Instead of being a pain in the ass!” Sadie said. “Then you wouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions.”
Dean pointed a finger in her face.
“Don’t give me that; I can tell just by looking at you that you think the guy is guilty too.”
“I’m on your side here but so far Martin’s only guilty of being a horrible boyfriend. It’s not enough to convince anyone he’s a killer.”
Although, Sadie was beginning to think it was a definite possibility, and she sure as hell would rather the killer be Martin Brun than Dean Petrovich.
“So what’s next?” Sadie asked him just as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll think about that while you’re at work,” he replied. “That is, if you don’t mind me hanging out here.”
“I think it’s safe to say you’re the only guy who’ll be coming around my house anymore,” Sadie said, looking through the drapes to see who was here. “Besides the locksmith.”
She let the locksmith in to do his job. Within forty-five minutes he rekeyed all the locks, and she paid him with a credit card. He’d only been gone a few minutes when Dawn texted her that she was in front of the house. Sadie replied that she’d be right out.
“Dawn’s giving me a ride to my job house,” Sadie told Dean.
“That’s nice of her.”
“She’s only doing it because she found out I was pregnant and she’s dying to know all the details.”
“I can’t speak about the other guy, but Zack’s an ass if he’s going to let you go over something small like this.”
Sadie raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You think having another guy’s baby is something small?”
“I think that today families are built on whoever can come together and love each other. If you can find someone who loves you, then you put aside the roadblocks and you make it work. Life’s too short not to be with the one you love.”
“Wow. That’s really profound.”
“Sure. For example, Jane and I would’ve still been together if she hadn’t been bent on finding a guy who was more interested in solving her G-spot mystery rather than one who caught murderers.”
“Too much information, Dean. You should’ve quit when you were being profound.”
And on that note Sadie stepped into Seattle rain and ran down the driveway to her sister’s car.
“Nice new vehicle,” Sadie remarked, appreciating the smooth leather seats and the glossy red exterior of the fancy crossover SUV. “When did you get it?”
“Just a couple days ago. John was so thrilled about the new baby he just ran out and bought it. He said now that we have another baby on the way, he wanted me in something more substantial than a car.”
Sadie really hoped her future child didn’t mind cruising around in her old Corolla, because there was no way she’d be keeping up with Dawn and her doctor husband. She gave Dawn the address of the house, and because Dawn couldn’t find her way out of her own driveway without a GPS, Sadie waited patiently while her sister plugged the address into her navigation system. Sadie didn’t even have her seat belt on before the machine-gun fire of questions assaulted her.
“So when did you find out? When are you due? Have you told Zack? Are you going to get married?” Dawn paused. “And oh my God, why do you stink?”
Sadie ticked off the answers on her fingers: “Couple days ago, don’t know exactly, yes, no, and devil’s dung.”
She allowed Dawn time to start the car and to process those answers, and soon her sister zeroed in on the reply she found most substantial.
“What do you mean, no? If Zack still wants to marry you, I really think you should say yes. You don’t want to be a single mom, Sadie. It’s not as glamorous as you think. Hell, John and I barely survived those first few months and there’s two of us!”
“I am doing it on my own. Zack’s out of the picture,” Sadie said.
“That selfish bastard!” Dawn snarled.
“It’s not his baby.”
“You stupid slut!” Dawn glanced apologetically at Sadie. “Sorry. That kind of slipped out.”
“That’s all right. I’m sure Zack was thinking those exact same words.”
Dawn pulled up behind a row of cars at a red light and turned to face her sister.
“So who is this mystery man? I didn’t even know you were dating anyone else.”
“I wasn’t and I’m not. It was a onetime thing. I was lonely and needy and he was sexy and available . . . right after Zack dumped me.”
“And you just forgot about birth control?”
“We were careful. Just not careful enough.”
Sadie waited a moment while the voice on the GPS gave Dawn instructions.
“Does this new guy know?” Dawn asked, sliding her a sympathetic glance.
“I’ve told both the men involved and let’s just say it didn’t go well.”
“I’m so sorry.” Dawn leaned over and put her hand on Sadie’s arm. “I will do everything in my power to help you. Anything you want or need, I’m there for you.”
“Great. You can tell Mom for me.”
“Not even for a million dollars. As a matter of fact, I want to be out of state when you tell her. The good news is that she’s so over the moon about me having a second b
aby that she won’t be at all focused on you, so you’ve got time to break the news.”
It was true. Sadie’s mom hadn’t even called Sadie to blast her for missing dinner. There was a good chance she could walk into her mom’s house sporting a face tattoo or a seven-month-prego belly and her mom wouldn’t notice at all. That was a relief.
“Now explain the smell,” Dawn said, rubbing a finger under her nose. “Because you are rank.”
Sadie did her best to explain the ghost problem that had blown up due to pregnancy hormones. Dawn was one of the few people on the planet who knew about Sadie’s talents. As a friend of Maeva’s, Dawn was also familiar with how hormones had played a role in that pregnancy situation too. She was a little too eager about Sadie’s so-called skill and believed that her sister should hit the talk show circuit or, at the very least, have her own reality show.
While Sadie talked and explained things to Dawn, she pulled out the small silver tube of complimentary lavender cream she received from Zenia at Jonelle’s. She lathered on the hand cream and Dawn’s nose sniffed the air.
“We really need to talk more often. I can tell that you’ve gone to a spa too,” Dawn said. “The smell of Jonelle’s lavender cream is one of my absolute favorites. I’ve never gone there but I’ve received the hand cream as a gift and it feels so luxurious.”
“Speaking of luxurious, how much did that contraption in the backseat set you back?” Sadie asked.
“The car seat? About a hundred fifty.”
“Holy smokes! My first car only cost a little more than that!” Sadie rubbed the back of her neck. How was she ever going to afford all the stuff this future baby required?
“You can get cheaper ones, but when we read about the Air Protect side-impact technology and the harness adjustment system, we just couldn’t scrimp.”
“I never expected you to turn into the spa type,” Dawn said, returning the conversation to something that interested her. “But now that you’re enjoying spas, we’ll have to do spa days as a pregnant sister bonding thing. Maybe we can even convince Mom to come along.”
Sadie thought she’d rather pour hot sauce in her eyeballs.
“The spa thing has been a recent development. I haven’t turned into a rich lady of leisure. I’m just trying to clear Detective Petrovich’s name.”
“Oh, that’s right!” Dawn clucked her tongue. “I forgot that Jonelle’s was where it happened. I’m so sorry about that whole situation. I know Detective Petrovich was always there for you. Wow . . . killing his ex-wife . . . who could’ve known that was going to happen?”
“Certainly not him,” Sadie said, blowing out a breath. “He claims he didn’t do it.”
“He said that? When?”
Sadie went on to explain all she knew about Emilio’s extra service to Jane and Martin’s cold demeanor about his ex’s murder.
“Sounds like you made up your mind that Dean didn’t do it,” Dawn remarked.
Sadie thought about that. Had she fully decided on his innocence? She sure wanted Dean to be innocent. But did she want it so badly she wasn’t willing to consider the obvious? She shook her head.
“I guess here’s the thing. Petrovich has never lied to me, Dawn. Not ever,” Sadie stated firmly. “And I feel like I owe it to him to at least believe in him as much as he always believed in me.”
Dawn nodded and made a sharp turn at the next light, ignoring the voice on her GPS advising her that it now had to recalculate her route.
“Um . . .” Sadie pointed in the direction they should be going. “Where are you going?”
“We need to go to Jonelle’s and figure this thing out. You told them your sister was thinking of the place for her wedding, right? Well, I’m your sister and if you’re going to use me in a lie you should at least let me have the fun with you.”
“But—but I have to get to work,” Sadie protested.
“Work can wait. This is important.”
“More important than saving up to buy a car seat with side-impact technology?”
“You got months to worry about that.” Dawn laughed. “We’ll go to Jonelle’s for just a few minutes. I’ll just do what you did and ask for a tour; only I’ll ask if Emilio is available to give me the look around.”
Dawn looked at Sadie and winked, and then Sadie knew for certain that her sister had lost her ever-loving mind. Since Dawn was officially crazy now, Sadie just grumbled about this cutting into her work time but she didn’t try to convince Dawn to change her plans.
Dawn parked her sporty new vehicle in a spot near the rear exit of Jonelle’s. They paid for parking and when they walked into the spa, Zenia was working the counter and talking on the phone. She looked startled at the sight of them but offered a bright smile and held up one finger to indicate she’d be just a minute.
Dawn went straight to a shelf in the corner where a sign proclaimed the small colorful bottles as PREMIUM NAIL TREATMENTS instead of just polish.
Dawn oohed and aahed over the colors while Sadie breathed in the smell of lavender and immediately felt like having a nap.
“You must be Sadie’s sister,” Zenia said, coming around the desk to shake Dawn’s hand.
“Yes,” Dawn confirmed. “Sadie has talked up your place, so I just had to see it for myself.”
“How nice! I’ll be happy to take you on a tour of our treatment rooms.”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping that Emilio was available to give the tour,” Dawn said. “Sadie was telling me about him and I’d really like to include him in any treatment plan for me and my bridesmaids.”
Zenia’s perfect smile faltered.
“Of course. But Emilio’s not due to start for another half hour.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. . . .” Dawn pouted.
“How about I’ll check the staff lounge to see if he’s made an early appearance?” Zenia offered.
“Great!” Dawn gushed.
Zenia disappeared into the back and within seconds her clone in a white lab coat and blond hair appeared with cucumber waters and asked them to have a seat.
They relaxed in a couple of high-back white leather chairs, sipping their water.
“You don’t expect having a green vegetable floating in your water will make it taste good,” Sadie remarked, downing her glass. “But it’s actually quite tasty. I think I’ll start doing this at home. Especially since I need to come up with a coffee substitute.”
“Oh, I never stopped drinking coffee. Caffeine is the only thing that saved me from falling asleep in the middle of the day,” Dawn remarked with a wave of her hand.
“But I thought it was a pregnancy rule . . . no caffeine?”
“First thing you realize is that there are no rules,” Dawn said.
“In that case, I’d love to have sushi for dinner,” Sadie said, licking her lips.
“No sushi. That is a rule.” Dawn tilted her head. “So how should I be handling this? Should I ask to see the room where Jane was killed?”
Before Sadie could reply, Emilio appeared from the back hall. He was wearing a skintight V-neck tee—with enough Lycra so that it clung to his washboard abs—and drawstring yoga pants. The pants would’ve looked too feminine on any other man but somehow only enhanced Emilio’s substantial package.
“Hello again, Sadie. I hope you are well.” He turned to Dawn. “This must be your sister and the beautiful bride-to-be. Men all over the world must be in mourning at losing a chance to take you as their bride.”
Dawn’s jaw dropped and Sadie thought she actually swooned.
“I would love to give you a full tour of this fine establishment,” he said, linking his arm in Dawn’s. “But I already have a client waiting for me in a treatment room. I will bring you ladies as far as the Relaxation Room, and then I’ll turn you over to one of the other capable estheticians.”
“
I’ll wait here,” Sadie told him. “I’ve already done the tour.”
Half an hour later Sadie was getting antsy and glancing at her watch. She didn’t have all day to sit around sipping cucumber water, and she’d already used the bathroom twice.
She dug out her cell phone and texted her sister to hurry up. Seconds later Dawn walked back into the reception area with another lab coat cloned blonde. There must have been a Stepford Esthetician Factory in the back. Dawn thanked the woman for the tour and accepted a brochure listing services.
“What the heck took so long?” Sadie demanded as they left the building.
“I demanded to see treatment room nine, the room where Jane was killed. I just said I wouldn’t be comfortable booking treatments for the wedding party until I knew for certain that room didn’t look like a battle scene. Room nine was being used, so we spent a lot of time going over the facial products until it was ready.”
“And did the room show any sign that someone had been killed there?” Sadie asked curiously.
She never got her answer because they rounded the corner into the back parking lot just in time to see flames shooting out of Dawn’s new SUV. They screamed but their sounds were muffled by an explosion that sent shiny bits of red metal flying through the air.
Chapter 11
Though many yards away, Sadie instinctively yanked Dawn back from the heat of the explosion. She pulled her sister around the corner of the building, where Dawn began hyperventilating and then freaking out, running in small circles and waving her arms around in the air like she was signaling planes to land.
“Sit,” Sadie ordered, and Dawn plopped down on the sidewalk, holding her head between her hands.
“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!”
“It’s okay. Take deep breaths,” Sadie told her. “You’re fine. At least nobody was hurt.”
Sadie took a deep gulp of air herself and looked up to see a dark Dodge Ram truck with white paint on its rear panel taking a speedy corner about a block down.
Drop Dead Beauty Page 15
