Wicked Women Whodunit

by Davidson, MaryJanice

  Happy reading,

  Amy Garvey

  FAST BOYS

  Jennifer Apodaca

  One

  “Tess? Tess!”

  “What?” Tess Collins turned from the TV. Then she flushed when all three of her long-time friends burst out laughing. Damn, she was caught lusting after Ark Underwood while watching his interview in the NASCAR winner’s circle after winning the race. The four of them gathered every week during the NASCAR season to watch the race and root for their favorite drivers. Ark was Tess’s favorite. To head off the onslaught of teasing, Tess said, “I was thinking about one of my patients.” Yeah, right. She never thought about her patients in her marriage and family therapy practice the way she thought about Ark Underwood.

  Josie ate the last brownie from the plate on the coffee table and said, “Ha! You were thinking about Ark. And not as a patient or you wouldn’t get to see him naked.”

  Nikki laughed. “Who could blame her? Look at the cover of People magazine.” She picked up the magazine where Ark was this month’s featured “Fast Boy of NASCAR.” Against the background of a race car track, Ark stood with his arms crossed over his well-formed chest while staring at the camera with his mysterious hazel eyes and wicked half smile.

  Tess sighed. She was in for it now from her friends. But she had to admit, Ark looked hot on the cover. Nicknamed “Hollywood,” Ark was a natural-born bad boy. The man was made for sex. But that wasn’t why her friends were warming up to their topic. It was because they cared about her. And since the last of Tess’s close family, her grandmother, had died a few months back, her friends had been on a crusade to get Tess into a relationship with a man.

  They felt it was time Tess worked through her fears and took a leap into a relationship with a man so she didn’t end up old and alone like her grandmother.

  Tess tried to relieve their worries. She picked up the tabloid, The Breaking Buzz, and said, “I’m dating Fred Ranger. He’s a journalist.”

  Gwen fixed her silver-blue eyes on Tess. “Bet you haven’t slept with him. That you are holding him off while fantasizing about Ark.”

  She wasn’t holding Fred off. Not exactly. “We’re planning to go away for a weekend soon.” Someday. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Fred yet. He traveled, was ambitious to become an on-air entertainment journalist, and he had great stories about people he had met. He was different from her usual nine-to-five suit-type of dates. They had been safe. Okay, boring. Tess knew she had dated those men because she shied away from men who stirred real passion in her. Her parents had had real passion, and it led to a turbulent marriage, and finally to their deaths in a car accident when Tess was fifteen. That made Tess cautious in relationships with men.

  But she was taking a chance on Fred. He was different; he wanted her opinions on his work. Asked her advice on how to approach different people he needed to interview. He seemed to value her. Tess hoped that when she slept with Fred she’d feel sexual passion, a great orgasm. But not the darker side of passion that drove people to crazy behavior.

  Josie sat forward. “Oh, yeah? When are you going away with Fred?”

  Figures Josie would nail her. “I haven’t committed yet.” He’d been pushing more and more lately. He wanted a weekend with her. He had said he liked to be prepared ahead of time. Tess assumed that meant he wanted to create a romantic scene.

  Gwen, the mom figure of their group, said, “Why? What’s holding you back? Is there something off about Fred?”

  Nikki shook the People magazine. “Ark Underwood is holding her back.”

  “He is not!” Tess said, but it was true. Embarrassing, but true. She had a PhD in marriage and family therapy, and she had been a licensed therapist for a few years now. And yet, she shielded herself by holding on to a fantasy built around her one meeting with Ark when they were kids. Tess’s father, a sports photographer, had been doing shots on the beach of Ark’s dad, a famous stunt car driver. Tess had been nine, and Ark around twelve or thirteen. They had played in the waves to pass the time. Suddenly, Tess had gotten caught in a riptide. She could still feel the terror of the current dragging her under. But then Ark had grabbed her hair, gotten an arm around her, and dragged her to the shore.

  It had been Ark’s dad who scooped her up into his arms and soothed her, while at the same time pulling Ark into his side and telling him how proud he was of his son.

  Her parents had yelled at her for getting in the way. Tess had always been in the way of her parents’ jet-setting lifestyle.

  “Hey! Tess!”

  She blinked and saw the three of them staring at her—again—with Nikki waving the stupid People magazine. “All right.” She grinned. “So maybe I’m a little hung up on Ark. Or my fantasy of Ark. Big deal.”

  Josie stood up. “Well, then, we will fix that. Stay right here.” She headed to the foyer table by the front door and picked up Tess’s laptop case.

  Tess frowned at her. “What are you doing?”

  Josie sat between Nikki and Tess on the floor, took out the laptop, and set it up on the coffee table. “We’re going to heal you, Doctor.”

  Tess groaned. They had done this since their college days. When they wanted to change a behavior or something along those lines, they wrote an e-mail and sent it to all four of them. It was a kind of therapy. That’s what she got for hanging out with women who all had PhDs or MDs. They just weren’t normal.

  And Tess loved them all. They were her family.

  “All right.” Josie turned the laptop toward Tess. “Sign on to your Internet service.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What are we doing exactly?”

  Josie grinned. “Ark Underwood is ruining your sex life. We’re going to fix that by pointing out all his flaws.”

  Nikki clapped her hands. “Now, this sounds like fun!”

  Gwen jumped up. “Wait, let me get some wine. We need wine!” She raced off to the kitchen.

  Once they were all settled with glasses of wine, and after a great deal of giggling, Tess came up with the e-mail:

  ARK UNDERWOOD AND SEX THERAPY

  Professional Assessment of Ark Underwood, the hot Fast Boy of NASCAR, known for being a bad boy. The very personality that drives him to succeed and win also has some serious drawbacks for personal relationships.

  1. Self-centered and used to being the center of attention. A woman with a career would threaten his over-inflated manhood.

  2. All flash but no substance. Called “Hollywood” for his brat antics, Ark is probably as shallow as his reputation. Can’t hold a conversation unless the subject is about his penis or race car.

  3. He has a competitive, risk-taking personality that drives him on to the next conquest. Could even suffer from erectile dysfunction if he doesn’t have the adrenaline rush of a new babe or some other sexual device.

  4. Serious commitment phobia since he never stays with any woman very long. Probably harkens back to self-centeredness, competitive streak, and risk-taking traits.

  5. In short, Ark Underwood needs a mother, not a girlfriend or life partner. Who wants to sleep with a man who needs a mother?

  So, in conclusion, I declare myself free of my fantasy of Ark Underwood. The next time my sometime-date, Fred, asks me on a long weekend, I am there!

  “Perfect!” Josie declared. “Send it!”

  After two glasses of wine, Tess was mellow. She clicked onto all three of her friends’ e-mail addresses and sent the e-mail.

  Tess came home later than usual after a long day at the office and a ninety-minute workout at karate. She was beat. She locked her front door and started flipping on lights as she headed toward her bedroom and a shower.

  She detoured when the phone rang and picked it up by her bed. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Tess. Miss me?”

  “Fred! I didn’t know you were back in town.” She hadn’t seen him in over a week. She glanced at herself in the mirror over her dresser. Dressed in her karate gi with her long wavy brown hair pulled bac
k in a ponytail, and what little makeup she wore sweated off, she wasn’t up to a date tonight.

  “Just got in. I have a surprise for you.”

  Tess relaxed and sat down on the bed. He’d be tired, too, if he just got home. “What’s that?”

  “Tickets for us to the NASCAR race on Sunday. And pit passes.”

  She perked up. “Really? That sounds like fun.”

  “There’s more. I also booked us a room at the Speedway Hotel. We have the room from Thursday afternoon until Sunday. I’m hoping you’ll stay with me, Tess. We’ll be hot together.”

  His voice had an interesting promise. Fred was nice looking with his brown hair and blue eyes. He had the face of a guy who could make it on TV. Not extraordinary, but a firm profile and pleasant. She liked him, and yet ...

  Ark. God, she was just stupid. Fred was here and real; Ark was a fantasy.

  “Yes, Fred. It sounds great. I can meet you at the hotel after I see my patients on Thursday.” Tess only had a group session on Friday, and Josie could cover for her. They shared an office suite. Her group knew and trusted Josie since she often sat in on the sessions with her expertise as a sex therapist.

  “I’m looking forward to it, Tess. I missed you.” He took a breath she could hear on the phone, then added, “I’ll be ready for you when you get there Thursday.”

  Tess hung up. It was time she got past her Ark fantasy and her fear of passion. She was determined to go and have a good time with Fred.

  Ark Underwood spent Thursday at the California Speedway track in Fontana, California. His crew was going over the car before storing it away for the night. He’d done some practice runs, and things were looking good.

  He could feel the promise of a win on Sunday. He was pumped. Ready. Ark hadn’t won a race in California. His bad boy rep made him both loved and hated here, and he had something to prove. This was going to be his race, his win, and his chance to prove he was proud of his nickname.

  Hollywood.

  He’d earned that nickname because his dad had been a well-known stunt driver before he suddenly died when Ark was sixteen. The joke was that he thought himself from Hollywood royalty, one of the sex-drugs-and-rock-’n-roll brat pack, and he considered himself too good for the Southern Boys that dominated NASCAR. Every time Ark lost his temper on the track, everyone shrugged and asked one another what they could expect from a Hollywood brat.

  Ironically, now Ark was sponsored by a major Hollywood movie studio.

  In three days, on Sunday, Ark was going to show them all exactly what they could expect from Hollywood Ark Underwood.

  His best friend, Giles, brought his car into the pit road. Ark watched while Giles unhooked his restraints, took off his helmet, and climbed out of the race car. He looked hot and sweaty with his dark hair damp and matted from his helmet. But his brown eyes and easy smile indicated he was pleased with his car. Ark went up and slapped him on the back. “Not bad. Not as good as me, but not bad.”

  Giles took the hat his crew chief held out to him and put it on his head. “Today’s just practice, Hollywood. Sunday, I’ll leave you in my dust.”

  Ark laughed and asked, “We on for tonight?”

  Giles nodded. “Meet you in the sports bar about six.”

  “Dinner and a movie. Hell, Giles, we’re getting old.”

  “I’m only twenty-nine. You’re the old man at thirty. Besides, you’ve been shying away from the ladies. I keep tellin’ ya to try the blue pill.”

  “Fuck off,” Ark responded, then slapped Giles on the back and headed off the track.

  A young woman sidled up beside him. Ark glanced over at her. “Heidi, what are you doing here?” He’d known Heidi for a couple years. A Paris Hilton look-a-like, she hung around the track or the NASCAR hangouts and slept with whoever had a hard-on. Ark was all for sex; hell, he loved sex. But he’d grown up in the last few years and was getting more discriminating. Sex for the sake of sex bored him. Now he wanted to make love to a woman, not screw a girl. Hell, maybe he was getting old.

  “Maureen got me in.” She smiled. “I have a lot of connections. I always get in.”

  Damn, he was going to have to talk to his publicist. Again. Maureen Michaels had been his publicist for seven years. The studio hired her to parlay his bad boy image into the right kind of publicity. That was what they told Ark, but Ark knew that he had been used to give the niece of the studio head a career. Maureen had wanted to be a publicist, so her uncle had created an agency for her and given her Ark as a client. Ark had always been her biggest client. And for a few years, Maureen did a great job.

  But ever since her divorce a year and a half ago, she was focusing in on Ark too much, pushing too hard to keep his name in the media. Ark didn’t want to go to clubs with socialites and party girls. It bored him. Maureen, however, was pushing to do the social scene, especially right before a race.

  Ark had told her last week to back off.

  So now she sent a groupie—probably to entice him to a club. He realized Heidi was talking and forced himself to pay attention.

  “I overheard you talking to Giles. Why don’t you come see me at the club tonight? I’m way more interesting than dinner and a movie.” She leaned in, her long, straight blond hair brushing his arms. “And you won’t need Viagra with me.”

  More like penicillin, Ark thought. Even in his horniest days, he’d had standards. “Sorry, Heidi, but I already promised Giles. See ya around.” He strode off.

  “I’ll be around!” she called after him.

  Tess was a little overdressed for a sports bar. Her apple green halter dress stood out among the jeans-and-shorts crowd. There were four big screen TVs blaring NASCAR, BUSCH, and INDY races. Tess loved the races as much as anyone, but when she had arrived at the hotel and Fred had said he wanted to take her to dinner, this wasn’t what she had in mind. The menu was mostly beer, hamburgers, and variations of Buffalo wings.

  They took their seats across from each other at a polished round table with a big screen TV rising up like a cliff over her left shoulder.

  Tess was about to suggest another restaurant when Fred’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. “Sorry, Tess, I have to take this.” He put the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

  The waitress arrived. Tess ordered iced tea.

  So, okay, maybe she wasn’t fully committed to the weekend, to sex with Fred, or she’d have ordered a beer or some wine. What would Josie say about that? Tess wondered.

  Fred pulled the phone away from his face and ordered a beer. As the cocktail waitress moved off, Fred went back to his call. “He’s coming out now?” He paused, then added, “Got it.” He hung up and put his phone away. Then Fred reached across the table and took her hand. “You’re the most beautiful woman in here, Tess. I’m so lucky to be with you.”

  She smiled, feeling her irritation at the phone call lessen. “Thank you.”

  “I have a little bit of a confession.”

  She squeezed his hand. “What confession?” She was in the mood for seduction.

  He fixed his blue gaze on her face. “I knew you were the woman for me when I read your e-mail. We’ll make a great team.”

  Tess blinked, trying to follow him. “What e-mail?” She hadn’t e-mailed him this week.

  He grinned at her. “I was pretty sure you sent it to me by accident, but that e-mail told me so much about you.” He leaned forward and took hold of her hand. “About your fantasies.”

  Fantasies ... oh, no! Horror slammed into Tess. She knew what had happened. The e-mail she had composed with her friends on Sunday—she had sent it to Josie, Gwen, and Nikki. Fred’s e-mail address sat right between Gwen and Nikki in her address book.

  What did she want to bet that she had accidentally clicked on Fred’s e-mail address instead of Gwen’s or Nikki’s? Or in addition to Gwen’s and Nikki’s? Oh, God. This was awful, and unethical.

  And exactly what the hell was Fred getting at? She pulled her hand from his hold. “
What e-mail?” She repeated her question to make sure she had her facts straight.

  Fred lifted his beer and took a drink while watching her. “The e-mail with your professional assessment of Ark Underwood.”

  A sinking feeling mixed with clear realization. She’d said the next time Fred asked her away for a weekend ... Tess narrowed her gaze. She had misjudged Fred. He was after something more than a weekend of making love with her. This whole thing, the weekend at the Speedway Hotel, tickets to the NASCAR race ... it wasn’t a coincidence. One thing she knew for sure, she wasn’t wrong about Fred’s ambition. She controlled her rising anger. “What are you after?”

  The waitress arrived and set down their drinks and a bill. The roar of car engines from the big screen TVs competed with the loud conversations around them. The waitress finished and moved off.

  Fred assessed her with his blue eyes. “I’m after the same thing you are—to show the world who Ark Underwood really is. The beauty of it for you is that you get to screw Underwood, both literally and figuratively.”

  Tess stood up. She glanced at her iced tea but refrained from dumping it on him. She didn’t know what his plan was, but she was not going to be a part of it.

  Fred reached out and snagged her wrist.

  Tess took a breath to stay in control. She hated losing control. She glanced down at his hand gripping her wrist, then up to his flat blue eyes. “I’m going to give you five seconds to let go.”

  He sneered at her. “You either sit down and listen to me, or I’m going to forward your e-mail to every newspaper in Southern California.”

  Tess considered breaking his hand that gripped her wrist. But then she’d never know exactly what he was trying to accomplish. She sat down. “Let go of my wrist.”

  Fred must have gotten a good look at her face because he released her. Then he said, “I’m going to fulfill your fantasy for you, Tess, so listen up. Ark Underwood will be down here any minute, according to my source that just called me. You are going to meet up with him and seduce him. He’s got a rep for being a horn dog, so he’ll go for you.”