by Diane Capri
“Do you need help?” I asked.
“No, I’m fine. Well, maybe if you can get the door for me…”
“Sure.” Happy to provide any assistance I could, I stepped behind him and swung open the door. The large closet was a bit disorganized and filled with bottles of liquor, plates, dried foods, canned goods—that sort of thing. I quickly stepped in, moving some items around to make room for the large box.
Suddenly, I felt something icy reach out and touch my neck. I whirled around and looked at Joshua. He stood behind me, still holding the box in his hands. He started to set it down in the newly cleared space as he did so, the door to the closet slammed shut behind us.
“What the … ?” Joshua turned and tried to open the heavy door. Nothing. “That’s weird.”
I agreed, but then again, everything about my life had pretty much been what I would consider weird, especially lately. “Are we locked in here?”
“No.” He laughed nervously, and I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or not. “I may have left the back door open and the wind blew this one shut. It’s just old and heavy.” He pushed against it hard, putting all of his weight into his shoulder. The door didn’t move.
Perspiration started to trickle down my neck and slink its way down my backside. What if those guys had come back? What if they’d locked us in here? Joshua tried again and again. I came over and put my weight into the door as well. Nothing.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “We might be stuck here until tomorrow.”
“What?! I have to get home to Mac and Cass.” And what if Lucas showed up? What would he think if I didn’t come home all night?
Joshua let out a deep breath. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep trying. Just let me sit down for a minute and think this through.”
I nodded, telling myself to chill out. I knew I was tired and no doubt he was exhausted too. And, let’s face it. If I was going to be trapped in a storage closet, one with a working light, lots of food, and alcohol was certainly better than nothing.
Joshua glanced around the small area and took down a set of dish towels, spreading them out on the concrete floor. “Well, it’s no sofa, but I guess it’s better than cold cement.”
I laughed, in spite of my anxiety. “I come from a hick town and I’ve sat my butt down on the hard ground more than once in my life. I think I can handle this. But I have to tell you, I am not sure how my animals will fare through the night without me.” Not, of course, that I’d have to worry about either of them starving to death … especially not Mac.
“The good news is my mother will likely come looking for me if I’m not home in an hour. I may be almost thirty, but she treats me like I’m five.”
I nodded, not wanting to say I’d noticed. “Wait, do you have your cell phone on you?”
He shook his head resignedly. “Left it on the bar. You?”
“Nope. In my purse in the kitchen.”
“Worst case scenario then, we have to wait a couple of hours at the most before my mother figures out I’m MIA and comes on a rescue search.” He waved his hand at the dish rags on the floor. “Seat?”
“Sure.” It’s not like I had any other options.
Joshua tore open the box he’d just set down and pulled out a bottle of wine. “Want some?”
“How do you plan to get the cork out?”
“I’m a bartender now, remember?” He took a corkscrew from the front pocket of his jeans.
I nodded. Kind of late for wine, but since we were stuck …
“Are there any wine glasses in here?”
He reached up onto a shelf above him and took down a couple of Styrofoam cups. “No … but beggars can’t be choosers.”
“They’ll do just fine.”
He opened the wine, poured us each a cup full, and sat down next to me, placing the bottle on the box next to him. “So, here we are.”
“Yep.”
“Pretty eventful night.”
“You can say that,” I said, taking a sip from my cup. Not bad, considering the circumstances.
He brought his cup up to his lips and took a long drink.
The silence between us was palpable.
“So, you know a bit about me,” he said breaking the tension. “How about you? Tell me about yourself.”
My shoulders and neck tightened. “Not much to tell.” I shrugged. “I grew up in a small town in Texas. My mother owns the beauty shop there. It’s actually called The Beauty Shoppe.” He laughed at this. “My dad is the minister for Main Street Baptist Church.”
“Really?” He looked at me curiously.
“Oh yeah. Really.” I took another gulp of wine.
“I bet there were some rules in your house.”
I nodded slowly. “There were, but my mom knows how to temper my father. They make a good team, and my dad loves us. There’s no doubt.”
“Must be hard to be away from them.”
I swirled the wine gently in my cup. “Kind of, but I have a freedom here that I didn’t at home. Don’t get me wrong, I miss them, but it was time for me to make a name for myself.”
He nodded and took another drink. “I know exactly where you’re coming from. How about sisters, brothers … you have any?”
I swallowed hard, not saying anything for a few seconds. I stared hard at the dish towel beneath me. “I, uh, I do. Or I at least I did.” No matter how many years had passed, this part never got any easier. “My sister, Hannah, disappeared when I was twelve and she was fifteen.”
I watched the color drain from Joshua’s face. He touched the top of my free hand. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
I shook my head. “It’s a natural question. I’m not offended. It’s a difficult subject and, let’s face it, each of us has had some tough times in our lives.” I polished off the wine and handed him my cup. He poured me another full cup and topped his off. “I just don’t really like to talk about it.”
He nodded sympathetically. “Of course not. Let’s move on to something safe … um, what kind of food do you like?”
This made us both laugh.
“I love food. Period. I love good Southern food, fish and chips—anything fattening.”
“You are far from fat.”
“I swim every day, now that I have a pool. And I do try to eat healthy, but I like to treat myself now and again.”
“I hear that. In fact, I want to change up the menu here. I like the taco theme, but I want to add some things. I’d love to redo the place. It’s a matter of money.”
Simone’s face popped into my head again. This might be the right time to mention her interest in investing in Nick’s.
“You said something about that earlier.” I rubbed my arms as it was getting chilly in the closet. “I might actually know someone who would be willing to help you.”
“You cold?” he asked.
“No. Well, a little.”
“Here.” He started unbuttoning his long sleeved shirt.
Heat rose directly to my cheeks and dispersed itself all over my body. “Oh no! Don’t do that. I don’t want you to be cold, too.”
“Don’t be silly! I have a T-shirt underneath. I’ll be fine.”
He placed his shirt around my shoulders and I felt instantly more comfortable. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He shifted himself into a more comfortable position and then peered at me interestedly. “You were saying you might know someone who could help me out?”
I nodded and took another sip. “Yes. So, you know I have a day job. I work for the pop star, Simone.”
“Really? I mean I don’t care for that kind of music much, but I know she’s huge. What do you do for her?”
“I do her makeup.”
“Women really have people do that? Does it pay well?”
“Men too, believe it or not. And yes, it pays very well, but I am at her beck and call a good chunk of the time. Simone’s okay though. A bit rough around the edges, but her heart
is in the right place. Anyway, she was here not long ago, and she mentioned she’d be interested in buying the place.”
He shook his head firmly. “No. I don’t want to sell. At least I don’t think I do.”
“Maybe she could invest?”
Joshua pondered this for a minute. “Maybe, but she is so high profile, and I’m not sure I want that kind of publicity.”
“Fair enough. But maybe she could be a silent investor. And she’s not nearly as high maintenance as you might think.” That’s right, Evie. And there are snowballs in hell.
He rubbed his face thoughtfully. “Maybe. It might work. You really think she would be interested?”
“She’s the one who said something to me. All I can do is talk to her.”
“Okay. What do I have to lose?” He grinned and held his cup out towards me. “Shall we toast to my possible new business partner, Simone?”
I lifted my cup to meet his, “Cheers!” and quickly gulped the rest down. Now I had done it. Made a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep. Simone was fickle and could have easily been talking out of her rear when she’d mentioned her interest in the bar.
A couple of hours later, and we had talked about Africa and his experiences there, how to make the best pot roast ever (we differed on this), our dogs, my cat, and life in general. I was beginning to think his mom had fallen asleep and not taken note that her son hadn’t returned for the night.
“Who do you think might have killed Nick?” he asked at one point.
I gave him my take, leaving out his mother and the history surrounding her, Nick, and Candace.
“I wish I knew,” he said.
“Me, too. He was a good man.” I felt my tears well up at the thought of Nick. Clearly, I’d had far too much to drink.
“He must have been. He hired you.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“Hey, can I ask if you have a boyfriend, or are you seeing anyone? I mean, I’m just curious. I’m not trying to, uh … oh crap, maybe I’ve had too much wine.”
I glanced over at the two empty bottles of wine next to me. “You think?”
He held up his now empty cup and turned it over, placing it on the floor. “Sorry. I don’t mean to pry again.”
“Don’t worry about it. I mean, what the heck else are we supposed to do in here if not talk?” A searing vision of him leaning in to kiss me on the lips had me suddenly wishing I hadn’t asked the question. Oh dear.
“Um, back to your question, I—”
Suddenly, the door to the storage closet opened with a sharp bang. There stood Becky. The look on her face went from shock to what I can only term as What the eff?! I stifled my laughter.
“You didn’t come home, Joshua, so I came back here to see if there was a problem. You two just hanging out in here, drinking wine?” She crossed her arms, her eyes darting suspiciously from me to Joshua and back to me again.
Oh boy.
Joshua shot her a look of annoyance. “Yes, that’s right, Mom. I like to invite my dates into the storage closet at work. There’s nothing like a cold cement floor and wine in Styrofoam cups to make a lady feel special.” He stood and brushed off his jeans, reaching a hand out to help me up. “We got locked in here, and I was hoping at some point you would notice I hadn’t come home.”
If anything, she looked more irritated than before. “I did. Let’s go. Evie, you too.” Her words were as clipped as her movements.
“I’m going to walk Evie to her car,” Joshua said glancing back at his mother whose hands were now on her hips. If she could have come up with a good reason to stop him from helping me out, I am certain she would have.
We made it to the van in a couple of minutes. He shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced back over his shoulder at where Becky still stood, watching us from the open back door of Nick’s.
“Hey, sorry about her. She’s been acting really strange. Anyway, uh, interesting evening.” He smiled tentatively, looking even more handsome than he already was. Oh boy, squared.
I smiled back “It was. Only next time, I think we should go out to a restaurant like normal friends, okay?” There, hopefully that removed some of the weirdness from the situation.
He laughed. “Okay. It’s a date!”
Uh-oh. I swallowed and smiled again. “Yeah, well, I’ll see you tomorrow. And thanks again for your help earlier tonight.”
“My pleasure. Be safe! You okay to drive?”
“Yeah. I think you drank the lion’s share, and we’ve had a few hours to sober up.”
He winked at me. “I think I did drink the lion’s share, but I had some great company.”
For one awkward moment, I thought he might be leaning in to kiss me but he simply reached around to open my door. It didn’t help that Becky chose that moment to squawk out his name from across the street. Joshua rolled his eyes and waited until I’d fired up the VW before making his way back to the bar and his overbearing mother.
Well, that was an interesting night. I headed home, replaying the evening in my mind. The most prevalent question, aside from wondering where our conversation would have gone if Becky hadn’t shown up when she did, was whether or not someone or something locked us in that storage closet? And, if so, why?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CASS AND MAC WERE as happy to see me as I was them. I put the kettle on the stove to make some tea and then trudged upstairs to my room and switched out of my jeans and into sweats. I also put on a clean t-shirt. Mine still smelled of Joshua after wearing his long-sleeved shirt, and for a second, I thought about keeping it on (what can I say? He smelled good). But then I couldn’t resist changing into something I hadn’t spent the evening working and sweating in.
No sign of Lucas, or Bob, or Janis. They must’ve all been on another tier, recharging their vibrations, or whatever else spirits busied themselves doing. It was kind of disconcerting, considering this whole Black Tier out-to-get-me thing, and the night I’d had. But I felt relatively safe in the house. And Lucas had assured me he’d placed some kind of temporary barrier on the place to help protect me.
As I made my way back downstairs, the whistle of the kettle shrilled loudly. Then it stopped. And so did I. I closed my eyes for a second and sighed, wondering who had removed the kettle from the stove. I looked down at Cass, my canine barometer, and she didn’t seem edgy at all, so I took that as a good sign. I continued my walk downstairs and stepped out of the hall and into the kitchen.
“Lucas,” I said, spotting him next to the stove. He’d brought someone with him.
“Evie. This is Roger Hawks.”
“Hi, Roger,” I said, rather more calmly than I felt.
He nodded at me. “Hello. Nice to meet you.”
Roger had classic movie-star good looks. His hair was light brown, and he had high cheekbones, a medium build, and the same luminescent eyes as Lucas (except Roger’s were a deep, sea green).
Lucas nodded at me and then looked over at Roger who stood at his side, seeming nervous.
“Roger has never actually been back to this area of the Grey Tier. He hasn’t wanted or needed to, so talking to a live human and coming through the portal is a little bit of a challenge for him. But he wanted to try and help when he heard about Nick.”
Roger made a soft sound, like he was clearing his throat. “I, uh, I haven’t felt or seen Nick’s vibration at all, and I’m not sure what tier he might be on.”
“Oh, okay.” Yes, tonight was clearly my night for genius repartee. “So I guess Lucas has told you I’ve been trying to figure out Nick’s murder on my own?”
Roger nodded slowly, as if he were underwater. I guess this must be what Lucas was referring to when he said it was a challenge for Roger to come here. “Yes. He did tell me that.”
I forged ahead. “And your name has come up quite a bit. I mean, with what happened to you … the night you died.”
“Lucas mentioned that as well.”
Roger was not only uneasy
, he didn’t seem to be much of a conversationalist. I decided it was time for a more blunt approach.
“Roger, were you murdered?”
If he seemed taken aback by my frankness, he didn’t show it. He shook his head with that same slow movement. “Not intentionally, but I was killed at the hands of someone else.”
“Do you know who did it?” I took in a deep breath of air and held it … waiting, hoping for an affirmative response.
“Yes, I do.” I waited patiently for an answer that seemed a very long time in coming. “It was my girlfriend at the time, who was also sleeping with Nick. We fought and she pushed me into the pool. I was drunk, and I hit my head on the corner tiles and, well, that was it.” He shrugged.
“Your girlfriend? Rebecca Styles?” I had a sudden memory of Candace telling me her suspicions that Becky had been Roger’s real killer. When you’re right, well, you’re right.
“The one and only. Becky killed me, right after she told me she was pregnant.”
I shook my head in disbelief, my mouth slowly dropping open. If Becky had murdered Roger and gotten away with it all these years, would she have done it again? Had she killed Nick too? And while we were on the topic, was Nick really even Joshua’s father?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“THAT WAS NOT WHAT I expected,” I said to Lucas, who was pacing the hardwood floors. Roger had gone back through the portal to the safety of whatever tier he vibrated on. I sat on the sofa, watching Lucas circling the room like a caged tiger. In the past, he’d sit next to me and we would talk, but after our last few encounters … it seemed we weren’t as cozy together as we’d once been.
“What do you mean?” He stopped, hands on hips, looked at me with those damn eyes of his. I felt another stab of sheer, piercing lust travel through me. Oh, hell. I was a hormonal wreck. Maybe I should have had more sex growing up, and then I wouldn’t be lusting after a dead guy or my new boss. Ugh.
“I mean, I’m happy he knows what happened to him. Closure and all. But now I know, too, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“But now you know this Becky woman killed him, don’t you think she could have also murdered Nick?” He started pacing again.
