by Diane Capri
I rubbed my wrists. “I hit my head when he tackled me and then he elbowed me during the struggle. I’m sore but it could be a lot worse. I probably need some Tylenol and a good night’s sleep.” I peered at her in the darkened car. “I’m so sorry for getting you involved in this. Maybe we should call the cops and give our side of the story. I can emphasize how you saved me from a killer…”
“First of all, don’t apologize. That’s the most fun I’ve had in years. And secondly, we were never there. Okay? Never. Yeah, maybe we should tell the police the whole story, but when the cops arrive, they’ll see what those guys were up to with the money laundering thing and they’ll be all over that. The last thing they’ll be interested in is a random Simone sighting. If I get involved and it’s all over the media…” She shuddered dramatically. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
“But Simone, you used a credit card to pay for dinner.” Yet another indication I hadn’t thought this plan through nearly enough before we waltzed into Jorge’s for dinner.
She shook her head. “Oh, that was Dwight’s.”
“But won’t they connect anything?”
“No. I’ll tell him to say it was stolen.” The van wobbled dramatically as we sped up onto the freeway. “God, I don’t know why you still drive around in this bucket of crap. I need to give you a raise so you can afford a decent car.”
I shut my eyes and smiled. Normally, Simone’s constant disparaging comments about the VW were annoying as hell. But I felt lucky to be in the van at all right now, considering how grim things were looking about thirty minutes ago.
Simone continued, “Anyway, like I told you before, I don’t like the paparazzi and they love this kind of shit. So it’s best if we play dumb. And who knows … once the cops are on the scene and they track down George and Pietro, maybe they’ll confess to murdering Nick.”
I nodded tiredly. “Maybe. But I don’t think they killed him. At least, I’m pretty sure Hernandez didn’t.”
“Why’s that?”
I recalled how reluctant George was to do much more than rough me up. “My gut. Hernandez could have easily killed me just now, but he didn’t.”
“He went to get someone to do it, though.”
“True. But I still don’t think he did it.”
Fifteen minutes later, Simone pulled up to her place. “Do you want to come in? Or maybe I can have Dwight drop you off at the house and someone can bring your van over tomorrow?”
“I’m fine, thanks. I just want to go home. I think I’ll be a bit sore tomorrow.” I slowly stepped across the stickshift over to the driver’s side.
“Okay. Well, thanks for the fun.” She winked at me.
“Remember, mum’s the word. And be careful.”
I nodded, too tired to speak at this point.
Once I got home and greeted the animals, I made myself a cup of tea, took some Tylenol, and headed outside to look at the sparkling lights below. I was achy, but not too bad. I’d recover.
I couldn’t help but wonder what happened when the cops finally arrived. Had they caught George? I sure hoped so. I was feeling a bit conflicted about not notifying the cops. It seemed, well, wrong not to give them my side of the story. But I was also loyal to Simone and didn’t want to cause her additional problems.
As soon as I opened the patio door, Cass darted past me and made a beeline for the pool. She’d been cooped up inside with Mac while I was gone, so I figured she was eager to blow off some steam with a quick swim. She started barking, loudly.
“Cass! Just give me a sec, okay? I need to unwind a little.” But she didn’t stop. Instead, she got more insistent and ran back and forth from me to the pool a few times. Looked like I wasn’t going to get a break tonight. I turned the pool lights on, hoping to find her ball in the water. Sometimes a toy was enough to distract her for a few minutes.
Instead, I found something else. Someone else. A scream caught in my throat as Cass continued barking maniacally. There was a body in my pool. And although it was face down, I recognized its clothes almost immediately. Jackson Owens.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
AFTER CALLING THE POLICE, I went through the house, frantically calling out for Lucas. Cass was at my heels with Mac trotting more slowly behind. I had no idea if Lucas could hear me. Frankly, after tonight, we were going to have to establish some rules. Like how to reach him in the event that I came home to find a dead man in my swimming pool.
I thought about calling Simone. I needed someone to talk to. I was scared and my mind was running rampant with all kinds of crazy thoughts. But involving Simone would have consequences I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with.
The only level-headed person I could think to call was Joshua.
The police arrived only minutes before he did. They told him to remain in the kitchen while the police questioned me in the family room. I could see him peering around the corner, though. Still no sign of Lucas.
“So you came home and found Mr. Owens’s body in the pool?”
“Yes.” I glanced outside and could see people out there with a body bag. I turned away, not knowing if Jackson had already been taken out of the pool.
“And where were you this evening?”
Here we go. “With my boss.”
The policeman raised his eyebrows. “Does your boss have a name?”
I sighed. “Yes. Simone.”
“Simone what?”
“Simone. As in the Simone .”
The officer’s eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. “Huh. That is really interesting.”
You don’t know the half of it, buddy. “And it’s really true.”
Officer Eyebrows nodded. “We’ll have to verify this with Ms. Simone. What were you doing with her?”
Now it was time for some fancy footwork. “We ate dinner together.”
“Where?”
“At her place.” Lie number one, fire away.
“Hey Hansen, come over here, I need you to check on something.”
I groaned inwardly. “What? You don’t believe me?”
The officer looked me in the eye. “Ma’am, there’s a dead guy in your pool. At this point, everything you say needs to be verified.”
Oh God, oh God. I could feel beads of sweat pooling in my armpits. What if Simone told them the truth about where we’d been tonight? How would that look to the police? Not so good. I needed to text her.
“Can I use the bathroom?”
He eyed me skeptically. “We aren’t finished here.”
“I’m not feeling so well. I’ll be right back.”
He sighed, shrugged, and agreed to let me pee. I darted to the nearest bathroom, closed and locked the door, and sent Simone a quick text: We ate dinner at your house. Then I put the phone on silent mode. I knew Simone would be confused by the message until the cops got there. I hoped she read it. And I hoped she didn’t suddenly gain a conscience.
I left the bathroom and bumped into Joshua. “You okay?” He looked deeply concerned, as if he wanted to give me a hug.
I sniffed audibly, tears welling up in my eyes. “Not really.”
Just then, Officer Eyebrows came up behind Joshua and cleared his throat. “Sorry, sir, but I have a few more questions for Miss Preston.”
Joshua hesitated and then finally nodded, stepping back but staying closer than he had before.
The officer held a cell phone in his gloved hands. I could only assume it belonged to Jackson. “Did Mr. Owens ever threaten you?”
I shook my head. “No. I mean, he was kind of strange at times. But he never threatened to harm me.” I explained to the officer how I’d known Jackson, and about his obsession with Nick. I gave him as much detail as I could. I also mentioned how he had been asked recently to stay out of the bar because of inappropriate behavior.
“Were you ever aware of him or anyone following you?”
I started to shake my head but then I remembered …
“The other night, a week or so ago
, someone did follow me home. I made it into my gate, but they slowed way down and even stopped until my gate closed. I couldn’t see the driver, though.”
The officer held up the cell phone with a photo showing a picture of the back of my van with the gate closing. “This your car?”
“Yes.” I was shocked.
“This is Mr. Owens’s phone. It would appear he’s been watching you quite a bit.” The officer scanned through several photos. They were all of me. Me in the bar. Me and Cass in the backyard playing. Me serving food or playing music. Me in my car.
“Looks like this guy had a real thing for you, Miss Preston.”
“Oh my. I mean, I don’t know what to say.” I was beyond creeped out.
“And you weren’t aware?”
“No! Not at all.” The whole thing was troubling. Jackson had been following me, watching me, taking pictures of me. But why?
The other cop who had been given Simone’s information came back.
“Story checks out. I just spoke with Simone and she says they had dinner at her place. But get this, some weirdo in Venice says Simone stormed into a Mexican joint tonight and rescued a girl who was tied up in the owner’s office. Even better, our people discovered a money laundering shop set up in the restaurant. They arrested the owner as he was getting out of his car out back. Some dude named George Hernandez. He was with another dude. Pietro SanGiacomo. Looks like they could have been in cahoots together on the dirty money business.”
“Any sign of said kidnapped victim and Simone?”
The other cop shook his head … and then they shared a laugh.
“Hell of a story, right? Probably someone who works for her and thought it might make a good publicity stunt. Celebrities.” He eyed me.
I shrugged. So, George went to get Pietro to kill me. Did that mean he had killed Nick? “Like I said, we had dinner at her place. Simone hates the paparazzi and wouldn’t be caught dead at a restaurant with less than four stars.”
He nodded. “Right.”
I tried not to be too obvious when I let out a sigh of relief.
The two officers moved to the other side of the room to consult with a third, more official-looking fellow. I watched, waited, caught Joshua’s eye, and mustered a weak smile.
A few minutes later the lead officer came back.
“Thank you for your time, Miss Preston. We’re almost finished up here and we’ll be out of your hair soon. But from what the detectives can tell, we think Mr. Owens was stalking you. We don’t know how he slipped and fell into the pool, but we assume he probably wasn’t paying attention, hit his head on the edge, and drowned. That’s for the coroner to figure out. We did find some medication in Mr. Owens’ bag for a bipolar condition. There’s a good chance he might have been off his meds, and that contributed to his erratic behavior. In any case, we appreciate your cooperation, and there’s a chance we’ll need to speak further with you in the next day or so. Anyway, I’ll be in touch.”
I nodded, trying to process all this new information about Jackson. Bipolar disorder? Now I didn’t know if I should feel sorry for the guy or just be glad he wouldn’t be stalking me anymore. “You don’t think it was foul play?”
“Can’t be sure, but from what we’ve assessed so far, it doesn’t appear to be. To start with, we found only one set of tracks out there.”
“Thank you again for all your help. Can I go see my friend now?”
For the first time that night, the officer seemed sympathetic. “Sure. You must be pretty tired after all this.”
I found Joshua and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Oh, Evie, I am so sorry. Are you okay?”
I was about as far from okay as someone could possibly get. But I didn’t think this was the time or the place to tell that to Joshua. “I’ll be fine. I’m just so … wow. I mean, Jackson was stalking me and they think he died accidentally.”
“Are you serious? That’s just insane. I’m so glad you are okay.”
I looked up at him to thank him when something caught my eye.
No.
Someone.
It was Lucas, about three feet behind us, his arms crossed and an unhappy expression on his face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED to do?” I asked, not for the first time that night. “I called and called! It’s not like I can reach you by phone!”
Lucas paced back and forth on my bedroom’s hardwood floor. Cass’s dark eyes followed his every move.
“Are you seeing that guy? Is he a boyfriend or something?”
I crossed my arms over my chest, having lost pretty much all patience with Lucas at this point. “No. I’m not. He’s a friend. I told you that!”
“The way he was holding and looking at you, I would say he wants more than friendship.”
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “Really, Lucas? Is that all you have to say to me tonight? Because, newsflash: A dead man was found in my swimming pool, a man who’d apparently been stalking me for the last few weeks. And by the way, I wouldn’t have had to call Joshua if you’d simply shown up when I needed you in the first place!”
Lucas stopped pacing and frowned, his voice calmer. “I tried to come as quickly as I could. But it’s not as easy as simply hopping into a car and driving over. Sometimes, it takes time.”
And then he moved next to me in the blink of an eye. “But I’m here now,” he said, looking intently into my face.
All the anger in the room vanished, leaving behind tension of an entirely different sort. He stepped back from me and made a large sweeping motion around us with his arms. Suddenly, we were encapsulated in a giant bubble of color. Lucas moved towards me again and kept moving until the backs of my legs hit the bed behind me.
“I’m here now,” Lucas repeated, this time in a husky voice that sent adrenaline running through me.
And then we were on the bed, surrounded by the softly glowing bubble.
Cass whined and slunk out of the room.
The lights in the room clicked off and the small cluster of candles on my vanity popped into flame. We stared at one another for a long moment. I was on my back with his weight pressing me firmly into the mattress. And then his hands began to unbutton my blouse, with the deftness of someone who’d done this many, many times before.
“Lucas, what are…” His mouth moved slowly downwards, and he began dropping kisses along my neck, and then my chest, until arriving at the top of my bra.
“Shhh, Evie. No questions.”
He reached his hands behind me making short work of my bra. And then he began kissing my breasts, slowly, gently. It was heavenly … and deliciously sinful, all at once.
Lucas continued to kiss his way further down my exposed torso, past my ribcage, over my stomach, to my hips, and then, after helping me wriggle out of my jeans and underpants, his hot mouth was between my legs doing incredible things. The bubble around us brightened into a full blaze of hot pink. I tried to grab the top of his head to pull him up, but he wouldn’t budge. Eventually, I realized he was exactly where I wanted him. And then, I simply stopped thinking at all.
A few delicious minutes later, Lucas eased his way back up my body and brought a finger to my lips, our mouths only inches apart. I closed my eyes and inhaled. He smelled … fantastic. Deep and wild, like a male … but with an underlying note of something sweet … vanilla? Cinnamon? And then he placed his mouth over mine and all thought flew out of my head.
I’d read some of the romances my mom kept at her salon. They always described how kisses tasted … like honey or nectar … blah, blah, blah. Not this kiss. Lucas tasted … pure and sweet and salty. It was enduring and all encompassing.
Lucas stood up then and the tips of his fingers began to emit a pale, pinkish glow. He waved his hands around us, creating another large bubble. The rosy glow spread across the bed and above us. Lucas closed the circle and repeated the movement. In a few seconds, the large bubble’s colors intensified. My curiosity
piqued, I reached out to touch the softly curving walls.
“Luster,” he said.
“Luster?” I stared up into his beautiful eyes.
“It’s a form of protection … and privacy. No being on any tier can see us, feel us, know us, or be with us in this moment. We are utterly invisible and safe for a period of time.”
“I hope it’s a long time,” I said breathlessly.
“Not long enough,” he responded. Then his hand reached around to the small of my back and he pulled me up close to him. There was nothing soft and ethereal about Lucas now. His fingers traveled to my hips. I shuddered.
He bent his head down and kissed my mouth again. My breath caught in my throat. Lucas was, quite simply, a work of art. I had never thought a man’s body all that special. I mean, I love a nice body—you know—six-pack abs, nice muscle, shapely legs, etc. But I’ve never been rendered speechless at the sight of a nude male.
And then along came Lucas.
I’m embarrassed to say that I gawked like a schoolgirl. Lucas laughed and dropped back to his knees, crawling slowly, slowly over my body. The way he stared at me, like he wanted to eat me up, kicked my senses into overdrive.
I was completely lost in his touch—his hands, his lips, they were everywhere, leaving a searing trail of heat from my mouth to my belly and beyond. The second he entered me … I felt my body ride wave after wave with him until the surrounding luster pulsed brighter and brighter and then seemed to burst out of us both in an explosion of deep fuchsia and purple. Then I allowed myself to fade into it, over and over again.
I don’t know how long we made love. I do know when we were lying in each other’s arms afterwards, Lucas lost some of his clarity. I couldn’t see him as clearly and vibrantly as I had before, and the luster had lightened significantly.
“Why are you so much lighter now?” I finally asked.
“I allowed the feelings the Black Tier wanted me to feel get in the way. When I saw you being held by Joshua, my anger, jealousy, frustration—all took hold. Then, we made love, and again—a very human act—all of that diminished my vibration.”
