by Kenna Knight
“I know what you mean. There’s something about it. I’m glad she wanted to take it.”
“Send it to me when we land, will you?”
“I will. What do you have going on today?”
“Not much, I’m off until Monday.”
“You want to come over, and I’ll show you where everything’s at for next week?”
“Sure, that’s a good idea. When’s the last time your housekeeper was there?”
“Housekeeper? Why do you assume I have a housekeeper?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Graham, you’re a slob. I know you must have a housekeeper.”
“Ouch, that hurt,” I say clutching my chest.
He rolls his eyes. “You know it’s true. You’ve all but admitted it to me. I want to know what I’m getting myself into.”
“You don’t have to clean, just take care of the dogs, that’s all.”
“Oh no, I can’t live in a mess. It will be my pleasure to clean up, believe me.”
“Well, you won’t have much to do because Angi comes twice a week on Fridays and Tuesdays.”
“Angi’s your housekeeper?”
“Shut up.”
He laughs and takes my hand in his. I like that he’s more openly affectionate with me, it shows he’s comfortable. Levi deserves to be comfortable in his own skin with someone who cares about him. He’s been waiting his whole life for this.
“I’m glad you have Angi. I don’t think I could visit if you didn’t.”
“I want to come to your house. I need to see how a clean freak lives. You can’t be that different from me, and you have a roommate. Is Nicky as neat as you?”
“Neater. And you’re welcome anytime. You can drop by any minute of any day or night and find our apartment in impeccable condition.”
“Okay, Felix, I get it, you guys like getting your clean on. Point taken.”
“Don’t be mad. I don’t mind that you’re a pig. I like taking care of you. And by the way, is that show on Netflix or something? You’ve referenced it twice since I met you. Maybe I should see what Felix and Oscar are all about.”
“It’s called The Odd Couple, and I don’t think so, it’s an old-ass show. You probably wouldn’t like it anyway.”
“I like old-ass television shows.”
“You also like Twilight,” I say rolling my eyes and listening to the pilot when he comes over the PA to tell us about the weather in San Francisco. For that, I receive a swift elbow to my ribs, but I smile. I like that he’s into romantic fantasy stuff—it’s cute.
“Hey, have you thought any more about the case? I know I’ve been monopolizing your time, but I just wondered if there were any new leads.”
“No, nothing yet, but I have a few ideas on where to go from here. I don’t want to jinx anything, though. I’ll let you know if anything pans out. Have you talked to anyone from the salon since we’ve been gone?”
“Gloria text me right after we left, but not since. Why?”
“I was wondering if anything happened? You know, since the boss is out of town, I figured you might have had another incident.”
“Shit, I never thought of that. I’ll call her as soon as we get out of the airport.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine. I wouldn’t want to steal when Gloria was in charge if I were a thief… I’ll tell ya that.”
“True, she’s fierce. If she caught somebody red-handed, I’m afraid they would end up without that hand.” I nod conjuring up a mental of Gloria chopping off one of the stylist’s hands as they try to remove cash from the vault, and I shiver. I don’t ever want to be on that woman’s bad side.
“You’re seeing it, aren’t you?”
“Uh huh, it’s terrifying. You should tell her if she ever wants to give up doing hair, she should be a cop.” He chuckles.
The plane lands, and we switch our phones back on. Mine starts first, one after another notification start rolling in and then his starts to chime as well. We look at each other and shake our heads. I don’t even want to start reading. If it were just my phone, I’d worry about Jorge’s condition, but since it’s happening to Levi, too, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the case.
“Fuck, you were right. Melody says she just opened the safe, and it’s empty. She called the police right away, and they’re on their way.”
“Dammit, I wish I would have put somebody outside while we were gone. I should have listened to my instincts.”
“It’s not your fault. Are you heading over there now or do you have to wait for the uniform guys to give you a report?”
“I’m not waiting for anything. I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay.” I watch him stalk out of the airport yanking his carry-on bag behind him roughly. He’s pissed at himself for not solving my case. I’m starting to think it’s time for me to do some investigating myself. These are my people. I thought I could trust them, but it’s no coincidence that I was robbed one of the nights I was out of town. No one knew I was leaving but my employees and not even all of them knew. This trip was unexpected, unplanned, totally last minute. I need to think about who knew I was leaving. Melody and Gloria knew, of course. Who else was working that day? Ari, Zoe, Chaz, Todd, and Evie were there when the call came in that I had to leave. The problem with this method is that gossip in a hair salon spreads faster than wildfire. By the time we were getting on the plane to Seattle, I’m sure everybody knew what was going on.
I’m going to have to sit down and casually talk to everyone. It has to be done in a way that no one feels threatened, or they won’t open up. I don’t expect anyone to confess, but maybe someone will let something slip.
We just had our annual barbeque so we can’t do that again, it would look way too suspicious. But, Suni is getting married in a couple of months. I think it’s time to throw an official Tease bridal shower for the happy couple. Perfect.
Chapter Fifteen
Levi
Another Bloody Broken Heart
I can’t believe I didn’t think to put an unmarked car outside the salon while we were out of town. In the rush to purchase plane tickets and get Jorge to the clinic, I never even thought about it until the flight home. Nice detective work there, Levi. Graham’s going to think I’m the worst detective on the force, and I don’t blame him.
I get to the salon before he does and walk straight in and back to the safe where officers Brown and Sully are taking pictures of the safe, again. Brown looks up from what he’s doing. “Hey, Detective Yale, this your case?”
“Yes, unfortunately. Find anything?”
“Nah, just an empty safe and about a million sets of prints.”
“There are only a couple of people with access to this safe and this room. You should find Graham’s, Gloria’s, and Melody’s, but I want to know about any others.”
“You got it,” Brown says.
I make my way back to the front just as Graham enters the building. He looks pissed which, under the circumstances, seems fair. Until this moment, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Graham angry. He’s such an easygoing guy. Even when I was called in to investigate the last robbery, he was miffed, irritated even, but never angry.
“Where’s Gloria?” he snaps at Melody without a glance in my direction. He knows I’m here, he saw me when he came in. I’m being ignored.
“She’s not here yet. Her son is sick, but she’s on her way.”
“Who else is here?”
“Just me, I called everyone and told them to stay home until you called.”
“Fucking closed again. This shit is ridiculous. What do I have to do, fire everybody and start over with a whole new staff? Somebody’s stealing from me, somebody I know, and when I figure out who it is, I’m going to…”
“You’re not going to do anything. Come back to your office and cool down,” I say placing my hand on his bicep. He looks down at my hand and then back up at me, as if to say, get your fucking hand off me. I remove it and take a step back. He lo
oks like he’s about to say something nasty, but he holds his tongue.
He turns and stalks to the back of the salon leaving Melody and me standing with our mouths open. “I’ve never seen him so mad before,” Melody says so softly I can hardly hear her.
“I haven’t known him long, but neither have I. He has every right to be upset, though. It hurts him to know someone is ripping him off. He loves you all very much.”
She looks at me thoughtfully. “You love him, don’t cha?” she blurts out.
“What?”
“The way you talk about him and the way you look at him, that’s love. He’s an awesome man, don’t screw it up.”
I frown at her brash suggestion that I might ruin what Graham and I have together. Is she referring to the fact that I haven’t solved his case yet? Or does she think I’m not worthy of her boss’s love? Whatever it is, it’s shaken me, and sadly, it doesn’t take much to do that since Neil.
“Could you tell him to call me when he has time? I’m going over to the station for a while.”
“Okay, see ya.”
I turn to leave but stop when I realize this is the perfect opportunity to ask Melody a few questions. I turn back around, and she is sitting down behind the marble desk now, and I can only see the top of her head.
“Hey, Melody, can I ask you a question?” I approach and cross my arms on the counter in front of her.
“Sure.”
“If you had to take a guess, like if someone had a gun to your head, who would you say is doing this? It’s got to be somebody who works here since there’s never been any forced entry into the salon or the safe.”
Her eyes go wide, and she fiddles with a pencil in her hands.
“Like, are you asking if I’m the one doing it?”
“No, I’m not insinuating anything. I’m just asking if you had to choose, who would it be?”
“I don’t like this.”
“I don’t like it either. Do you think any of this is fair to Graham? Isn’t he the best boss you’ve ever had? He gives every one of you security, benefits, a great clientele, and he treats you like family. He loves you. If there’s something you can do to help, you owe it to him to speak up.” Guilt feels like the best motivator in this situation. These people need to start looking at each other to find the mole.
She’s frowning, the lines on her forehead deep, and her coloring has gone from a healthy glow to a sickly green. Maybe this was too much for her? Maybe I pushed too hard?
“I uh, well, Kiki has a boyfriend who’s a dick. I don’t know if that means anything or not, but he plays games with her head.”
“Kiki, that’s the redhead, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, she sits right there,” she says turning to point halfway down the aisle on the right.
“Okay, anybody else have a boyfriend or husband who might be strapped for cash?”
“I don’t know, I mean I don’t get into people’s financial business or anything. Jorge always seems strung out, but it can’t be him, you guys took him to Seattle. Todd has a shopping addiction, he’s always spending too much money on clothes, but he loves Graham.”
“Try not to think that way. It seems like everybody loves him, but somebody’s got to have a grudge, or maybe there’s somebody who’s easily intimidated? Somebody who can be manipulated?”
She stops fiddling with her pencil, and I know she’s thought of someone, but she doesn’t want to say who. “Come on, Melody, this is Graham we’re talking about. He’s the best man I know, and you know he doesn’t deserve this shit? Who is it you just thought of? I can see it written all over your face.”
“Nobody, I wasn’t thinking of anybody.”
“Yes you were, who is it?”
“I can’t, she’s too sweet. It can’t be her.” Now we’re getting somewhere. She has tears in her eyes, but I’m done playing nice cop. It’s time to get pushy and find this thief.
“Please don’t make me be the one. I don’t want to be responsible for ruining somebody’s life.” She’s crying now, but I don’t care, she knows. She knows who’s doing this, and she hasn’t said anything because she’s trying to protect them. It pisses me off that she would misplace her loyalty so badly.
“Melody, you have to tell me. I’m an officer of the law, and it’s illegal for you to keep this from me. You can go to jail for being an accessory, you know.” I would never take this sweet girl to jail on a hunch, but I need her to talk.
“What’s going on here?” Graham says walking up taking in the scene. It must look pretty bad me leaning over the counter and Melody sobbing and blowing her nose.
“Mel, why are you crying?” He looks at her and then to me. “What did you say to her?” She turns into him pressing her tear-stained face into his waist. He wraps his arms around her and strokes her hair shushing her. “Everything is going to be okay, honey, don’t cry.”
“We were just talking about possible suspects. She got a little emotional thinking that someone she works with is taking money from you,” I say. It’s not a total lie, more of a stretch of the truth.
“That’s not new news. We’ve known from the beginning that it’s most likely someone who works here. Something else is going on. She doesn’t cry like this for nothing.”
“Well, she is pregnant. Hormones can make a woman more emotional, you know.”
Melody jerks back from Graham’s embrace. “You told him I’m pregnant?” she yells and sniffles loudly. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything to anyone.” She jumps up and storms off toward the bathroom holding her hand over her mouth. Great. Now she’s going to puke, and I suppose I’m going to get blamed for that, too.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snaps.
“What? I’m trying to solve this case. Somebody here is ripping you off, and I’m done pussyfooting around your employees trying to spare their feelings. They need to get real and be honest and tell me who they think the thief could be.”
“And bringing up Melody’s unplanned pregnancy is going to do that? Making a young girl who already has the weight of the world on her shoulders cry is how you find the thief? I told you that in confidence when we were in bed, Levi. That kind of thing isn’t meant to leave the bedroom, it’s called pillow talk for Christ’s sake. She isn’t even sure if she’s keeping the baby or not. Now she has to worry about you judging her decision, too. I know you’re trying to help, Levi, but that was a real dick move.”
“I wasn’t being malicious. I merely pointed out that pregnant women are more emotional that’s all. She knows Graham. She knows who it might be, but she’s too scared to say. She just told me she doesn’t want to ruin somebody’s life. You need to talk to her, I don’t care who she tells, but she’s going to tell one of us, or I swear to God, I’ll take her to the precinct and scare it out of her.”
“You will not go anywhere near that girl. If you do, I will never speak to you again. I’d rather go on being robbed than put her through that. I’ll drop the charges, drop the case, close the salon, find a new career, whatever it takes to protect my people. Do you understand me?”
No, I don’t. I don’t understand him at all. He would throw his entire career away to protect employees who are stealing from him? It doesn’t make any sense.
“No, Graham. I don’t. You were robbed multiple times, and you called the police for help. Well, I’m the damn police, and I’m here trying to help you, and you’re saying no thanks, I’d rather keep getting robbed. There’s something very wrong with that.”
“If you can’t understand that kind of loyalty, then maybe you should leave.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. I’ll be passing your case on to someone else. That is if you even want to keep it open. Maybe you’d rather take your cash outside into the parking lot every night before you close and throw it up in the air? You may as well, somebody’s just going to keep stealing it anyway,” I say throwing up my hands in the air and letting them drop slapping against my thighs.
&nbs
p; He starts to say something, but I hold up my hand to stop him. “Don’t. I’m leaving. Save it for the next detective.” I turn around and fling open the door storming out into the bright California sunlight.
This is bullshit, total bullshit. I’m trying to do my job, save him money, help him solve this fucking case, and he’s pissed at me for making his pregnant receptionist cry.
I’m done, I knew before I ever started something with Graham that it was a terrible idea. I should have listened to my instincts. Now I get to go home and deal with another bloody broken heart.
Chapter Sixteen
Graham
I knock softly on the bathroom door. “Mel, hon, are you okay? Unlock the door, let me in, will ya?” I hear the toilet flush and the click of the door unlocking. I turn the knob, and she pulls from inside. When the door is open enough, she walks straight into my chest and wraps her arms around me without looking up.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I don’t care who knows about the baby anymore anyway. I don’t know why I got so pissed. I’m keeping it, it’s just a matter of time before everyone sees my belly getting ginormous.” She starts crying again at the mention of her belly getting fat. Models hate gaining one pound unexpectedly let alone thirty. This is going to change her life forever and not just her waistline.
“Don’t cry. I’m glad you made that decision, and I’m sorry I broke your confidence and told Levi. It was a private conversation. I never thought he would throw it in your face like that. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
She pulls away and places her palms on my chest. “He loves you, Graham, a lot. I think I might have upset him. I told him not to screw things up with you because you’re a great guy. I think he took it the wrong way, like don’t screw up the case because he started grilling me for information about the employees and their significant others after I said it.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m done with the case. We will stop accepting cash and get rid of the safe. Problem solved.”
