Thrilled To Death

by Jennifer Apodaca

  Or worse, he’d call Fletch and they’d cook up a dumb and dangerous scheme.

  I hurried into my room, stripped off the skirt and panties, grabbed a clear pair of underwear, and yanked them on. Then I pulled out a pair of boot-cut black jeans and did a little dance to get them up and snapped. I left on the shoes and shirt, collected Grandpa, and rushed to the office.

  Grandpa was agreeable about going to the office with me. I chalked that up to wanting to keep me safe and got us to Heart Mates as fast as I could. We both rushed inside.

  Only Cal and Lola were in the front. Cal was finishing taping up some drywall patches and spackling over them. Lola had changed into a pair of capri pants and a halter top, and she handed stuff to Cal.

  That would have been okay.

  But she managed to rub up against him, touch his arm, and laugh breathlessly while flipping her hair. She was in High Flirting Mode, and she looked damned good at it.

  Where were Gabe and Blaine?

  Lola said to Cal in a breathy voice, “You look hot and thirsty. Why don’t we go get something to drink when you’re done here?” She looked up at him with her huge dark eyes.

  Cal swept his gaze over me and Grandpa, clearly having heard us come in, then looked down to Lola. “What’d you have in mind?”

  She flashed him a killer smile. “Ice cold beer at my place?”

  Blaine roared out of Gabe’s office. “You are not bringing a man you just met to your place! He could be a serial killer for all you know! When did you get this stupid?”

  The throbbing fury in Blaine’s voice increased my bitchslapped headache. I hurried over to block Blaine before he got to Lola. He had an I’m-gonna-strangle-you look in his eyes.

  “What’s your problem, Blaine?” Lola said over my shoulder. “You told me I’m too late, so I’m moving on. Stay out of my life!”

  Blaine’s brown eyes iced to frozen root beer. His face pulled tight and hard. He glared at me. “Get her out of here, Sam.”

  “Blaine.” I put my hand on his arm and felt his muscles contracting into concrete. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I should have told you. I’ll take care of it.”

  I turned to Lola. “Why don’t we go into my office and talk? With all the construction going on here, this isn’t the time to drop in. It could be dangerous.” Not from the construction but from my furious office manager.

  “But I’m helping Cal. I like helping Cal. He’s nice. And he doesn’t think I’m stupid.”

  “That’s because he doesn’t know you!” Blaine yelled past my throbbing head.

  “All right, stop it!” I bellowed, and regretted it immediately. I turned so that I could see both Blaine and Lola. Lowering my voice, I said, “I want both of you to act like adults.”

  At that second, Gabe came storming out from his office. His shoulders were back, his face set in hard anger, and his eyes zeroed in on me.

  On my face to be exact.

  Grandpa shuffled out behind him.

  That rat! While I had been dealing with Cal, Lola, and Blaine, Grandpa had gone and told Gabe that Shane had smacked me. That was when I realized he’d agreed to come with me way too easily. The sneaky tattletale.

  Gabe smoothly went around Blaine and stopped in front of me. I could smell his anger. Quickly, I said, “I’m fine. It’s not that bad.”

  He blinked once. “Shane Masters hit you? How many times, Sam?”

  Cal handed the spackle tool to Lola and moved up to stand by Gabe and study my face. Then he whistled. “That’s gotta hurt.”

  I glared at him. “You’re not helping. Besides, look at you! You’re more beat up than I am.”

  He shrugged. “Not the same thing.”

  Lola moved up by Cal, put her hand on his bicep, and said to him, “Should we get her some ice?”

  I tried to roll my eyes but that hurt too much. “Answer me,” Gabe suggested in a voice so cold I didn’t think I’d need ice.

  “Just once. It’s not a big deal.” Really, I was more scared of Gabe’s fury than getting hit by Shane. Gabe operated by his own code.

  He stepped in closer so that I had to look up. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  That was easy. “I knew you would get mad. And Grandpa and I took care of Shane. We sprayed him with pepper spray and pushed him off the porch, and Ali bit him. So there’s nothing for you to do.” Did I think for a second Gabe was going to buy that?

  He lowered his face so that his mouth was an inch from mine. “Wrong. No one hits you. Ever. You stay here with Cal, Blaine, and Barney. Do not leave this office.”

  He kissed me softly, but I could feel the rage coursing through him.

  Then he pulled back. “And put some ice on that bruise.” He turned and stormed out.

  “Gabe! Where are you going?” I knew it was a stupid question. Gabe didn’t pause or look back, he just kept going.

  I turned back around and glared at Cal. “Well?”

  Cal spread his hands open wide. “What?”

  I tried to give him a hard look, but I think my blackening eye might have ruined it. “Don’t pull that innocent crap on me. Go stop your brother!”

  He shook his head. “Can’t do that, Sam.”

  Were men put on earth just to annoy women? “Why not?”

  “Because, I don’t want Gabe interfering in my decisions and I won’t interfere in his. And this Shane Masters apparently needs someone to beat the shit out of him. Gabe’s on it.”

  I fought to keep from screaming. Putting my hands on my hips, I glared at Cal out of my good eye. “How is beating Shane up going to help? Explain that to me. And what if Gabe ends up arrested? Will that help? Or maybe Gabe will end up seriously hurt or dead. That’s a big help, right?”

  Blaine picked that moment to butt in. “Gabe can handle himself, Boss. And Cal’s right, Gabe’s taking care of business.”

  I turned and did the one-eye glare at Grandpa. “Do you see what you did?”

  His blue eyes weren’t the least bit remorseful. “Now Sammy, Gabe had a right to know.”

  I was done being reasonable. I whirled back around and advanced on Cal. “You are going to go after your brother right now and stop him.”

  “I am?”

  He had the same amused twist to his mouth that Gabe often wore. That just made me angrier. He thought I was some helpless little woman. “Yes, you are.” I poked him in the chest with my right index finger. “Because if you don’t, then I will. And when I get there, I’m going to go into Gabe’s truck and get his gun out. The thing is, I don’t know anything about guns, but I promise you, I will shoot someone.” God, I was mad.

  For the first time, Cal looked concerned. “You shouldn’t handle guns if you don’t know anything about them.”

  I blew out an aggravated breath. “Do I look like I’m in the mood for a lecture on weapons, Cal? Now either you go after your brother or I will. Which is it going to be?”

  “I don’t want Cal getting hurt!” Lola put her hand on his forearm and pouted.

  I grabbed Lola’s left arm and yanked her off Cal and over to stand by me. “You,” I said to the sex siren, “stand here and be quiet.”

  She sighed but didn’t say another word.

  I turned back to Cal. “Well?”

  “I’m going.” He headed to the door.

  Grandpa hurried after him. “I’ll tell you how to get there.”

  I swallowed a groan. “Don’t you go with him, Grandpa! You stay here!”

  “Damn, she’s bossy,” Cal muttered as he and Grandpa walked out.

  I turned back to Blaine and Lola. I still had a hold on Lola’s arm. “As for you two, just stay away from each other.” I cut my gaze to Lola. “You stop trying to make Blaine jealous and stay off Gabe’s brother. He’s got enough problems.”

  Lola looked down at her four-inch wedge sandals.

  I shifted to Blaine. “And you, stop acting like a big, mad bear. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I signed Lola on as a client. We’ll talk abou
t it later.”

  Blaine lifted his lip in a sneer. “What’s to talk about? I don’t care what she does.” He turned and stomped off to Gabe’s side of the office, probably to cut some phone line he could use to strangle me.

  Lord this was turning into a bad day. And where the hell was Grandpa? If he went with Cal, I was going to—

  “Sam?”

  I blinked and looked at Lola. “What?”

  “Can you let go of my arm now?”

  I realized I was practically digging my fingers into her arm. I let go instantly. “Oh Lola, I’m so sorry!”

  She grinned, making her appear impossibly young, carefree, and sexy. “It’s men. They make us nuts.”

  “Sam,” Grandpa came back in. “Vance is here.”

  I ran to the front window. Yep, that was Vance’s unmarked green Ford Taurus pulling into a parking spot. I watched as Vance unfolded himself from the car, shut the door, and looked this way.

  “He’s one fine-looking man.”

  I looked over at Lola. “Are you ovulating or something?”

  She grinned. “A girl’s gonna notice.”

  She looked so cute and sexy at the same time, I really wanted to hate her. So naturally, I liked her.

  Vance walked through the door, looked around, then settled his stare on Lola.

  “Detective Vance, this is Lola. She’s . . . uhh . . . a client.”

  He slid forward to take her hand in his. “Hello.” His voice was as smooth as his butt probably was. “Why would a lovely woman like you sign up at a dating service?”

  Lola flashed him a killer smile. “I like my men to be prescreened.”

  “Smart,” Vance conceded.

  I stood behind Vance and cleared my throat. “Any chance you are here because you got my phone message?”

  He turned around. “You said you wanted to talk about—” Vance broke off and reached out to take hold of my chin. “What happened?”

  I pulled my face from his hand and took control. “Let’s go in my office—”

  Vance stepped closer. “Who hit you, Shaw? Tell me now.”

  “Shane Masters hit her,” Grandpa said.

  Vance managed to back me up to the wall. His expression darkened. “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him? How bad are you hurt? Where’s the blood smear on your shirt from?”

  His voice had slid from anger to something softer. “Just my arm. I’m fine. And I didn’t go to Shane, he came to us.” Vance towered over me. I could smell his sun and coconut scent, although right now he didn’t resemble a sun god; he looked more like a pissed-off warrior. Was he mad at me? “This isn’t my fault! Someone tried to break into one of Shane’s prop trailers, and Shane thinks Grandpa knows who did it. He was threatening Grandpa right on our front porch. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Call me.”

  I threw up my hands in frustration. “I did call you—that’s why you’re here now!”

  His jaw bulged. “I’m here now because a dead body turned up with a dog bite on his hand.”

  Oh God. Things were spiraling out of control. “The hit man? Was he murdered?”

  His face was stony. “We’re talking about you. Let me be clear. Shane Masters went to your house, threatened your grandfather, then hit you?”

  I nodded cautiously. “I pulled out my pepper spray and told him to leave. He didn’t like that. He knocked it out of my hand and smacked me.”

  He looked down and took hold of my arm. “How did you get this?” His fingers were warm as he gently bent my arm up.

  “I tackled him and knocked him off the porch. Unfortunately I flew off the porch with him. It’s just a scrape. Vance, what about the body? Was it the hit man? Was he murdered?” We had to tell him where Grandpa was Monday night. And what did this have to do with the attempt to break into Shane’s prop trailer?

  “You tackled him after he hit you?”

  Huh? Oh, Shane. “And after Grandpa sprayed him with his pepper spray pen.”

  Vance’s jaw throbbed. “Stay here. I’ll be back.” He dropped my arm and headed out the door.

  “Vance! Where are you going?” Frustration clawed through my stomach.

  He stopped and turned around, his entire body tight with tension. “I don’t care how famous Shane Masters is. No one comes to my town and starts smacking around women that I c . . .” He sucked in a breath. “Any woman.” He stormed off.

  I stood there stunned. “Are all men insane? Is it a full moon?” Vance had had a violent look in his eye.

  Lola put her hand on my shoulder. “He cares about you.”

  I looked at her. “He thinks I’m a bimbo pain in the butt.” I just could not believe this day. “And I think he’s a stuck-up, by-the-book, pain in my butt.” Which is what made this really weird. Vance came here for a reason, and obviously the reason had been the dead body that might be the hit man who attempted to kill Shane. And Vance just abandoned that reason to run off after Shane. Maybe Vance was having a breakdown.

  Lola nodded. “So you care about him too.”

  Now that was just insulting. “I do not.” I lifted my chin and wished for some Tylenol. “Vance and I have an agreement to dislike each other. Just yesterday he told me we could never be friends.”

  “Men,” Lola said.

  Blaine walked out holding a bottle of water. He swept Lola with his glare before settling it on me. “Why is she still here?” He held out the water and a couple pills in his hand.

  “What are those?” Given his anger, I was a tad suspicious.

  “Advil.” He dumped them into my hand.

  I tossed the Advil in my mouth and washed them down while thinking. Vance had a dead body, and judging by what he’d said, it could be the hit man. I looked over to see Grandpa and Blaine standing on one side of the newly opened-up space between the two suites and watching me, and Lola was on the other side. I looked at Grandpa. “You have to tell Vance where you were Monday night. And we have to tell him . . . the other stuff.” Like Bo. And that I had a client. I looked over at Lola. Maybe about her too. As it was, there were three people who might have reason to want Shane dead. Bo Kelly, if he thought Shane would spoil his show and ruin his chance for his Magic Bo cartoon. Nikki Eden for breaking her heart and maybe using her to get information to spoil her show. And Lola, whom Shane was firing for being fat. I should have told Vance yesterday.

  I walked across the empty reception area. “If Gabe were here, he would know what to do,” I muttered. But Gabe was at Shane’s possibly committing a crime, and Vance was on his way there right now to witness the crime. I made a decision. “Let’s go.”

  Blaine stepped in front of me. “Where are you going? What about her?” He jerked his thumb toward Lola.

  I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming. But that hurt my bruised cheek. Sheesh. I took a breath and said in a perfectly reasonable boss voice, “I’m going to track down all the insane men who don’t think I can take care of myself before they do something more stupid than usual. And I’m taking Grandpa with me, as he’s going to tell Vance exactly where he was Monday night once we find those stupid, stupid men.”

  Blaine crossed his arms over his chest. “Take her too. Don’t leave her here with me.”

  Sure, why not? It’ll be a party when we get to Shane’s expensive, fancy trailer. I had never seen Blaine this passionate and emotional about anything that didn’t have an engine and consume motor oil. But I didn’t have time to think about that; I had to chase down two of the most unreasonable men in Lake Elsinore.

  “Fine.” I stomped out with Grandpa and Lola. Both of them took one look at my bruised and furious face and wisely chose to follow without complaining.

  We got to the campground just in time to see several cop cars with flashing lights and sirens racing up to Shane’s trailer.

  Something bad had happened.

  11

  The police were setting up a barricade to keep everyone back from Shane Masters’s motor home. I parked the Jeep a
few campsites away, then Grandpa, Lola, and I got out and made our way toward the taped-off motor home.

  “Shane must have been murdered,” Grandpa said. “I didn’t stop it.”

  I looked over at him as he walked between Lola and me. His shoulders were hunched, and his face looked clammy in the afternoon sunlight. I saw Lola put her hand on his arm, which told me that she was as caring as she was sexy. I put my hand on his right arm. “Whatever happened, it’s not your fault.”

  An animal control van drove past us through the police barricade toward Shane’s motor home. That was weird.

  “Shaw.”

  I had been watching the van and didn’t see Vance approach. He caught us just before we reached where the police were setting up the barricade. “Vance, what happened? Where’s Gabe?” I saw his truck, and Cal’s truck. Where were they?

  Vance stopped and looked down at me. “What time did Shane leave your house?”

  “Uhh,” It was a little after three now. “I guess it was about one o’clock?” I turned to look at Grandpa.

  He nodded.

  Vance had his small notebook out and made a note. Then he looked up. “Where were you?”

  “Me?” Oh God, Shane had to be dead. “Vance, what is going on?”

  He tightened his face into a hard expression. “Answer the question.”

  “Grandpa and I went in the house until Blaine called me to tell me that I was . . . uh . . . needed at the office.”

  “Time?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  Lola answered. “I was at the office. I heard Blaine call Sam around 1:45 and I think she got there in less than a half hour.”

  Vance looked at Lola, only this time his expression was suspicious. “I’ll get your information later.” He turned to Grandpa. “What time did Shane arrive at the house and what did he want?”

  Grandpa straightened his back. “He arrived no more than ten minutes before Sam got home, so that would be around ten to one. He demanded that I tell him the magician trying to kill him. I told him I didn’t know. He didn’t believe me, and he pulled out a fake thumb that he said he found right outside a prop trailer that someone tried to break into. It was Shane’s theory that the magician who sent the hit man had now come to Elsinore to kill him in person.”