Something to Dye For (Curl Up and Dye Mysteries, #2)

by Aimee Nicole Walker

  None of his demands were unreasonable or too intrusive and in fact made a lot of sense. Blissville wasn’t the same town that I grew up in and it was past time that I accepted it. Extra locks and security versus no Gabe. There really was no contest.

  “Fine, but it’s going to be a snazzy door down there, Gabe. I won’t have the ambience and atmosphere ruined by an ill-matched door that sticks out like a sore thumb.”

  Gabe pulled me to him, wrapped his arms around me, and held me tight. “God, I love you, Sunshine.”

  I STAYED UP HOURS after Josh fell asleep against my chest. I worried that I let my heart make the wrong decision. I meant what I had said that I’d rather hurt him temporarily so that he stayed alive, but I saw in his eyes that forgiveness might not be forthcoming if I walked away from him, even if it was in his best interest. I caved because I wanted to and for no other reason. I could only hope my actions wouldn’t hurt him or do anything to dim his brightness.

  Sleep, when it came, was fitful and filled with disturbing dreams. I saw Josh’s beautiful face marred with blood and a bullet wound instead of Nate’s. I saw Josh yelling my name and reaching for help that would never come in time to save him. I jerked awake at least ten times in the three hours of sleep I managed to get. Each time, Josh slept soundly nestled against me with his arm and leg thrown across my body to prevent me from leaving him.

  God, the thought of breaking his heart killed me, but I wasn’t convinced I had been wrong. I was overcome with the need to get as close to him as I could. I needed his flesh against mine everywhere. No matter how scary life was in that moment, there was one constant: I was a man and I had morning wood. I knew I wasn’t going to fall asleep again so I rolled Josh to his back and woke him with kisses all over his face and neck until he was fully awake and as aroused as I was.

  Josh rolled the condom down my dick after I prepared him then I slid inside him; it was as natural as breathing. I saw in his eyes just how uncertain he was about our relationship and I hated that I put that doubt in his eyes. He worried that I was telling him goodbye with my body before I said it with words. I had told Josh I was staying and I wouldn’t go back on my word. “No way I can live without my Sunshine,” I said. My words and the way my body moved were an affirmation of my commitment to him–to us; not a goodbye.

  I was rewarded with a brilliant smile that banished the clouds of doubt from his pretty hazel eyes. How had I thought for a second that I could live without his smile every single day? I promised to kick my own ass if I allowed myself to think it ever again.

  Morning sex was usually pretty fast and hungry, and that morning was no different in that aspect, but we held each other tighter and kissed longer because I had almost done something stupid that would’ve compounded a bad situation. I had a feeling that Josh would get even with me for my flawed thoughts at a time and choosing at his convenience, but I had too much on my mind to worry about it. I’d pay the price and be glad for the opportunity.

  I stayed in the shower after Josh got out and dried off, hoping to wake up. Josh surprised me by opening the door and handing me a cup of coffee. He was wearing a wide grin on his face and looked pretty pleased with himself to a level that said it had nothing to do with bringing me coffee.

  “Check out the coffee mug. I ordered it while we were on vacation and it arrived already,” he said.

  I looked down at the mug and it said: I enjoy movie nights, long walks on the beach, and cuddling. “Oh my god. Our vacation was a movie night away from a cliché,” I told him.

  “I know!” He leaned his head in for a quick kiss. “It was absolutely perfect.”

  It was too. I had never enjoyed myself more than I did with him that week. We laughed and had some great times, which made what happened yesterday so much harder to swallow. I got a glimpse of my future with Josh and I couldn’t let it get ripped away.

  I stood beneath the hot spray enjoying my coffee until the water ran cold. Josh was already on the phone with an alarm company by the time I got out, dried, and dressed. “It must be my lucky day,” he said when I came to him for my goodbye kiss. “They had a cancellation and will be here to install the system today.”

  Having someone threatening to kill him didn’t make him lucky, but it was fortunate that the appointment was open. “Keep the doors locked and text me your grocery demands,” I said then thought about it. “Better yet, I’ll be home at a decent time and we can go together.”

  “You’ll protect me at all costs, even if someone tries to take the produce I want.” Josh held his hands in front of him to form a pistol and playfully hit a pose that made him look like a modern day Charlie’s Angels. It was exactly the lighthearted thing I needed to put a smile on my face and remind me just what I was fighting for.

  Adrian arrived the same time as me and he pulled me to the side before we went into the station. “Damn, Gabe. I heard about the threat left at Josh’s house.”

  Even though I hadn’t called him, it was possible someone else on the force did, but I was betting he heard about it at the diner. So help me God, nothing was a secret in Blissville. “What did you hear at the diner this morning?” I asked.

  “That someone killed his cat and left it for dead for him to find on his bed,” Adrian said, confirming my suspicions were correct. “How come you didn’t say anything when you picked Buddy up last night?”

  “First, it wasn’t a dead cat, it was a bouquet of decaying flowers, a note, and a picture of a dead Nate Turner,” I told Adrian. “Second, I didn’t know about it until after I got home. I made one call to dispatch, and next thing I knew, everybody and their brother–minus you–was in our home dusting for fingerprints and stuff.”

  “Home,” Adrian said then smiled. “You said ‘home’ and not Josh’s house.”

  It was the second time I said it that morning, but Adrian was the first to point it out. Either Josh didn’t hear it or he ignored me when I told him I’d return home from work early. I wasn’t sure how to respond to Adrian so I just shrugged my shoulders.

  Another random thought occurred to me while I stood in the frigid temperature with Adrian. Josh was meticulous about his home and salon, particularly with cleanliness. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have gone to bed until the last black smudge from the fingerprint dusting had been eliminated. It just showed how much I had upset him the night before that he ignored the mess. It was a mistake I wouldn’t make again and I wished I was home helping him clean.

  “Adrian, something really bad is going on and I honestly can’t wrap my head around it.” I told my partner about the photo of Nate, the note in the envelope, and the gut feeling that whoever killed Nate thought I knew a hell of a lot more than I did. But why?

  “That’s a damn good question,” Adrian said. “Maybe Captain Reardon will get some answers for us. It would sure help to know what the hell Nate was caught up in.”

  The captain wasn’t in yet, which was unusual, but not unheard of. We had some open cases to work, the largest being the cache of drugs found at the high school, so I tried to focus on them until Captain Reardon showed up. As the minutes ticked by, however, I found it harder to concentrate because the captain was never late to the station.

  It was almost noon before he walked through the front doors of the station. A gust of wind caught the bottom of his long trench coat and parted the fabric to reveal the captain had worn his dress blues. He looked at Adrian and me and jerked his head toward his office. We rose to our feet and followed immediately.

  “Have a seat,” he said firmly, hanging up his coat. I exchanged a look with Adrian while we waited for the captain to take his seat behind his large, mahogany desk. “I drove to Cincinnati this morning since I wasn’t having any success on the phone.” His choice of wardrobe finally made sense. Someone who looked as powerful and commanding as he did would be hard to ignore.

  “What did you learn?” I asked, hopeful it was something that would bust our case wide open.

  “I learn
ed a lot of little things, but I’m not sure yet how they all tie together, if they even do,” the captain said. I could tell he didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I needed something to put my mind at ease. “Let’s start with the biggest piece of the puzzle, which is whatever Nate might’ve been tied up in that instigated this mess. Nate and his nightclub were being investigated for prostitution. I learned that CPD had undercover officers working inside the nightclub to try and bust him.” Reardon pointed his finger at both of us and said, “None of this leaves my office.”

  “Yes, sir,” we both said.

  “According to my contact, CPD’s sting had only been underway for a few days, maybe a week, when Nate received his first threatening email. Whatever illegal operations he might’ve been running in there stopped immediately. The cops were removed after a week or so of no activity. In fact, they were gone by the time he called you.”

  “Okay, so why did Nate think that calling the cops made things worse, as if they were involved?” I asked.

  “I’m only speculating here, because Nate’s not here to confirm or deny,” Captain Reardon said. “My contact said that the detectives assigned to the case tried to squeeze information out of Nate. They made it known that he had been under an investigation and said they would protect him if he gave some names. CPD got the impression that Nate was taking money from someone to allow the illegal sex acts to take place in one of his back rooms. They believed that Nate was a small player in the prostitution ring syndicate. They hoped he would turn on the guy next higher up than him and that guy would do the same until they got to the top. Nate denied the allegations of prostitution and said he didn’t know anything about a syndicate. A few days later, he called the detectives and requested to close his case.”

  “There was approximately two months between the time I met with Nate in his office and the time he was killed. Do we know if the threats were stepped up during that time? Was his home searched?” I asked.

  “There’s a bit of a battle between the Cincinnati Police Department and the Carter County Sheriff’s Department over who should be investigating this homicide. CPD said it’s their case because they said Nate was killed because of the threats that they were still investigating. CCSD said the incident happened in their jurisdiction so it was their case. CPD did search his home and business, but nothing was found. His business partner…”

  “Business partner?” I asked.

  “He had a silent business partner, a Mr. Marlon Bandowe. Mr. Bandowe is a member of a very conservative family and didn’t want his involvement in the gay night club made public. Mr. Bandowe handed over the financial records and the business agreement between them. It turned out that the majority of the money to start the enterprise was provided by Bandowe, I’m talking a seventy-thirty split. Therefore, the profits were split by the same percentages. Nate’s thirty percent was a decent chunk of money, but not enough to account for his lifestyle.”

  “Do they think he was skimming off the top from whoever was running illegal activities?” Adrian asked.

  “He did something to bring their attention down on him and that would be my assumption,” the captain said. “You see, the detectives kept investigating the threats even after he told them not to, so I don’t think there was any improper conduct on their parts. CPD was able to locate the person sending the emails by tracking the IP address. Unfortunately, when they showed up at his apartment to ask questions they found him dead from a gunshot to the head.” Reardon blew out a frustrated breath. “He’d been dead awhile and none of the prints pulled from his apartment led them anywhere.”

  “A dead end,” I said softly.

  “Literally and figuratively,” Adrian said.

  “How does any of this tie to Nate being in our county or Josh getting threatened?” I asked.

  “Honestly, Gabe,” the captain said hesitantly, “you’re the only common denominator in the equation.”

  “Fuck!” I stood in the captain’s office and paced. “Why the hell did Nate have to choose me and what the hell do these people think I know?”

  Adrian rose out of the chair and came to me. “We’ll figure this out, partner.”

  “Look, Gabe,” the captain said, “why don’t you go on home for the rest of the day. Take an extra day to rest.”

  I didn’t want to take the time at first because going home and taking a nap wouldn’t solve the case, but I felt exhaustion and stress weighing me down. I hated the thought of Josh cleaning that mess alone or dealing with the alarm installers because those were both irritations that loving me brought into his life. “You’ll call me if this breaks?”

  The captain assured me that he would and his word was enough for me. I smiled when I saw the vehicles parked behind Josh’s house. Why did I think he would be alone after what he’d gone through the night before? In fact, the more I thought about it, I was surprised they hadn’t showed up sooner.

  I was happy to see that I had been locked out. I called Josh on his phone and he came down to let me in. “I came back to help you clean,” I told him as we headed upstairs. “I should’ve known the cavalry would be here already.”

  When I got upstairs, I saw that Willa was there with Chaz and Meredith. They were scattered through the house, all of them dancing a bit to the music playing as they cleaned off the black dust and smears.

  “You have amazing friends, Sunshine,” I said, hooking my arm around his neck and pulling him close.

  “I have a lot to be grateful for,” Josh replied. “Namely that you get to deal with the alarm guys when they get here in the next hour. If you’re a really good boy I’ll bake you another pie tonight.”

  I put my mouth to his ear, “How good do you want me to be?” I saw the shiver work its way through his body.

  “Don’t be distracting me with your sexiness,” Josh told me. “I do have an errand that I’d like you to run, if you’re willing,” he added.

  “What?”

  “I found the door I like on the home improvement store app. I was hoping that maybe you could order it for me and have it delivered. I don’t mean pay for it,” Josh said, reaching for his wallet.

  “Let me do this for you. It’s the least I can do.” I saw the argument in his eyes and knew he wanted to argue.

  “Let him buy you the damn door,” Willa shouted. “Pick your battles, baby.”

  “Fine,” Josh said with a huff. Then a smile worked its way across his face as he dug out his keys from his pocket. “One more thing,” he said, then bit his lip nervously. “Will you make a copy of these two keys?” They were the keys to both doors downstairs. “For yourself.”

  I knew he wasn’t asking me to move in and that his suggestion was more for convenience than anything, but it made me deliriously happy. “I can do that.”

  NOT THAT I WANTED it to become a habit, but trying to kill me, bringing me in for questioning, or threatening to kill me was great for my business. I had the ladies lining up for days in the guise of buying products in the hopes of finding out the juicy details of my late-night visit from Blissville’s finest–well, the police department. My late-late-night activities with Blissville’s finest, my Gabe, was going to stay private.

  “I’m starting to see a trend here,” Meredith said one night after the salon closed. “This keeps up you might want to stock up on some extra inventory. Hell, you might even want to rent a storage unit to keep it in.”

  “Girl, you know it.”

  “Not that I want you to get threatened or hurt, it’s just you might as well make a little profit out of the madness.”

  Some might think it was wrong of me to capitalize on the town’s curiosity, but I thought they were wrong for being nosey. Besides, I wasn’t the only one to make some cash off the townsfolk. I sold out of every single item that Marabeth made specifically for me. It was so exciting to call her and let her know that I sold completely out of the Jazz’s Spice-N-Sass line she had created for my salon. Better yet, were the people who came in a few days aft
er their first purchase looking to buy items in the line they passed over on their first visit. It was an arrangement that benefited both Marabeth and me very well.

  The changes Gabe insisted on were a bit of a nuisance at first, but I adapted. It was doubtful I would confess just how much I liked the ornately carved door at the bottom of the staircase that led to my home though. I liked having some kind of advantage over Gabe. I thought it would make the sitting area looked closed in, but the fancy-ass door I chose looked like it had been there since the home was built. I’m not sure how Gabe did it, but the door was delivered and installed in two days, which was unheard of in my neck of the woods.

  The biggest change, and also my favorite, was Gabe having a key to let himself into my house anytime he wanted. I didn’t miss the reference he made to my house as “home,” but I couldn’t be sure if it was a slip of the tongue or he genuinely thought of my home as his. I loved when Gabe slipped me the tongue, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the latter.

  As much as I loved and craved his nearness, I worried that it was too soon. Hell, I grew some giant–but never hairy-balls and told the man I was in love with him. That was a huge step for me and all that I was ready for at the moment, but I acknowledged that the time for me wanting to take the next step with him was getting nearer every day. Besides, I wanted Gabe by my side because he wanted to be there, not because he thought it was necessary. That wasn’t very romantic, and I’d call anyone a liar if they accused me of it, but I was starting to get pretty sappy when it came to Gabe.

  I even went so far as to put an aqua blue streak in the front of my hair to match the pair of underwear that he favored the most. Not only did he like the colored streaks I sometimes wore in my hair, but he’d be reminded of how much he liked taking those sexy little undies off of me. It was no coincidence that I was wearing the exact pair of briefs when Gabe saw the streak for the first time.