A Knight Before Christmas

by Alicia Dean

  She sniffed, but nodded, turning away to pour batter into

  loaf pans. "I understand. I'm making you some pumpkin

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  bread. You'll be back to pick it up before you go back to

  Oklahoma, won't you?"

  "Mom." He sighed heavily. "I'll only be gone for a few

  days, and I'll be back to visit, even while I'm working on the

  case." Case. The word sounded wrong. This could never really

  be a 'case.' It was Nicolette. She was far from just a client.

  For one, she wasn't paying. For another, he seldom wanted to

  get naked with his clients, let alone declare his undying love

  for them. "Of course, I'll be back for Alex's wedding. And I'm

  spending Christmas with you."

  She turned back, her face lighting with pleasure. "You

  are?"

  "Absolutely." He kissed her on the cheek. "I'm going

  upstairs to grab my things."

  "Maybe you could bring Nicolette with you sometime."

  He grunted noncommittally as he headed out the door. He

  wasn't sure how much socializing Nic would want to do,

  especially with his family. That might be a little too intimate,

  too personal, for her.

  "Invite her for Christmas!" his mother called out as he

  reached the staircase.

  For a brief moment, the image of Nicolette gathered with

  the family in front of the tree flashed through his mind. Then

  another, he and Nic surrounded by their own children in front

  of their own tree.

  Get that out of your mind. That would never happen. Not

  with Nic. His friend. He cursed as he threw his belongings into

  a duffel. What the hell. The rosy, picture-perfect family was

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  just a fantasy, anyway. After learning a man like his father

  couldn't stay faithful, he had his doubts anyone could.

  He said goodbye to his mother and was treated to three

  tiny, but surprisingly strong, hugs before he left. Throwing his

  duffel into the passenger seat, he climbed into the Tahoe and

  headed to Nicolette's.

  When he was in sight of her house, his gut tightened. A

  police car was parked out front. It was an unmarked, but he

  knew the KCPD used Crown Victoria's and something told him

  this belonged to them. Had something happened to Nicolette?

  Heart pounding, he jammed his foot on the accelerator and

  squealed into her driveway.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Chapter Six

  Heath was running up the stairs when the door opened.

  Two men in suits came out—one tall and black, the other

  stocky and Hispanic, wearing a perplexed frown beneath a

  thick mustache. Nicolette appeared behind them. Heath's legs

  weakened in relief.

  By her face, he could tell she wasn't thrilled he'd shown up

  at this moment. She looked nervously from him to the two

  men. What the hell was going on?

  "Is everything okay?" Heath directed the question to

  Nicolette, but she didn't respond.

  "I'm Detective Patella, and this is Detective Berry," the

  Hispanic one said. "And you are?"

  "Heath King." Heath shook hands with the detectives.

  Patella looked back at Nicolette, then to Heath again. "You

  a friend of Mrs. Morgan's?"

  "Yes. Is there a problem?"

  "Just following up on a homicide investigation."

  "Homicide?" Heath looked up at Nicolette, who looked

  away miserably but didn't speak.

  "Her husband, Rudy Morgan. We're investigating his death.

  Maybe we could ask you a few questions."

  "He doesn't know anything." Nicolette spoke for the first

  time. "He's not from here. He wasn't in town when Rudy had

  his...accident."

  Berry studied Heath and slowly nodded. "Still. If you don't

  mind, maybe you could give us a few moments of your time?"

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  He reached a hand out and lightly gripped Heath's arm.

  "We've bothered Mrs. Morgan enough for one day. Maybe we

  could talk to you in the car?"

  Heath wasn't an idiot. They wanted to get him apart from

  Nicolette so they could compare their stories. But since he

  had nothing to hide and wanted to know what this was about,

  he let them lead him away, giving Nicolette a reassuring smile

  as he did.

  He climbed into the back seat. Patella got in next to him

  while Berry slid into the driver's seat.

  Patella spoke first. "Did you know Mrs. Morgan's husband?"

  "Yeah. Almost all my life. We grew up together."

  "So, you're from the area?"

  "I was born in Kansas City, but moved away right after

  college. A buddy of mine in OKC hooked me up with a job."

  Heath didn't tell them that Burke had convinced him to enter

  the police academy in Oklahoma City. He didn't want to tell

  the detectives he was an ex-cop, they'd find out soon enough.

  He also didn't want to tell them he'd been anxious to agree

  with Burke's suggestion. Handling Rudy and Nicolette's

  marriage seemed a little easier from a distance. "Rudy and I

  remained friends all these years."

  "And Mrs. Morgan?"

  "I met her in college. The same time as Rudy." The inside

  of the car was stuffy, and Heath put his finger on the window

  button. "You mind if I crack this a bit?" When Berry nodded

  his okay and turned the key, Heath slid the window down a

  few inches. "So, what's this all about? I thought Rudy's death

  was an accident."

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  "She didn't tell you? How close are you and Mrs. Morgan?"

  Not nearly close enough.

  "We're good friends, but we live over three-hundred miles

  apart, so we don't see one another often. I haven't seen her

  since Rudy's funeral."

  "So you just showed up today? She seemed to be

  expecting you."

  Heath sighed. "I saw her last night. I live in Oklahoma

  City, but I'm here for the holidays, and I ran into her at an

  event honoring Rudy. I saw her again this morning, and she

  invited me to stay here for a few days." The two detectives

  exchanged looks and Heath said, "In the empty duplex next

  door."

  "Why?"

  "Why?" Heath repeated.

  "Yeah," Patella said. "Why are you staying at the duplex?

  You're here for Christmas holidays, right? You got family here

  to stay with?"

  For the first time, Heath said something that wasn't

  entirely true. Not particularly a lie, but he was definitely

  leaving out something. Now that he knew Rudy's death was

  suspicious, the blackmail could very well be pertinent to the

  investigation. But he'd promised Nicolette. She did, however,

  have a lot to answer for, once he finished with the cops. "My

  mother's house is overcrowded with all the family in. Plus,

  there's a lot of drama going on right now. Yo
u know how it is.

  Sometimes it's a little more than I wanna deal with. Nicolette

  had an empty place. She offered, I accepted."

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  "Before Mr. Morgan's funeral, when was the last time you

  were in town?"

  "I was here not long after his accident. The next day. I

  came as soon as I heard."

  "You weren't here the day of?"

  "No."

  "When was the last time you saw Mr. Morgan before the

  accident?"

  Heath had to think on that one. Before Rudy's and his

  father's death, he'd come to Kansas City every few months.

  Once in a while, Rudy and Nicolette, or sometimes just Rudy,

  came to visit. Rudy's accident had been right after Christmas.

  So, yeah, that was it, the last time he'd seen him had been

  the day before Christmas. He told that to the cops.

  "Did you and Mr. Morgan have any kind of disagreement?"

  "No. Hell, no. I know what you're getting at, and no. No

  problems at all between us. We were close friends."

  "As close as you and Mrs. Morgan?"

  Heath made an effort to hold back his anger. "I know what

  you're getting at. We're just friends."

  "Never had an intimate relationship?"

  "Never."

  "Not even after Mr. Morgan's death?"

  A memory of that time when Rudy had been in a coma

  flashed through Heath's mind, and he pushed it quickly aside,

  hoping his expression hadn't given anything away. "Not even

  then. Let me ask you something. Why do you think Rudy's

  death is suspicious? Didn't he die from his car accident?"

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  "Yes. But some of the evidence at the scene suggested foul

  play."

  "What evidence?"

  Patella smiled. "I'm sure you know we can't discuss that

  with you, Mr. King."

  "I'd be willing to bet a lot of it's been printed in the paper.

  I wouldn't expect you to tell me any of the good stuff you're

  keeping from the media."

  They looked at one another for a few seconds again, then

  Berry said, "There were no skid marks at the scene of the

  accident, which indicates he was unconscious when he went

  off the road. Supposedly, he was alone, but the passenger

  door was ajar, indicating someone had gotten out of that

  side."

  When Berry paused, Patella took over, "There was nothing

  mechanically wrong with the car. No indicator of why the

  accident occurred."

  "Is Nicolette a suspect?"

  A slight hesitation, then Patella said, "She's a person of

  interest."

  Heath knew they were leaving out some details, but just

  what they'd told him definitely sounded suspicious. The

  thought that someone wanted his friend dead was disturbing.

  The idea Nicolette could have had anything to do with it was

  ludicrous.

  "There's no way she could have harmed her husband.

  She's not that kind of person. For God's sake, she loved him.

  She's not capable of murdering anyone, and damned sure not

  her husband."

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  "Everyone's capable of murder, Mr. King. All they need is

  motive and opportunity."

  "And you think Nicolette had that?"

  Patella shrugged. "We're trying to find out. Life insurance

  money. Marital difficulties." He paused and gave Heath a hard

  look. "A lover."

  Heath heaved a sigh. "Nicolette didn't care about the

  insurance money, and they didn't have difficulties. No more

  than any other couple."

  "You didn't deny she had a lover."

  "I damned sure didn't say she did."

  "Did she?"

  Heath clutched the door handle. "I think this interview is

  over." As soon as he said it, he realized it made him sound

  guilty. If not of murder, then of cheating on his best friend.

  "She didn't have a lover," he added before climbing out of the

  car.

  Patella got out, too. He met Heath as he rounded the car

  to head for Nicolette's door. "How long will you be in town,

  Mr. King? In case we have more questions."

  "I'm leaving Christmas afternoon. But you're not going to

  find any evidence against Mrs. Morgan." He didn't pause as he

  made his way up the steps.

  Behind him, Patella said, "Is that because there is none, or

  because she hid it too well?"

  Heath didn't respond. He heard the detective get back in

  the car as he lifted his fist to bang on Nic's door. She had a

  hell of a lot of explaining to do.

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  Nicolette paced, twisting her fingers together. Anxiety sat

  like a brick in the pit of her stomach. Heath was talking to the

  cops. Heath would know. Heath would think she—

  A loud banging on the door made her jump. She looked

  through the peephole. Heath stood on the other side,

  scowling, looking like he was ready to bang again.

  She opened the door, and he strode past her without an

  invitation.

  She slowly turned to face him "What did they tell you?"

  "A hell of a lot more than you did!" Tension set into the

  lines of his face, tightened his broad shoulders. "What the

  hell, Nic?"

  "I'm sorry. I didn't know if it was important—"

  "Not important?" He began to pace, too, but where her

  pacing had been nervous, his was furious. "First of all, you

  didn't tell me that the death of my best friend might be—no,

  was definitely—not an accident. Secondly, you didn't tell me

  that you," with that, he paused and jammed a finger toward

  her, "were a suspect. Thirdly, you ask for my help because of

  a goddamned blackmailer and don't bother to tell me that

  he's not your only trouble—that you're fucking being

  investigated by homicide detectives. For God's sake,

  Nicolette, what the hell were you thinking?"

  She opened her mouth to reply, and a lump of tears

  formed in her throat. Heath had never been upset with her

  before. She didn't like it. Not one damned bit. On top of all

  the other things that had happened lately, it was just too

  much. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, willing the

  tears not to fall. With all the other negative things Heath

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  thought about her, she damned sure didn't want him to see

  how weak she was, how frightened.

  Turning her back to him, she crossed her arms over her

  breasts. "You're right. I should have told you. I was just so

  ashamed. So worried about what you'd think. With all that's

  happened, I couldn't stand it if you believed them."

  "Believed them?" His voice gentled. She heard him move

  to stand behind her, then felt his hands on her shoulders.

  "Believed the police? That you had something to do with

  Rudy's death?" He turned her to face him and took her hands

  in his. "I would never
, ever believe something like that about

  you. I'll admit, I'm shocked and upset at the thought of

  someone purposely harming, killing, Rudy. I'm hurt that you

  didn't trust me enough to share that with me—"

  "I do trust you, Heath. I—"

  He stopped her with a finger to her lips. "I want you to

  know that you can trust me. But, please, no matter what it is,

  no matter how unpleasant, you have to promise that from

  this point forward, you'll tell me everything. Deal?"

  She nodded. Her heart thumped at the feel of his fingers

  on her lips. She wanted to kiss them, to trail her lips down his

  hand, up his arm, to his chest, slowly making her way to his

  mouth, to those sensuous, firm...

  The air in the room had changed, was charged with

  something electric. Heath didn't remove his fingers. Instead,

  he gently ran them along her lips, down her chin. She met his

  eyes. They'd darkened to rich amber as they gazed down at

  her, roaming over her face, then locking back onto hers. Her

  breathing was so uneven, the sound of it had to be audible in

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  the silence. For several seconds they stood looking at one

  another, so close their bodies nearly touched.

  What would he do if she moved a fraction of an inch

  closer? If she reached a hand behind his neck and pulled his

  lips to hers? If she pressed her body against his, gave in to

  the longing that surged through her? The longing she had no

  right to feel, the longing that had no place between her and

  Heath.

  Sucking in a deep breath, she stepped back. Heath

  dropped his hand. He looked as shaken as she felt. She began

  to pace again, speaking rapidly so as not to acknowledge

  what had passed between them.

  "I have your place next door all ready for you. If you want,

  you can grab your stuff and get settled in before we go over

  the paperwork."

  Heath cleared his throat, but his voice sounded unsteady

  when he spoke. "I'd rather bring my stuff in later. First, I'd

  like to go over whatever you've gathered for me. That way, if

  I need more information from you, or if I feel there's

  something I should check out today, I'll have time before

  businesses close for the evening. Will that work?"

  "Sure. I'll get the documents. It's nearly lunchtime, are

  you hungry?"