by Alicia Dean
"Last call you made, the play was going on in the
background. Tracked you here. Noticed your car was parked
at Salarber's when I was there before. You didn't exactly
cover your tracks that well. You made some really dumb ass
moves."
"Hey, dude, if I was a fucking Mensa candidate, would I be
sweeping hair off floors, or for that matter fucking talking to
you? That's a clear sign I didn't exactly pull off the crime of
the century."
"But you expect me to believe you didn't kill Rudy."
"No way I did that. I freaked when he died. For one, I
didn't want to be blamed. For another, that meant no more
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cash. Then it occurred to me his widow would have cash, if
nothing else, with the life insurance. I gave it some time to
cool off and started in on her. I was about twenty thou away
from the hundred grand, and I'd have been fucking history."
Heath shut off the recorder and grabbed Barney by the
back of his head.
Barney jerked as if shot through with electricity. "What the
fuck you doing, man?"
"I lied about the cops."
While Barney was trying to assimilate this piece of
information, Heath slammed his head into the open door and
knocked him unconscious. He pushed his limp body into the
passenger seat and slid behind the wheel.
Heath considered forcing Barney to take him to his stash,
so he could retrieve Nicolette's money. But if he did that,
there would be no proof of Barney's crime, other than the
tape. Heath wanted all the evidence against this weasel they
could get. It was best to let the cops find the cash in Barney's
possession. With that in mind, Heath drove his unconscious
hostage to the police station.
[Back to Table of Contents]
260
A Knight Before Christmas
by Alicia Dean
Chapter Nineteen
Nicolette dug out the gigantic bag of toys for the Christmas
party. She gathered wrapping paper, tape, scissors and bows
and spread everything out on the floor. Marla was coming
over in the morning to help her wrap gifts, but Nicolette
would do part of them tonight. She needed something to keep
her mind occupied while she waited to hear from Heath.
The phone call from the theater was their first good clue.
Would it lead him to the blackmailer? If so, what would
happen then? Most likely, the police, therefore the media,
would be involved. Then everyone would know about Rudy's
drug use and the charity would be in trouble. The alternative
was letting a criminal go free. Talk about a rock and a hard
place.
One thing she definitely hadn't counted on in all this mess
was falling in love with Heath. Or maybe she'd always been in
love with him but hadn't allowed herself to acknowledge it
until now. Either way, it was both wonderful and terrible,
scary and thrilling. Mostly, though, it was futile. In spite of
the level they'd taken their relationship to, nothing had been
said about love, about the future.
In two days, Heath would be gone, and Nicolette would
have to start the grieving process all over again. For the first
time, she truly knew what Elvis meant when he sang about a
blue Christmas.
She would always have this last week, though, the
memories of what it was like to make love with Heath, to see
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her through the long lonely nights. Barring a miracle, that
was all she'd have. She'd told Heath he was a replacement for
Rudy, but that had been a lie. If anything, fifteen years ago,
Rudy had been a replacement for him.
She'd wrapped over half the gifts and was putting the
finishing touches to the package that held an X-Box 360 when
a knock sounded at the door.
Through the peephole, she saw Heath standing on the
porch. She jerked the door open and impulsively went into his
arms. Releasing him, she stepped back to let him in.
"I found him," Heath said.
"You found him? The blackmailer?"
"Yeah."
"Who was it?"
"His name's Barney Frost. He worked at Salarber's." Heath
sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "How it came
about is a long story, and I'm drained. Give me a minute, and
I'll explain it all."
"Did he kill Rudy?"
"I don't know yet. I don't believe he did, but the police are
checking into it."
"The police?"
"I had to. If it comes out about Rudy's drug dealing, then
so be it. I don't know how we could stop or punish the guy
otherwise."
Nicolette closed her eyes tightly as fear clawed at her
stomach. "I know. You're right. We'll just have to do as much
damage control as possible and hope for the best. I just can't
stand the thought of what will happen to all those people. I
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wanted to make the charity successful, and now I don't know
if it will survive."
"No matter what happens, it's not your fault. You've done
the best you could. You've paid your dues, protected Rudy's
reputation as long as you could. Whatever debt you think you
owed, it's been paid. You've suffered enough for it, and now
it's in the hands of the authorities."
She sighed. "I suppose. Thanks, Heath. I can't tell you how
much I appreciate what you've done. You saved me."
Heath smiled. "Hey, what are friends for?"
There was that word again. Friends. Hoping for anything
more had been foolish.
Nicolette forced an answering smile on her face. "Why
don't you come in and sit down. When you feel up to it, you
can fill me in on the details of what went down tonight."
Heath spent nearly an hour telling Nicolette how he'd
tracked Barney Frost and why he didn't think the guy had
anything to do with Rudy's death. She listened attentively,
asking questions and making comments from time to time.
Once he was done, an awkward silence settled between
them. Nicolette seemed deep in thought, as though she had
something on her mind, but couldn't bring herself to say it.
He couldn't stop thinking about what he'd learned about
Rudy's affair. Who was the woman Rudy had been cheating
on Nicolette with? What kind of woman could possibly tempt a
man who had Nicolette in his bed? And, how could Heath
bring himself to tell Nicolette and pile more hurt on after what
she'd been through?
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One thing he knew for sure. He wouldn't tell her tonight.
They'd dealt with enough turmoil for one evening. They
needed to assimilate all that had happened before introducing
a new catastrophe. Not to mention, there was still the matter
of Rudy's death. Accident or murder? If murder, who?
Knowing the police could knock on Nic's door at any minute
and haul her to jail was unthinkable for him. It must be
terrifying for her.
"I'm exhausted," Nic said. "I know you must be too. We
should probably go to bed."
He caught her eyes, trying to detect if there was invitation
in her statement. He saw none, and he wasn't going to be the
one to make a move. It was as though they were stepping
through a minefield, one wrong move and everything would
blow to pieces. He couldn't tell her Rudy had cheated, yet he
couldn't be with her again that way until he did.
"Goodnight." He stood. Nicolette stood with him.
She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and he retired to
his side of the duplex. He brushed his teeth and stripped off
his clothes. Dropping heavily into bed, he lay in the darkness
with an arm over his forehead, staring at the ceiling.
He felt like things between he and Nicolette were
unresolved, but for now, he had to leave it that way. Maybe
after they put some distance between them and had a chance
to clear their heads, they could talk about a future. He might
even admit that he loved her, that he had from the first
moment he laid eyes on her.
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For now, though, he'd go back to Oklahoma as planned.
He'd make the deal for his security firm and then he and
Nicolette would see where they were.
He might be leaving her on Christmas, but there was no
way he'd be leaving Nic alone. He took his cell phone from the
nightstand where it was charging and dialed Burke.
"Hey, man," he said when Burke answered. "Did I wake
you?"
"Nah. I never sleep. I just hang out with my phone in my
hand, waiting for you to call."
Heath chuckled. "That's good, because I need to know if
you found Robert Brandon, Nicolette's dad."
"I found his number, and left a message. Haven't heard
back."
"Check again tomorrow, okay? Let me know as soon as
you hear anything."
"You got it."
They hung up and Heath went back to staring at the
ceiling. It was a long, torturous time before he finally fell
asleep.
Nicolette's mood was morose when she opened the door to
Marla's knock. She hadn't seen Heath that morning. After the
awkwardness between them and the climactic turn of events,
he probably needed some down time.
"Ready to get those gifts wrapped?" Marla asked brightly.
"Sure. I wrapped a few last night, but I saved plenty for
you."
"Great." Marla rolled her eyes, and Nicolette laughed.
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Pulling out the remaining gifts and the wrapping tools,
Nicolette carried them to the table, and the two of them got
busy.
They chatted as they worked. Suddenly in the middle of a
sentence, Marla stopped talking. Nicolette looked at her. She
was staring at Nicolette's hand, her face pale, her mouth
frozen in a stricken O.
"What's wrong?" Nicolette asked.
Marla reached out a trembling hand and took Nicolette's
right hand in hers.
"Where did you get that?" Her voice was hoarse with some
unidentifiable emotion.
"From Rudy."
"Rudy gave it to you?"
"Yes," Nicolette said, puzzled. "It was his last gift to me."
Marla's grip was tight. Nicolette tugged loose from her
hold.
"He bought it for you?" Marla asked, not taking her gaze
off Nicolette's finger.
"Yes. Well, he had it on him when he had the accident. He
hadn't had a chance to give it to me yet."
Marla shook her head slowly from side to side. Tears filled
her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Not for you."
"What? What's the matter with you?"
Marla stalked over to her purse and dug around. Turning,
she thrust a jewelry box toward Nicolette. Frowning, Nicolette
took it and lifted the lid. Inside was an expensive, gorgeous
pair of earrings. Blue diamond earrings. An exact match for
the ring.
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Nicolette's frown deepened. "I don't understand."
Marla's eyes shimmered with tears. "He said they were the
exact color of my eyes." She swiped a hand over her face.
"God. I miss him."
"Marla..." Nicolette dropped the box onto the coffee table,
not wanting to touch the object that was starting to represent
something she didn't want to acknowledge.
Marla lifted her chin and met Nicolette's gaze. "The ring
wasn't for you. It was for me."
Cold realization twisted through Nicolette's belly. She
remembered the note that had been found with the ring. To
the love of my life...
"Jesus Christ," Nicolette whispered. "You and Rudy were
having an affair."
Heath stepped out of the shower and was toweling off
when a loud knock sounded on the door connecting his unit to
Nicolette's.
He tucked the towel around his waist and hurried to
answer. Nicolette stood on the other side. Her face was
streaked with tears, and she twisted her hands together. Her
entire body visibly trembled.
"Nic? Sweetie, what's wrong?"
Her gaze lowered to the towel and stayed there a moment,
then moved back to his face. She took a deep breath.
"Rudy..." She shook her head, wrapped her arms around
her body.
"Hey, come here." Heath took her arm and led her into the
room. "Tell me what's happened."
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She swallowed and closed her eyes. When she opened
them, the hazel depths were filled with pain. "Rudy and Marla
were having an affair. He cheated on me, Heath. With Marla."
Shit. So, the other woman was Marla. Heath should have
figured that out. Some detective he was. The 'who' didn't
really matter, though. The fact was, Nicolette knew, and she
was obviously shattered. How much more could she take?
He drew in a long breath. Time to come clean. He had to
tell her that he knew. She might hate him, but she had a right
to know.
"I'm so sorry." He pulled her against him and slipped his
arms around her, trying to ignore how her body felt with the
insubstantial barrier of the towel between them. He'd better
hold her while he could. After his confession, it was unlikely
he'd have another chance. "There's something I need to—"
"No." She drew back slightly, but stayed in his embrace.
Her eyes locked on his, and she reached a hand up, running
her fingers over his lips. "Don't talk. I don't want any more
talking."
Her lips replaced her fingers and she kissed him, hard and
fierce, thrusting her tongue between his lips and pressing her
body more fully against his.
With every ounce of strength he possessed
, he broke the
kiss and took her shoulders, setting her away from him.
"Wait. I have to tell you something."
"No." She reached up and pulled his head down to hers,
once again locking onto his lips. Her hand moved to the towel
and tugged it loose. It dropped to the floor, and his erection
sprung free, pressing against her clothing, the friction making
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him harder than he'd ever been in his life. "Make love to me,"
she whispered against his lips. "I need to feel you inside me.
Now."
With a groan, he undid the buttons on her blouse and his
searching hand found her soft breasts. He tugged the bra
away and kneaded her nipples with his fingers.
She moaned, and they stumbled to the bed, still locked
together, hands groping, seeking, clothes peeled away until
she was as naked as he was.
He fell with her onto the bed and kissed her deeply, filling
himself with the sweetness of her hot, wet mouth. It was
wrong. Oh, so wrong to make love to her before telling her
he'd known about Rudy's affair, but God help him, there was
no way he could stop.
When they came up for breath, she moved on top of him,
guiding him into her. As she rocked against him, she gasped
out, "For the first time, I'm able to make love to you without
feeling guilty. I love you, Heath. I've loved you all along."
He closed his eyes. She'd said it. The words he'd longed to
hear. A shudder moved through him and he gasped out, "Oh,
God, Nicolette. I love you, too."
And then there was no more talking as Heath was swept
away into the wonder that was Nicolette.
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Chapter Twenty
Nicolette's soft warm body lay pressed against Heath's.
Her slow even breathing was the only sound in the still
aftermath of their lovemaking. Heath didn't want this moment
to end. He could happily die right now. No moment would
ever be as perfect as this. Especially not after he told Nic the
truth.
"So, how long have you loved me?" she murmured. Placing
a light kiss on his shoulder, she ran her fingers in lazy circles
through the hair on his chest while he slowly stroked his
fingers along the velvet skin of her arm.
