by Diane Bator
“She lived across the street from me.” She blushed. “Mostly, I just know what I’ve heard from the writing group. Sophie’s husband cheated on her and she tried to run him over. I guess she totaled his new truck.”
“I got a lot more details than that, but that’s the gist of it.” The chimes rang and Christina excused herself to serve a customer six éclairs and a dozen sugar cookies. After assisting two more customers, she returned to the kitchen and sighed. “Where was I?”
Lucy took off her coat and grabbed an apron. “What can I do to help?”
She blinked. “You want to help me?”
“It’s better than sitting here watching you run around like a headless Christmas goose.”
Christina smiled. “Can you work a cash register?”
“Yes, but I can only stay until four.”
“You’re hired.” She swallowed her trepidation. “I can’t pay much, but—”
Lucy beamed. “Give me a dozen buns and we’ll call it even.”
“Deal.” Christina grabbed a snowflake cookie cutter. Lucy was already more competent than Leo and she hadn’t even gone into the front of the shop yet. “I’ll even throw in something for dessert.”
A loud buzz from the oven made them both jump. While Christina turned to take out the fresh baked buns Lucy scrubbed her hands and took over cutting the new batch of cookies. While Christina set the buns to cool, Lucy filled tray after tray with snowflakes and bells, moving around the kitchen with ease.
“You’re pretty good at this.” Christina smiled.
Lucy laughed. “I have three kids who love to help in the kitchen. We’ve made a lot of cookies. At least here I don’t have to scrape icing off the ceiling.”
“Stick around, you might still get to. Clancy hasn’t been in yet today.”
“Is he that bad?” Lucy’s face reddened.
She shook her head. “Clancy looks rough and cranky, but he’s one of the good guys. I tend to bring out the worst in him.”
“Sibling rivalry?”
Christina sighed. “Not so much rivalry. He’s...he’s stronger than me. Physically, mentally, and so on. He’s got his whole life mapped out and can’t understand why I don’t know what I’m doing with mine.”
“Sounds a bit like my ex.” Lucy grimaced. “I don’t think he planned to go to jail though.”
“Mine either.”
“Clancy mentioned that, but he clammed up when I asked. I know dealing with that isn’t easy.” Lucy paused. “Are you okay?”
Christina shrugged. “Some days. When it’s busy, I don’t have time to think. It’s when I’m home alone at night...” She drew in a deep belly breath. “And when he calls.”
Lucy winced. “Does he call often?”
“Lately, once a day. Always to vent about the lack of privacy, that he can’t get a good latte...or about Leo.”
“Ah, right.” Lucy brushed a stray hair from her eyes. “Leo’s trying to get your husband out of jail and your hubby hates him for it. That makes no sense.”
“I know. And to top it off, Leo’s investigating me for Clancy.”
“Are you serious?” Lucy paled. “Your own brother is having you investigated? That’s...that’s...”
“Low?” Christina tried to hide her smile. “At least Leo was upfront about everything.”
Lucy raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? That does not sound like the Leo I know. He usually holds everything close until he has to give it up and has the best straight-face in town.” She paused then gave a wink. “He must like you.”
Heat surged through Christina like she’d been tossed into her own oven. She avoided Lucy’s gaze and slid the cookies in to bake.
“Oh, wow.” Lucy gasped. “You like him too.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” She closed the oven door with a grunt. “He’s helping free my husband from jail. That’s it.”
“Uh-huh.” Lucy folded her arms across her chest and grinned. “There’s a lot of color in your face for a simple business relationship.”
Christina scowled and mixed a batch of pastry dough. She noticed Lucy scurry toward the store front, but focused her gaze on the mixing bowl. Her conversation with Lucy sent her thoughts back in time to when she woke up next to Leo. Both her palms and the soles of her feet sweated.
“I’m sorry.” Lucy leaned in the nearby doorway. “I don’t know you well enough to tease you like that. I’m just really glad Leo found someone like you.”
“I’m married, Lucy.” Christina frowned. “Nothing will ever happen between me and Leo as long as I’m married to Brady.”
“Never say never.” One corner of her mouth twitched. “Stranger things have happened.”
Christina widened her eyes. “You and Clancy?”
Lucy shrugged. “We’re just friends.”
“That’s a good start. He adores you and the kids.”
A dreamy smile lit Lucy’s face. “He’s really good with them, but I’m not in a hurry to move into a new relationship with anyone. My ex has made it difficult for me to trust anyone.”
Christina stared. Brady and Gage had done the same for her. Was that why she couldn’t totally let her guard down around Leo?
“Clancy said you used to paint when you were a kid. He’s pretty proud you got a scholarship for art school.”
“Yeah, I did.” Clancy had never mentioned being proud of her. Had she ever given him the chance? Christina slumped her shoulders as tears sprang to her eyes. What could have been.
“Do you still paint?” Lucy asked.
Emotion clogged her throat. “A little.”
Lucy chattered, unaware of Christina’s imminent breakdown. “If Gina finds out, she’ll hassle you for art lessons. She loves to paint, but only ponies and rainbows. Since her dad...” She leaned against the table. “Gina won’t talk about anything bad. Just all the happy thoughts and good times. The boys hardly talk at all anymore.”
Christina took the dough from the mixer and showed Lucy how to shape the éclairs. “They’re lucky they have you to keep them safe and grounded.”
Lucy wiped her eyes. The back of her hand came away damp. “It’s hard to stay strong when I just want to lock myself in the bathroom and cry. I have to be the strong one. There is no one else. I’m alone with three kids.”
Christina swallowed her discomfort and drew Lucy into a hug. “Aside from the kids, I know exactly how you feel.”
Lucy stiffened, then let out a long, slow breath. “You have Clancy and your dad.”
“Sort of. They don’t know about...my life.” Well, they didn’t until Leo came along. She laughed through her tears. “My life really sucks.”
Lucy tightened her arms around Christina then backed away slightly. “Your life brought you back here, didn’t it?”
She tilted her head. “That’s the part that sucks the most.”
“I don’t know.” Lucy shrugged. “I never would’ve met you otherwise. Seems to me like we’re two beans in a coffee grinder.”
Christina smiled. Finally, a ray of sunshine. “Do you want to learn to make cream puffs?”
Lucy burst into laughter. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter 23
“You again?” Jakova snorted. “Are you coming back as a paying customer this time or still just being nosy?”
“I wanted to talk to Marty.” Leo kept his back to the wall and guarded his wallet.
She gave slow nod. “Of course you do. So does everyone else, but he’s not here.”
Leo narrowed his eyes, glad he’d ditched Shelley at her office. “Where is he?”
Jakova shrugged. “When you find out, let me know. He took off a couple days ago so no one’s gotten paid this week.”
A warm hand slipped into Leo’s and Angel pressed against him. One of her feathered wings brushed his face. “Aww, you came back to see me.”
The feather on the floor. Did Angel bring her wings to Gage’s apartment, or did it cling to her clothes when she left
work that night? If the police found more feathers elsewhere in the crime scene, they’d soon track them down to Angel. Either she’d killed Gage and framed Brady, or someone wanted to frame her. Someone who knew her schedule, knew she’d have a reason to go to Gage’s apartment that night.
Jakova snorted, then gave a smug smile and walked away into the crowd.
Angel dragged Leo into a quieter corner, her eyes were glassy and pupils dilated. “Are you okay? You look kind of pale.”
“Fine. Tired.” He put his hands on her shoulders, plucking a small feather from her wing between two fingers. “Where were you the night Gage was killed?”
Her blue eyes widened. “Me? Why?”
“You said you did some modeling for him.”
Angel leaned back. “I worked with him a couple times and he freaked me out so I never went back.”
“Freaked you out how?”
“He starting yelling about nothing being right, how everything was a mess, that sort of thing.” She glanced over her right shoulder into the crowd. “Jakova posed for him all the time until Rose came along, then he brushed her off every chance he got. I never saw anything he’d painted of Rose, but she was with him all the time when she wasn’t here or in classes. Even Brady got jealous to the point he and Gage had a major fight right before Rose left town. At first I thought it was over her, but...”
Leo frowned. “It wasn’t?”
Angel fiddled with her gold bracelet. “Gage was supposed to make Rose famous. Instead, I heard he wanted to take credit for her paintings. Brady got mad enough to knock him out and drag Rose out of the apartment.”
“So how did you hear all of this?”
“Brady came in the next day crying into his beer. He told Marty the whole story. Then he told us Rose had left and wasn’t coming back.” She winced. “I thought he was just being melodramatic, but then Rose called Marty and told him she was leaving town.”
He tucked the plucked feather into his pocket. “Did you ever pose for Rose?”
“Rose?” Her cheeks darkened. “I...she...” She paused to let out a slow breath. “I don't think that’s relevant.”
“Actually, I think you just made it relevant.”
A passing waitress bumped into Angel. “Marty’s back and he’s pissed about something.”
“Oh great.” Angel winced. “At least we’ll get paid.”
Leo stared after her as she wove through the crowd and onto the stage. She spoke into Jakova’s ear then disappeared behind the glittering gold curtains.
When a thick, dark hand clapped Leo’s shoulder, his heart leaped into his throat. He turned to meet the narrowed gaze of the bouncer.
“Boss wants to see you upstairs,” he growled. “He’s got something for you.”
“Lead the way.” Leo winced. Marty either had new information or a one-way ticket through his plate glass window onto the stage. He followed the bouncer up the stairs to Marty Upshaw’s office.
The bouncer rapped on the door, flinging it open when Marty grunted on the other side.
“Close the door.” Marty paced, sweat beaded on his forehead and shadows beneath his eyes. “You must be psychic. I was gonna call you when I got back.”
“What about?” Leo sat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk.
Marty paced between the bar and the window, then back to pour a shot of scotch. “I made a quick trip to Las Vegas.”
Leo’s back stiffened. “Vegas? What for?”
“The truth.” Marty threw back his drink then frowned. “I always had doubts about Brady’s whole story about he and Christina getting married.” He paused to pour another drink. “I found the chapel. I even found the Elvis who supposedly married them.”
“Supposedly?”
He sighed. “For Christina’s sake, I’d hoped it was all a hoax. I bloody well prayed Brady had conned us all and we could throw it all back in his face.”
Leo swallowed hard. “And?”
“I checked her signature against the one on the contract I have with her at the club.” Marty handed him a sheet of paper. “She and Brady were supposedly married two years ago. The problem is the signature on the marriage license isn’t the same as hers. Brady or someone else could have forged her signature.”
“So what does that mean?” Leo released a slow breath.
Marty poured another drink. “I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me if she didn’t really sign the papers, they’re not actually married. It’s a sham and she can sue his sorry ass. I’ll even help pay her legal fees.”
“Pour me one of those.” Leo stood and gazed out the window.
He snorted then poured a second shot and handed one to Leo. “Are we celebrating or thinking of ways to keep him in jail?”
“I guess that depends on what Brady has to say for himself.”
Marty raised his glass. “Well, you know where my allegiance is. I’d love to see him rot behind bars for all he’s done to Christina. If I ever got him alone in a dark room for five minutes... Well, let’s just say he wouldn’t walk out under his own steam.”
“I know someone who might be able to help. I’ll see what I can do.” He clinked his glass against Marty’s and tossed the scotch to the back of his throat. The liquid burned all the way to his belly.
Marty made a copy of Brady and Rose’s marriage license and certificate, as well as a copy of Rose Ryan’s employment contract. “Whatever happens, protect Rose for me. She’s a good kid and deserves a break.”
“I’ll do my best.” Leo left the club in a daze. He drove over to Shelley’s office with his mind reeling. What had Brady been thinking? Why would he betray the one person he thought the world of? The one person who trusted him.
Shelley seemed as stunned by the news as Leo. “You know I have to turn this over to the police as evidence, right? You also know this does nothing to help our case.”
Leo sat across from her and put his feet on her desk. Christina would be just as stunned. “We need to get both signatures analyzed to be sure. I can’t confront Brady with any of this until we know the truth.”
“Understandable, but we’re not here to prove he’s a scumbag, just whether or not he’s a murderer.” She tented her fingers, elbows on her desk. “What do you have so far?”
“Brady owes Marty money. Marty would love to see him rot in jail or hell, whichever is more convenient. Two women who worked with Christina in Marty’s club have links to Gage, Brady, and Christina. Jakova was Gage’s muse before Christina came along. She was jealous and also seen on surveillance videos at Gage’s apartment building that night. Angel—”
“Angel?” Shelley’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”
“Angel was also there that night, also caught on video, plus I found a feather outside his door when we searched Gage’s apartment. I have a feeling she’s responsible for the glass angel we found in Christina’s art box.”
She frowned. “Why? What would she have to gain if Gage was out of the picture?”
Leo closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “Maybe the killer’s goal had nothing to do with Gage at all.” He yawned. He needed sleep and food. “It seems to me all of our suspects had bigger issues with Brady than they did with Gage.”
She nodded then sat back. “Then why didn’t they kill Brady too?”
“Maybe they wanted him to suffer.”
“And they didn’t care what they had to do to make that happen.” Shelley blew out a long sigh. “You know that would change the entire investigation.”
Leo stared at the marriage certificate on Shelley’s desk and reached for his phone. “Danny, I know who shot Gage. I have to track down one more suspect, then I’ll get back to you.”
He phoned Rascalz, but both Angel and Jakova were gone for the night. Just as he was about to ask for Marty, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin. Angel had written her phone number beside a small angel wearing a halo He dialed the number and blew out a slow breath as she answered. “Hey, Angel, it’s Leo
. I’m in town for one more night and thought I’d give you a call.”
She laughed. “Wow, and here I thought you were as hooked on Rose as every other man in town. I was just going to shower and grab some dinner. Why don’t you join me?”
He glanced at Shelley and smiled. “Give me your address. I’ll be right over.”
Once he’d hung up, Shelley wagged a finger. “You’re not planning to interrogate her alone, are you?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Yup.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m joining you and bringing my voice recorder.”
Leo shook his head. “There’s no way she’ll talk to both of us. I could just wear a wire.”
“Sure, I just happen to have one kicking around.” She snorted. “Give me a break, Leo. If Angel’s your lead suspect, I need to be there.”
He gave a slow nod. “You can wait in the car. I’ll text you when I need backup.”
“You’ll need more than that if she shoots you.” Shelley followed him out the door and nagged him all the way to Angel’s apartment building.
Finally, he blew out a breath. “I don’t care what you say, I’m going in alone.”
“At least let me come inside the building. I’ll wait in the lobby in case you need backup.”
Leo rolled his eyes. “You’re not my backup. You’re a lawyer.”
“I’ll be your backup if you get arrested,” she said. “At least call my number on your way up so I can listen to what’s happening. You know, in case she confesses or something.”
Leo knocked at Angel’s apartment door five minutes later, glad he’d left Shelley downstairs with the doorman to wait for ten minutes. He didn’t like the idea of her listening on the phone, but had humored her.
When Angel opened the door, Leo swallowed hard. He had to focus on his mission, despite the fact she wore nothing but a silky white robe that fell open as she leaned to kiss his cheek, her hands on his chest.
“Come on in,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I can’t stay long.” Leo glanced at his watch. “I just have a few questions for you.”
She pouted, a thin layer of white powder on the end of her nose. “Oh, poo. All business again? Why not stay and have a couple drinks with me? Loosen up a little.”
