Dirty Kiss (36 page)

“I’m sorry, baby.” Murmuring up to the sky, I hoped he could hear me, not knowing where God put murdered gay men. “I wanted this life for you—for us—and we never got it. I wished you were here. I did. I still do, but you’re not and Jae is. I just don’t want to hate myself for….”

I stopped before I admitted how I felt about Jae. Once I dug up Hyun-Shik’s murderer, he’d be gone, leaving the relative safety of my house. There was never any talk about love or forever between us. Sure, there were arguments and laughter. He was as stubborn and willful as he was beautiful, but never once had he told me he loved me.

“But then, neither have you,” I reminded myself, putting the car into gear. “Let’s see what Vicky’s up to this morning.”

I didn’t
tell Jae I was going to see Victoria Kim. I didn’t think he’d call and warn her, but in case he spoke to one of the Kims, I didn’t want anyone to let her know I was coming. Catching someone unaware was often the best way to get them to talk, and with both her husband and Park dead, I wanted to see if I could prod her into spilling some of her secrets. There was more than a good chance that she was the blonde at Dorthi Ki Seu that night and might have had a hand in offing Hyun-Shik. I didn’t know if finding out her husband was gay would be enough to want him dead, but given her display of unremorseful disgust when I’d first met her, anything was possible.

Of course that was before I’d discovered Papa Kim, who hired me, also put Park up to seducing Victoria. The light on the on-ramp went green, and two more cars merged into the morning traffic. I glanced at the clock and did some mental calisthenics. Mike would be settling in behind his desk and sipping his first cup of coffee, probably plotting for some way to complicate my day. I thought I would beat him to it and dialed his direct line.

“McGinnis,” he barked at the speakerphone, sounding so much like our father I nearly hung up.

“Nice.” I laughed. “Like you’re the only one.”

“What the hell do you want?” He slurped into the phone, rattling my eardrum. “It’s before noon. I’m surprised you’re out of bed.”

“I’ve got work to do. The Kim case, remember. I was wondering if you could hook me up to meet Papa Kim.”

“He’s in Seoul right now,” Mike shot back. “And I thought I told you to drop the case?”

“I’m doing it on my own time.” I merged onto the freeway and set myself into the stop-and-go motion of midmorning Los Angeles. “For Jae.”

“Cole, I know you feel like—”

“Don’t tell me what I feel, Mike,” I cut him off. “If the cops won’t play connect the dots with three murders, then who the hell is going to?”

“The case’s been assigned to Detective O’Byrne. She took it away from Branson. I’m pretty sure she’s going to connect any dots that look like they need connecting.”

“O’Byrne’s scary,” I said. “She could definitely bust Branson’s balls. I don’t know if I should be happy or terrified.”

“Be terrified because she still likes you for Park’s murder. Get off the case, Cole.”

“Sorry, no can do. I promised Jae.”

“You’ve never been good with promises. Something shiny always comes along and distracts you.”

“This time’s different, Mike. Really.” I couldn’t explain the grip Jae had on my guts and heart. “I think I’m falling for him.”

“Wait for the medication to wear off. I’m sure it’ll go away once you’re sober.”

“Hah,” I mock laughed. “Did I give you this kind of crap about Mad Dog?”

“You’ve only known him for, what? A couple of weeks, Cole? That’s lust talking. Not love.”

“Maybe lust is the only thing I’ve got going for me right now,” I replied. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got some people to see this morning. I’ll let you know if I find something out.”

I cut Mike off before he could respond. Traffic was getting heavy, and so was my head. The sense of dread in my belly was increasing, the closer I got to the Kim house. Once the case was solved, Jae would be out on his own again.

“Gotta give Jae time, Cole,” I growled to myself. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”

The neighborhood was eerily quiet when I pulled up. Having grown up in the rough-and-tumble of military housing, the silence gave the Spanish-style houses and manicured lawns a fake feeling, like I’d stumbled upon a movie set waiting for the cast and crew to arrive. A bit of movement broke the stillness when a house sparrow flew past, but the street quickly settled back into its dead calm.

I started to get out of the rental, and my legs groaned with the effort. My skin shifted around the bruises, rubbing sore when I took a step, and my back complained, creaking and twisting as I turned to shut the car door. Suddenly, it seemed like a good idea to have spent the day in bed, preferably doped up on something that would have turned my aching muscles into pudding.

“Having rock-star sex with Jae probably didn’t help things,” I reminded myself as cramping twinges moved up my thighs. Remembering the heat of his body on mine, I grinned. “But fuck if it wasn’t fun.”

The street was empty of people, but several cars sat along the curb and in driveways. An Escalade took up most of the space in front of the house, and my rental looked puny beside its bulk. The Kim lawn was clear of toys, but a pair of tiny mud-caked sneakers by the front door warned visitors of a child living there.

In this neighborhood, I’d expect triple dead bolts and a security system armed with tasers. What I found was the door to be cracked open an inch. The mud on the kid’s shoes was fresh, dark, crumbling, and smelling of fertilizer, a distinct aroma that hit my nose as I approached the front door. Pushing the door further open with my foot, I pressed against the frame and listened for any movement inside the house. When I heard nothing but more silence, I cautiously peered around the corner, and my heart stopped cold.

The snot-voiced woman who’d let me in the first time lay sprawled on the tiled foyer floor, her eyes open and blankly staring at the now-open front door. A pair of rough holes shattered her face, and the blood from her wounds ran thick in the floor’s grout lines, breaking the pool into grids.

“Shit.” I pulled the Glock out and listened for any sign of life from inside the house, but I heard nothing but sprinklers and a few birds. Fumbling for my cell phone, I dialed 911.

“You've reached the 911 Emergency Hotline, all circuits are busy right now….” A woman’s voice droned in my ear.

“Oh fuck me,” I swore, disconnecting the call. Trying again got me the recording again, and after the third try, I dialed the next best thing to 911, cutting Mike off before he started speaking. “Just shut up and listen to me. I’m at Victoria Kim’s house. The front door is wide open, and the nanny… or I think it’s the nanny… is lying in the entrance. She looks dead. Emergency put me on hold, so do me a favor and call up O’Byrne and see if you can’t get someone down here. Now.”

“Don’t go in that house, Cole. Wait for the cops.” Mike shouted at me through the speaker. “I’m serious. Do not go into that fucking—”

“I’ve got to see if there’s anyone else alive in there. There’s a kid in here.” I was in no mood to argue. “Make the call and tell them I’ve gone in so no one shoots me by accident.”

“Damn it,” I heard Mike say before I ended the call. I hoped he had better luck with 911 than me, and I headed in.

Holding
the Glock down, I stepped into the house, keeping my head down, and skirted around the woman’s body. I didn’t need to check her for a pulse. Even from the door I could see she was dead. There wasn’t anything I could do for her.

The smell of human blood was overwhelming. She’d been cleaning when she was shot, and a bottle of lemon-scented cleaner curdled the blood near her right hand. Expended shells were scattered around her like stars in the sky. The kill was an ugly one, brutal and messy. The walls were punctured with holes, signs of an inexperienced shooter. How much experience didn’t really matter to the woman lying on the floor. A bullet to the head killed whether or not it was an aimed shot.

From my position in the foyer, I peered into the parlor. There was blood on the walls, long smears ruining the room’s blush interior. Vivid and glistening on the pink paint, the smears looked like they were recent. Aiming at the floor, I kept my back against the wall and rounded the foyer, stepping sideways into the room.

The room looked like a battlefield. One chair was upended, and the coffee table was smashed. The carpet was soaked where a vase had fallen and broken. A scatter of yellow roses lay around its remains, half of them stomped on. A portrait of Hyun-shik and Victoria at their wedding lay face up, its frame cracked and pulled apart. A large shard of glass was nearby, its tip coated with drying blood. Something sparkling on the cream carpet turned out to be broken-off fingernails painted a glittering pink.

A moaning caught me before I left the room, so I stepped in, trying not to disturb anything. The cops were going to have my ass for just stepping into the house. I was going to make things worse by taking a tour, but I was already in.

I spotted two bare feet in the corner of the room and carefully started forward. Surprise choked me, and I stared at Victoria lying still on the carpet behind the loveseat. Her blonde hair was in a tangled mess around her shoulders, and a crescent bruise was forming on her cheek. I stepped forward, avoiding a broken teacup, and bent down to see if she was alive.

She was, but barely. The carpet under her soaked up as much of her blood as it could, and it squished under my weight, wetting the sides of my shoes.

Victoria
lay on her stomach, and her eyes were unfocused, blinking slowly as I came into the room. Her legs were motionless, and the black, flowing skirt she wore was torn and pushed up to expose most of her thighs. Victoria’s once-cream shirt was speckled with bullet holes, and bloody circles had expanded out from the wounds until they touched. Her gaze fixed on me for a long blink, and she murmured something, a broken tumble of words, clawing at the carpet with her fingers.

“Don’t move,” I said, coming to her. Laying the Glock on the carpet, I kept it in arm’s reach in case I needed it. Sliding my hand on her neck, I tried finding a pulse, but it was too weak to feel, and she gurgled, her throat spasms jerking the skin under my palm.

It seemed wrong to me that the sprinklers outside were louder than the woman struggling to breathe under my hand. Victoria fought to draw her breath, and I shushed her, telling her to hold on. The phone in my pocket buzzed, and I flicked it open after seeing Mike’s number scrawl on the screen.

“Mike, I need an ambulance here. Victoria Kim’s been shot.” I eased her shoulders up with one arm, trying to help her keep her lungs free of blood. Her breathing grew easier but was still ragged.

“I called 911. They’ll be there soon,” Mike said in my ear. “O’Byrne should be right behind them. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Thanks.” I wasn’t going to tell him not to come. O’Byrne would lay this on me if I wasn’t careful, and for all I knew, the shooter was still in the house. I hung up and put the phone down, leaning over Victoria. “Hey, you’ve got to hang on for a bit. The ambulance is going to be here soon. They’ll fix you up.”