Hardheaded Brunette (11 page)

"So you think I should go talk to Fabio on account of you and Thayer still don't see eye-to-eye?"

"No." She frowned. "On account of Fabio being the senior lead investigator."

Henry winked. "Yeah, I'm sure that's why. I'll stop and talk to Fabio on my way to work."

Once he left the school, Gilda returned to picking up trash before deciding she needed to make her way to the computer to find more information about Sanchez and his buddy Gomes. The same information Thayer had ready access to and Mick would likely know off the top of his head. She tied a knot in the top of one trash bag and reached into a drawer behind the counter for a second one when someone cleared their throat behind her.

Sanchez stood across the front counter, his hair disheveled and anger smeared across his crumpled features. "I'm here for my money."

Gilda blinked. "What money?"

"The money I had to shell out for the pleasure of seeing my fighter beat Kane Garrick's face in." He narrowed his dark, beady eyes. "The fight Gomes and I traveled all the way here for that never happened."

Her heart raced, and she hoped Sanchez didn't do anything stupid, especially since she was the only person in the building. Being alone with a lunatic wasn't on her to-do list that day.

"I'll have to arrange that with Mick. I don't have the authority to—"

"That's not what he said when I asked him." Sanchez's gaze seemed to bore twin holes through her head. "He said you were the one in control of the money."

Gilda's eye twitched. It wasn't like Mick to pass the buck anymore. Not lately, with expenses mounting for the new school. Why was Mick stalling on paying off Gomes and Sanchez? She reached for her cell phone.

"I wouldn't recommend doing that." Sanchez growled as if he could see right through the raised front of the counter.

Gilda froze, holding her breath. Did he actually know what she was up to?

"Just cut me a check and I'll be on my way." He glanced toward the door. "My boy Gomes has another bout coming up and needs to get back to training. Sticking around this hole is costing me time and money."

The sooner Mick cut Sanchez a check, the sooner Sanchez and Gomes would leave and stop annoying everyone. Was Mick trying to keep them around town for the sake of the police investigation or did he have other reasons?

She swallowed hard. "I have a suggestion. Since Gomes needs to train and Mick isn't here yet, why don't you guys train here for now? That way I can talk to Mick and get permission to write a check then get him to sign it right away. That's the way it works. I don't have total control over anything."

While Sanchez stared, Gilda held her breath. He seriously seemed to consider her suggestion for several seconds. "So you're saying you can give us free mat time, but no cash?"

"Yes." She hoped Mick wouldn't have a fit when he found out. "One hour, anyway."

Sanchez gave a slow nod. "I suppose that'll have to do for now. Then I can talk business with Mick when he shows his ugly mug."

"We have a class at noon." Gilda glanced at the clock. "He'll be here soon."

Sanchez pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button. "Get your sorry butt into the Phoenix school. You're gonna train here for today until I talk to Mick."

She blew out a silent breath only to suck it back in when Gomes strutted through the front door a minute later with a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He must have been sitting in a car outside.

"Hey." Gomes flashed a smile on his way to the changing rooms.

When Sanchez finally turned away and headed into the dojo, Gilda grabbed her phone to text Mick. Gomes barely had enough time to change clothes and put on his sparring gear before Razi banged open the front door.

"What is going on?" Razi flared his nostrils. "What are
they
doing here?"

Gilda winced. "Waiting for Mick."

He swore. Repeatedly. "Why did you let them in our school to train?"

"Because they weren't going to leave until they saw Mick and I have no idea where he is," she said. "This way I don't have them standing around the lobby staring at me for the next hour or two."

Razi wiped a hand over his face. "I understand. Do not concern yourself with them. Mick sent me to help take care of things." He disappeared into the back then strolled into the dojo a few minutes later, wearing full sparring gear.

Gilda sat back, now thoroughly confused. If Razi was so anxious to get rid of Sanchez and Gomes, why would he bother to train with them? She guessed it had to do with the old saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Kane wandered in a half hour later. "What are those two leeches doing here?"

"Waiting for Mick, who wants them kept here for now," she said. "He even sent Razi to keep them busy."

"Really? Weird. He just told
me
to meet them here." Kane raised his eyebrows then focused on the men in the dojo for several minutes. "Gomes has an injured left arm. He can't throw a decent punch or block properly."

Gilda stood behind the counter to watch the men train. While she didn't know a lot about MMA fighting, she knew enough to see Kane had a point. Gomes' left arm moved slower than his right. He seemed more concerned with shielding his ribs than his face. "That is odd."

Kane huffed. "Depending on when he got injured, he never would have won our match the other day. I would've put the loser in the hospital."

"That sounds a little optimistic." She laughed. "Maybe he wasn't injured then. Maybe he did something after that. He could have fallen in the shower or something."

He stiffened. "Maybe."

When Kane left the school without his usual flirting or interrupting the training session in the other room, Gilda sat back at her desk and frowned. She was sure Gomes hadn't seemed injured at the meet and greet. Not the way he'd stepped in to protect Sanchez and his big mouth at Razi's. His injury had to have happened later. Like when Charlie was killed.

"Hey, honey." When Mick strolled through the front door, Gilda jumped. Tension was visible on his tanned face, even as he smiled. "How are things going?"

She met him around the front of the counter. "I'm okay. How about you?"

"Much better now." He pulled her closer for a kiss. "It's been a crazy weekend."

"Gomes and Sanchez came in looking for money they think you owe them for the fight being cancelled." She hesitated. "That's why I told them they could train here until you showed up. Razi's keeping an eye on them."

Mick snorted. "Great. Between the police hovering everywhere I turn and cleaning things up here, I'm just as busy as before the grand opening. We need to take down the octagon and clean up, only the cops have everyone tied up in interrogations."

Gilda nodded. "Are any of the guys coming in to help?"

"Razi, Kane, and a few of the jiu jitsu students," he said. "Kane was here a few minutes ago. Unless they arrested him on his way out the door earlier, I'm sure he'll be back later." Gilda grimaced.

Mick stared. "You think he's guilty, don't you?"

"We all know he's a bit unstable."

"Why? Because he practiced with a sword on a public beach?" he asked.

"No, because Charlie left the party with Mena right in front of Kane." Gilda met his gaze. "I heard how Charlie was Kane's former trainer and they'd had a major falling out. It seems like a reasonable assumption Kane might want him dead."

Mick paled then grew somber. "After Kane went to Japan a few years ago, the beach became one of his favorite spots to train. It wasn't hard to get him to move here once I told him we had a nice sand beach."

Gilda sat behind her desk.
"If he moved here for the beach, he really is delusional. It's not much of a beach."

Mick leaned on the counter and laughed. "It seems to me
you
spend a lot of time there."

True enough. "Not swinging swords though."

"No, you're too busy solving murders and harassing the local police force for that."

She huffed. "Hey!"

"I'm joking," Mick came around behind the counter and pulled her to her feet. "Babe, I love how determined you become when you're trying to do things. This time, though, I want you to step back and let the cops do their jobs."

Gilda flinched. "What?"

He cupped her chin in his hand and gazed into her eyes. "Stay out of their way, Sherlock. I really don't want you to get hurt. A lot of these guys are big, strong, and have anger issues. I just want you to be safe and keep on everyone's good sides."

"Be a good little girl and don't cause trouble." She sighed.

"Exactly." Mick kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Fine, but you have to tell me what's going on. No more secrets."

He tilted his head. "Going on with what?"

"With Sanchez and Gomes." Gilda hesitated. "Did they have some kind of deal with Kane about their fight on Saturday? Was one of them supposed to take a dive?"

Mick kissed her nose. "Gilda, you watch too many movies. If you value your sanity, just stay out of things. You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Then tell me."

"The less you know for now, the better." He shook his head. "Let me know when Kane shows up. I'll be taking apart the octagon. Once he and the other students get here, you go home for a while. Take a break."

He walked away and grabbed his toolbox from the back room. Before long, he'd enlisted Gomes, Sanchez, and Razi to change and start taking bolts and screws out of the octagon. They needed to return it to the friend in Buffalo he'd borrowed it from. Gomes and Sanchez helped out for less than twenty minutes before voices raised and they left, threatening to return in a couple hours to pick up the check to cover their expenses.

Gilda leaned in the doorway to watch Mick and Razi for a few seconds until the octagon began to sag. She ran to help before anyone got hurt.

Five minutes later, the front door of the school burst open when Kane stormed back into the lobby. He paused in the doorway looking like he hadn't slept in days. "Hey, homies."

"Hey, it's about time you showed up." Mick peered out from beneath the octagon.

Kane flopped onto the mats with a dramatic sigh. "I spent the entire night with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in an interrogation room barely big enough for Gilda to change her shoes in. Hard to believe I've only been in town a few days, and I'm already the main suspect in a murder investigation."

"Yeah, what a shock," Razi said. "At least someone wants you around."

Gilda raised her eyebrows, surprised by Razi's wisecrack.

Mick smirked. "Maybe if the cops hadn't seen you swing a sword around on a public beach, you wouldn't interest them so much."

Kane turned to face them. "You think that's why they're out to get me?"

Razi snorted. "I am sure that is only one of many reasons."

Mick shot him a glare but didn't say whether he agreed or disagreed. "Did Thayer or Fabio have much to say about Charlie's murder?"

"Nope." Kane shook his head. "Just that everyone at the party heard us argue. They wanted me to make a short list of people who'd threatened him lately. It took me fifteen minutes."

"You and a few others." Fabio limped through the door and seemed to look past Gilda at Razi. "Like Mr. Mauli."

Mick crawled out from beneath the octagon and sat up. "Razi wouldn't hurt anyone, especially affiliated with the school. He's done his time in hell and isn't going back if I can help it."

"Perhaps." Fabio kept his gaze on Razi. "But several of the fighters said Charlie confronted Razi earlier in the evening. Apparently, Charlie was in the house when a few of the fighters arrived and he ran into them when he stormed out swearing at the top of his lungs."

"I was there early and I didn't see that." Gilda turned slowly. "Razi, is this true?"

He hesitated, his gaze darting to Mick then back to her. "Perhaps I should accompany Detective Fabio and speak with him before I say anything that may incriminate me."

"Oh, shit." Mick squeezed his eyes shut. "Do you need a lawyer?"

"No, I have nothing to hide," Razi said.

Kane scoffed. "Hey, how come you never asked me if I needed a lawyer?"

Mick managed a small smirk. "We figured you'd talk your way out of the little interrogation room on your own in no time."

Kane snorted, apparently not convinced. "Look, Fabio, just take me back to the station. I'll confess. Hell, I'll wash your car and dry clean your suits for the next ten years, just leave Razi alone. He couldn't have done this."

"What?" Gilda was caught off guard by Kane's sudden show of nobility. "Why are you sticking up for him?"

"Razi may have been a killer in the past, but he's not a murderer," Kane said. "Believe me, there's a huge difference between the two."

Mick walked toward Razi. "Are you sure about the lawyer? I really don't want anyone at the station to twist your words around and make things worse than they already are."

"Things will be fine." Razi clapped a heavy hand onto Mick's shoulder. "Thank you, my friend. I must go and make sure they understand the position I am in."

"What do you mean by that?" Gilda asked.

Razi nodded to her then walked out without responding.

She stared at Mick wide-eyed. "What's he talking about?"

Mick exchanged glances with Kane then pulled Gilda into a hug. "I'll fill you in later. First, I need to call Gary, then make sure Razi has a lawyer on standby. Go take the rest of the morning off and come back for classes this afternoon."

"What about Gomes and Sanchez?" she asked.

"I'll deal with them later."

"What about the octagon?"

Mick waved a hand. "We have students on the way. Kane will take care of things here."

She opened her mouth to argue, but Mick and Kane didn't wait around. Mick pulled out his phone, dialing as he left the school. Fabio was right about one thing: the boys' club was closing ranks, and Gilda had never felt like such an outsider.

Once several students arrived to help dismantle the octagon, Gilda left the school to walk around Sandstone Cove. She wasn't ready to go home just yet but needed time to think while she moved. While waves of emotion washed over her, she returned to the beach to stare at Lake Erie and breathe. She headed toward her favorite spot, dismayed to notice a familiar figure already sitting on the weathered log.