Hardheaded Brunette (18 page)

"Oh, that's too bad." Kane sounded disappointed. "For the record, I
'
d be a happy man to catch you on the rebound any day, love."
 

"What?" Gilda gave a nervous laugh and met his gaze.

Kane winked. "Now that I have your attention, what
'
s going on?"
 

"Someone broke into my house." She looked away. "Twice."

"Broke in?" His eyes widened and he recoiled. "Is that why it was such a mess the other day? I honestly just thought you were a slob."

"Forget it." Gilda snorted as she pulled her hand out of his grasp.

Kane followed her to the front desk and hung over the counter. "Did they take anything?"

"No." She turned on the computer. "At least nothing I
'
ve noticed."
 

"Well, you are a local celebrity, love. Maybe someone just wanted a souvenir."

She rolled her eyes. "I doubt it."

"Then what else could they want?" Kane asked.

"You tell me." Gilda blew out a breath as she sat. "Thayer thinks the break-ins have more to do with Mildred Palmer, who used to live in my house, than with me."

"Mildred Palmer?" His head snapped back. "Who's she?"

"Charlie
'
s grandma."
 

Kane huffed. "Well, I
'
ll be damned."
 

"What
'
s wrong?" Gilda asked.
 

"Maybe you should get an alarm system, either that, or a great big guard dog."

She sighed. "I don
'
t really want either. I already have Marion, and Mick wants me to stay at his condo."
 

"Sounds safe and logical, but not as much fun as you staying with me." He studied her and grinned. "Don
'
t do anything you don
'
t want to do, love. I
'
ve got to run. I
'
ll be back for class later."
 

"Is everything okay? You don
'
t look so good." She couldn
'
t bring herself to call him love, not even just to tease him.
 

"Better than you might think. Catch you later."

Gilda tapped her password into the computer. "I thought you were going to take a shower?"

"Priorities, love. Priorities." He headed out the front door.

She settled behind her desk to check the phone messages.

Kane had been gone less than ten minutes before Mena strolled through the front door. "Hello? What are you doing here?"

Gilda waved over the desk. "Working. I'm not disabled, just injured. How come you're here so early?"

"You do know Mick asked me to watch the desk because you were supposed to take some time off to get better." Mena set her bag on the counter and tugged her jacket closer, despite the warmth of the day. "Is this the part where you pretend to be my best friend then ask me a dozen questions about where I was the night Charlie was killed, how long I'd been sleeping with him, and why I wanted him out of my life so bad?

Those were exactly the questions Gilda wanted answers to. Those and so many more. Instead, she drew in a deep breath and tried to calm her jangled nerves, glad no one could see her shaking knees beneath her desk. "No."

"No? You're not going to question me about Charlie's death?" Mena stood in the middle of the room blinking. "I thought that's why everyone around here calls you Sherlock, because you're nosy and don't know when to butt out."

"Yup." Gilda tapped both feet beneath the cover of her desk.

Mena lunged toward her desk and scowled. "Then why aren't you asking me a billion stupid questions?"

"Because Mick told me to butt out. So I am." Gilda almost laughed at the disbelief on Mena's face. "It's like Kane said once, the trick is to not care." She winced. Or at least pretend not to care and rile up Mena.

Mena arched her eyebrows. "You're the most interesting little person I've ever met.

Gilda scowled, not so sure her comment was meant in a good way. "Gee, thanks."

Rather than walk away in a huff, Mena hovered near the desk.

After a couple minutes, Gilda paused to meet her gaze. "Is there something else you wanted to say? Did you want to take a shot at helping me get another pinched nerve?"

"No." Mena shook her head. "That was your own fault. I told you not to push too hard. How's the shoulder, by the way?"

"Fine. It'll take a few weeks, but I'll be back."

"Imagine my relief." Mena smiled. "I'm sure that cute little sling you're wearing is getting you a lot of sympathy at least."

"For your information, Doc gave me the sling." Gilda glanced up and noticed faded bruises on Mena's neck. "Is your neck okay?"

"Why?" Mena's eyes grew wide and she covered the bruised spot.

"It looks like you got dirt or something on one side."

"Oh, thanks. It's probably from moving boxes. I'll go check." Mena rubbed at just the right spot as she picked up her bag and walked toward the washrooms.

When Mena returned a few minutes later, Gilda could have sworn she'd applied makeup to the spot rather than washed any dirt off. No one else had come into the school yet, so Gilda took advantage of the privacy. "It's awful about Charlie Hunt's murder, isn't it? I didn't realize you knew him so well."

"Me?" She stopped and turned, wide-eyed. "What's there to tell? We met, we had one wild week together, and now he's dead."

Gilda stared in disbelief. "You actually did have an affair with Charlie? Did Kane know that?"

"Kane and I broke up ages ago. He doesn't care what I do." She tossed back her long, dark hair and huffed. "Besides, I'd hardly call it an affair. We had one week of lust on a boat in the Caribbean before he tossed me into the ocean."

Gilda swallowed the grin that lurked. "He threw you off a boat into the ocean?"

"Yeah." Mena glanced around then sat behind the desk next to her. "Not one of my finer moments. Lucky for me, the Coast Guard was already on the way. Apparently, someone reported Charlie's boat was involved in suspicious activities, and the fact I'd been on board and witnessed everything was a bonus for them."

"What?" Gilda turned to face Mena so fast a warm twinge stabbed her neck. "What kind of things was he involved in?"

Mena pressed her lips together so hard the skin on the lower half of her face turned white. Her gaze stayed locked on Gilda's, but she kept silent.

Gilda's shoulders sagged. "Did you have to testify against him?"

Mena relaxed visibly, and she shook her head. "Not anymore."

"This was recent?" Gilda's eyes widened. "When was he arrested?"

"December, three years ago. The trial was scheduled for early next year. It would have come up sooner, but prosecutors had a hard time convincing witnesses to testify, especially when Charlie got out on bail." Mena sat back. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. I do need to tell somebody." She scowled. "I guess it might as well be you."

"Gee, thanks."

"I don't mean it like that." Mena sighed. "I need someone to talk to, and you're the only friend-like person I've got."

Not quite sure how to take the comment, Gilda forced a smile. "I'm honored. I think."

Mena leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Charlie was into what he called 'special medications.' He traveled the world, bought drugs, smuggled them into the country, then doped up his fighters. His guys were always on steroids, amphetamines, that kind of stuff."

"Even Kane?" she asked.

"Especially Kane."

Gilda inched back, uncomfortable being so close. "But I thought they test to make sure the fighters are clean."

"Are you really that naive?" Mena raised her eyebrows. "Not everyone follows the rules, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. Sometimes they find ways around the rules, especially guys like Charlie."

"What do you mean 'guys like Charlie'?" Gilda asked.

Mena shook her head. "I forget you didn't know him as well as the rest of us. Charlie Hunt had his own set of rules. If there was something he wanted, nothing stood in his way. Laws and rules were written for everyone else. For him, they were suggestions, nothing more."

Kane appeared on the other side of the front desk with a large paper bag from the deli in one hand and a soda in the other. "Stop filling Gilda's head with nonsense."

"It's not nonsense." Mena jumped and her nostrils flared. "You and he had your big fight after he insisted you stop taking steroids."

He snorted. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"I overheard you." Mena jumped to her feet and jabbed her finger into his chest. "He wanted you to stop doping up, and you refused. When he told you that you'd have to find a new manager, you fired him."

Gilda sat back and met Kane's gaze. "Really?"

He shook his head and walked around the corner.

"He hates when I'm right." Mena grabbed her turquoise purse and headed for the door. "Tell Mick I'll be back later. I've got errands to run."

Once the door closed behind Mena, the school grew quiet. Gilda listened for any sound that would give her a clue as to where Kane had gone. Finally, there came a muffled flush from down the hall, and a door opened.

Kane peeked around the corner. "Is she gone?"

"Yes." Gilda got up to close the gap between them. "What really happened between you and Charlie?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Why? Are you planning to solve his murder?"

"No, I just wanted to—"

"I'm kidding, love." Kane laughed. "I've heard all about you from Mick and Razi. Did you really go out with that cop?"

Her face burned. "Thayer? Yeah. We even planned to get married, once upon a time."

"I heard you busted his skull open on a bag of coffee beans."

Gilda scowled. "I shoved him and he fell backward. It split the skin, not cracked his skull open. He was fine after Doc stitched him up."

He nodded. "He's an okay bloke. Persistent cuss, though. Definitely not your type, love."

"Really? You think you actually know me well enough to know what my type is?" Gilda tightened her jaw.

"I've seen the way you look at me." Kane folded his arms across his broad chest.

"So what happened with you and Charlie?"

He frowned. "You sure you want to know? Some things you can never unlearn."

She opened her mouth, ready to assure him she'd cope. Before she could speak, the door burst open. Razi barreled toward Kane, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed him against the wall, uttering cuss words Gilda had never heard him use before.

Kane twitched, ready to react, but refrained from making any sudden moves. "Come on, mate, there's a lady present. Mind your manners."

"You may want to leave before things get ugly." Razi glanced at Gilda, his jaw clenched.

"You're here." Kane snorted. "Things are already ugly."

Razi slammed Kane's back against the wall and growled.

Gilda grimaced. "I'm not leaving. Let him go, Razi."

"Not a chance." Razi flared his nostrils. "Not until this lying sack of monkey tails tells me why he told the police I had a fight with Charlie Hunt at the party."

She raised her eyebrows. "You did?"

Kane groaned. "All I did was—"

"Yes, but he did not have to tell Thayer anything." Razi pulled Kane away from the wall then pounded him against the cement again. "That was between Charlie and me."

"I told them the truth, just like you would have done, so back off." Kane swung his arms and jabbed Razi in the armpits with the fingertips of both hands.

Razi dropped his arms to his sides and rammed his massive shoulders into Kane's chest.

Kane inched down the wall like a soggy noodle. "Well, that hurt."

"That's enough, both of you!" Gilda grasped Razi's arm. "Leave him alone and calm down. Razi, what did you and Charlie talk about?"

Razi yanked his arm away from Gilda then punched the wall hard enough to crack the paint. "We had an old debt to settle from way back when I first met him."

"What kind of debt?" Gilda steered him toward the front desk, away from Kane, who flashed a lopsided smile.

Tightlipped and breathing hard, Razi studied her. "You said you did not want to know the things I have done in my past."

Yes, she had said that once. Way back when she thought he'd murdered one of her friends. Back when his past was far less relevant than his present. "I'm sure there are a lot of things I don't want to know, but if you have information about Charlie that will help track down his killer, then it's only right you tell someone."

Razi's dark eyes seemed to bore a hole right through her. "Someone like you?"

"Yes." She winced then quickly added, "Or Thayer or Fabio."

Kane pushed to his feet, leaning against the wall for support. "Or me."

"You can leave at any time." Razi growled.

Gilda lunged between them once more. "Razi, don't. It's not like anybody listens to him anyway. They all seem to think he's guilty."

"Hey! Stop helping." As Kane took a tentative step away from the wall, he sucked in a sharp breath. His knees seemed to buckle, and he plunked down onto the floor. "I'm just going to sit here and breathe for a few minutes, okay?"

Gilda turned on Razi. "See what you've done? Now he's injured. Who's going to teach his classes later? You might have broken his ribs."

"I can teach sword fighting in my sleep," Razi scoffed. "Just as he usually does."

Kane scowled then wheezed. "You're…not funny."

"That's it. I'm calling Mick." Gilda reached for the phone. "You two are out of control."

"Please, do not do that." Razi snatched the phone from her hand and sighed. "In exchange for money and a gym of my own, Charlie used me to bring one of his former fighters to America. The man had a criminal record back in Israel. He would have either been denied entry or thrown in jail."

She stared. "So how did you help Charlie get him into the States?"

He walked around behind her desk and flopped onto her chair. "I fudged his records back in Israel. I was to marry his sister."

Gilda swallowed hard. "I didn't know you were married."