Killing America's Sweetheart: A Natalie Miller Mystery (18 page)

“No, I’m not. I broke up with her earlier. Do you honestly think I could stay with someone who would try to hurt you? We’re done.”

I was about to reply, but his mouth made his way onto mine and all thoughts and coherent thinking left my mind. I was operating on need. It had been two years since I’d been with a man and now here was the one that I’d been trying to avoid practically laid out on a silver platter for my enjoyment. There was no way I could refuse him this time. He furiously pulled off my sweater and I practically ripped off his black shirt. He bent down and I threw my legs around his hips as carried me into the bedroom. He tossed me down and straddled my waist, teasing my nipples free from my bra as his hands undid my jeans. His tongue did some fascinating things as he began lowering himself further down my torso. My heart began racing and once he slipped his hand inside my panties………I was a goner. I unfastened his belt along with jeans and underwear and tore them down his legs. Then I reached out and felt for his throbbing shaft and ran my hand along its curve. Perfect.

“Fuck, Nat. You feel so good,” he moaned as his fingers toyed with me.

Heat began rushing from my core and then exploded throughout my body.

“Now,” I said trying to keep my voice even.

With that, he entered me and the full extent of the explosion rocked me hard. My orgasm was hard and fast and as he finished himself, small mini shots of electricity filtered through me.

Once we were both finished he laid beside me breathing hard.

“Wow. That’s not at all what I had planned when I came over,” I said breathlessly.

“You didn’t? T
hen why did you come?” he asked sarcastically.

I took a moment to come up with the right words, but there didn’t seem to be any. Instead, I deci
ded to just come on out and ask, knowing I might kill the mood.

“Zack, why didn’t you tell me
that you
knew
Hannah?”

My question must have th
rown him off, because he sighed quietly.

“Of course I knew her. Everyone did. Even you kne
w her,” he said.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Well, I don’t know what you’re getting at,” he said sounding a bit irritated pulling himself up.

“Zack, I know.”

He looked at me for a moment, and then looked away.

“I was the one who handled her stalker
case; we grew close because of it. We…” he said trailing off.

“You had an affair?” I finished for him.

He nodded, and continued. “It wasn’t a serious thing. But, it did go on for a few months. She broke it off, saying she didn’t want to be tied down.”

“Did you have feelings
? Were you in love with her?” I asked.

“No,” he answered quickly. “She was too high mainten
ance and honestly the relationship had run its course.”

“Did Emma know?”
I asked sitting up beside him.

Zack ran his hands through his short light brown hair and said, “Yeah, she found out. She confronted us one night, and it was pretty ugly.”

I figured this must have been the scene Debbie had witnessed.

“Emma forgave me and that was the last time I saw Hannah.”

I sat and mulled over his story. I silently sent a request out to Gilles, but he didn’t respond.

Damn.

“Zack, did Emma threaten Hannah that night?”

He opened his mouth to speak,
and then shut it. Awareness began dawning on Zack.

“You think Emma murdered her? That’s crazy!” he said standing and then began pacing.

“Did she threaten Hannah?” I asked again.

“She might have said something in the heat of the moment, but anyone would have in a similar situation,” he countered.

“So she did?”

“Yes,” he finally admitted. “But I know she would never do something like that. Emma might be jealous, but she wouldn’t do something as dramatic as to kill someone over it.

I wasn’t so sure. Emma thought nothing of siccing Eric on me, no matter what the consequences might have been. Who’s to say she wouldn’t have just snapped and killed Hannah? And then there was the matter of Zack himself, could he have done it?

As if readin
g my thoughts, he replied, “No. I didn’t kill her either. I would have thought you out of all people would have thought better of me,” he said with a hurt expression.

The truth was, I did want to believe h
im, but something about this revelation just rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like there was more to it, if only Gilles would respond.

“I think I’d better go,” I said rising and gathering my clothes. As I dressed I looked back at him one last time and saw a broken man standing looking so helpless. He looked at me pleadingly, and then looked away.

I left Zack’s house feeling a bit ill. What more was there to say? I had no evidence of any wrong doing on his part or Emma’s. Well, that wasn’t necessarily true; I did know he was withholding information regarding his relationship with Hannah. There was no way his sergeant would allow him to work the case if he knew of his intimate relationship with the deceased. But, that was not my concern. Sooner or later that secret would leak, and if he was smart, he’d tell his superiors now to avoid the fallout.

What I needed to do was to get in contact with Gilles and I nee
ded time to decompress. I decided that if Gilles wouldn’t come to me willingly, I’d make him.

Turning down the lights and setting up various candles throughout the apartment, I took a seat on the floor and called him.

“Gilles? I know you’re here, please come to me,” I said quietly to the empty room. I didn’t have to speak out loud, but sometimes it felt better to do so. Honey came bounding out of the kitchen and curled up beside me.

I
n my mind I felt him come forward.

‘I’m here.’

“Why have you been absent so much?” I asked.

‘I’ve been present, but I felt you needed to be on your own.’

“Why?”

‘Because I help you
too much, there are times when you need to figure things out on your own.’

“I need your help,” I asked pleadingly.

‘I’ve given you my help. I’ve told you warnings.’

When had he last given me a warning? Was it when I
had been talking to Debbie?

“You mean a
bout Emma? I got that one, which is why I went to see Zack. But I just don’t know what to think about that.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Gilles?”
             
‘You need to be careful of Emma. She’s reckless and dangerous. Her feelings for Zack are unhealthy.’

“Yeah, I already know that. She’s a bit insecure about the age difference. That and probably the fact that s
he found out Zack cheated and now dumped her, doesn’t make things better.”

Another pause, this time it lasted for nearly a minute and I was sure I’d lost Gilles.

But, then he said,
‘She was pregnant.’

“She was pregnant? Emma?”

‘No. Hannah.’

Shit.

If Hannah was pregnant, then that gave both Zack and Emma even more reason to want her dead. Zack admitted he wasn’t serious about her and Emma was blinded by jealousy. Suddenly a pain began beating in my head, and I knew that I had pushed as far as I could psychically for one evening. Still, I didn’t feel tired and knew there was no way I’d rest now. Looking at the clock I realized it was after midnight, and decided to go for a drive. I needed to think. My situation had become even more complicated. Did I just sleep with a possible murder suspect? Horrible thoughts and feelings began to flood my being. Maybe some fresh air would do me good? I grabbed Honey and we headed downstairs to my car.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

I knocked rather than ring the
doorbell. It was after all nearly one o’clock in the morning. I wasn’t sure if he’d be up.

Honey wiggled in my arms as the door opened and Simon stood looking surprised at our arrival.

I entered the house and made my way into the informal sitting area. It was classically decorated, but nothing was too garish. I sat on the velvet sofa as Honey curled up in my lap.

“You’re out late,” he said smiling sitting next to me.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

“Uh oh,” he said looking concerned.

Fatigue had caught up with me and I was in no mood to dance around the issue.

“Did you know Hannah was pregnant?” I blurted out.

Simon looked at me and the answer was obvious.

“No,” he said slowly. It was clear he was stunned and he asked, “Are you sure?”

Gilles had never intentionally lied to me, so I knew if he said she was, then it was true.

“Yes.”

Simon sat back against the sofa and looked at the ceiling.

“We hadn’t been together i
n a long time. Like at least eight months, so…” he said trailing off.

So, was right. If Simon hadn’t
been having sex with Hannah, was Zack the father?

“You’d think the police would have confirmed it,” he said looking at me.

He was right. The police should have known it. In fact it would have been one of the first things they discovered. So, why hadn’t they asked Simon about it? Could the baby have been Zack’s and he somehow buried the information?

“I know. There’s something not right about this case,” I said wearily.

“How do you know this?” he asked.

“My spirit guide told me.”

“And you believe him?”

“Yes. Gilles has never steered me wrong,” I said with
certainty.

He sat speechless for a moment and then said, “You know what’s strange? Hannah didn’t want kids. It was something that she made very clear. She didn’t want to ruin her body. She figured if her maternal instincts kicked in, she adopt a child from some third world country and rake in a ton of press for it. Almost everything Hannah did was calculated,” he said quietly.

They spent the next half hour bouncing around ideas, but exhaustion had caught up to both of them.

“Listen, you look tired, why don’t you stay here tonight? In the guest room,” he added quickly.

I was beyond tired. And the thought of driving back into town didn’t seem too appealing.

“Sure,” I said with a weak smile.

Simon showed me to the same room I had occupied earlier when I stayed with him. He had given me an oversized t-shirt to wear and I quickly changed into it. I briefly took a sniff of the shirt as it clung to my body and I smelled a clean spicy scent. Simon. It was undoubtedly him. Smiling, I grabbed Honey and pulled her in the bed with me and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The n
ight felt a bit like déjà vu, just like last time my sleep was interrupted by a presence in the room. Honey stirred quietly, and a low growl formed.

Shit.

Who was it now? I had never had any issues with apparitions, but now it seemed like every time I stayed in this room, I was visited.

I squinted and tried to adjust my eyes to the pitch black room, and there at the foot of the bed, I saw her.

It was Hannah.

“Have you found my killer?” she asked.

This woman was something else. No warm greeting, just down to business.

“No, not yet,” I replied.

“I thought you were psychic? How can you not have found out who murdered me?” she asked with irritation.

“Listen, you didn’t mention to me that you were pregnant,” I said curtly. If she was going to dish it out, she’d better be prepared to take it.

“Oh,” she said softly. “I was, but then I wasn’t,” she said plainly.

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask
ed.

Hannah rolled her eyes with an annoyed look and said, “I had it taken care of. You
know an
abortion
. I had it done when I went back to L.A. a few weeks ago. I didn’t want a baby, and sure didn’t need the complication. I mean, how would it have looked if I ended up pregnant by some hick detective in fucking Mayberry? No thank you. I loved the press I got by being with Simon and there was no way he’d stick around if he had found out. Besides, Zack knew about it and he agreed it was for the best. Especially since he had that crazy cougar girlfriend, she’s mentally unstable by the way. Anyhow, there was also someone else he was interested in, and he felt like having a baby with me would have screwed that up for him.”

I
began wondering who that ‘someone’ might be.

“Anyhow, I never considered having it. I’m not really the mommy type,” she said with a smirk.

I was about to respond when there was a knock at the door.

“Natalie?”

Hannah began fading, but not before she barked out, “Find my killer!”