Kissing in Action (27 page)

"Yeah, watching my car out front, or waiting for me to steal Carlotta's. I've got this all planned out."

"Did you plan me too?"

"No, you were a curveball."

"Did you plan to kill Katya?"

Don paused and I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. I wanted to shiver with disgust, but I forced myself to remain calm. I needed for Don to talk to me. I needed to stall him.

"I went to talk to her after she dumped me."

"But you killed her."

"She wouldn't shut up. She said all kinds of nasty stuff about me... about my wife. She always was a mean bitch."

"Everyone hated her."

"Yeah."

"Why did you hate her? I thought you loved her," I guessed.

"I did."

"You left your wife for her."

"Yeah. And you know what she did when I said I told my wife about us? She laughed and called me a sucker."

"That's horrible."

"Like I said, she always was a mean bitch."

"So you stabbed her."

"Not then. I went to talk to her that day. I told her she didn't mean what she said about us being over. We had a connection, you know? I told her we'd be okay and we could work on our relationship."

"Sounds like you really cared about her."

"I did. I loved her so much. I was crazy about her. We talked about it, and we had everything planned out. I was going to tell my wife and get a divorce so we would get married, but it was... it was just a game to Katya. She just wanted to see if she could wreck my life. She actually told me that! She just wanted the satisfaction of knowing I'd do anything she asked, and when I told her I'd done it, and left Amanda she... she laughed in my face."

"That must have hurt."

"She wouldn't stop laughing. She said I was a major loser and I should never have thought she would lower herself to be with someone like me. She just wanted to see if she could make me do anything she wanted. I tried to reason with her, and tell her it's not okay to mess with me, and that we could make it work. She told me to get out."

"Then what?"

"Then I stabbed her. It was perfect. No one knew it was me. She told me about the secret passage, and how we could come and go as we pleased without the rest of those bitches interfering. No one would have ever known."

"Except we caught you. The evidence is solid."

"Nah, you didn't catch me. I caught you. You and I are going to walk out this door and as soon as we're a safe enough distance away, I'll cut you loose. Any funny stuff and I'll shoot. Got it?"

The cool air brushed against me as Don began to pull me backwards towards the door. A light flickered in my eye, unnatural and dark, and I followed it as it moved down.

"Don, we have a little problem."

"Tell me about it."

"No, a new one. See this little red dot on my chest?"

Don's cheek brushed mine as he looked over my shoulder. "Yeah?"

"See how it's moving up? And now it's gone?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

"It's a sniper light. Snipers use it to mark their targets. It moved off me, which means it's on you."

"What the..."

Before he could finish his sentence, I grabbed the knife from my pocket, flicked out the blade, and jabbed it into his thigh. I dropped and rolled, using Don's weight as leverage to push myself away as he hit the doorframe. The bullet missed me by inches before it slammed into Don's chest, knocking him backwards. He staggered against the wall, dropping to his knees.

"Lexi, are you okay?" Hands grabbed me, hauling me back. "Are you injured?" Maddox flashed his light over me. "You're bleeding."

"Not mine. Don's. I stabbed him." I dropped the knife onto the floor, breathing hard. "Who shot him?"

Maddox turned the flashlight on Don, or at least, what we could see of Don. Two guys were on him and he was screaming and wriggling. Somehow, they all seemed to organize themselves into some semblance of order and peeled apart. The guy who jumped Don first was Solomon's partner. His shirt was splattered with blood. Solomon barely looked ruffled as he rolled off.

"Caught him," said Solomon, standing as running footsteps approached us. "Let's go."

"You okay?" I asked Maddox.

"Just hurt my pride," he said, dusting off his suit with both hands. "I didn't see him. I'm so sorry."

"You couldn't have known he was behind us."

"You did really good," he said as my brother ran into sight. "I'll catch up with you both for the debriefing. Right now, I'm going to enjoy Detective Graves reading this jerk his rights."

"You shot me," wailed Don. "I might be dying."

"The bullet didn't hit anything crucial," I pointed out as they pulled him onto his feet. A wound just below his shoulder bled. A few more inches down and it would have been a fatal shot.

"It could have. This is police brutality!"

"I shot you and I'm not the police," said Solomon.

"Then I'll sue you."

"Go ahead. We'll see how far you get when I explain to the police you had a gun in my girlfriend's ribs."

"Plus, you're going to jail anyway," I added, rubbing it in slightly.

"It was heat of the moment! It was self-defense. She attacked me."

"I did not!" I squeaked indignantly, wondering if it was okay for me to kick him. It would probably have been wrong to kick a gunshot man, but I was really tempted. "You took my gun!"

"Not you! Katya!" Don slumped his chin onto his chest as someone pressed a wad of cloth against his wound and Garrett handcuffed him. "She attacked me. I had to defend myself. I can't go to prison. I'm too good-looking!"

"Shut up so I can read you your rights," said Garrett. "And when I say shut up, I mean shut up. You just hurt my sister."

Don fixed me with an angry look. "Do you know everyone?"

"Yes, obviously." I grabbed Solomon's proffered hand and stood upright. My jeans were smeared with Don's blood and my skin felt dusty and dirty. I needed to shower pronto; then I needed another glass of brandy. "Listen, Don, there's no way you can claim self-defense for Katya's murder. I have you on camera walking through the employee area at the hotel; and we know the knife came from their kitchen. It doesn't take a genius to work out you grabbed the knife from there, on your way up. You sneaked through concealed passageways and gave yourself an elaborate alibi at the hospital that I can also disprove, suggesting Katya's murder was pre-meditated."

"Someone should give me a medal for getting rid of the bitch," muttered Don, wincing as he was shoved forwards.

"How about twenty-five to life?" said Garrett as the paramedics passed me, stopping to attend to Don's wound as he began to wail.

"Good shot," I told Solomon when we moved away, leaving Garrett to deal with him.

"Good you moved when you did. I didn't have a clear shot until then."

"Teamwork." I smiled as Solomon put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer.

"Teamwork," he agreed. "Don't quit. I want us to keep working together. I like it. We're good together."

"Love you," I said, reaching up to kiss his lips, my decision made. I did love him, but the moment he thought I was in danger, and he had more to lose than just me, he benched me. Not only that, but he pulled me off the case that I solved. Yes, I screwed up, but I fixed it. I wanted to feel confident. Maybe it would be a good idea if we concentrated on our romantic relationship for a while, rather than our working relationship. "I love you more than I can put into words, but I’ve chosen to freelance."

Chapter Twenty

The credits rolled by on the hour-long B4U documentary we just finished watching. It charted all the band members’ careers, from their early beginnings as four eager "teens" to their final farewell video with just the three remaining members singing. Instead of being a misery fest, dedicated to Katya, the video was re-shot as an upbeat end to what was formerly a stellar career.

"The video was awesome. I wish we got to see the re-shoot," said Lily. She stuck her spoon in the ice cream and pulled out a huge glob that barely managed to fit into her mouth. The carton was resting on her growing bump. I wanted to pat the bump and see if it did anything yet, but I was afraid Lily would think I was attempting to eat some of the ice cream and stab me with her spoon.

"Me too. Shame they decided on a closed set."

"It's actually kind of nice without all those background dancers and all those set changes."

"Lauren called yesterday when the video was released. She said the management decided it wasn't really a farewell to Katya, but a farewell to their fans; so simple worked best."

"How's she taking the band getting fired?"

"Pretty well. She just signed for a TV reality show to film her life with Michael and her solo career."

"He's a cute kid."

"Really sweet. You know, Lauren spent so long being afraid of what people would think that it never occurred to her that her fans might be impressed by her dedication to Michael. As it turned out, she became a poster child for success as a single parent. She proves teen moms aren't bad; they just need some help to succeed."

"Just goes to show that sometimes, kids are the best mistake you can ever make."

I nodded, not adding it was great that Michael and his grandmother were both able to give Lauren a rock solid alibi for her secret visit. She told me that they often quietly joined her when she worked away from home and she'd visited with them as often as she could. She seemed like a good mother and I was happy that she could live freely now without fear of her secret being blown wide open. "She told me she and Michael are launching a fashion line for kids. Really cool boys’ and girls’ wear. Look what she sent me." I pushed the blanket off my legs and crossed the room, reaching for the parcel Lauren sent in the mail. Pulling out the little items, I passed them to Lily and we cooed over the miniature pants and t-shirts. "This is just the baby wear. When I told her you were pregnant, she said I could give it all to you."

"Adorable. I'm glad for her. What happened to everyone else after they got fired? Did Lauren tell you?"

"Amelia's retired from the music business for now. She and Joe bought a house in Orange County and they're trying for a baby. Lauren said Amelia might try to launch a solo career. She wrote the lyrics for the song currently at number one in the charts."

"Awesome. She had the best voice," said Lily, pulling an OMG face at the little green shirt she held up. "What happened to Shelley?"

"Rehab."

"Figures."

"She gets out next week, just in time to start shooting a movie,
Kissing in Action
. She got the female lead with that super hot actor. The one with the Italian name who does all those action movies."

"Get out!"

"Serious. The movie is going to be huge."

"Shelley's interview, the segment right at the end of the documentary, was really cool. I like how she didn't apologize for being gay. She seemed really honest. So like herself. Kids can relate to that. Maybe some of them won't struggle so much in coming out now since they have a positive role model like Shelley."

"Revealing their secrets seems to have worked out well but the band finishing seems like the best thing that could happen to them."

"Except Katya," Lily pointed out as she dug into the ice cream again.

"Except Katya," I agreed.

"I've been following the Don Kenley media circus. His life was a mess. Do you think he'll be convicted?"

"Yes, without a doubt." I handed over all the evidence I found to Garrett, pointing out Don's jacket when he left the hotel was missing by the time he was treated at the hospital, where he was caught on camera for his alibi. In a series of long interviews with Don and his lawyer, all the evidence was laid out in front of him. Maddox added fingerprints and DNA evidence from the knife that directly linked Don to the murder. After a long and arduous search, they even found his bloodied jacket, thrown into a dumpster at the hospital, and located the guy he'd paid to sit in his place while he left the hospital. Garrett had a full confession before he even got further evidence of Don checking out cameras at the hotel and hospital several days before the murder.

My hunch paid off; Don simply couldn't handle throwing his life — and wife — away for Katya, only for her to reject him. Instead of moving on, he killed her. He hoped Lauren would take the rap so he could continue his life as if nothing ever happened. His arrogance would have astounded me if I hadn't previously closed a number of cases with guys just like him.

The chief of police was happy. Joe Carter was happy and got a huge pay off, as well as a wife, and the continuing career as manager of a rock band to keep him busy. Amelia, Shelley, and Lauren were happy in their new careers. It seemed like everyone was pleased with the outcome. I wasn't sure what Solomon thought about it, since it never came up in conversation, except for a week after the arrest when he quietly handed me my bonus check for completing the case.

"What's going on with you and Solomon?" asked Lily.

"We're happy."

"No, I mean, really? What's going on? It's been two months and you're still working out of the back room of my bar. You are working, right?"

"Sure, a little bit." That was true. I took a few small jobs, the kinds of things Solomon would have turned down. They were mom and pop cases, nothing particularly intriguing or taxing on my brain cells, but I figured I had to start somewhere. With Lauren's money and Solomon's bonus check fattening my bank account, I didn't have to worry too much about the income yet, but I figured I would sometime soon.

"Don't you think you should go back to the agency?"

I spilled the uncomfortable truth. "Solomon hasn't asked me again." I thought he would, but he hadn't. Not once. It puzzled me. I wondered if it worried him that I never asked to return. I thought about asking, but didn’t. I didn't know if it was pride that held me back, or if I were still angry somewhere deep inside that was hard to reach and forget about.

"How's your relationship?"

"What is this? Twenty questions?"

"Kinda."

"Our relationship is fine. Really, it is." Work might have brought us together, but it wasn't what kept us together. That was a pleasant revelation although I hoped, even felt, it was the case. Now, work was off the table, and we were talking about so much more. I missed working with him, but I liked the softer side of our relationship. I liked finding out more about the man I spent so much time with talking shop. Working alone gave me more time with my thoughts too. Without seeing Solomon so often, I could dedicate more time to thinking about us. Not just our future, but my future. Even though he never raised the baby topic again, it was easy to recall how attentive he became when he thought I was pregnant, and how eager he seemed at the prospect of becoming a dad. The more I thought about it, the more I saw how my future could be.

"I hope so. I like Solomon."

"Me too. Hey, you know who else is happy?"

"Who?"

"Maddox." Lily looked up and frowned, so I explained, "I saw him a couple of days ago. He was on a date and I think it was the woman he took to Lake Pierce a while back. She seemed nice."

"Actually, I met her already."

"You never said!"

"I forgot! You're right, she's nice. Do we like her?"

I nodded. "We like her."

"Oh good. I find it so hard to stay pissed at people I don't know."

"Me too. Plus, this is a good thing, right? Maddox is moving on."

"Yup."

"Good."

We were silent except for the sounds of Lily enjoying the ice cream. "Ugh, it's all gone," she moaned pushing the carton away. "You need to buy bigger tubs."

"I would, but I don't want my niece or nephew to be born looking like Olaf, the snowman."

Lily giggled. She reached across and grabbed my hand. "We're properly related now thanks to the baby."

"Forever and ever," I agreed and squeezed her hand.