Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (29 page)

He let out an annoyed growl
as he lay on the bed next to her.

“How about a massage? No
pressure. Just to soothe the fear?”

The problem, Jack thought as
Tess' hands found their way under his shirt, was that his body didn't realize
how scared his mind was. He was a man, after all. When a woman was kissing and
caressing, things happened regardless of what the brain is thinking.

“That's not really soothing,”
he murmured. She shifted, pressing her body against his. He knew she was able
to feel that her ministrations were more arousing than calming.

“Just close your eyes,” she
whispered. Because her actions were taking his mind off of falling two miles
out of the sky, he complied. Soon he felt her fingers tug on the button of his
pants. He wanted to tell her to stop. Well, no he didn't. But he also didn't
want to embarrass himself either. The minute the plane hit turbulence, he knew
he'd shrivel. A man didn't get over that very easily.

But he didn't stop her. She
kissed his lips, his jaw, his neck. “This isn't so bad, is it?” Her lips worked
their way down over his chest.

“Tess, I'm not sure—” Her
lips trailed down over his abdomen and lower. Then all fear, all thought was gone.

~~~~

“How was the flight?” Daniel
asked as Jack and Tess entered his office.

The couple glanced at each
other. “The ride up was rough, but the flight back was—”

“Smooth,” Tess finished for
Jack, casting him a warning look. He winked at her.

Daniel's brows rose. “Good.”

Tess handed Daniel her
notes. “All we really have is that Kevin visited Liv each time she went to New
York from February to May.”

“It's something,” Daniel
said, as Tess and Jack sat across from his desk.

“It shows she was lying,”
Jack said.

“But it clears her of
murder, at least directly,” Tess added.

Daniel nodded. “I talked to
Kevin this morning after you called. He admitted to the affair, but he was
genuinely surprised by the baby.”

“A guy like him probably
doesn't want kids,” Jack said. “Wouldn't want to spoil his fun.”

“Or his inheritance,” Tess
added. “What about his whereabouts before he arrived in New York? He could have
driven to Jefferson Tavern first.”

“He said he was visiting
another 'friend' in New Jersey.”

“He's a busy guy,” Jack
said.

“She verified that he was
there,” Daniel finished.

“Could she be lying to cover
for him?”

“Sure. I want to look into
it a little more. But we've still got Wilson, who at this point is the best
suspect. I'm heading out to see him when we're done here. Want to tag along?”
he asked Tess.

She shook her head. “I want
to see the scene.”

“At the Danforth's?” Daniel
asked.

“Yes. I've seen the photos,
but I want to walk it. I keep feeling like I'm missing something, but can't
figure it out.”
            “I can let you go, but Jack can't—”
            “That's alright. I need to check in with Brad and then I thought
I'd visit the Senator.”

“Sure you want to do that?”
Daniel asked. “Sounds like you're close to breaking free of the clan.”

Jack laughed. “I didn't
handle it right and I feel I owe him an explanation.”

“Good luck with that,”
Daniel said.

“Can you give me a ride back
to the hotel to get my car…or actually, it's Daniel's car. Can I still use it?”
Tess asked.

“Keep it as long as you need
it. If you have some stroke of genius at the Danforth place let me know. I’ll
keep you posted on Wilson.”

~~~~

Jack drove Tess to her new
hotel. “I didn't realize you'd moved,” he said as he pulled up next to Daniel's
car.

Tess didn't want to go into
the reasons why she'd moved. “I'll see you later?”

“Count on it.” He leaned
over, kissed Tess on the cheek. “Call me when you're done.”

Tess nodded. There was still
much to talk about with him. He'd never asked if she was still going to stay at
the hotel. And although she was sure she wasn't, she hadn't mentioned it to
him. But first she wanted to deal with the Danforth crime scene and hopefully
find answers to that nagging feeling that something about the case had been
missed.

Tess walked around Charles
Danforth's office imagining what had taken place when he was murdered. She had
the information from the crime scene photos and witness interviews to piece the
events together. Wilson said they were supposed to be fishing, but he'd had a
falling out with Charles, so why were they fishing? But if Wilson had wanted
Charles dead, wouldn't it have been easier to stage an accident, like a
drowning?

Boone, the estate caretaker,
said he saw Charles in the office that morning. He'd gone in because the lights
and air conditioning were on, when no one was supposed to be there. The first
time he entered the office he said he found Charles sleeping. But was he dead
at that time? Or really sleeping? The handyman indicated he turned down the
air, dimmed the lights, then left. Later in the evening, he found Charles in
the exact same position and at that point suspected something was wrong.

Tess closed her eyes, trying
to imagine what the handyman walked into the first time. She opened her notes
and read Boone’s statement again. “It was colder than a well-digger's butt.” 
She looked at the thermostat. Why would the air conditioning be on in the first
place? It was May, but it hadn't been that hot yet. The room felt cool to her
now and the unit was off. If it was on, how cold would the room get? Was a
well-digger’s butt cold enough to impact the rate of decomposition of a dead
body? Was it cold enough that Liv could murder her husband Saturday morning and
the time of death be thrown off because Boone turned off the air? For that to
work, Liv would have had to have known the caretaker would adjust the air. Or
he was in on it.

Tess wracked her brain to
remember a case she heard about involving air conditioning affecting the time
of death in a murder. Was it a case she studied in school? Or maybe it was from
one of the forensic shows she liked to watch on television.

She pulled the sleeve of her
sweater over her hand to turn the cool air on. The unit choked to life, blowing
loudly. She turned the level to coldest and put her hand in front of the vents.
The air was cool, though not cold. She decided to let it run for a bit to see
if it would get colder.

She turned her attention to
the desk wondering if there were any other potential clues in the handyman's
statement. The police had taken everything they thought would be important to
the case. There were no papers or computers for her to check. Still, she opened
drawers to see what might have been left behind. Except for a few pens and
paperclips, there was nothing. She could feel the room beginning to cool down
and thought it might be worth a call to Daniel to see if the medical examiner
would have any idea if or how much an air-conditioned room could affect the
time of death. She pulled her phone from her purse and flipped it open.
Daniel’s voicemail answered the call. She left a brief message about air
conditioning impacting the time of death and hung up.

“What are you doing here?”

Tess looked up to see Liv
standing in the doorway, a gun in her hand.

Tess wouldn’t have called
herself a gun expert, but she knew a little bit from her days as a defense
lawyer in the public defender’s office. Her inexperienced eye told that Liv’s
little semi-automatic could be the weapon that killed Charles.

“Just looking around,” she
answered Liv.

She watched as Liv lowered
the gun. “You're trespassing.”

“I have permission from the
police.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm working with
them.”

“Why do you care about my
husband’s death?” Liv stepped into the room, the gun at her side, but not put
away.

“How did you know I was
here?” Tess asked. “I thought you were at a hotel.”

“I'm getting the house ready
to sell. I saw your car when I pulled up, but I didn’t recognize it. My husband
was murdered here and I wondered if maybe the murderer had come back. I could
have killed you.”

“Did you call the police?”
Isn’t that what any other sane woman would do if she thought there was a
murderer on her property?

“I’ll ask the questions. Why
do you hate me?”

“I don't hate you.”

“Oh, come on. From the
moment you saw me you hated me. You’re so insecure you can’t tell that there is
no man more committed to a woman than Jack is to you. You'll lose him if you
get jealous of every woman he talks to.”

“You're not every woman. And
I'm not naïve enough to think you wouldn't want him back, if you could.”

“What makes you think I'd
want to?”

“We are talking about Jack
Valentine, aren't we? A woman would have to be dead not to want him.”

Liv's lips twitched. “You're
right. If I thought I could succeed, I probably would have tried for one more
taste. But it's clear he's a one-woman man now. You can't be so dumb as not to
see that. So again, why are you after me?”

“I don't buy your story,”
Tess said taking another glance at Liv's gun. She wanted to believe Liv’s story
about thinking Tess was an intruder, but couldn’t quite let herself.

“I have an alibi.”

Tess shivered and she
realized that the room was getting significantly colder. She glanced at the air
conditioner pushing cold air into the room. When she turned back, she caught
Liv’s gaze. They stared at each other for a few moments, and then Liv raised
the gun. “You really should have left well enough alone.”

“I could start now,” Tess
said with a new kind of chill running along her spine. “I'll leave. We'll
pretend I wasn't here.”

“Too late.”

“Why? If you didn't do it,
nothing I find here should worry you.”

This time it was Liv that
cast a worried glance at the air conditioning unit. “It will be better if you
disappear.”

“Is that why you tried to
kill me the other day?”

Liv’s eyes narrowed. “How’d
you know it was me?”

Tess hadn’t known, but she didn’t
think it was wise to let Liv know that she’d been tricked to confessing. “You’re
holding a gun on me now. You’re the only person who wants me dead. But why?”

“You shouldn’t have poked your
head into my business. The police would have looked at someone else, but you
kept pushing it.”

“How did you know where I’d
be?”

“I had Tanner pick me up and
bring me to the house so people would see me here. When he was busy with the
horses, I took his truck and headed to your hotel. But you were leaving, so I
followed you and almost changed my mind about killing you when I realized you
were looking into the land deal with Wilson.”

“Why did you change your
mind?”

“Jack. I comforted him once.
I figured I could do it again.”

“And have access to his
money and prestige.”

Liv nodded. “There was no
way I was going to seduce him away from you unless you were dead. I should have
gone back and finished you.”

The reality of Tess’
impending death began to sink in. “If I disappear now, it will only bring more
suspicion to you.”

“Maybe. But you're a lawyer,
you know it has to be proven. The odds are better for me if you disappear.”

“The police know I'm here.” As
if on cue, Tess’ phone rang and both women jumped. She looked at the caller ID.
“Speak of the devil.”

“Answer it. Tell him you’re
fine and hang up.”

“I can’t just hang up. He’ll
be suspicious.”

“Do what you have to do to
get off the phone.”

Tess clicked the answer
button. “Hi Daniel.”

“Hey, I got your message.
Artie says it’s possible the time of death could be impacted by air
conditioning. Tests would need to be done.”

“Oh. Well, good.” Tess’
brain spun in an attempt to let him know she was in trouble, without alerting
Liv.

“How’s it going there?”

“Good. I’m kind of in the
middle of something…”

There was a pause. “You
sound strange.”

“Yes. A little.”

“Are you in trouble?”

“That’s right.” Relief
flooded Tess.

Liv waved her gun and
mouthed, “Get off!”

“I’ve gotta run.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Sure. Okay.” Hurry.

Liv grabbed the phone and
clicked the off button. “You don’t follow directions very well.”

“You don’t want him to be
suspicious, do you?”