The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (77 page)

"You were in the Caribbean on a cruise."

"There are ways to get messages to passengers, you know. I wasn't off the planet."

"I know, but honestly, I didn't want to ruin your trip."

He sighed. "Why am I not surprised? And why am I also not surprised that this has happened to you?"

"What do you mean by that, 'not surprised that this happened to me'?"

She stormed past him, embarrassed and upset that he had the gall to enter her bedroom, then her bathroom, unannounced, and now he'd seen her in the buff. They'd shared some passionate moments together, sure, but they hadn't ever been naked together, and right now she felt like he had an unfair advantage, which she did not appreciate. And dammit, what
did
he mean that he wasn't surprised about her situation?

"It's not as if you run from murder. You're a modern-day Sherlock Holmes."

She turned on her heel and shook a finger at him, almost losing her towel. "That is so unfair, Jude. I don't go around looking for murder. I can't help what happened in the past and I certainly can't help this situation."

"You still should have called me."

"Oh please. That would've been selfish. You were on your vacation, for God's sake, and with Katie. I couldn't have done that to you, much less to your little girl. I had hoped that by the time you got home this would've all blown over and then we could've laughed about it. Besides, what would you have done if I got a hold of you in the middle of the ocean? You would've gotten on the first plane back home and stormed in here and tried to save me as if I'm a damsel in distress. Thank God you didn't find out until today. At least you had some of the week to enjoy yourself."

"Aren't you a damsel in distress, though?"

"No. I'm a very capable woman. I can take care of myself. I don't need rescuing. I don't need the white horse and Prince Charming. And honestly, that's been a problem for us all along. You seem to feel the need to take care of me."

"Maybe that's because you need a man to take care of you."

"What! Please. You don't know me that well, then."

"What I know is that there is some pretty incriminating evidence against you for a murder that, knowing you as I do, I can't believe you would have ever done. I don't plan to save you, Michaela. Why do you keep fighting me? Resisting me? All I want to do is help. That's what people who love each other do. They are there for each other. But I have to wonder if you even want my help. You're always pushing me away, and this is only the latest incident."

Wait a minute! Love!
Love?
When did that ever come into the picture? He'd let that one slip. Oops, and she decided that she'd let it fly by, pretending that she hadn't heard it, but dammit, why was there a lump of emotion tightening at the back of her throat? She was not ready for this.

He walked over to her. "Michaela, let me help you."

"I need to get dressed," she said.

"You do?" Jude traced the top of her towel with a finger.

"Yes. And we're arguing."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

"Can we go back to it later?" He kissed her neck.

"Jude, the timing is off. I don't want our first time to be…well, make-up sex."

"There is nothing wrong with make-up sex. And I may have been upset with you, but seeing you in the shower and having you yell at me kind of turns me on."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have seen me in the shower. How did you get in? You scared me."

"I'm a cop. I think I know how to get into a home. We need to get you an alarm system. You never know who will sneak in and suck the blood out of you." He sucked on her neck like a vampire. It tickled and Michaela couldn't help but laugh. "I can make you smile even more."

She sighed. He kissed her on her neck again, his fingers traced the edge of the towel wrapped around her. Feelings she hadn't been in touch with for a long time traveled through her, and she stopped thinking. She allowed Jude to keep kissing her as she dropped her towel.

"YOU DID WHAT?" JUDE ASKED. "OH THIS IS NOT good, Michaela! Damn! I could arrest you. I
should
arrest you. Breaking and entering? You stole the tapes? What were you thinking?"

They stood in her kitchen making sandwiches. The afternoon had turned into evening and they were both hungry.

"Arrest me? Please. I didn't want to keep it from you—and doesn't all of this show you that Peters is heading in the wrong direction with this investigation?"

"Maybe, but what you did by breaking into Taber's home was a crime. And you did this alone?" He raised his eyebrows.

That was the only part of the story that Michaela felt she had to omit. She could not expose Joe. He had gone out on a limb for her more than once. He'd given her the opportunity with the riding center and was always there when she needed a friend. No, she could not betray his trust.

"Yes," she replied. "I did it, and I'm not sorry either. What am I supposed to do, Jude? Stand by and let Peters see that I rot in jail? He's not doing anything as far as I know to find out who really killed Sterling. It's me he's after."

Jude stared at her. "This isn't the first time you've gone searching for answers where murder is concerned. The last time you almost got yourself killed."

"I know that. But this is the first time that my freedom is on the line and you and me…I mean,
us
…aren't we in a relationship? Because it sure felt like it over the last few hours. Like we'd taken that next step. We won't be taking any more steps if I'm in jail. You said that you came home to help me, and now you're thinking I should be arrested for trying to find out the truth."

"That's not fair. I haven't had a chance to speak with Peters yet, but I definitely intend to. I know that you didn't murder Taber. I won't let you go to jail, I promise you that."

"How do you plan to do that, Jude, with your boss so hot and heavy to seal my fate?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I do. Just promise me that you'll stop playing detective for once."

"No. Not this time."

"I don't want you hurt. You have to stop this! It's ridiculous!" he shouted.

"Ironically, if I'm behind bars, who knows what could happen to me? It may be ridiculous, but I don't see another way out right now."

"That won't happen! Do what you do best: Work with kids, train horses, and I'll figure this out." He put his arms around her.

She tensed up. His words sounded good, but why didn't she completely believe him? Was there something in his voice that doubted he could help her? To her, he sounded almost helpless and she wasn't buying his pleas to drop her sleuthing.

"I'll take the tapes with me and get them into Peters's hands. I think you're right, Carolyn Taber seems a likely suspect."

"Peters hates me, Jude. You can't tell him how I got the tapes."

"I won't say how I got them. He doesn't hate you. It's his MO to be a hard-ass."

"MO or not, I'm afraid that Peters will ignore the tapes out of sheer laziness or the mere fact that he sees me as an easy target."

He cupped his hand under her chin. "Peters won't ignore them. God! I can't believe that you stole those tapes. Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

There was plenty, like Mario following her, Zach and Juliet breaking into her place, the threat from Carolyn, as well as the bizarre behavior of Paige and Robert Nightingale. And in the moment that he asked her the question, she wondered why she
didn't
tell him everything. The kitchen seemed to spin as she concluded that she'd made a mistake with Jude. She'd made love with a man whom she wanted badly to trust, to fall in love with, but who admittedly she didn't completely trust. And now she wasn't sure she
could
fall in love with him. Right now she felt weaker than ever before. She'd fallen into a man's arms because she'd wanted security.

"No. I've told you everything. You know, I'm feeling kind of tired and want to go to bed."

"We can do that. We can take our food back to bed with us, and forget all this other stuff for a while."

"No. I want to be alone."

"Michaela?"

"It's been a long week and honestly, I'm feeling overwhelmed."

He tried to hug her but she pulled away.

He looked wounded. "I don't understand."

"I…think we made a mistake," she said.

She couldn't believe what she was saying. She typically ran from her feelings. They were far easier to hide from rather than confront. And she had to wonder if by treating Jude like this, she was only doing exactly that. Maybe it was easier for her not to try and love and be loved than be willing to open up and take a chance.

"I'm only trying to protect you. I don't want you getting hurt and I am planning on taking all of what you've told me, plus the tapes, to Peters."

"I know. But I still need some time to be by myself."

"Okay." He nodded and tossed up his arms. "If that's what you want."

As Jude left, tapes in hand, Michaela stared out the front window for a long time, not knowing at all what she wanted.

MICHAELA DIDN'T SLEEP MUCH AFTER JUDE LEFT; the next morning, life seemed even more complicated than the day before. Being wishy-washy wasn't her style, but that's where she was in this game. Wishy-washy with Jude, her theories, everything but her horses.
Solid ground
would be nice.

She didn't trust that Peters would interview Carolyn Taber about the videotapes, and she had questions for Tommy Liggett, who might have met Carolyn and could enlighten her further. He might also know something about Sterling and Lucia. The brat certainly wasn't going to talk to Michaela. She needed to chat with Joe about the Sorvinos. Maybe one of his cousins had some information for her. Plus, Tommy could possibly fill her in on what happened in Santa Barbara to Rebecca Woodson.

She decided to head over to Ed Mitchell's jewelry store and have a talk with Tommy. First, she checked to make sure that the bracelet she'd found at the polo grounds was still in the zippered pouch in her purse. Maybe Tommy could take a look at it and tell her what it was worth and see if she couldn't get it back to the rightful owner. So far no one had called on it. The main reason for going to the jewelry store was because she needed answers; she headed over midmorning, hoping to find Tommy there. The buzzer rang, announcing her entry. The store was upscale, painted in a light gold, and several small love seats stood next to large windows, which looked out onto the main shopping district of Palm Springs. Classical music played through the surround sound. A couple looked at engagement rings, happily trying on possible contenders. Tommy was helping them.

"Be right with you." Tommy glanced up. "Oh hey, Michaela."

"Take your time. I'm not in a hurry."

He nodded. Michaela looked around at all of the beautiful trinkets, with their expensive price tags. There were gorgeous necklaces, bracelets, watches from the finest watchmakers in the world. This store was for the wealthy. She liked jewelry enough, but most of what she owned was simple. Fine pieces like these would never fit into her lifestyle.

Tommy handed the couple glasses of champagne, and they sat down on one of the sofas, continuing to admire a ring they obviously were considering. He walked over to Michaela.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard the news." He shook his head. "Everyone at the field knows you would never hurt anyone. One of the detectives questioned all of us, and I told him that there was no way you killed Sterling. I hope they catch the bastard who did it. You don't deserve this."

"Thank you," she said.

"What brings you in here?" He rubbed his palms together.

"I'm not here for jewelry."

He gave her an odd look. "Okay. How can I help then?"

"I appreciate you putting in a good word for me. Since you believe that I didn't kill Sterling, do you have any ideas as to who might have done it?"

He shrugged. "You know that people who met him either loved or hated him."

"How did you feel about him?"

A shocked expression came over Tommy's boyish features. "He was my friend. What do you think? I loved the guy. We hung out all the time. What happened to him was wrong. He had his faults, you know, there's no getting around that. Kind of a narcissist and egomaniac, but he was funny…funny as hell. We joked a lot and women loved him, which didn't hurt me at all when we hung out. He could reel them in and, well, I'd kind of get the chicks he didn't want."

"Ah, the buddy system."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Speaking of women, what do you know about him and Lucia Sorvino?"

"Lucia? She's a kid. He toyed with her a little, but Juliet suspected something was going on and he dropped it."

"I'm sure that didn't make Lucia happy."

Tommy shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I don't know her too well. Like I said, she's young, and I actually told Sterling to leave her alone. Her brother is a hothead."

"Hot enough to kill Sterling?"

"Maybe, I suppose. I know he can lose it, though, because I saw him yelling at his sister just last week. He laid into her real good. She was in tears."

"Where was this at, and when?"

"I had to pick up some menus for Ed because he's planning a shindig at his place next month and Pepe always does the catering. When I swung by, Mario had his sister cornered and cowering like a dog. I don't know what it was about. They stopped, and Mario turned into Mr. Suave when he spotted me and that's pretty much it."

"Do you think they could've been arguing over Sterling?"

"It's possible. I don't trust Mario, though. He kinda looks mean, if you ask me."

"Yeah."

"Why all the questions about this?" Tommy asked.

"I'm sorry. You have to realize that I am under a lot of stress with all of the scrutiny. The police don't seem to be listening to all the people out there insisting that I didn't do it. I'm trying to do what I can to find out on my own. I'm trying to clear my name."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Thanks. I was wondering if maybe you could tell me about last summer?"