Thrilled To Death (12 page)

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Authors: Jennifer Apodaca

BOOK: Thrilled To Death
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That was easy. “I knew you would get mad. And Grandpa and I took care of Shane. We sprayed him with pepper spray and pushed him off the porch, and Ali bit him. So there's nothing for you to do.” Did I think for a second Gabe was going to buy that?
He lowered his face so that his mouth was an inch from mine. “Wrong. No one hits you. Ever. You stay here with Cal, Blaine, and Barney. Do not leave this office.”
He kissed me softly, but I could feel the rage coursing through him.
Then he pulled back. “And put some ice on that bruise.” He turned and stormed out.
“Gabe! Where are you going?” I knew it was a stupid question. Gabe didn't pause or look back, he just kept going.
I turned back around and glared at Cal. “Well?”
Cal spread his hands open wide. “What?”
I tried to give him a hard look, but I think my blackening eye might have ruined it. “Don't pull that innocent crap on me. Go stop your brother!”
He shook his head. “Can't do that, Sam.”
Were men put on earth just to annoy women? “Why not?”
“Because, I don't want Gabe interfering in my decisions and I won't interfere in his. And this Shane Masters apparently needs someone to beat the shit out of him. Gabe's on it.”
I fought to keep from screaming. Putting my hands on my hips, I glared at Cal out of my good eye. “How is beating Shane up going to help? Explain that to me. And what if Gabe ends up arrested? Will that help? Or maybe Gabe will end up seriously hurt or dead. That's a big help, right?”
Blaine picked that moment to butt in. “Gabe can handle himself, Boss. And Cal's right, Gabe's taking care of business.”
I turned and did the one-eye glare at Grandpa. “Do you see what you did?”
His blue eyes weren't the least bit remorseful. “Now Sammy, Gabe had a right to know.”
I was done being reasonable. I whirled back around and advanced on Cal. “You are going to go after your brother right now and stop him.”
“I am?”
He had the same amused twist to his mouth that Gabe often wore. That just made me angrier. He thought I was some helpless little woman. “Yes, you are.” I poked him in the chest with my right index finger. “Because if you don't, then I will. And when I get there, I'm going to go into Gabe's truck and get his gun out. The thing is, I don't know anything about guns, but I promise you, I will shoot someone.” God, I was mad.
For the first time, Cal looked concerned. “You shouldn't handle guns if you don't know anything about them.”
I blew out an aggravated breath. “Do I look like I'm in the mood for a lecture on weapons, Cal? Now either you go after your brother or I will. Which is it going to be?”
“I don't want Cal getting hurt!” Lola put her hand on his forearm and pouted.
I grabbed Lola's left arm and yanked her off Cal and over to stand by me. “You,” I said to the sex siren, “stand here and be quiet.”
She sighed but didn't say another word.
I turned back to Cal. “Well?”
“I'm going.” He headed to the door.
Grandpa hurried after him. “I'll tell you how to get there.”
I swallowed a groan. “Don't you go with him, Grandpa! You stay here!”
“Damn, she's bossy,” Cal muttered as he and Grandpa walked out.
I turned back to Blaine and Lola. I still had a hold on Lola's arm. “As for you two, just stay away from each other.” I cut my gaze to Lola. “You stop trying to make Blaine jealous and stay off Gabe's brother. He's got enough problems.”
Lola looked down at her four-inch wedge sandals.
I shifted to Blaine. “And you, stop acting like a big, mad bear. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I signed Lola on as a client. We'll talk about it later.”
Blaine lifted his lip in a sneer. “What's to talk about? I don't care what she does.” He turned and stomped off to Gabe's side of the office, probably to cut some phone line he could use to strangle me.
Lord this was turning into a bad day. And where the hell was Grandpa? If he went with Cal, I was going to—
“Sam?”
I blinked and looked at Lola. “What?”
“Can you let go of my arm now?”
I realized I was practically digging my fingers into her arm. I let go instantly. “Oh Lola, I'm so sorry!”
She grinned, making her appear impossibly young, carefree, and sexy. “It's men. They make us nuts.”
“Sam,” Grandpa came back in. “Vance is here.”
I ran to the front window. Yep, that was Vance's unmarked green Ford Taurus pulling into a parking spot. I watched as Vance unfolded himself from the car, shut the door, and looked this way.
“He's one fine-looking man.”
I looked over at Lola. “Are you ovulating or something?”
She grinned. “A girl's gonna notice.”
She looked so cute and sexy at the same time, I really wanted to hate her. So naturally, I liked her.
Vance walked through the door, looked around, then settled his stare on Lola.
“Detective Vance, this is Lola. She's . . . uhh . . . a client.”
He slid forward to take her hand in his. “Hello.” His voice was as smooth as his butt probably was. “Why would a lovely woman like you sign up at a dating service?”
Lola flashed him a killer smile. “I like my men to be prescreened.”
“Smart,” Vance conceded.
I stood behind Vance and cleared my throat. “Any chance you are here because you got my phone message?”
He turned around. “You said you wanted to talk about—” Vance broke off and reached out to take hold of my chin. “What happened?”
I pulled my face from his hand and took control. “Let's go in my office—”
Vance stepped closer. “Who hit you, Shaw? Tell me now.”
“Shane Masters hit her,” Grandpa said.
Vance managed to back me up to the wall. His expression darkened. “Didn't I tell you to stay away from him? How bad are you hurt? Where's the blood smear on your shirt from?”
His voice had slid from anger to something softer. “Just my arm. I'm fine. And I didn't go to Shane, he came to us.” Vance towered over me. I could smell his sun and coconut scent, although right now he didn't resemble a sun god; he looked more like a pissed-off warrior. Was he mad at me? “This isn't my fault! Someone tried to break into one of Shane's prop trailers, and Shane thinks Grandpa knows who did it. He was threatening Grandpa right on our front porch. What was I supposed to do?”
“Call me.”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “I did call you—that's why you're here now!”
His jaw bulged. “I'm here now because a dead body turned up with a dog bite on his hand.”
Oh God. Things were spiraling out of control. “The hit man? Was he murdered?”
His face was stony. “We're talking about you. Let me be clear. Shane Masters went to your house, threatened your grandfather, then hit you?”
I nodded cautiously. “I pulled out my pepper spray and told him to leave. He didn't like that. He knocked it out of my hand and smacked me.”
He looked down and took hold of my arm. “How did you get this?” His fingers were warm as he gently bent my arm up.
“I tackled him and knocked him off the porch. Unfortunately I flew off the porch with him. It's just a scrape. Vance, what about the body? Was it the hit man? Was he murdered?” We had to tell him where Grandpa was Monday night. And what did this have to do with the attempt to break into Shane's prop trailer?
“You tackled him after he hit you?”
Huh? Oh, Shane. “And after Grandpa sprayed him with his pepper spray pen.”
Vance's jaw throbbed. “Stay here. I'll be back.” He dropped my arm and headed out the door.
“Vance! Where are you going?” Frustration clawed through my stomach.
He stopped and turned around, his entire body tight with tension. “I don't care how famous Shane Masters is. No one comes to my town and starts smacking around women that I c . . .” He sucked in a breath. “Any woman.” He stormed off.
I stood there stunned. “Are all men insane? Is it a full moon?” Vance had had a violent look in his eye.
Lola put her hand on my shoulder. “He cares about you.”
I looked at her. “He thinks I'm a bimbo pain in the butt.” I just could not believe this day. “And I think he's a stuck-up, by-the-book, pain in my butt.” Which is what made this really weird. Vance came here for a reason, and obviously the reason had been the dead body that might be the hit man who attempted to kill Shane. And Vance just abandoned that reason to run off after Shane. Maybe Vance was having a breakdown.
Lola nodded. “So you care about him too.”
Now that was just insulting. “I do not.” I lifted my chin and wished for some Tylenol. “Vance and I have an agreement to dislike each other. Just yesterday he told me we could never be friends.”
“Men,” Lola said.
Blaine walked out holding a bottle of water. He swept Lola with his glare before settling it on me. “Why is she still here?” He held out the water and a couple pills in his hand.
“What are those?” Given his anger, I was a tad suspicious.
“Advil.” He dumped them into my hand.
I tossed the Advil in my mouth and washed them down while thinking. Vance had a dead body, and judging by what he'd said, it could be the hit man. I looked over to see Grandpa and Blaine standing on one side of the newly opened-up space between the two suites and watching me, and Lola was on the other side. I looked at Grandpa. “You have to tell Vance where you were Monday night. And we have to tell him . . . the other stuff.” Like Bo. And that I had a client. I looked over at Lola. Maybe about her too. As it was, there were three people who might have reason to want Shane dead. Bo Kelly, if he thought Shane would spoil his show and ruin his chance for his Magic Bo cartoon. Nikki Eden for breaking her heart and maybe using her to get information to spoil her show. And Lola, whom Shane was firing for being fat. I should have told Vance yesterday.
I walked across the empty reception area. “If Gabe were here, he would know what to do,” I muttered. But Gabe was at Shane's possibly committing a crime, and Vance was on his way there right now to witness the crime. I made a decision. “Let's go.”
Blaine stepped in front of me. “Where are you going? What about her?” He jerked his thumb toward Lola.
I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming. But that hurt my bruised cheek. Sheesh. I took a breath and said in a perfectly reasonable boss voice, “I'm going to track down all the insane men who don't think I can take care of myself before they do something more stupid than usual. And I'm taking Grandpa with me, as he's going to tell Vance exactly where he was Monday night once we find those stupid, stupid men.”
Blaine crossed his arms over his chest. “Take her too. Don't leave her here with me.”
Sure, why not? It'll be a party when we get to Shane's expensive, fancy trailer. I had never seen Blaine this passionate and emotional about anything that didn't have an engine and consume motor oil. But I didn't have time to think about that; I had to chase down two of the most unreasonable men in Lake Elsinore.
“Fine.” I stomped out with Grandpa and Lola. Both of them took one look at my bruised and furious face and wisely chose to follow without complaining.
We got to the campground just in time to see several cop cars with flashing lights and sirens racing up to Shane's trailer.
Something bad had happened.
11
T
he police were setting up a barricade to keep everyone back from Shane Masters's motor home. I parked the Jeep a few campsites away, then Grandpa, Lola, and I got out and made our way toward the taped-off motor home.
“Shane must have been murdered,” Grandpa said. “I didn't stop it.”
I looked over at him as he walked between Lola and me. His shoulders were hunched, and his face looked clammy in the afternoon sunlight. I saw Lola put her hand on his arm, which told me that she was as caring as she was sexy. I put my hand on his right arm. “Whatever happened, it's not your fault.”
An animal control van drove past us through the police barricade toward Shane's motor home. That was weird.
“Shaw.”
I had been watching the van and didn't see Vance approach. He caught us just before we reached where the police were setting up the barricade. “Vance, what happened? Where's Gabe?” I saw his truck, and Cal's truck. Where were they?
Vance stopped and looked down at me. “What time did Shane leave your house?”
“Uhh,” It was a little after three now. “I guess it was about one o'clock?” I turned to look at Grandpa.
He nodded.
Vance had his small notebook out and made a note. Then he looked up. “Where were you?”
“Me?” Oh God, Shane had to be dead. “Vance, what is going on?”
He tightened his face into a hard expression. “Answer the question.”
“Grandpa and I went in the house until Blaine called me to tell me that I was . . . uh . . . needed at the office.”
“Time?”
I shrugged. “I'm not sure.”
Lola answered. “I was at the office. I heard Blaine call Sam around 1:45 and I think she got there in less than a half hour.”
Vance looked at Lola, only this time his expression was suspicious. “I'll get your information later.” He turned to Grandpa. “What time did Shane arrive at the house and what did he want?”
Grandpa straightened his back. “He arrived no more than ten minutes before Sam got home, so that would be around ten to one. He demanded that I tell him the magician trying to kill him. I told him I didn't know. He didn't believe me, and he pulled out a fake thumb that he said he found right outside a prop trailer that someone tried to break into. It was Shane's theory that the magician who sent the hit man had now come to Elsinore to kill him in person.”
A muscle along Vance's jaw twitched. “Someone has killed Shane Masters. Do you know who it is?”
I blurted out, “Shane's been killed?”
Vance ignored me. “Mr. Webb?” he said to Grandpa.
“No, I don't know.”
Vance came right back with, “But you were trying to find out for Masters?”
Grandpa shook his head. “Sam and I saw Shane yesterday, and he was trying to blackmail me into using my connections to find out if a magician had put a hit out on him. I was trying, but not for Shane. I just needed to know.”
I slid my hand down Grandpa's arm and took his hand in mine.
Vance cut his gaze to me and then down to the thin scab on the back of my hand. “Guess you forgot to mention that little detail yesterday.”
My stomach flipped over.
He turned back to Grandpa. “Did the fake thumb Masters showed you today mean anything?”
Grandpa's hand tightened on mine. “I'm not sure, Detective, because it's a common prop most magicians have. However, last night at my house Bo Kelly was doing some close-up magic with one just like it. When Bo left, it was in his pocket.”
“Who is Bo Kelly?”
I let Grandpa answer that while I looked around. Where were Gabe and Cal? Could Vance have had them taken down to the police station? Had Gabe found Shane murdered? Why was the animal control unit there? Vance was writing something down and I said, “Where are Shane's dogs? Were they hurt?”
Vance zeroed in on my face. “Why do you ask?”
I'd hit on something. I could see it from Vance's carefully schooled face. But I had no idea what I'd hit on. “Well, the animal control van is here, and they let the van through the police barricade. I can't hear the dogs. . . .” I trailed off, realizing the dogs could have been killed too. I wasn't a big fan of those dogs, but I didn't want them dead. Where was Gabe?
Vance sighed. “The dogs are alive, but it looks like they have been tranquilized or poisoned. They are both out cold.”
“Oh.” I didn't know what to make of that.
Vance turned back to Grandpa. “Where were you Monday night?”
That got my attention. Was this about the hit man he found dead?
Grandpa said, “I was with a friend.”
Lola jumped in. “He was with me. He was helping me figure out where to get a job.”
“With you?” I was stunned. But then I started thinking. How had Grandpa known where Shane was staying when he went to see him Tuesday? Lola had told him. And now it made sense why he wouldn't tell Vance where he was Monday night—he was protecting Lola. She had already told me that Shane had them all sign contracts to keep his shows a secret. Besides, Lola had seemed really afraid of Shane. Grandpa was exactly the kind of man who would protect her.
Vance studied Lola. “How long have you lived in Lake Elsinore? What is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Webb?”
Lola brushed her long wavy hair back. “I'm one of Shane's assistants. He wasn't planning to keep me on after the show on Saturday. I decided to stay here in Elsinore because I grew up here. And Barney is just being a friend. He didn't tell you about me because if Shane found out, he would have fired me instantly instead of after the Saturday show.”
“How did you and Mr. Webb meet exactly? Did you know him when you lived here?”
She shook her head. “I met him on the Internet. Magicians' assistants have an e-mail loop where we chat and stuff. Barney was a guest one night for a chat. We started privately e-mailing after that.”
Vance wrote down some notes. After he was finished, he lifted his head to look at me speculatively, then looked back at Lola. “And it was just a coincidence that you happened to go to Heart Mates and sign up?”
For the first time, Lola looked uncomfortable. “Not exactly.”
“Explain.”
I jumped a couple inches at Vance's sharp voice. He was getting really mad.
Lola swallowed and said, “I left my husband a few years back and I wanted to reconcile with him. Since he works at Heart Mates, it seemed like a good idea . . . .” She trailed off and looked at me.
I was in enough trouble. For once, I kept my mouth shut.
“Who is your husband?” Vance asked in a perfectly reasonable voice.
“Blaine Newport.”
Vance turned his gaze on me, and this time his stare stuck.
I was instantly defensive. “I only found out this morning!”
Vance turned and waved a uniform over. Once the cop trotted over, Vance gestured toward Grandpa and Lola. “Escort these two over to where the two witnesses are sitting. Make sure they don't talk.”
The policeman was young and very courteous. “If you'll come with me please,” he said, and walked with them toward the police barricade. I heard him say, “I can get you some water or coffee.”
I watched them walk away and tried not to acknowledge Vance staring at me. But finally I had to turn and meet his flat brown eyes. “The other witnesses—are they Gabe and Cal?”
He scissored his jaw for about ten seconds, then said, “Yes. Pulizzi found Shane. He called it in, and the call was patched through to me in my car.”
I lifted my chin. “I want to see Gabe.” Was he okay?
“I called you yesterday for help, Shaw. Now Shane Masters has been murdered in my town. Any idea how much heat is going to come down on me?”
My throat tightened. “I didn't know. . . . I had a client, I was just trying to—”
He took a step closer. “You are not a professional. You are a soccer mom! When are you going to understand that you can trust me?” His voice dropped.
“I'm sorry. But damn it, Vance, you suspected my grandfather. How did I know I could trust you? Shane threatened to set him up! He swore he could make him look guilty of hiring a hit man. I just wanted to talk to Gabe, then I was going to tell you everything I knew. And it wasn't much!”
He leaned in. “Who are you working for now? This client that you have, who is it?”
I didn't hesitate. “Nikki Eden and her grandmother, Rosy Malone.” I took a breath. “Nikki is a rising magician who currently has a show in Las Vegas. She came into town yesterday. She had an affair with Shane that ended badly, and she was afraid he was going to spoil her show this weekend. She hired me to try and find out.”
“Did you find out if it was her show?”
I shook my head. “I went to the stadium today to see if I could talk to a few people, maybe spot some props. See, Nikki does high-concept, or sometimes called high-cost, illusions like riding onto the stage on a motorcycle, then vanishing the bike while riding it. Her illusions have large props, so I thought maybe someone would have seen something.”
Vance wrote more notes and clenched his jaw so tight I wondered if his eyes hurt. His whole body was rigid as a boulder. Finally he said, “Let's recap: A famous magician comes to my town and someone tries to kill him. And just by coincidence, Shane's employee, whom he is firing, signs on with your dating service and has secret meetings with your grandfather and a secret marriage with your office assistant. Then two magicians just happen to show up in Elsinore and have reason to see you.”
He paused to suck in air to feed his tirade, and it popped into my head that three magicians had come to town, not two. But Fletch was helping Grandpa and had nothing to do with either the hit man or killing Shane. There was no reason to piss Vance off more by mentioning him. Besides, Fletch was skydiving today, so he had a rock-solid alibi.
Vance continued, “First is Bo Kelly, who has a possible contract for a cartoon character and may have attempted to break into one of Shane's prop trailers to see if Shane was spoiling his show and his chances for the cartoon. Then Shane's ex-lover, who had a bad breakup with him, hired you to see if he was going to spoil her magic show Saturday night. On top of all that, your grandfather was being blackmailed by the murdered magician. Did I get that all correct, Shaw?”
“Uh, yeah.” He managed to summarize the last two days into a paragraph. Guess that's why he made detective.
But he wasn't done. “All the suspects who had reason to kill Shane Masters are hooked up with you. Which you never bothered to tell me. And,” he leaned an inch closer, “the magician has now been murdered in my town!”
Uh-oh. “It wasn't like that!”
He narrowed his gaze. “You and all your cohorts can explain exactly what it was like in formal statements down at the station.”
 
It was dark by the time Gabe and I left the police station. Grandpa, Lola, and Cal had escaped first since they had less complicated stories. Gabe and I had been kept separate, but as a guess, I assumed he was put through a bit more because he found Shane dead.
Needless to say, Vance was a little pissed off. Murdered famous people in his town ruined his day. So he made sure to ruin ours, which in retrospect seemed like a fair trade-off. Vance was really angry at me. The only thing that mollified him was that I had called him after Shane left our house. He believed Grandpa and I were going to tell him all that we knew.
And I truly hadn't known much yesterday at lunch.
Gabe took my arm as we went out of the building into the parking lot. I didn't have my car since Grandpa and I had been using his Jeep, and once Vance was finished with him, he had taken the Jeep home. As we walked to where Gabe's truck was parked, I said, “Are you all right? That had to be awful to find Shane.”
He didn't miss a step and just said, “Fine.”
I had so many emotions rushing through me I couldn't keep them all straight. One of them was guilt over being the reason Gabe went to Shane's and found him murdered. “If only you hadn't run off to Shane's like that.”
He came to a sudden stop at the back bumper of his truck. “What?”
I looked up into his face. We stood under one of those amber-colored lights that cast a glow over the hard-edged planes of Gabe's face. His anger practically glimmered in the light. “You wouldn't listen to me. If you hadn't gone there, you wouldn't have found him and you wouldn't have had to go through all this.” It wasn't a hard concept.
He asked softly, “So you think I should let a man knock you around? Is that it, Sam? Or are you mad because you had already called Vance to rescue you?”

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