Divorced, Desperate and Daring

by Christie Craig

  The man leaned back in his chair. “I don’t have a record. You can check.”

  “I already have,” Danny assured him.

  Kevin ran a hand through his hair. He seemed slightly unnerved, so Danny decided to push.

  “So you hold no hard feelings toward her?”

  “No. I . . . Breaking up with her was probably the biggest mistake of my life.”

  Okay, he hadn’t expected that one. “That’s odd. I hear you are about to get married?”

  Kevin’s flinch told Danny the guy didn’t like the question.

  “Well, I . . . I was, but . . . we broke up last week.”

  “Why was that?” Danny didn’t know why he asked, or maybe he did. Timing. The man broke up with his fiancée the same week his ex-fiancée gets a hit put out on her. He might be connecting dots that didn’t go together, but no dot left unconnected was his policy.

  Kevin’s inability to answer right away only motivated Danny. He rolled his chair a little closer to Kevin’s desk.

  “Does it have anything to do with Sheri?”

  He still floundered for a few seconds. “I . . . I ran into Sheri a couple of weeks ago. I . . . I realized I might still have feelings for her. I was going to call her this weekend.”

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Danny crossed his arms.

  “But if she’s in danger . . .”

  “She’s being watched.”

  “By who?” His brow grew tight again. “Wait? Are you and her . . . ?”

  We will be soon. “I’m working a case.”

  Kevin didn’t look convinced.

  Danny dropped his arms and leaned in. “Did you tell your fiancée why you called off the engagement?”

  Kevin blinked. “Well, I . . . I mean . . .”

  Shit! The guy had done it. He not only was a cheating asshole, he was an idiot. “Does she know your plan to try to work things out with Sheri?”

  Chapter Seven

  Danny waited for his answer, impatiently.

  “Well, I . . . yeah, but Caroline wouldn’t . . . She wouldn’t do that.”

  Funny, the person no one believed would ever commit a crime was always the one wearing handcuffs at the end. “I’ll still need to talk to her.”

  Wouldn’t Perkins have said if it had been a woman wanting another woman dead? Wrong sex but really good motive deserved looking into, Danny decided.

  Perhaps Caroline had asked a big brother or someone to make sure Sheri wasn’t available for Kevin’s plan.

  Kevin balked, but he finally gave Danny Caroline’s information. “Can I at least tell her you’ll be contacting her?”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.” Danny stood up. “I’ll be in touch if I have other questions.”

  Danny went straight to his car. He’d really been hoping he could start marking off possible suspects and not adding more to the list.

  When he got to Caroline Williams’ apartment it was almost six, but no one answered the bell. He decided to give her some time in case she was caught in Friday traffic. Sitting in his car, he pulled out his phone and dialed his cousin.

  “Hey,” she answered on the first ring. “I almost called you earlier to see if you wanted to go running tomorrow.”

  “I have to work,” he said. “Maybe Sunday.”

  “Okay,” she said. “How are you?”

  “I’m . . . I’m doing okay.”

  “Really?” she asked, her tone holding real surprise. “What happened?”

  “Huh?”

  “You always say you’re ‘working on it.’ Now . . . you’re ‘okay.’ That sounds a lot better than working on it. So what happened?”

  He leaned back in his seat. “Uh, I . . .”

  “Don’t make up some shit,” Anna said. “Tell me.”

  What the hell. She knew almost everything anyway. “Remember the last girl I told you about?”

  “A friend of your friend’s wife. The one you ran out on and wished you hadn’t. Then moped over for at least three months.”

  “I didn’t mope.”

  “Did, too.” She giggled. “But I’m not saying that as if it was a bad thing. I think it gave you a . . . better perspective on life.”

  “Right,” he said, not sure what she was implying.

  “So what about her?” his cousin asked.

  “She . . .” He didn’t want to get into the whole case, “Well, she kind of came up in a case, and it might offer me a second chance.”

  “Great. Are you taking her out this weekend?”

  “No. We haven’t . . . I mean, I haven’t gotten that far. But she answered my call.” He smiled when he said it.

  “Answered your call?” Anna asked, her tone making him realize how silly that was.

  “I know that’s stupid,” he let go of a breath, “but she wouldn’t answer me before.”

  “So you’re hopeful. That’s not stupid. After what Tanya did, you deserve to be happy, Danny. And to be with someone. Not just to sleep around.”

  He curled his hand around the steering wheel. “Why is it that everyone thinks that’s all I do?”

  “I didn’t mean that you . . . are all bad.”

  “Well, that’s how it sounds. And not just you, but everyone.”

  “It’s because you are a charmer,” Anna said and chuckled as if to make light of it.

  “Well, how do I stop being so charming then? Because I’m tired of this shit.”

  “You don’t need to . . . Okay, you want the truth?”

  “Yeah.” Maybe?

  “For a while, you did seem to love ’em and leave ’em. But not so much anymore. Now you seem . . . lonely. I just think you’d be happier if you . . . had something in the middle.”

  Something in the middle sounded good.

  “You know, like a serious relationship.”

  And that didn’t sound so good. He pushed a hand over his face. That sounded dangerous. “We’ll see if I can handle it.”

  “I have faith in you,” she said.

  He hoped it wasn’t misplaced, because the thought of actually going there, of letting someone “serious” in his life, still scared the shit out of him. “Are you working tonight?”

  “No, I’m off the whole weekend. I’m . . . visiting Trey. Just watched the sun set. It was nice.”

  He paused, unsure what to say. “You know, Anna, you deserve to be happy, too.”

  “I am,” she said, but Danny heard the lie in her voice.

  “Isn’t it time you moved on?”

  “I have,” she said.

  “I don’t think going to the cemetery three times a week is moving on.”

  “It’s only been ten months.” Grief gave her normal upbeat tone a sad ring, and he was sorry he’d said anything.

  “I know, it’s just . . . Like you said, you deserve to be happy.”

  She inhaled, her breath just a bit shaky. “I’m working on it.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle at her throwing his words back at him. “You do that.”

  Silence hung on for another few seconds. “Oh, I worked on the fifth floor Thursday, and I actually had your friend Ramon.”

  “Yeah, he told me when I stopped in Thursday night. He didn’t hit on you, did he?”

  “No.”

  “Then he’s sicker than I thought,” Danny said.

  Anna laughed. “He seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is.” Just not someone he wanted interested in Anna.

  They hung up, and when Caroline Williams still hadn’t shown up thirty minutes later, he decided he’d have to come back later. He’d already put in ten hours today, but who was counting. This was personal.

  The image of the dead woman from Manning’s desk flashed in his head. He wanted this case solved.

  Danny’s next target was Mark Taylor, Sheri’s scorned, stalker-like boyfriend who had a few domestic violence charges and one restraining order to his name.

  Obviously, Friday evenings weren’t the best time to find
suspects. Mark didn’t answer, but a young mother with a baby on her hip stepped out of the apartment next door.

  The kid was blond and blue eyed, and it took Danny to a place he didn’t want to go. To his own child, who should have had a chance but didn’t.

  “Mark’s gone hiking in Austin,” the woman said.

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?” Danny asked, pushing the past away. Where it belonged but somehow always got in the way of his future.

  “I think he has to be at work on Monday. Is it important?”

  “Does he hike a lot?” Danny asked, purposely not looking at the baby.

  “I’ve never heard of him going before, but I don’t know him that well. Why?”

  Because if someone hired a hit man, they’d be sure to get out of town and have a good alibi. Which would mean something could go down this weekend. Not that this was enough to go on, but it was enough to not ignore it. “No reason.”

  “I have his cell if you want it.”

  “Nah, I got his number.”

  “Do you want me to tell him who came by?”

  “Not that important. Thanks,” he offered cheerfully and left. Now he had to decide whether to call Mark or wait until Monday to talk to him in person.

  Face to face produced more information. A person’s body language always gave direction to Danny’s next question. Hell, look what he’d learned from Kevin.

  He crawled into his car. Surely Sheri wouldn’t take the jerk back. Not when she pretty much knew he’d been cheating on her before he called off their engagement.

  Then again, she’d been with the guy for more than three years. Kevin no doubt had earned some bonus points during that time. Danny had been with her only one night. Why did he deserve a second chance?

  He drove out of the parking lot. The sun had set, but the western sky still glowed with color. As he pulled into the Friday evening traffic, he went over ever ploy he’d ever heard to win a woman’s heart. Flowers. Chocolate. Foot rubs. He’d already taken out her garbage. But he’d do it again.

  Oh, hell. How about trying to figure out if someone was willing to pay ten thousand dollars to get her bumped off? That had to gain him some points, didn’t it?

  He had two stops to go, checking on the suspects from the bleach-blonde Sheri Thompson. But having missed lunch, his stomach demanded food.

  Parked in front of a fast-food restaurant, he’d just about downed the burger when his phone dinged with a text. Wiping his hands on a napkin, he checked to see who it was from. Cary.

  Call with update.

  “I’m not calling you,” Danny muttered. “I’ll call Sheri.” He dropped the phone and finished his burger.

  Bagging his dinner mess, he considered what all he should tell her. Then it hit. He wasn’t that far from Cary’s condo. The thought of seeing her sent a tickle of both anticipation and nerves through his gut. Anticipation won.

  • • •

  Sheri and Chloe sat at the kitchen table. Sheri’s stress from the day had started to wane due to the empty bottle of zinfandel with high notes of fruit and a peppery finish. Add the pizza, and . . . yum.

  The doorbell rang.

  “Ask who it is before answering.” Cary’s voice rang from his office.

  Chloe shot up. Sheri followed. Her friend went to the door and peered through the peephole. Looking back over her shoulder, she made a face.

  “What?” Sheri asked.

  “Where’s your pepper spray?” Chloe’s eyes tightened.

  “Who is it?” Cary walked into the living room.

  “It’s Danny.” Chloe opened the door.

  Sheri couldn’t see Chloe’s expression, but if Danny’s wide eyes were any indication, it wasn’t warm and fuzzy.

  “Can I come in?” he asked.

  “I guess,” she said in a tone that said quite the opposite.

  He’d changed clothes. He wore a darker pair of jeans and a light brown leather jacket over a dusty blue shirt. His hair was windblown, and the blue shirt made the color of his eyes seem bluer.

  His gaze found her. Caught her. Pulled her in. Had her scrambling to escape.

  He offered her a nod and a smile that only touched his eyes.

  Feeling the wine, her mind took her back to their night, to them in bed, each on their side, staring at each other and talking about the cartoons they’d watched as kids. She’d been into Rugrats. He’d been into Taz-Mania.

  “What did you find out?” She forced the words out of her mouth and tried to force the memories from her mind. They were silly. Insignificant. Why did everything they talked about that night seem to matter?

  It hadn’t. Obviously. Or he wouldn’t have run off and gone right into the arms of another woman.

  “Why don’t we sit down?” he said.

  “Do I need to sit down?” Sheri’s tone went breathless.

  “It’s not . . . that bad.”

  Chloe moved over to the sitting area in the living room. Danny headed that way as well. Sheri just stood there worrying about the definition of not . . . that bad.

  “You want a beer?” Cary asked Danny, lifting the bottle in his hand.

  “No,” Danny answered. “When I leave here I still need to knock on a few doors.”

  Sheri forced herself to move and sat in the chair next to Danny. Only when Cary sat down beside his wife on the brown leather sofa did Danny start talking.

  He started by saying who hadn’t been at home. When he mentioned Mark Taylor, he looked at Sheri. “Do you recall if he ever did any hiking?”

  For the life of her, she couldn’t recall one reason why that question would be relevant. But she answered it anyway.

  “No. Why?”

  His hesitation said things he wasn’t.

  She squared her shoulders. “What does that have to do with any of this?”

  Danny glanced at Cary. The man nodded as if he knew the answer and it was okay to tell her.

  “You don’t need his permission! Is this or is this not about me?”

  Danny flinched with guilt. “If someone had ordered a hit, it would be in their best interest to leave town so they had an alibi when the hit took place.”

  Okay, that was extremely unpleasant. The muscles in her shoulders tightened. “So you think someone is supposed to kill me this weekend?”

  “I’m not actually saying it,” Danny explained. “I’m saying it’s something we look at.”

  “He’s just being thorough,” Cary said. “We ran Mark through the system. He had a few check marks against him.”

  “What kind of check marks?” Sheri asked.

  “Domestic violence and one restraining order,” Danny said.

  Oh, shit! Sheri tried to think of any signs that Mark had been capable of any of that. But honestly, the only thing she could think of was his calling her and insisting he give him another shot. He hadn’t even come over. Well, now that she thought about it, yeah, he had a few times. But he left when she told him to, and she’d never really felt threatened. Just sad because he claimed he still loved her.

  “I knew he scared me,” Chloe said.

  Cary nodded. “Did Mark ever come here, or know where we live?”

  Sheri quickly strolled down memory lane to see if she could recall the two of them ever visiting Chloe. “No.” Sheri had kind of known Chloe wasn’t a fan of Mark, so she’d never attempted to double date.

  “Thank God,” Chloe said.

  “This doesn’t prove he’s behind this,” Danny said, as if he knew she needed to hear it. “It just makes us look at him a little harder.”

  Sheri leaned back in her chair with a thump. Danny continued to study her, as if he was worried she couldn’t handle this. But what choice did she have?

  “What else?” A buzz of nerves had her stomach quivering and then she reminded herself she honestly didn’t think anyone wanted her dead.

  When Danny didn’t answer fast enough, she surged ahead. “Did you even look into the other Sheris?”

&
nbsp; “I’m going to visit two suspects related to the second Sheri when I leave here. The third Sheri is in jail.” He shifted in his seat. “I did go speak to Kevin.”

  “And you removed him from your list, right?” She sat up, waiting for him to say it. Waiting. Waiting. Why wasn’t he saying it?

  “Not completely. And the visit kind of added a new name to the list.”

  “Who?” she asked.

  “He . . . called off his wedding.”

  “What?” Sheri asked the one-word question that brought on a dozen more.

  “Well, he’s good at that,” Chloe said. “How many times did he postpone your wedding?”

  Sheri struggled to wrap her head around it. “Called it off or just postponed it?” she asked Danny. Kevin had postponed theirs at least a few times before the big letdown.

  “He said he called it off.”

  Sheri’s mind hit a speed bump. “Wait. What does that have to do with another suspect?”

  Danny leaned forward, resting one palm on his leg. “After he ran into you last week, he started having doubts about breaking up with you. He told his fiancée he thinks he still loves you.”

  “And jealously is one hell of a motive,” Cary said as if they’d just found the answer.

  Sheri sat there. It hurt to think. Kevin still loved her? She mentally hit rewind to the memory of running into him. He’d hugged her and told her she looked good, but she hadn’t even taken it to mean . . . anything like that. She’d assumed he was just being polite.

  That had hurt. Because in those few minutes, she remembered how it had felt when they had loved each other. That feeling as if she hadn’t been alone in the world. But hadn’t that belonging feeling started to wane when he’d gone to live in California? When he’d found someone else?

  Then bam, Sheri suddenly felt sorry for the fiancée—the one he was running out on now. Having your big day yanked out from under you hurt. She knew that all too well. “Poor girl.”

  She blinked twice, feeling a tightness in her throat and a sting in her sinuses.

  “Poor girl? Please!” Chloe said. “If that’s not poetic justice, I don’t know what is.”

  Sheri shook her head as if that would stop the onslaught of emotions and looked at Danny. “You think . . . you think his fiancée hired . . .” Sheri shook her head. “Wait. Didn’t you say it was a guy who was behind this?”