Say Goodbye to Melody

by Velvet Vaughn

  “I’m not the one with an IV,” she remarked. “I’m okay, and I had to hurry in to tell you to prepare yourself. Your sis—”

  Melody gasped when the curtain was ripped aside and Kaitlyn rushed in like a charging bull.

  “Grant? Oh my God, are you okay?” Then she threw herself at him and he grunted. Ben and Luke came in behind her.

  “Guys, I’m fine. Just a few stitches. There was no need for you to come here.”

  Kait pulled back with a sniff. “You were bombed.”

  “Hey, no tears. I’m okay—wait, Mason and Noah?”

  “We don’t know,” Luke said. “We came to you first. Logan and Dan went to check on the others.”

  Amelia walked in and if seeing his brothers and sister along with Melody crammed into the small examining area was a shock to her, she didn’t react. “You’ve had enough fluids, big guy, so you’re free to go. I went ahead and changed the bandages from the road rash and it’s healing nicely. Keep applying the ointment.” He started to get up. “Wait just a minute.”

  “You said I could go home.”

  “You can. Just as soon as the nurse takes out the IV.”

  “Can’t you do it?”

  She rolled her eyes, but she slipped on latex gloves and removed the needle. She placed a bandage over the spot and then pulled off the gloves and tossed them into a hazardous waste container. “Be careful when you sit. You’ll probably need an inflatable donut to ease the pressure.”

  “Sure.” No way in hell. He’d endure the pain.

  “How are Mason and Noah?”

  “You know I can’t discuss patient details with you.”

  “Doc…”

  Logan and Dan stuck their heads inside. “How are you, G?”

  “Good. What did you find out?”

  “Noah’s good,” Logan said. “The bullet was a through and through and it missed bone, so he’s stitched up and on the way home. His ribs are severely bruised from the impact of the other bullets, but no cracks. Mason has a concussion and various cuts and scrapes. They’re keeping him overnight, much to his consternation.”

  “Deanna?” Melody asked.

  With a look of sympathy, Dan shook his head.

  Melody gasped and covered her mouth. Grant wanted to feel sorrow, but the woman tried to destroy Melody’s business. Actually, she might have succeeded. With the total loss of the building, all her supplies were gone. And Deanna had tried to kill her. He’d rather she spent her life behind bars, but now she couldn’t harm Melody anymore. The bad news was that with her death, she couldn’t name her accomplice. She’d inferred as much when she said she was told the bomb was a fake on her death bed. She might’ve meant the person who created it, but more than likely, it was another person in on the attacks. Raine? She had the scientific knowledge and the means to build an explosive device.

  Ben helped him dress and then after a visit to Mason, who was pissed at having to spend the night, they headed home.

  Chapter Twenty

  Melody was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The numbness hadn’t worn off yet. She hoped it did soon. This state of apathy didn’t sit well with her. She had no idea what she was going to do. She hadn’t seriously considered Elliot Kingman’s offer before. This was her dream and she wanted to do it by herself. Now, with everything gone and her business in shambles, she would have to give it genuine consideration.

  She was sad Deanna had died, but thankfully, she was the only one. Noah and Mason were going to be okay. The innocent people caught up in the blast had been released with minor injuries. And Grant. He’d saved her life. When he’d tackled her to the ground, she had no idea what was happening. Then she heard the gunfire. He’d completely covered her body with his, protecting her from bullets and glass and flying debris. He truly was her hero.

  They’d just stepped outside the hospital when someone called her name. She turned to see Raine rushing towards her. Grant’s grip on her arm tightened. She knew he still suspected her friend, but she refused to believe they would both turn against her. Deanna was bad enough, she couldn’t handle Raine’s betrayal, too.

  She hugged the other woman. “What are you doing here?”

  “The police called me. They said you gave them my name as one of your employees.”

  “Oh, right.” In the excitement after the explosion, she’d forgotten one of the detectives had asked about her employees. They said they’d contact Raine to make sure she hadn’t been inside when the bomb went off, just to be safe.

  “Oh, my God, Melody, what happened? I tried to go to the shop, but the streets were blocked off, so I came here. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. A bomb exploded at the store. Everything’s gone.”

  Raine’s face paled. “What? A bomb? Was anyone hurt?”

  “Two of Grant’s coworkers, a couple of bystanders, Deanna.”

  Her hands flew to her face. “How bad?”

  “Grant’s coworkers and the bystanders are going to be fine.”

  “Deanna?”

  Melody shook her head. She couldn’t get the words out. Deanna was dead.

  Tears poured from Raine’s eyes. If she was involved, she was a Juliet LaRue-caliber actress. She looked devastated.

  “I was there earlier tonight. I forgot my cell phone in the lab. Deanna came in and said she was getting information to work on a brochure. I should have stayed with her, but I left her alone and now she’s dead.” Her hands covered her face.

  “Raine, Deanna is the one who brought the bomb.”

  Raine’s hands dropped from her face and she gaped at Melody. “What?”

  “Deanna brought the bomb and I’m pretty sure she’s the one who’s been sabotaging the business.”

  Raine shook her head. “No, I don’t believe it. Why would she do that? She was excited when you asked her to work for you.”

  “I don’t know why but she did it. She apologized, but we may never know her reasons.”

  Raine looked shell-shocked. It must be how Melody looked, too. It was a lot to process.

  “Go home and rest. I’ll call you sometime tomorrow and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do. There are a couple of options.” Most notably going back to work for Elliot Kingman and Chem-Co.

  Raine hugged her and headed to her car in a daze. Melody turned to Grant, who’d stepped back to give them privacy. He held out a hand and led her to the SUV where Luke and Logan were waiting patiently inside.

  “Are you okay to ride or do you need to lie down in the back?” Luke asked Grant.

  “The stitches are more on my side, so I’m fine to sit.”

  “Here.” Logan tossed something over the seat. Grant caught it and groaned. It was an inflatable donut. “Dan scrounged that up for you to use.”

  “Great,” Grant mumbled as he adjusted the round ring so his stitches were in the center.

  Logan started the vehicle and they drove out of the parking lot.

  “Tell us everything that happened, starting with you waiting for the vandal to arrive.”

  Grant went over all the details, including Raine’s surprising visit and then Deanna’s arrival. He ended with her deathbed confession.

  “She was dying, probably knew it, so I tend to believe she was telling the truth,” Luke said. “That means there’s still someone out there who wants to do harm to Melody’s business.”

  “There’s nothing more to harm,” she told them. “Deanna destroyed the shop and my house. I have nothing.”

  “Not true.” Grant squeezed her hand reassuringly. “You have me. We’ll figure something out.”

  Her heart warmed at his use of we, like they were in on this together.

  #

  The lethargy hadn’t let up after Luke and Logan dropped them off and they entered Grant’s apartment. She wondered if it ever would.

  Logan had swung through a drive-thru and they made her eat a sandwich, even though she wasn’t hungry. Her stomach threatened to revolt every time she thought a
bout what had happened, still, she managed a few bites.

  Grant’s phone rang before he even closed the door. She walked to the balcony and shoved open the sliding glass door. Fred was happily enjoying the fresh air, his leaves perky and healthy. She lifted the glass of water Grant left beside the pot and gave him a drink.

  He came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “How are you holding up?”

  “About as good as expected under the circumstances.”

  “That was Detective Hurley. The investigators determined the bomb was detonated remotely using a cell phone.”

  “Could they trace it?”

  “Yes, but it was from a phone that had been reported stolen from a woman’s purse. She checked out clean, so she wasn’t involved. She has no idea when she lost the phone.”

  “If Deanna truly thought it was fake, that means her accomplice double crossed her. He or she had no way of knowing if she placed the bomb and got out.”

  “Unless they were watching the building. The police searched Deanna’s apartment and found the stolen boxes of your products.”

  An overwhelming sadness swept over her. “She was responsible for the theft.”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Did they uncover her accomplice?”

  “Not yet, but her apartment isn’t a crime scene. What do you say we go take a look around? Maybe we can find something the police missed.”

  After a quick shower to wash off the ash and soot, she dressed in a black shirt and yoga pants. She figured since they were breaking and entering, she might as well look the part. Before she tugged the shirt over her head, she fastened the Kevlar vest Grant insisted she wear whenever she left the compound. She was getting used to it. It was super lightweight and surprisingly comfortable. She liked the added layer of protection.

  Grant had also chosen black clothes, so they looked like the perfect pair of cat burglars.

  “You wearing the vest?”

  She patted her chest. “Yes.”

  As they were leaving, she grabbed the inflatable donut from the counter. She didn’t want him uncomfortable on the ride to Deanna’s apartment or popping a stitch. Only, it was flat.

  “Hum,” Grant murmured. “Looks like it sprung a leak. Too bad.” His mock disappointed tone didn’t fool her for a second.

  “Sprung a leak or was tampered with?”

  He took it from her hands and tossed it into the trash. “Guess we’ll never know.”

  As they drove to her apartment, she wondered if Deanna’s family had been notified yet. She was originally from Cincinnati and most of her family still lived there. Melody had never met them, but she knew she had several brothers and sisters and that her parents were still alive. They had to be devastated.

  She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Deanna was behind the attacks on her business. When she’d approached her about coming to work for Harmony, she’d been both excited and grateful. Melody truly thought she was happy about making the jump.

  Grant parked in front of Deanna’s apartment. “No cop cars, so we should be good to go.” Grant gathered materials from the back of his SUV. He handed her a flashlight and a pair of gloves. “We shouldn’t have to worry about prints, but I never take chances.” He also gave her a logo-less baseball cap. She piled her hair on top of her head and tugged it on.

  The parking lot was packed with cars this time of night. All Deanna’s neighbors would be home from school or work. Grant had instructed her to keep her head down as they climbed the flight of steps to her landing. When they reached Deanna’s door, he made quick work of the lock and they were inside. She was impressed. He’d picked the lock as easily as if he had a key. Melody had been inside Deanna’s place a few times, the most recent when she pitched the idea of Deanna coming to work for her.

  The furnishings were high-end and luxurious. Deanna had champagne tastes. She dressed in designer clothes and shoes and carried purses that cost as much as a month’s rent. One of the reasons Melody had been shocked when Deanna agreed to come work for her was her extravagant way of life. Even her apartment was in an exclusive community. Melody was afraid she couldn’t offer her the salary she needed to keep up her standard of living. She’d given both Deanna and Raine a contract that her brother had drawn up and told them to think about it for a few days before deciding. Raine said yes on the spot but Melody encouraged her to think about it first. She’d called the next day and accepted. It had taken Deanna two days before she called and took the position. Melody had thought that she would pass, so when she said yes, it’d been a shock.

  Another reason she thought Deanna wouldn’t want to leave was Elliot Kingman. Melody always wondered if Deanna had a crush on her boss. Even when she worked at Chem-Co, Deanna was always gushing about what a wonderful man he was and how she loved working for him. Most of the women who worked there did have a crush on him, Melody included. Now she wondered what she ever saw in the man.

  As she flashed the beam around the room, she noticed several items were out of place: drawers were left open and cabinet doors weren’t completely closed. Probably from the police search, but they could’ve straightened up. Melody would make sure the place was in order when they departed in consideration of Deanna’s family.

  “I’ll check out the living room, while you tackle the bedroom,” Grant said.

  She stepped inside Deanna’s bedroom, not sure what she was looking for. Her room was an explosion of pink and lace and faux fur. A queen-sized canopy bed took up most of the room. It was deluged with pillows in various sizes and shapes. She moved to the antique dressing table covered with cosmetics and bottles of expensive perfume. Deanna had several pictures and mementos tacked around the maple frame that surrounded the oval mirror. She scanned the items, which ranged from Broadway ticket stubs to a ski pass from Vail, Colorado. Her beam passed over a picture before snapping back. She snatched it off the frame for a better look.

  “Oh, my God.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Melody stared at the picture in shock. Her friend truly had betrayed her.

  “Grant?” She headed out to find him just as a scraping sound reached her ears and the doorknob turned. Had Deanna’s family arrived?

  Grant guided her behind the breakfast bar. “Stay down,” he ordered as he made his way to the entry. He plastered himself against the wall and waited. A shaft of light cut across the tile floor as the door opened and then just as quickly closed. A flashlight snapped on. The figure was tall and broad, most definitely a man. He wore a hood over his head and gloves. That couldn’t be good. Definitely not the cops, and she didn’t think family members would sneak in like a burglar. Maybe someone heard about her passing and came to rob her. Grant waited until the person was inside before he snapped on the lights and yelled, “Freeze!”

  The man turned to bolt but Grant blocked the door and aimed his weapon at the man’s head. “Don’t even think about it,” he advised when the man started to reach into his sweatshirt pocket. “All it would take is an infinitesimal amount of pressure and my trigger finger is feeling itchy. Hands in the air now.”

  The man huffed and slowly lifted his hands.

  “Take off the hood.”

  “Which is it? Hands in the air or take off the hood?” the man retorted.

  “Guess.” Grant’s aim never wavered.

  The man jerked it off and Melody gasped. “Burton Kline?” What the heck was her former boss doing here? The man who passed on producing her product. The man who said nasty, unflattering, hurtful things about her in court. The man who Elliot Kingman fired after they lost the case against her.

  She’d never called him by anything other than Mister Kline, but he didn’t deserve that courtesy. “What are you doing here, Kline?”

  “I heard about Deanna and I was devastated.”

  “She just passed away. That information hasn’t been released yet. You heard about it that quickly?”

  “Sure.”

  “T
hat doesn’t explain what you are doing in her apartment.”

  He shrugged negligently. “I wanted to check on things so her family wouldn’t worry.”

  “And you thought picking the lock and breaking in, wearing a hood and gloves was the way to go?” Grant drawled.

  He sighed. “Fine. Deanna and I had an affair, okay? It’s been over for a couple of weeks, but I left some things here. I wanted to get them before her family cleaned out the apartment.”

  “Liar.”

  Hatred sharpened his features and his gaze snapped to her. “What did you call me?”

  Melody stepped forward. “The same thing you called me in court. Liar. Deanna never would’ve had an affair with you.”

  “She most certainly—”

  “No, she didn’t, so stop lying. She was having an affair with Elliot Kingman.”

  Grant kept any reaction from his face. She hadn’t shared that with him yet. Burton, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised by the revelation. He’d known.

  “You can’t prove we didn’t. She’s dead so it’s my word against yours.”

  “What’s in the backpack?” Grant asked.

  The man turned his hate-filled glare to him. “None of your damn business.”

  “This gun says it is. Take it off.”

  “Like hell.”

  Kline reached for his weapon, but he was no match against a trained warrior. It was laughable how easy Grant had him disarmed and face down on the floor before he could blink. He ripped off the backpack and zip-tied Kline’s hands together.

  “Get your hands off me, you Neanderthal.” Kline bucked and twisted uselessly. “I’ll have you arrested for battery.”

  “You can try. I’ll let you explain to the police that when they get here.”

  “Wait, wait,” Kline sputtered. “No need to get the police involved.”

  Melody adjusted the fit of her gloves and opened the backpack, not sure what to expect. It wasn’t what she was staring at. “Oh, my God, Grant,” she whispered. “He has another bomb.”

  Grant was on his feet in an instant. “Back slowly away, Melody.” She did. “Now get out of here.”