by Kim Smith
“Don’t want to hang out and watch her go to jail?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I guess seeing her suffer for her sins wasn’t quite as much fun as I thought it’d be. I did enjoy seeing her squirm some though. Reckon that makes us even.”
He laughed and draped his arm around my shoulders. “Okay then, hang on one moment and let me get someone to take you home.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll call Katie. She’s probably dying to know what’s happened.”
He nodded and went back to his duty.
Once Katie arrived, still dressed in her biker garb, and doing her utmost to interest a cop, Sal came over to say goodbye.
“I’ll call you in a few hours. You and I have unfinished business.”
The officer standing nearby gave us an amused glare, and my unabashed embarrassment silenced both of us.
Katie didn’t miss a beat though and gave a low whistle. “Day-um.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Katie didn’t drop me off at the office like I wanted, but instead came in with me. Surprisingly, Dwayne sat at his desk.
“You’re still in those same clothes from yesterday, Wall-ass. What’s wrong with you?” he asked, looking up. “Don’t you do laundry?”
“Oh. Um. Haven’t been home yet.”
His eyebrows rose a bit. “What? I dropped you at your aunties’ hours ago.”
“We sort of ran into Sal at the Denaldo house. Stakeout.”
“I told her that man wants her like a carrot wants ranch dip.” Katie hitched one hip on the side of his desk, and grinned at me.
He sighed and sat back making his chair squeak. “Katie’s right. That man has plans for you, girl.”
“Salvador Ramirez is the hottest man on the planet,” Katie said. “Antonio Banderas might even pale in comparison, and she can’t see him for nothing.”
“Banderas has more money,” Dwayne said.
Katie didn’t seem to care. “Money-smoney. Money can’t keep you warm at night. I was trying to interest a cop over there.”
“Did he make googly eyes at you?” Dwayne asked me.
“No. He was on stake-out, I told you.”
“So?”
“So, he wasn’t thinking of googly eyes.”
“What happened?”
“They got Thelma and her ugly old man in custody. I sort of helped.”
“You’re in trouble, girl. He’s going to want to be paid for allowing you to be a part of his take-down.”
“No way.”
Dwayne waggled his eyebrows at me before waving at Katie. “We should go over and park down the street and watch the goings on. Might even interest a cop myself.”
“No!” I yelled.
“Why not? Don’t you wanna watch him work?”
“Just did that, don’t want to go back,” I said, exasperated.
“I don’t want to watch him work either,” Katie said. “I just think he’s hot.”
“He’s even hotter when he’s fightin’ crime,” Dwayne said, gazing at his nails. “Somethin’ about a man workin’ his thang.”
Katie slid off the desk. “That’s just your lust talking.”
“I can’t help I’m lusty,” Dwayne said. “Lately all I seem to be attractin’ are straight guys and criminals. My lust needs attention. All this non-action is just sendin’ me directly to the candy aisle at Kringle’s. I’ll be as big as a Buick.”
I held my opinion inside and wandered into my office. If my silence was noted, it was never spoken out loud. I didn’t want to think about Sal’s animal magnetism. If his last words were any indication, he’d be showing me soon enough.
###
Dwayne and I stopped off at the local sub shop before going to the Mamas to pick up Betsy. I told him about the whole conversation with my aunts about the trust.
“Hells bells, Wall-ass. You haven’t told me nothing about this!” He nearly choked on his foot long.
“I know. But there has been so much stuff going on non-stop, I haven’t had time to even think about it much myself. I expect to be in touch with the lawyer about it next week.”
He swallowed, took a swig of his soda and pinioned me with a look. “How come you ain’t lettin’ that Adams piece of legal trifle help you?”
“He’s not an estate and trust lawyer.”
“Hell, they all smell money when it’s headed their way.”
I shook my head. “Aunt Nan pointed me in this direction.”
He took another massive hunk out of his sandwich and began to chew. I related the info about how both aunts had been having weird mishaps. He grunted and frowned.
“I’m more than a little worried about these weird accidents. They seem small and disconnected, but, you know my life. They could mean something.”
He nodded and chewed. Finally, he said, “Them women are too sweet for anything to happen to them. You know I’ll keep an eye out.”
“What do you think? Could the accidents be related?”
He shrugged and grabbed a chip from the snack bag in front of him. “Have you ever considered they might not be accidents?”
This sent a cold chill through me that had nothing to do with the air conditioning in the restaurant. He had in effect spoken the words that had been haunting me for days.
The silence that followed grew long, and Dee filled it with advice on how to handle Sal’s advances.
###
When we finished eating, we headed for the Mamas house.
When we pulled in the driveway, Betsy was missing.
“Dwayne, where’s my car?” My heart knocked around in my chest, taking my breath. “I have to go home.”
“Oh that. Well, while you’ve been busy playin’ the Bionic Woman, I took the liberty of doin’ a little dealin’ with the dude over at the dealership.”
“No! I told you I can’t pay for a car.” My voice rose as my panic took over.
He waved my concern aside. “Well, after what you just told me, Shan, you don’t know that for sure. Maybe you can’t right now, but you might be comin’ into money. And well, anyway, for now—your aunties can afford it. They helped me out with the fundin’ and we have things all worked out.”
I started to protest loudly, but he shushed me. “Look. You need a better car, girl. I can’t keep haulin’ your ass around and keepin’ your car runnin’ and worryin’ about whether some fool is goin’ to be yankin’ you out of that old junk pile on some dark road while you’re broke down.”
He had my attention.
I pushed him on the shoulder. “So, what’s up?”
“It’s parked over on the side of the house. It’s the red one.”
I leapt from his car and raced for the red Honda parked on a side street by my aunts’ house.
“This one?” I squealed, as I slid to a stop, my heart pounding a dance tune in my chest.
He loped up and dangled a set of keys in front of me. “Yep. Go on, test it out. But first, go kiss them women on both cheeks. They love you like a rat eatin’ cheese. They want to see how you look in it.”
I threw my arms around his neck, kissed him on both cheeks, and took off for the house where the two sweetest women in the south were just emerging. Suddenly, life was finally turning out for the better.
###
By the time I made it home from joy riding and showing off, it was mere moments before Sal knocked on my door. The realization that he was coming over to finish some unfinished business dampened my joy. A state of detachment settled on me.
“You don’t look so good,” he greeted me as I let him in. He held up a bottle. “I have some wine. Fix you right up.”
“Are you going to anesthetize my arrest with alcohol, because if so, just go on and shoot me. Put me out of my misery now. I didn’t mean to mess up anything with that stake-out.”
He strolled into my kitchen and made me sit at the table. Then, he pulled out tumblers in lieu of wineglasses. “No. I told you, you are not under arrest. We’re celebrating.”
T
his roused me. “Celebrating? What?”
“That new car Brown got you, the fact that you have gotten a couple of decent video jobs, and for closing the case on Dan.”
“You knew about the car too?”
He nodded, smiling.
“What jobs? I only know of two.”
“I think I may have another one for you.” He handed me a glass. “And the autopsy results on Dan are final.”
I took the glass and sniffed the contents wondering how to ask the question most on my mind. I didn’t have to as it turned out, he read my mind.
“Well? Don’t you want to know how he died?”
If he shared that information with me, I was not going to jail. If he didn’t, then my guard would remain up, but I wasn’t going to ask for it. No sirree, Bob.
“Officially, blunt force trauma. Unofficially, it was an accident per Harper. He tried to knock Dan out so they could escape. Mrs. Denaldo was not involved in the attack and was, as you once said, an unwilling victim. She was more worried about having her whole operation shut down. Of course, she didn’t want to be accused of the murder either, so she hid. She had plans for her skin operation, though.” He took a sip and sat across from me. “Her brother was not as pristine as was first thought. He was the person she talked to on the phone about going to some island.”
I relaxed and smiled more to myself than to him. “So case closed?”
“Almost. Mostly just paperwork and tying up loose ends. At least we have the people involved in the whole convoluted ordeal in custody. Sooner or later, someone will finger someone who will finger someone.”
“That’s a lot of fingering going on.” I sipped the wine and felt a burning sensation in my stomach.
“Yeah, I guess. At any rate, Harper’s being held for manslaughter, and the others are up on obscenity charges. Thelma even halfway offered one of my men a spot on her next movie. I won’t tell you what she said about his…equipment.”
“Ew. No. Don’t tell me. I still have to call Jimmy and tell him that his case is toast for now. When he finds out that all the Denaldos are in jail and all their money is going for bail, he might retract the cash he paid me.” Saying it out loud made me feel slightly squeamish. I sure hoped I was thinking worst case scenario.
“No, he will not. You earned that fair and square. You got his footage. He owed it to you. But let’s talk about something else. I think my cousin is getting married. Want to do her wedding?”
I slid my empty glass away and stood. “We are pretty open right now, so I think that’s a definite possibility.”
“Good! I will give her the numbers to call you. Now, how about us? I’m off duty and you’re sipping wine and relaxing. This could turn into something.”
“What does that mean exactly?” My anti-cop antennae went up a notch.
“Maybe I want to be better friends?” His dark brown eyes twinkled with mischief.
I moved to walk past him. “I need a shower.”
Snake-like, he grabbed my arm, halting my stroll. “What’s wrong? Every time I try to elicit your attention, you run from me.”
“I don’t like it when you elicit things,” I said. He gave me a questioning look, and I shook my head and replied, “E-licit not ill-icit. Never mind. I’m not up for teaching you words tonight.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” He seemed so genuine for a change. Or maybe the wine was talking.
I stared at him and decided to come clean. “You’re a cop.”
“So?”
“So a cop can be a dangerous person given the right circumstances.”
“A dangerous…I need another drink,” he said, thrusting his hand through his hair. “Maybe two.” Then he stood and looked at me in shock. “Is that what you really think of me?”
I exhaled. “I don’t think you’re dangerous-dangerous, Sal. I just think you could put a crimp in my life in a big way. I don’t follow rules. I don’t obey the law, all the time.”
He moved back to the counter, poured a new glass for both of us, and stood a moment staring at them, both hands on the counter. Finally, he said, “Fine. Then let’s drink to Dan and I’ll go away and you can forget I ever said anything.”
I hustled over and took one of the glasses, watched him drain his. I tried to do likewise but the alcohol burned my throat, and I ended up choking and sputtering.
He patted my back and raised my arms over my head like a father would a child. My eyes were streaming, and I could barely breathe.
“You’re supposed to drink it, Shannon, not breathe it.” He took me into his arms.
“I’m not much good with wine,” I croaked. “Beer. Beer’s better.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “You’re doing fine.” He rubbed my back softly before saying with a sigh, “Dangerous, eh? I was hoping for something better than that. I thought we had a connection.”
It felt good to be enveloped in his arms. He smelled like his expensive cologne and boy sweat. It brought back memories of an evening in his backseat when we were in college.
“Are you okay now?” he asked when the coughing became a few throat-clearing sounds.
“Yes.” I didn’t move out of his arms.
“If I let you go, will you run away?”
I shook my head.
He released me and took a step back, gazing down at me, dark eyes questioning. “Do you want me to leave and let you forget I ever said anything?”
I shook my head again. He was like sweet and sour in my life. Right now, the sweet was completely intoxicating. Right now, the sweet was like melted dark chocolate running through my veins, both poisoning me and sustaining me.
“Do you want me to stay and let’s discuss this thing between us, this fear of me and my dangerousness?”
The wine had begun its work to relax me, and I decided maybe Ramirez wasn’t so scary. I nodded, finally. He came in for a kiss and I didn’t stop him.
When our lips met, I realized Sal didn’t need any answers from me anyway. He had the whole questionnaire, already filled out. Probably I would hate myself in a few hours. Probably Dwayne would never let me hear the end of it.
Ah, to hell with probably.
THE END
If you liked this book, you can read the others in the series on Amazon.
Disk of Death
Yew to a Kill
In the Shadows (A Spooky Short Story)
Thank you for reading Schooled in Murder. I would love it if you would help others enjoy this book, too. Please recommend to others and leave a review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kim Smith has written over 300,000 words in mystery, romance, and YA fantasy. After several failed attempts at traditional publishing with small publishers, Kim leaped into indie publishing with a vengeance. She hopes to begin turning them out at a quick step so that her readers will get all things Kim Smith in short order.
Kim lives in the mid-south region of the US with her husband of many years, and her Chihuahua dog, Darby, who demands to be in a book one day. Kim is a photographer, videographer, writer, and coffee-fiend.
In addition, she’s also a podcaster for the wonderful podcast, Writer Groupie at http://www.writergroupie.net where she hosts other authors and industry pros.
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All of Kim’s books can be found (with buy links!) on her website at http://www.kimsmithauthor.com/books
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