by Diane Bator
Thayer grimaced. "I'm not here to arrest you."
Mick placed his hands on his hips. "Then what do you want with her?"
The tense silence sent a shiver up her arms, and she looked to Mick and wished more people had join themed. A crowd would make Thayer seem less intimidating.
"She can't join you right now. She's busy." Mick moved between them, shielding her from the darkness in Thayer's eyes. "We're training."
"Is that what you call it?" Thayer asked. "How convenient. You teach karate classes, and women flock straight to you, hoping they can spend a night with you."
"You're wrong." Mick's back stiffened. "At least I don't have to handcuff my dates."
Thayer flinched. "You'd better watch your mouth. I know all about you from Fabio. You're nothing more than a muscle-head who couldn't make a go of it in the big city because of your reputation for messing around with students."
Gilda sighed. "Thayer, go home before you say something you'll regret."
"No. Let him say his piece," Mick said. "I'd kind of like to hear what he thinks he knows. I'm up for a good fight today."
Thayer's lip twitched. "You might not want Gilda to hear what I have to say. From what I've heard, you've played the bad boy role to the hilt. She's not into guys who play the field."
"Like you?" she asked.
Mick didn't bother to hide his smirk. "Sounds to me like the playing field's pretty level then. There's nothing I haven't done that you haven't equalled or bested. You're not the only one Fabio talks to. I've known him since we were toddlers."
"Maybe you and I should step outside," Thayer said.
Gilda groaned. "Oh, that's mature."
Mick placed his hand on her shoulder. "This isn't public, Thayer. This is personal. Since we're in a training hall, I see no reason why you and I can't settle things right here and now."
"On your turf?" Thayer didn't look convinced. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to take you on with all your weapons within your reach?"
"I have all the weapons I need right here." Mick held out his hands. "What are you so afraid of? You have a gun and a baton."
"And handcuffs." Gilda hoped—and prayed—the two weren't serious. She held her ground, uncertain what to do next. Should she lock them inside to beat each other senseless, or call Fabio? He'd probably just handcuff Mick and Thayer together and tell them to work things out.
Thayer took off his shoes and set his utility belt in the dojo against the wall.
Mick cleared his throat. "Out of respect, I'd rather you leave the gun outside."
"Right," he said. "With my luck, Gilda would shoot me in the back."
"Why would she do that?" Mick grinned. "Unless you're afraid she might want revenge."
Gilda held her hands up. "Oh no, do not drag me back into this."
"You're already involved. He's only beating his chest since he doesn't want you anywhere near me." Mick untied his black belt and folded it neatly. "This isn't about who killed our friends. This is Thayer's pride getting in the way of his investigation."
"I don't see you backing down," she said.
"And look like a wimp?" He set his belt on the floor near the shrine and took off his gi top. "Are you kidding?"
Gilda threw up her hands then headed for the changing room.
"Hey." Thayer paused. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Home. You're both being childish." She turned to bow at the door.
"He's the one trying to impress you," Mick said.
"And you're not?" Gilda rolled her eyes and closed the dojo door behind her so she didn't have to witness the battle. Why should she care if the two of them killed each other?
She winced. Bad choice of words. She should call Fabio to come settle things, but it sounded as though he'd already fed both men stories about the other to fuel the feud. He'd probably referee a fight before he'd ever mediate.
Mick and Thayer barked insults and accusations for several minutes before the school grew quiet. Gilda cringed, frozen in place to listen as their voices faded. Then the lights went out inside the dojo.
"Oh, no. What are they up to now?" She changed fast then rushed down the hall and around the corner.
The men's voices were a dull hum behind the closed office door. Wary, she knocked and stepped back when Thayer opened the door and gave a wry smile. At least he bore no bruises and no red strike marks.
"What happened?" Gilda looked from one to the other. "I thought you'd still be in there…"
Mick grinned. "You mean, why aren't we beating each other senseless?"
"Kind of," she said.
Thayer hitched up his utility belt. "I'm a cop. I'd have to arrest him for assault."
"Hey, buddy." Mick held up a finger in warning. "I told you the other night, once you sign the waiver and put on sparring gear, anything that happens in the dojo is perfectly legal. Including beating your sorry ass."
And including Yoshida trying to beat her senseless for no reason. Gilda shuddered and threw her bag over her shoulder and shook her head. "Whatever you say. I'm leaving."
"Don't you even want to know what we've decided?" Mick asked.
She stopped and blew out a long breath then turned to study both men. "Nope."
"You should know, Mick and I have decided to team up." Thayer followed her. "The more I've talked to Mick and Razi and thought about your suspicions about Yoshida, the more I think you're right. He's got the most to lose if this place fails and the most to gain if it goes up in flames. We'll set a trap for him with Mick as bait."
"It won't work." Gilda hesitated. "If Yoshida really is the killer, do you honestly think he'll fall for such a blatant trick? He's a pretty smart man."
Mick joined them in the lobby. "A smart man who seems awfully desperate to be rid of this school and to get out of Sandstone Cove. I think he'll bite."
"Sure, he will," Gilda said. "Unless it's Razi he's after, not you."
Mick shook his head. "Not a chance. Yoshida and I have butted heads a lot lately. Razi keeps to himself and doesn't step out of line. He's a much bigger asset than I am."
Thayer shifted his weight. "But what if Razi's the murderer?"
"Then he wouldn't be dumb enough to kill me in front of a school full of cops," Mick said.
Gilda sat on a plastic chair. "Either way, things won't turn out well."
Thayer frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The killer has nothing left to lose." She stared into the dark dojo. "Mick's the last black belt, aside from Razi. Since Yoshida and Razi were trained to go down fighting, it could become a fight to the death."
"Then you're right." Mick sat next to her and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "Either way, things won't turn out well. You were right. I've been selfish. You should go home and type up your resume. I need to do this alone, and you need to be safe."
Thayer rubbed the back of his neck and shuffled his feet. "Um, I'm going to…" He headed off down the hall to the washrooms.
"There has to be another way." Gilda blinked back tears. "He had to leave evidence. Did they search the vent? Did they get the results back from the lab? Did they…?"
Mick touched his finger to her lips. "Those things take time, Gilda, which is one thing we're running out of. I don't want anyone else to die."
"Is this really the last resort?" she asked. "Isn't there some other way we can catch him?"
"If you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Razi and I don't have a Plan B. This is it. Are you in?"
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Gilda walked away from the school without coffee or breakfast. Her hands shook, and her knees were weak. The shaking was partially from the workout and mostly from the mere thought of Mick and Thayer teaming up to catch a killer. At least Fabio would keep them focused on practical ideas for a trap, because if their ideas didn't work…
Lost behind a veil of tears, she wasn't even aware of the car next to her until Gary called out to her. "Gild
a. Wait up. We need to talk."
She gulped, startled out of her reverie. "No. I just talked to Mick and Thayer. I'm done talking. I'm going home to eat, pack, and move in with my mother."
"You don't mean that," he said.
"Even more now than I did a minute ago." She swiped one arm across her face. "I'm done, Gary. I'd rather move in with her than live here with people dropping dead around me."
He got out and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry you feel that way, because I think I have something that would help. I think I have a motive for the murders."
"Yeah, I do too. Yoshida's greed."
"I've got a better one." He shook his head. "Come for a drive with me. I promise this will make your day."
Reluctantly, she got into the passenger seat and remained as close to the door as possible. "Where are we going?"
"Walter's house."
"Walter's dead." She pretended to wipe an eyelash from her eye, which brimmed with tears. "It's Jade's house now."
"Yeah, but his widow isn't dead, and she has a secret." He refused to say more until they pulled onto Walter's street and parked across from the mansion with the three-car garage. "I have friends in high places who tell me our prim-and-proper widow is expecting a small package. In about six months."
Gilda groaned. "Why do I care what Walter's widow is expecting? Just take me home." She paused then turned to Gary, wide-eyed. "Wait. Jade's pregnant? Who told you that?"
He lit a cigarette, drew in a lungful of smoke, then held the cigarette outside the window. "Let's just say we have a mutual friend in the medical profession who wants to see justice done."
"Doc?" Her mouth dropped open. "Doesn't that violate his doctor-patient confidentiality?"
"Jade isn't his patient," Gary said. "He saw her buy a pregnancy test in the hospital pharmacy. Considering he'd just done the autopsy on her husband and had to wait for her to identify the body, that kind of seemed odd."
"So, she and Walter were expecting." Gilda shrugged. "That's not so strange."
He took a drag on the cigarette and met her gaze. "It wouldn't be, except Walter had a vasectomy seven years ago. Doc went back in his records to confirm it. The lovely widow was sleeping around."
Yoshida walked out the front door of Jade's house into the sunshine then got in his car.
"That's old news. Aside from the pregnancy, you're not telling me anything I didn't already know from Mick and Razi."
"Oh, he's not why we're here." Gary held up a hand to silence her. After several seconds passed, he pointed out the windshield. "We're here because of that one."
When a familiar figure emerged from the hedge and strode up the sidewalk, Gilda gasped. "Razi? What's he doing here?"
With a quick glance over one shoulder, Razi tapped on the front door. Jade stuck her head out and spoke to him, her face pinched and angry, then handed him a paper bag. Clearly not satisfied, Razi pushed past her into the house.
"Gary, I don't understand. What does Razi have to do with everything?"
"My connections all came up with dead ends. I think that's something you need to ask the man himself." Gary butted his cigarette. "From what I assume, it has something to do with his stint in the army and the fact he and the merry widow have a past. A past they might want hidden from a number of people."
"Like the other black belts," she said. "Oh wow."
CHAPTER FORTY
Gilda had walked around holding her breath for so long she'd forgotten what it was like to breathe. Today was no different. After Gary dropped her off at her house in silence with more questions than answers, she paced the garden trying to piece together what was going on.
Why would Razi walk straight into Jade's house like he owned the place, and why would Gary be so cryptic if he knew the truth? If Razi and Jade had a one-time fling, there was no way he'd be so comfortable there unless…
She started to text Mick about Jade's pregnancy then stopped. Cripes, half the men in town could be the father, including Mick. How was she supposed to find the truth when Jade probably didn't even know who the father was?
Texting Razi would be an even bigger mistake, since he was straight back at the top of her suspect list. While she was sure he was too big to be the man who'd run out the back of the dojo, either he or Yoshida could have been the man in the yellow bathrobe she'd seen in Jade's house that day. The man had moved too quickly for her to get a good look.
Her phone buzzed. A text from Mick. In one more hour, the trap to catch a killer would be laid, and Gilda still wasn't sure they had the right bait. The more she thought, the more doubts nagged her. While Yoshida was her logical choice for a killer, maybe he'd been the intended target all along and the others simply got in the way. Razi's way.
Mick had kept so many secrets she wasn't sure she could trust him, even though he'd said he was innocent. Using him to lure the killer would only work if Razi wasn't the intended target and if Mick wasn't the killer about to both get his target and end his own life.
Razi had his own reasons for wanting the other black belts dead. As a former soldier, he could have been quick and efficient. What if he'd wanted Mick dead all along and planned to do it in front of everyone?
Wary, Gilda made her way to the school. At the front desk, Mick, Thayer, and Fabio glanced up as they went over some last minute instructions. Razi was nowhere in sight. She sighed when the cops went to stake out the best hiding spots.
Mick reached out and hugged her tight. "You okay?"
"No. I think this is a really bad idea." She hugged her stomach and glanced toward the dojo, fighting the urge to tell him what she'd seen. "Where's Razi?"
When Fabio returned and leaned on the counter, Mick let her go. "He had some things to tie up. He'll be here when he's done."
Her stomach lurched. Things like dealing with Jade Levy's pregnancy, perhaps? She had to stop second-guessing herself. That part was up to Thayer and Fabio.
Thayer came around and grabbed her arm. "Time for you to leave the detecting to the police. Go home."
"Not a chance." She shrugged him off. "I want to catch this guy as much as you do. Probably even more. I promise. I won't get in the way."
"I understand that," Mick said. "We all do. But maybe this isn't the best place for you to be. Anything could happen today."
Gilda huffed. "I've been knocked out and stalked and discovered two dead bodies, and you don't think I should be here to see how it all ends? Are you kidding me? I want a front-row seat."
"Go home, Gilda." Mick was stern.
When she glared in return, he moved back. "Not. A. Chance."
"I'll take her with me into the changing room," Fabio said. "She'll be safe there."
Mick grabbed her shoulders. "Whatever happens, you need to stay put. Don't do anything unless Fabio gives you the all clear. Got it?"
Angry and terrified all at once, she threw her arms around his neck. "Please be careful."
"I will," Mick said. "And when this is done, you and I can spend time alone figuring some things out."
"What kind of things?" Gilda's heart beat faster when he looked her in the eyes then kissed her and leaned his forehead against hers.
"Like where we go from here." Mick smiled. "And how we're going to make what I know we've already got work. I vote for a sunny beach and all the margaritas we can drink."
"Time alone on a sunny beach? That sounds good," she said.
When Mick glanced over to where Thayer and Fabio stood discussing last-minute ideas, Gilda followed his gaze. He waited until Thayer turned their way before he kissed Gilda so hard that her body seemed to ignite, even after he moved away and whispered, "I do love you."
She smiled through her tears and nodded, unable to speak as doubt still nagged.
Fabio led her to the changing room in back and made sure they had good views of the dojo and shrine. A strip of daylight peered through the back door Mick had left slightly ajar. The trap was set, and Gilda's heart beat in her throat.
From h
er vantage point, Mick was clearly visible. He'd stripped off his gi top and did the only thing he could to make things appear normal. He trained. Kata after kata, for half an hour until sweat dripped off his hair and rolled down the curves of his bare back.
Gilda's foot fell asleep. When she shook it, she kicked the wall by accident.
Mick flinched but didn't stop moving.
"Careful," Fabio whispered from the next stall.
She stretched without making any sudden movements. The last thing they wanted to do was give their hiding spots away. The waiting, however, was agonizing, and her stomach ached from anticipation, especially when Mick was a sitting duck and there was little anyone could do if a gunshot rang out. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the killer's style. He seemed to favor more traditional weapons.
Something banged in the wall down the hallway, and then metal grated on metal. After several seconds of holding her breath and straining her neck to see what was happening, the wall vent popped open. There was no way Razi could have fit inside the one-foot-by-one-foot square.
One narrow hand slapped the floor, then another before Yoshida crawled into the school, his dark hair mussed and dusty. Gilda wanted to scream out a warning but bit her tongue. Thayer had placed a sensor at the top of the vent and, even though he was in Mick's office across the school, probably already knew Yoshida was there before she had.
Yoshida brushed fine dust off his clothes then walked barefoot down the hall toward the dojo. He paused in the doorway.
Mick ended his kata then turned to face his teacher and bowed. "My apologies, Shihan. I didn't hear the door."
"I am not surprised. You were training hard and oblivious, as usual. What is it you would like to discuss?" Brusque. To the point. Business as usual. Mick must have called to lure him in, but why crawl through the vent when he had a key? He hadn't wanted anyone to see him. No witnesses.
Gilda's heart hammered so loudly she was sure both men heard. She held her breath and struggled to calm her vibrating body. Could they sense her or hear her heart beating against her ribs?
"I wanted to discuss the rental agreement for our Detroit school." Mick paced as he spoke, a jaguar with rippling muscles and raw power, but stayed within her sight. "We need to renegotiate. I can't afford that amount. I'll need a lot of equipment for start-up."