“You need to stop calling that guy stupid. He’s not.”
Stan wasn’t the only one with a few manipulative tricks up his sleeve. She hadn’t expected hers to work so well on him. Her arguments were weak at best. All she’d had to do was call the murderer stupid. A couple of more times and her brother would be in a temper tantrum like a two year old at an empty toy display. She grinned, leaning in to watch the meltdown. “I’m pretty sure he’s a very stupid idiot for killing her. I know it and you know it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
He jumped to his feet, knocking back his chair and screaming, “God damn it, I’m not stupid! You’re the one that’s stupid, so shut the fuck up and stop saying that, you stupid bitch!”
Two guards appeared at his sides as if summoned from thin air. One held his arm and gave him a shake while saying, “Calm down, or it’s over, buddy.”
Slumping as if weak in the knees, he shook his head. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Take me back to my cell. Get me away from her. I’ll be much better then.”
She stood as one of the guards escorted Stan away. Another came over to her. “Ma’am, this way.”
As he led her out of the room, she felt every set of eyes watching her and held up her head. The nice thing about Stan, he made mistakes when he got angry. Hayden had been right all along, just like she’d been afraid he was. No matter what else happened or how he lied in the future, her brother had all but confessed to killing Sheila.
Chapter 8
Hayden looked over the crime scene photos. The victim was a mangled mess. Comparing the guy’s driver’s license photo and his final snapshot, he wouldn’t have guessed they were the same guy. The victim and accused had fought in a bar. Autopsy results confirmed fists and a broken pool stick proved lethal. He shook his head at so much blood. Another photo, this time of the friend’s busted up knuckles, added to the evidence. He rubbed his forehead, feeling too old for this stuff.
He stretched in the chair, glancing up at the clock to see he’d been hunched over for a couple of hours. His spine crackled as he twisted to one side then the next to loosen up a little. Staring at the case in front of him, Hayden didn’t like what he had to do. Both men had families with young children. He had zero sympathy for the survivor of the fight and a lot for the ones hurt by all this.
Which brought his next case to mind. Another autopsy and photos were in another manila envelope waiting for him to review. An adult being beat to death was bearable, but a child? Thanks to the media, he knew the age of the little girl. She’d been punished and later died in the hospital. “I don’t want to do this anymore,” he whispered.
A little stunned he’d said the words aloud, Hayden leaned back enough to stare at the ceiling. How long had that water stain been there? It didn’t matter. He was done. Working for the state meant he couldn’t pick and choose his cases. It was fine when the victim had been an adult, but not so much when he had to look at dead children. He stood, rubbing the back of his neck. This was an old inner conflict with him: stay and put away the bad guys, or go and never have to look at another broken body.
He wanted to think about anything but work at the moment. Especially at six o’clock on a Saturday. He knew Maxine was busy with her boyfriend, but Alexandra? Staring off in the distance, even if that was only as far as the opposite wall, he wondered if she was still working too. She might like being treated to dinner, and he’d like the company. Plus he had a perverse curiosity about how her relationship with Stan was going. Before he could change his mind, Hayden dialed her number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, um, Alexandra.” Nice start, dumbass, he chided himself. “I mean, hello. I’m still at work and wanted to know if you’d like to hang out this evening.”
“Hang out?”
He knew better words than this. What had happened to all of them? Had he left them in court? He took a deep breath, pretending she was Maxine and just a friend. “Sure. Come over to my place, and I’ll fix you dinner. Lily will be there.”
She chuckled. “Good! I’m glad she lets you live in her home.”
“Trust me, I know how lucky I am she loves me.” Fingers crossed she said yes, he asked, “So we can count on your coming over?”
“Sure, I guess so. I need to talk with you anyway. Should I bring anything?”
Running through the menu of steak, shrimp, and salad, he suggested something he didn’t have. “Your favorite salad dressing.”
“All right. Text me your address? I don’t have Internet on this phone.”
“Sure, as soon as we hang up.”
“Great. I’m still on the road, so give me forty-five minutes to get there. I’m sorry it’s late, but….”
He’d heard from Maxine that Stan had set Alexandra’s visit for today during work hours. The man was a bona fide shithead. The woman paid his bills, and he messed with her business. Hayden didn’t want to hear anything self-deprecating from her. “Don’t even try to apologize. I’m still at the office and need time to get ingredients. Drive safe and see you soon.”
“Ok, will do.”
He heard her click off first and grinned. That was the easiest and most last minute date he’d ever gotten. Every cell in his body felt like it was having a party from the anticipation. He powered off the computer, pretty sure she wasn’t coming over for him alone but to talk about Stan. That far from town meant she had recently left Rawlings. He glanced at the time. Or maybe not, considering her practice closed for the evening an hour ago. Even with an eighty mile an hour speed limit, it took a while to get over there and back. He did the mental math and came up with a little more than two hours travel one way, easy.
Hayden locked the office and then outer doors before driving to the grocery. Interested in keeping it fast and simple, the menu he chose was easy but what about dessert? He didn’t know her favorite so skipped it for now. Every other aisle he had to stop grinning. Maybe she’d let him be her dessert. He caught his reflection in the dairy case’s glass doors. Happy guy, he thought while grabbing a small tub of sour cream. Impatient to see her and get their evening together started, he checked out and worked hard to drive under the speed limit home.
“Hello, little girl,” he said to Lily as he stepped into the apartment. She rubbed against his legs as he carefully carried bags into the kitchen. “I got you something too.” When finding the pack of cat toys, he opened it for her, the jingles already getting her attention. Hayden tossed each one into the living room, laughing when she followed. Hopefully they’d keep her busy while he cooked.
After a while, the doorbell startled him and his stomach did a little flip. He went to the door and opened it. Alexandra looked tired with dark circles under her eyes but smiled anyway when seeing him. Lily came up to her and purred like a motorboat. “Sounds like someone is glad to see you,” he said.
“How sweet!” She picked up the cat. “I’m glad to see her too. Considering the smell, I’m thrilled to be here too.” Carrying Lily, she went to the kitchen.
He followed, feeling a little lovesick. “I just put everything in the oven to keep it warm. Except for the salad.” And now somewhat dumb.
She laughed, still cuddling the cat. “Good. I’m not into wilted and warm lettuce.” Frowning, she turned to him. “Oh, I didn’t bring my salad dressing. I’m sorry, I totally forgot. To be honest, I didn’t even stop by the house or the store. Just came straight here.”
“It’s no big deal.” He went to the refrigerator, retrieving some homemade salad dressing and holding it up for her. “I have oil and vinegar if you don’t mind simple.”
“Perfect.” She wandered into the living room. “I like your place. Sparse but nice.”
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it. “Ha, you’re one to talk.”
Alexandra turned to him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged, going back to the kitchen to get more food. “Your place is pretty minimalist.” Coming back in with the steaks and garlic shrimp, he added, “It’s n
ot bad until you’re trying to cook.”
“Oh, yeah. I suppose.” She seemed to relax a little and put down Lily. “Most times I just get a salad in a bag or a frozen dinner. Do you have a bathroom? I mean, where do I wash my hands?”
“It’s down the hall and to the left.”
“Thanks.” She waved her fingers at him. “I love Lily but she sheds and I like my food fur free.”
“Understand completely.” He sat, satisfied everything was ready, and resisted the urge to nervous eat. He grinned when she reentered the room, liking the way her eyes lit up when seeing him and asked her, “Iced tea is good, right?”
“It’s perfect.” She sat, laying a napkin over her lap. “Everything looks too good to eat.”
“Trust me, it’s not.” Getting flustered at her amused grin, he tried to backtrack. “I mean, it’s good enough to eat, just not too good….” Now her hand hid a larger smile at him and he stopped, also grinning. “You know what? Never mind and go ahead and dig in.”
“I hear and obey.”
He cut up his steak, taking a bite. Perfect. He looked at her plate. She was fixing her baked potato. He swallowed and asked, “Is your steak cooked right?”
“Let me see.” She cut off a piece and ate. Not waiting until done chewing, she said, “Umm, this is so good.” She took a drink of tea. “You’re really good at this whole cooking thing. How can you still be single again?”
“That’s something my mom asks every time I go home.” He shrugged, unsure of how much to delve into this topic. “David kept her busy, being the oldest. Her pestering him let me coast and laugh at his misery. Plus, I didn’t want to marry the first girl I dated.”
“I’ll bet.” She took a bite of potato. “You’re a nice looking, successful guy. You can afford to be picky.”
“It’s partly that and mostly I spend my days at work, putting away bad guys, and I want to leave that behind when I go home.” He paused, realizing her brother was in the bad guy category. “I mean, I’m sorry, but it’s my job and enough of my life as it is. I’m ok with not adding in any more.”
She paused, swirling her fork’s tines in the pool of salad dressing on the plate and staring at it. “Don’t be sorry. He killed her and all but said the exact words to me today.”
Holy shit! He closed his mouth before she saw his surprise. Hayden tried to be calm about this revelation but couldn’t be. In his best emotionally detached voice, he asked, “Seriously? I have to ask what he said.”
At first biting her lip, she stopped to say, “I’m not sure how precise I can be, but when I told him Sheila’s killer was an idiot, that pissed him off pretty bad.”
He laughed at her saying such a thing to Stan’s face, not quitting even when she gave him a wry stare. “I’ll bet it did. Good how you got him to react. Any other guy with a dead wife would agree with you and have more to say about what a rotten person the murderer was.”
“That’s the sad part. He reacted like a guilty man would, and I’d really hoped you were wrong about him.”
“No, I’m never wrong.” Hayden realized how cocky that made him sound, and he shut up by taking a bite of salad.
“You’re not?” She gave him an ornery grin. “Hand over some lottery numbers. I could use the money.”
He swallowed, saying, “If I could, I would.” They ate for a while with neither speaking. A million questions ran through his mind, most not appropriate dinner conversation. Other than looking tired, she seemed to be much better today than the last time she’d visited Stan. Had he been apologetic, or just as mean as before because now he could be? Hayden shook his head without meaning to do so. Yet another question he couldn’t ask. After a while, one kept nagging at him until he had to give in. “How are things for you financially? I don’t need to know details. I just want to know you’re doing ok.” He watched as she cut a bite size piece of steak in half, then half again. Something bothered her and he tried not to smile at how she displayed stress. Was she going to eat one molecule at a time?
“I appreciate your concern. Ok is the best word for it. God forbid something major happens because I have no savings left.” She pushed away from the table and stood. “It’s not fun to admit, but then between low savings interest and high credit interest, high won.”
He helped her clear the table, putting away the few leftovers while she stacked dishes in the sink. “You’ve done enough and I’ll get those later. You’re the guest, so don’t even ask to help.”
“It’s not easy for me to back away, but all right.”
“Do you want coffee? I didn’t know your favorite dessert or even if you liked sweets, so that can be for next time.”
“Anything is good. If it’s sweet, I’ll love it.”
“Good to know.” He started up the coffee maker. “I’ll fix me a cup and extra in case you want some.”
“I do, actually. I didn’t sleep last night and need the help.” She wandered into the living room and sat down with Lily soon on her lap. The cat kneaded her leg, hugged her, all while purring loud enough to fill the apartment with sound.
“It’ll be ready in a minute.” He sat on the sofa’s arm, closest to the kitchen. “Let me guess, you were nervous about meeting Stan.”
“Very. I went over and over my mental toughness, but it wasn’t easy. I always took everything he said or did at face value. Silly me, because he doesn’t have a face value. Everything he says and does is meant to manipulate me somehow.”
Hayden heard the last gurgles of his coffee maker and headed to the kitchen. “I’m not surprised,” he called back over his shoulder. “From what others had said when I interviewed him, he was a two faced person.”
“He still is and I see that now. What’s stupid on my part is that I never saw his other side.”
He knew where this was going and wanted to stop her train of thought. “You don’t get to think you’re stupid. We’ve talked about this before. Stan’s opinion is invalid and self-serving.” After pouring them each a coffee, he went over to her. “You’re a very smart young lady, just blindly loyal to family members and that’s not a bad thing in most cases.”
She took the cup he offered. “I’m not fishing for compliments.”
Not liking the closed look on her face, he sat next to her and smiled. “No, I don’t think you are. But you need to get over feeling dumb for not seeing Stan for what he is. You can’t know what you’re not told.”
Chuckling, she asked, “I can’t not know what I didn’t want to be told? Or is it I can’t catch toes what I didn’t get cold.”
“Don’t be silly.” He took a quick sip. “You can’t kowtow when you’re looking for the gold.”
She laughed. “Good one.” She got up, going over and setting her cup on the kitchen table. “Still, I have that nagging feeling that I should have known sooner. Especially when I look back and remember all the little jokes he made at my expense.”
He nodded, getting up to refresh both their cups. “That passes for humor with a lot of people. Not me, I don’t like putting other people down to get a laugh. Plus, I find it subversively aggressive. At least have the guts to be mean openly instead of attacking then blaming the other person.”
“That’s exactly it. As if Stan has run over my heart and thinks it’s my fault.” She mimicked him. “I can’t help it. My car ran over your foot while I was driving it. You should have not been near my car. Or even better, you shouldn’t have such big feet.”
The idea of Bromley running over her feet then blaming her infuriated him. Before going off on someone two hours away, Hayden asked, “You’re not describing an actual event, right?”
“No, but….” she began while taking the cup he offered.
He held up his now free hand to stop her before she bogged down in explaining the example. “Yeah, it could have happened. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with him.”
Giving him a little grin, she said, “Me, too. Let’s talk about something else.” Alexandra took a sip. �
�Like how such a sexy man could be such a good cook. Hardly seems fair.”
A rush of lust swept from his heated face to his now alert groin. He ignored his brain trying to caution him about the topic of sex with her. “Really? This sounds like a topic needing a lot of discussion, all night, and in the nude.”
“Ha! I didn’t think I had a chance. Ethics being what they are.”
“I can’t talk about ethics right now.” He traced a finger along her cheek, warm from her blush. “I’m too intent on seducing you.”
“Well. It seems we agree on one thing.” She swallowed, leaning into his touch. “There should be some sort of something going on.”
He laughed. “How about this something?” Hayden leaned in, fingertips on her chin and kissed her. Dinner had taken all her lip gloss, leaving her soft lips bare under his. His heart seemed to first stop at their contact then resume thudding at a heavy beat. He felt more than heard her sigh and pulled her closer to him, wanting more. She placed her hands on his chest and he almost ended the kiss, thinking she might push him away. He relaxed to gauge what she wanted. Her hands slid around him, almost meeting at the middle of his back, and Hayden groaned. He buried his fingers in her soft hair, almost shivering at realizing a fantasy. Hard and ready for her, he leaned back just enough to say, “I want you too much to go halfway with this.”
“All right.”
Her acceptance spiked his pulse rate. He wanted to take her sentence as a full speed ahead, but wanted her to be positive. “Do we stop now and be friends, or go on and be more tonight?”
She hummed a little against his skin before replying, “I’m trying to say no, but I want more.”
Angels probably shouldn’t be singing, and yet he thought this would be the perfect time for cheering. “Good, since I do too.” He eased his hands from her hair. “Let me take care of a few things first.” She nodded and he locked the door, scooped up Lily and put her in her big carrier for the night, all while hiding his obvious interest for Alexandra.
The Very Worst Man Page 11