On My Knees: The Complete Series Box Set

by C. J. Thomas

  “It seems like an awful lotta work to go through just to do somethin’ like that, though. I’m not sayin’ I don’t think it’s possible. I think it’s totally possible. We’ve both seen stranger things happen.” I nodded in agreement. “But I don’t know. I’m wonderin’, as I read through it, if they weren’t really serious about each other. I mean . . . two hours in the back of the car?”

  “You can’t get over that, can you?”

  He chuckled. “You know me. But think about it. She was a good actress, but she wasn’t that good. You ever been in a relationship where things were really hot?”

  I thought of Julia immediately and avoided Frank’s gaze. “Yeah.”

  “And you were away from each other for a while, and when you got back together, you thought you would die if you didn’t get your clothes off right away and screw like rabbits?”

  I laughed. “Yeah.”

  “It was nice, right? Not just the sex, but the feelin’.”

  “Sure.”

  “That’s what this sounds like.” He pointed to the chauffeur’s statement. “Not like two sex fiends, or a woman pretendin’ to be into some poor sap so he gives her the secrets to his company. Like two people who were really into each other. Hell, maybe it started out like that for her. Maybe she wanted to get his secrets, but she fell for him.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. It just feels off to me.”

  “You could be right.” One thing I’d learned about my partner over the years was he had an uncanny ability to see into the heart of a situation. He understood human nature.

  “If so,” he said, “we really did waste our time today. We should be lookin’ at somebody besides Austin Haynes.”

  145

  Julia

  I THOUGHT I MIGHT HYPERVENTILATE.

  There he was, looking crazy. How could anybody want to be with someone like him? I was afraid he might tear me apart. His eyes were wild, his hair looked like he’d run a porcupine through it, his face was flushed. I thought he might be a little drunk.

  Was he drunk when he murdered Emelia?

  He stepped toward me and I held up my hands. “Take one more step, Haynes, and I’ll call the cops. I swear to God. Dan Pierce will be here in a heartbeat.”

  “You won’t do that.”

  “Try me.” My mind raced. “Look, I’m gonna call the cops either way. So you can leave now and I’ll give you a head start before I call them. Or I’ll call them right this minute and tell them you broke in here with intent to harm me.”

  “I have no intent to harm you.” For all the craziness on the outside, his voice was soft and quiet. I reminded myself that crazy people could do that. They could fool you into thinking they had no intention of hurting you. That was likely how he’d gotten Emelia to trust him—the slime.

  “Get out of here, either way. I’m warning you.” My voice was close to a scream. I had to get away from him. I thought I might be able to push my way past him and out through the open door. I would have to move fast, though, and get the element of surprise working in my favor. I might just be able to pull it off if I tried hard enough.

  “Would you please listen to me? Please. Before you do anything else.” He held his hands up in front of him, in a show of surrender.

  Though I could have been mistaken.

  I tilted my head to the side, my eyes narrowed. “What makes you think I’ll believe you?”

  He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “I really don’t know, Miss Mabel. I’m just hoping you do. Please. Give me a minute of your time so I can explain myself. If you don’t believe me after that minute is up, go ahead and call the cops. I don’t care what they do to me. But I have to make sure you know the truth before you go any further with your article.”

  I gasped. “You know about the article?”

  He rolled his eyes, sighing in exasperation. “Will you give me a minute, or not?”

  How could I say no with a lead-in like that? I needed to know how he found out about my work. Did Margo tell him?

  “Okay. A minute. Starting now.”

  He hesitated. “Can I close the door?”

  “Fifty-six seconds.”

  “Okay, okay. Fine. Yes, I know about the article. I have my sources, you know. Just like you have yours.”

  “Do you? I guess money buys a lot of things.”

  “The deal didn’t include you speaking, too.”

  I didn’t like how he was taking control away from me but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

  I mimed zipping my mouth shut.

  I was still fully on my guard, heart racing, adrenaline pumping, ready to take off at the first flinch or jump from him. I’d be out the door in no time flat—I had the feeling if I needed to, I could knock the much larger man flat on his butt. Weren’t there stories of women who lifted cars off their trapped children? Superhuman strength was possible when you were in a life-or-death situation. And I would do whatever it took to save my life.

  “Anyway,” he continued, “I found out about the article through my sources. I’m here to beg you to please, stop writing it.”

  My mouth hung open. I didn’t care that I wasn’t supposed to talk. “You can’t be serious. You think I’m going to stop writing this just because you’re asking me nicely? Or, rather, begging me? That’s what this is all about?”

  He ran a hand through his golden hair, calming it a little from its insane messiness. It was noticeably untidy after its perfect elegance at the red carpet event.

  I flinched when he moved and he froze momentarily at my response. He held up his free hand, signaling that he meant no harm. “Please, it’s not just self-interest that brings me here.”

  I couldn’t help scoffing, even though I was scared to death that he might lunge at me. “Sorry if I doubt that.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t. It could mean avoiding a lot of pain and unpleasantness further down the line.”

  I laughed. “Spare me the prep school talk, okay? Can we get down to brass tacks, please? Why should I stop writing this? You obviously know what’s in the article.”

  “I do.”

  “It’s about your connection with Emelia.”

  “I know.”

  “And you still think I’m going to believe you’re not here out of self-interest?”

  “Would you please let me explain a little more? I’m not here for me. I’m here for Emelia.”

  That stopped me. I laughed bitterly. “Oh, now you care about Emelia?” He was unreal.

  “Of course I do. I always did, and I’ll never stop.”

  “Try that line on somebody far more gullible than me, okay? I don’t believe you for a minute.” Maybe if I angered him enough it would throw him off. I could more easily get past him then. My plan ran the risk of him being so angry he attacked me viciously before I could stop him, though.

  Then the memory of Emelia’s body swam through my consciousness. He hadn’t attacked her. She’d died rather peacefully, if gruesomely. He didn’t have it in him to be physically violent, or he would’ve been with her. If they were as close as their pictures led me to believe they were, he would’ve had ample opportunity to hurt her. She never looked anything but happy in their pictures.

  My breathing slowed a bit, my pulse relaxed. But just a bit. Just enough for me to think clearly and get out of fight-or-flight mode.

  He was a smart man.

  He was a businessman.

  He could think and act rationally.

  I had to be rational with him. This was a business deal, in essence. He was negotiating, and it was important for me to not forget that.

  He must have noticed the way I calmed down because he relaxed as well. After taking a deep breath, he said, “You won’t believe this, but I loved Emelia very much.”

  I held my tongue, watching his face. I had seen enough liars to know even a good one when I saw them. A certain waver in the voice, a furrow in the brow. The way the eyes darted away when looked into. A grimace, a shudder. T
here were many ways to tell a liar from an honest person and I knew them all.

  I hated to admit it to myself, but he looked like the real deal. If I hadn’t known any better, I would say he was devastated by Emelia’s death. I relaxed even more.

  “You loved her?”

  “More than anything. God, we had so much fun together. I wish you had known her, I really do.” He actually looked happy. He sounded wistful. “She was the best. Everything you saw on the screen, in her interviews, in pictures—it was all true. She didn’t have a false bone in her body. You know how a lot of these stars act one way in public but another way in private.”

  “Of course I do. That’s my job.”

  He smirked. “Right. But I’m telling you, her publicist had the easiest job in the world. Nothing to cover up . . . well . . . except for me. When I came along, things got complicated.”

  “So I guessed.”

  “You see, like I said, this isn’t about me. It’s about her. Leaving her reputation untarnished.”

  “Don’t tell me about that. If it weren’t for me, the police would’ve gladly accepted the way the room was set up and called it a suicide. Open and shut. I didn’t want it to go down in history that way. I didn’t want to believe it, and I didn’t want the rest of the world to, either.”

  “Thank you. I know she would thank you, too, if she were here.”

  “If she were here, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?”

  His face fell. “Of course. You’re right.”

  I couldn’t believe it—I felt sorry for the man. My hands, which were on my hips, lowered until they were at my sides. I was still guarded, but more willing to believe his sincerity. I was starting to think he was serious about loving her. Only a man who loved a woman got that look on his face when he remembered she was never coming back.

  “That’s the reason I started on this story in the first place. Not to get the publicity. I don’t care about publicity, not now. I wanted to make it right for her. Now you’re telling me you want it to be right, but you don’t want me to expose the fact that she didn’t commit suicide. Which is it, Austin?”

  He nodded quickly. “I know. You’re right. But you see, when you release that article, it’s going to have a ripple effect.”

  “And those ripples will reach your front door—or, rather, the front door of your office. Right?”

  His face darkened. “You don’t have to say it like that. Haven’t you ever had to worry about more than one thing at once? Yes. I’m worried about the skeletons that will come out of the closet as a result of this. One of those skeletons might be mine. But there will be others, I promise you that. I loved her too much to see her name dragged through the mud.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t get it. Which skeletons are you talking about? Who would drag her name through the mud?”

  “Who wouldn’t? Remember, she was deeply committed to the environment. If it’s found out she was lying to the public about a relationship with me, it could do a lot more harm to her reputation than good.”

  He had me there. His words stopped me in my tracks. She would be labeled as a phony, a fraud, just another Hollywood big-shot who used lies to boost their reputation.

  A lot of her popularity came on the heels of her commitment to environmental causes. She raised a ton of money, too. If those very same people who donated money found out she’d been consorting with the enemy—as they most surely saw Austin Haynes—what would the fallout be?

  “Oh, jeez.” I held my head in my hands.

  “You see the problem, then,” he said. There was no smugness in his voice—maybe just the relief that somebody finally saw things his way.

  “Either way, her reputation will be ruined. Would you rather the world go on thinking she’s another junkie? Somebody who popped pills in private? That’s no way for her to be remembered, either.”

  “That’s true. I don’t want it to go that way, either. That’s why I have something for you which I think is going to change the way you see the whole case.”

  I couldn’t help it.

  He had my interest.

  Without saying a word, I brushed past him, but not to leave. Instead, I closed the door.

  “Okay. I’m listening.”

  146

  Dan

  I WAS STILL GOING over the interviews when my cell rang.

  Julia.

  I didn’t realize until I saw her name come up how much I’d missed her all day. I was gone—hook, line and sinker. I could just imagine everything I wanted to do to her when I got her alone at my place. She had no idea what she was in for, especially considering the kind of day I had.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice low. I heard Frank snickering from his desk and I deliberately turned my chair away from him. “How are you? Waiting for me, I hope?”

  “No.” Her voice. The tone. It snapped me back to reality, all thoughts of sex wiped from my mind. Something was up.

  “What is it? What happened?” I turned back toward Frank, who looked concerned.

  “I need you to get here. Now.”

  “Where?”

  “My apartment.”

  “Your apartment?” Frank sat up in his chair. “What the hell are you doing there?” I didn’t realize I was nearly shouting until a head popped out of an office down the hall, looking to see what the problem was.

  “Just come, please. Hurry. I’ll explain it all when you get here.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice.

  For the second time in two days, I grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair and left without explanation. Frank had heard enough to know why I was rushing, and I didn’t feel the need to explain myself to him.

  It was total déjà vu.

  Once again, I wondered what the hell her problem was. One of the things I liked best about her was her independence. She wouldn’t be told what to do. But god damn, I wished she would had just listened.

  Why did she have to be so damned pigheaded? Why couldn’t she listen to reason? The facts were there. She’d seen it with her own damn eyes.

  No, she would rather go back to her apartment all alone, instead and not even bother to tell me that’s where she was heading.

  I knew she was getting her car, but that didn’t entail going inside, did it? I’d explicitly asked her to tell me when she was going somewhere. If I had known she was even thinking about, I would have met her whether she liked it or not.

  My muscles flexed.

  Again, just as I had the day before, I slapped the dome light on top of the car. Other cars got out of my way as I sped down the freeway toward Julia’s apartment building. Any number of gruesome images danced around inside my head. I could only imagine what she had found there.

  Or who was there with her.

  My heart nearly exploded from my chest and my foot pressed harder on the gas pedal. I couldn’t get to her fast enough.

  We would need to have a serious talk about certain rules she needed to follow if she didn’t want to kill me. Because she would too. My blood pressure was through the roof.

  I pulled into a spot inside her garage and nearly sprinted down the sidewalk to the front of the building. As I ran, I thought I saw a familiar face across the street. I only paused for a second before recognizing the woman in the car.

  Julia’s friend, the one we met at the big event. The one Julia just met up with for drinks.

  I remembered Margo hanging all over Austin like she was afraid somebody would steal him from her.

  What was she doing here, now? She stared at the building like she expected something to happen. Was she trying to keep an eye on Julia the way I was? I hoped she had more success than I had, since Julia had no intention of letting me help her until she was already in trouble.

  Maybe she had just given Julia a ride to pick up her car. But then why wait around?

  I didn’t have time to think it over. Instead, I ran up the stairs two at a time. I hoped I wasn’t too late.

 
The door to her apartment was open.

  My heart sank.

  I thought about pulling my gun and decided it wouldn’t hurt. I slid it from the holster, turning off the safety. I held it up, ready to aim, as I reached the doorway.

  It was Julia.

  Just Julia.

  Leaning against the back of her sofa, facing the door. Aside from her pasty white complexion—and the mess that still existed from the break-in—nothing looked amiss.

  I breathed a huge sigh of relief, putting away the gun. “Woman, you’re trying to give me a heart attack, aren’t you? What are you doing here, anyway? Why didn’t you tell me you were going to spend time here? I thought you were just getting your car and coming back to my place. Why do you always have to do exactly the opposite of what I ask you to do? Don’t you know it’s for your safety?” When I finished talking, I realized how ridiculous I sounded. Like I was talking to a child. If she weren’t so visibly upset, I could imagine her ripping my head off for using that tone of voice with her.

  She didn’t.

  She only stood there, looking sad.

  Confused.

  Shaken up.

  “Austin Haynes paid me a visit,” she said. Her voice was flat, like a robot’s.

  “What do you mean, he paid you a visit?” I thought I might have a stroke, my blood pressure shot up so quickly. The very man I’d been investigating all day, alone in the apartment with her.

  “Calm down. He didn’t hurt me.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t call.”

  “I didn’t have the chance. I would have, if he had come any closer to me. Trust me, I was terrified when he first came in.”

  The very thought of her being afraid was enough to make me clench my fists. I kept them in my pockets to avoid upsetting her. She looked stunned enough.

  “What happened, then? You look like you saw a ghost.” I loosened my fists, taking her by the arms.

  She was cold. I rubbed her arms to warm her.

  I noticed for the first time a manila envelope in her hand. “What’s that?”

  “He gave it to me—Austin, I mean. Before he left. He wanted me to see it. He told me it was proof there was something else happening in Emelia’s life. Something he didn’t even know about at the time.”