She closed her eyes and nodded. “It’s all coming back to me now.”
“Our dancing was going great, remember? We danced a half-dozen songs without stopping. I was holding you close, my face was lost in your hair, and I was lost in you. I could have gone on forever. You started pressing up against me. Your body felt so warm it was as if our bodies were melting into each other. I wanted to take you right there on the dance floor. Then you grabbed me and kissed me. You’d never kissed me hot like that even in bed.”
“I do remember, Kyle. I couldn’t wait to get at you,” she said quietly.
“That’s when we rushed out of the bar and ripped our clothes off in the back seat of my car like a couple of teenagers. You were totally into it. You tore a button off your blouse.”
“It was the clasp off my skirt, I had yanked it up around my waist. Had to hold it together with my hand on the way back to Philly.”
“You sat close to me driving back and fell asleep on my shoulder. You never sat next to me like that.”
“I remember that time. My wild side.” She finished the last of her wine in one long swallow.
They sat quietly, remembering.
“It’d be a shame if you’ve lost that wild side.” He looked hesitant about going on. “I was about to ask, are you afraid you might recapture some of those feelings you had for me before?”
“I admit we had feelings for each other, but they’re long gone.” The subject was bothering her. “I wasn’t actually in love, were you?”
“I was afraid to admit it at the time. Just as you’re afraid to admit it to yourself right now. You can’t always choose who you fall in love with.”
After a moment, she said, “Think whatever you want, I can’t stop you.” It was nice to know he’d been in love with her.
He noticed her empty glass, brought the bottle in from the kitchen and refilled their glasses. “You don’t look like a woman who’s worried about where her next kiss is coming from.”
She saw the cheerful look on his face. He sat back down with his legs stretched forward, crossed at the ankles and leaning back entirely relaxed. He had always been accepting of her and non-judgmental.
“Okay, Kyle, I have always been able to talk with you, so I’ll at least say this, there are two special men in town who can—.”
“Give you a rush? And one of them is this Martin.”
She nodded without smiling. “Three years ago, he proposed. I turned him down as I was just getting all heated up with Chip. Yet we both wanted to remain close friends working together in the law office. So as not to upset me with an awkward office situation, Martin was careful to eliminate any suggestion of romantic interest in me. In turn, I tried to be as sexless as possible around the office, so as not to frustrate him.”
“And did that arrangement work?”
“Absolutely. However, now I’m in the process of opening back up and find him immensely sexy. Meanwhile, he’s still holding back not quite certain if I’m through mourning for Chip.” Never before had she actually put those thoughts all together in her mind. “Both men are attractive, and I’d go on to sex without question. In fact, I had a nice start going with the other guy last night.”
“During that thunderstorm? Those loud crashes and those lightning flashes—oh my god, Sandy, that was you?”
She laughed with him. “Unfortunately, we were interrupted.” She had asked herself later if she was sorry they had been interrupted. Now, she was admitting it aloud. “Don’t ask me why I’m talking about it, but yes, I liked him, trusted him and was entirely into it. I’m sorry we didn’t get to have a night of it.” She continued, “Having said that, I’m not certain I’m serious enough to have an ongoing sexual relationship with either one. Mel is the big deal State Attorney for this judicial district—what you call a District Attorney up in some states. Martin is wealthy, but doesn’t show it, doesn’t have to work but wants to. He’s of those men who can look at four forks at a dinner party and never pick up the wrong one. A joy to work around, makes me laugh, smells good. Well-traveled, however, has been sticking close to home for the last few years.”
“No doubt sticking close to home because you’re close to home. Sounds as if one is hard, prosecuting criminals and dealing with both culprits and the police. The other sounds soft.”
“Mel isn’t real hard, let’s call him al dente. And anyone who deals with Martin thinking he’s a softie had better keep their wits about them. Although one is obviously eager, I wouldn’t blame the other if he gave up all hope long ago.”
“You know all about men, do you? He hasn’t given up hope, believe me. Such a fire never goes out and your slightest encouragement will set him ablaze.”
“I’m not sure about your fire metaphor, the guy is very cool. The men are so different you wouldn’t think a choice would be difficult—assuming I want to start a relationship.”
“A relationship? I thought you were talking marriage. I don’t get it.”
She shook her head. “I’m not ready to get married. What gave you the marriage idea? I just want companionship, an intimate relationship I can count on without a bunch of nonsense. I don’t have time for meaningless… excursions.”
“Okay, but why all this preliminary planning, doubts and questioning of yourself, and judging of the two guys. Napoleon took less time planning the battle of Waterloo. For chrissake, flip a coin and go have sex with one or the other, or both. Who cares at the start, you‘ve already said you’d go to bed with either.”
“You’re right in a way. I simply want a nice committed relationship, and then we’ll see what happens. Sure, if it doesn’t work out, and the other is still available, then I’m a lucky girl to have a choice. I realize I don’t have to be absolutely certain at the start.”
“Stop right there, Sandy. I know you’re bright, clever and fearless, and could sell sand to an Arab, yet sometimes you act like a dolt. You know what you need?”
“Now he will explain sexual relationships to the dolt. Can I call you later if I have any questions?”
“You need to stop thinking and enjoy the ride as you did last night. It doesn’t have to be a serious relationship. Just take the first step. Date one and then the other and let it happen. After a little time passes, I believe your choice will be clear to you. I’m sure both of these fortunate guys understand the occasional sex concept. You’re golden—you make the rules. Sounds as if you already have a nice start with Mel. Do you want him to pick up where he left off?”
“Absolutely not. I want him to begin again from the very start—it was going pretty good.” Her smile faded after a moment, and she said, “Does that mean I’ve already chosen Mel as the one I want it to happen with?”
“Certainly, it would be better to decide who you want and go after him. But if you’re uncertain, then continue on as you are with your well-ordered life.”
“Ah, the easy way out—a decision to do nothing. I guess that’s what I had in mind until—just now. Talking with you about my love life has given me a new insight.” She turned on the couch to face him. “I'm going to change—even if slightly. I'll open up and let the intimacy happen. Thank you, Kyle.” She held his hand and spoke with a sisterly tone. “Your honesty makes it's easy to talk with you.”
“Perhaps there’s more heat in you than you realize, I can feel it over here.”
She laughed at him. “Do women really fall for that dumb line?”
He grinned. “It worked on you four years ago.”
She frowned for a second and then laughed. “Kyle, making it here with you tonight doesn’t satisfy my need for intimacy.”
“I satisfied your need for intimacy for over a year. We had sweet lovemaking, but since you’re afraid of that word, I’ll call it sweet sex making.”
“That was then. This is now. As much as I value the memory of our friendship, I don’t regret moving. You aren’t part of the equation down here.” She patted him on his knee.
“Are you thinking about
me right now or those two other guys?”
“To be perfectly honest, I’m thinking about us dancing at that noisy bar in Brigantine that warm summer night. And you wanting to take me, on the dance floor.”
“I’ve gone back there—many times.”
“I don’t believe you! You went back to that bar in Brigantine?”
“In my mind. I’ve relived it all in my mind. Some memories are so special you add them to the story of your life.” He turned on the couch, boldly took the drink from her hand and set it on the coffee table. Then he enclosed her hand in his and pressed it to his chest. “Did you ever think about that night before I mentioned it just now?”
“I suppose,” she answered, not moving her hand away from him. “Everything vividly came back to me as soon as you brought it back to mind.” She had thought of him often during her first few months in Florida, but not until she was away could she look back and appreciate the feelings of intense intimacy she had discovered during their impassioned year together.
“And you’re still thinking about it,” his voice was cracking, “I’m dying to hold you again, Sandy. There’s no one like you. I found that out.”
“Why don’t you take me right now?” she said quietly.
“What?”
“You don’t understand the question?”
He reached over, placed his hand behind her head and gathered her to him. Her lips came up to his without the slightest hesitancy.
When the lingering kiss finally broke, he whispered, “It’s a good thing we were never actually in love.”
“Yeah, come on.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Nigel’s smiling face greeted Sandy when she arrived at the office late on the following morning. “You’ve had quite a few calls, including a TV reporter. The call slips are on your desk. Detective Jaworski stopped by to see you. We talked for a while—he’s really a cool guy, isn’t he? I didn’t know you’d be late coming in this morning. No problem, I took care of everything. Martin told me when we got here to not expect you until noon.”
She glanced at her watch, raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Hey, we’re talking only two hours here.”
“I almost called you, but he told me not to. Said you no doubt were busy taking care of some old business.”
She smiled. “Martin is just too smart for words.”
She walked back to her office and sat at her desk amazed at the quietness in the office. Indeed, her entire world seemed quiet, untroubled and well-ordered. Yet something was amiss with her desktop—it shouldn’t be so neat and orderly. She suspected the fine hand of Nigel had been at work. Pencils were in line, the phone perfectly positioned, the files squared up with their edges in line. Open records were still open, as she had left them, except they were in a special stack at the side. A reference tome she’d left open was still open, but turned face down. Her entire desktop had been reorganized, yet she surprised herself by liking what he’d done.
She returned Eddy’s call. He told her, “We had a lot of manpower out searching for Leo. Thanks to you, that’s all done with. We’re still working on the Coleman murder case, of course, and the Charlene Faulk drive-by shooting.”
“Charlene Faulk! I thought that case was all over. I gave you the .45 I took away from Leo. Didn’t it check out?”
“Didn’t you hear? No match. Ballistics says the bullet that killed her didn’t come from Leo’s gun. We searched his hotel room and the burned-out wreckage. We don’t believe he had another gun.”
“Geez, and I assumed that case was all wrapped up. I’m sitting here rather relaxed, taking care of some personal business, congratulating myself and someone’s running around with a .45.”
“Plenty of those around. Might have been a random drive-by, but you wouldn’t expect it in that neighborhood.” The detective asked, “Did you hear about Bardner’s neighbor who heard the shots?”
“Mel said something about the guy next door hearing shots.”
“Well, the neighbor called the police. His front porch, security camera happens to point out in the direction of the Bardner driveway. It picked up part of the shooting on video. Of course, I got all excited and tore over there.”
“You must live right.”
“No such luck. I viewed the video. It does show Charlene getting out of her car and collapsing to the ground after being shot. At least, now we’re certain the shot came from the direction of the street. Unfortunately, the camera wasn’t positioned to view anything in the street. No one else is in the scene in the front yard. So it offers no clue as to who shot her.”
“Even so, it supports Lester Bardner saying he was inside the house. Sorry it turned out to be no help to you. That shooting seemed so simple when we thought Leo had done it. Okay, finding Charlene’s killer goes back to the top of my list. Hey, Eddy, I need to talk with Julia Bardner again.”
“Again? I realize you’ve been busy wiping out bad guys, but you promised we’d talk about what Julia has to say.” Eddy said, “So, let’s be fair. You bring me up to date on what’s going on, and then you can talk with Julia again.”
“The situation has changed, Eddy. She’s getting an attorney to protect her interests in the Coleman case and has decided to let him answer your questions on the Faulk shooting as well.”
“So I can’t talk to her about either case!” His voice sounded so strained, she guessed he was speaking through clenched teeth. “ Do I detect a Sandy Reid influence in all this? You screwing around with me on this one? You’re the one who is advising her, aren’t you? Why would you do something like this to me?”
“It’s not like that, Eddy. There are several angles to this. So much has happened so fast. I need to sit down with Martin and discuss how much I can tell you without jeopardizing our defense of Lester. After that, I can meet with you and share the info.”
“So where does that leave me? I’m working two criminal investigations, and you blew a hole through both of them.”
“I promise we’ll talk later, and I’ll make it all up to you. But, I need to go back to the hospital and talk with Julia right away.”
“Don’t ask me why I’m doing this, but okay. Go talk with her. Anyway, you’d better hurry. The nurse said she seemed better this morning. The hospital did a brief suicide predisposition check and is dropping the suicide watch. She’s being discharged right about now.”
“Geez, once she leaves the hospital, she could disappear or try to kill herself again. Eddy, I need a big favor.”
“Hello! I just did a big one for you five seconds ago.”
“Please call the hospital and tell them not to release Julia until I can get over there and talk with her again.”
“On what grounds.”
“Make something up.” Eddy hung up without saying goodbye. He was upset with her, but she knew he’d make the call to the hospital.
Nigel was at his front desk and Martin’s door was open when she walked up the hall. “It wasn’t Leo who shot Charlene after all,” she announced. “Gun doesn’t match. Leo told me he didn’t shoot anyone, but I didn’t believe him.”
Nigel said, “You mean now there’s someone new I’ll be hating for the rest of my life?”
“Damn it all.” Martin seldom used the word. “Does Eddy have a new suspect?”
“No, and here’s the new deal for us. Lester’s defense will have to go on the back burner—finding Charlene’s killer is more important. And we still don’t know about the connection between Charlene and Coleman.”
Nigel’s eyes widened. “Connection between Charlene and Coleman? What’s going on here?”
She and Martin exchanged glances. It had slipped out. She was ready to make up some cover story, when Martin shook his head at her. He said to Nigel, “Julia claims Charlene came into her office the day Coleman first came in. If it happened, then it’s an amazing coincidence and we have to examine it.”
“And you thought I couldn’t handle knowing about it. Thanks a lot guys.”
/> Martin said, “You were grieving… you didn’t need to hear about it just then.”
“I’m discussing it again with Julia today,” she said. “You two get your heads together and review all we know so far. Admittedly, it’s not much. Right now I’ve haven’t the slightest idea where to suggest you start. Nigel why don’t you run a background check on Julia Bardner for the file. We don’t know too much right now, do we?”
Martin said, “We do know Julia ended up with Coleman’s money and provoked Lester into killing him, but we don’t really know why.”
“We do know Charlene was killed in Lester’s front yard, and we can’t blame it on him or on dead Leo,” Nigel said.
She said, “We have nothing to suggest anyone wanted Charlene dead. I say we stick with the mistaken identity in the thunderstorm theory and assume Julia was the target.”
Nigel said, “If you need another coincidence to backup to your theory, I checked with the motor vehicle website—Julia has a white Mercedes and Charlene had a white Chevrolet.”
“So, the question is who would want Julia dead? If I can find out why Julia wanted Coleman dead, then maybe I’ll know why someone wanted Julia dead.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Within the hour, Sandy was back at the hospital. Julia had already admitted she had Coleman’s money. Even so, the idea that she provoked Lester into killing him to keep from giving back some money was just too simple. Some people would murder for money, but she didn’t think Julia Bardner was one of them. Something more significant than money was going on. She was certain that if she could find out the real reason Coleman had to be killed, she’d also learn how it was connected with Charlene being shot.
Into The Heat (Sandy Reid Mystery Series Book 6) Page 20