Detective Lindsay took over and grabbed Tate by his elbow. “Mr. Carr, come outside with me.”
“Why?” A squeal replaced Tate’s otherwise even nature.
“You and I need to talk, sir.”
Tate tried to break free from Detective Lindsay’s grip. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Stop moving.”
“But I—”
“We need some privacy,” Detective Lindsay said as he led Tate and Marie outside. “So does Ms. Stuart.”
Yeah, Ms. Stuart needed something all right. Something like a drink or a few days in bed. Charlie Henderson dead in her room. Somewhere along the line they had ventured into nightmare territory.
She peeked at Noah out of the corner of her eye and noticed the locked jaw and cold eyes. No way was Noah going to let this subject go. And now they would both be suspects in Henderson’s murder.
She hated this supposed spa.
“Ms. Stuart?”
Lexy was so stunned, her body so stiff with shock, that she almost missed Detective Somerville’s questioning tone.
Noah did not wait for Lexy to regain her senses. “No more verbal games, Lexy. Who is he?”
Lexy bit down hard on her bottom lip. She tried to think of a way out of this situation. Like, maybe an earthquake could strike and save her from having to answer.
“Lexy?”
“Ms. Stuart?” Detective Sommerville said her name at the same time Noah tried to get her attention.
Lexy looked from the detective to Noah and back again. Yeah, no way to run from this part. She had to come clean.
At least a little clean.
“He’s the reason I came to Utah.”
Chapter Eight
D etective Sommerville’s expression turned from concerned to something much more harsh. Her features sharpened and the small bit of openness she had treated Lexy to disappeared.
Noah knew the feeling. Finding out his fiancée was involved up to the tip-top of her pretty green eyes in a murder did not help his frustrated disposition one bit.
“You were at the spa with him?” Noah said the words nice and slow. Tasted them and nearly spit from the sour stench.
“It’s not what you think.” Lexy’s voice shook as she spoke.
She should be scared. This went well beyond fun and games, so Noah did not try to keep the anger out of his voice. “Lexy, you have two seconds to start making sense.”
“What I meant to say is that I saw the man around the spa. I ran into him today and said hello.”
He had seen that conversation. Couldn’t hear it, but watched her body language. Whatever the two of them said went on much longer than the time it took to give a simple greeting.
“That’s not even close to what you said a second ago,” Detective Sommerville pointed out.
“It’s what I meant.”
“Sounds as if you’re changing your story, ma’am.”
Lexy rubbed her forehead. “It’s been a long night, detective. I’m sure you understand.”
Noah agreed with that part. Everything else she said about this Henderson character was pure bunk. But he saw the fear in Lexy’s eyes. She tried to cover it under a layer of bullshit, but he knew her well enough to know she was unraveling inside.
The way he saw it his only choice was to step in and try to keep Lexy from being taken away in handcuffs. He turned his attention to Detective Sommerville. “It’s been a rough hour.”
The detective scowled. “Ms. Stuart can speak for herself.”
He agreed with that, too. Half the time the problem was in convincing Lexy to shut up. Her uncharacteristic struggle to form a sentence for the last few minutes had him slipping into his own form of panic. The angry kind.
“Ease up,” he said to the petite detective.
Lexy rested her hand against his chest. “She’s just doing her job, Noah.”
He sighed. So much for trying to protect Lexy from herself.
The voices on the lawn outside Lexy’s room had died down. More police officers arrived to rope off the scene and keep the other guests back.
“Ma’am, do you or do you not know Charlie Henderson?” Detective Sommerville asked.
“I know who he is.”
“Meaning?”
“I’ve seen him around.” When the detective stayed quiet, Lexy fumbled with more words. “That’s it.”
A few more minutes without serious intervention and Lexy would probably admit to killing the guy. Noah searched his mind for the quickest way to get her away from the police and alone. Then he would get some answers.
He damn well better.
Detective Sommerville pulled the sheet over the body and nodded to the ambulance crew to take the gurney away. “Did either of you have contact with Mr. Henderson today or anytime before today except for this ‘hello’ you referred to a second ago?”
“No.” Lexy gave the response before the detective finished her question.
“Not me, either,” Noah said at a more respectable pace.
“Just because homicide is not the leading source of crime in this county does not mean we don’t take it seriously.” The detective aimed her comments at Lexy. “Or that we don’t know how to solve one.”
“Of course,” Lexy said.
“This is not a time to tell me only half a story, ma’am.”
Despite the harsh circumstances, hearing someone lecture Lexy about telling the truth broke through his frustration. Usually Lexy gave that speech. From her frown, he guessed she did not appreciate being on the receiving end of the “you owe me the truth” diatribe.
“Maybe you need a reminder about how we ended up at this point, but the guy was on my floor,” Lexy said with a bit more strength to her voice.
“If something happened like, maybe, you defended yourself from a burglar or someone who was trying to hurt you, then you should tell me. We can work this out nice and easy and without too much trouble. The prosecutor will understand.”
Noah appreciated the detective’s style. Didn’t appreciate Lexy being the object of her police tactics. “Lexy was with me in the dining room and then on the patio when this happened.”
“And how do you know when the murder occurred? You have some experience with murder, Mr. Paxton?”
The target circle just moved from Lexy’s chest to his. Exactly how he wanted it. “I know enough.”
He felt Lexy flinch at his side.
“Not that you would dream of lying to cover for Ms. Stuart,” the detective said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.
“He’s telling the truth. We were together,” Lexy insisted.
In the background, Noah heard Tate talking to Detective Lindsay about relocating guests. Tate fought the idea with everything he had. Mentioned the cost and problem about lost profits several times. When a few of those lingering outside heard the detective’s suggestions, they ganged up on Tate. Words like “refund” and “lawsuit” flew around the courtyard.
“I need you both to come to the station now,” Detective Sommerville said as a statement, not a request.
Not going to happen. “No.”
“Excuse me?” Detective Sommerville said at a near roar that would intimidate most men twice her size.
Not Noah. “I said no.”
“You’re refusing?” The disbelief in the detective’s tone suggested that people did not deny her very often.
“Lexy has had a hard evening. We’ve both experienced a terrible shock. Now is not the time for this.”
“You’re a big man, Mr. Paxton. You don’t strike me as someone who surprises easily.”
“It’s not often I see a dead guy on my fiancée’s floor.”
When Lexy refrained from denying the engagement, Noah knew she needed a few minutes to get her act together. Which was good, since he planned to give his assistance with or without her permission.
If Lexy had something to confess, and he guessed she did, she could do it to him. Only to him.
“Just a fe
w questions and then you can come back to the spa and get a good night’s sleep,” Detective Sommerville said.
Lexy’s eyes widened as she glanced around the disheveled room. “I’m not sleeping here.”
“No, you’re not. This is a crime scene and off-limits from here on,” Detective Sommerville started writing something down on her notepad. “We’ll find you another room.”
“You can sleep in mine.” An offer Noah planned to make before the dead body showed up anyway. This just assured Lexy’s agreement. He would have preferred a willing bed-mate to a scared and potentially homicidal one, but he decided not to be particular on this point.
“Where are you staying?” Lexy asked.
The detective’s pen stopped. “You don’t know where your fiancée’s room is?”
Noah ignored the detective’s curious look. “Two doors down.”
“That’s too close to this room.” Lexy wrapped her arms around her stomach and shook her head. “I need one somewhere else. Maybe a place in Arizona.”
The detective’s amusement faded with that remark. “You may not leave the state.”
“She was kidding,” Noah said.
“No, I wasn’t,” Lexy insisted.
“So, what’s this about separate rooms?” the detective asked.
Suddenly everyone in Utah gave a shit about his sex life, or the obvious lack of one. “You have a problem with chastity, officer?”
The detective’s gaze traveled over Noah’s shoulders and down his body. The scrutiny made Noah want to shift his weight. Hit the wall. Something. Instead, he stayed right where he was. No way some tiny woman holding a gun and a pen was going to make him flinch.
He did not need another woman trying to make his life hell. Lexy held that position and was excelling at the task, thank you.
“I don’t see what our separate room arrangements have to do with a murder.” Lexy made her comment loud enough to draw the attention of the stragglers and extra cops outside.
They all stared at Noah.
“We don’t need to talk about this subject.” Noah cleared his throat. “Again.”
Lexy pointed at the female detective. “She’s the one who mentioned it.”
Noah thought he saw a smile tug on the corner of Detective Sommerville’s mouth before she flattened her lips in a frown. “Ma’am, your bedroom activities are your business.”
There was a subject he wanted to discuss only with Lexy. And he would as soon as they got this Henderson mess figured out.
“But, as an officer of the law, this murder scene is my business.”
Somehow they circled back around to the same place. Noah’s position had not changed. “I’ll bring Lexy to the station tomorrow.”
“I’m right here,” Lexy mumbled.
“We aren’t negotiating this point, Mr. Paxton.”
“No, detective, we’re not.”
“So, you are refusing to come with me.” Somehow Detective Sommerville managed to look about a foot taller when she said that. “Do I have that correct?”
Lexy tugged on his arm. “Uh, Noah. Maybe we should—”
“We’ll be there tomorrow morning. We can come in early since our hike is canceled.” He glanced at Lexy. “That’s true, right?”
Lexy snorted. “I’m not going outside while there’s a murderer on the loose.”
A guest outside picked up on Lexy’s comment and started bombarding the officers with questions about safety.
Noah turned back to Detective Sommerville. “So, I guess that means we’re free to go.”
She tucked her notepad in her pocket. “Ms. Stuart, I think you should reconsider your boyfriend’s plans for your evening.”
He hated that term. “Fiancée.”
“I’m talking to Ms. Stuart.”
“She’s not coming with you.”
Lexy’s stubborn streak resurfaced. “She can speak for herself.”
Detective Sommerville grabbed onto the opening. “If Mr. Paxton insists on staying here, I can drive you to the station and have another officer drive you back to join Mr. Paxton later.”
After a brief beat of silence, Lexy answered. “No.”
“Excuse me?” The detective said the words in her yelling voice.
“Noah’s right. We’ll be down in the morning.”
Noah did not know he was holding his breath until Lexy sided with him. “That’s set, then.”
“I expect you both by eight.” Detective Sommerville stared at Lexy and then focused on him. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Noah shot Lexy a glance of his own. Yeah, one of them did.
Chapter Nine
A nother hour passed before the police finished collecting everyone’s name and contact information, questioned those who agreed to be questioned, which was just about everyone, and issued the do-not-leave-the-premises warning. Lights blared to life around the resort. Guests filed into their rooms. Officers roamed the grounds.
And Lexy’s biggest problem sat on the bed in front of her wearing a sexy pair of faded jeans and a grim expression.
She gave up her position at the window watching the police go in and out of her room in favor of watching Noah. He balanced his elbows on his knees and stared at the beige carpet. Had not uttered a word since he unlocked the door and all but shoved her inside his pristine room.
She knew the topic on his mind—Charlie Henderson. She should have been horrified about the man’s death and worried about what this meant in terms of her little excursion to Utah. Henderson was her key to figuring out what was going on with Noah.
Someone broke right through the security plan Noah developed and installed. That same someone tampered with the passwords and protocols making it look like Noah, at best, dropped the ball and, at worst, was in on the crime. At the time Henderson was in San Diego and working out of their offices on some top-secret temporary assignment, from what she could tell.
Yeah, Charlie Henderson’s death should have been her biggest concern because it ended her line of inquiry. She should be spending the minutes trying to come up with something to tell the detectives so that they did not connect her with Henderson. She should be calling her client and informing them that the information she promised to provide was now well out of her hands.
But she did not care a whit about any of that.
Only one thing—one person—hovered in her mind. Noah. Need whipped through her with an intensity that threatened to knock her backward. The craving and desire swamped all of her good sense, beat down her firm resolve to keep Noah at a distance, and replaced it with a burning need.
She wanted to blame the lust simmering inside her on the shot of adrenaline she experienced this evening. The mix of shock at seeing a dead body and terror over everything that came after.
She knew better.
Something horrible happened and all she wanted was to share the moment with Noah. To let him wipe away all of her fears and confusion. To lose herself in his arms, under his mouth. No matter what the cause, all she wanted to do was to ease the rumbling mass bouncing around inside of her.
Which was why she entered the room and then stood as far away from him as the small space would allow. She had hoped the passing minutes would kill the need she felt for Noah. But the longer she watched him turn his hands over and stare at the invisible spot on the floor, the more she wanted him focused on her. The more she wanted back a tiny piece of what they had before everything blew up in her face.
Breaking off their engagement destroyed a part of her. The aftermath was even worse. Cleaning Noah out of her head and her heart proved impossible. He lingered there, tugging at her and testing.
All she wanted in that moment was to detach her heart from her body and enjoy one, two, three, lovemaking sessions. They both needed the release. They were there, adults and still attracted.
“Are you done hiding?” His husky voice ripped to the very heart of her.
“I’m standing right here.”
&
nbsp; “Are you ready to talk about Henderson?”
Oh, she was ready for something. “No.”
He sighed. “Of course not.”
“I’m done talking about Henderson.”
Noah glanced up at her with a blank expression. “Because you can’t come up with a believable lie?”
“Because I don’t want to talk.”
This was going to happen. Her. Him. Them. Bed. She missed the feel of him, his touch and kiss. The way he made her feel inside and out as his hands toured her body and his mouth met hers.
She could keep it physical. Separate her need from everything permanent and good she ever hoped for them. This could be about a release.
“I want to help you,” he said.
“Good.” Because that is exactly what she needed him to do. Help her out of this dress and into the bed.
“You have to know that I don’t care what you did or didn’t do.”
She believed him on that score. He did not pass judgment. Did not insist that everyone live by his code. He took people as they were.
She could not dwell on that. On the good parts of him. No, now it was time for him to just plain take her. She would regret and assess and recover later.
She closed the curtain. “That’s very accommodating of you.”
“To figure out the best plan of attack, you have to level with me.” His dark eyes flashed with determination. So serious and worried. “What did you and this Henderson guy talk about? How do you know him?”
She could see his confusion in the wrinkles around his eyes. The controlled anger in the way he balled his hands into fists.
“There aren’t any police here. Just tell me.” He practically begged.
She ignored the caring. She had to if she wanted to keep this physical and divorce her heart from the process.
“I have a better idea,” she said.
His eyes narrowed. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Oh, I think you’ll like this one.”
“Hard to imagine how that’s possible.”
“Trust me.” She walked over and stopped when her knees touched his.
The position forced him to lean back and gave her the superior power she wanted. Having him vulnerable to his needs and her wants. Hovering over him until he had to look up to see her face. Perfect.
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