by Diane Bator
"Leave her alone, Xavier," Mick said. "This affects her as much as it does us. We need to stick together and protect each other."
Gilda hung back in the shadows, her arms crossed over her belly. If any of the men made a move toward her, she'd make a run for the iron garden gate. They might be stronger and faster, but she was smaller and could duck beneath the foliage. The men would have to fight their way through the leaves.
As if reading her mind, Mick slid his arm across her back. "He's always a jackass after a couple drinks. Give him one more and he'll morph into a pussycat."
"What happens after four drinks?" she asked.
Mick grinned. "He'll either do anything anybody wants or pass out."
"Or get it into his head to kill someone." She stepped back behind the gate. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea. There are three of you and one of me. Throw in a hot tub and alcohol, and those aren't great odds. Xavier was right. Maybe it's best I leave."
"None of us would do anything to hurt you." He followed her into the shadows and slipped both arms around her. "If you want to leave, I'll take you home. If you stay, I'll make sure no one does anything stupid."
"Including you?" When she met his gaze, she instantly regretted the surge of heat that shot through her body.
"Especially me." Mick ran a finger across her jaw. "Don't you trust me?"
"I guess." Gilda really hoped that was true as he pulled her back into the yard and led her to the hot tub. Currently, she had a problem trusting anyone.
"Seems the gang's all here." Xavier cracked open another bottle. "Why don't you be a gracious host and tell us why?"
Razi opened a grapefruit-flavored cooler he handed to Gilda. "Yes, Sensei Mick, tell us why we are here."
"After all that's gone on lately, I figured we needed to relax and give each other some moral support." Mick sat back in the hot tub.
"That's it?" Xavier asked.
"That's it," Mick said. "No ulterior motives."
Gilda studied him and narrowed her eyes. What about Yoshida's visit about the missing merchandise?
"That's probably a good call." As Xavier sipped his beer, his shoulders sagged. "Do Fabio and Thayer have any idea who's doing this and why?"
"None they're sharing with me." Mick opened a beer and raised his bottle over the water. "To our fallen samurai warriors. May justice be swift and sure."
"Cheers." Xavier clinked his bottle against Mick's.
"To Walter and Erik." Gilda joined them.
"Le'chayim! To life." Razi clinked his bottle against each of theirs. They drank and sat in silence. "What is going on? I have heard rumors at Happy Harvey's Hangover Hut and at Café Beanz. Is it true someone stole merchandise as well as killed our comrades?"
Mick stiffened and glanced at Gilda. She shrugged and shook her head.
"Well, it wasn't me." Xavier sat back in the swirling water. His gaze fell on Gilda. "And nobody better say it was."
"Relax. Nobody did," Mick said. "We have no evidence against anyone."
Razi's dark eyes focused on Gilda. "Mick and I were not sure what beverages you liked. This was Happy's suggestion. He said we should take good care of you or else. Is there something you think we should know?"
"He and I are old friends," she said. "When my parents moved to Erie, Happy took me under his wing. Not that I go to his store often. I don't drink much."
"Neither do the rest of us," Mick assured her. "This last week's been tough. We all need to stick together and protect each other."
"Two black belts killed inside our dojo in one week. One with a katana, the other with poisoned ninja stars," Xavier said. "Kind of feels like someone's out to get us, doesn't it? With no real pattern, how do we know who's next?"
"Maybe nobody's next. Maybe somebody had something against both Walter and Erik." Gilda could mention the missing scroll and her theories about the kanji she and Mick found. Instead, she sat back and listened, hoping to hear something she didn't already know.
"We all know the scroll containing the Four Possessions of the Samurai went missing from the changing room," Razi said.
Mick paused, his beer bottle midway to his mouth. "Did Gilda point that out?"
"No." Razi frowned. "I noticed when I replaced the mats. When did you notice the scroll was missing, Miss Wright?"
She bowed her head. "Right after I found Walter, I walked around to make sure no one else was in the building. There was an awful lot of blood, but I didn't realize the scroll was missing until after the police left."
"And you did not say anything?"
"I told her not to say anything. She also found something else." Mick, she realized, was about to throw her to the wolves. Was this a test of her loyalty, or was he honestly trying to draw out more information?
"What?" Xavier narrowed his eyes.
"A ring," she said. "A goju ring."
He frowned. "As far as I know, I'm the only one in the school who has one. It's gold and has been missing for weeks. Do you still have it?"
"No." She glanced at Mick, who nodded. "I gave it to Fabio."
"Was your ring missing for several weeks?" Mick asked. "Or just since Walter died?"
"I don't have to take this." Xavier stood and leaned on the edge of the hot tub. "You've never liked me. That's no secret. All of you can just go—"
"That is enough." Razi stuck out an arm and stopped him from getting out. "Xavier is not the only one with a goju ring. Shihan Yoshida has one as well."
"There are two rings?" Gilda asked.
"Mine was a gift from my ex-wife." Xavier polished off his drink. "She ran off with a mechanic from Louie's Garage. The ungrateful cow had no idea about the great opportunities coming my way."
Gilda hoped the pussycat side of him would eke out soon.
Razi rolled his eyes. "I think you have had enough to drink, Xavier. Perhaps water would be a better idea."
"Hell, no. I want another beer, and then we can get down to some serious relaxing." He struggled out of the hot tub and missed the steps. He fell out of her sight, landing on the stone patio below with a sickening crunch.
"Stay in your seats. I will take care of him." Razi jumped up. He hoisted Xavier off the rocks like he was little more than a watermelon and carried him toward the white bungalow.
"I'll give you a hand." When Mick stood to help, Razi waved him off. Mick sat back, close to Gilda. "I forgot about Yoshida's ring. I wonder who else knew he had one."
"Yoshida never wore his ring to the school, did he?" She sipped her cooler.
"No, but I saw it at a couple banquets and tournaments," he said. "I wanted to get one, but he'd never tell me where he got his."
The drink made her giddy as their arms touched beneath the water. "Maybe from the Secret Order of the Goju Water Buffaloes."
He snorted then burst into laughter. "Great. We give you one cooler and suddenly you're making bad Flintstone jokes and giggling. Have you always been such a cheap date?"
"Correction." She held up her bottle. "Half a cooler."
"Even better," he said. "I suppose I should go see how Xavier's doing. Hopefully, he's not badly hurt."
"Yeah." She didn't relish the idea of being alone in Razi's hot tub—with or without Mick. The murderer could be hiding in the bushes just waiting for the right moment to ambush whoever was left alone.
"Gilda?" Mick touched her chin with his knuckle. "You okay?"
She shuddered. "I guess I'm more spooked than I thought. I'm afraid the killer might be lurking in the shadows."
"We all are."
When the patio door opened, Xavier limped out of the house, a large white bandage around his right leg. He fell onto a lounge chair near the hot tub. "Can somebody grab me a beer?"
"No ambulance required." Razi handed everyone except Xavier a fresh drink before he climbed back into the water. "He tore some skin and has a bruise."
"Oh, I'm just fine, thank you very much." Xavier waved a hand. "Don't worry about me. I'll survive." He droned
on and on about how no one cared what happened to him and how he'd be better off if someone put him out of his misery.
Gilda, more uncomfortable than ever, wished Mick had let her leave when she wanted. She shot him a nervous glance.
Mick rolled his eyes and dropped his head back onto the edge of the tub. "Beer number five. Let's hope they kick in and he passes out soon."
"Which is why we usually meet for coffee," Razi said. "And why I got the fake beer."
"Xavier's an alcoholic, isn't he?" Gilda gasped. "He was probably drinking when he tried to poison us. That's why you never pressed charges."
"Partly." Mick lowered his gaze. "He's been having a lot of problems lately. We called this meeting to make sure he wasn't alone and doing anything stupid."
"So you not only lied to me, you tricked me," she said.
He shrugged. "Technically…"
"That figures." Gilda stepped out onto the textured stone deck and glared at both Razi and Mick. "I'm going home. You're both despicable."
"Sherlock, no. Please, don't leave." Mick followed her across the yard. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "At least let me walk you home."
"Why?" She backed away. "I've lived here my whole life. Everybody knows me and loves me. I'm not in any danger anyway. You said so yourself. Why should I worry, aside from the fact Xavier tried to poison me and Yoshida wants me gone?"
Razi opened his mouth, then closed it and kept a watchful eye on them from the hot tub.
She wrapped her towel around her hips. "Besides, like you guys have all pointed out, no one's hunting receptionists. Just black belts."
"You work for me," Mick said. "That alone makes you a moving target."
"Oh yeah? What happened to me being too nice and naive to be a target?" she asked.
Mick let out a long sigh then grabbed his T-shirt and towel. "I'm taking Gilda home. I'll come back later."
Razi winked. "Take your time."
"Oh, that's it. Don't bother taking me anywhere. I'll be fine without a bodyguard." Gilda spun on her heel and stomped off through the foliage.
"At least leave your drink here." Mick chased her through the shrubs and grabbed her hand. "We don't want to give Thayer a legitimate reason to throw you in jail."
"Fine," she said.
Mick pulled her back through the greenery then set both their bottles around the corner. He dropped his arm across Gilda's shoulders. "You, my dear, are enough to make a man drink some days. Most days, actually."
"I know more about you than most people do, so don't blame your drinking on me." She pushed through the rhododendrons. "How long have you known Xavier's an alcoholic?"
"I've tried to get him help, but he keeps going back for more," he said. "He's never come to the school drunk, or I'd kick him out. I should have kicked him out a long time ago."
"You think? It's no worse than covering up Walter's past." She snorted then turned to face him. "No, actually, they're both really bad. What on earth were you thinking?"
"That I need people who are good at karate even though they've made bad decisions," Mick said. "Those weren't my calls to make. Don't you think I want our karate school to have the best instructors possible?"
Dizzy, she closed her eyes, sure the world was spinning around her. There was no way Razi had drugged her, since he'd opened her drink in front of her. "Yoshida overruled you."
"Damn straight he did. If I didn't go along with his demands, I'd lose the school." He cradled her chin between his finger and thumb and pressed his forehead to hers. "Please, do us all a favor and don't ask any more questions. Razi and Xavier are good men, and I'd trust each of them with my life."
Glad to know she wasn't alone, Gilda met his gaze. "I still want to go home."
"I know you do." When he kissed her, he tasted like beer with a hint of mint gum. Just when her knees threatened to buckle, he inched away but remained close enough to probably feel the burst of heat surging through her body. "Come on, Sherlock. Let's get you home."
She hesitated, temporarily disoriented, until he steered her to the sidewalk. The kiss had altered her senses, dulling them drastically, and wiped her mind blank. What had she been so worried about again?
"You got quiet." Mick gave her hand a squeeze as they approached the beach. "Did I miss something?"
She waited for the tingling in her fingers and toes to subside. "No."
"I'm sorry about what happened back there. I wouldn't have brought you if I'd known that was going to happen."
"The kiss?" She was breathless.
"I meant with Xavier," he said. "Is that what's bothering you? Me kissing you?"
A surge of heat rose inside of her. "No. Xavier. Of course."
"Liar." Mick nudged her off the sidewalk toward the lake.
"What are you doing?" Panic swallowed her whole. "Just take me home."
"I will. In a bit." He led her to the edge of the water where the waves rolled in and crested with little caps of foam.
Her flip-flops filled with grit, she kicked them off and picked them up with two fingers. The sky darkened beyond the usual velvety black, which meant they would have another half hour or so before the rain hit. At least her garden would be happy and full of snails by morning.
"What are we doing down here?"
Mick tossed his towel onto the sand then took off his shoes. "Going for a swim."
"I don't want to swim." She clung to her flip-flops. "I want to go home."
"Exactly my point."
Gilda's jaw dropped. "Are you drunk?"
He locked her in the circle of his arms with clasped hands. "No. All I had was what I drank at Razi's tonight with you. Look, I know you think I'm insincere, unreliable, and do nothing but drive you crazy—"
"Sometimes." She was too nervous to look him in the eyes. What was he up to? "Most times."
"—but I've been trying to pour my heart out to you for the past year. Just like I finally did the other night."
Yes, and she'd mistaken his flirtations for teasing until he finally kissed her. "You mean when I kicked you?"
"Yeah." He shook with a stifled laugh. "That was a very good kick, by the way. I'd like to see you do that in class. Just not to my groin."
Her face burned. "Thanks, but what does all this have to do with me going for a swim?"
"Dive in, Sherlock." Mick moved her hands to his shoulders and pulled her closer until every curve of their bodies seemed to touch. "Take a chance."
Gilda's breath came in a shudder. She didn't want to get her hopes up. "How am I supposed to trust you? I already know you too well. The ex-wife. The girlfriends. The gambling. Yoshida."
"I know," he said. "I'm not the greatest catch in town, am I?"
She laid her head on his chest. "And you think I am? I'm the crazy woman who beat up Thayer and aggravates Yoshida."
"Which makes you definitely worth the frustration, in my book." He gave her another squeeze. "You ready to go for that swim?"
"You're serious?"
"Completely," he said. "What do you say? Are you coming with me?"
"Definitely." She tossed her flip-flops onto the sand, then tugged her towel off her hips and walked into the water with him as the incoming storm blew the waves higher.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Mick was long gone by the time Monday morning rolled around and the storm had ended. He'd walked her home in the pouring rain, helped towel try her hair, then left around midnight. His musky scent, a remnant from the long, lingering kisses he'd left her with, stayed with her until well after dawn when sleep finally found her.
Still smiling, she pressed her black dress and hung it in the bathroom, then sat on the front step with her coffee and listened to the mourning doves. What the hell did she think she was doing? Mick was the worst possible man for her to get involved with. She knew that, so why didn't her hormones? Sure, he was handsome and built like a marble statue, but still…
"You look like a cat that swallowed a whole
bottle of cream." Thayer walked through her front gate. A scowl darkened his face as he sat next to her on the step. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Heat burned her chest and radiated upward to the roots of her hair.
"That's an awfully bright color for nothing." Fabio, carrying a tray with three cups of coffee, joined them. He checked the cups then handed her the one with a big black G on the white lid. "Vanilla latte. I had the girl froth the milk and add cinnamon and chocolate curls."
"How thoughtful," she said. "Are you here to arrest me or something? If you want to ask questions, we can go downtown."
"Now that sounds like something straight out of a gangster movie." Thayer grabbed his coffee, which sloshed onto his right hand and shirt cuff. He frowned, juggled the cup to his left, and wiped his right hand on his pants. The hot coffee left an angry red mark behind. "Where were you last night? We stopped by to talk to you, but you were gone."
"Staff meeting." She sipped the coffee and got a mouthful of mostly foam and cinnamon. "Things are a little crazy at the school lately. Mick wanted to make sure we were all on the same page."
"With each other, or with the police?" he asked. "We checked the school to look for Xavier, but no one was there. I think Mick wanted to close ranks against us."
Fabio rolled his eyes and indicated the porch swing. "Do you mind if we sit up there? My sciatica's acting up. That storm kept me up half the night."
"No problem." Gilda and Fabio sat on the swing and left Thayer the wicker chair with the lumpy cushion.
When Fabio took the lid off his cup, froth clung to the inside. "I imagine the deaths of two instructors is causing a bit of an uproar. It can't be easy to go to work every day."
"No, it's not." She blinked back tears.
"Do you have any suspects in mind?" Fabio asked. At least he tried to befriend her, not like Thayer, who barged into her life and offended everyone, mostly her.
"Not really," she said.
Thayer snorted. "Sure she does. She's probably got a ton of evidence against Mick but won't turn it over because she's in love with him and doesn't want to lose her job."