by anna snow
Silvia nodded her head and tossed the dishtowel she held over her shoulder. "We had a police officer stop by last evening to ask some questions. Jamie isn't in trouble or anything is he?"
"No, ma'am. Not that we're aware of. We're here on a personal matter. My best friend, Kelly, was Mark's girlfriend—"
"Oh! You're the Barb that Kelly always talks about," she interrupted cheerfully. "Come on in." She smiled and waved us in then closed the door behind us.
"Would you like a drink?" she asked as she stepped around us and led us into the kitchen.
As we passed the living room I spotted five kids, all appearing to be under six years old, playing with toys, roughhousing, and watching some cartoon on a big-screen television.
"Sure, that would be great. Thanks," I answered absently as I took in the chaos happening in the living area.
Silas and I took a seat at a breakfast bar. Silvia poured lemonade into three glasses and set them in front of us.
"I have to say I was shocked when we heard on the news this morning that Kelly is a suspect. She's such a nice girl. I never understood why she was with a guy like Mark." She shook her head and took a drink of her lemonade. "Just a minute, and I'll go get Jamie. He's out in the backyard."
We watched as she stepped through the French doors and out onto a stone patio.
"She seems like she'll be helpful enough," Silas said before taking a drink of his lemonade. "She obviously wasn't a fan of Mark's." He set his cup back down on the counter.
I nodded and watched out the French doors as she approached whom I assumed was Jamie. "Let's just hope her husband is as loose-lipped as she appears to be," I replied in a near whisper in case little ears I hadn't spotted were listening.
A moment later a tall man in his late twenties or early thirties stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.
"So you're the infamous Barb Jackson," he said with a wide smile. "Kelly talks about you so much that I feel like I already know you." He extended his hand, and I took it.
"And you must be Jamie," I said. "This is my partner, Silas." I released Jamie's hand and motioned to Silas who followed my lead and shook the man's grip.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both. I just wish it were under better circumstances." He shook his head and looked the appropriate amount remorseful.
I took a second to really look at Jamie. He had shaggy black hair, brown eyes, full lips, and tattoos covering both of his arms. He wore an old concert T-shirt, ripped jeans, and Converse shoes. All in all, he fit the part of a rock star. I'd have been lying if I'd said the situation didn't feel a little odd. The house was full of children, his wife looked like his polar opposite, and the kitchen we were currently sitting in looked like it was straight out of an episode of The Martha Stewart Show.
I would have been suspicious of the setting around me, but I was a firm believer in the saying that you can't judge a book by its cover.
"Silvia tells me that you're asking around about Mark?" He gave us a questioning look.
I nodded. "My best friend is in jail for a…" I looked around to make sure there weren't any children in the room. "…murder…" I whispered the word. "…that she didn't commit. I just want to get to the bottom of who really killed Mark."
Jamie took a seat on a stool across from us and sighed. "Honestly, Mark and I weren't close. You'd think we were, with me being the lead guitarist in the band and all, but we just weren't."
"Why was that?" I asked.
"Mark liked to party, drink, be with a different woman every chance he got. That's just not who I am, especially with Silvia and the kids here at home."
I nodded. "I see."
"Not to mention he was a huge jerk. He acted like the only reason the band was gaining any traction in the world was because of him. He didn't get that the band wasn't a one-man endeavor."
"So, if Mark was so terrible, why did you continue to keep working with him?" Silas asked.
"The money. Why else?" Jamie said easily. "The band is huge right now, and with all these kids at home, I need all the money I can get to provide for them."
I looked at all the children running around and completely understood where he was coming from. All the children must have been extremely expensive. If I were in his position, I'd probably have stuck it out working with Mark, too.
"Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Mark?"
He harrumphed. "You know yourself that anyone who really knew Mark couldn't stand him, but I don't know of anyone who would want to kill him." He shook his head and glanced at Silvia when she reentered the room.
"What about women?" Silas asked and leaned his forearms against the countertop. "We know he slept around. Where there any um…regulars?" He chose his words carefully.
Silvia tapped her bottom lip. "There was one girl I heard him talking about. He said she was crazy."
I leaned forward. "What do you mean?"
Jamie chuckled. "She was kind of obsessed with him. She surpassed the title of a groupie. She was at every concert, every meet and greet, and always waiting for him at the bus when the shows were over. Mark starting sleeping with her. Then when he got bored, he moved on to the next unsuspecting woman, but this one wouldn't take no for an answer." He shook his head. "She continued showing up at shows and the bus. If she saw Mark with a woman, she'd make a huge scene. I was kind of sad for her really. He just tossed her aside."
What a jerk. The more I learned about Mark the more I disliked him.
"Do you happen to know her name?" I asked.
"Of course. Her name was Melody. Melody Thompson. I think she's from around here, but I'm not sure."
Silas and I exchanged a look. I knew we were thinking the same thing. This Melody person was looking more and more like a suspect. Especially if she was as obsessed as Jamie and Silvia said she was.
"One last question," I said. "Where were you when Mark was killed? I have to ask," I explained.
"We were here with the kids," Jamie explained smoothly. "I'm a homebody when I get time off the road. I like to spend as much time as possible with the kids before heading back out."
"Thanks for your time. We have to get going." I hopped off the stool.
We each shook hands with Jamie as Silvia ran off to deal with a screaming child.
Silas and I made our way out to my car and got inside. I started the ignition and pulled away from the curb.
"Well. What do you think?" Silas asked.
"Did you see all those kids?" I asked.
"Yes, I saw them. Why do you sound so horrified? They're just kids."
"I'm not horrified," I said, but the words sounded like a lie even to myself. "I've just never really been around kids."
Silas laughed. "Does Tyler know that you don't like kids?"
I glanced at him. "I never said I don't like kids. I like kids," I defended myself. I actually loved the idea of kids. I was just a little frightened by them. I never knew what to say or how to behave around them. As for talking to Tyler about kids? That was a conversation for another day.
I changed the subject quickly before we wound up in territory I wasn't ready to explore just yet. "I don't think Jamie killed Mark. He just doesn't seem the type, not to mention he said he was home with his family. It would be too easy for one of his kids to slip up and mention he wasn't home should one be asked."
Silas nodded. "You're right. So now what?"
"We need to have Mandy look into this Melody Thompson woman. She sounds like she had a pretty good motive to hate Mark."
"Disgruntled side-chick. Yeah, that'll do it. I'll call Mandy," Silas offered and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
I concentrated on weaving in and out of traffic while Silas relayed what we'd learned from Jamie and Silvia to Mandy. When he hung up, he stuck his phone back in his pocket and turned back to me.
"Mandy is on it. Mona is neck deep in the band's Facebook profiles, and I could hear a talk show going on in the background."
"
Sounds like they're having fun." I laughed.
"Now what?"
"On to the next," I said. "Who's next on the list?"
Silas fished the list out of my purse. "It looks like Henry Latimer, drummer, is the next lucky contestant on Who Killed the Jerk."
I laughed at his The Price is Right impression. "And what's the address of our next contestant?"
Silas rattled off the address, and I took the next exit then steered in the right direction. It was well into the afternoon, and traffic was starting to grow thick. Twenty minutes later we pulled up to the curb outside of a red-brick apartment building way downtown.
"Mandy didn't give an apartment number, but it looks like we don't need one." Silas motioned toward the front of the building where a small crowd was gathered around a tall man with red hair wearing a black T-shirt and ripped jeans.
"That must be him," I agreed. "What are the chances that someone else just so happens to be standing outside this building, signing autographs for a bunch of giggling, half-dressed women?"
We got out of the car, looked both ways, and crossed the street. About a dozen women were gathered around, snapping pictures and cooing over their autographed items, including a pair of overly enhanced boobs with black Sharpie scrawled across them.
Silas and I hung back until the last woman finally moved away, and then we stepped forward.
"Henry Latimer?" I asked.
"Yeah, doll. That's me. What can I do for you?" he asked in a low, sleazy tone that made my skin crawl. He rested his forearm against the wall and peered down at me.
Henry had small brown eyes, a round face, and a thin goatee. He was pale, had a thin build, and his pants hung low on his hips in the most unflattering way. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to offer him a belt or suspenders.
What in the world did women see in this guy?
"You can answer a few questions about your bandmate Mark Reynolds if you don't mind." Silas stepped forward.
Henry barely spared a glance at Silas then continued running his eyes over my body.
"You a cop?" he asked.
"Nope. I'm a private investigator trying to get to the truth." I pulled a business card out of my back pocket and handed it to him.
He looked at the card then at me a moment longer and shrugged. "As long as you're not a cop. What do you want to know?"
"You don't care for cops?" I asked.
"It's not that I don't care for them." He smirked. "They don't care for me…or my weed."
"I see," I said. If he was what Mona called a pothead, then his dislike of cops was totally rational, seeing as he'd be going to jail should he be caught with any of the sticky green on him.
"You're the drummer for the band?" I asked.
"Sure am."
"Where were you the night Mark was killed?" I jumped right to the point of our visit. I wanted to get away from this guy as quickly as possible. The way he let his eyes linger on me made my skin crawl. It felt like a million ants were scurrying all over me.
"Out with my girlfriend, Leela." He turned his back to the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "We went down to that awesome nightclub on Industrial Avenue. A lot of people saw us there. A reporter even spotted us and asked me a few questions about the upcoming tour."
He had what sounded like a solid alibi, but I'd have Mandy make a few calls and verify his whereabouts. If he was telling the truth, then he didn't kill Mark. But he might still know someone who could have.
"Do you happen to know of anyone who would want to hurt Mark?"
"Everyone who knew him." He laughed at his own joke. "But seriously." He reached up and scratched his goatee. "The guy was a jerk. I stuck with the band for the money and fame. Once we got a little more established and I had a bigger following, I was planning on leaving. Going out on my own. I'd be a better front man than Mark anyway." He smoothed his hair back then winked at a woman as she walked by.
I didn't even try to control the urge to roll my eyes. This guy definitely had an ego on him that would have rivaled Mark's. I was a little surprised that his over inflated self-appreciation wasn't causing his head to drag the ground.
"Do you know a woman named Melody Thompson?" Silas asked.
Henry pried his eyes away from the woman passing by and nodded. "Yeah, I know who she is. Kinda crazy. She was one of Mark's flings. Shoot, she was one of everyone's flings." He waggled his eyebrows.
"Everyone?" I asked.
"Yeah, everyone. Even Jamie had a night with her, but there's no way he'd ever admit it to that stick in the mud, Silvia."
Jamie just fell a few rungs in my opinion, but I still didn't think he killed Mark.
"Do you know where she lives?"
"Around here somewhere. I wasn't really interested in where she lived, only in what she had to offer if you know what I mean." He shrugged.
"Thanks. If you can think of anything else that might help us, let me know." I gave him a half wave then went back to my car and got inside.
We pulled away from the curb, and I shivered, trying to shake off some of the imaginary slimy residue Henry had projected onto me.
"That guy was a real piece of work," Silas said and leaned back in his seat.
"Tell me about it. But if he's telling the truth, he has a solid alibi in the reporter. He seems like he's more interested in how many women he can weasel into his bed than anything else."
"I agree." Silas shook his head. I was just about to ask who the next name on the list was when my phone rang.
"Would you mind getting that for me?" I asked and nodded toward my purse in the backseat.
"No problem." Silas reached over, grabbed my purse, and pulled out my phone.
"It's Mandy," he said and answered the call.
I listened to a few excited uh-huhs and greats then Silas asked Mandy to check Henry's alibi and ended the call. He grinned at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Mandy said she'd check out Henry's alibi right now and get back to us, but the good news is Lopez got Kelly out of jail," he said with a sigh of relief and tossed my phone back into the backseat. "Since the blood test hasn't come back yet and might not for weeks, Lopez argued that there's no reason for them to hold her. She's out."
"I know that Tyler said it could be days or weeks, but I wonder how long we really have before the test results come back?" I asked.
"I have no idea," Silas said. "But I know better than to ask too many questions when things are going our way. The main thing is she's out of jail."
"For now," I said. "It's only a matter of time before they take her back in. I have no doubt the blood on her hands is Mark's. If whoever is framing her is serious, then there's no way they left that to chance. Where is she now?"
"Mandy said Lopez escorted her back to my apartment building. They're all waiting for us there. I already told the doorman about Kelly this morning when we discussed where she should stay, so he let her into the building, and one of the guards escorted them up."
"Good thinking."
I turned the car around and sped in the direction of Silas's apartment.
CHAPTER FIVE
The sun was fading when we pulled into the underground parking garage at Silas's apartment building. I pulled into a visitor parking space next to a sleek black Mercedes, grabbed my phone out of the backseat, and got out of the car. We rode the elevator up to the main lobby where Silas greeted the doorman as we boarded another elevator that would take us to the top floor where his apartment was located.
I was anxious to talk to Kelly and see if she had remembered anything else about the night of Mark's death since I'd last spoken to her. I knew that it wasn't likely, especially if she'd been drugged as I suspected, but a girl could hope.
The elevator dinged, the doors slid open, and we stepped into the hallway. The door to Silas's apartment was the last door on the left.
He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. The moment we stepped inside we were bombarded with hugs and smiles. I did my
best to smile back, but the fact that we still weren't out of the woods where this case was concerned loomed like a storm cloud over my head.
Kelly squeezed me tight for a moment longer then stepped back.
"Okay, that's enough," Mona said and waved her hands in the air. "Let's all have a seat and figure this mess out."
"Where's Lopez?" I asked as we all made our way to the kitchen island where we took our seats on the leather-padded barstools surrounding it. If there was one thing Silas had besides charm, it was taste. His apartment was surprisingly cozy and tasteful with oversized leather and suede furniture, heavy dark wood tables, and matching hardwood floors dotted with thick, fluffy area rugs. It was masculine but not over the top. Some of his artwork adorned the walls, and sculptures created by his own hands sat in the corner of almost every room.
"He had to go take care of some things with another client, but he said he'd check in in a few hours," Kelly said as she took a seat next to me. "He's a busy man."
"Good. That means he's excellent at his job," Mona said and sat down beside Kelly.
"I hate to be the one to burst everyone's bubble here, but we're not out of the woods yet," Silas said beating me to it as he removed five Peach Tea Snapple's from the refrigerator then passed them out to each of us and took his seat across from me.
I took the drink from his hand and twisted the lid. "Silas is right. It's great that Lopez got you released," I assured Kelly. "But we still need to figure out who really killed Mark. The evidence is really stacked against you," I said to Kelly.
She twisted the bottle between her palms and shook her head. "I still can't believe he's gone," she said sadly.
I shared a quick look with Silas then reached over and grasped Kelly's hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I know you're hurting, honey, but I need to ask you some more questions. We need to know anything you might be able to tell us about that night, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem." I tried to be as gentle with my words as I could be.
Despite how I felt about Mark, Kelly had seen something in him that was invisible to the rest of us. She loved him, which was why it was going to be so hard for me to ask her about the woman Mark had been seeing on the side.