Murder Mayhem and Mama

by Christie Craig

  It took two cups of the diner’s strong coffee before Cali was able to put the embarrassment aside of waking up on top of him. She still wasn’t sure how he’d talked her into coming here, but she suspected it had something to do with his saying please.

  With caffeine pumping in her veins, she found a question that needed to be answered. “Did someone appoint you as my bodyguard?”

  He dropped the menu and held his coffee cup between two palms. “I thought we covered this last night.”

  “Yeah, but I just don’t get it.” She took a deep breath and the smell of something cinnamon, like French toast, wafted as a waitress skirted by. Cali’s stomach grumbled and she realized she was actually hungry. “Have you been assigned to me?”

  He pulled his cup to his lips. “Not officially.”

  “Then unofficially, have you been told to protect me?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Because...” She reached for her own cup and hot liquid spilled from her heavy mug. “I’m just trying to figure out how we got here.” Unwrapping her silverware, she let it clank against the dark veneered table.

  “I think we walked across from the hotel,” he answered with humor.

  She frowned. “You know what I mean. I’ve know you less than a week and now I’m waking up in bed with you.” She soaked up the coffee with a napkin and raised her gaze. “Is this what you do, go around saving damsels in distress?”

  His eyes crinkled into a sexy smile. This morning, he wore a black T-shirt. Over the snug fitting cotton fabric, he’d donned a light blue buttoned-down shirt, which he left open. “You’re a damsel?”

  “I’m a serious damsel.” She arranged her silverware. “How did we go from me not liking you to this?”

  He pressed his forearms to the table and leaned so close she could smell the coffee and toothpaste on his breath. And since he didn’t have any toothpaste, he’d probably borrowed hers. Had he used her toothbrush, too? Why not? They shared meals, a bed. What was a toothbrush thrown in?

  “I don’t know how we got here,” he said. “But I’m not complaining. Are you?”

  “It’s scary,” she confessed.

  He frowned and leaned back. “What can I do to make it less scary?”

  She considered it. “Give me a break from you.”

  He frowned. “What about Stan? I’d think he might scare you more.”

  She considered that, too. “He does.”

  “Then I say we just move slowly. No pressure.”

  She inhaled. “I guess.”

  Time ticked by while they each stared at the menu. “The omelets are good,” he said, but Cali continued to hide behind the menu.

  “What are you having?” He reached across and lowered her menu so he could see her. “No silent treatments, okay?”

  She frowned. “Eggs and toast. And I’m not sharing my breakfast with you.” It was a silly thing to say, but she felt the need for some barriers.

  He nodded.

  After they ordered, Brit asked, “What are your plans today?”

  She poured cream into her coffee. “I’m visiting Tanya.”

  He lifted his freshly-filled cup to his mouth and steam rose around his lips. “Does Stan know where she lives?”

  “He’s never been over there.”

  “Does he know her last name? Is she in the phone book?”

  Cali stirred her coffee, watching the dark chocolate color wash to a light brown. “I don’t think he’d expect I would go to her house. We’ve just become friends.”

  “Okay.” He stared into her eyes. “I get off at two.”

  What did he expect her to say? ‘Good, I’ll meet you back at the hotel for nap time and let you use my toothbrush again.’

  “I could swing by Tanya’s when I get off. It might be around five,” he said. “We could eat dinner out for a change.”

  “You know where Tanya lives?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I went by there the day I was looking for you, remember?”

  “Yeah.” She studied her silverware, to keep her eyes off him.

  “Does that sound okay?” he asked.

  So he expected to spend the afternoon with her again. And probably the night. She wasn’t sure if she was happy about that or not. Or maybe she did know. The fact that she looked forward to it scared her.

  “You work really odd hours,” she said, wanting to change the direction of her thoughts.

  He sipped from his cup again. “It’s not always like this. We just have a lot of cases.”

  “You mean the cases about the two officers?” Her question brought the sadness back into his eyes, and suddenly she didn’t feel so awkward anymore. She could relate to him in a big way. Two people, nose deep in grief. “I’m sorry about your partner.”

  His expression tightened, and Cali understood. She hated hearing those words, too. Yet now she understood everyone on the other side, wanting to let her know that they cared, that she wasn’t alone. And she wanted to do that for him. “Death sucks.”

  The look in his eyes softened. “Yeah. How are you coping?”

  “I miss her.” The moment leant itself to the truth. “A lot.”

  “Are you still dreaming about her?”

  She dropped the spoon. “How did you know—?”

  “You told me,” he said. “The day your car got broken into. Remember? The whole dreams and lesbians talk.” He grinned slightly.

  She bit down on her lip. “Oh, yeah. During my meltdown.”

  A smile made his eyes crinkle. “You seemed to bounce back.”

  She sipped her coffee, and bits and pieces of last night’s dream started swimming through her mind. What had Mom told her?

  “So you’re still dreaming about her?” he asked again.

  “Some. But I’m not crazy,” she added and immediately wished she hadn’t.

  “I never thought you were.” Honesty gave his voice a deeper quality, and Cali decided she liked his voice, along with everything else about him.

  “You dream about your partner?” she asked.

  He unrolled his napkin-clad silverware. “Not dream. I keep seeing him in my head at the morgue. Then I see an image of his wife.” He inhaled. “It’s not pretty.”

  “So he was married?”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at his phone on the table. “She’s called a couple of times. I know she wants to know who killed her husband and I can’t tell her.”

  Her chest hurt for Brit. “I’m sure she understands,” she said.

  “How could she when I don’t?” He looked away.

  “What was he like? Your partner?” She knew the question was unwanted, but she felt compelled to get him to talk about something besides the grief.

  “We were as different as night and day. He was a Republican. I’m a Democrat. He believed in silver linings. I’m a realist. He was analytical. I’m a fly by the seat of my pants type. He was married, had a kid, went to church on Sunday for God’s sake. I’m different.”

  She pondered his words. “So you’re a spontaneous atheist and a diehard playboy who believes in taking care of the little guy, but doesn’t want to add to the world’s population because you really think the world is going to pot.”

  He laughed and curled his hands around his cup. “Yup, something like that.” His grin lingered in his eyes, and Cali noticed he looked less tired this morning. He didn’t resemble a dickhead at all, just someone who needed compassion. And she wanted to reach deep into her soul and offer him a big handful.

  He twisted his cup in his palms and stared at her. “That sounds like something Keith would have said.” He hesitated. “So you got me pegged. Tell me about you.”

  “What about me?” She tried not to look at his hands. He had nice hands. She remembered the kiss yesterday and how his palms had felt as they found their way under her sweater. The touch had lasted seconds, but the memory hung on.

  “Did you always want to be a teacher? You’re good at it.”

  Cali basked in h
is praise. “Thanks. I enjoy it, but I really only got into it because I loved art. I knew I needed some sort of income while I tried to make it as an artist. It wasn’t until I was student teaching that I got the teaching bug.”

  “What kind of art?” he asked.

  “Painting,” she said. “Watercolors mostly.”

  He leaned back and draped one arm over the top of the booth. His shirt draped open and his T-shirt spread over his chest. Tight. “Are you good?”

  “Of course. The first painting that I ever exhibited sold for a thousand dollars.”

  His eyes widened. “I’m impressed.”

  Cali grinned. “Don’t be. My mother bought it.”

  He laughed. “Well, maybe she had good taste.”

  “She did,” Cali admitted. “But I think she might have been a wee bit prejudiced.”

  “I didn’t see any of your work in your apartment.”

  She glanced down and realigned her silverware. “I haven’t painted since Mom got sick.”

  The waitress appeared with two plates weighing down her arms. She dropped the plates with a thud and refilled their coffees. They ate and talked about casual stuff, his job, her job.

  She finished and pushed her plate to the side.

  She watched him butter his toast, then he forked a bite of her eggs from her plate and put it in his mouth.

  “Oh.” He grimaced. “I forgot. We weren’t sharing.”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine.”

  He sat there staring at her with a smile on his face. A sexy smile. Were they going to sleep together tonight?

  “Tonight you’re sleeping in your jeans,” she said, then couldn’t believe she’d said it out loud.

  He dusted some crumbs from her chin as his smile widened. “Deal.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Brit followed Cali to Tanya’s apartment. He didn’t get out of the car, afraid if he did, he’d be too damn tempted to kiss her. So he simply watched her go inside. Then he went to check on Rina. He’d told Rina last night that she wasn’t to leave the hotel and was to order meals from room service. But since when did women listen? He rode the elevator up to the tenth floor.

  “Who is it?” Rina asked hesitantly when he knocked.

  Good, Brit thought. Her fear would keep her in line and hopefully alive. “It’s Detective Lowell.”

  The door swung open and Rina stood there wearing nothing but a white towel. And it wasn’t a big towel either. “Come in.” She arched one shoulder and smiled seductively.

  Brit’s gaze swept over her once before he took the step. Inside, he focused on the sun streaming through the window. When he glanced back, her towel had dropped a little lower.

  “Why don’t you get dressed,” he said, his voice controlled.

  “Why?” she whispered. “You see something you like?”

  Brit spotted her clothes on the bed. “Get dressed.”

  She snatched up her clothes, and turned to go into the bathroom. But a step away from the door, she let the towel fall to the floor. Brit got a nice view of her naked ass. Then she turned around and gave him the full Monte.

  She wiggled her fingers at him. “You want to take a shower with me?”

  He couldn’t say he didn’t appreciate the view, because he did. But there wasn’t an ounce of him that wanted to do more than appreciate it. “I said, get dressed.”

  “Your loss, because I’m good.” She walked out.

  Brit stood there, waiting to feel something more. Like regret. But nope. He hadn’t even felt the normal male twitch. Considering it had been eight weeks since he’d buried himself inside a woman, it seemed odd.

  He heard the shower spray, but instead of thinking about the woman who’d just appeared naked before him, he thought about Cali. Of how damn good her towel had smelled when he buried his face in it. If she’d made him the shower offer, he’d be rock hard and getting wet right now.

  This morning, when he’d woken up with her on top of him, he’d entertained several ideas of how to proceed. All of them involved getting her naked. Thankfully, she’d taken the edge off his desire by taking a nosedive to the floor.

  Letting out a breath, he settled into the hotel chair.

  In a few minutes, Rina stepped out, looking wet and annoyed. “So if you’re not here for a freebie, whatcha want?”

  His impatience brought him to his feet. “I want to make sure you understand how serious this is.”

  “I told you last night. I didn’t tell anyone.”

  “And what if Payne did?”

  She frowned. “I can’t stay here forever. I’ve got to work.”

  “No, you don’t. I could get you some help until you got back on your feet.” He recalled making that offer once before. Of course, she hadn’t taken it.

  “Why? I like my job.” she said sarcastically. “I’m good at it.”

  “You want to die like Payne? Because let me tell you, it wasn’t a pretty sight.”

  Her dark eyes widened. “But...”

  “No buts. You don’t leave this room. Order anything you want from room service. I’m going to talk to my captain today, and we’ll probably move you to a safe house.”

  “But I barely saw the guys.”

  Her words hit like sharp ice chips. “Saw them? You said Payne told you. You didn’t say you saw anyone. Them? There was more than one?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Two. One kid was waiting in the car. But—”

  “What did he look like?” Hope swelled in Brit’s chest.

  She blinked. “I don’t want to get in this any deeper.”

  Brit glared at her. “You’re in this about as deep as you can get. You know Payne wouldn’t have thought twice about giving you up to those guys. Besides if you saw them, then they saw you. The only way you’re going to save your ass is to help us catch them. So just tell me. What did the other guy look like?”

  She frowned. “They were both kids. One white and one black, the one who talked to Payne was black. He didn’t say he’d killed anyone. He said one of his gang buddies had done it.”

  “What about the other one? Did you get a look at him?”

  She wrung her hands together. “He had long hair. Red.”

  “Did you know what gang they were from?”

  “I don’t know gangs. They don’t like to pay for sex.”

  Brit let out a deep breath. “Come on. I’m taking you in.”

  “But I thought I was going to stay here. Order room service, watch cable. Judge Judy comes on in an hour.”

  “I’ll get you something to eat at the station,” he said.

  ~

  Cali sat at Tanya’s kitchen table, drinking coffee. Tanya, who wore jeans and a neon purple sweater, stood at the sink washing a few dishes. “Oh, I want to show you my last three pairs of earrings.” She dried her hands. “I want your honest opinion.”

  Cali followed her into a room where a big table was filled with a small welder, and gold wire, and where tiny beads were scattered on top.

  Eager to show off her wares, Tanya held up a pair of earrings that looked like tiny acorns.

  “They’re beautiful,” Cali said and meant it. Truth was, most of Tanya’s pieces were beautiful, but they weren’t Cali’s style. These were different.

  “You really like them? Because they’re different from anything I’ve done. But when I was designing them, I thought about you.”

  Cali smiled. “They’re really pretty. Honestly.”

  “Good. I made them for you.” She handed Cali the pair.

  “No.” Cali set them down. “You need to give these to the gallery. They’re waiting for you to replace the others.”

  “I already made those.”

  “You’re serious?” Cali asked. “You made these for me?”

  “Yes, now don’t get mushy on me. Just say ‘thank you.’”

  “Thank you.” Grinning, Cali went to the mirror and put them on. “How do they look?” She turned, tilting her
head to one side, then the other.

  “Classy,” Tanya said. “The artist who designed them must be absolutely fabulous.”

  “She is.” Cali looked around the room that served as Tanya’s studio. “You must have been very busy.”

  “I was. Stayed up past midnight last night.”

  “What about Eric?” Cali asked.

  Tanya frowned. “I’m going to meet him for dinner tonight, but I’m putting sex off until next weekend.”

  “Why?”

  “You were right. Date three is too soon.”

  Cali flinched. “I was joking, I didn’t mean—”

  “I know you were joking. But you were right. I don’t want to rush things. I’m always dirtying up the bed sheets with a guy, and then I’m sorry I didn’t wait to find out if he was worth the price of laundering the sheets.”

  “Do you think Eric’s a dickhead?”

  “No. I just think I need to slow down. But speaking of dickheads, how’s Brit?”

  “He’s fine.” Cali looked back in the mirror at the earring.

  “Just fine?”

  Cali dropped down in a chair beside Tanya’s work table. “Oh, heck. He’s so fine.”

  Tanya rubbed her hands together like an excited child. “Details, I want details.”

  Cali spent ten minutes telling Tanya about Brit kissing her, then sleeping in the same bed with her.

  “So nothing happened?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  “And you’re fine with that?” Tanya asked.

  “Of course.”

  “You don’t lie worth a shit,” Tanya said.

  Cali shook her head. “I don’t know what I want. One minute I’m telling him we’re not sharing food let alone bodily fluids, and the next, I wish he’d try something.”

  Tanya grinned. “What time is he picking you up?”

  “He said around five.”

  “Great, that’s just enough time.”

  “Time for what?”

  “Shopping. I think you need to buy something new. Something sexier than your teacher attire.”

  ~

  Brit had delivered Rina to Adams and had just gotten settled into his chair when he felt someone staring at him from his office door. He hadn’t looked up when he heard the sultry voice.