Dirty Little Secrets (Romantic Mystery) Book 1 in the J.J. Graves Series

by Hart, Liliana

  “They’ll never back off,” I hissed. “They’re like rabid dogs after the same bone. And when the bone’s gone they’ll turn on each other.”

  “Right,” he said. “I’ll fix this.” Brody stood up on the vinyl booth seat and waved his hands in the air to get silence. The crowd quieted down, but there were a few rumbles in the group, and I could have sworn I heard somebody pump a shotgun. Bloody Mary was all about the right to bear arms.

  “Excuse me, folks,” he said soft enough to where they had to stop talking and listen close. Neat trick. “No matter what my opinions are, I want you to remember that they’re only that. Opinions. You have trained police to see to this matter, and I wouldn’t want an innocent person getting hurt because you took matters into your own hands.” He made eye contact with several men who looked like they were planning to do just that.

  “Bloody Mary is a small town, a safe town, and you’ve already had too many deaths. Let’s let Sheriff Lawson do his job by staying out of his way and answering whatever questions he asks. Cooperation is the best way all of us can help.

  “I’ve only been here a short time, but I’ve come to know most of you at least in passing, and I’d hate to see something bad happen to anyone else, to your friends or family. This is a good town with good people. And I’d like to help you take care of it.

  “I think the women need to make sure they’re not out alone, and I think you all need to watch out for your neighbors. Can I count on you to keep Bloody Mary safe?” he asked the room in general. There were several head nods and more “you bets” coming from the same group that was hostile only moments ago.

  Brody was a miracle worker in my opinion, and when he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd and back out into the cold I realized watching him work had made me a little hot as well.

  “Man, you should run for office,” I said, trapping him against the side of his car and kissing the daylights out of him. “We could play loyal constituent when we get back to my place,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

  “Hah, very funny,” he said, laughing and kissing me back with lots of heat and even more tongue. “Okay, you’ve convinced me,” he said, shoving me inside the car. “But I’d rather play crooked Congressman than loyal constituent. Everybody knows that crooked Congressmen conduct their liaisons in the back seats of their cars.”

  It sounded good to me. As far as I was concerned the sooner the better.

  Chapter Twenty

  I decided to take things into my own hands, so to speak, so Brody wasn’t really paying attention to the road when we stopped in front of the funeral home and the Escalade skidded on a patch of ice and somehow ended up parked on the front lawn.

  I laughed and Brody cursed and somehow through it all I ended up with my shirt off and Brody’s pants unzipped.

  “We could go to jail for this,” Brody said on a strangled gasp. “But it might be worth it.”

  “Don’t worry, I have an in with the police. Maybe they’ll let us share a cell.” I looked up just to check and make sure there wasn’t anyone peeping in the windows, but they were properly fogged over. No one could see in and we couldn’t see out. Perfect.

  Things were rocking along nicely when flashes of light started appearing behind my closed eyes and the whoop, whoop, whoop of a police siren intruded on my copulatory bliss.

  “Jaye, I swear to God that’d better not be you in there,” Jack called out. I could see his flashlight muted through the outside of the fogged windows.

  “Crap,” I said, clamoring over the seat to pull my clothes back on. Brody was in a completely indecent state and currently laughing his ass off. “Shut up and get dressed,” I said. “This is no laughing matter.”

  “You’re right,” he said, failing to hide his smile. “But this is totally going into my book.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” I whispered, trying to keep Jack from hearing what was going on inside the car. “Not unless you want to find out what it feels like to be embalmed while you’re still alive.”

  “Oooh, vicious. I can tell you’re a real tough guy with your shirt on inside-out like that.”

  “Jaye, I’m giving you two minutes to get inside with your clothes on so I can ask you and your boyfriend some questions,” Jack said.

  “Oh man, he’s pissed,” I said as I listened to him walk over the frozen grass with crunching steps and slam the side door that led into the kitchen.

  I did one more clothes evaluation on both of us and decided not to push on the two minute threat. I didn’t want to see what would happen if I was late. I also wasn’t sure this was going to be the most comfortable meeting Jack and I had ever had, but I did the admirable thing and went in the door first to face the music instead of throwing Brody under the bus. Or in this case in front of Jack’s fist.

  I didn’t find Jack in the kitchen as I had expected or in my office. I was starting to think that maybe I dreamed the whole embarrassing scene, but I saw Jack’s coat thrown over the stair rail.

  We finally found him in one of the small viewing parlors. The one I called the blue room because of the pale blue, printed wall-paper and dark navy indoor/outdoor carpet. It looked like any ladies parlor, I guess, with a couple of settees and chairs bunched together around a coffee table. The only difference was the platform at the back of the room where a coffin would sit.

  Jack was lying flat out on one of the settees. His feet hung over the end and a bag of ice was draped across his eyes. I felt guilty because Jack had obviously been working himself to the bone while I was romping in the back seat of an SUV.

  Brody pushed me forward because I was stuck in the doorway, and I dragged myself over to one of the chairs across from Jack. I was kind of wishing I had a bag of ice too. My head was starting to pound from all the blood that was rushing to my face.

  “Uhm, Jack?” I said because he still hadn’t moved from his spot to acknowledge I was there. Nope, it didn’t look like he was going to make this easy. I probably deserved it. I cleared my throat and Jack took the ice off his eyes and gave me one of those don’t push it looks.

  “Sometimes you push friendship right over the boundaries, Jaye. Like when we were in the eighth grade and you talked the rest of us into spying on Walter Duberry through his windows because you were convinced he was a drug dealer.”

  “Yeah,” I said, thinking I should defend myself. “But that turned out okay because it just turned out he liked to sneak home in the afternoons and watch porn before his wife got home.”

  “Yeah, but it turned out to be homemade porn between him and a couple of the cheerleaders at the high school, and my dad had to fire him from working the fields once Walter had been arrested. I couldn’t sit for a week after he’d gotten word of what we’d been doing.”

  I twitched in my own seat because mention of it reminded me how sore my own behind had been. After we’d all been congratulated for catching Walter in the act we’d gotten a blistering lecture about invading people’s privacy with drug store binoculars. Probably they were worried about the other things we’d seen around town and wanted to nip this new hobby of ours in the bud.

  “This isn’t the point, Jaye. I can name a million instances just like it.” His eyes shifted to Brody, and if looks could kill Brody would be dead meat. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just catch you doing something completely illegal, not to mention idiotic, and then go home and use Clorox on my eyes.”

  I figured telling Jack I appreciated it wouldn’t get me any brownie points, so I didn’t say anything. I watched Jack pull his recorder out of his pocket and set it on the table in front of him like he did whenever he questioned witnesses or suspects, and I got a little tingle along my spine.

  “I have some questions for Mr. Collins, Jaye, and I expect you to sit there with your mouth shut until I’m finished.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond but turned the recorder on. He was really pissed.

  Brody was slouched back in his chair, and I had to look closely
to make sure he was even awake he was so relaxed.

  “Can you state your full name, age and where you’re from for the record,” Jack asked.

  “Brody Collins. 35. I’m originally from Boston, but I currently live in Richmond, Virginia.”

  I decided staying silent was to my advantage. This was information that I didn’t know, and I had to admit I was curious, not to mention slightly embarrassed. I knew nothing about Brody Collins except that I liked his books and he wore extra large condoms.

  “Can you tell me what you were doing at the Hanover Hotel on Sunday morning?” Jack asked.

  Damn, I knew I’d forgotten something. I sat up in response to Jack’s question, but Jack gave me another look before I could say anything and come to Brody’s defense.

  “I was having breakfast,” Brody said, no more no less than he had to answer the question. I could practically hear Jack grinding his teeth.

  “Was there any reason you didn’t volunteer this information at the crime scene earlier this morning?”

  “I guess I just wasn’t thinking about it,” he said. I applauded his chivalry at trying to protect me from being the screw-up, but I didn’t think this was the best time to go heroic and mess with Jack.

  “Did you eat alone? See anyone you know?”

  “Yes, I ate alone. I also saw several people I’ve had occasion to meet since I’ve been in town.”

  “For someone who’s been in town such a short time you sure have seemed to shoehorn your way into the community,” Jack said.

  Oh, shit. He’d already heard about what had happened at Martha’s. And then I caught the look he was giving me and knew he was talking about something else entirely. He was talking about Brody finding his way into my bed. Not that it was any of his business. The recorder was still going, so I held in what I felt like saying.

  “Getting to know people in the community is part of my job. I do it everywhere I go,” Brody said. “It’s become a habit.”

  “And how much longer are you planning to grace Bloody Mary with your presence?” Jack asked.

  I was still in the chair beside Brody and thought I might hate Jack at that moment for asking a question I didn’t want to know the answer to.

  There was a pause pregnant with meaning between the two men before Brody answered. “I’ll be gone as soon as the book’s finished, maybe before if I don’t have any follow-up questions on any of my research.”

  Well, I guess I’d known that deep down inside, but it didn’t make me feel any better hearing it out loud. Jack turned off the recorder, and I could tell by the smug look on his face he’d done this whole thing just to make a point. I was so angry I was practically vibrating in my chair. Angry at both of them.

  “I suggest that next time you have information you need to give me, you do so before I’m blindsided by seeing you on tape and then have to waste valuable time tracking you down to ask questions,” Jack said. They just sat back and faced each other, doing the whole macho thing with me standing outside looking in. Well, enough was enough.

  “What the hell is this, Jack? You haven’t interrogated enough friends today?” I asked. He went pale at that, and I wished I could take the words back, but it was too late. “This whole thing was my fault because I was supposed to let you know he was on the tape. He told me this morning at the hotel.”

  “Geez, Jaye, you seem to be slipping in all your responsibilities.” I knew he was referring to the two bodies I had downstairs. But when I really thought about it, I didn’t think that was a fair accusation. They’d both been on ice less than twelve hours. Not even I was a miracle worker, and he wouldn’t make me feel guilty for not being one.

  I didn’t have a snappy comeback I could say without crying, so I sat there rigid and tried to breathe out of my mouth slowly so steam wouldn’t come out of my ears. Brody tried to take my hand, I guess for comfort, but I moved out of reach. I might as well start distancing myself now instead of getting my heart broken later.

  “I’ll need your report first thing in the morning,” Jack said. “Bring the samples with you so we can get them sent off.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be making the trip personally,” I said in my snottiest voice, remembering his last trip to see the lab tech.

  “No, I’ll send a deputy. I’ve got too many things to see to here to take time out for fun and games.” Another score for Jack, I thought. Apparently I had too much time for fun and games.

  “I got the word back on Fiona’s financials,” Jack said, ignoring the daggers I was shooting his way. “She’s got bank accounts all over the place, and they’re all filled with a shit load of money. We also found a townhouse registered under her maiden name. I had a couple of my detectives check it out and they found the Lexus in the garage. It looks like we were right about her running her business out of her other house. We’ll just say that the décor definitely ran to a specific clientele, especially with all the restraints bolted into the walls and the wide selection of whips she had on display.”

  “I’m still waiting on a phone call from George to see if they had a will, joint or otherwise. I don’t have a clue as to who she was running off with, but I’ve got to focus on other things right now.”

  I felt the heat of embarrassment and anger form in the pit of my stomach and spread outward. Tears escaped out of the corners of my eyes, and I brushed them away viciously, daring either one of them to make a comment.

  “My buddy at the FBI, the same one who dug out Fiona’s financials for me, is running like crimes through VICAP, the Violent Criminals Apprehension Program. I’m going to owe him a hell of a favor because if I had any sense at all I’d be asking for the FBI to take over the investigation so this thing could be solved. He’s going to keep this under his hat a couple of days because he thinks I’ll get more out of the people that live here than a stranger would. I should hear something from him soon as far as like crimes.”

  Jack stood up, shoved his recorder in his pocket and tossed the ice bag in the trash can in the corner. I’d have to fish it out later because no doubt it’d leak everywhere, and I’d have something else to deal with.

  I was still pretty much glued to my chair, strenuously coping with the crap that was my life. I couldn’t decide if I should consume more ice cream and cry more or get to work. Probably I should get to work and not think about anything that had to do with the two men in my life. Actually, neither one of them seemed to want to be a part of my life right now, so maybe I shouldn’t even worry about it. Yeah, good luck with that one.

  “See you in the morning, Dr. Graves,” Jack said and left.

  I got up from the chair slowly, feeling a decade older than my thirty years, maybe two decades, and walked into the kitchen to start the coffee I’d need to keep moving for the rest of the night. My body was stiff with anger and something else along the lines of despair.

  Brody followed behind me, and I could tell he was searching for something to say that would make everything better and let us end up like we’d been in the car less than an hour before. But I just couldn’t do it anymore, and nothing he said was going to change my mind.

  “I think we have some things to talk about, Jaye.”

  Huh, so this is what it takes to get him to use my name.

  “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to talk about anything right now. I’ve got to get to work.”

  “You have to admit things are happening pretty fast between us,” he said, moving so I didn’t have any choice but to look at him. “I’d like them to keep happening, but I can’t just leave my home and move here. I’d be willing to try for long distance if you are. You just never know about these things. What we feel is more than likely temporary. I’m not sure I believe in forever.”

  I could have said a lot of things. I could have said that yeah, all my relationships that have been temporary have made me feel like my heart’s being ripped out of my chest and stomped to smithereens. I could have told him what I really felt and scared him so far away that he�
��d have to move to another state just to be comfortable. But I didn’t say anything. It was obvious Brody wanted to keep things up long distance just so he’d have a handy sex partner. I wasn’t up for handy sex. I was up for relationship sex. The forever kind.

  “I think we should just end it while it’s easy, Brody.” Easy? Who was I kidding. “That way nobody gets hurt. Now really, I need to get to work, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave now.” My voice was even though my hands shook a little as I took a mug from the cupboard.

  “I care about you. No one has ever meant as much to me as you do. And I’m not afraid to admit it scares me a little.”

  “This is pointless, Brody. I’m giving you an easy out. Why won’t you take it? Are you waiting for me to give up all the dignity I have left and tell you I love you?”

  He went pale at my declaration but chose to ignore it. “I’m worried about you, Jaye.” He put his hand on my arm and turned me around so I’d have to look him in the eye.

  “What? Why? Because I’m not falling at your feet and agreeing to this half-assed deal for quick sex with no commitment? Why on earth would you possibly be worried about me?”

  He took a deep breath and looked me straight in the eyes. “Because I think Jack killed those women.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Have you absolutely lost your mind?” I asked quietly. I had my body under rigid control so I wouldn’t do anything stupid.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I want you to listen to me. And I want you to use your head. I know he’s your friend, but Jack has the potential for the kind of violence that it took to commit these crimes inside him. Couldn’t you see it in his eyes when he was sitting in front of you a few minutes ago?”

  I shook my head, more to keep the words from penetrating my brain than to deny that I hadn’t noticed.

  “He’s got a reputation with women. He uses them and tosses them aside. I’d say that’s a type of abuse right there.”