HOLY SMOKE (An Andi Comstock Supernatural Mystery, Book 1)

by Ann Simas

  Afterward, she took a shower and washed her hair, then splurged on a manicure and a pedicure. She spent the afternoon in front of her laptop and by five-thirty, she began to get ready for her date with Jack. The little black dress she’d purchased earlier in the week had been pressed and hung from her bedroom door. Andi pulled on lacy black panties and a new black bra that did nice things for her boobs. She had debated buying a garter belt and black stockings when she shopped for new underwear and the pro side had won. Still, she decided to save them for another time. Jack said he liked her legs, so tonight, he’d get them au naturel. She had a pair of three-inch sandal heels that ought to help.

  She applied a little makeup, spending more time than usual on her eyes. By the time she finished, she thought they looked rather exotic. Next, she went to work on her hair with the curling iron. By the time she finished rearranging every strand this way and that, she, or at least her hair, looked like it might have just been tumbling somewhere fun. Like bed.

  At six-twenty, she dabbed on her favorite cologne, then slipped into the dress. The short-sleeve, cross-over gathered bodice formed a V over her breasts, not enough to reveal, but enough to tantalize, and ended just above her waist to flow into a lacy flowing skirt that landed several inches above her knees. The back dipped low, too, allowing her to manage the zipper easily.

  Jewelry came next. Dangly marcasite earrings hung from her lobes and a matching broach sparkled on her left shoulder. She finished with two slender marcasite bracelets on her right wrist. For a moment, she debated the three-inch strappy black sandals, but after examining her reflection in the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door, decided to leave them on.

  “Not bad,” Andi said, staring at the woman she hardly recognized as herself. She rarely dressed up to go out and this week, she’d done it twice. Andi had to admit, it was kind of fun. And exciting. She grabbed her new black shawl from the back of a chair and a small black satin clutch her mother had given her years earlier. Inside, she slipped her iPhone, her keys, her driver’s license, and a twenty dollar bill.

  Jack knocked as she was snapping the clutch closed. Andi peered out the peephole to make sure it was him. She opened the door, drinking in the sight of him with hungry eyes. He wore a black suit, a crisp white shirt, and a black tie with funky white circles on it. Screw dinner. He looked good enough to eat.

  “Wow!” he said, his eyes traveling a similar path down her body and back up. “Just wow.”

  Andi grinned at him. “Thank you. You look just wow, too.”

  On the way to Lorenzo’s, Jack kept sneaking glances at her. “You look amazing, but I have to admit, I can’t wait to get that dress off of you later.”

  “Jack!”

  “What?”

  “Watch the road!”

  He looked back and swerved at the last second to get back in his lane. “I don’t know what you did to your hair, Andi, but all I can think about is how it will feel against my skin when you…you know.”

  Andi didn’t know specifically, but she did have a good imagination. The familiar anticipation of making whoopee with him left her body buzzing with anticipation.

  A valet took charge of parking the Highlander. Jack put his hand under the shawl so he could rest it on the exposed skin of her back as he escorted her into the restaurant. The maître d’ led them immediately to their table and almost before Andi could blink, their water glasses were filled and Jack placed a wine order.

  “You’d think we were royalty,” she said. She’d always wanted to dine at Lorenzo’s, but it was one of those white tablecloth–exotic menu places that she never had a budget for.

  “In a way, we are,” Jack said. “The owner and my father were friends.”

  “He served with your dad in the Navy?”

  “Yeah, they were in the Persian Gulf together. There was an incident and Dad saved his life.”

  “So, you eat here for free?”

  “He tries to give me meals for free, but I have to be careful. This state has laws about gratuities, so even though I’ve known Nicola for almost my entire life, being a cop, it wouldn’t look good if I accepted.”

  “Nicola? Isn’t that the same as Nick in English? Didn’t you tell me your mom’s boyfriend’s name is Nick?”

  “Geez, you do remember everything, don’t you?”

  “I told you.” She shrugged. “Photographic memory. So, if your mom marries him, can you accept free meals then?”

  He laughed. “Probably, but she’s been holding him off for ten years, so I don’t see her caving in any time soon.”

  “Ten years. That’s a long time. What’s the holdup?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I think she still feels like it would be a betrayal to Dad. Personally, I think he’d rather see her happy with Nick than still in mourning for him.”

  Andi tried to put herself in Kim Harmon’s shoes, but couldn’t. God willing, she’d never have to face a decision like that.

  Over their meal, they shared more familial information. Andi was surprised to learn the name of his mother’s antique shop was called Yonder. “That’s where I bought my table and chairs,” she said. “I think your mother sold it to me. Is she about my height with dark hair and beautiful brown eyes?”

  “Sounds like Mom.”

  “She doesn’t look old enough to have a son your age!”

  He grinned. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate hearing that. She was eighteen and pregnant when she and Dad got married. That was my oldest brother, Steve. I came next, then Rob and Desirée, who we call Desi.”

  “So, in your family, the guys rule and in my family, the girls rule. What do your siblings do?”

  “Steve is a U.S. Marshal and lives in Portland. Rob is an EMT and lives in Tualatin. Desi lives here in town and owns a repurposed shop. She got started because of castoffs Mom takes in at the store.”

  “Is her shop called Once Again?”

  He nodded.

  “I stopped in there when I went to Yonder. Convenient that they’re right next door to each other.”

  “Desi and Mom both like it. Desi just had her first kid this summer and he goes to work with her. Mom gets to see him every day and takes him into her shop if Desi gets too busy.”

  “Are all your sibs married?”

  “All but me. I am the bane of my mother’s existence,” he said with no apology. “How about yours?”

  “None of us are married, which means all of us are the bane of Mom’s existence,” she said with a laugh. “Dell has a lot of lady friends, some of whom come with benefits, but lately he’s been seeing just one woman, so we’ll see. Natalie is a pediatrician and she says she’s too busy to date, but interestingly, she said she might bring someone to Thanksgiving dinner.”

  Andi picked up her wine glass and reached a decision on something she’d been mulling. “I’m having Thanksgiving dinner at my place this year. I’d like you to come, if you don’t have plans to be with your family.”

  “As it happens, the Harmons are going north to Steve’s for Thanksgiving this year, except for me. Being one of the few single guys in the unit, I volunteered to be on-call that weekend.” He lifted his glass to her in toast. “I accept your invitation and being privy to how well you cook, I’m looking forward to—”

  “Andi Comstock, that is you! I can’t believe it.”

  Andi swung her head around in disbelief. Of all the people she could run into on her first official date with Jack, it had to be Dawna Stimack. Of course, it did. The witch was rolling in dough. Lorenzo’s would be her eatery of choice. Andi tried to inject some enthusiasm into her greeting. “Hi, Dawna. Long time no see.”

  Dawna leaned down to buss her cheek. “I saw you on my calendar for Monday and couldn’t believe my eyes. How many years has it been?”

  “Since graduation, so twelve, I guess.”

  Dawna’s gaze slid over to Jack, where it devoured him, whole. Andi understood immediately that she had become persona non grata. Da
wna’s next gush proved her correct. “My, my, who is this delicious man?”

  Dawna leaned across the table, the low cut of her dress exposing so much of her breasts, she may as well have not been wearing anything to cover them. She extended her hand to Jack, who managed to drag his eyes away from her twin melons and put out his own hand. “Jack Spenser, with an s, like the poet,” he said, not giving away by even a twitch that he’d just lied, or that he was pulling one over on her.

  “Dawna Stimack,” Dawna cooed back. “I am so pleased to meet you. I’m Andi’s dentist. She’s having problems with her teeth, poor girl. You, on the other hand, have beautiful teeth.” She licked her lips suggestively, but didn’t straighten and didn’t release Jack’s hand. “I would love to examine them sometime.”

  I’m sure you would, Andi thought acerbically. Keep your eyes on hers, Jack, not her boobs!

  “I have a dentist,” Jack said. If Andi was not mistaken, his lips twitched slightly, though whether with amusement or disgust, she couldn’t be sure.

  “Hmm,” Dawna said. She released his hand and straightened. Still ignoring Andi, she edged around the table and gave Jack a better look at her short, tight ensemble. She opened her tiny beaded purse. “Here’s my business card. My private number is on the back, just in case you have an emergency…or something.”

  Andi eyed the guy who stood by inanely watching all this in resigned silence. She extended her hand to him. “Andi Comstock, she said, and this is my date, Jack…Spenser.”

  Dawna’s companion smiled and it transformed his face from hang-dog to half-way attractive. “Bob Allen. Pleased to meet you both.” His attention went right back to Dawna. “We should be going, if we’re going to make the beginning of the concert.”

  Even though Andi didn’t give a rat’s behind who they planned to hear, Dawna told them anyway. “We’re seeing Itzhak Perlman. He plays his fiddle divinely, doesn’t he?” She put her hand on Jack’s shoulder, as if he were the only one in the group who would know the answer. Next, she’d probably climb into his lap and start purring. Or worse.

  Bob took over then, clasping Dawna’s elbow, tugging her away. “Again,” he said, “a pleasure to meet you both.”

  “Toodles,” Dawna said, wiggling her fingers at Jack.

  Once they had gone, Andi picked up her wine glass and drained it.

  Jack watched her, a bemused expression on his face.

  “Toodles,” she said, “Who the hell says ‘toodles’?” She held out her glass. “Hit me.”

  He obliged, grinning.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You. Still want to keep your appointment with that piranha?”

  “No, but I’m going to, anyway.” Andi spared a glance in the direction Bob and Dawna had gone. Dawna was putting on quite a show as she moved toward the door. The skirt of her dress was so short, it barely covered her butt cheeks. Her eyes back on Jack, she said, “Did you enjoy yourself?”

  Jack refilled his own glass. “I sense this is a when-did-you-quit-beating-your-wife question.”

  “You looked. Don’t tell me you didn’t.”

  “There’s not a man in this room who didn’t look, babe. She dresses and acts like that so they will. I’m as red-blooded as the rest of them, so yeah, I looked.” He leaned over and whispered, “She doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

  Andi tilted her head at him uncertainly. “She’s got a lot more…upfront.”

  “Yeah, but I’m betting they weren’t real. Did she look like that in high school?”

  She thought a moment. “No. In fact, she would have been lucky to fit into a B-cup.”

  “And you’re a C naturally?”

  Keeping her voice low, she said, “I am, but how do you know that?”

  Jack wiggled his eyebrows at her.

  Andi laughed.

  The busser arrived to clear their dinner plates.

  “Do you want dessert?” Jack asked. “They have some amazing offerings.”

  “I think I’ll just have coffee and save dessert for later. At my place.”

  Jack’s eyes blazed with agreement.

  Andi would have loved to hear more of the quartet, who turned out to be Nick’s sons, Giustino, Matteo, Antonio, and Neri, but as soon as she and Jack had each had one cup of coffee and one refill, they were ready to go.

  Andi resisted pawing Jack on the drive back to her apartment, but she nonetheless let her hand linger at the top of his thigh. It unnerved him just a bit, she thought, if the way he exceeded the speed limit was any indicator.

  CHAPTER 26

  They didn’t take time for talk and their only foreplay involved undressing each other. When Jack got down to Andi’s bra and panties, his sharp intake of breath was reward enough for her efforts. That and the way his hand dove right down the front of her panties and gave her an almost instant orgasm.

  Through the long hours of the night, they alternately made love and slept and when dawn broke, Andi roused him with her mouth. His response told her he must have thought he was dreaming and she quickly disavowed him of the misconception.

  Later, drawing lazy circles on his beautiful chest, she said, “I usually attend seven-thirty mass. What do you say?”

  “I can handle that. Afterward, we can go to my place for breakfast…and other stuff.”

  “Can you be more specific?”

  He tweaked her nipple. “You know darned well what I mean.”

  “Yeah, but I’d love to hear you whisper it in my ear.”

  “I can do that,” he said, and provided her with a lengthy and graphic list.

  Andi thought later that Father Riley smirked at them when they greeted him after mass. “He knows,” she said to Jack on the drive to his place.

  “I’m sure he does.”

  “But….”

  “But what?”

  Andi lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. It feels funny that our priest knows we’re having sex.”

  “Maybe we’d better not go to mass together again.”

  “Really?”

  “Or better yet, maybe we’d better not screw on Saturday night anymore.”

  “Jack!”

  “Jack what?”

  Neither one of his suggestions, as far as Andi was concerned, were viable options.

  “Nothing, I guess.”

  “Don’t worry about Father Riley. He doesn’t judge people.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Trust me. He saw me through my adolescent and teenage years in the confessional. I know firsthand that he doesn’t.”

  “So, you were a bad boy, were you?”

  “In so many ways.”

  “Any you can share with me? Or show me?”

  Jack laughed and shot her a telling glance. “Absolutely. I made a breakfast casserole. While it’s heating in the oven, I’ll give you a sample of my bad-boy ways.”

  “Oh, goody,” Andi said, clapping her hands. “I’ve never had sex with a bad boy before.”

  . . .

  The day passed too quickly for Andi. She and Jack lingered in bed before and after breakfast. They recorded an NFL game so they could watch it in the afternoon without the commercials. By dinnertime, they were in bed again, and afterward, they ate more breakfast casserole for their evening meal. Finally, at nine o’clock, Andi said she needed to get home.

  She spent some time on her laptop before bed, looking for information on Bob Allen. The only way she managed to track him down was due to a couple of Internet hits pairing him with Dawna. He was an insurance broker, married once, divorced once, with two kids he had every other weekend.

  On his website, the photo showed him to be quite attractive. Apparently, dating a woman like Dawna, who flaunted her assets and came on to other women’s dates, caused his face to crease into unattractive lines. Poor guy. He may have had it so bad for Dawna that he put up with her blatant sexual behavior, but he hadn’t been able to hide his disgust about it.

  The next morning at Orion’s Belt,
Andi worked for almost two hours before she got a whiff of smoke. Doc Love was a fine man, Andi. It’s terrible what that woman did to him. Be careful.

  If Andi’d had any doubts earlier about Dawna killing Harold Love, she had none after that revelation.

  By eleven-thirty, she was at a good stopping point. Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail had flown through the quality assurance process with flying colors. Energizer Bunny was with the QA team now and Bugs Bunny was nearly ready for a review. By Wednesday, she’d be able to start Trix.

  She saved everything and logged off the network. Before she left the building, she popped into Brent’s office to tell him she was switching her lunch hour for a dental appointment.

  “No need, Andi. We don’t dock you for medical or dental appointments around here. Just go ahead and take your lunch after. See you when you get back.”

  . . .

  Dawna’s office was quiet. One patient waited in the reception area and one person worked behind the counter. Andi checked in and took the paperwork she needed to complete. “You don’t have insurance, is that correct?” the receptionist asked.

  “Right,” Andi said. “I’ll pay for the visit when I leave.”

  “That’ll be great. You get a ten percent cash discount.”

  “Perfect. Thank you.”

  “Bring your paperwork back up when you’re finished and I’ll put it in your chart.”

  Andi nodded and took a seat. The form took only a few minutes to complete. She had no medical ailments, no allergies, no family history to report. At noon straight up, a dental assistant called her name and escorted her back to an exam room.

  She’d never gone for anything but cleanings, except for the time she’d chipped a tooth on a piece of hard candy and Mike had evened it out for her. This room looked like it could have been used for a mini-torture chamber. Maybe that was because it was Dawna’s domain.

  “My name is Penny,” the DA said as she got Andi situated in the dental chair. “Tell me what’s been going on with your teeth.”

  Andi gave her the concocted story, finishing with, “It’s been bothering me for about ten days.”