“You realize you just ruined a man’s business,” he pointed out, his anger barely contained.
“I say he ruined his own business when he began boning his customers.” As a fake customer of his, I was appalled by the way he came on to me. Granted, I encouraged it, but he was still a total sleaze. “And on the flip side, this article may actually help his business, if there are women out there looking for that kind of thing.”
“Juliet…” he said through gritted teeth.
“I feel no remorse. I sent Don Wolfe one email. That’s it. He took it and ran with it.”
“It’s libel.”
I scoffed, “The hell it is! One, it’s true, therefore not libel. Two, I didn’t write the article, so it’s not on me even if it were libel, which it isn’t. If you came over here to arrest me, Detective, I’m afraid you wasted a trip.”
He glared at me.
I said, “Besides. No one reads the Gazette, anyway.”
Ryder pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I only have your best interest in mind. You can’t go around poking your nose in other people’s business and not expect to feel some backlash. I mean, you got beat up because you couldn’t keep that beautiful mouth of yours shut.”
Beautiful? If he was trying to confuse me, it was working. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “I’m not going to quit causing trouble until Pete is exonerated and out of jail. I’m sorry if it displeases you, Detective, but that’s how it is.”
He looked away, his anger evident in the set of his jaw. “I don’t know what to do to get it through your head that what you’re doing could get you killed.”
I stood up. “At least I’m doing something for the innocent man sitting in jail. That’s more than I can say about anyone else around here. Goodbye, Ryder.” Without looking back, I stalked straight to the office and slammed the door.
—
Something about Abigail had been grating on me since last night. If Jenny Vaughn knew about Bastidas, then there’s no way Cecilia hadn’t told her own sister. Then again, she hadn’t told Stan, but they didn’t get along and barely spoke. The only conversation I’d had with Abigail was when she was blazed that day Pete dragged me to Delta’s house with him.
While my cookies were baking, I texted Savannah to ask for Abigail’s number. She immediately responded and tried to start a conversation with me, but I didn’t know quite what to say to her after seeing her with Kent last night, so I didn’t text her back. As her friend, I felt like I should make an attempt to talk to her about whatever she was going through, but one problem at a time. I blocked my outgoing caller ID and called Abigail, pretending to be Bastidas’s secretary.
When Abigail answered, I said, “Hello, Mrs. Fielding. Mr. Bastidas wanted me to call and invite you to a late lunch with him today.” To make it seem more legit, I added, “He’d like to further discuss the conversation you had last night about investing in his business.”
She took the bait, and I rattled off a time and place to meet.
I had a couple of hours until I had to leave to be in place to “bump into” Abigail on her fake lunch date with Bastidas, so I bit the bullet and called Savannah.
“Hey, girl!” she said, her voice as chipper as ever. Maybe this thing with Kent was making her happy. I still didn’t like it.
“Hey, um…I know this is probably none of my business, and I know you’re busy getting ready for your party, but I need to talk to you about something.”
“What? You can talk to me about anything. You know that.”
“Now, I’m not judging…but…I saw you last night at the Omni with Kent.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. “Oh.”
I quickly backpedaled. “I’m so sorry for bringing it up, but I just…Carl is so sweet…and you two are so good together. I mean, it’s not my place to say, but—”
“Don’t apologize, Juliet. You’re absolutely right. Carl and I have been going through a rough patch, and I went to the Omni intending to…you know…with Kent. But I couldn’t go through with it. I guess I needed something to knock some sense into me. When things started getting a little too real up in Kent’s room, I hightailed it out of there. Promise me you won’t say anything to Carl.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I said, “I promise. I’m just so happy to hear nothing happened. Besides, in my opinion, there’s nothing to tell. You had a lapse in judgment, but ultimately you did the right thing. I’m proud of you. Not a lot of people have that kind of willpower.”
“Thanks, I guess. Well, I hate to cut you off, but this party isn’t going to happen if I don’t light a fire under my crew here. The linens and table service I ordered were supposed to be here an hour ago, so everything is running behind.”
“I’ll let you get back to it, then. I’ll see you tonight. Can’t wait. I…um…I’ll be coming alone.”
“Oh, honey. Things didn’t work out with Ryder?”
I sighed. “No. It’s over. I’m fine, though. We’ll talk soon.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Since we had no lunch crowd at all, I had Camille come back and help Wayne and me with the cookies. With three of us working, it didn’t take terribly long to slather some raspberry jam on the cookies and assemble the finished product. It was nearly time for me to meet Abigail.
I said to them, “I’m going to leave you to box up the cookies and wait until Carl Worthington comes here to pick them up. He should be here in an hour or so. We haven’t had any traffic all day, so once he comes in, you can close up shop for the day.”
Camille asked, “Is Java Jive going to close…permanently?”
“I don’t know, Camille. It’s a very real possibility. I’m sorry I don’t have a better answer for you,” I replied sadly.
I went to the office to change clothes, and just as I was about to leave, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, Ryder was standing there, fuming mad, again. He walked in and slammed the door behind him.
“What the hell were you thinking following Kent Fielding around last night?” he demanded.
I was getting a little tired of him barging in here and yelling at me. “Oh, did my new cop friend tattle on me after all?”
“Stafford was keeping you safe. After Fielding assaulted you…I had a tail put on him.”
“Oh.” Ryder had acted like there was nothing that could be done about what Kent did to me, but evidently he did something. I was touched.
“He figured out we had someone on him. Somehow he lost our tail earlier today and went and beat the hell out of Alejandro Bastidas.” He glared at me pointedly.
“What, am I supposed to feel bad about that? Kent beat on me, too, and I’m still standing.”
Grimacing, he replied, “After that article, Bastidas will be lucky if every guy in town doesn’t come after him.”
“Maybe he should have thought of that before he started seducing all of their wives.”
Ryder ignored my comment. “I came over here to warn you about Fielding. We’ve been looking for him, but he’s in the wind.”
“Okay, thanks for the warning.” I glanced at my watch. “If that’s all, I need to go. I’m meeting someone for lunch.”
“Who?” he asked suspiciously.
I wasn’t about to tell him the truth. I thought for a moment and purposely came up with a name that would get under his skin. “Stan.”
It worked. His face darkened. “Until we find Fielding, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“What?” I exploded. “No. Just…no. I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself.”
He grabbed my arm, holding my broken finger in front of my face. “Right. You do such a good job of that.”
His touch, although rough, still sent a spark through me. It was going to take a while to get over him, and it would probably be a lot easier if he wasn’t always getting up in my business.
Wrenching my arm free of his grasp, I retorted, “You’re only following me because you can’t get enou
gh of me.”
He took a step closer. “Is that so?”
I stood my ground, even though being this close to him was making me sweat a bit. “Yeah. Just make sure you don’t get too jealous when you’re spying on my date.” Flipping my hair for emphasis, I stormed out the door, Ryder on my heels.
—
I knew I was playing with fire, goading Ryder about having a date with Stan, which of course was a total lie. My hope was that Ryder wouldn’t want to see us together and therefore stay in his car rather than follow me into the restaurant. He’d blow his top if he found out I was going there to grill Abigail, plus I didn’t want him interfering.
I drove the few blocks over to West End to the little Italian place where I’d told Abigail to meet Bastidas. Ryder followed right behind me, parking several spaces away. I sat in my car until after Abigail got there, figuring I’d let her get settled and maybe even order a drink before I ambushed her. Maybe that way it would be harder for her to get away.
Taking a deep breath, I marched into the restaurant, told the hostess I was meeting someone there, and walked straight to Abigail’s table. When I got close, I stopped and exclaimed, “Oh, Abigail, hi! I hope you’re feeling well after everything that’s happened this week.”
Her face almost pulled into a smile for me. Now that Stan and I had called it quits, it was quite possible she no longer had any use for me. “Yes, thank you for your concern, Janet.”
“It’s Juliet. And your mother? How is she?”
“Not well.”
Delta wasn’t terribly well before, at least not mentally. This conversation was not going quite as I’d planned. The way I saw it, the killer had to be either Abigail, her husband, or her lover. If that was true, then she probably knew who did it. I needed to rattle her to get her to talk.
I shook my head sadly. “I can’t help thinking about poor Cecilia and her baby. Such an awful, tragic loss. And have you heard that the police found some kind of evidence that her lover killed her? Do you know Alejandro Bastidas?”
She hadn’t been listening to me too closely, but when I said his name, her head snapped up. “Excuse me…did you say Alejandro?”
“Yes, the baby’s father.”
“WHAT?”
People were starting to stare. I didn’t care, though. I had her. “Yeah. It wasn’t Pete’s baby. You didn’t know that?”
She began shaking. “That’s…that’s absurd.”
“Cecilia told Pete it was the other guy’s baby right before she died. He told me.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Ask Jenny Vaughn. She knew Cecilia was seeing Alejandro.”
Seeming hurt, Abigail choked out, “She knew…and I didn’t?”
I replied innocently, “Oh, that’s odd. I wonder why Cecilia didn’t tell you about him. Were the two of you not that close?”
“We were sisters. We shared everything.” Obviously.
“I’m sure Cecilia had her reasons for hiding her relationship from you. Know what’s worse, though? I’ve heard the police think Alejandro killed Cecilia because he didn’t want the kid. Sick, right?”
“Where did you get your information?”
Hmm. That was a tricky one, because I was totally making everything up, at least the part about the evidence against Bastidas. Trying to cover, I shrugged. “Oh, you know how men are when you show them a good time. They’ll tell you nearly anything during pillow talk, even cops.”
All of the color drained from her face, and her eyes glazed over. She muttered to herself, “But…but he couldn’t possibly have killed her. That was the night he came over and took care of me…He was so caring…He couldn’t have…” She covered a sob with her hand.
Damn. Her crazy muttering seemed fairly truthful. Two of my three suspects having the same alibi wasn’t the ideal situation. However, it was safe to assume that Abigail was indeed at home that night, given the fact that she had just been released from the hospital earlier in the day.
“You and Alejandro were together that night?”
She nodded.
“Why do I think that’s not the alibi either of you gave the police?”
“We couldn’t…Wait. Why am I telling this to you?”
Uh-oh. Abigail had finally found her way back to reality. I said uncertainly, “Because you needed someone to talk to, and I happened to be here?”
She stood up from the table and grabbed her coat. “Goodbye, Janet.”
“It’s Juliet.”
“Whatever,” she snapped, brushing past me.
Well, I found out some of what I wanted to know, if everything Abigail said was true. If Abigail and Bastidas both lied to the cops about their alibis for the night Cecilia was killed, it was possible they lied about other things as well. I called Cromwell to inform him of that fact, but I was only able to leave a voicemail message that he would probably delete at his first convenience.
When I came out of the restaurant, I found Ryder lounging against my driver’s side door, blocking me from getting into my car.
“Do you mind?” I asked icily.
He ignored me. “Did you get stood up for your lunch date?” Looking around the parking lot, he added, “I don’t see your boyfriend’s douchey sports car anywhere.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“I saw Abigail coming out all flustered. Did you have anything to do with that?”
“Wouldn’t tell you if I did.”
“You need to stay out of this.”
“You need to stay out of my life.”
His eyes got hard. Wordlessly, he walked away and got into his car.
I drove back to Java Jive, Ryder still in tow, but I tried my best to ignore him. The parking spaces in the tiny lot behind the coffeehouse were empty, which meant Camille and Wayne had already closed up and gone home. I unlocked the back door and let myself in. The place was dark, and it seemed so hopelessly empty even despite the Christmas decorations that normally brought me such joy. I went and stood in the middle of the dining area, simply looking around and taking everything in, knowing full well this could be one of the last times I’d ever stand in this spot.
I closed my eyes, and I could see George behind the counter, speaking warmly to the regulars packing the seats up front. I could see Gertie sitting opposite him, proudly beaming at her son and his thriving business. I could even see Rhonda, bitching and moaning about anything and everything. And of course I could see Pete, the college version, singing “Juliet” songs to me every chance he got, a towel always casually thrown over one shoulder, forever competing with me to see who could pour the best latte art or pull the perfect “God Shot.” An image of Pete being led into his jail cell flashed unwantedly into my head, and I began to cry. I desperately wanted to see him today, but after his bail was revoked he’d been put straight in county lockup. That meant he had pre-scheduled visitations, and only two per week. I couldn’t just go see him anytime I needed to.
The memories became too intense. I had to get out of here. When I turned to leave, I saw that Ryder had followed me inside. Taking one look at my tear-streaked face, he hurried over to me and swept me up in his arms. I sobbed against his chest for a few minutes, desperate for a little human comfort, even if it was from him. He held me tightly, stroking my back.
Once I was able to pull myself together, I choked out, “Sorry about that. I need to go home.”
He only nodded, then headed to his car. I locked up Java Jive, returned to my apartment, and flopped down onto my bed, still weeping.
Chapter 29
I woke up a little after six o’clock, surprised that I’d been able to fall asleep. My nap had done my emotional distress some good, and I was actually looking forward to Savannah’s holiday party. More than anything, there would be all the food I could eat and all the booze I could drink, which I could really use. After showering, I put on a party dress and made an attempt at doing my makeup.
When I went to the kitchen to grab my purse, I
noticed that the piece of paper I’d tossed on my counter yesterday had unfolded, and there was a note from Trevor on it. It said, Hope this is what you wanted, Your Favorite Hacker. It was the list of Bastidas’s clients I had asked him to get for me. It had only been two days since we’d discussed it, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.
The more people I could talk to about Bastidas and Cecilia, the better, and this list would be a great place to start. I scanned the list, searching for names I recognized. There was Cecilia (of course), Abigail (knew that), Beth Greenwalt (interesting), Delta Hollingsworth (that’s just gross), and…Savannah. She definitely wasn’t a client. Trevor had to have hacked into the wrong list—maybe this was a general contact list or something. This list may not have been as helpful as I originally thought. I set it aside.
There was a knock at my door. When I opened it, I found Ryder standing there. He stared down at me, his eyes roving all over me.
“You look…gorgeous.”
“Thanks,” I said, blushing. It was raining again, and his hair and jacket were wet. I tried not to notice how crazy hot it made him look.
“Are you headed to Savannah’s party?”
The party he was originally supposed to attend with me. “Yes.”
Finally tearing his eyes away from my body, he said, “We found Kent Fielding. He’s in custody.”
“Are you actually going to prosecute him this time?”
“Yes, there were three witnesses. Fielding burst into Bastidas’s office and wiped the floor with him in front of his secretary and two clients.”
“Gotta love those credible witnesses.”
He frowned. “I came here to tell you that you’re out of danger, so I won’t need to follow you around anymore.”
Strangely disappointed, I nodded slowly. “That’s…good. Um, thanks for the bodyguarding today, then.”
“You’re welcome. I had the day off, so it was no big deal.”
But it was a big deal that he spent his day off following me around to make sure I was safe. My heart got an odd, full sensation. I was supposed to be letting go of my feelings for him, not allowing them to creep back in.
Mug Shot Page 25