by Kari Lemor
“I might be able to help a little.” He began to rub along the sole of her foot, kneading the skin. She dropped back on the springy arm cushion closing her eyes in ecstasy. He ran his fingers over her heel, toes, and everywhere in between massaging away the stress.
As her moans of appreciation grew so did the tension in him. She was enjoying the foot rub but her response made him think of other pleasures he could be giving her. The whimpers coming from her mouth were driving him crazy. Images of the two of them tangled in satin sheets flashed past his eyes. His pants became tight, his breathing growing deeper.
He gently placed her foot back next to his thigh hoping he could focus on the movie and remove the thoughts from his head.
She thrust her right foot into his lap. “Oh, no you don’t. You can’t do one without the other. I’ll walk lopsided and spill all my drinks at work. If you’re going to start something you need to finish it.”
Chris almost groaned. Rubbing her foot was not how he envisioned finishing it. He picked up her right foot repeating the procedure. This time he watched her face as well. No doubt he was a glutton for punishment. The sight of her enraptured face filled him with longing he knew he couldn’t satisfy. An urge he had no right to satisfy. This woman had a more passionate reaction to his massaging her feet than some of the women he’d had sex with. What would she be like if they actually…oh, no, don’t even go there, Shaunessy.
She looked so damn innocent with her eyes closed, face relaxed, he couldn’t tear his gaze away. When this was all over, some guy would be very lucky.
Both her feet rested in his lap now and he caressed them gently as he turned his eyes back to the movie. Not that he saw any of it. His thoughts were about Meg being with some other guy. Living with him, sleeping with him, sharing her life with him. Emotion roared to life deep inside and he pushed it back. Far behind the wall he’d meticulously constructed years ago. If he’d taken a look at it before shoving it there, he would have realized what it was…jealousy.
Chapter 11
“Chris, you still haven’t told me where we’re going.”
Meg looked through the rental car window at the last rays of the sun as they dipped below the horizon. The earlier gloom had vanished and the sun had come out making everything brighter, kind of like her mood after she and Chris had baked the cake. They’d settled in to watch a few movies and much of her anxiety had simply washed away.
Of course his massaging her feet had helped. The poor appendages never fully recovered after spending hours in the torture devices she wore every night. They got one night a week off, like her. Tonight. And Chris had spent it with her instead of going to the club.
The routine of hanging out and watching TV had seemed perfect, normal. She hadn’t wanted it to end. But then he’d gotten a phone call. He’d come back in from the balcony, his face set in stone. Throwing her a forced smile he said they needed to run an errand.
“I told you, Ft. Lauderdale.” His words brought her back to the present.
She frowned. “Yeah, but why? Something happened, didn’t it?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about at the moment.”
“Right, that’s why you got all grumpy and uneasy. Tell me.”
He signaled and exited the highway, looking at his GPS for directions. When he’d headed the right way, he glanced at her.
“They found your phone. When they ran the number through the database and got your name, a flag went up and my office was contacted.”
“So, Moreno never had it.” Relief surged through her knowing he couldn’t trace it back to her family. If only she’d known when this first started….
“Why would anyone take the time to run some random lost phone through a database?”
He maneuvered through traffic and stopped at a light. “It was found at the scene of a crime.”
Her heart began racing. “But you told them I lost it, I’ve been in Miami for ages, right? I couldn’t have done whatever it was.”
He reached over and patted her thigh, lingering longer than was proper. She wanted the contact to last even longer.
“They don’t suspect you, no.”
He turned the car into the parking lot of the Ft. Lauderdale Hospital. Her heart beat faster. “Someone was hurt? How did they get my phone?”
“I don’t have all the details. We’re meeting a local police officer inside.”
He parked, turned off the car then held her hand while they walked inside. Why was he being so solicitous? Was she in trouble? Forget butterflies. A flock of birds migrated inside her stomach.
Once in the building, he steered her toward an elevator and surprisingly went down. What could they possibly be seeing in the basement of a hospital? An idea popped into her mind and she turned her head to stare at him. He dropped her hand as they watched a man in a suit approach.
“Agent Shaunessy?”
Chris nodded and shook hands with the dark-haired, man. They were of similar height and she guessed he was a few years older than Chris.
“Detective Rawlins. This is Meg O’Hara.”
She shook hands and eyed the detective. “What happened? Chris only said my phone had been found at the scene of a crime. You know I haven’t seen that phone in over a year.”
“Don’t worry, Miss O’Hara,” he said as he guided them down the hallway. “Agent Shaunessy explained the circumstances. We need you for an identification.”
They approached a door and her suspicions were confirmed. It was the Morgue.
Her breath grew shaky. “You just want me to identify my phone, right?”
“Meg.” Chris faced her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Your phone was at the scene of a homicide. They think you might know the victim.”
Chris grew blurry as tears filled her eyes. “Do I have to?” She couldn’t think of much worse than identifying a dead body.
“I’ll be right next to you. You can do this.” The tender look in his eyes and his hand caressing her cheek, gave her courage.
She took a deep breath then nodded. “What happened?”
Rawlins opened the door and walked through to a cold, sterile room. “Neighbors reported hearing gunshots. When the officers arrived they found a man injured. They brought him here but he was dead on arrival. His license shows him as Edward Ballantine. We want you to confirm that.”
Meg squeezed her eyes shut. She had a feeling it was Eddie. Who else would’ve had her phone if not Moreno? A hand touched her elbow and she opened her eyes to see Chris staring at her, concern etched on his features.
Rawlins escorted them into another room, this one lined with metal drawers. She’d seen all the movies and shows. These were filled with dead bodies.
He moved over and pulled on the handle of one. As it rolled out, she took a shuddering breath. Chris pulled her in closer to his shoulder and walked her forward.
She didn’t want to look but that was the whole reason she’d been brought here. Holding her breath, she opened her eyes and glanced down. Eddie’s pale face stared back at her. Well it would have stared back if his eyes had been open. Thankfully they weren’t. That would have creeped her out even more than she was.
She nodded her head, not sure she could speak at the moment. Then she noticed a small round spot on his forehead. A bullet wound? He’d been shot in the head. That could have been her. She turned not wanting to see any more and bumped into the firm chest of Chris. His arms held her tight as she attempted to get herself under control. The shaky breathing wasn’t fooling anyone.
He stroked her back and she burrowed deeper into the strength surrounding her. She was getting too used to this. Where had her independence gone? Her ability to take whatever was thrown at her and deal with it?
Rawlins closed the drawer. “He’s being sent to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner for an autopsy though I have a feeling the cause of death will be the gunshot wound. The forensic team needed to go over him first
for any evidence.”
The man put out his hand to indicate they could leave the room. She couldn’t get out fast enough. As soon as the door closed behind her she started to tremble. Damn nerves.
“Hey,” Chris whispered in her ear, “Sit down for a few minutes.”
He guided her to a chair a few feet down the hall then moved away to speak with the detective out of her hearing. She narrowed her eyes wondering what they were saying that she shouldn’t hear.
“How was my phone even still working?” she called out. “I haven’t added new minutes to it since I lost it. Shouldn’t it have shut off by now?” Her phone plan had been pay as you go.
Rawlins walked closer. “My guess is Ballantine was using it. Since it wasn’t registered to him, he could use it without anyone tracing it back to him. It’s easy enough to buy a refill card at any grocery store.”
“Probably didn’t want Moreno finding him through his own phone.” Her mind whirled with thoughts. “He was killed today, right. So has he been in Ft. Lauderdale all this time? A half hour away from where I was.”
“The information we have so far is that he lived in his present location for about a year. He worked at some tourist shop down by the beach that caters to college kids.”
Heat crept up her neck at the thought. He’d been having a blast, living the high life while she’d been paying off his debt working six days a week, in high heels, and having her ass grabbed and pinched on a regular basis.
She looked back at the door they’d come through. But now he was dead. She was definitely better off.
Her gaze moved to the detective. “Do you know who did this?” Had it been Moreno or had Eddie pissed someone else off? Enough to kill him?
“That’s another reason I asked Agent Shaunessy to bring you here. There was something strange left next to him.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag. Inside it looked like a playing card. He showed it to her. It was the Ace of Spades.
He moved it closer. There was something written on it. “What does it say?”
“It’s a stamp. It says Paid in Full. Do you have any idea what that means?”
Paid in full? Giving his life, was that enough to pay off Eddie’s debt? She touched the bag and smoothed out the plastic. The letters looked familiar.
“Wait. This stamp, Moreno has one just like it. See how part of the F is missing and it almost looks like a T.” She pointed to the letter on the card.
“I remember seeing it a few times on some invoices he left lying on the bar in the back room. I thought it was funny that it said Paid in Tull. I took ballet lessons for a million years and tulle is a mesh-type fabric they use in ballet costumes. This is Moreno’s stamp. And Eddie owed him a ton of money but he took off before he paid any of it back.”
“Are you positive about this stamp? If we could prove it was Moreno’s…”
She shook her head. “I never actually saw the stamp itself, just the mark it left. But knowing Mr. Moreno, he’d claim a lot of people have access to his office and anyone could have taken it.”
Chris stood next to her now and rested his hand on her shoulder addressing Rawlins. “We’re compiling evidence on this guy and if you go in now searching for a stamp, it could put a kink in our plans. If one of our guys has a chance to take a look, I’ll make sure it gets top priority. Unfortunately, Moreno has an uncanny ability to get off most charges we’ve been able to hang on him so far. A card with a stamp on it won’t get far in the courts. Not unless it accompanies a ton of other solid evidence.”
Rawlins sighed. “I was hoping for a slam dunk with this one. But at least we have an idea where to look and what questions to ask. Can you send me info on this guy, descriptions and known associates?”
Chris nodded and helped her up from her chair. “Absolutely. I’ll send you anything relevant. If you find anything, we’d appreciate knowing too. You can contact Agent Doolittle. He’s the one you spoke with earlier.”
She was tired of all this police talk. Unless they were planning on arresting Moreno it did her no good since she still had to work for the man. She started to walk down the hall.
“Miss O’Hara,” Rawlins called down to her. “I wondered if you wanted to take a peek at your phone before you leave. Seems Ballantine never deleted some of the texts and messages that I’m guessing were for you.”
Messages for her? The wobbles reappeared as her insides quaked. What would she find?
The phone, pulled from another of the detective’s pockets, was in a plastic bag. He opened it and handed it to her. “We already dusted it for prints so you can touch it. Just don’t erase anything on it.”
“Thank you.” She clicked a few buttons and noticed the message bank was full. Most of them were from the same number, her parents’ house. The texts were from her sister’s cell phone.
She clicked a few texts and they all said much the same thing. ‘Where are you? Please come home. We miss you.’ Tears filled her eyes again and she blinked them back. She couldn’t fall apart now. She’d done enough crying this morning.
One voice message was dated as her birthday last year. She couldn’t resist.
“Maggie, it’s Mom.” Her mother’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Happy Birthday, honey. I don’t know where you are or if you’re even getting this, but we miss you and we want you to come back home. Please, Maggie, if you’re in trouble or need money, we’ll help you. We just want you to come home. We love you. Remember that.”
A sob escaped from her mouth and she couldn’t stop it, or the tears that ran down her cheeks. Thrusting the phone back at Rawlins, she stumbled down the hall toward the elevator.
Chris was at her side before the elevator doors even opened. When they did, he guided her inside and pressed the button. Her vision was too blurry to see anything.
She leaned against the side of the elevator as it rose and when it stopped and the doors opened again, he pulled her into his side as they left. She didn’t remember the walk outside until the air conditioning was no longer surrounding them and the heat of the night pressed over her. It wasn’t any more oppressive than her thoughts.
She found herself at the car they’d used to get here and turned to him. “I’m sorry I--”
“No apologies necessary.” He looked at her concerned. It was the caring expression that did it to her. Her lip trembled and she lost it again.
He pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. She’d been here a lot today. Hearing her mom’s voice had been harder than working all day at the club in heels. It brought back to her everything she’d done wrong and how much pain she’d caused her family. They’d never done anything but love her unconditionally.
“My mom left a message on my birthday last year. She said if I was in trouble they’d help me out. I don’t deserve that.”
“Of course you do. They’re your family. They love you.”
She shook her head remembering all the stupid things she’d done when she was younger. “My track record with guys isn’t exactly stellar. A few years before I left with Eddie, I had this boyfriend that my parents weren’t crazy about. I foolishly let him use my car one night and he crashed into another car, totaling it. My car was an old junker and I didn’t have much insurance on it. It wasn’t covered for other drivers. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. What could happen, right? Stupid. And the car that he crashed into was a BMW. It cost more than my dad made in a year.”
She remembered how hard they’d worked for their pay and guilt ripped through her again. “My parents paid off the owners of the BMW and I started paying them back slowly. But that’s why they needed a loan to pay for my sister’s wedding. They’d used the money they’d saved for her and still needed to take out more to pay for the damage. I can still see their looks of disappointment every time I was with them.”
“Everybody makes mistakes, Meg. I’m sure they don’t hold it against you.”
“I didn’t even tell them I was leaving with Eddie until the night before. My brothers tried to talk me out of it. They said I was being stupid and it’d end up costing Mom and Dad more money like before. I told them if I made any mistakes I’d make sure to fix them myself, then I left anyway.”
Chris ran his thumb over her cheek and she turned into his hand.
“Is that why you decided you’d pay off Moreno on your own without your family’s help? So they didn’t say, ‘I told you so’.”
She closed her eyes attempting to keep the tears from falling. It didn’t work. Thankfully he let her cry. Yes, she’d done too much of it this morning but she must not have gotten it all out yet. Maybe she finally had and could stop being such a baby.
He leaned his head next to hers whispering words of consolation. She let him. Let him comfort her and give her what she’d been missing. Finally it registered what he was saying.
“Moreno doesn’t have your phone. He never did. Now you can go home. Say the word and I can get you on a plane.”
But what about the picture Moreno had? You couldn’t tell much from a picture, could you? She could still go home. Chris would make up some story for Moreno and, and what? Try and get the evidence against her boss by himself? Well not exactly by himself. They had tons of people working this case. But she was the best bet to actually get any evidence that could be useful.
The memory of Eddie’s pale face with a hole in it returned full force. Eddie had been a scum bag to leave her high and dry like he did. But did he deserve a bullet in the brain? He’d been as scared as she was. He just had more guts than she did and actually got away. Plus, he didn’t have any family to worry about. And no family to mourn him either.
She pushed herself away from the blue t-shirt she’d blubbered on twice today and swept a hand over her wet cheeks looking at Chris with determination. “No. I promised to help you and I will. Someone needs to make sure Moreno pays for what he did to Eddie. What he’s still doing to all the women who work at his club.”