Gotcha Detective Agency Mysteries Boxed Set (3 Books)

by Jamie Lee Scott

  “Oh, hi Officer. I’m with Detective Christianson,” I said, using my best jazz and whiskey voice.

  “You don’t look like a detective to me.”

  I read his name tag. “Officer Beal, I’m a private detective.” I showed him my credentials, provided by the state of California.

  “So?”

  “So I’m working with Detective Christianson on this case.” I stepped forward, brushing my breast against his shoulder in my best Gemma impersonation.

  He stepped back, nonplussed. I continued walking toward the house.

  “Stop right there,” Officer Beal said.

  I pretended not to hear him.

  “Ma’am. Stop or I’m going to arrest you.”

  So I was a little rusty with my feminine wiles. I was going to have to work on that. It always worked on decoy jobs. It was the extra ten pounds. That’s why Nick didn’t notice how cute I looked, and now I couldn’t even talk my way past a young officer. Shit. I was going on a diet.

  “Okay, okay. Just go ask Nick. He’ll tell you I’m with him.” I stamped my stiletto in the dirt.

  “Do not step past this tape, or I’ll arrest you,” Beal snapped. “I’ll be right back.”

  Or I’ll arrest you. “Fine,” I said.

  But it wasn’t fine. I wanted in that house. I had a right. Lauren had hired me to help find Esme’s killer. I didn’t want Nick in there by himself, finding something I should have looked for on Monday night. I had access to the damn house before the cops got there, and I didn’t even think to look for the room where Esme stayed.

  I thought about lifting the tape and walking around to the back of the house. I wanted to see where the back door of the kitchen led. Then I thought about spending even an hour in holding cell A, B or C in the Salinas Police Department and decided to wait where I was.

  Nick emerged from the house. “I told you, you weren’t coming with me.”

  Officer Beal followed closely behind, grinning like a cat. I could almost see a mouse tail wiggling at the side of his lips, just before he dropped it in front of Nick as an offering. Little suck up.

  “Nick, this is my case. Lauren wants me here.” I detected a bit of a whine in my voice and I hated myself for it.

  “I really don’t give a shit what Lauren wants. This is an open investigation. Go home.”

  But he hadn’t turned away, so maybe I still had a chance. I said, “Come here.”

  He rolled his eyes and bent under the tape, coming toward me. I grabbed his arm and held him close. I tried the breast maneuver on him. He knew what was under the dress, so maybe I’d have more influence. I held my breast against his arm as I whispered in his ear.

  “I promise to be a good girl. Come on, for old time’s sake?”

  “I thought we didn’t have an old time’s sake,” Nick said.

  Open mouth, switch feet. I swear, if I didn’t have one foot in my mouth, I had the other. It’s no wonder I haven’t had a real date since Dominic died.

  I pushed my breast a little harder into his arm. “Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. And I’ll be damned if I was going to beg. I stepped back and let go of his arm. I looked into his gray eyes. For a moment, I was 19 years old again. For a moment I wanted to be with Nick in my bedroom, not Esme’s. He must have felt something, too. He reached into his pocket.

  “They’ve already released the scene, they just haven’t taken down the tape.” He handed me a pair of latex gloves. “And leave your shoes on the porch. I don’t want you breaking an ankle on the stairs.”

  “So I don’t even need your permission to come in?”

  Nick grinned. “Nope.” He walked back to the house.

  I muttered, “Asshole.”

  I followed several paces behind Nick and stopped to kick my shoes off at the door. I swear I heard my feet say, “Ahhh.” I focused on the staircase, avoiding looking at the dining room, as I entered the house.

  I hadn’t gone into all the rooms on Monday night. And if I had, I didn’t have time to scope them out. A body of a full-sized man was easier to spot than most evidence. Investigating murders wasn’t my specialty. On the other hand, investigating Nick’s backside as we ascended the stairs, well, let’s just say I had to grip the railing with both hands.

  “Are you going to check out all the rooms? Or just Esme’s?”

  “I’m sure CSU already looked at it, along with the rest of the house. I just want to get a look at Esme’s for my own peace of mind. See if I can get to know her a little better.”

  The drapes hadn’t been opened, and the room was still dark even though it was early afternoon. Nick nodded toward me.

  “Got your gloves on?” Nick snapped the end of his left glove.

  “Uh huh.” I did now.

  “Open the curtains, so we have some light in here.”

  I slipped around the double bed to the far wall and pulled the cord to open the drapes. In the light of day, I could see the drapes were a heavy navy fabric with a sheer navy liner. The shock of sun awoke the room, and we saw a sparse space with a dresser, a double bed, and a nightstand with a reading lamp.

  Esme had stacks of books on either side of the bed, including several of Lauren’s novels. I moved to the stack and picked up the first book. I turned to sit on the bed.

  “No.”

  I jumped.

  “What?” I said. I tossed the book back on the pile.

  “Don’t sit on the bed. Can’t you kneel on the floor?”

  Fine, so I sat on the floor in my black dress and crossed my legs like a pretzel, then tucked the fabric of my dress to cover my crotch. I picked the book back up.

  The Encyclopedia of Vampires. I flipped through the pages and saw nothing significant. I put the book down and opened the next. Doing a quick count, I figured there were fifteen books.

  All of the books had an underworld theme. Novels about vampires, witches, werewolves, and numerous stories about fairies, were stacked with nonfiction books on the same subjects. She had a role-playing book on something called the Masquerade. I picked it up.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m looking through the stacks of books. I wanted to see if she had Prey.”

  “Prey?”

  “Lauren said the murder scene was exactly the same as a scene from her new novel. I wanted to read it.”

  “You haven’t read it yet?” Nick said.

  “It just came out on Monday. I thought I’d take a look and see what happened after the slaying scene. I started to read it last night, but my mind kept wandering to Esme’s head, and I just couldn’t stomach it.”

  “I hate to say this, but that’s a good thread to follow,” Nick said. “I’ll have an officer pick one up at the bookstore.”

  “Where are Lauren and Henry?” I asked.

  “They, or he, packed some things and moved to a hotel in Monterey. The Del Monte, I think.”

  “Why Monterey?”

  “Guess Henry likes it there. And Lauren will be gone most of the time.”

  I’d have to go talk to Henry. I wanted to know why he was so lethargic that night. Was he drugged?

  I decided to get Nick’s opinion. “You think Henry was drugged?”

  “Don’t know. We took a blood sample, but haven’t gotten the tox report back yet.”

  Nick picked through the closet, one piece of clothing at a time, checking pockets, bottoms of shoes, and inside liners of coats. Not that Esme kept much here. At a glance I’d say the closet was less than half full.

  “So, my mom said she saw you at the grocery store,” I said.

  “Yeah, she looks good,” Nick said.

  His comment could have been taken as crude, but I knew he meant it as a compliment.

  “A new lover will do that for a woman.”

  “A new lover, your mom?” Nick turned to look at me.

  “I really think this may be the man for her. He’s kind, handy, and I think he’s lookin
g for the real thing.”

  “The real thing, what’s that?”

  I rolled my eyes. Nick wouldn’t know the real thing if it stepped up and grabbed his crotch. “You know, settling down for life.”

  “Oh, that real thing,” Nick said. “Is your mom looking for that?”

  “Eventually, I think she’ll succumb to his nurturing.”

  I found a wealth of information on psychic phenomenon, werewolves, fairies, witches, and tarot cards. I wondered if maybe Esme had planned to write her own book. I picked up the third book from the bottom of the stack.

  You know how, when you lift something, and you expect it to be heavier than it is, and you nearly smack yourself with it? That’s what happened. The book was at least three inches thick, and had a dust jacket indicating it was a reference about vampires. But when I opened it, the center of the book had been carved out. The cut out section resembled an archway; flat bottom and arched top.

  The interior was lined with burgundy silk. But the book was empty.

  “Nice little hiding place.”

  “Huh?” Nick came up behind me.

  “Look at this.” I handed him the book.

  He did the same thing I did, expecting the book to be heavy. He nearly knocked himself in the head. Then he opened it. “What do you make of this?”

  “Well, it had something in it at one time. But what, or who, was she hiding it from?”

  “Good questions,” Nick said. “Set it aside. We’ll get back to it.”

  I took the book back and put it on the top of the stack. I got up and started looking through the dresser.

  The dresser was bare on top, except the layer of dust. Apparently the housekeeper didn’t clean Esme’s room. I wrenched my head around and looked at my butt and saw a layer of gray dust. I started to brush it off when Nick came out of the closet. Out of the closet, Charles could only wish.

  “Want me to get that for you?” Nick offered.

  “Ha, ha. No.” He’d never touch my butt again. Not in this lifetime.

  “I see you’re wearing a wedding ring. How long have you been married?” Nick asked.

  “Three years, four months and six days.”

  “That much in love, huh?”

  “I haven’t seen him in two years, four months and three days.” I lifted satin La Perla lingerie from the small top drawer. This girl had expensive taste.

  “What’s the deal?” He’d stopped rummaging.

  “He died just after our first anniversary,” I said. I stopped too, and looked at Nick.

  “Oh.” He averted his gaze, again looking through the drawer.

  “You married?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Ever married?”

  “What happened?” Nick ignored the question and started opening other drawers. Black socks, black panties, black nylons, black nail polish, lipstick.

  “Plane crash.”

  “I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere.

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to have this conversation with him. I didn’t want him to even think about me, and I’d do the same for him.

  In one drawer, amongst all the black was something silver. I grabbed the handle before Nick shut the drawer. I shoved my hand under the black silk. A pendant.

  “Just wait.” Nick slapped my hand away.

  I saw it. The chain had two silver-toned charms and a vial. I leaned in closer to Nick. God, he smelled good. Oh, the pendant. The three charms were an Ankh, a Shen, and a glass vial shaped like a fang.

  “What is this?” Nick said. He held the pendant up in the sun, squinting at it.

  “The cross shape is an Ankh. The symbol for immortality.”

  “No shit,” Nick said in a questioning tone.

  “And the other charm is a Shen.”

  The Shen resembled a coiled rope, and was found in many Egyptian scrolls. The symbol usually appeared in scrolls with deities.

  “Shen,” Nick repeated.

  “Divine protection,” I informed him.

  “If you have immortality, why do you need divine protection?”

  “Hell if I know.” It was a good question.

  “Well, you knew what this stuff was. Why don’t you know the significance of them together?”

  “You’re leaving out the vial. The three of them may have meaning,” I said.

  Nick flicked at the vial with his middle finger, like it was a test tube in chemistry class. Some of the brown flecks moved, others were plastered to the glass.

  “I’m guessing that’s dried blood,” I said.

  “Yeah…” Nick stared at the vial.

  He set the pendant on the dresser, and continued sifting through the drawers. Just clothes and girl stuff. Then he opened the bottom drawer. Empty.

  I looked at my watch. I had other cases to catch up on, and then the trip to Santa Cruz. If I hurried, I could stop by and see Henry.

  “I’ve gotta go,” I said.

  “Can’t it wait?”

  “No, I mean I have to get going. I have meetings this afternoon.”

  I didn’t wait for his approval. The search had garnered nothing. I was disappointed. What did I think I was going to find, a letter of confession? What did I know about investigating a murder. I was a private eye. I spied on cheating spouses.

  I turned to leave. When I got to the door, I heard Nick clear his throat.

  “Mimi, stay out of this, okay?”

  Incredulous, I said, “What?”

  “Your forte is cheating spouses, not dead bodies. I don’t need you messing in my investigation.”

  “And yet you let me come in here with you today.”

  “I didn’t want to have an embarrassing scene in front of Beal out there. You hanging on me, and rubbing your breasts on me like that. What do you think he thought?”

  I couldn’t look at him. I ran down the stairs.

  CHAPTER 9

  Not only was Jackie my best friend, but she was also the best detective in the office. She’d nursed me through every heartbreak in high school. She even knew about Nick. And I’d been with her through the only heartbreak she’d ever had.

  “So I heard Nick’s back in town,” Jackie said. She sifted through a mountain of paperwork that had backed up over the last several days.

  “Goddamn that Charles. What a big mouth. Please tell me you didn’t say anything.” I had stopped looking through my files and stared at Jackie.

  She looked up. “What? He just asked who he was. And you are my best friend in the whole world, I wanted to brag about what a hunk you had dated. I told him you were long lost lovers, and you dumped him because he wasn’t that good in bed.”

  “Jackie, you didn’t!”

  Giving me a stone cold stare, Jackie said, “You think I want to go job hunting? I told him I had no idea who the hell Nick Christianson was, but I don’t think he believed me.”

  “Bless you, my child,” I said. “Sorry I yelled, but you know how Charles can be.”

  “I know. That’s why he’s so much fun to have around. Besides, I’ll use my Nick card to bribe him when I want something.” She laughed. It was a hearty, throaty laugh.

  Before Jackie started working for me, I hadn’t heard her laugh like that in years. She’d married an investment banker right out of high school. I’ll never know why. All her life Jackie had been plump, bordering on fat, and Bradley was her first real boyfriend. He’d banked at the branch where Jackie worked, and they married within months of their first date. He was a chubby, balding geek with no social skills, but Jackie loved him, so I accepted him. Well, sort of.

  Not being the type of person to hide my feelings (Nick always said he could read my feelings on my face) I let Bradley know I didn’t trust him. Because of my big mouth, Jackie and I didn’t speak for nearly twelve years. She’d missed my college graduation, my wedding, and the funeral. And I’d missed the birth of her two children, twins Cory and Catey.

  In the long run I’d been right. A year after ope
ning Gotcha she came through the doors looking for help. Bradley had absconded with all their money to parts unknown. Jackie wanted to find him so she could divorce him and get her fair share of the money. She used Gotcha’s resources and found the little prick herself. She’s been working for me ever since.

  She sat across from me at my desk and leaned over the table. “I heard you and Nick had lunch today.”

  I know I said she was chubby, but the Jackie sitting across from me only had fat in the right places now. And by right places, I mean she sports a 36D chest. Because she earned it with lots of dieting and exercise she flaunted it. But she didn’t flaunt it like the women who’d paid thousands of dollars for theirs. And those D-cups were resting on my desk.

  I looked at her chest and flushed. Had I really pressed my boobs against Nick? “It was humiliating.”

  Sitting up, Jackie said, “How can lunch be humiliating? I don’t see any food on you.”

  I told her about following Nick to Lauren’s house, and how I’d rubbed against him. I also told her how he belittled me and told me to stay away from the case.

  She tossed her head back, red hair flipping off her shoulders. “Mimi, that’s what we do. It’s our God-given right to use our feminine wiles to get what we want. Took me long enough to figure that one out.”

  Then I told her what Nick had said about it being an embarrassing scene.

  “Oh, please. He enjoyed every minute of it. I’ll bet he’s back for more within hours. He just wants you to back off. He remembers the old Mimi. He doesn’t know the new and improved Mimi.”

  She was my best friend because she always knew what to say to make me feel better. My mood lightened. “I don’t think he ever really knew the old Mimi either.”

  “Too bad for him,” Jackie said. “Stop dwelling on it. Use some of that energy to find Esme’s killer.”

  “You’re right. I’ve already wasted a lot of energy on Nick. I spent extra time to touch up my roots last night, I wore this summer dress, and I even stumbled around in stilettos.” I propped my foot on the desk. “See.”