by J. D. Faver
“You know what I mean.” He couldn’t tell her the emotions he was feeling just having her near, having her prepare a meal for him, trying to please him. He was touched that she’d made the effort, that she hadn’t pushed him away.
She tilted her head to one side, a question in her expression. Then she smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
#
CHAPTER TEN
“Where are you going?” His fingers circled her wrist as she bounded out of bed. “It’s Saturday. We can sleep in.”
Micki slipped her wrist from his grasp. “I have a wedding this afternoon.”
He gave her a look that made her want to climb right back into his arms.
She swallowed hard, stifled the desire coiled in the pit of her stomach. “No, really. I have a million things to do before the event. I have to be prepared.” She turned to the closet and searched through the garments she’d brought.
“I’m prepared.” He flashed a grin.
She turned back to him with a smile. “You’re like the Boy Scouts, always prepared.”
“I aim to please.” His voice dropped to a lower register and went all smoky.
“I have no complaints.” Resolutely, she turned back to the closet and took out the pantsuit she usually wore to weddings. It was a neutral gray that went with any décor and let her blend into the background. She could climb, stretch and squat without fear.
“Don’t you need a wedding date?”
“I’m the photographer. I travel light.”
“Nope.” He swung his legs out of bed. “Today, you have an escort. Call me your assistant. Order me around. You should enjoy that.” He crossed the room naked, joining her by the closet.
Micki drew in a breath, something about the way his taut muscles rippled under his skin. “I...uh.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. What shall I wear?”
“Pants and a dark shirt. Be inconspicuous.”
“No one will even know that I’m there.” Oz disappeared into the bathroom.
“Right,” she muttered under her breath. “No one will notice a six and a half foot Adonis in a wedding party of sasquatch.”
“I’m only six foot four.”
#
Oz proved to be useful, after all. He unloaded all her equipment and helped her set up. True to his word, he tried to stay out of the way and look unobtrusive. Only one of the bridesmaids tripped when she met his dark gaze. Another merely tried to dazzle him with a flirtatious smile while leading the wedding parade down the aisle.
Micki took shots of the groom and his attendants at the altar and the bride and her entourage making their way down the aisle to meet up with them. She asked Oz to bring her a filter she’d left in the car. Then she trotted upstairs to the choir loft for a few elevated shots of the couple making their vows. Zondra’s ten foot train trailed down the altar steps, making a dramatic statement against the dark burgundy carpeting.
Micki took a couple of wide-angle shots of the entire church from above. She turned to dash back down for the final wrap and gasped as she ran smack into pony-tail man in the stairwell.
He slammed her against the wall and held her there, his rock-hard body pressing against her. He smelled like some musk-based men’s cologne and expensive cigars.
Terror quivered in her gut, pounded her chest. “I’ll scream,” she rasped out.
His gaze was riveting. Green eyes with flecks of gold drilled into hers. “Not a good idea,” he whispered. “I can snap your neck before you open your mouth.” His breath caressed her cheek. He studied her with the fascination of a feral animal about to devour his prey.
Micki’s stomach roiled in fear, but she struggled to maintain a cool façade. “What do you want?” she ground out through her teeth.
He raised his brows and tilted his head with a glimmer of a smile. “Ah, she understands. I want all of the back up of the photos you shot in the park. Everything.”
“Those photos are my income. I have to deliver the finished pictures.”
He ground his forearm into her throat. “Not if you’re dead.” He watched her struggle for a moment before relaxing his arm to allow her to breathe. “He’ll pay you for the photos, but he wants everything. Photos, files, backup disks, flash drives...everything.”
The hairs on her neck stood at attention. “Pay?” Micki held his gaze.
“He’ll give you fifty thousand for everything.”
She struggled against the arm that restrained her. “That’s not enough to restore my reputation. If I fail to come through with someone’s wedding pictures, nobody will ever hire me again.”
A smile played around his mouth. He looked away as though he might laugh, but continued to hold her in his grip. When he turned to face her, his gaze fixed hungrily on her lips. “You’re really somethin’. I coulda gone for you in another place and time.” The smile was back when he met her eyes again. “He said I could go as high as a hundred thou, but that’s it.”
She released a heavy sigh. “Okay.”
“Okay? Just like that?”
“I’m in business to make money.”
“Me too.” The smile split into a grin. “Tomorrow. Get everything together and I’ll let you know when and where.”
She nodded and he kissed her cheek before letting her slide to the floor. When she’d struggled to her feet, he was gone.
Her heart thudding in her ears, Micki ran down the stairs and out the side door. She looked all around, but there was no sign of the pony tail man. She sprinted back into the church just in time to capture the bride and groom kissing and when they were presented to the guests as husband and wife.
When the happy couple left the church and the guests were milling about, Micki found Oz. Relief flooded through her when she saw his face. “It was the pony tail man. The man who hit me. He was here, up in the choir loft.”
Oz gripped her shoulders, frowning as he gazed into her eyes. “Crap! Did he hurt you?”
She hesitated a moment. “Not this time. He threatened me, but he didn’t hurt me.”
“Which way did he go?”
“He’s gone, Oz. He offered to pay me a hundred thousand dollars for
all my back up of the park photos.”
“There must be something on there that really has him scared.”
Micki sucked in a breath. “This guy doesn’t know how to be scared. He was cool and controlled, like an android, and he wasn’t afraid of getting caught. He kept referring to someone else. A man.”
“What did he say exactly?”
“He said, ‘He authorized me’. I guess pony tail guy is just a hired hand.”
“He’s on someone’s payroll. We have to go back to the pictures.”
Micki bit her lip. “I, uh...kind of agreed to sell them to him for the hundred thousand dollars.”
“What?”
“Oz, I didn’t exactly have a choice. The alternative was for him to snap my neck.”
Anger flashed a warning in his eyes. “Right under my nose! I can’t take my eyes off of you for a minute.” He pulled her into a rough embrace.
She tried to pull away, but he held her fast. “I have to go now. It’s time to take the formal pictures of the wedding party.”
“Don’t disappear again.”
“I promise,” she said.
After she shot formal group photos of the wedding party at the church, she and Oz went to the rented hall for the reception. Micki continued to work through the photos of the bride and groom smushing cake into each other’s faces, the tossing of the requisite garter and bouquet and finally the bride and groom waving from the back window of the white limo.
Micki signaled to Oz that she was done.
“Let’s get out of here.” He’d learned how to collapse her tripod and pack her equipment into his car.
Micki leaned across to open his door, thinking that he’d never take the time to have the electric lock repaired.
#
Later, Oz and Micki met Lieutenant
Qualls and Aida in the lab. He’d related the facts pertaining to Micki’s encounter with the pony tail man to his supervisor.
Qualls sorted through the enlargements of Micki’s park shoot. “Kiddies playing, joggers jogging and lovers hugging. Nothing looks sinister to me.”
Oz looked at each photo as Qualls handed them to him. “No offense, Micki, but I don’t see anything worth a hundred thousand bucks.”
Micki shook her head. “I don’t either.”
Aida squinted through a magnifying glass. “We’re going to make another sweep through these pictures and examine them microscopically until we find what we’re missing.”
“This guy.” Qualls stabbed his finger on a picture at the children’s park. “I ran him through the system and he’s got a rap sheet.”
“A sniper?”
“A perv. He exposed himself to some elementary school kids. Served six months and got counseling but he’s not supposed to be anywhere near kids. I had him picked up.”
“Is he connected to Micki in any way?” Oz asked.
Qualls shook his head. “He didn’t know anything about the photos, but he’s going to serve out the rest of his sentence.”
Oz skewered Micki with a glance. “Can it be a coincidence that my girlfriend identified Laurel Jobe as being the woman in the clinch and that the body pulled from the lake was the boyfriend of the Jobe’s nanny?”
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Qualls said.
Aida looked up from her file. “Speaking of Randal Knox, the coroner’s report came back. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. He has a skull fracture to the frontal lobe.”
“Damn!” Oz said. “Knox was one big guy. Someone was looking him in the eye and hit him with something hard enough to crush in his skull.”
Aida peered at him over the top of her glasses. “His tox screen came back positive for steroids. He didn’t get to be so big without a little help.”
“That explains his angry outbursts.”
“Roid rage,” Qualls said.
“Let me see your magnifying glass, Aida.” Oz held it to the picture of the kids playing in the children’s park.
“That’s her.”
“Laurel Jobe?” Micki asked, crowding closer.
“No, it’s Lissa Montgomery, the Jobe’s nanny.”
They took turns examining the young woman sitting close to the sand box. The toddler in the stroller was occupied with some object in his hands, but Lissa seemed to be engrossed in a book.
Aida frowned and pushed her glasses back up on her snub nose. “Let me see if I hear you correctly. You’re saying that this girl, Lissa, is in the park with the Jobe baby, while her employer, Laurel Jobe, is hooked up with Jason Best a few hundred feet away? All the while, her former boyfriend, Randal Knox is going into the lake at around the same time?”
They all stared at her mutely.
“Nah. Too much coincidence.” Aida gave them a little smile. “I don’t see anything else. I’ll keep looking, but it certainly appears that this case is tied to the Jobes.”
Lieutenant Qualls led Oz and Micki into his office. Several officers spoke to Oz. They looked at Micki, curious as to whether she was in custody.
Shyly, she slipped her hand into his. He glanced down at her and smiled, giving her hand a little squeeze. She looked ill at ease, triggering his protective instinct.
Lieutenant Qualls closed the door to his office and offered Micki a chair.
“Two things,” he said. “First, Oz, you seem to have established a rapport with the girl, Lissa. I want you to question her again, but show up when you can talk to Laurel Jobe or Hobart Jobe or both. Don’t be confrontational. Just ask some general questions and see what you get.”
Oz felt a leap of excitement in his chest. “I’ll do that first thing tomorrow morning, Boss.”
“Second, Miss Vermillion, I hope you got a good look at the man who assaulted this time. I want you to look at some mug shots and try to identify him.”
Micki nodded. “He’s supposed to contact me tomorrow about meeting him to sell the park pictures.”
“So Oz said.” Qualls frowned. “Don’t worry. When he contacts you, we’ll be ready for him.”
#
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Oz presented himself at the Jobe penthouse again the next morning. He showed his badge when the door was opened.
A young Hispanic man stared at the badge with an expression akin to horror. He identified himself as Javier Solis, the chauffer.
Oz asked for Lissa who appeared quickly wearing a white terry bathrobe and carrying a spoon in her hand.
“Oh, you can’t be here.” She looked nervous and cast a glance over her shoulder to where Javier lurked in the archway leading deeper into the flat.
Oz gave her a smile. “I hope I’m not inconveniencing you, Miss Montgomery. I just had a few more questions. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, but...”
“Who is this delicious young man, Lissa?” Laurel Jobe had come to stand beside Javier. She wore a lacy peach negligee that swept behind her on the floor.
Oz approached her, displaying his badge. “Mrs. Jobe. I apologize for disturbing you. Miss Montgomery’s friend was killed in an unfortunate accident. I’m trying to close it out.”
She smiled, displaying a set of perfect white teeth.
“That’s too bad. Come in officer. We’re having breakfast. Won’t you join us?” She turned and led the way to the breakfast room.
Lissa looked terrified, as though she was being choked. She gave Oz a frown and trailed behind Laurel Jobe to the breakfast room.
A wall of windows banked the far wall and a jungle of tropical plants softened the hard surfaces.
A toddler, ensconced in a high-chair, rubbed oatmeal into his hair. He gazed delightedly at Oz and threw his spoon. “Gah!”
Laurel gestured to the chair beside hers. “Please sit down, Officer. Coffee?”
Oz nodded, grinning at the toddler.
“He likes you.” Laurel handed Oz a delicate porcelain cup filled with coffee. “We’ll have to arrange a play date.”
“I love kids,” Oz said.
Laurel Jobe laughed deep in her throat and tossed her hair over her shoulder.
Lissa looked stricken. She took her seat beside the child and offered him a spoonful of cereal. She seemed to be studiously avoiding Oz’ eyes.
“What happened to Lissa’s friend?” Laurel asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Oz said. “He seems to have suffered a head injury and fallen in the lake.”
“Oh, my.” Laurel’s eyes danced with mischief. “Lissa, did you bop your friend on the head?”
Lissa’s eyes widened. “No, Mrs. Jobe. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”
Laurel laughed again, a musical sound this time. “Of course you wouldn’t Liss. I was just kidding.” She turned back to Oz. “Ask your questions, Officer. I’m sure Lissa has nothing to hide.”
Oz thought she was enjoying the young woman’s discomfort too much.
“Miss Montgomery, did you know that your friend was using steroids?”
Lissa’s eyes opened wide and her mouth formed a round O shape, although no sound came out.
Oz and Laurel stared at her.
“No, I don’t know about that.”
“It could account for his periods of anger,” Oz said. “When did you first notice his change of behavior?”
“I guess it was a couple of months ago.” Lissa looked thoughtful as Hobart Jobe III rubbed more oatmeal in his hair and onto his cheek. “He wanted to compete in the Mr. New York City body building competition. He said he needed to bulk up.”
“And after that you noticed his temperament was different?” Oz asked.
Lissa nodded and wiped ineffectually at the baby’s face. “I have to get a wet cloth for this.” She stood and turned to leave.
“Why don’t you take Trey with you and give him a bath? He needs to be submerged.” Laurel gave Lissa a s
teady look, stating clearly that she wanted to be alone with Oz.
Lissa colored slightly, but kept her gaze averted as she wrestled the toddler out of the high chair. She didn’t look up as she left the room.
“Do you have children, Officer?” Laurel asked.
“I’m not married yet,” Oz said.
“Is there a significant other?” Laurel untied the ribbon at the top of her negligee, allowing it to fall open and reveal her perfectly bronzed cleavage.
“Some sweet little adoring thing who thinks you hung the moon?”
“There’s a goddess in my life.” Oz grinned at her. “I hope she thinks I do something right.”
“A goddess, huh?” Laurel looked a little miffed, as though she wasn’t used to having a man worship another woman in her presence. “I hope things work out for the two of you.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Oz said, using one of his grandmother’s favorite sayings. “Mrs. Jobe...”
She stopped him with her hand on his arm. “Please call me Laurel. I’m not much older than you are.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Were you in Central Park a week ago on Monday the third?”