Headlines & Deadlines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 7)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Eliot happens to like my mouth.” Huh. That came out dirtier than I intended. “Eliot and I are on solid ground.”

  “I know you are,” Derrick said. “I didn’t think you were capable of finding solid ground with anyone other than Jake. Congratulations. You surprised me.”

  “I … Jake and I will never be able to share a life that will make both of us happy,” I said. “One of us will have to give up everything and that will leave someone bitter and resentful.”

  “I know that,” Derrick said, his face serious. “I didn’t know you knew it. Eliot has been good for you. He puts up with your crap. He finds all the stupid stuff you say and do amusing. He anchors you when your head is in the clouds.”

  “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I said.

  “I didn’t say you weren’t,” Derrick said. “I’m saying that Eliot manages to ground you and make you happy at the same time. I think he might be magic.”

  “He thinks so, too.”

  Derrick smirked. “Aren’t you going to ask what we found?”

  “You’re going to tell me early?”

  “I’m going to give you a heads-up because I want to give you time to hurt Tad this afternoon if it becomes necessary,” Derrick said. “I’m loyal to Jake … and I know you are, too.”

  “What do you have?”

  Derrick opened the folder on his desk and slid a sheet of paper in my direction. I took it, surprised to find the flat, sketched features of man staring back at me. “Who is this?” I asked.

  “That’s the man witnesses described walking away from the parking lot where Julia Grisham’s body was found the night her body was dumped there,” Derrick said, his face expectant.

  “But … .” He’d managed to throw me off my game. I had to give him that. “I thought for sure the husband was going to be behind it. This doesn’t look anything like him. Did anyone see him in Julia Grisham’s car?”

  “No,” Derrick said. “One witness reported seeing the car pull into the lot and this guy walk out less than five minutes later, though. As you remember, there’s only one way in or out of the lot.”

  “In theory,” I said. “Someone could walk through the trees.”

  “There’s nothing behind them, though,” Derrick said. “Why would anyone walk through there?”

  “While I generally don’t like casting aspersions on entire neighborhoods, we all know what’s going on in that area late at night,” I said. “Tell me about the witnesses. What were they doing out that late at night?”

  “Giving hand jobs in parked cars,” Derrick conceded.

  “Oh, well, they should make for credible witnesses,” I deadpanned.

  “We’re hoping it won’t come to that,” Derrick said. “If we can find the killer we’ll build a trail from him to the victim. So far, building a trail from the victim to possible suspects has been a non-starter.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Everyone seemed to like and respect her,” Derrick said. “She didn’t have any enemies that we can find. She was a pillar of her community. I know a lot of people say that but everything we’ve found seems to reinforce it.”

  “What about her husband?”

  “He has some shadier ties,” Derrick conceded, fixing me with a quizzical look. “What do you know?”

  “What do you know?” I challenged.

  “I know a few things that I can’t talk to you about,” Derrick said. “We’re not making it public.”

  “I know a few things, too,” I said. “I can’t tell you either.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m petty and I won’t show you mine if you won’t show me yours.” Sometimes honesty really is the best policy.

  Derrick snorted. “Jake is going to keep his comments brief today,” he said. “He doesn’t want to turn this into a soap opera simply because Ludington wants things to go that way. Please don’t let this conference get out of hand.”

  “Would I do that?”

  “Yes.”

  I scowled. “Do you have anything else?”

  “Just that Adam Grisham is transferring his reward money from finding his wife alive to finding her killer,” Derrick said.

  “Does he recognize the man in the sketch?”

  Derrick opened his mouth to answer and then snapped it shut, tilting his head to the side as he considered how to answer. “He says he doesn’t recognize the man.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “I have no reason not to believe him.”

  “I see you’re toeing the police line,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I still think the husband has to be involved in this. He’s shady.”

  “You should let us do our jobs and report the news instead of uncovering it for a change,” Derrick warned.

  “It’s like you don’t even know me at all.”

  Twelve

  After an uneventful news conference – I didn’t think of misbehaving once – I found myself in the sheriff’s department parking lot searching for my keys. I was intent on my task, Captain and Crunch making the endeavor even more difficult, though they looked cute, so I didn’t hear the sound of crunching footsteps until they were almost upon me.

  I swiveled quickly, expecting to find a member of my law enforcement fan club waiting to ridicule me. Instead, I found Cara’s pretty face – a bright smile in place – inches from mine.

  “Wow,” I said, taking a step back and smacking into my car. “You’re sneaky when you want to be.”

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cara said. “You seemed really busy doing … whatever it is you were doing.”

  “I’m trying to find my keys without taking my mittens off.”

  “Oh, well, that sounds fun.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “What are you doing here? I didn’t peg you for the type who liked to watch news conferences.”

  “Is that what you’re doing here?”

  “Yeah. Jake wanted to give everyone an update and sketch for tomorrow’s news cycle. Why did you think I was here?”

  “I wasn’t sure,” Cara said. “I thought … maybe … you stop by to see Jake from time to time.”

  She was feeling me out. Where Jake and I were concerned, she was on unsure footing. Part of me felt sorry for her. The other part enjoyed her discomfort. I’m petty. Sue me. “I generally don’t stop in for chats with Jake,” I said. “I do sometimes stop in for chats with my cousin, but they’re rare.”

  “That’s right. You have a cousin who works here. Derrick, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like him a lot,” Cara said, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. “He has a witty sense of humor.”

  “I guess,” I hedged. “Um … did you need something?”

  “Oh, sorry, I’d forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on sometimes,” Cara said, laughing at her own lame joke. “I was kind of hoping we could spend some time together.”

  Was she asking me out on a date? “To what purpose?”

  “You know … to bond.”

  It was worse. She was asking me on a chick date. “You want to bond with me?”

  Cara nodded.

  “Why?”

  “I like you,” Cara said hurriedly. “I … think you’re fun.”

  I couldn’t help mentally comparing her Jimmy Choos to my faux sherpa-lined Converse and wondering what she based her opinion on. We had absolutely nothing in common. Well, check that. We had one thing in common: my past and her present.

  “I’m not sure … .”

  “I promise we’ll have a good time,” Cara said, cutting me off. “How about we go to a spa? I hear there’s a great one in Sterling Heights. We can get facials … and pedicures … and massages.”

  I liked the idea of a professional massage. Eliot possesses happy fingers, but they usually go wandering after a few minutes so my massages tend to be shorter than I prefer. The other stuff? Meh. “I’m really busy right now,” I explained, hoping I wasn’t hurting
her feelings in a way that would force Jake to give me a stern talking to. “I don’t have time for anything like that.”

  “I know you’re on this murder,” Cara said. “How about when you’re done?”

  “I have to take Tad Ludington down, too. That’s more important than solving a murder.” Wait, that made me sound unfeeling. “Of course, I’m very interested in getting justice for Julia Grisham.” That sounded better.

  “I understand you have a very busy schedule,” Cara said. “I’m willing to adjust my schedule to fit yours.”

  I was caught. We both knew it. She waited to see whether my reputation would prove true. “Sure,” I said, resigned. “Once the murder is solved and Ludington is crying in his chick drink I would love to go to the spa with you.”

  “Yay!” Cara jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

  I was going to have to explain the definition of fun to her when I was trapped at the spa with nothing to entertain myself with but my razor sharp tongue.

  “DID Duncan get anything good from Tad’s conference?” I asked Marvin the moment I saw him in reporters’ row twenty minutes later. “Please tell me he got something good.”

  “No one at the conference asked any hard questions,” Marvin said. “Duncan has a straight-up story extolling Ludington’s virtues and pronouncing him king of the county.”

  “I knew that jerkwad wouldn’t get this right,” I muttered, wrinkling my nose. “I’m going to … .” I mimed a violent act as Marvin arched a curious eyebrow.

  “Did you get anything?” Marvin asked.

  I told him about my afternoon, leaving out Cara’s ambush, because I knew he would laugh at me, and shrugged out of my coat.

  “Let me see the sketch,” Marvin prodded.

  I handed it over, watching his face for a glint of recognition. I wasn’t surprised to see none.

  “We need to show this to the people at The Black Hole,” Marvin said. “If Grisham is meeting someone on the sly, what better place to do it than a club no one wants to admit they visit?”

  That was an intriguing suggestion. “You want to go to a BDSM club with me?”

  “I need a dominant so the other women will think I’m desirable,” Marvin said. “You’re not my type, but you might intimidate some of them. You have a very loud personality.”

  He wasn’t wrong. “I don’t think Fish is going to like this.”

  “You let me handle Fish,” Marvin said, turning on his heel and practically skipping down the aisle until he landed next to Fish’s cubicle. “Hi!”

  “Whatever it is, the answer is no.” Fish didn’t even bother looking up.

  “I haven’t asked you anything yet,” Marvin protested.

  “You’re about to.”

  “I … well … now you’ve hurt my feelings,” Marvin said, jutting out his lower lip.

  I had to hand it to him. When it comes to manipulation he’s a true artist. When it comes to picking out his own clothes and women, though, he’s a mess.

  “Fine,” Fish said, blowing out a comical sigh. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. Now go to your desk and do some work. Don’t you have background to wade through on your council meeting tonight?”

  “I know that backward and forward,” Marvin said, brushing off the suggestion. “Avery and I have something we need to do this afternoon. You’re okay with that, right?”

  “No.”

  “You don’t even know what it is.”

  “I know whenever the two of you put your heads together on something, I end up getting called into the publisher’s office to explain it,” Fish replied, nonplussed.

  “Name one time that happened.”

  “Two weeks ago you two thought it was a great idea to raid the executive refrigerator and steal food because you were too lazy to leave the building,” Fish said.

  “You can’t prove that,” Marvin said.

  “Duncan told everyone you two were seen returning to the newsroom with bottles of water, pop and danish.”

  “Stale danish,” Marvin corrected.

  “Well that makes it perfectly fine then,” Fish said. “Whatever you and Avery want to do, I’m vetoing it right now.”

  It was time for me to step in and smooth things over. If that didn’t work I was ready to start bullying. “He actually has a good idea,” I said, shuffling to Marvin’s side and fixing Fish with a no-nonsense look. “You should listen to him.”

  “I’m going to regret this,” Fish grumbled. “What is your idea?”

  “I need to go undercover at The Black Hole so I can get some information,” Marvin said. “I’m going to need clothes to fit in ... and money for drinks. I need you to expense it.”

  Wait a second … . “That’s not what we talked about,” I protested. “What the hell?”

  “Mind your own business,” Marvin chided, refusing to meet my accusatory gaze. “Don’t you think that’s a great idea?”

  “No,” Fish said. “I can practically see the headlines when that club is raided and you’re dragged out of there in a rubber diaper.”

  “No one wears diapers.”

  Fish arched an eyebrow. “If that’s your story … .”

  “That is not what we’re going to do,” I said, pinching Marvin’s arm for good measure. “Stop trying to railroad him into bankrolling your stupidity.”

  “I hate it when you’re mean to me,” Marvin sniffed.

  “You’ll get over it,” I said before turning to Fish. “I need to borrow Marvin before his meeting tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “We are going to The Black Hole,” I said. “We’re going to show the police sketch around. There probably won’t be a lot of people there in the middle of the day. We’ll be in and out.”

  “Isn’t that their tagline?”

  It took me a second to get the joke, and when I did, I forced a laugh for Fish’s benefit. “Good one.”

  “Are you saying that to get your way?”

  “Yes.”

  Fish rolled his neck, cracking it as he considered the suggestion. “Why can’t you take your boy toy with you? I would feel better if you had actual muscle to back you up.”

  “I go to the gym three times a week,” Marvin protested.

  “You go to pick up women,” I said. “Don’t try to kid anyone else … or yourself.”

  “Whatever,” Marvin said. “My body is a temple.”

  Sure it was. It kind of reminded me of those squat little ones in India. “Eliot went with me Saturday night,” I said. “It didn’t go well. He was uncomfortable. We’re both too … forceful … for people to believe we’re together in an environment like that.”

  “How does taking Marvin help you?”

  “Well … I’m going to be the dom and he’s going to be the submissive.”

  Fish made a face. “Does that mean you’re going to be the one putting the diaper on him?”

  That was a terrifying thought. “No! Get your head out of the gutter. We’re going to go there and show the sketch around. That’s it.”

  “I don’t know,” Fish hedged. “What is your boyfriend going to think about this?”

  “As long as he doesn’t have to go he’ll be happy,” I lied. Eliot was going to be furious. I would deal with that later, though.

  “Okay,” Fish said, giving in. “You have one hour. I want you to text me when you’re going in and when you’re coming out. No … funny business.”

  “The last thing I want to do is anything … funny … with Marvin,” I said. “I have standards.”

  “I hate everyone in this entire building,” Marvin announced. “Weirdly, though, when you talk down to me, I get a little bit turned on.”

  “You need professional help.”

  Thirteen

  “Whatever happens in here, you need to remember I’m the boss,” I warned Marvin, pushing my way into The Black Hole.

  “I’m only letting you think you’re the boss,” Marvin countered. �
��Everyone knows I’m really the boss.”

  “Are you saying that so I’ll be mean to you and turn you on again?” I narrowed my eyes as I regarded him. Learning that he visited a BDSM bar regularly had me thinking twice about his sanity – and personal grooming habits. You could practically smell the baby oil wafting off The Black Hole’s regulars, and I didn’t want to know why that scent was so prevalent.

  “I just want to clarify that I don’t find you to be a turn-on,” Marvin said. “I like my women … seedier.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  “It was from where I’m standing,” I said, squinting to peer through the gloom. If The Black Hole was trying to avoid stereotypes, management was doing a terrible job. “Where do you want to start?”

  “I think I should go to the bar and chat up some of the ladies over there,” Marvin said, pointing to a blonde in leather pants and a brunette in a backless dress.

  “Who dresses like that in February? They must be freezing their nipples off.”

  “Don’t say things like that,” Marvin ordered. “People are going to think you’re weird.”

  “I find that hard to believe given where we’re standing.”

  “Oh, man, now I can’t get their nipples out of my head,” Marvin complained.

  “Ask those chicks if they’ll show them to you,” I suggested. “I’m mildly curious to see whether they’ll do it. Are they doms or submissives?”

  “How should I know?”

  “You’re the one who comes here all the time,” I reminded him. “You should be up on the … clientele.”

  Marvin furrowed his brow as he studied the women. “They turn me on,” he said after a moment. “That means they have to be doms.”

  “Am I going to threaten their authority if I ask them questions?”

  “No,” Marvin said, shaking his head. “Doms like other doms. They don’t like submissives of the same sex.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Marvin replied. “Why don’t you like any of the women who work at The Monitor?”

  “I like Erin,” I said.

  “Because you’re a bully and she lets you be one without calling you on it,” Marvin said. “She’s the only female in the building you even tolerate, though.”