Scene of the Crime: Bachelor Moon

by Carla Cassidy

  Her feeling of satisfaction didn’t last long as she thought of what Sam had just shared with her, and the fact that there was still somebody out there who wanted her, somebody with a sick obsession.

  She finally got out of bed and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Hopefully it would be a day of no drama, no danger.

  An hour later she was just pulling cinnamon rolls out of the oven when Jeff appeared at the back door. “It seems like I’m always hearing about something bad that happened to you after the fact,” he said, as she let him into the kitchen. “The attack on you was the talk of the diner last night.”

  “Nobody mentioned any potential suspects, did they? Because I can’t imagine who it was,” she explained. She gestured him to the table and grabbed a cup from the cabinet.

  As she poured him a cup of coffee and then carried it to the table he looked at her with a narrowed gaze. “For all you’ve been through you certainly don’t look the worse for wear. In fact, you look happy.”

  “The storm has passed, the sun is shining and there isn’t much I can do about what happened yesterday.”

  A frown tracked across his forehead. “I wish I would have been here for you. You must have been terrified.”

  “I was,” she admitted. “But Sam was here and he definitely helped make me feel safe.”

  “He did, huh? When is he going home?”

  “This Friday,” she replied, and tried not to feel the sadness that threatened to sweep over her at thoughts of him no longer being in the house.

  Jeff took a sip of his coffee, then set the cup back on the table. “At least with the attack on you yesterday Jim Thompson has to realize somebody is preying on the women of Bachelor Moon.”

  “I was grateful he seemed to take the attack on me seriously.”

  “He’d better,” Jeff said indignantly. “That’s his job.”

  “Speaking of jobs, I’d better get these eggs scrambled for breakfast. Are you going to stick around to eat?”

  “No thanks.” He drained his coffee cup and got up to carry it to the sink. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “Daniella, if you need me to move in here for a while until this person is caught, I can do that. At least you’d have somebody you can trust here with you.”

  “That’s not necessary, but I appreciate the offer. At least for the next couple of days I have somebody I trust completely with me,” she replied.

  “When Superhero Sam leaves, the offer still stands,” he replied.

  Daniella laughed and moved away from him. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

  It was only after Jeff left that dark thoughts entered her mind. It had become increasingly obvious to her that Jeff would like to take their friendship to a deeper level.

  Had his desire for her grown into something darker? Had he attacked her yesterday in an effort to kidnap her or in some crazy attempt to force her to turn to him?

  She’d just placed breakfast on the table when Tina called to ask if it was okay for Macy to spend the day with her and Lisa and that she’d bring Macy home around supper time. Daniella agreed, with the understanding that she’d reciprocate by having Lisa over after things calmed down at the bed-and-breakfast.

  Sam, Frank and Matt were all at breakfast. Each time she entered the dining room warmth swept through her as she saw the man she’d slept with the night before.

  “I can’t believe I slept through all the excitement last night,” Matt said, as Daniella delivered a bowl of fresh fruit to the table. “I was shocked when Jim woke me up to question me.”

  “Too many hours selling insurance and checking on the builders at your new house,” Daniella said.

  “You got that right,” Matt replied. “I feel like I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for too long.” He smiled at Daniella. “But I’m glad you’re okay and that Sam and Frank were there to help you.”

  “I’m glad, too,” she replied.

  “Hopefully the whole experience didn’t give you nightmares last night,” Frank said.

  She glanced at Sam, who smiled, a secretive, sexy smile that made every moment of the night before flash through her head. This was one of the things she’d missed, a shared glance filled with heat and intimacy with a man who made her heart sing.

  “No,” she replied. “I slept like a baby.”

  After breakfast Frank went outside to begin his day of work, Matt left for his insurance office and Sam disappeared into the common room when his cell phone rang.

  As Daniella cleaned up the kitchen she thought of the weekend to come. Sam would be leaving and three couples would be arriving on Saturday. She tried not to focus on the heartache that threatened to take hold of her as she thought of Sam going home.

  She’d known all along that he was nothing more than a guest in her place of business. The fact that she’d slept with him certainly made telling him goodbye more difficult, but she had only herself to blame for that.

  She was the one who had initiated the lovemaking between them. She was the one who had told him there would be no regrets.

  At least she’d be busy for the weekend when he departed and hopefully wouldn’t have too much spare time to examine the emotions he stirred in her.

  She poured herself a cup of coffee, moved to the back door and stared outside, and her thoughts turned to the man who had once been her husband.

  She had loved Johnny with all her heart and soul. In the years of their marriage her love for him had never wavered. She’d believed they would be together forever and when he’d disappeared her entire world had splintered apart.

  Sipping her coffee she realized that if nothing else Sam had made her realize she’d truly moved on and put Johnny in her past, and that her heart was open and ready to love again.

  “Hey.”

  She turned to see Sam standing in the doorway of the kitchen. “Hey,” she replied, and stepped away from the door.

  “You have a few minutes?”

  “Sure, what’s up?” She motioned him to the table where they both sat.

  “I just heard from my lab-rat friend, Lexie. She had some information about some of the people who are close to you.” He pulled out a notepad where he’d made notes.

  A knot of anxiety formed in Daniella’s chest as she waited for what he’d learned. His features were pulled taut, as if the information he’d gathered wasn’t good.

  “You’re making me nervous,” she said.

  The tight smile he gave her did nothing to alleviate her nervousness. “First of all, I had Lexie check into what she could find out about Johnny.”

  The tension inside her screamed just a little bit and her throat went dry. “What did she find out? That he’s on a Caribbean island and married to a half-naked native girl?”

  Sam shook his head. “Nothing. She found absolutely nothing. When he disappeared from Bachelor Moon it’s like he fell off the face of the earth. His Social Security number has never been used, and there’s no record that he owns property of any kind. There are no vehicles registered to him, and he hasn’t filed income tax since the year he disappeared.”

  “So what does that mean?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “It means he’s either living carefully, completely under any radar, or he’s dead.”

  She nodded. “So that’s nothing new. Those have always been the only two real possibilities.”

  “I didn’t realize Frank wasn’t originally from Bachelor Moon,” Sam continued.

  “I think he’d just moved to town when he took the job with Johnny at the plant,” Daniella explained. “If I remember right, he was originally from Chicago.”

  “The information Lexie pulled up on him didn’t send off any alarms. His work history before coming to Bachelor Moon is spotty, mostly menial jobs. He’s had one speeding ticket in his lifetime of driving and has never been married.”

  “What about Jeff?” she asked.

  “Pretty much the same thing. Never married
, no red flags and appears on paper to be an upstanding citizen. Matt is a little more interesting. What did he tell you about his wife’s death?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “He just told me she’d died. I assumed it was some sort of illness. Why?” A new knot of anxiety formed in her chest as she saw that Sam’s eyes had gone dark and flat. “Is the official story something different?”

  “Cindy Rader was found dead in a dry bathtub. She’d suffered a severe head wound that killed her.”

  Daniella frowned. “Where was Matt when it happened?”

  “According to the reports he was sitting in his living room reading the paper. Eventually he went to look for her and found her dead in the tub.”

  “So, it was a tragic case of a slip and fall,” Daniella said, wishing she’d refilled her coffee cup for the warmth the brew might provide.

  “Not so simple,” Sam countered, his eyes still far too dark to put her at ease. “At the time of Cindy’s death there were rumors of marital problems between the two. They were also having some major financial issues, and there was a million-dollar life insurance policy on Cindy with Matt as the sole beneficiary. The investigating officers believed he’d killed her, that somehow they’d fought and he slammed her head into the tub.”

  Daniella was stunned and more than a little sickened by what he’d said. “Then why isn’t he in jail?”

  “No evidence to prove what they believed.” He released a sigh and leaned forward. “Of course none of this proves that Matt killed Samantha or that he’s the person who is after you.”

  “But if what the police believed about his wife’s death was true, then that means I’ve had a murderer in my house for the last couple of months.” Despite the warmth of the kitchen a cold wind blew through her.

  Chapter Eight

  Soon, Sam thought as he sat on the porch. A few more days and he’d be out of here, back to his own life, his old job. The last two days had been uneventful.

  He’d checked in with Jim Thompson and told him what he’d learned with the background checks Lexie had conducted. Jim had been surprisingly grateful to Sam for sharing what he’d learned.

  “I’ve got to confess I’m no closer to solving Samantha’s death than I was when we found her beneath that tree,” he’d said. “I was hoping the knife might yield some kind of evidence, but it was just an old, ordinary butcher knife as sharp as a scalpel. There were no prints or anything unusual about it except for how sharp it was.”

  Jim went on to say that he also had no motives or suspects for the attack on Daniella. Sam had been vigilant in making sure Daniella wasn’t alone again except when she went to her room for the night.

  Daniella had wondered if perhaps the failed attempt to kidnap her had forced the perp to give up his plan, perhaps move his obsession to somebody else, but Sam feared that the failed attempt had only stoked the hunger of the person responsible, a hunger for Daniella and nobody else.

  He sat up straighter in his chair as a car pulled up the driveway. Jeff. He’d stopped by to visit with Daniella for the past two nights. Sam didn’t move from his chair as Jeff parked his car and got out, the early evening sunshine sparking on his blond hair.

  Sam suspected that Jeff had sensed something going on between him and Daniella and his visits were an attempt to mark his territory where Daniella was concerned.

  “Evening,” he said to Sam, as he reached the porch.

  “Back at you,” Sam replied. “Beautiful night.”

  “It is,” Jeff agreed. He nodded at Sam and then disappeared through the front door.

  Sam remained seated, although his natural instinct was to get up and go inside, to make sure that Daniella wasn’t alone with Jeff. But he trusted that if Jeff was the culprit, he wouldn’t try anything after having been seen by Sam. The person they were after was far craftier than that.

  Jeff was inside for about thirty minutes, and when he came out he stopped in front of Sam’s chair, an edge of belligerence riding the upthrust of his chin.

  “I’m not a stupid man. I know there’s something going on between you and Daniella,” he said. His brown eyes narrowed as Sam stood. “Maybe this is something you do? Big important G-man rides into town and takes advantage of women in danger?”

  “I’m not taking advantage of anyone,” Sam replied in a calm, even tone. He wasn’t about to get in a pissing match with another alpha dog. “Besides, you don’t have to worry. I’m leaving here in two days.”

  “Yeah, well, I think you are taking advantage, and I just want you to know if you hurt Daniella in any way I’ll hunt you down and do more than hurt you.”

  “Nice trash talk for a defense attorney,” Sam replied drily.

  Jeff’s face flushed. “I’m not talking to you as a defense attorney; I’m talking to you as a man. Stay away from her. She’s had enough heartache in her life without you adding to it.” He didn’t wait for Sam’s reply but instead stomped off the porch and got into his car.

  Sam didn’t know whether to be amused or concerned. This was a side of Jeff he hadn’t seen before. Intense, seething with suppressed anger, Sam had for a moment recognized a darkness in Jeff.

  Jeff’s car roared to life and he flew down the drive way. Interesting, Sam thought, as he sat back down. Was it possible that Jeff had loved his best friend’s bride, that perhaps he’d seen Johnny as an obstacle to get through in order to possess his perfect woman? Had Johnny been killed, or had he simply run from the responsibility of wife and baby and business?

  “Mr. Sam.” Macy flew out the front door, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Mommy and I are having an ice cream party and we want you to come.”

  “Ice cream party? Sounds like something I don’t want to miss,” he replied, grateful for the diversion from his own troubling thoughts.

  Macy grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair. “We have different flavors of ice cream and syrup and marshmallows and sprinkles!”

  “Sprinkles? I love sprinkles,” Sam replied, and was gifted with one of Macy’s delightful giggles.

  They entered the kitchen where Daniella was getting out bowls to set on the table, which was already laden with everything needed to make an awesome sundae or a banana split. “Wow, looks serious,” he said with a smile to Daniella.

  She returned his smile. “We take our ice cream nights very seriously.”

  “Jeff didn’t want to stay for ice cream night?” he asked.

  “I didn’t invite him to stay.” Daniella pointed to the chairs at the table. “Sit and let the fun begin.”

  As he and Macy sat at the table she pulled out three half-gallon containers of ice cream: one vanilla, one chocolate and one strawberry. She set them on the table and then took the seat between Sam and Macy. “Dig in.”

  She laughed as all three of them reached for the chocolate at the same time. “Great minds think alike.”

  There was no way her mind could be thinking like his, for as he saw her laughter shining from her eyes and curving her lips he wanted nothing more than to take her into the bedroom and repeat the experience of making love to her.

  Instead he filled his bowl with vanilla ice cream and smothered it in chocolate syrup, hoping that satisfying his sweet tooth would somehow diminish his desire for a woman who would never be a part of his future.

  “I’m gonna have syrup and bananas and whipped cream and sprinkles,” Macy announced, as she worked on her concoction.

  As they created their decadent desserts, they chatted about everything and nothing. Their laughter filled not only the kitchen but also some of the empty places inside Sam’s soul.

  This was what it was like, he thought. This was what it was like to have a family, to laugh together and act silly and not worry, because you were among people who cared about you.

  He had a sudden flash of memories from his early childhood, of occasional movie nights with popcorn and laughter, before his father had started with his raging, before things had gotten bad between his mothe
r and father, before the monster inside his dad had fully formed.

  “Mr. Sam, you forgot your sprinkles,” Macy said, pulling him from his memories.

  “I did, didn’t I?” He grabbed the bottle and liberally dosed his ice cream.

  A few sprinkles, a little ice cream and the company of a beautiful woman and her daughter could probably cure diseases, he thought. At the moment it was impossible to entertain dark thoughts or ruminate about the past. He was in the moment and loving it, and that shocked him as much as finding Samantha’s body beneath the tree in the yard.

  By the time they finished their ice cream Daniella sent Macy in to get ready for her bath, and he and Daniella cleared the table. She placed their bowls in the sink, and he grabbed her arm and twirled her around to look at him.

  “This was fun,” he said, as he pulled her closer against him, unable to squash his desire to hold her.

  She smiled, that beautiful gesture that lit her eyes and curved her lush lips. “It was fun. I try to plan something like this every once in a while. You should be at one of our pizza-making parties.”

  He wished he could be at all their parties, have night after night of laughter with Daniella and Macy. He ran his hands across her slender shoulders. “You know what my nickname is? The Prince of Darkness, that’s how all my coworkers refer to me. On the day my father shot my mother I lost all my laughter, any joy I might have found in life. I immersed myself in the darkness of my job and forgot that there was anything good in life.”

  She reached up and placed her palm against his jaw and he wanted to fall into the softness, the bright light shining in her eyes.

  “I just want to thank you, Daniella. You and Macy helped me find my laughter again.” He couldn’t stand it another minute, he had to kiss her sweet, soft lips.

  She tasted of chocolate and heat, of desire and dreams, and as she wound her arms around his neck he wanted all of her. As he pulled her more tightly against him he knew she could feel his arousal. He also knew that nothing would happen between them again, that no matter how badly he wanted to make love to her again he wouldn’t go there.