Scene of the Crime: Bachelor Moon

by Carla Cassidy

  In fact, although she couldn’t know it, this was a goodbye kiss. He had to start separating himself from her. He had to begin to gain some distance so his final goodbye in two days’ time wouldn’t be so painful.

  The Prince of Darkness had found his heart and he didn’t like it. He knew Daniella was falling for him. He could see it in her eyes, taste it on her lips. And he was falling for her. He hadn’t seen it coming. When he’d pulled up here for a two-week vacation the last thing he’d expected to find was a woman who would stir up the desire for things he’d never considered.

  He cared enough about Daniella and Macy to walk away from them. He wasn’t what they needed in their lives, and they were far better off without him.

  Reluctantly he ended the kiss. Daniella looked up at him, a hint of tears in her eyes. “I have to admit it, Sam—I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”

  He dropped his arms from around her and stepped back. “Once things calm down in your life and Jim has the bad guy behind bars you probably won’t even remember me.”

  “That’s not true,” she replied. Her lower lip trembled slightly. “I’m going to remember you the rest of my life, Sam Connelly.”

  At that moment Macy called from the bathroom, and Daniella left the room. Sam drew a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that he was leaving her here alone and vulnerable.

  He told himself he couldn’t put his own life on hold forever, that solving this crime had never been his job, his responsibility.

  In the best of all possible worlds this would be solved in two days’ time and he would leave here knowing that the culprit was behind bars. But the truth of the matter was that it could take weeks, even months, before this case would be resolved.

  Despite the fact that night had fallen outside, Sam felt the need to get some air, to step into the hot humid night and breathe something other than the sweet scent of Daniella.

  The minute he stepped outside he spied them—a box of candy and a coloring book. His stomach clenched as he saw that a small note card was taped to the top of the box of candy.

  He went back into the kitchen and opened the cabinet under the sink where he knew Daniella kept rubber gloves. He pulled them on and then returned to the porch.

  He seriously doubted that any fingerprints had been left on the items, but on the off chance that the perp had gotten careless, Sam didn’t want to screw up what might be important evidence.

  He carried the items back into the house and set them on the kitchen table, then removed the gloves and went to the door of Daniella’s private quarters and knocked.

  “Oh, I was just going to find you,” she said as she appeared in the doorway. “Macy was wondering if you’d mind telling her good-night.”

  “Sure, I’ll tell her good-night,” he agreed. He followed her into Macy’s bedroom, where Macy was already in bed.

  Macy gave him a happy smile. “I wanted you to say good-night ’cause I had so much fun with you tonight.”

  “I had fun, too,” Sam said as he sat on the edge of her bed.

  “Mommy said you are going home in two days. Can’t you please stay longer?”

  “Macy!” Daniella said, obviously surprised by Macy’s question.

  Sam held up his hand to halt her protest and smiled at the little girl. “I can’t, honey. I have to go back home and work. Remember I told you that I’m a monster hunter. It’s a very important job.”

  “It would be an important job to stay here and be my friend, too,” Macy countered.

  Sam’s heart squeezed tight in his chest as he leaned down and kissed Macy’s forehead. “Sleep tight, princess,” he said, and stood before his emotions could get away from him.

  As he stepped out of Macy’s room he took Daniella’s arm. “I stepped outside on the porch a minute ago and found a box of candy and a coloring book there.”

  Her eyes darkened. “I know it’s crazy, but I’d hoped it was over.”

  “This time I think he left you a note.”

  He wouldn’t have thought it was possible for her eyes to grow darker, but they did. “A note?” Her voice was a whisper.

  He nodded and together they went into the kitchen and to the table. She stared at the box of candy as if it were a poisonous snake ready to spring.

  “Use the gloves,” he said softly. “It’s possible he left us some fingerprints. We’ll get these things to Jim and he can print them. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  “Luck doesn’t seem to be in an abundant supply right now.” She pulled on the gloves, moving in the slow motion of dread. She pulled the card loose from the box of candy and opened it. Sam moved to stand just behind her so he could see what the card contained.

  “You belong to me.”

  The words were handwritten, printed in red ink. The word me was underlined with several strokes that had been so hard the pen had nearly torn through the paper.

  Sam’s stomach clenched. This was a definite escalation. First, the fact that there was contact made by the note, and second, the words and the emotion behind them were more than a statement. They were a definite threat.

  Daniella threw down the card as if it had burned her through the plastic gloves. She turned around to look at Sam, and he saw the yawning horror in her eyes. “Who is doing this? Dammit, who could it be?”

  “I’ll call Jim,” he said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “And, Daniella, I’m not going anywhere until this is all resolved.”

  The look she gave him was filled with gratitude. There was no way he could walk away now. He punched in Jim’s number and as he waited for the sheriff to answer, he suspected it wasn’t going to take weeks or months for this to all come to a head.

  The note had been written with barely suppressed rage. Whoever had written it was reaching a breaking point. Sam had a feeling the explosion would happen within the next week or so. He just hoped that when it was over Daniella and Macy would be okay and he could finally walk away without looking back.

  “YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF big plastic food bags?” Jim asked as he eyed the box of chocolates and the coloring book on the table. “I didn’t bring a kit with me. To tell the truth I don’t do much fingerprinting personally anymore. But Deputy Wilkerson is a master at pulling prints off almost anything.”

  Daniella walked to the pantry, grateful that Jim had arrived quickly and intended to take the items with him. She didn’t want them in the house, didn’t even want them in the trash can outside of the house.

  She retrieved two large bags and returned to the two men. Jim took the bags from her and, using his own pair of gloves, placed the candy box with the note in one and the coloring book in the other.

  If there was one thing that told her how serious this latest turn of events was, it was the fact that Sam had decided to hang around longer than his intended visit. It both concerned her and relieved her.

  “I know we’ve been over this before,” Jim said. “But is there anyone you can think of who might be behind this? Somebody who has a crush on you, somebody who hangs around for no real reason?”

  “Jim, I’ve thought and thought about this and I can’t think of anyone.”

  “Jeff,” Sam said. “Jeff Tyson has a thing for her.”

  Jim looked at Daniella. “What kind of a thing?”

  “You know Jeff and Johnny were best friends. Since Johnny’s disappearance Jeff has stepped in as a friend, a helpmate to me and Macy.” She hesitated a moment and then continued. “Lately I’ve gotten the feeling that he might want something more from me.”

  “He’s in love with her.” Sam looked at her. “You know it’s true.” He returned his gaze to Jim. “He was here earlier this evening and got in a little pissing match with me, told me if I hurt Daniella he’ll hunt me down and hurt me.”

  Daniella looked at him in surprise. “Jeff did that?” She was stunned and more than a little embarrassed. Jeff had no right to interfere with her personal life and she’d never seen that side of him before.

/>   “I don’t like the sound of that,” Jim said with a frown. “Look, Daniella, I know you and I had a rough go of it when Johnny disappeared, but I promise you I’m doing everything I can to solve Samantha’s murder and find who attacked you. There’s no question in my mind that the two crimes are tied together, that your stalker thought he was doing you a favor by killing Samantha.”

  “So I don’t need a criminal defense lawyer?” she asked.

  “You never really did,” Jim replied. He picked up the plastic bags. “I’ll let you know if we manage to pull any prints off these things. In the meantime watch your back and let me know if anything else comes up.”

  Sam walked Jim to the front door as Daniella sank down in a chair at the table. Matt and Jeff, secrets and lies. Murder and stalking. What had happened to her ordinary life?

  She couldn’t believe that Jeff had threatened Sam. She found that just as difficult to swallow as the possibility that Matt might have had something to do with his wife’s death.

  She felt as if her entire world had been turned upside down, twisted inside out, and she didn’t know how to make it right again.

  Sam walked back into the kitchen, his gaze dark and unreadable. “Maybe he got careless and left prints all over those things.”

  “And the Easter bunny is on his way with chocolate eggs for everyone,” she said dryly. “I’ve got a houseful of people arriving first thing Saturday morning and somebody dangerous who wants to make me his own.” She rubbed the center of her forehead where a headache attempted to blossom into full bloom.

  “Go to bed, Daniella. Nothing more can be done tonight. I’ll let you know in the morning if I hear from Jim. I told him to call me with the fingerprint results. Just go to bed. I’ll make sure everything is locked up tight.”

  She nodded wearily and got up from the table, too exhausted to talk anymore. “Thanks, Sam. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Minutes later, in the privacy of her room, she changed into her nightgown and tried not to think about everything that was happening.

  She shouldn’t have been thinking about obsession and murder, she thought. Instead she should have been focused on weekend menus and how to make sure her guests had a lovely experience staying with her.

  Although she was grateful that Sam had decided to extend his stay, she knew it was only going to make it more difficult when it came time to tell him goodbye.

  She was in love with him. It hit her like a fist to the chest, leaving her nearly breathless. Somehow, some way in the past two weeks she’d fallen head over heels with the Prince of Darkness.

  And he was going to break her heart.

  She got into bed and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. She didn’t want to think about telling Sam goodbye. Losing Johnny had been devastating, but she’d eventually healed. She had a feeling that losing Sam would be even more difficult to get over.

  She fell asleep and dreamed of monsters and Macy in her princess crown, trying to banish bad men with a wave of her wand. She awoke at dawn, feeling as exhausted as she had when she’d gone to sleep.

  Showered and dressed, she checked on Macy, who was still sound asleep, then went into the kitchen to get some coffee brewing.

  She was standing at the window, staring out and sipping a cup of coffee, when Matt came into the kitchen. Since she’d learned about the fact that he had been a suspect in his wife’s death there was no question that she felt a bit uneasy around him, although she’d tried to hide it from him.

  “You’re up early,” she said as she tried to ignore the small knot of tension that formed in her stomach.

  “Yeah, I’m heading over to the house before going into the office. I just wanted to let you know that the builder has assured me that I should be able to take possession in two weeks, so I guess I’ll be out of here then.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up.” She took a sip of her coffee and made a quick, impulsive decision. “Matt, you never told me how your wife died. Was she ill?”

  His eyes darkened as he leaned against the doorjamb. “No, not ill. She was perfectly healthy when she died. I was in the living room when she told me she was going to go into the bathroom and clean out the tub, then take a nice, long bath.”

  He paused a moment and it was obvious he was reining in emotions. “I don’t know exactly what happened. After about an hour I realized she was taking too long. I went into the bathroom and found her sprawled in the tub. Her head was bloody and she was dead. She must have slipped. She was still dressed and the bottle of cleaner was in the tub with her.” He pulled a hand down his face. “Cindy’s death was a nightmare, but the nightmare went on when the police told me they thought I’d killed her.”

  Daniella gasped as if she didn’t already know the story. “Why would they think that?”

  “Cindy and I were going through a rough patch. We were financially overextended, and because of the stress we were fighting about stupid stuff. We weren’t headed for a divorce—we loved each other. But when you’re in the middle of an investigation things get magnified and blown out of proportion.”

  “I’m sorry, Matt.” She saw the grief in his eyes, and she didn’t know if she was being too gullible, but she believed him.

  “You know what the worst part is? With each step of building this house I’ve thought about her. When I put the island in the kitchen I thought about how excited Cindy would have been. She’d always wanted an island in the kitchen, and then I remembered she’d never see this house. She’d never cook in the kitchen. She’d never walk down the hallways.”

  At that moment Sam appeared and Matt seemed to pull himself together. “Good morning,” he said to Sam. “I was just telling Daniella that the builder has told me I should be able to move into my new place in two weeks.”

  “Congratulations,” Sam said as he moved past Matt to the coffeemaker.

  Minutes later Matt had left and Daniella and Sam sat at the kitchen table. “He told me all about his wife’s death, that it was a tragic accident,” Daniella said. “I felt such pain in him as he was telling me. I believe him, Sam.”

  He smiled. “I think it’s a good thing you aren’t a cop. You’re definitely an easy touch.”

  “Maybe,” she agreed. “But even if Matt had something to do with his wife’s death, I can’t imagine what that might have to do with what’s happening now. Matt isn’t harboring some sort of secret obsession for me.”

  “Maybe you’d be surprised by who is obsessing over you,” he replied, and although his tone was light, his gaze was warm as it lingered on her.

  You, Sam? she wanted to ask. Do you obsess about me just a little bit?

  “You’re the kind of woman plenty of men might obsess about,” he continued. “You’re beautiful and soft and loving.” He leaned forward slightly, his gaze focused on her lips, and for a moment she thought he might kiss her—she wanted him to kiss her. Anticipation shot a wave of warmth through her.

  He straightened and broke the eye contact. “But there’s no question that somebody has a sick, dark obsession with you.”

  “I can’t help but think that if that were true I’d know, I’d feel it.”

  The light that had been in his eyes only seconds before diminished as he once again looked at her. “That’s the thing about the darkness, Daniella. You can’t see the monsters that hide in the shadows.”

  “Then everyone should be as lucky as me and have an FBI agent staying beneath their roof,” she replied, but she couldn’t stop the chill that slid through her at his words.

  Chapter Nine

  By Friday afternoon Sam felt the need to get out of the house. Daniella had been busy all day preparing for the onslaught of guests the next morning. Sam had even gotten in on the act, helping her change the sheets on the beds in the carriage house while Macy dusted the furniture.

  “Why don’t we take off an hour or two and take a little ride to town?” he said to the two of them after lunch was finished.

  Daniella looked at him in su
rprise at the same time Macy clapped her hands together in delight. “Why?” Daniella asked. “Is there something you need from town?”

  “I just thought it might be nice to walk around a little bit, maybe get a piece of pie at the café.” What he wanted to do was get away from the house that smelled of her, where he’d have something else to think about besides how badly he wanted her again.

  “Come on, Mommy, let’s go. I love pie at the café,” Macy exclaimed.

  Daniella frowned. “I still have so many things to do here.”

  “An hour,” Sam replied. “Just take an hour off.”

  “Yeah, an hour,” Macy said pleadingly.

  “You two are a bad influence on a working woman,” Daniella exclaimed. “Macy, go brush your hair and I’ll go get my purse.”

  Minutes later the three of them left Frank in charge of the house, and they were in Sam’s car headed into town. “Maybe we could go into the discount store and I could get a new outfit for my Barbie doll,” Macy said.

  “I’m not sure shopping for fashion doll clothing is what Sam had in mind,” Daniella replied.

  Sam smiled. “Actually it was exactly what I had in mind.” He glanced at Daniella, who looked as pretty as he’d ever seen her in a sunshine-yellow blouse and white shorts. “I just thought we needed a little outing after the last few days.”

  “I have to admit, it feels good to be out,” she replied.

  If Sam had hoped that the outing would somehow diminish his desire for Daniella, he was sadly mistaken. Once they arrived in town he parked the car, and the three of them went into the discount store to find Macy the perfect outfit for her doll.

  As he watched mother and daughter interacting over the purchase, he was rocked by the desire not just to have Daniella in his bed, but to have her and Macy in his life. Their laughter filled his heart and fed his soul.

  They left the discount store after Macy had found the perfect beautiful dress for her doll, then walked around the square and finally wound up in the café, where they took a booth and ordered pie.