by KyAnn Waters
“First, I don’t have an alibi. I’m sorry I lied. Dawn can be convincing. Not that I have much of an excuse, but I have reservations about trusting the police—for what I think are good reasons—and Dawn was trying to help.” McKenna took another sip of wine and tried to swallow her nervousness. “Those reasons don’t really matter now.”
“Maybe we should start from the beginning. I need the whole picture of you, your family, and as much as you can tell me of Elliot.”
She nodded. “I’ll tell you everything, but first, Elliot’s bankrupt. He liquidated his funds over the last six months. Company stock, retirement accounts, savings, and checking, it’s all gone. He’d had the same accountant for twenty years. I found out Elliot fired him about six months ago. Albert claims he didn’t know. I believe him.” She set her fork on the table. “Thankfully he didn’t take out a mortgage on the house.”
“Any mortgage lender would’ve checked his financial record.”
She agreed. They continued to eat their meal. “I hope I won’t have to sell the house. No job, and no death benefits until the investigation clears me, means I don’t have income. Selling the car put ten thousand in the bank. You know as well as I do that if I need to hire a defense attorney, it won’t last. It’s difficult to comprehend the amount of money that’s gone.” She finished her glass of wine.
Dustin glanced around the room. “I know pharmaceuticals are lucrative and this house is incredible.”
“Elliot was a genius. What in the world was he involved in?” She stood from the table and grabbed the wine from the counter. “Do you want a refill or would you prefer a cup of coffee?”
“Coffee. I spoke with Detective Jones on my cell when I went to get dinner. The three men from the funeral are big players out of Long Beach. Seriously bad players. Problem is they don’t have anything to do with pharmaceuticals. We need to find out what links them to Elliot. Men like the Marino’s can be very persuasive.”
Dustin carried their plates to the sink and turned on the tap. “I still want to hear about Scott.” They stood hip to hip. Dustin rinsed the dishes and McKenna put them into the dishwasher.
“You did loosen my lips with alcohol.” She smiled as the deliciously dizzying effects of good wine mingled with the satisfaction of a good meal. “Scott was my high school sweetheart, but we’d been friends since kindergarten.”
McKenna closed her eyes and remembered the freckle-faced kid who sat with her at lunch and told her disgusting jokes about diaper rashes and lawnmowers. ‘What is red, black, white, and smells?’ he’d ask. When she could only stare at him with a dumb look on her face, he would laugh and say, ‘A skunk ran over by a lawnmower.’ “We were children and then we grew up.” She closed the dishwasher and took two coffee cups out of the cupboard.
Dustin dried his hands on a towel hanging over the stove handle. “I know the story from newspapers and police reports. Now I want you to tell me what really happened.” He followed her to the table with his cup of coffee.
“I thought we were in love. All our friends expected us to get married after high school.” She sipped her coffee. “I did, too.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know he had other plans. He wanted to go away to college. I would’ve gone with him, but that wasn’t the real problem. His parents disapproved of me, and he didn’t want to disappoint them.”
Tears trailed down her cheeks. “You can imagine his horror when I told Scott I was pregnant.” She didn’t see Dustin move, but suddenly he was sitting in the chair next to her. “He said he couldn’t tell his parents, that he wouldn’t destroy their hopes for him. We were in his father’s study. He was angry. I was angry so I left him alone for a minute.” She sniffed. “When I came back he had a gun. We struggled. Even now, I can still hear the thunderous pop of the gun going off in my head.” In her mind she relived those moments. “My hands were on the gun.” She looked down and once again her fingers shook. “I hit the wall from the recoil, but it had been his finger on the trigger.”
“Was his intention to kill you or himself?” His hand gently stroked the back of her head as she leaned into his chest.
“He wrote I’m sorry on the desk blotter. Not to me, to his parents.” She pushed away from Dustin’s chest and wiped under her eyes with her fingers. “I killed him,” she whispered.
“He committed suicide.”
“Because I told him I was pregnant.” Slowly her gaze rose to meet his. “I lied.” The guilt crushed her chest and weighed heavy on her conscious. “I was afraid to lose him.”
Dustin sighed and stepped away from her. “You’re right. It’s a fucked up thing to do. Women have trapped men since the dawn of time with that story. But he bailed out on you.” His temper flared. “A real man faces his responsibilities.”
“And do you face yours?”
“Hell yes! What’s that supposed to mean?” He brought the coffeepot over to refill their cups.
“Because I lived without the love of a father. You don’t talk much about your daughter.”
He set the coffeepot back on the base then pushed his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “My parenting is none of your business.”
“Oh, that’s fair.”
“Yeah, you know the saying, life isn’t fair.” He walked out of the room, and McKenna followed him.
“I get to spread my life out on the table, and you tell me yours is off limits.”
“You got it.” He went into the office and sat behind the computer.
She stood in the doorway and leaned against the jamb because of the alcohol, the room started to spin. “Screw you,” she snapped.
He came off the couch and bracketed her between outstretched arms, bracing his weight with his hands against the wall. “I would love to, but you said you wanted to keep this impersonal. What you’ve told me benefits your defense. What good comes from knowing my life?”
She turned her head because his face was too close to hers, his lips too tempting. “Then tell me why you’re divorced. Tell me something.”
He dropped his arms, took a step back, then focused intently on her face. “What’s going on here? I’m missing something.”
She nervously wrung her hands. “Detective, please? I need you to talk to me. We need to be friends, close friends…because I need you to stay,” she said quietly. “Tonight…with me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think someone was in the house today.”
“When? And why in the hell have you waited all day to tell me?” With each word he spoke, his voice became louder.
“Don’t yell at me!” she hollered right back. “I’m scared, Dustin. This house is big. At night all the little things that go bump sound like murderers to me. I keep the interior doors closed to make the house seem smaller. It didn’t strike me until you left to get dinner that the office door was open when I came home today, and so was my bedroom when I went up earlier. Elliot’s door looked closed, but it was ajar. Someone was in the house.”
Dustin pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Tyson, it’s Dustin.” He spoke quickly and precisely to his partner and then listened intently. “What’s the fax number,” he asked McKenna. She told him and he relayed the number to Tyson. “I don’t know,” he said, his eyes narrowed on her, making her stomach swoon.
“Yeah, she is attractive. But I told her she couldn’t distract me with her body.” He ended the call.
McKenna’s stared at him, her mouth agape. “Why did you tell him that? What did he say?”
Dustin crossed the room to stand in front of her. “Cop talk, and for the record, I say we go with your plan. Distract me.”
Hot breath gusted against her mouth then his lips slid over hers. Soft, yet firm. His tongue touched the seam of her mouth, tasting her lower lip. Opening for him, she initiated a deeper exploration, gliding her tongue along his. Warmth burst in her chest and rushed through her limbs. The hard ridge of his erection pressed into her belly. She rubbed against it, reveling in the length
and thickness.
“My plan sounds good.” The silk fabric of her lounging pajamas moved like heaven over her skin. He cupped her breast. She moaned as he rolled her pebbled tip between his thumb and finger. She twined her arms around his neck and rose up on her tiptoes to feel the heat of his cock against her mound. Banding an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer. His other hand cupped her ass and gently squeezed.
The noise from the fax machine caused Dustin to break the kiss. He drew his thumb along her jaw. Her pulse fluttered.
“You should check to see if the information is what you’re waiting for.” She kicked her lower lip.
“Back to business?”
She nodded. “For now.” He reluctantly released her.
Paper fed through the machine. Dustin waited for the page to print, then tore the paper, and read the data. “This is a list of Marino’s businesses. Maybe one of them will show up in Elliot’s e-mails.”
Dustin became the steadfast detective again. Gone was the man causing McKenna’s world to spiral out of control.
Chapter Ten
McKenna’s mouth felt like sandpaper. She’d curled into the corner of the little couch sometime during the night while Dustin worked on the computer and had fallen asleep. Her knees popped as she stretched out her legs. Four bells chimed from the grandfather clock. Dustin had obviously gone home.
With bare feet, she padded into the dark kitchen to brew coffee. She covered her mouth with a hand and yawned. As soon as she filled her cup she went back to the office and booted up the computer. She wondered what Dustin had found while she slept. Doubtful he could concentrate, not with the way her head was tilted when she woke. Her snore probably chased him out of the house.
“I’m sure that was attractive,” she said aloud in the glow of the monitor. Propping one leg up on the couch, she sipped her coffee and waited for the icons to appear.
“Morning.”
“Jesus!” Hot coffee sloshed into her lap. “You scared me.” She stood up quickly and bent slightly forward to keep the fabric of her pajamas from touching her skin. “I’ll be right back.” She hurried from the room. “Cups are in the cupboard above the coffeepot,” she hollered while she climbed the stairs. “Help yourself.”
In her room, she stripped out of her clothes. Energy zinged through her body. So much for being alone. No wonder she’d been able to sleep. Subconsciously she must have known he’d stayed overnight. Obviously, he’d found a comfortable corner for himself.
After pulling on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, she glanced in the mirror. Without a bra, her nipples puckered with awareness. She shivered, remembering the sight of Dustin walking into the office without a shirt and the top button of his shorts undone.
“What would Dawn do?” she asked her reflection as she quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail.
Excited was how she felt, but what she needed was composure. Sleep with him? Absolutely. But complicating the situation by falling for the detective in charge of her murder case was out of the question. Damn, she didn’t want to use him. She shook her head. No, she wouldn’t be using him. He was a big boy, a very big boy judging from the erection he held against her when they kissed. And she wasn’t offering emotional attachments. From all she’d been able to glean from Dustin, he wasn’t interested in emotional any more than she was.
“Dawn wouldn’t be debating whether or not to take him to bed. She’d have already worked the detective out of her system.” She made her way down the stairs and paused in the doorway of the office.
“Sorry, I scared you,” he said.
“I thought you’d gone home.” She came into the office and sat next to him. He’d put his shirt back on and helped himself to a cup of coffee. She paused, waiting until he looked away from the computer and met her eyes. “Thanks for staying.”
“Let me show you what I’ve found.” He opened a file. “Did you know Elliot had an ongoing correspondence with someone in Los Angeles?”
“No, but in the last year he’d taken a few business trips to L.A.”
“I think it’s safe to assume they were romantically involved.”
McKenna leaned forward and read the first of dozens of e-mails. “He never said anything about a relationship. Although, he never said much of anything. I assumed the trips were for business.” She glanced at Dustin. “Why wouldn’t he tell me he’d fallen in love? I’d have been happy for him. Oh, do you think she knows? We have to tell her what’s happened.”
Dustin scanned down the list. “I don’t think we need to. The last e-mail was two days before he was killed.”
My love, you can say good-bye to your unhappy life and meet me in paradise. I love you, Roslyn.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Dustin leaned back. “Murder? Suicide? Hell, I don’t know. Maybe someone beat her to him. I read all the e-mails. They talk about the future. Forgetting the past. They obviously rendezvoused a few times because she praises his lovemaking. She professes her love for him from the first e-mail. As clear as I can tell, they met about a month before that.” He leaned forward again and scanned down to a particular e-mail. “There is one piece of interesting information for us.”
McKenna read the e-mail. “The Marino’s. How do they figure into this?” Something she’d forgotten flashed through her mind. “At the cemetery, they asked about a woman. They didn’t mention her name. It could be coincidental.”
“In this case, I doubt it.” Dustin shut down the computer. “I need to talk to Tyson. Will you be okay for a few hours?” He pulled a disk from the computer.
“Of course.” She stood, but Dustin caught her hand.
“Call Dawn. I don’t want you alone with the Marino’s in town.” He pulled her back onto the couch and held her hands in his. “Listen, Mickey. Judging by their behavior at the funeral, I think we can assume that they think you’re involved. Get Dawn over here and keep the door locked.”
His intensity scared her. Then he pulled her close and kissed her. Breath stealing, soul piercing intensity washed over her. Fingers tunneled into her hair. His mouth opened and the flavor of vanilla and coffee blended with male. Tongues stroked, teased, tasted. Then Dustin slowly pulled back. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He left and she stared at the empty room until the garage door rumbled open. She turned toward the window, and Dustin backed his truck down the driveway. McKenna grabbed the phone and called Dawn.
* * * * *
Dustin stopped at home, grabbed a quick shower, and a change of clothes before heading to the station. He’d like to keep the little detail about his sleeping arrangements private for the time being. If Tyson or the Captain discovered his personal interest, he risked being replaced on the Porter case.
“Pearce.” Officer Jasper leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk. “I’m here for the pow-wow.”
“Thanks. Let’s do this in room one.”
Interrogation room one was large enough for everyone to sit comfortably, and he suspected the meeting would run long. A lot of ground needed covered, and just as many minds had to be changed regarding McKenna.
Dustin popped his head into the captain’s office. “We’re ready. Room one.”
When Dustin returned to the interrogation room, Tyson had perched himself on the edge of the table. Richard moved a chair so he could assume the same position he’d had at his desk, leaning back on two chair legs with his feet propped. Assistant D.A. Kendall Sackel laughed at something Tyson said.
Dustin went to the head of the room and began making notes on a dry erase board.
“All right, Detective, let’s hear what you’ve got.” Captain Baird sat on the table.
Dustin started by saying, “McKenna Porter isn’t our perp.”
“Then who is?” Captain Baird asked.
“Elliot Porter’s been a busy man making enemies.”
Tyson pointed to the board. “From what I’ve heard, there’s trouble at Ronac. Apparently, t
he doctor had been tapping into the company kitty. The word is he was embezzling from Ronac. They’re under a full audit now. Seems they let him run his department unchecked. Big mistake. Heads are gonna roll.”
“The Marino’s are in play,” Jasper said. “If you ask me, they’re the ones who tipped off Ronac. They recently invested in Dr. Porter, but Ronac was left out of the loop.”
“You think one of the Marino brothers took out Dr. Porter?” Kendall asked. “Because if the feds can’t get an indictment to stick, I can guarantee they’re out of our league.”
“And where’s the money? Elliot’s accounts are empty. Someone had access.” Dustin wrote the name Roslyn Meadows on the board and circled it. “We need to find her. I cracked into his e-mail accounts. With Ms. Porter’s permission,” he clarified as he tossed the disk to Kendall. “She was Dr. Porter’s girlfriend, and she makes references to the Marino’s.”
“You’re thinking double-cross?” Tyson asked.
“Where is she?” Captain Baird rubbed his chin as he mentally compiled the information his detectives had gathered thus far.
“Los Angeles. I have an address.”
“Then I guess that’s where you are.” He stood. “Good job, keep at it.”
“There’s more. Someone broke into the Porter’s house yesterday. She didn’t report it.”
“Do you want someone posted outside the residence?”
“No, it might be an isolated incident.” He couldn’t risk having his interest in McKenna getting back to the captain. “If I’m going to Los Angeles, I’m taking her with me.” Several heads turned at once. Dustin only noticed the big smile on Tyson’s face.
“Listen,” he tried to reason. “All we know at this point is that Roslyn Meadows was Dr. Porter’s lover. His daughter ought to be the one bearing bad news.”
“Your call,” Captain Baird said as he left the room. “And your dime.” He pointed at Tyson. “I’ll expect a report from you every day. And watch her. She’s still a person of interest in this case. Until you bring me evidence to the contrary, she’s under suspicion.”