by Alicia Dean
She sniffed, but nodded, turning away to pour batter into
loaf pans. "I understand. I'm making you some pumpkin
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bread. You'll be back to pick it up before you go back to
Oklahoma, won't you?"
"Mom." He sighed heavily. "I'll only be gone for a few
days, and I'll be back to visit, even while I'm working on the
case." Case. The word sounded wrong. This could never really
be a 'case.' It was Nicolette. She was far from just a client.
For one, she wasn't paying. For another, he seldom wanted to
get naked with his clients, let alone declare his undying love
for them. "Of course, I'll be back for Alex's wedding. And I'm
spending Christmas with you."
She turned back, her face lighting with pleasure. "You
are?"
"Absolutely." He kissed her on the cheek. "I'm going
upstairs to grab my things."
"Maybe you could bring Nicolette with you sometime."
He grunted noncommittally as he headed out the door. He
wasn't sure how much socializing Nic would want to do,
especially with his family. That might be a little too intimate,
too personal, for her.
"Invite her for Christmas!" his mother called out as he
reached the staircase.
For a brief moment, the image of Nicolette gathered with
the family in front of the tree flashed through his mind. Then
another, he and Nic surrounded by their own children in front
of their own tree.
Get that out of your mind. That would never happen. Not
with Nic. His friend. He cursed as he threw his belongings into
a duffel. What the hell. The rosy, picture-perfect family was
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just a fantasy, anyway. After learning a man like his father
couldn't stay faithful, he had his doubts anyone could.
He said goodbye to his mother and was treated to three
tiny, but surprisingly strong, hugs before he left. Throwing his
duffel into the passenger seat, he climbed into the Tahoe and
headed to Nicolette's.
When he was in sight of her house, his gut tightened. A
police car was parked out front. It was an unmarked, but he
knew the KCPD used Crown Victoria's and something told him
this belonged to them. Had something happened to Nicolette?
Heart pounding, he jammed his foot on the accelerator and
squealed into her driveway.
[Back to Table of Contents]
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Chapter Six
Heath was running up the stairs when the door opened.
Two men in suits came out—one tall and black, the other
stocky and Hispanic, wearing a perplexed frown beneath a
thick mustache. Nicolette appeared behind them. Heath's legs
weakened in relief.
By her face, he could tell she wasn't thrilled he'd shown up
at this moment. She looked nervously from him to the two
men. What the hell was going on?
"Is everything okay?" Heath directed the question to
Nicolette, but she didn't respond.
"I'm Detective Patella, and this is Detective Berry," the
Hispanic one said. "And you are?"
"Heath King." Heath shook hands with the detectives.
Patella looked back at Nicolette, then to Heath again. "You
a friend of Mrs. Morgan's?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"Just following up on a homicide investigation."
"Homicide?" Heath looked up at Nicolette, who looked
away miserably but didn't speak.
"Her husband, Rudy Morgan. We're investigating his death.
Maybe we could ask you a few questions."
"He doesn't know anything." Nicolette spoke for the first
time. "He's not from here. He wasn't in town when Rudy had
his...accident."
Berry studied Heath and slowly nodded. "Still. If you don't
mind, maybe you could give us a few moments of your time?"
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He reached a hand out and lightly gripped Heath's arm.
"We've bothered Mrs. Morgan enough for one day. Maybe we
could talk to you in the car?"
Heath wasn't an idiot. They wanted to get him apart from
Nicolette so they could compare their stories. But since he
had nothing to hide and wanted to know what this was about,
he let them lead him away, giving Nicolette a reassuring smile
as he did.
He climbed into the back seat. Patella got in next to him
while Berry slid into the driver's seat.
Patella spoke first. "Did you know Mrs. Morgan's husband?"
"Yeah. Almost all my life. We grew up together."
"So, you're from the area?"
"I was born in Kansas City, but moved away right after
college. A buddy of mine in OKC hooked me up with a job."
Heath didn't tell them that Burke had convinced him to enter
the police academy in Oklahoma City. He didn't want to tell
the detectives he was an ex-cop, they'd find out soon enough.
He also didn't want to tell them he'd been anxious to agree
with Burke's suggestion. Handling Rudy and Nicolette's
marriage seemed a little easier from a distance. "Rudy and I
remained friends all these years."
"And Mrs. Morgan?"
"I met her in college. The same time as Rudy." The inside
of the car was stuffy, and Heath put his finger on the window
button. "You mind if I crack this a bit?" When Berry nodded
his okay and turned the key, Heath slid the window down a
few inches. "So, what's this all about? I thought Rudy's death
was an accident."
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"She didn't tell you? How close are you and Mrs. Morgan?"
Not nearly close enough.
"We're good friends, but we live over three-hundred miles
apart, so we don't see one another often. I haven't seen her
since Rudy's funeral."
"So you just showed up today? She seemed to be
expecting you."
Heath sighed. "I saw her last night. I live in Oklahoma
City, but I'm here for the holidays, and I ran into her at an
event honoring Rudy. I saw her again this morning, and she
invited me to stay here for a few days." The two detectives
exchanged looks and Heath said, "In the empty duplex next
door."
"Why?"
"Why?" Heath repeated.
"Yeah," Patella said. "Why are you staying at the duplex?
You're here for Christmas holidays, right? You got family here
to stay with?"
For the first time, Heath said something that wasn't
entirely true. Not particularly a lie, but he was definitely
leaving out something. Now that he knew Rudy's death was
suspicious, the blackmail could very well be pertinent to the
investigation. But he'd promised Nicolette. She did, however,
have a lot to answer for, once he finished with the cops. "My
mother's house is overcrowded with all the family in. Plus,
there's a lot of drama going on right now. Yo
u know how it is.
Sometimes it's a little more than I wanna deal with. Nicolette
had an empty place. She offered, I accepted."
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"Before Mr. Morgan's funeral, when was the last time you
were in town?"
"I was here not long after his accident. The next day. I
came as soon as I heard."
"You weren't here the day of?"
"No."
"When was the last time you saw Mr. Morgan before the
accident?"
Heath had to think on that one. Before Rudy's and his
father's death, he'd come to Kansas City every few months.
Once in a while, Rudy and Nicolette, or sometimes just Rudy,
came to visit. Rudy's accident had been right after Christmas.
So, yeah, that was it, the last time he'd seen him had been
the day before Christmas. He told that to the cops.
"Did you and Mr. Morgan have any kind of disagreement?"
"No. Hell, no. I know what you're getting at, and no. No
problems at all between us. We were close friends."
"As close as you and Mrs. Morgan?"
Heath made an effort to hold back his anger. "I know what
you're getting at. We're just friends."
"Never had an intimate relationship?"
"Never."
"Not even after Mr. Morgan's death?"
A memory of that time when Rudy had been in a coma
flashed through Heath's mind, and he pushed it quickly aside,
hoping his expression hadn't given anything away. "Not even
then. Let me ask you something. Why do you think Rudy's
death is suspicious? Didn't he die from his car accident?"
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"Yes. But some of the evidence at the scene suggested foul
play."
"What evidence?"
Patella smiled. "I'm sure you know we can't discuss that
with you, Mr. King."
"I'd be willing to bet a lot of it's been printed in the paper.
I wouldn't expect you to tell me any of the good stuff you're
keeping from the media."
They looked at one another for a few seconds again, then
Berry said, "There were no skid marks at the scene of the
accident, which indicates he was unconscious when he went
off the road. Supposedly, he was alone, but the passenger
door was ajar, indicating someone had gotten out of that
side."
When Berry paused, Patella took over, "There was nothing
mechanically wrong with the car. No indicator of why the
accident occurred."
"Is Nicolette a suspect?"
A slight hesitation, then Patella said, "She's a person of
interest."
Heath knew they were leaving out some details, but just
what they'd told him definitely sounded suspicious. The
thought that someone wanted his friend dead was disturbing.
The idea Nicolette could have had anything to do with it was
ludicrous.
"There's no way she could have harmed her husband.
She's not that kind of person. For God's sake, she loved him.
She's not capable of murdering anyone, and damned sure not
her husband."
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"Everyone's capable of murder, Mr. King. All they need is
motive and opportunity."
"And you think Nicolette had that?"
Patella shrugged. "We're trying to find out. Life insurance
money. Marital difficulties." He paused and gave Heath a hard
look. "A lover."
Heath heaved a sigh. "Nicolette didn't care about the
insurance money, and they didn't have difficulties. No more
than any other couple."
"You didn't deny she had a lover."
"I damned sure didn't say she did."
"Did she?"
Heath clutched the door handle. "I think this interview is
over." As soon as he said it, he realized it made him sound
guilty. If not of murder, then of cheating on his best friend.
"She didn't have a lover," he added before climbing out of the
car.
Patella got out, too. He met Heath as he rounded the car
to head for Nicolette's door. "How long will you be in town,
Mr. King? In case we have more questions."
"I'm leaving Christmas afternoon. But you're not going to
find any evidence against Mrs. Morgan." He didn't pause as he
made his way up the steps.
Behind him, Patella said, "Is that because there is none, or
because she hid it too well?"
Heath didn't respond. He heard the detective get back in
the car as he lifted his fist to bang on Nic's door. She had a
hell of a lot of explaining to do.
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Nicolette paced, twisting her fingers together. Anxiety sat
like a brick in the pit of her stomach. Heath was talking to the
cops. Heath would know. Heath would think she—
A loud banging on the door made her jump. She looked
through the peephole. Heath stood on the other side,
scowling, looking like he was ready to bang again.
She opened the door, and he strode past her without an
invitation.
She slowly turned to face him "What did they tell you?"
"A hell of a lot more than you did!" Tension set into the
lines of his face, tightened his broad shoulders. "What the
hell, Nic?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know if it was important—"
"Not important?" He began to pace, too, but where her
pacing had been nervous, his was furious. "First of all, you
didn't tell me that the death of my best friend might be—no,
was definitely—not an accident. Secondly, you didn't tell me
that you," with that, he paused and jammed a finger toward
her, "were a suspect. Thirdly, you ask for my help because of
a goddamned blackmailer and don't bother to tell me that
he's not your only trouble—that you're fucking being
investigated by homicide detectives. For God's sake,
Nicolette, what the hell were you thinking?"
She opened her mouth to reply, and a lump of tears
formed in her throat. Heath had never been upset with her
before. She didn't like it. Not one damned bit. On top of all
the other things that had happened lately, it was just too
much. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes, willing the
tears not to fall. With all the other negative things Heath
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thought about her, she damned sure didn't want him to see
how weak she was, how frightened.
Turning her back to him, she crossed her arms over her
breasts. "You're right. I should have told you. I was just so
ashamed. So worried about what you'd think. With all that's
happened, I couldn't stand it if you believed them."
"Believed them?" His voice gentled. She heard him move
to stand behind her, then felt his hands on her shoulders.
"Believed the police? That you had something to do with
Rudy's death?" He turned her to face him and took her hands
in his. "I would never
, ever believe something like that about
you. I'll admit, I'm shocked and upset at the thought of
someone purposely harming, killing, Rudy. I'm hurt that you
didn't trust me enough to share that with me—"
"I do trust you, Heath. I—"
He stopped her with a finger to her lips. "I want you to
know that you can trust me. But, please, no matter what it is,
no matter how unpleasant, you have to promise that from
this point forward, you'll tell me everything. Deal?"
She nodded. Her heart thumped at the feel of his fingers
on her lips. She wanted to kiss them, to trail her lips down his
hand, up his arm, to his chest, slowly making her way to his
mouth, to those sensuous, firm...
The air in the room had changed, was charged with
something electric. Heath didn't remove his fingers. Instead,
he gently ran them along her lips, down her chin. She met his
eyes. They'd darkened to rich amber as they gazed down at
her, roaming over her face, then locking back onto hers. Her
breathing was so uneven, the sound of it had to be audible in
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the silence. For several seconds they stood looking at one
another, so close their bodies nearly touched.
What would he do if she moved a fraction of an inch
closer? If she reached a hand behind his neck and pulled his
lips to hers? If she pressed her body against his, gave in to
the longing that surged through her? The longing she had no
right to feel, the longing that had no place between her and
Heath.
Sucking in a deep breath, she stepped back. Heath
dropped his hand. He looked as shaken as she felt. She began
to pace again, speaking rapidly so as not to acknowledge
what had passed between them.
"I have your place next door all ready for you. If you want,
you can grab your stuff and get settled in before we go over
the paperwork."
Heath cleared his throat, but his voice sounded unsteady
when he spoke. "I'd rather bring my stuff in later. First, I'd
like to go over whatever you've gathered for me. That way, if
I need more information from you, or if I feel there's
something I should check out today, I'll have time before
businesses close for the evening. Will that work?"
"Sure. I'll get the documents. It's nearly lunchtime, are
you hungry?"