A Knight Before Christmas

by Alicia Dean

  wife—he'd had enough of that kind of disappointment when

  he'd learned of his dad's affair—but somehow the thought of

  Rudy sharing the room with Nicolette was just as painful.

  That was ridiculous, though. Rudy and Nicolette were

  husband and wife. Of course they'd shared a bed. While logic

  told him they'd made love countless times during their ten

  year marriage, he still didn't want to think about them

  sharing a romantic interlude at a hotel. Crazy.

  He tucked the receipt in his pocket and went through the

  remaining drawers, but didn't find anything else of interest.

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  Driving to the address on the receipt, he found himself at

  Stratford Arms. While not exactly a five star hotel, it wasn't a

  seedy, trashy place either.

  The lobby was deserted, and a lone clerk stood behind the

  counter.

  "Can I help you?" he asked Heath.

  "I hope so." Heath pulled out the photo of Rudy and

  showed it to the clerk. "Do you recall seeing this man here?"

  The clerk was young and dark-skinned and spoke with a

  faint middle-eastern accident. "I see a lot of people here, men

  and women. Why would I remember this one?"

  "I don't know why. I'm just asking if you do."

  He shrugged. "Maybe."

  Heath slipped a twenty across the counter. "I'd appreciate

  anything you can tell me."

  The man grinned, showing a row of even, white teeth. "Ah,

  big spender, are you?"

  Heath flipped out two more twenties.

  "Yes. I know this man," the clerk said. "He was in the

  papers often. For his charity work. Then when he died, his

  picture was in the paper again."

  "Right." Heath tried to hold onto his patience. "But have

  you seen him here? Like nearly a year ago? Was he a guest?"

  The man raised his eyebrows, looking at Heath's wallet

  expectantly. Heath pulled out another twenty. The clerk

  pocketed the bills and said, "Yeah. I seen him check in here a

  few times."

  "Was he with anyone?"

  A sly grin. "Now what do you think?"

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  "Why don't you tell me?"

  Again, the expectant eyebrow raise.

  Heath jerked a hundred out of his wallet and slapped it on

  the counter. "Look, I'm running out of patience and cash. If

  you tell me everything I want to know, this is yours. If you

  can't tell me any more than any thug on the street can,

  you're not getting another dime. I don't have time for this, so

  spill what you got. If I like what I hear, it's yours, and I go."

  He reached for the hundred, but Heath pulled it back.

  "Nope. Talk first."

  The clerk sighed and looked around the still empty lobby.

  "Yeah. Okay. He was a guest, pretty regular. Not alone,

  though."

  Briefly, an image of Noah Forsythe flashed through Heath's

  mind, but he dismissed it. Rudy may have been a lot of

  things, drug user, liar, maybe cheater, but he was pretty

  certain he was a heterosexual cheater.

  "A woman?"

  "Bingo, Einsten."

  Heath took out a picture of Nicolette. "This her?"

  The clerk whistled through his teeth. "Nah, but I bet he

  wishes it was. Chick's a looker, not that the one he had here

  wasn't. I wouldn't say no to a tussle with either one of them,

  know what I mean?"

  "So it was the same woman each time?"

  "Yep. And they both wore rings, but didn't act like they

  were married to each other. They never spent the entire

  night. I ain't no Einstein like you, but I guessed they were

  fucking around on their spouses."

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  "Can you describe the woman?"

  "Can you give me the Franklin?"

  Heath handed him the money.

  "I never got that good a look at her. She always wore dark

  glasses and a scarf around her head. Always sort of stood

  back. They seemed to be in a rush, like they couldn't wait to

  get upstairs and fuck each other's brains out."

  Heath hurt for Nicolette, but also felt betrayed by Rudy in

  some strange way. Almost like he did with his father. Did all

  men eventually cheat? Hell, Rudy had Nicolette, and he

  fucking cheated? What was wrong with the guy? Who had the

  woman been?

  Heath would keep looking until he found out, but unless

  she was the blackmailer or the killer, he didn't really give a

  damn who Rudy had cheated with. His only concern was the

  woman he'd cheated on.

  Moments later Heath sat in his car without starting the

  engine, wondering how to handle this last bit of information.

  Could he tell Nicolette and shatter her even further? She'd

  been through enough She didn't need to know her husband

  had cheated, on top of everything else.

  Then again, it was possible she knew, or at least

  suspected. Most of the time, when a spouse cheated, the

  other knew. With or without proof, deep down inside, they

  knew. Often, they stayed in the marriage. Take his mother for

  instance. She knew without a doubt and still stayed with her

  husband.

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  His cell phone rang and he recognized Nicolette's number

  on the display. A mixture of pity and joy washed over him as

  he answered.

  "Heath?" Her voice sounded shaken. "He called."

  "Shit. What did he say?"

  "He said I'd done well today. That he appreciated the

  donation, and he'd call when he was ready for another."

  "Bastard. I'm on my way. I'll listen to the call when I get

  there."

  Heath drove to the duplex and went to his side first to

  retrieve the recording equipment. Then he took it to

  Nicolette's.

  "Did a number show up on the caller ID?" Heath asked as

  he set up the equipment.

  "Yeah. It wasn't blocked or anything, so I doubt if he called

  from his cell or home. I didn't try to call the number back. I

  didn't want to do that until you got here."

  Heath took the piece of paper she handed him and dialed

  the number. A beep like a fax machine sounded on the other

  end. If the call came from a business, it was likely that the

  number wasn't an incoming one.

  He pressed Play and they listened to the recording

  together. The dialogue was pretty much what Nicolette

  relayed. Heath tried to listen for more than what was said,

  concentrating on background noise. He caught the faint sound

  of voices in the distance. Turning up the volume, he played it

  once more.

  "Did you hear that?" he asked Nicolette.

  "What?"

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  "Someone talking in the background. Listen."

  He played it again.

  She nodded. "I heard something. It sounded like people

  talking."

  "Can you unders
tand what they're saying?"

  He pressed Play again and as they listened, Nicolette's

  brows scrunched in concentration. She shook her head, and

  he repeated the process.

  On the fourth try, Heath was able to make out the words.

  He repeated them to Nic, "Be gone, you miserable little

  beggars. Take your infernal Christmas carols and get away

  from my door." He sighed in frustration. "But I have no idea

  what that means."

  "I do."

  "What?"

  "It's a line from a A Christmas Carol."

  "Someone's watching the movie in the background?"

  "Didn't sound like the movie. It sounded live."

  "A play? Is it showing around here?"

  "Let's look it up." He followed her into the office where she

  booted up the computer. She typed the name of the play into

  the Google search engine.

  "It's showing at the Northland Playhouse," she said. "Their

  number has the same prefix of the number that showed on

  the caller ID." She took out a pen and jotted the address on a

  sticky note. "There's a production going on now, then it

  shows again tomorrow."

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  "I'll drive over there, ask around. See if I can find a link to

  anyone in Rudy's life and the theater. Then I'll check with a

  few more people."

  He thought again of what he'd learned at the hotel. Now

  wasn't the time to bring it up to Nicolette, if there ever would

  be. He wasn't sure it was something he should share with

  her, but he didn't feel right about keeping it quiet. Until he

  sorted out the pros and cons and made a rational decision,

  he'd keep the knowledge to himself.

  "What people are you going to check with?"

  "I don't know. I'll talk to the cops, but I doubt if they'll tell

  me anything. I'll go to the barbershop, too. They should be

  open tomorrow. I'll check it out."

  Nicolette nodded. When she stood, it brought their bodies

  close together and Heath's breathing slowed as he looked

  down into her beautiful face, at her tantalizing lips. Rudy had

  cheated, it wouldn't be wrong to...

  Nic stepped back, crossing her arms over her breasts as

  she turned away. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

  Heath wondered if she'd change her mind if she knew

  Rudy had betrayed her. If he told her, would that mean he

  could once more hold her body next to his? Feel her soft

  warmth as he slipped inside her?

  No. He couldn't hurt her just to satisfy his lustful cravings.

  Cravings that would apparently never cease.

  The parking lot of Northland Playhouse was packed. It

  would be too crowded inside to learn anything. Heath would

  come back later tonight, maybe the cars would be thinned out

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  some and he could look for a match to the vehicles he'd seen

  in Salarber's lot.

  He drove to the police department and asked for Patella or

  Berry. The dispatcher made a call, then buzzed him through

  to the squad room.

  Patella's brows rose when he saw Heath. "Hey, it is you. I

  didn't believe the dispatcher when she told me who my visitor

  was. Sit."

  Heath took the chair next to Patella's desk. "Is Detective

  Berry here?" he asked.

  "Not right now. You got something for us?"

  "I was hoping you had something for me."

  Patella used a finger to smooth his mustache as he studied

  Heath. "We checked you out. You used to be a cop. Some of

  the guys downtown know you, speak highly of you." He

  narrowed his eyes. "You're not sniffing around on your own,

  are you? Impeding the investigation into Mr. Morgan's

  death?"

  Heath had to tread carefully. "I stumbled upon some

  information. Might mean something, might not. I just wanted

  to run it by you."

  "I'm all a quiver."

  The corner of Heath's mouth tilted in a grin. "You know

  anything about Northland Playhouse?"

  "I know my wife must enjoy torturing me. She drags me to

  that bullshit at least once a month."

  "I mean, in connection to Rudy's death."

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  "No," Patella said slowly, but his eyes lit with interest and

  he scribbled something on a notepad. "Is there anything you

  want to tell me about it?"

  Apparently, Patella didn't already have information on the

  theater, but he would check it out. If the blackmailer had

  nothing to do with Rudy's murder, it was unlikely the cops

  would find him through the Northland link, and Heath would

  be able to keep the blackmail angle under wraps.

  If the blackmailer had a connection to the theater, and he

  was involved in Rudy's death, the police would likely find him.

  In that case, at least the blackmail would stop and Rudy's

  killer would be apprehended. Leaked publicity was a small

  price to pay for killing two birds with one stone.

  Heath's shrug was intentionally nonchalant. "I just heard it

  mentioned. I'm not sure it means anything."

  "You find out it does mean something, I'm sure I'll be the

  first to know, right?"

  "Right."

  Patella snorted a laugh. "So, tell me, why'd you quit the

  force?"

  Heath thought for a moment before speaking. "You ever

  feel like you're trying to push a wheelbarrow full of bricks

  across a sand dune?"

  "Every day of my life, amigo."

  "After ten years, it occurred to me I'd never get them to

  the other side."

  Patella shrugged. "That's when you take them out and

  carry them one at a time."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Chapter Eighteen

  Heath was heading back to Nicolette's when his mother

  called. "Heath, Keeley's here."

  "Okay. And..."

  His mother made a frustrated harrumph. "I want you to

  meet her. You're the only one in the family who hasn't, and

  it's ridiculous. She's your sister."

  "I'm not the only one. Dad never met her."

  A heavy silence followed. Damn. He'd hurt his mother

  again.

  "Hey, I'm sorry, Mom. I've been a little tense lately. Would

  coming over to meet Keeley make it up to you?"

  Her voice filled with delight. "Absolutely. Besides, Alex

  wants you to come for dinner. He has some news." Then she

  said firmly, "If you show up, I'll forgive you, but don't think

  you can continue to smart off to me, young man."

  "Yes, Mother." He smiled, but the smile disappeared when

  he realized what he'd just agreed to.

  Dammit to hell, he would have to meet Keeley Jacobs.

  The entire family, except for Clint, gathered in his mother's

  family room. The triplets attacked him with enthusiastic

  kisses, and his mother gave him a tight hug.

  "I've missed you," she said when she released him.

  "I've missed you, too. Where
's Clint?" Heath asked, not

  letting his eyes gaze on the strange woman in the room.

  "He won't be joining us tonight. He's having a rough time."

  "Is he okay?"

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  "He will be. He just needs some alone time right now." She

  peered at Heath's head. "You got your hair cut. I like it."

  "Thanks."

  "Now come over here and meet Keeley."

  Heath couldn't bring himself to speak the first time he laid

  eyes on Keeley Jacobs. She was a few inches shorter than he,

  maybe 5'7 or so, and slender, graceful. She wore beige slacks

  and a red blouse. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a

  tortoise shell clip, revealing a detail that no longer allowed

  him to deny her. At the top of her left ear was a tiny

  indentation that had been passed down through generations

  of the King family. His father had that same birthmark...the

  King notch. Like it or not, when Heath stared into those

  vibrant green eyes, he knew he was looking at his sister.

  Keeley Jacobs reached out a slender hand, and Heath took

  it in a reluctant shake. "I heard you would be the hardest sell

  of all the King brothers," she said.

  Heath was taken aback by her bluntness, but decided to

  respond in kind. "I don't know you, don't trust you. If you are

  indeed my father's child, then you're proof he was unfaithful

  to my mother. I don't need those kinds of reminders."

  "Heath!" His mother's horrified shout cut through the thick

  silence.

  "It's okay," Keeley said. "I understand. But you have to

  understand something, too. I didn't choose this any more

  than you. I've gotten to know the rest of your family, and I've

  already come to love them. I don't expect you to warm up to

  me right away, but I hope someday, we can at least be

  friends." She inhaled. When she spoke again, tears clung to

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  her voice. "I know you're hurt, so am I. At least you were

  able to grow up with your father. That's more than I can say."

  Heath was silent as he contemplated her words. She was

  right. He'd been an ass. He gave a short nod, and she smiled.

  It was almost like seeing his father's smile, and it gave him a

  chill, making him feel sad, yet oddly comforted at the same

  time. "I tell you what," he finally said. "I'm willing to try if you