“It’s inconvenient that some of the main corridor cameras were being serviced at the time,” Knox said. “And those damn Christmas trees block the view of the shed’s door.”
Jackson murmured agreement. “That Fenner woman said the cameras are on a monthly routine. Some kind of maintenance thing that’s not easily overridden.”
“At noon?” Knox scoffed.
“Well, our tech guys didn’t see anything crazy about their schedule. It’s just another obstacle to the scene. Wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time sort of thing.”
Knox heaved a long sigh. “All three employees were more or less spotted where they said they were. Jade wasn’t at the North Pole Hut. She was at Macy’s trying on…stuff. Garth Ridge went to the food court and walked around. And Seth Wesley went to an ATM and then to smoke outside. But then a delivery truck blocked the surveillance for a few minutes.”
“Oh, yeah. How’d that punk do for you tonight?” Jackson asked.
Seth, a punk? Sure. But why did Knox see Seth tonight? Is that what he was called off to?
Knox said, “Like a punk. Forensics are still collecting all the evidence, but it’s enough to keep him from being behind any camera lens for a while.”
Jackson swore. “Were they all underage?”
“Only two girls were there at his apartment. Both fifteen. Makes me sick.” He let out a breath and said, “I didn’t look at what was on his computer screen, but the whole place was gigged up like some erotica suite. I don’t even want to know…just that he gets his due.”
“And we’ll make sure he will. Weird that the tip was called in by Ridge, huh?”
Knox grunted. “I’d say. I wonder if she knew he was in the business of photography when she hired him for the North Pole stuff.”
“Probably—”
Another man hollered out for Jackson. A chair was pushed back, the legs scraping on the floor. “Just a minute.” Then, in a non-yelled tone to Knox, “I’ll catch you later. Go home. Get some sleep. You’ve been on the clock too long.”
“Yeah, yeah. Same to you.”
Jackson’s footsteps sounded further away and then all that remained in this comfortable corner of the big room was me and Knox, alone in the chaos of the station. He sighed again and a squeak slipped out, like he might be reclining his too-tall and too-solid body back in a crappy office chair.
Before she died, Marlena called in a tip about Seth…doing what? Taking naughty pictures of teenagers?
As I lay there, struggling to hold onto this mask of sleep, I wracked my brain, trying to make sense of it all. The Ridges were neighbors to Seth. I remembered that now. Back when we’d started at the North Pole Hut, he’d mentioned living in the same building as Marlena—it was the reason I’d presumed he’d gotten the job. Not that there was any science to taking photos of the same damn thing over and over again, but Seth didn’t exactly scream “Professional Photog” to have gotten the job otherwise. If there had been some kind of a job application process, I bet there would have been plenty of other, less-deadbeat individuals Marlena could have hired instead of Seth.
Or, did she know he was a “photographer”? She had to have called in this tip before work, or, well, before lunchtime. How—
“Jade?”
I jerked at Knox’s voice. It was too close. Had he been watching me “sleep”?
I blinked my eyes open, attempting a sleepy yet startled look—no acting on the freaking out. He slanted in his chair toward me, not exactly crowding over me, but honing his focus on me nonetheless. It was…intense. What does he see when he looks at me?
“Huh?” I cleared my throat. Forget toothbrush. I needed water.
“Sorry I was gone for so long.”
Well, you don’t report to me… Though he did bring me here. And then ask me to wait for him. I nodded and gnawed on the inside of my lower lip. “Where did you go?”
“To your coworker’s, actually.” He glanced around the station, seemingly at no one in particular. “Come on, let’s get you home.” He stood as he spoke but at the last word, he froze. “Well, let’s just get out of here. It’s been a long day.”
“Agreed.” I swung my feet to the floor and he stuck his hands in his pockets as I looked up at him. “I’ll just get out of your hair and—”
“And what, Jade?”
I frowned as I stood. “I don’t know yet.” Honestly, I didn’t. My plan had been to figure out some kind of a strategy, but Jackson had plied me with carbs and I fell asleep.
“If I’m clear to go to my apartment…”
With a tilt of his head, he gestured the way to exit. “You are cleared. They dusted it. No prints. Nothing, really. Seems someone just broke in to rough the place up and leave that gun there.”
“Were there prints on the gun?”
“Just partials of Damon’s. And you said nothing was stolen?”
“No.” I’d checked when the cops gathered there. My secondhand coffeemaker and five-year-old laptop hadn’t even been touched, and those were my only two valuables. They hadn’t even taken the loose change I kept in a mason jar on the counter. Had to be at least twenty bucks in there by now.
“I can go home, then?”
He huffed and glanced at my profile. “Do you really want to? The lock isn’t fixed.”
It wasn’t a matter of wanting to. It was all I had. Yet, I knew he wasn’t being a dick about it asking so directly. I shrugged.
“Then come home with me.”
“As the girl who’s given you blue balls for too long?”
He stopped walking and raised a brow at me.
Fuck-ing dammit. I shouldn’t have said that. Now he knew I was eavesdropping.
“How long were you listening?”
“For a bit.” I scrunched my brow at him, bypassing his offer to come home with him and diving right into more pressing matters. “So you had to go to Seth’s tonight?”
With a scowl, he started walking again, tugging on my sleeve as he passed me to get me to come along. “Yeah. Marlena called in a tip about sex trafficking at his apartment.”
I was surprised he wasn’t clamming up on me. Maybe it wasn’t confidential information. Public arrest records and such…only I was getting the news firsthand. “I forgot they were neighbors.”
“Uh-huh. Well, she called in this morning about it and we weren’t able to follow up until this evening.” He yawned. “Another neighbor in the building called in about a fight. Seth had a couple of girls there and one of them brought their…manager along. He didn’t seem to agree with Seth’s business.”
“Seth was selling nudie pics?”
“Among other things, we think.”
I slowly shook my head. Yeah, he was a prick, but I never would have pegged him as a pervy pimp behind the lens. “So…he’s arrested?”
“Yes. So, it’s just you and Garth now.”
I narrowed my eyes absentmindedly as we walked outside. “Me and Garth…how?” As suspects?
“Left to the photo place.” He shrugged and broke into a jog for the cruiser. Wind whipped at our faces and the instant chill served its job of waking me up completely. I hastened my steps, cursing at the tinkle of bells on my elf outfit along the way.
Once we were inside the car—in the front seat again, yay!—he started the engine and rubbed his hands in front of the vents. The heat was cranked as high as it would go but he didn’t seem to want to drive yet.
“So…”
“Just take me home, please.”
“Jade—”
“I’m not going home with you.”
He set the car into drive without another word.
If he’d shown me interest at any other time, in any other circumstances, I’d be saying yes in a heartbeat. A sexy man like Knox James wanted my company in his house? Absolutely. He was a present I’d enjoy indulging in. But I only knew him in matters of arrests, or criminal investigations. I still held a grudge against him for finally arresting Damon and getting him locked up. A s
tupid, immature, and illogical grudge to hold against him, but it was there regardless.
I’d always known Damon needed help. God forbid, that idiot had committed all kinds of crimes and wrongdoings. He belonged in jail. He’d needed to be put away. More so, he’d benefit most from the justice system and simply being in a place to actually get rehab.
Yet, it was my fault—basically. I’d stepped into the role of a parent when our moms died. My dad had never wanted anything to do with Damon, so he’d never had a father figure. At eighteen, I was thrust into single parenthood and determined to do right by him. Only, I’d failed. Damon’s repetitive bad behavior reflected how poorly I’d done with him. So, when Knox arrested him that last time, I misplaced my frustration and anger with myself to him—as the representative of someone who labeled Damon as the problem of society.
Just recently had I started to analyze my reaction to Damon’s imprisonment. Knox wasn’t the bad guy—he was simply a strong and brave cop doing his job. A hard career and one that deserved respect. And at the same time, I’d had to face the blunt truth that I wasn’t the bad guy either. I wasn’t a horrible person to blame for Damon’s crimes. Sure, I tried my best, but I wasn’t responsible for what another adult did. With time, that rationalization would stick more. Right now, though, I was still too testy with Knox to lower my guard enough to frigging go home with him.
Add in the fact he seemed to get blue balls because of me? That was too huge of a landmine to trek through. I didn’t even know how to compute this news of his attraction. If his partner knew about his interest in me, it couldn’t be something new or just a fling.
My foolish libido aside, I knew it would be stupid to go home with him.
As confident as I was in my choice, the silence he gave me was agonizing. It would have been easier to handle if he said something.
“How are you going to sleep there?” he asked, finally. His voice was so soft I felt guilty he cared so much.
After that nap at the police station, I doubted I would even want to go to bed. I knew that wasn’t what he meant. “I don’t think I will. I slept quite a bit already.”
His yawn was a legit response.
I shrugged. “I’ll clean up.” It wasn’t as though I’d have to get up early and head to work.
“What if someone comes in?”
“I’ll block the door with…” Okay, the couch would be heavy enough. Or maybe the table? “Something.”
“I asked you to come home with me because I don’t want to worry about you in an unsecure apartment.”
“You really do take civilians’ safety to heart, to a fault, huh?”
He pivoted his head at a red light and deadpanned at me. “Yes, I do. But I worry about you.”
I sighed and fluffed at my hair before adopting a shrill princess whine. “Oh, the damsel in distress. Save me, you big, strapping strong man!”
“I worry more because you’re a stubborn-ass woman.”
I lost the princess sweetness and rolled my eyes at the passenger window.
“I like you, Jade.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Again, because of that stubborn-ass woman part. You don’t give me a chance.”
I pursed my lips. Well, he’d never wanted a chance…
“Look, we met each other through your nephew.”
I crossed my arms, hating the vise-grip of shame and guilt when I thought of him. “Yeah. When you arrested him.”
“Not the rosiest of meetings.”
“No.”
He turned onto my street for the second time that night. “But I have been and still am intrigued, Jade. If we could turn back time and bump into each other as strangers on a sidewalk one day, that’d be great.”
What would I have done if I’d met him like a normal stranger? Frowning, I hated the sincerity in his tone.
“But we can’t. And regardless of who we are, how we met, or why we’ve met up again today, I’m still interested.”
“Noted.”
His bark of laughter cracked my iciness. Damned if a smile itched on my lips.
“Noted. Damn, I’ve never met anyone else like you.”
Despite the heaviness lingering in the car from his serious admission, this last round of honesty warmed me to the core. Knox thought I was unique. High praise indeed.
“Yes, noted.”
He set the cruiser in park in almost the exact same spot as before. “Good. Then I’ve said my part. After you.”
After me. He was putting the ball in my court. I was aware he was interested in me. So now…I had to woman up and admit my own “intrigue” in him? Tonight?
I huffed as I exited the car. All I could own up to at the moment was insane lust. That wasn’t the wisest thing to end this night.
Maybe another day.
Like, perhaps after this investigation? Wasn’t it frowned upon for an officer to get involved with…whoever I was in Marlena’s murder?
I didn’t object when he got out of the car and walked me to my door. The outer door was fixed with a sliding bolt. It was the thought that counted. After Knox helped me slide my gutted couch closer to my front door, it seemed like I’d finally be free of him and his complicating presence.
“You sure?” he asked for the third time with as many yawns in the minute.
“Yes.” I was a big girl. I had and would be fine on my own.
“You’re not going to disappear overnight, are you?” he asked at the door.
I held on to the wooden slab and glowered at him. Once again, it was tricky to distinguish his intention. Was he asking because of this attraction he had for me, or because I was more of a suspect than they were admitting? That other officer had said not to leave town. Not that I would.
“What would it be to you if I did?” I challenged.
He rubbed at his chin and winced. “I’d be left wondering about that light-blue nightgown for the rest of my life.”
With a laugh, I said, “Goodnight,” and shut the door.
Chapter Five
I didn’t sleep a wink. I didn’t even try to.
The first thing I did after Knox left was change out of my elf suit and wash it. Long overdue. Dressed in jeans and a Henley shirt that had seen better days but would never be more comfortable, I started tidying up my apartment. As I went through the mess, it became clear to me that whoever had come in and trashed my place had no clear objective.
Other than leave that gun.
Was it an obvious setup? Marlena’s murderer was trying to bluntly point the finger at me by leaving the gun here?
Whoever had broken in hadn’t come for vandalism or theft. Nothing was graphically spray-painted or destroyed. No gang signatures. None of my possessions were taken. Just spilled cereal, busted dinnerware, torn couch cushions and pillows, and messy clothes. Even still, that was a handful to clean up.
When I collected the broken Elvis lampstand pieces, I could only think about the gun that had been waiting there. Well, I wondered about it.
Who brought it here? The killer, or an accomplice?
Why try to shift the attention to me, when my prints wouldn’t show up on it?
Still, I found it strange that the serial number on that gun happened to match one of the firearms the police had already marked in their system as previously stolen by Damon. But even that was old news. So, did whoever used this gun know Damon? Or was it a coincidence that another person had gotten hold of a hot item in the realm of stolen weaponry out there?
One good note, at least, was that Knox had explained at the station how the ballistics were spot-on, so it wasn’t just some freakishly accurate gun knowledge he’d been working on. There was another shot that was fired at the tree in the hut, striking through an ornament, and then the one that killed Marlena. The shot that cleared through the ornament was lodged in the floor of the hut, and finding that allowed for a perfect correspondence to the gun in my apartment. It was a positive detail in the sense it wasn’t a random
wacko who’d broken in to leave a stolen firearm on my table.
For hours, I went through my home. Cleaning up the broken bits, wiping clean the dust and debris, sweeping up numerous shards of plates. Since everything was already in disarray and chaotic, I gave the teeny studio a deep disinfecting, treating the bathroom and kitchen to some extra heavy-duty TLC as well. Once the room reeked of bleach and hinted at lemon, and my hands were pruny from the cleaning, did I stop. Morning had heralded by then.
“May as well start the day.”
At the sign of dawn, I took a smidgen of pride in the fact I’d stayed home all night, on my own, like a big girl. Just like I knew I could. It would have been so damn easy to give in and go home with Knox last night. Safer, too, maybe. I’d glanced at the couch blocking my front door each time I heard someone in the hallway.
Yet, I’d resisted him. And it had to be for the better. If I’d gone home with him that soon after his confession he’d been interested in me, all hell could have broken loose. Knowing he wanted me, coupled with my damnable awareness of him, well, we would have been coupling in his bed. As promisingly hot as that sounded, it would have been too physical—only physical. If and when I slept with a man like Knox, I wanted it to matter for more than the naked half-hour we’d share. Now that I’d spent time cleaning, an autopilot task that always allowed me good thinking time, I’d raked through my thoughts and ideas about him.
Knox was interested in me? Hell yeah.
Was I into him? Uh-huh.
Could we manage it? Maybe after this murder investigation was over.
Admitting I wanted that man wasn’t like crossing the enemy lines. I’d spent too long viewing him as the bad guy—because not doing so would have been confessing I was the bad guy. Hem-hawing about it while cleaning made me realize neither of us were bad or on opposing sides here. Damon was the guilty party in our acquaintance, and he just happened to be the one who’d brought us together in the first place. It was a little ridiculous of me to have gotten so edgy.
Just as I was debating the stupidity of taking a shower without a lockable front door—because that flimsy handle lock on the bathroom would blow over by a good huff and puff from any old wolf—someone knocked.
Not So Merry Murder Page 5