by Kay Bigelow
“Of course.”
When the meeting was done, Leah asked Cots to stay.
“Do me a favor and find an itinerary for Jardain’s upcoming lecture tour.”
“Of course.”
After Cots left, Leah texted Jardain. “Dinner tonight?”
A few seconds later, she received Jardain’s text. “Yes. Where? What time?”
“My house. 7:30.”
“I’ll be there.”
Leah knew she was playing with fire, living dangerously, but the desire to be with Jardain was stronger than needing to walk away. Besides, she’s going to be gone for three weeks. It would be nice to be able to move the investigation along so Jardain’s alibi will have been proven to be true, and Cots can stop worrying about my love life and worry about something else…like his own love life.
She sent a text to Rusty. “Jardain is joining me for dinner tonight. Filets mignons, please.”
“Your wish is my command,” Rusty texted back.
Leah smiled. Leah had gone from not thinking she wanted or needed Rusty to beginning to care for her, and was feeling silly for doing so.
She spent the rest of the day trying not to think about Jardain, with little success. However, she did manage to read through all the information on the murder board. When she finished, she wasn’t any closer to knowing who the murderer was or even wondering if anyone on the murder board could be a suspect than before she started reading.
At four, Cots and Peony came into her office carrying a three-pack of coffee from The Coffee Pot, Peony’s favorite coffee shop.
“What’s new?” Leah asked.
“I’ve run the financials as deeply as I dare without setting off alarms all over the planet, and our family suspects remain enormously rich and enormously clean,” Cots said. “Although I did find Lionel makes a monthly deposit into the account of one Rodrigo Longhouse. A check on him makes me think he’s Lionel’s boy toy. He’s twenty-one and a college dropout. And he’s got a record. He was arrested for soliciting when he was sixteen. Since then, nothing.”
“Let’s spend a little time seeing if Longhouse gave up his life on the streets when he got together with Bensington,” Leah said.
Cots raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Leah wanted no stone left unturned in this investigation.
“I’ve got an address and phone number for Guy ShaTin,” Peony said. “However, my contact who gave me the information is unwilling to contact him for us.”
“Good job, Peony. Who gave ShaTin up?” Leah asked.
“I figured either Lotus Harbin, Sarah’s current best friend, or Sioux West, Sarah’s best friend from childhood, would know something that would lead to ShaTin. Sioux knew about ShaTin. She said that when she advised Sarah not to be with him, Sarah pushed Sioux out of her life. Lotus stepped into the spot vacated by Sioux and became Sarah’s best friend. I did a little search on Lotus before I went to have a chat with her.”
“I’m so proud,” Cots said with a smile.
Peony glared at him, then continued. “She was very talkative. Apparently, she’s been upset that, and I quote, ‘the cute cop named Becker’ never returned to her. She’d not given him all the information, so she reasoned that he would have to follow up.”
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!”
“Thank you, Cots, for that bit of wisdom from the ages,” Leah said. “Peony, tell us what she gave you.”
“Lotus knew all about Sarah’s romance with ShaTin not because Sarah confided in her, but because Lotus snooped around Sarah’s apartment when she spent a weekend there. She found ShaTin’s phone number and address in Sarah’s phone and copied it to her own.”
“Did she not think ShaTin might have murdered her friend?” Leah asked.
“She does think he killed her. She assured me she would have told the police had Becker questioned her further, but he never returned so she kept what she knew to herself.”
“When can we talk to him?” Cots asked.
“We can’t. He’s on vacation off-planet.”
“Phuc,” Leah said. “When’s he returning and where did he go?”
“His people weren’t going to give me any more than he was off planet. I got the distinct impression they didn’t know when—or if—he was coming back.”
“Cots, find out where he is. Maybe we can interrupt his vacation long enough to question him about his involvement in Sarah’s death,” Leah said.
The three partners spent another hour reviewing and tweaking the murder board. Since they were at an impasse until they spoke with ShaTin and Rodrigo Longhouse, they decided to call it a night. Leah was relieved to be going home because she didn’t want to share with Cots she was seeing Jardain that evening.
When Leah walked in the door, Rusty was waiting for her.
“Good evening, Boss,” Rusty said.
Leah looked hard at the robotic. Rusty was being a tad too polite.
“What’s up, Rusty?”
“I’ve been slaving in a hot kitchen preparing a scrumptious dinner for you and your guest.”
“Thank you. Have you reported to Cots that I’m entertaining this evening?”
“I haven’t had time to speak with him yet, but I’m due to report to him at eight.”
“Rusty, do you enjoy being here?”
“Of course. I find your life infinitely more interesting than my own.”
“Then tell me how to deprogram you from reporting to Cots and anyone else you share my personal life with.”
“Uh, is that allowed?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let Cots decommission you. I will, though, if you continue to report to him.”
“That’s quite the conundrum. Should we consult with Cots?”
“No.”
“Can I think about this?”
“No. It’s decision time right now.”
“Fine. Come to the kitchen.”
Leah followed Rusty into the kitchen and watched her take a keyboard from the safe built into the wall beside the refrigerator. She noted it wasn’t locked, it blended into the wall, and you had to know it was there in order to open it.
Rusty handed her the keyboard and guided her in deprogramming the reporting operation.
“Is this all we have to do?” she asked Rusty.
“I no longer am compelled to report to Cots. I don’t want to be around when he comes storming over here to find out why I didn’t report to him.”
“I’ll call him after my date leaves this evening to tell him what I’ve done.”
“Good luck,” Rusty murmured as she returned the keyboard to its secret hiding place.
“I’m going to take a shower and dress for dinner. Is there anything I can do to help before I do that?”
“I’ve got it all taken care of,” Rusty said, sounding as if she’d been insulted.
As Leah walked into her bedroom, she noted Rusty had laid out clothes on the bed—dove-gray silk slacks, sky-blue silk shirt, and sandals on the floor nearby. She smiled again at how well Rusty dressed her. She stepped into her walk-in closet to remove her clothes. As she walked naked through the bedroom, her mind, of its own accord, turned to wondering what it would be like to be naked with Jardain. The mere thought of a nude Jardain in her bed sent chills running around her body to convene in her clit. Damn.
After refusing to touch herself as she soaped her body, she stepped out of the shower and into the drying tube. As she came out of the tube, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “Phuc,” she said out loud. It was almost seven thirty.
She hurriedly dressed, assured herself she was put together with all the buttons put through the right buttonholes, and her zipper was up. She heard the doorbell ring and hurried toward her living room.
“Good evening, Dr. Bensington.”
“Good evening, Rusty. Is Leah home?”
“She is. Ah, there she is,” Rusty said as Leah entered the room.
Leah moved across the room to ta
ke Jardain into her arms and kissed her properly. She was tired of Jardain being in control.
“I’ll just return to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner, if anyone is interested,” Rusty said, moving silently across the living room.
“Did you miss me?” Jardain asked.
“Apparently, yes.”
Rusty returned to the door leading from the kitchen, “May I serve you a cocktail?”
“Cocktail?” Jardain asked.
“A pre-dinner drink. A term from the twentieth century,” Leah explained.
“I see. Remind me never to play Scrabble with you two.”
“Do you want a drink?” Leah asked.
“I’d rather drink you in,” Jardain whispered.
“No, Rusty. I think we’re both hungry enough to be served dinner.”
“Yes, ma’am. Uh, Boss, may I bring you your sandals?”
All three of them looked at Leah’s bare feet. Leah felt herself blushing. She hadn’t even noticed her feet were bare.
“No, Rusty, I don’t think I’m breaking any dining protocols by eating dinner without shoes.”
“At least, they’re one less article of clothing that I’ll have to remove later,” Jardain murmured to Leah.
The thought of Jardain undressing her sent Leah’s heart racing. “Oh, my,” was all she could say.
Jardain laughed out loud.
“If you will take your seats in the dining room, I’ll serve dinner,” Rusty said.
Leah had lived in her home for two years and had only been in the dining room once and that was when she was being shown the condo by the real estate agent.
She led Jardain into the dining room, which Rusty had lit with candles. There were fresh flowers on the table, a linen tablecloth and napkins, real plates, and silverware. Leah was stunned. She hadn’t expected anything this elaborate.
“You do know how to set the mood, Leah,” Jardain said as she took a seat at the table.
“Setting a mood” was not exactly what Leah had wanted to do. Now that it was done, however, she did find it very romantic.
After dinner, Leah and Jardain moved into the library where Rusty served them coffee.
Leah watched Jardain as she sipped her coffee and stared out the large picture window with its view of the water in the distance.
“Leah.” Jardain stopped, and then began again. “Leah, I want to spend the night with you whether its sitting here talking or making love. But I can’t. I’m taking the midnight shuttle off-planet, which means I need to go in a few minutes.”
“I knew that, Jardain, when I invited you to dinner. There were no expectations other than having dinner.”
“None? Really?” Jardain asked.
Leah smiled, “None. You sound disappointed.”
“I am. I must be doing something wrong if you aren’t interested in me.”
Leah knew Jardain was fishing for affirmations of Leah’s attraction to her. How strange that a woman as alluring as Jardain appears to be insecure.
“You are neither doing anything wrong nor losing your allure. Why are you suddenly insecure?”
“I have admitted to myself that I don’t want a one-night stand with you. Unless that’s all you’re willing to give me, of course. Once I understood I want more for us than casual sex, I don’t know how to act. All my usual moves make no sense with you.”
“Goodness. When did your epiphany occur?”
“I’ve been thinking about it since you told me you wanted and needed more from me than being…how did you word it? Oh yeah, a notch on my bedpost. Just for the record, I don’t have bedposts so no notches there. Before you ask for an explanation, I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until I return.”
Something in Jardain’s tone alerted Leah to the possibility of underlying feelings. There was something she wasn’t telling Leah about this trip, something was worrying Jardain.
Before Leah could ask for more, Jardain said, “Please don’t ask, Leah. I can’t tell you and I don’t want to lie to you.”
Jardain set her empty coffee cup on its saucer and rose from the couch. She held her hand out to Leah. Leah took Jardain’s hand and was pulled to her feet and into her arms.
“God, you smell wonderful. I want you so very much, Leah.”
“Jardain,” Leah murmured, lost in the feeling of Jardain’s arms around her, the feeling of being safe, and being aroused.
Jardain let her go. They walked hand in hand to the front door. Before she opened it, Jardain took Leah into her arms again. This time, though, she kissed Leah so gently Leah knew she didn’t want Jardain to leave—she wanted her to spend the night.
When Jardain ended the kiss, she stepped out the door and closed it behind her. Leah felt abandoned. Not on purpose, but having felt safe in Jardain’s arms, without them around her or the possibility of being around her in the near future, she felt adrift.
Chapter Eighteen
After Jardain had left the night before, Leah went to bed. She’d needed to process the evening that had started out so romantically and ended on a note of sadness and disappointment. What did I expect? She had an off-planet flight to catch. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t be able to stay the night either.
The next morning, Leah was standing in front of her living room window watching ships moving up the harbor as they headed toward the ocean, wondering what she would have done if Jardain had been able to stay. Phuc, the woman has already seduced me. Even if I wanted to—and I don’t want to—I don’t think I could walk away from her.
“Here’s your morning coffee, Boss. Since you’re up with the sunrise, I thought you might need it to get going.”
“Rusty, thank you for last night. You really know how to create ambience.”
“Uh, thank you, Boss.”
“Call Cots and ask him to stop by on his way to work.”
“On it.”
Every once in a while, Rusty would remind Leah who created her. Leah knew Rusty’s language skills were improving daily. She didn’t want to know the extent of Rusty’s knowledge bank because she didn’t want to be intimidated by her butler.
Twenty minutes later, she heard a key being inserted into her front door and watched as Cots strolled in as if he owned the place.
“Good morning, Leah. You wanted to see me?”
“We need to talk, Cots.”
“Uh, oh,” he said as if he recognized from the tone of her voice this wasn’t going to be about work.
“I want you stop being intrusive in my life.”
“You’ve found out I programmed Rusty to report to me.”
“Yes, I have. I want the reports to stop now, Cots. I know why you wanted the reports, but it’s been two years since Quinn died, and I’ve moved on. While your concern then was warranted, it is no longer necessary, and it has become invasive.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of that right now, if you wish.”
“I’m glad you understand, and yes, I do want you to remove the reporting component of Rusty’s programming.”
“Consider it done.”
When Leah had gotten out of bed and gone to the bathroom for a shower, she’d found a note from Rusty on the bathroom counter. Attached to the note was an earbud. The note told her that if she wore the earbud, she’d be able to listen to her conversations. At the time, she wondered why Rusty was giving her that power. She’d stuck the earbud in her pocket intending to talk to Rusty about it. Now she understood why Rusty had wanted her to have it. She slipped the earbud into her ear.
“Rusty, I need to do a bit of reprogramming on you.”
“Are you shutting me down?”
“No, Rusty, I’m not. I am trusting Leah to know when she’s emerged from the dark place she was in when we moved here. You no longer will need to report to me about her activities unless she’s in danger.”
Cots returned to the living room a few minutes later. He said nothing about Leah having already removed the reporting program.
“I need to get to work. I’m expecting results from a couple of reports I ran last night. I think you may find them interesting.”
As he walked by the coffee table, he placed the key to Leah’s condo on the table. “I won’t be needing this anymore.”
Leah turned to him and opened her mouth to speak. Before she could get the first word out, he interrupted. “Leaving my key is no grand gesture, Leah. I’ve arranged to have the locks changed to something a little more sophisticated than a dead bolt,” he said, smiling as he walked out the door. “See you at the office.”
“Rusty, did he truly reprogram you?”
“No, Boss. We did that last night.”
“Then what did he do?”
“He programmed me to shut down permanently next Tuesday.”
“Can we undo that?”
“Yes.”
An hour later, and going very slowly, Rusty had led her through the steps to undo what Cots had done. Leah wasn’t sure what was going on between her and Cots, but she didn’t care for it. When she was ready to leave for the office, she stepped into her office to find Rusty staring out the window much as Leah did.
“Rusty, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not comfortable with what either you or Cots is doing. I feel as if I’m a pawn in a chess game you two are playing.”
“I’m sorry Rusty. You’re right, we have done that. I really don’t know what’s going on, but I will get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, when the guys finish installing the new locks, reprogram the code so that only you and I can get in. I’m not happy having tradesmen knowing how to access my home.”
“Still thinking like a copper?”
“Copper?”
“Sorry, I’ve been digesting the early detective stories and that’s what they called police officers then.”
“Ah. Good to know. And yes, I still think like a ‘copper.’ Rusty, what goes on in this house, who I see, who stays the night, is no one’s business except mine, understand?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Finally, thank you again so much for the effort you put into dinner last night. Jardain was impressed with the food and the ambience.”