by Diane Bator
She struggled against his grasp until his lips met hers, then she melted like icing in the hot sun. Defenseless, she seemed to forget all about the burned cookies and gave in, putting her arms around his neck.
“Do I smell something on fire?” Mimsy Lexington’s voice carried through the store.
Leo grinned. “Oh yeah.”
“Everything’s fine, Mimsy.” Christina pushed him away.
He refused to let her go and lowered his voice. “We could get rid of her and lock up. I’ve often wondered what you’d look like covered in frosting and sprinkles.”
“Leo...” She laughed. “I am married.”
“You weren’t the other night.” He kissed her nose.
Christina’s face turned red.
“Oh, dear. It seems I am interrupting a smoldering blaze.” Mimsy leaned on her walker. Her sly smile made Leo yearn to crawl beneath the table.
“You didn’t interrupt anything.” He closed the oven door then returned to Christina’s side to examine the burned cookies. “Christina’s oven seems to be running a little hot today.”
“Yes, it does.” Mimsy mused.
Christina threw a spoon at Leo. “Everything’s under control now. You can leave.”
“Oh no.” Mimsy turned away. “You two carry on. I’ll come back in a short while. Shall I put up the closed sign on the front door behind me?”
“No, don’t go.” Christina followed her into the front of the store. “What can I get for you today, Mrs. Lexington?”
“Mimsy,” she corrected, then leaned closer. “Does he have an older brother?”
Leo laughed from the doorway. “Sorry, Mimsy. No older brother.”
“Then you’ll have to do. I’d love you to pose for one of my book covers. Maybe I’ll write something about a fire fighter who falls in love with a bakery girl after her kitchen burns down and he has to rescue her.” Mimsy paused to look him up and down. “With that red hair and those broad shoulders, you’d make one hot firefighter.”
“A flattering thought to someone, I’m sure.” Leo grinned as his ears burned.
Mimsy winked. “A hunk like you on the cover would sell a lot of books.”
Christina raised her eyebrows. “You write books?”
“Where have you been, darling?” Mimsy batted her long lashes. “Of course, I write books. I write under a pseudonym, Katarina von Harrington. I had to go public in the summer when Katie’s ex-boyfriend tried to kill her.”
Her eyes widened. “Katie what?”
Leo brushed off her concern. “I’ll tell you about that later.”
Christina nodded. “A writer, huh? Neat.”
“You’ve never even heard of me?” Mimsy frowned.
“I normally don’t have time to read anything but text books.” Christina bowed her head.
Leo realized with a jolt that he still hadn’t come across any books either in the apartment she’d shared with Brady nor in the place she lived now. No books, no school assignments, no art supplies. He’d have to check Gage’s apartment and see if she’d kept her things there.
Mimsy dug into her oversized purse. “Here. This is a copy of my latest novel. It’s not even in bookstores yet. You read it and tell me what you think.”
“You write romance novels?” Christina studied the cover.
“Yes, I do. Although, after what I saw in that kitchen, I’m not so sure you need any help in that department, but give it a read anyway.” She winked. “Oh, and I did come in with a purpose, aside from seeing smoke and burning embers. I need a dozen éclairs and a dozen sugar cookies.”
Her stomach sank. “The sugar cookies are what burned. How about gingerbread?”
“Perfect. Like you, I love a good gingerbread man.” She peered into the glass display case. “So how long have you two been an item?”
Leo winced. He joined Christina behind the counter and helped her package the cookies. “We’re not.”
“He’s friends with my brother,” Christina said. “That’s all.”
Mimsy hummed. “That’s not how it looked to me. People often ask me where I get the ideas for my books. All I have to do is hang around town and the stories comes straight to me.”
Christina rang in the order. “Believe me, Mimsy. There is nothing going on between me and Leo, nor will there ever be.”
“Well, I haven’t known him long, but you I’ve known your whole life. I also know those looks well enough. If I hadn’t come in when I did, you’d both be covered in frosting and sprinkles by now.”
Leo snorted, but his face warmed. “Well, it’s a good thing you showed up and saved her from certain pleasure.”
Mimsy giggled then tucked her purchases into a bag. She winked as she left cash on the counter, and shuffled off. “You might want to take some home for later. Oh, and do read my book, that will help too. In the meantime, I need to go home and write down all the wonderful new ideas you’ve given me.”
Ideas? Leo’s stomach churned. Great. Mimsy was about to turn his encounter with Christina in the kitchen into a full-length novel. Not just any novel, a steamy romance with his picture on the cover. How would he ever live that down with Danny and Clancy? Not to mention the entire local police force.
“So.” Christina turned to Leo. “What do you really want?”
“Besides icing and sprinkles to go for later?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “How about you teach me how to help you out for a day or two.”
The front door opened and a balding man walked into the store. When Christina moved forward to serve him, Leo held up a hand and took over. He packaged a half dozen cookies like a pro then turned to the cash register and punched a button then two more. The machine shrieked, but refused to open.
Christina growled. “Didn’t you ever learn to use a cash register?”
“Nope.” Leo took a step back and let her end the incessant scream the till emitted. “I’ve done other things than work in a bakery my whole life.”
She put her hands on her hips. “So have I, but I’ve still learned how to use a cash register.”
“Sorry.” He handed the man across the counter his change and bag of cookies. “For the record, there weren’t a lot of rogue cash registers in Afghanistan.”
The customer smiled. “Glad for that. Thank you for all you’ve done for all of us, soldier.” He glanced at Christina. “Even her.”
As Christina stared at Leo, the man left the bakery. Her shoulders sagged. “Sorry, you’re right. You’re helping me out of the goodness of your heart and I’m doing nothing but complaining. You’re doing fine.”
“I do get paid, right?” Leo followed her back to the kitchen.
“Yes, you get the same wage Sophie made. It’s not much, but—”
He leaned against the table. “I figure a couple dozen cookies ought to cover my fees.”
“Cookies?” Christina turned to stare, a stray strand of hair settling on her sweaty forehead. “I do pay with real money, you know.”
“Cookies are fine.” Leo shrugged. “Maybe toss in a calzone for lunch and I’m good.”
She took several trays of cookies and pastries out of the oven. “I’m not sure you’re worth that much.”
He waited until she closed the oven door before he pinned her to the wall. “You may not think so now, sweetheart, but I’ll change your mind soon enough.”
“This is harassment, you now.”
“Nope, actually, this is sexual harassment.” He kissed her. “There is a difference.”
Christina’s face reddened. She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but the chimes above the front door jingled. She ducked beneath his arm. “Get that, will you? I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
When Leo strode out front, Danny groaned. “What are you doing here?”
“Part-time job.” Leo chuckled. “You don’t pay me enough. What’s up?”
“Is she here?”
“Christina? Yeah, she’s in the back.”
Danny nodded and examined th
e decadent treats in the display case. “We need to meet when you’re done here. I met your jailbird friend yesterday.”
Leo raised his eyebrows. “Brady? Lucky you. Hey, try the gingerbread, you’ll like it.”
“What I’d like is to punch that little jerk in the head.” He muttered. “I’m trying to help him out and get some answers and the whole time all he did was ask for you. You’d better watch your back, I think he’s got a crush on you.”
“Great.” Leo grimaced, glancing over his shoulder when Christina banged trays on the table in the kitchen. “I thought he and I had an understanding about that.”
Christina peered out the doorway. “Everything okay out here?”
Leo stiffened, his hands suddenly clammy. “Yup. You can finish what you’re doing.”
“I hear you make really good gingerbread,” Danny said.
Christina gave Leo a wary glance. “Oh yeah? Did Leo tell you that? That’s funny, all he eats are sugar cookies and calzones.”
Danny grinned. “Well, that explains the paunch.”
Leo threw an empty pastry box at him. “Watch it.”
“Danny Walker.” He walked past the counter and extended a hand to Christina. “I was sorry to hear about your mom. My uncle Ray used to bring me here for cookies every Saturday when I was a kid.”
Her face lit up. “Ray Colter? I thought I recognized you. Ray still comes in every Saturday for Neapolitans. Hannah told me you bought a house near town and moved back from Newville.”
Danny’s face reddened. “I didn’t think you’d remember me.”
“It’s a small town.” She shrugged and wiped her hands on her apron. “I still remember when you and Hannah moved here after your parents died. I worked in the kitchen on weekends and would see you come in. I had such a crush on you, right up until you started dating that cheerleader in high school. The one who used to bully me.”
Leo flared his nostrils then handed Danny a bag full of cookies. “Sorry you have to run so soon. We’ll have to catch up over coffee later.”
“I didn’t get to order anything yet.” Danny held up his hands in protest.
“Take it and leave anyway.”
Christina scowled. “Are you giving away my inventory?”
Leo clenched his jaw. “Take it out of my pay.”
Her face softened. “If you two have business to discuss, just go. I’ll be fine alone. I always am.”
“She knows you work with me?” Danny narrowed his eyes and took the bag of cookies.
“What can I say?” Leo shrugged. “There’s something to be said for honesty.”
Danny scowled. “Watch it.”
Christina walked into the kitchen. “You boys run off and play. I’ve got cookies to ice and gingerbread houses to ruin.”
Leo held up a finger for Danny to wait, then followed Christina and leaned in the doorway. “You got orders for more?”
“No thanks to Lucy.” She sighed. “I wish she’d never shown that damn thing to anyone. Now I have to make three more for the end of this week.”
He walked over to Christina and lowered his voice. “If you wait until I get back, I can give you a hand.”
“No, you go. I’m sure you and Danny have detective business to discuss. Don’t worry, I’ll muddle through.” She spooned icing into a bag and squirted some back into the bowl. “Thanks for trying to help though.”
“I’m not worried.” He pushed the stray hairs off her face. “Actually, I had fun building Lucy’s house with you. I’ll get back as soon as I can. I promise.”
“I won’t wait up. Besides, these houses I have to decorate.”
“Even better.” Leo wiggled his eyebrows. “Icing, sprinkles and candy.”
She flicked a gob of icing at his face then glanced through the door to Danny. “You’d better get going before he eats the whole bag of cookies while he waits.”
Leo kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
“So what’s this about you meeting Brady?” He steered Danny out of the bakery and a few doors up the street to Java Jo’s. “Why would you even bother after everything I told you about the guy?”
“Curiosity, mostly. I guess I wanted to see if he was for real.”
“And?” Leo held open the door to the coffee shop.
“That guy is one unreal piece of work.”
Once they’d ordered drinks, they settled at a table in the back corner and opened the bakery bag full of cookies. Leo eased off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, aware how much he smelled of cookies and spice.
Danny bit into a gingerbread cookie and gave a low whistle. “These are really good. Christina’s amazing. Her husband, however, that guy’s got some serious issues. Did he tell you about his childhood?”
Leo winced. “Thankfully, no.”
“Well, he sure as hell told me. I had to scrub in the shower for an hour and a half afterward.” He shuddered. “His dad abandoned them when he was a baby. Mom stayed at home and partied. She earned her money by sleeping with men. Brady stayed on the straight and narrow as long as he could, but eventually one of his mom’s boyfriends took a shine to him.”
“So he was abused and neglected.” Leo’s face hardened. He knew that life all too well. Aside from a mention of his alcoholic mother, he’d never even told Danny about his childhood, the iceberg beneath the man he’d become. “Not everyone lets that ruin their lives.”
“The boyfriend was an artist. He got Brady to pose for paintings then it escalated from there. Brady was ten. He’s had a love-hate thing for artists since then. I think Gage brought it all back and Brady snapped.” Danny pulled a flash drive from his pocket. “I recorded the conversation, but I didn’t get much. He really wanted you there to hear the whole story.”
Leo smirked. “Let me guess, he was trying to convince you he suffered PTSD and Gage was a trigger for a bad reaction. I suppose he wanted me there mostly to back him up.”
“Possibly, or to hold his hand while he wailed.” Danny reached for a second cookie. “What do you think? Is he being straight up about the post-traumatic stress thing?”
“Maybe, but I’m still having trouble seeing him as a killer.” Leo took the teabag out of his mug. “He said he’d had one drink, fired one shot, then passed out. If that’s true, someone must have drugged him, then fired the other three shots. There were two other people there when he arrived, Jakova and Angel. Jakova was another one of Gage’s on-again, off-again lovers.”
“Did you find out if the women had alibis?” Danny asked.
Leo blew out a breath. He was so concerned about Christina, he hadn’t asked. “I’ll find out.”
Danny sipped his coffee. “Don’t bother. Beverley Wallis interviewed them already. Angel was waiting for a cab to head home when Gage was killed. Jakova was with her. Both women were seen on surveillance tape leaving the studio and getting into the elevator. Their fingerprints are everywhere. Of course, Jakova used to live there and Gage is a crappy housekeeper.”
“So they were in the building.”
Danny nodded. “But so was Marty Upshaw.”
The back of Leo’s neck prickled. “Marty? Why would he be anywhere near Gage or Brady? He’d kicked them both out of his nightclub and told them to never come back.”
Danny handed him a photo. “Yet there he is knocking on Gage’s apartment door that same fateful night. Time stamp says he was there shortly before the murder.”
Leo scrubbed his face with both hands. “So whose prints were on the murder weapon?”
“Three sets.” He pulled out a copy of the lab report. “Brady’s, Jakova’s and Angel’s. The gun was registered to—this one needs a drum roll—Marty Upshaw. None of his prints were on the grip, just the barrel.”
“So, if Brady fired the first shot then passed out and dropped the weapon, someone else was there to pry it out of his hand and finish what he started.”
“Bingo.”
Leo called Shelley to let her know he’d meet h
er the next morning then took out his aggressions on the heavy bag in a nearby gym. Every punch brought him closer to exhaustion and he’d pause to close his eyes. Then he’d think about Christina and have to start all over again. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never turned to mush over any woman. He’d also never eaten so many sugar cookies and had gained five pounds that made the waist of his jeans snug.
Why he felt the need to make Christina’s Christmas merry and bright when he hated Christmas was beyond him. He’d always lived his life based around the motto “Every man for himself.”
As he punched, he plotted ways to get rid of Brady. Eliminate him from Christina’s life so she could move on and live in peace. The way Brady treated the people in his life, he deserved to die, or at least remain in prison for a very long time.
Brady, he decided after a few more punches, was relatively harmless. A shrewd mouse who wasn’t smart enough to admit to the truth. Guys in prison would eat him for a snack and spit out his bones. Was Brady really that dumb?
Leo paused in mid-punch. Brady had conned Marty into ending their relationship, then got Christina drunk and married her—or at least put on a charade that he’d married her. Brady hadn’t eliminated his competition for Gage’s affections and modeling jobs, he’d married her and forced her to work for Marty to pay off Brady’s drug debts.
Brady had tried to ruin her. Break her. Is that why he made sure she stood on stage each night to take her clothes off in front of total strangers?
Jakova was one of Gage’s many girlfriends.
And Angel...Leo had no idea where she fit in just yet. According to Jakova and Marty, she was one of Christina’s best friends, yet she hadn’t come to Daisy’s funeral. Phone records showed she hadn’t contacted Christina since she’d taken over the bakery either. Something just didn’t add up.
Marty Upshaw wasn’t exactly an upstanding citizen, but he must have had something to gain by taking part in Brady’s con. He adored Christina. At least that was what he’d said.
Leo paced the gym, no longer able to focus on his physical body. One question followed him to every corner of the room. What had brought Marty to Gage’s apartment that night?
Chapter 18