by Linda Verji
Still, even as she congratulated herself on her self-control, she couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened had she let him kiss her. Would he still taste just as amazing as she remembered? Would he still touch her like he’d touched her whenever they kissed? How would it feel like to have his body pressed against hers again?
Oh God! Why was she torturing herself like this? No, why was he torturing her like this? If he hadn’t pinned her to the ground, she wouldn’t be having these thoughts. Was he having such thoughts too? Wondering if the heat between them would flare just as strongly?
She needed to stop this. Sleep, Jasmine. Sleep.
Somehow, she fell into fitful sleep. However, she didn’t stay asleep for long. About an hour later, thirst drew her from slumber. Groggily, she got out of bed and left her room. As she emerged from the hallway, the light from the TV welcomed her. Though the volume had been muted, the TV was still on.
Was he still awake? Jasmine could only see the back of the couch so she wasn’t sure. She tiptoed across the room to get closer.
Lucas was lying on his back on the couch. His eyes were closed and his chest rose with each deep in-and-out breath. Obviously, he was asleep. He must’ve kicked the covers away in his sleep because they were bundled on the carpeted floor. Jasmine crept around the couch to take the covers. She shook it a little to straighten it before bringing it over him.
He looks so peaceful when asleep, she mused as she tucked the covers around his upper body. So innocent.
She knelt beside him to take a better look.
Though he’d matured with age, there was something still innocent in his looks, like a boy who’d been forced to grow up. Without conscious thought, she traced his nose with the tip of her finger.
Lucas’s eyes immediately snapped open. Jasmine’s heartbeat stuttered as her startle gaze met his. She felt like a stalker who’d gotten caught creeping in someone else’s house. Though she wanted to stand up and back away from him, she couldn’t. His intense stare held her enthralled.
When he lifted his hand and set it on the nape of her neck, her brain screamed at her to move. But she didn’t. Couldn’t. When he dragged her closer, her common sense told her to stop him. But she didn’t. Couldn’t. She just bent closer, closer, closer… Their lips met.
Ah, yessss. He tasted as amazing as she remembered. Mint, man and desire merged to create an intoxicating taste that left her reeling in need. She sank into the softness of his mouth.
His lips and tongue caressed hers as he let her play with him. She angled her head, pressing the kiss deeper so she could have more of him. God, she’d missed this. In her subconscious she knew that what she was doing was wrong but she couldn’t stop herself. Though she sensed the heat slowly rising between them, urging them to do more than just kiss, she still couldn’t back away. His taste rose and wreathed through her mind, teasing her senses and erasing logic.
Lucas was the one who ended the kiss and even then Jasmine wasn’t ready to stop. She bent her head again, but he held her away with his hand on her neck. For a moment, they just stared at each other. It was then that logic seeped in, and Jasmine realized what she’d just done.
Panic swiftly took the place of desire, and she rocketed to her feet.
“I- I-” She stumbled over her words. “I have to go.”
With that, she raced to out of the room and back to her bedroom.
Why had she left him kiss her? She leaned against the closed door, pressing her palms to her hot cheeks. Was she crazy?
CHAPTER 15
Lucas had no idea how the kiss happened. It just did. He wanted to claim that he was still drowsy and not in his right mind when it happened. But that would be lying. He’d been clear-headed and knew what he was doing when he dragged her closer for a kiss.
Even the knowledge that he had no right to crave her kisses hadn’t been enough to keep him from wanting to kiss and touch her again. Fortunately, Jasmine had the good sense to run before things got out of hand. If she hadn’t left, Lucas wasn’t sure that he could’ve stopped them from doing something they’d both regret in the morning.
To avoid further temptation, he made sure to wake up before she did. After leaving a note that he’d pick her up from work, he beat a hasty retreat. He first dropped by his apartment to take a shower before heading to work.
“So did you find anything?” Lucas asked his confidential informant when they met later the same day.
“Man, did I find stuff!” Random, Lucas’s CI, puffed out, sending rings of smoke up into the air. He dragged in a deep gulp of his cigarette again before he added, “Your guy, Teddy, had a taste for illegal gambling. All the bookies around town know him.”
The two men were currently standing in the alleyway behind Random’s favorite club. It was a good place to meet because no one ever used the alley and thus no one could spot them. Still, Random was leaning tightly into the wall as if he wished he could disappear into it. His actions were no surprise. Everyone thought he was ruthless gangster. Letting them know that he was also a police informant would be as good as signing his own death warrant.
“Does he owe any of them money?” Lucas asked.
“Not anymore.” Random puffed out again.
“What do you mean not anymore?” Lucas frowned. “Do you mean he had debts before?”
“Yeah. About fifty grand worth.” Random glanced down the alley as if to make sure that no one was coming before he added, “But about a week ago, he paid it all off.”
Lucas’s eyebrows shot up. “How?”
“I don’t know.” Random dropped his cigarette and stomped on it with his boot. “That’s for you to find out.”
Before Lucas could ask him more questions, he darted away. Lucas could have followed him but that would only draw attention and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin a good CI.
“What did Random say?” Shane asked when Lucas got back to the station.
“Teddy had gambling debts but paid them all off a week ago.” Lucas hung his jacket on the back of his seat before sitting down. “Wanna take a guess where he got the money?”
“I don’t need to guess.” Shane grinned. “I already know.”
“Well, I’ll take a guess. Does Teddy’s sudden source of funds have anything to do with Michael Walcott?”
“Ding. Ding. Ding.” Shane cheerfully pretended to ring a bell. “The prize for the quickest guess goes to Detective Lucas Gallo.”
Lucas laughed. “Just tell me how you know where he got the money.”
“I checked his bank records and noticed a one hundred grand deposit from our favorite secretary,” Shane said, “August Wells.”
“It was from August?” Lucas frowned. “Not Walcott?”
“Yeah.” Shane nodded. “But I assumed that he sent it on behalf of Walcott.”
“Or maybe he didn’t,” Lucas hypothesized thoughtfully. “August is kind of suspicious himself. The fact that he sent the money to Teddy makes him even more suspicious. What if he’s the killer?”
“August?” Shane cocked his head as he thought it over. “You could be right. We didn’t even check the surveillance footage to see if he was around Walcott Towers when York died.”
“Well, we can go after him after we’re done with Teddy.” Lucas leaned back in his seat. “What about Teddy’s phone records? Maybe they can give us a clue about who he was talking to and about what.”
“There are none.”
“None?” Lucas eyebrows shot up. “That’s only possible if…”
“If he doesn’t have a phone,” Shane finished. “And he doesn’t. He ditched his phone after his creditors started coming after him because he didn’t want them tracing them.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Lucas frowned. “Did you check if he was at the bar?”
“Yup, he was there when he said he was there. Came in at around seven-thirty, left at nine,” Shane said. “But guess what? The bar is only ten minutes away from Walcott Towers.”
“So he could’ve been at Walcott Towers when York died?” Lucas thought over it then asked, “What about before?”
Shane’s brow furrowed. “You think he might have been there before York died?”
“I’m just throwing out possibilities.” Lucas shrugged. “I mean York was supposed to meet him, and York turned up at Walcott Towers. Maybe they were meeting there. What kind of car does Teddy drive?”
It was just a theory, so imagine Lucas’s surprise when it turned out to be a fact. Even Shane could only stare at the screen in surprise as they watched Teddy’s car drive into Walcott Towers mere minutes after York’s entrance.
“How did we miss this?” Shane asked.
“Because we were looking for York and Walcott. Not Teddy.” Lucas turned to the officer who was helping them go through the footage. “Can you check when he left?”
Five minutes later, the officer had an answer for them. “He left at seven-fifteen.”
“That’s just an hour or so before York’s body was discovered and forty-five minutes before Michael Walcott drove back in,” Lucas said as his eyes met Shane’s.
“Okay, let’s get our timelines straight,” Shane said. “York comes in, Teddy comes in too. The two of them meet, but Teddy leaves York in the building. Doing what?”
“And with whom?” Lucas added.
“I think that’s a question only Teddy can answer,” Shane said, and Lucas agreed.
* * *
TEDDY WAS BACK in the station. But this time he was in an interrogation room.
They hadn’t even started questioning him yet he was already wiping sweat off his brow.
“Why did you call me back? I thought we were done,” Teddy said as his gaze shifted nervously between the two detectives. “I told you everything I know.”
“Did you?” Lucas sat back in his seat with his arms folded over his chest. “Did you really?”
“I did,” Teddy insisted. “I told you everything.”
“I don’t think so.” Lucas watched him. “You told us that you didn’t meet York on the day that he died. But you did, didn’t you?”
Teddy’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything.
“There no need to deny it,” Shane said. “We already know all about how the two of you met.”
Though they had no real proof and were just guessing that Teddy and York had met, the panic that flared in Teddy’s eyes left no doubt that they were right.
Needing the man to say the words himself, Lucas prodded, “You met, didn’t you?”
“Okay, okay we met up.” Teddy fell neatly into the trap. “But it wasn’t even for a long time and we didn’t even talk.”
“Really?” Shane’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “You two set up an appointment then met but didn’t actually talk. You actually expect us to believe that?”
“I swear we didn’t talk,” Teddy insisted. “We just crossed each other’s paths but didn’t talk because I met someone there. That’s why I didn’t tell you.” He swallowed and paused as if trying to think up a more plausible lie. “We didn’t even speak so I didn’t see the point of telling you.”
“Then why did you stay at Walcott Towers for close to an hour.” Lucas sat up in his seat. “Who were you meeting there?”
“Nobody, nobody,” Teddy insisted. When he realized that that didn’t make any damn sense, he hedged, “I just met a friend and we talked.”
“Who is this friend?”
“Um… um… an old school friend… Um… Monroe Cross… Yes, Monroe Cross.” Teddy sat straighter and his gaze brightened as if he’d found the perfect excuse. “I met Monroe while I was at Walcott Towers and we talked a bit. But he’s not in town anymore. He told me that he was flying out to Brazil.”
Lucas guffawed. “You must think we’re idiots.”
“No, no, it’s true.” Teddy’s lies kept rushing out. “I really met Monroe. We went to school together and had a lot to talk about so that’s why we kept talking.”
Lucas didn’t believe one word the man was saying, and from the disbelief in Shane’s expression, it was obvious that he didn’t believe Teddy either.
Shane asked, “So you’re claiming that you ditched your appointment with York because you wanted to catch up with a friend who is currently in Brazil?”
“It’s not a claim,” Teddy insisted. “It’s the truth. I just talked to Monroe then left.”
“Let’s say that we believe you,” Lucas said even though his tone made it clear that they didn’t, “what was York doing while you and Monroe caught up?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure.” Teddy nervously tapped on the table as he added, “I talked to Monroe then left.”
“Without checking up on York?” Shane asked.
Teddy nodded. “I just assumed he went home too.”
Lucas snorted derisively. “What a caring agent!”
Teddy was quiet for a while then he asked, “Are you done with the questions? I have an appoint-”
“No, we’re not done,” Shane cut him off. “We noticed that you paid off all your gambling debts. Where did you get the money?”
“What?” Teddy’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. It was obvious that he was surprised that they knew about the money.
“Where did you get the money?” Shane repeated patiently.
“Oh… uh… that money?” Teddy slapped his forehead as if he’d suddenly remembered. “A… an… my aunt died recently and left me a little inheritance.”
“Your aunt? Seriously?” Lucas had questioned a lot of suspects in his time but he’d never met one who was such a bad liar. “You do know that we have your bank records, right? We know where you got the money. These questions we’re asking are just to assess your honesty. And I have to say… you’re failing horribly.”
Teddy stared at them for a long while before sighing in surrender. “Okay, I got the money from Michael Walcott.”
Lucas and Shane traded looks. So August Wells was just a go-between?
Teddy went on speaking, “but it’s not what you think.”
“Really?” Lucas raised his eyebrows. “What do you think we think?”
“The money doesn’t have anything to do with York,” Teddy said. “I tutored Mr. Walcott’s son, Jonas, when I was in college. That’s how I got to know Mr. Walcott. When I got into a little trouble, I went to him and I asked him for a little help and he helped me out.”
“You call one hundred thousand dollars a little help?” Lucas guffawed. “Seems to me like an awful lot of help to someone who’s just his son’s former tutor.”
“You don’t know Mr. Walcott,” Teddy defended. “He’s a very generous person.”
Shane snorted. “Oh, we know Mr. Walcott. We know him very well.”
From everything they knew about Michael Walcott, being generous wasn’t on his list of traits.
“I swear, I didn’t kill York,” Teddy pleaded. “I told you I was at Colombo’s.”
“We know you were at Colombo’s,” Lucas agreed. “But it’s only ten minutes away from Walcott Towers, and for about twenty minutes you weren’t on camera. Where were you?”
“I was in the bathroom. I have stomach issues.” Teddy rubbed his stomach to emphasize his ‘issues’. His voice held nervous urgency as he added, “I swear I didn’t kill York. I could never kill York.”
“We know that you went back to Walcott Towers the day after York was killed,” Shane asked. “What were you doing there?”
“Huh?” Teddy’s eyes widened as if he was surprised by how much they’d looked into him.
Scouring the CCTV from the day after York’s murder hadn’t been deliberate. Since their case wasn’t moving as fast as they wanted, Shane had spent the previous day watching surveillance tapes from Walcott Towers. Imagine his surprise when Teddy had reappeared at Walcott Towers. Unfortunately, they had no idea what the man had gone to do there.
“What were you doing there?” Shane repeated.
Teddy swallowed convul
sively before stuttering, “I… Um… I forgot uh… I forgot my book there.”
“Book?” Shane’s eyebrows shot so high up his forehead they almost touched his hairline.
However before the detectives could confront Teddy over the obvious lie and ask more questions, there was a knock on the door. Moments later, the door swung inwards, and a tall man in an expensive suit walked in.
Both detectives turned to him. Shane asked, “And you are?”
“Rodney Samson from Thompson, Samson and Hyde.” The suited man took a card from his pocket and held it out to them. His grin was wide and sharp as a shark as he announced, “I’ll be representing Mr. Bryk from now on.”
“Me?” Teddy looked as surprised as the two detectives. He pointed to himself as he asked, “You’ll be representing me?”
“Yes.” Rodney Samson turned back to Lucas and Shane. “If you have any questions for my client, you’ll have to ask them through me.” He pulled a chair from the corner of the room then settled next to Teddy. Smiling he said, “Now, where were we?”
The interrogation was as good as over after that. Whatever questions Shane and Lucas asked, the attorney was there to keep Teddy from answering. The most they could get from Teddy was an admission that he’d called Walcott Towers several times before and after York’s death. However, the attorney was so adept at batting away questions that they couldn’t get Teddy to tell them who he was calling or looking for. Eventually they had to let him go because they had no real evidence of him being with York at his time of death.
“Well, at least we know that Walcott is the one who paid him,” Shane said when they settled back to their desks.
Lucas snorted as he swung his feet up to his desk. “Whoop dee doo. What a consolation!”
“You think Walcott sent in that lawyer?”
“Most likely.” Lucas nodded. “I’ve heard of Thompson, Samson and Hyde. They don’t represent broke people. Teddy couldn’t afford them even in his wildest dreams.”