Simply To Die For

Chapter 10

“W here were you when the attack happened, Ms. Dagmyer?” Cameron loomed over Evie; his face crinkled in deep thought.

Evie sat in silence; her face free of any emotion other than a hint of a smirk at the corner of her mouth. “Well, I believe I was in the back office doing my job, Detective. Can I give you any witnesses to that fact? No, all but one is dead and he’s not really talking much these days, is he?”

Evie’s response about the victims burned like acid in the bottom of Clar’s stomach. Surely Evie wouldn’t have anything to do with the murders. She’d been sobbing her ass off on the phone, unless it was all an act to get attention. True, Levi had spurred the plain looking Evie’s advances as gently as possible. He’d politely declined, revealing women weren’t listed on his hook-up menu choices. Evie didn’t have a lot of friends. Even so, Cameron had to be barking up the wrong tree if he considered the socially inept Evie a suspect.

“Detective Cameron, you can’t for one moment think Evie had anything to do with this.” Clar spat, taking a protective stand near the woman who’d always driven her crazy. Evie Dagmyer may not be the prettiest egg in the Easter Basket and she may come off as the last person you’d want for a friend, but she was probably the smartest chick Clar had ever met.

Clar didn’t like the way Evie treated people, mostly women, especially those who were considered beautiful. But murder out of jealousy or for revenge? No, Clar didn’t believe that for a minute.

Cameron spun on his heel, his black gaze raking Clar from head to toe. “Ms. Turner, if you don’t mind, I’ll conduct my investigation as I see fit. It might do you good to remember that you are all here at my pleasure. If you don’t pipe down, I will take Ms. Dagmyer down to headquarters, place her under arrest as a suspect, and continue my questioning in an interrogation room.”

“Let the man do his job.” Jacki’s voice washed over Clar, soothing the fire burning through her with the coolness of her tone. “Cameron’s taking a chance with his own career by allowing us here. He’s a bit unorthodox if not unethical, we still need to find out anything possible to ferret out a lead.”

Clar nodded, then reluctantly sunk into a chair on the other side of the room, away from the interrogation. She needed to get a grip in order to think. She mentally started to go through the hundreds of faces that had come into her store the six months she’d been open on weekends only. That was the only time she’d been using those damn cotton candy pink boxes for in-store orders only. Cutting more corners, she’d taken to personally scrolling double Ks across each box and wrapper until she could afford the more expensive personalized pink and black striped linen boxes.

No matter how hard she tried, the only face she visualized was Levi’s, bloodied and bruised. Pretty wrapped candy boxes couldn’t chase it away.

“I can’t just sit here, Jacki. There’s someone out there using my candy business as a vessel for their sick crime. I’ve got to find out who in the hell it is and why my candy of all things.” Clar jumped out of the worn cloth chair, her insides twisted like a pretzel. She had to get out of there, away from the movie posters and a life she’d left behind.

“You mean ‘we,’ don’t you, Clar.” Jimmy pulled her into his arms, and she immediately melted into his warmth and security. “We’ll figure this out together.”

“Jimmy, what am I going to do? Do we go with the plan Jacki and Clint came up with?” Glancing over at the detective and Evie, Clar believed they really had no choice. Trusting Cameron to handle things would take too long. In her heart Clar was scared they didn’t have that luxury to allow the scales of the law to balance things out. There was a killer on the loose and Clar intended to stop him, even if it meant using herself as a pawn in the killing spree.

There, I’ve made up my mind. A sense of relief and determination washed over her. Like her father, she would sacrifice herself for another human being. Once a cop’s daughter, always a cop’s daughter.

“First, we need to wait and find out what Cameron comes up with. All we can do is sit back and let him do his job, and listen. Maybe something will spark your memory.” Jimmy suggested in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, like the face of a murderer in my store buying my candy!” Clar snapped then slipped away from Jimmy. She stormed out the door far from the continuous badgering Cameron instilled onto Evie.

***

“L ISTEN, DETECTIVE, other than the crew and actors the only other person who came into the office that day was Eddie DeLuca.” Evie fiddled with the hem of her shirt. She sighed inwardly; I just wish everyone would go away. If he’s going to arrest me let him, Eddie won’t let me sit behind bars for long. Daddy would kill him if he did.

Cameron looked up from his note taking, eyebrows raised in surprise. “How long has Edward DeLuca been in town?”

Evie smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “You didn’t know he was here? I’m surprised Daddy Dearest didn’t tell you he’d sent his ‘legitimate’ son to look after his ‘illegitimate’ sister.”

“What surprises me is that he’d do it at all if Sal wasn’t concerned about you, Evie. Just what have you been up to since coming out here?” Cameron pulled a chair across the room, the legs scraping the white tiled floor like chalk across a chalkboard. “What has your twin brother been doing?”

“I wish I could answer that for you.” Evie smirked. “All I know is one day I got in the elevator and there he was like we’d always been loving siblings. For whatever reason, he’d decided to move to LA, purchase the condo above me, and move right into my life. Like I needed him. What a jerk. He can go back to Chicago for all I care.” Had she said too much? If Cameron didn’t know Eddie was in town does that mean he no longer works for Sal? No, Daddy would have told her. Wouldn’t he have? “As for me, I wished he’d go back to Chicago and let me handle my life as I see fit. I like running the studio, being the boss suits me. Eddie is the thorn in my side I can’t pull out since the day he followed me into the world.”

“No love lost then.” Cameron scribbled across his notebook, pausing momentarily before flipping it closed. “Let’s talk about Levi Andres.”

“What’s there to talk about? He’s a porn star who prefers men to women...on and off the screen.” A twinge of hatred spun through Evie. At one time she’d vowed to make Levi pay for that rejection of her. Now he lay in a hospital bed. It looked like fate was on her side for once in her life.

“What about his relationship with Clar Turner?” Cameron’s eyes glistened with curiosity.

“Professionally or personally?” Evie drummed her fingers on the table. Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap.

“Both. Were there any times that they may have disagreed on a film?” Cameron flattened his hand over hers, halting the cadence.

“Cameron, you’re digging a hole you won’t be able to get out of with that line of questioning!” Jimmy hissed, his back rigid.

Evie stifled a response and smiled, knowing full well that two bulls were about to lock horns and she didn’t want to miss it. To her disappointment, the two stared each other down instead, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

“Oh hell, why don’t the two of you just get on with it and finish what you started in Chicago? After all, isn’t that what you both want? To beat each other senseless until neither of you can stand?” They both stiffened at her words. Score! Evie laughed, accomplishment soaring through her. She’d made her point and touched the sore spot each of them carried. This is going to be good!

Cameron stood, casting his shadow over her like a black menacing mass she’d never be able to shake. “If you are done, Ms. Dagmyer, answer my question.”

“I’ll tell you what I know.” Evie swallowed hard, her gaze traveling over everyone in the room...everyone except Clar.

***

J IMMY STOOD NEAR THE door keeping an eye on the hall. Somewhere down in the abyss the woman he loved tore herself apart with blame. He knew Clar well enough to know she’d not rest until all her questions were answered. To discover why she’d become a lunatic’s target.

“Cameron, whatever you need to know I’ll tell you.” Jimmy dangled a carrot, hoping to snare a jackass.

Jacki came up next to him, placing a hand on his arm. “Jimmy, don’t open that can of worms.”

“She’s not here to do it, so I have to.” Jimmy smiled, then pulled up a chair across the table from Cameron and Evie. Jacki and Clint gathered round the end, for support and to fill in any blanks. “I hope you have plenty of paper, Detective.”

Cameron nodded, flipping the page. “How do you know Levi Andres?”

“After leaving Chicago under, shall we say, less than desirable conditions I lived on the beach until my bank book was emptied. Knowing I needed to find work, a surfing buddy told me about an opening at SXY. I contacted them, interviewed, and got the job. They didn’t give a rat’s ass about the Chicago trouble; they were impressed with my credentials. My first assignment was covering a debut film. Little did I know I’d be covering a gay man playing it straight pretending to have sex with women. Levi became Cum Again Studio’s biggest grossing male star.”

“What about Clar, how does she fit into the picture?” Cameron ceased his chicken scratching and flipped to a clean page.

“As you know, Clar’s parents were killed in a car accident after her father retired from the police force. They were on their way to see her in college, but never made it.” Jimmy leaned in toward Cameron, locking his gaze onto the detective’s. “You also know her father was Karl Turner.”

Cameron’s pen halted abruptly. “Yes, I know.”

“Yes, the same. One of the few honest cops in Chicago who wouldn’t bend to the mob. Who had a list a mile long of everyone who was ever on DeLuca’s payroll...including you.” Jimmy watched the detective squirm slightly then grasp for a small thread of integrity.

“A long time ago. Please continue.”

“Clar was devastated and fell off the deep end. She quit school, and pretty much took up to living on the beach. She and Levi became friends, and he introduced her to a way of escaping the reality of her parents’ deaths. She changed her appearance, complete with breast implants and bleach blonde hair. Kandi Kyses was born and took the adult film industry by storm. It wasn’t long before she became a very well-off woman with a past she’d tried to forget—and she did for a long time. I covered everything about her. When I realized she was hiding from something, I did some digging. That’s when I found her connection to Karl Turner.”

“And that’s where I came into the picture,” Jacki interjected, moving into a vacant spot next to Jimmy. “Clar walked into my office one day looking to hire me. She wanted to find out more about her parents’ accident. After months of digging, I came up with nothing. It was an accident, plain and simple.”

“Ms. Wolfe, nothing is plain and simple. And ‘accidents’ can stay just that for eternity.” Cameron shook his head, a look of remorse in his eyes.

Damn, the man does have a conscience after all.

“But there’s more to it, isn’t there?” Clint interjected, hovering at the end of the table near Evie.

“As far as Clar was concerned, she felt the way to honor her parents’ memories was to take a step into their lives. She enrolled in classes for baking and candy making which were her mother’s favorite past-times. She talked to me about classes on becoming a private investigator, and enrolled into classes at the area tech school. She eventually became one of my students, and one of my closest and trusted friends. I’d go to the ropes for her.”

She never found out how the accident happened?” Cameron asked.

Jimmy stared across the table; his hidden hands clutched in tight fists. “No, but we both know how that can be rectified, don’t we?”