Thursday, December 29 #3
Angelica’s eyebrows twitched as she fell back against her chair. She let out a sigh mighty enough to blow out fifty birthday candles. “But it’s okay for me to be killed?”
“Oh, I don’t expect that to happen to you, Allegra Angelica.”
With her luck, which wasn’t a seven on the dice, the chance of another accident was high. Toss in the ‘holiday of drunks,’ and this didn’t look good.
“Why won’t that happen to me?” she grumbled, dreading the answer.
“You don’t need to drive. I’m sure Nicky would be happy to pick you up or send his chauffeur for you.”
Angelica huffed and puffed in defeat. “What time is the shower, Mom?”
“It’s at 2 o’clock, and you can bring Nicky. That’s how they do it now. Women bring their spouses or boyfriends to bridal and baby showers. It’s very family-oriented. Isn’t that nice? Nicky will be thrilled to go with you.”
When did her mother become so well-versed in the new trend in shower arrangements?
And for the record, he’s not her boyfriend! She could hear Mom smiling on the other end, getting ready to send out two-in-one invitations—engagement and wedding.
Angelica’s composure, already scant, had vanished. “What the heck is going on with you and Nicky?!”
“Whatta you mean? Why wouldn’t you want to spend time with him? He treats you like a princess. Got you the best of care after the accident. He even paid for you to go to college.
“Though you should have gone to nursing school instead. Anyway … you couldn’t do better than Nicky. You should realize how lucky you are to have a man who adores you the way he does—a successful man, too.”
“How do you know he adores me?”
“Mother’s talk, dear. For goodness’ sake, his mother lives next door. I know everything I said is true. I have your interests at heart. So enjoy yourself and give my love to Nicky.”
She’d swear her mother organized the entire baby shower. Even arranged for Tessa to move to the Avalone area. She groaned.
Angelica slammed the phone onto the charging base.
If going to a shower she doesn’t want to attend isn’t bad enough, she must face Nicky.
She has to stay overnight at his penthouse.
She’s not ready to face him. She hadn’t reconciled herself to seeing him until next week.
She didn’t want to celebrate the “kiss out the old year, and kiss in the new one” bash with him.
All that champagne, romance, and smooching made the holiday as bad as Valentine’s Day.
What’s she going to tell Nicky? She ran her fingers through her hair, though it wouldn’t solve anything.
He wants to get married. All the same, Nicky has an ugly streak of jealousy. He’s always accusing her of being with another man, whether she is or not. They argued about it last night before she hung up on him. Sheesh! It was a thank-you dinner for the detective!
If dealing with Nicky wasn’t enough, she had only one day left to complete the gig. Her candle burned at both ends.
She rested her head on her folded arms on the desk.
Nicky! The solution to many problems comes at a high cost. The crunch of gravel under tires cut short her pondering about the dealership tycoon.
She didn’t recognize the black car coming up the driveway, but as it pulled closer, she recognized the driver.
Angelica stood in the doorway, arms crossed, as Garrett climbed the steps in his worsted-wool blazer, dress shirt, and slacks. “Did you bring the gold?” she asked with a capricious laugh.
A hint of a grin flickered across his face, then vanished. The sound of the door closing behind him resembled a slam. “We have to talk, Angelica.”
Angelica stepped back, and her welcoming smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
Actually, he didn’t know how to address the subject. Overwhelmed by his frustration, Garrett failed to consider what he’d say. Hadn’t thought it through.
“Honey, it’s about you. Then it isn’t about you.”
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you? Why wouldn’t you be, after everything I put you through? I can’t apologize enough … Don’t feel obligated to stay,” she babbled in a small voice, on the verge of tears.
Crap! Garrett hadn’t even reached the worst part, and she was already upset. He took her hand as she turned away, pressing it to his chest. Their hands lingered there too long.
“I could never be mad at you, Angelica,” he said, swallowing hard enough to force a frown. “Let’s sit down, and I’ll tell you.”
His right hand reached for her arm to guide her to the sofa. “Oops! Wrong hand.”
Angelica’s fingers flew to her neck as her eyelashes fluttered. “What happened to your hand, Garrett?”
Admitting that he’s an idiot who attempted to fight a wall one-on-one and the wall won isn’t something he wants to talk about or be proud of. “I had a minor mishap, that’s all.”
Angelica sat stiffly on the sofa, while he sat equally rigidly on the edge beside her. That position seemed fitting for him, since his unstable emotions teetered on the edge of a cliff.
She stared at him intently. “Garrett, what’s going on? You’re being very cryptic, and it’s making me nervous.”
“Hmmm…” slipped from his lips, hovering like a weighted balloon—Congrats on your early retirement! No more bodyguard.
His involvement in this drama made everything more difficult.
He didn’t plan to update Ed or Bickney on the details of his life.
Garrett also had no intention of telling them about Jenkins’s assault on Angelica.
She didn’t need to be grilled by those gorillas.
Heaven knows, she had nothing to do with this.
In fact, he and Angelica were probably in her bed together when the crime was committed. That would go over great. Homicide detective, more than canoodling with the murder victim’s girlfriend! Was he concealing vital information? Yes. Did he care? Hell, no.
Heated air, both theirs and from the clanging radiator, filled the room, making it feel stagnant. He was caught in a moment of frozen time, time hanging in the balance. But if the clock’s hands didn’t move forward, nothing would ever be resolved.
“It has to do with Matthew Jenkins,” Garrett hedged.
Her troubled eyes lit up. “Matt’s been arrested?”
He shook his head, slow to proceed after witnessing Angelica’s excitement. This isn’t going to end well. How could it? “No, we didn’t arrest him, honey.”
Garrett understood how this situation affected him, but he worried about how it might affect Angelica.
With a here-goes-everything-or-nothing-and-I’m-going-to-regret-this-either-way mindset, he pressed on. “There’s a strong likelihood that Matt’s dead.”
Angelica’s mouth flew open, and if her eyes could get any bigger, they did. “Dead?” she said, somewhere between shock and incomprehension.
He looked for signs of distress on her face that might reveal her feelings for Jenkins. Tears gathered in her eyes. Weeping? No. Did he get his answer? He’d interpret the lack of hysteria as a yes.
Angelica fiddled with the ends of her hair. “What happened? Was Matt in a car accident?” she asked, her voice falling to a whisper.
As much as he disliked this part of the job, he hated it even more now that he had to deliver terrible news to Angelica.
Garrett hesitated, biting his lip. “His death is under investigation as a homicide,” he disclosed, his breath lingering on the last word.
“Oh, my God!” She tumbled hard into the sofa’s back cushion, shaking her head as her pale cheeks grew even paler. “How’s that possible?”
“That’s for the police to find out. But here’s our problem, honey. I’m working on this case, and because you dated the man, stopping here would create a conflict of interest.” He rested his left hand on hers.
Wanting to ease the blow for Angelica and himself, Garrett continued, “So, I’ll have to stop visiting my favorite watering hole and barmaid for a while. I’ll settle my IOUs later.” Then he winked.
“Oh!”
Did she look surprised? Yes. Did that reveal how she felt about him? No. Maybe Angelica grew accustomed to having a bodyguard. Or maybe she enjoyed his company. Perhaps she liked him. Possibly she didn’t. Did she say anything else? Nope.
Garrett was as bewildered as ever. One thing was certain, though. He wouldn’t be spending time with the woman he loved anytime soon. Holding her tonight wasn’t happening, either. He didn’t know when he might hold her again, or if he’d ever hold Angelica again. He huffed audibly.
Angelica was a hard woman to read. Given that his job required him to read people, why was he struggling so much with her? He might be maturing, but unlike a fine wine, he didn’t improve with age. His skills with women left a lot of room for improvement. They still sucked.
Neither of them said a word. The suffocating quiet ate at him. He wished for do-overs—whether it was their rain dance or sitting by the warm fire. Even sleeping alone on her couch—anything but leaving.
Garrett exhaled a year’s worth of oxygen, got up, and headed toward the door. She followed closely behind.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Angelica shrugged. He peered into her sorrowful eyes and forced a grin. “You have nothing to worry about. Set the alarm after I leave, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Garrett, be careful, please.”
“I will, honey. I always am,” he reassured her with a wink.
Their eyes remained locked longer than a moment. It was a moment of searching. Garrett searched her downcast eyes for any hint of Jenkins’s loss, or something more. The brown eyes revealed nothing.
Garrett returned to the point system as his shoes thudded down the steps.
He earned a point because Angelica cared, but that still left him at minus zero.
Telling people that someone they knew was a murder victim isn’t a sign of affection.
It didn’t drop him to the bottom of the ladder; it left him carrying the ladder out the door.
Getting into his unmarked car, Garrett shook his head. Only he was fool enough to fall in love with a murder victim’s girlfriend.
* * *