Chapter 14 Onyx
It was several days after I caught Angel snooping in the basement that she walked past me and didn’t even make a point of ignoring me.
I hadn’t known she was even in, because her SUV hadn’t been in the parking garage.
As I poured a coffee, I thought about it.
I hadn’t seen the car for a few days, but I had seen her. Today, she looked half-dead.
“Living up to the name vampire,” I told her as I sipped my coffee. Angel turned to look at me, and with no expression at all, she walked into her office and closed the door. Her PA passed, and I called out to her. “Sally?”
“Mr. Santo,” Sally greeted me with obvious displeasure.
“What’s up with your boss?”
“She’s fine.”
“That’s bullshit, she looks like death warmed up.”
“It’s not your concern,” Sally told me primly and turned on her heel and walked away.
Interesting. Strolling into Angel’s office, I left the door open. “The police haven’t called me.”
“And?”
“You rang me in the middle of the night to tell me to expect their call.”
Angel shrugged and looked at her laptop. “Maybe I wanted to hear your voice.”
That was almost funny. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Loaded question,” she answered quietly.
“Do I need to worry about you?” I asked her as I narrowed my eyes at her, taking in the dull hair, the ghastly whiteness of her skin, and the dark circles under her eyes.
“Good God, no,” she snorted. “Heaven forbid you felt an emotion.”
That was more like it. “Good, I haven’t got the time or the energy to spare you,” I told her bluntly.
“And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a predictable heartless bastard.”
“Sleep more,” I instructed her. “Your clients see you like this, and I may as well just take the entire client list.”
She had no reply for me, but she did flip me the finger. Satisfied she was as normal as she could be, I left her in her office, even though I still had a small kernel of doubt that all was well with my usually fiery rival.
Since I obviously tempted fate by mentioning them, the officers visited around eleven, and as I was on a call at the time, I made them wait in the boardroom.
I even made sure they were offered refreshments.
I wasn’t against law enforcement. I just didn’t feel kindly toward it when I was its person of interest. I also called my own attorney to let him know what was happening. I was a considerate client.
Walking into the boardroom, I closed the door and sat down without a word. Pouring a coffee, I took a drink of the lukewarm beverage and then addressed them both. “Officers.”
“Do you know why we’re here?” the male officer asked me after he introduced them both, and I didn’t bother listening to their names.
“Yes, Angel told me the other night,” I told them as I finished the coffee and held my finger up, stalling his next question when I picked up my phone.
“Liz, more coffee please, and can you tell Angel she’s needed in the boardroom?
Thanks.” Putting the phone down, I turned back to the officer. “Continue.”
He went to speak again, but this time he was halted when Liz came in and took the tray away. When he went to start for the third time, it was Angel who interrupted him.
She sat down, and when she was met with silence and the officer glaring at me, she spoke up. “Everything okay?”
“No,” I told her as I held his stare. “I’m being questioned by the police about your car.”
“We haven’t asked you anything yet,” he protested with a low growl. “You haven’t allowed us the opportunity.”
“Please, be my guest,” I told them graciously.
“Just so we’re clear, can you tell me—”
Liz walked back into the boardroom, and I couldn’t hide my smirk as she unknowingly cut him off again.
“Officer?” I asked him.
“Can you tell me everything about that night, please? Your whereabouts, your interactions, and your comings and goings.”
“My comings and goings?” I asked as I took a sip of fresh coffee and saw his fists clench in irritation. With ease, I ran through my day of her incident, and then my evening.
“So you saw the tires?”
“I did,” I told him.
“How deep were the cuts?”
“Deep enough to let the air out,” I deadpanned.
“And do you think it was appropriate to leave Ms. Balan alone after such a violent attack?”
“Have you met her?” I asked him as I pushed my seat out and turned sideways in my chair, crossing my legs.
“I don’t understand,” he said as he sent a questioning look to Angel.
“Angel is more than capable of defending herself, should she need it.”
“You don’t think she needs defending?” the female officer asked me, and I pretended to think about it.
“Depends on my mood,” I told her seriously.
“Where were you when the tires were slashed?”
“As I don’t know when that was, I was either in my office or at Thai Palace getting my dinner.”
When he went to speak again, I cut him off. “Let’s save some time. It’s not me. I have no interest in harming Angel. I also don’t make threats.”
“What’s your sexual history with Ms. Balan?” he asked me suddenly. Trying to shock me? Shock her? He had no idea who I was.
“Spicy,” I told him with confidence. “I don’t think you’d do well; you’re probably a little vanilla for her flavor.”
“Onyx . . .” Angel protested.
“What?” I turned to her. “You’re vanilla now?” I asked curiously.
“Don’t be a dick,” she whispered furiously.
“Did you send Ms. Balan flowers?”
“No,” I scoffed as I looked at them both. They were both eyeballing me as if they knew something I didn’t. Angel was looking at her hands. “Explain.”
“I received dead flowers,” she said. “And a card.”
“What did it say?”
“Maybe you could tell us?” the male officer quipped.
I ignored him. “What did it say?” I asked her again.
“‘Everything beautiful dies,’” her voice was barely a whisper.
“Is that a threat? Or a statement of fact?” I mused.
“Do you think Ms. Balan is beautiful?” he piped up again, and I turned to look at him.
“Why are you both still here?” I asked them.
“It’s obviously not me, I’m sorry to disappoint, and even if your own gut can’t tell you that, she’s in the room with me.
She called me to tell me you were going to make contact, and she knows it’s not me.
” Standing, I walked to the boardroom door.
“If you want anything else, ask my lawyer, and no, I’m not lawyering up, I’m no longer wasting my morning on this. ”
They rattled off a few more rhetorical sentences, and then they left. When I turned back to the conference table, Angel was getting to her feet. “Oh no, not you, we need to talk.” I watched as she sat back down again with obvious reluctance. “Flowers?”
“Dead roses.”
“Hmm, hardly innovative.” I sat down, pouring myself some more coffee. I didn’t bother asking her; she never drank coffee. “And the card said what again?”
“‘Everything beautiful dies.’” Tiredly, she tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling.
I had never seen her like this. I wasn’t sure I liked it. “Show me.”
“Can’t.”
“Explain.”
“He took it.”
“The cop?”
“Nope, the sender of the flowers.”
“Angel, instead of twenty questions, why don’t you tell me what I want to know?”
She gave a loud sigh, and then she tipped her head forward and met my stare. The usual contempt she had for me was missing; instead, she was . . . vulnerable. Fragile. I wasn’t a fan of this version of her.
“I received dead flowers the other night when you saw me in my car and blasted your horn at me.” Her voice was dry with disdain — she wasn’t completely out of the game yet.
Good. “The card said what it said. I asked my clients if they sent me flowers.” She tilted her head as she smiled in amusement.
“You know how awkward that is? To have that conversation?” When I said nothing, she shrugged.
“So I forgot about it. We had stuff happening—”
“You forgot you received a potential death threat?” I asked her as she dropped her elbow on the table and her palm ran across her forehead.
“Yes, I pushed it to the back of my mind. A few days later, there were some dead petals or leaves or something around my car, but when I left the parking lot, I saw a trash bag was torn open.” She waited for me to comment, and I merely gestured for her to continue.
“What happened next?” she asked herself tiredly.
The fact that there was a next pissed me off.
“Then my tires got slashed.” Angel stood, and leaning over, she poured herself a coffee.
She drank it in three gulps and then exhaled loudly.
“I may regret that,” she mused. “That night, when I went home, someone had been in my home. They left . . .” She swallowed as she avoided eye contact. “They left lingerie on my bed.”
“Why are you only telling me now?” Hot fury raced through my veins.
“I called the police, I told them everything, and they implied you had the most motive.” Her eyes flicked to mine and away again. “I don’t agree.”
“That’s why you called me that morning. You knew they were going to question me, for more than tires.”
“Yes.”
“But you decided to keep details to yourself,” I sneered.
“I know it’s not you, Onyx!” Angel cried out. “I don’t know who the fuck it is, but I know it’s not you.”
I said nothing. Anything I may have said would not have been productive and may have only made matters worse. “How did they get into your house?”
“I had a key missing from my keyring.”
“You’ve changed the locks?”
“Yes, the next day. I also have deadbolts on both doors now.” She looked at her hands. “And someone threw red paint over my car as I was leaving here the other day.”
“And they want to question me over the fact I was in the same area as you when you discovered your car had been vandalized,” I scoffed. “The police know everything?”
“Yes,” she said tiredly. “I don’t have much hope for anything more.”
Sitting in silence, I watched her as she closed her eyes, and then she pushed her chair back, ready to leave. “You know what I can do,” I said quietly. “You’ve seen it before.”