Beautifully Forgotten (31 page)

“And you, once again, are going to walk blindly into something. This is Heidi we’re talking about.”

He rubbed a hand over his head in frustration. “Believe me, I know, but it’s late and you’re pregnant.”

“I don’t want you going by yourself,” she said softly.

The arrogant grin was instinctual. “I can handle Heidi.”

“Trace.”

He moved to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I’ll be fine. Please get back into bed; you’ve circles under your eyes.”

He knew she was more tired than she was letting on when she didn’t argue further and slipped under the covers.

“Wake me when you get home.”

“I will.”

He was out the door ten minutes later and on his bike five minutes after that. An unsettling sensation twinged in his gut when he reached the corner where the diner was located and saw red-and-blue lights flashing. He pulled over, climbed off, and joined the crowd that had formed at the crime tape blocking the alley by the diner. One look and his stomach dropped because lying in a pool of blood, looking but not seeing, was Heidi.

“Oh fuck.” Even he was surprised at his callousness when he didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse at her death, just irritation. Just like Heidi, even in death she brought him grief. Thank God Ember hadn’t come and seen this. The sight of Heidi’s pale hair soaked with blood was something he wasn’t going to forget for a good long time. Where the hell was Seth? He looked around, but didn’t see him and felt a wave of relief. At least he’d been spared this.

Trace sought out the officer in charge. The officer was older, maybe late forties, and stocky in build, but intelligence burned in his brown eyes as he looked at Trace.

“Can I help you?” he asked impatiently.

Trace exhaled in resignation before he said, “My name’s Trace Montgomery. Heidi Moore is the victim and she called me and asked that I meet her here.”

Immediately, impatience was replaced with interest. “Really? Well, the detectives are going to want to talk with you. They’ll be here in twenty.”

It was close to nine in the morning when Trace returned home. He keyed into the apartment and saw Ember standing in the living room with the phone in her hand. As soon as she saw him, she started toward him and there was worry and concern in her voice when she asked, “What happened?”

The sight of her so vibrant and alive made him silently move toward her and wrap her in his arms.

“Trace, you’re scaring me.”

“Heidi’s dead.”

Ember broke away from him. “What? Dead?”

“Murdered.”

“Oh my God.”

Her body started to shake, so he brought her back to him and held her close. “She was killed right outside of where we’d agreed to meet.”

Her voice wasn’t quite steady when she asked, “The cops don’t think you had anything to do with it, do they?”

“I’m not sure. There seems to be some discrepancy regarding the timeline because they were hammering me about when she called. They’re running our phone records to find out the exact time. I’ve been asked not to leave town.”

“That’s outrageous. Why would the timeline be of such interest to them?” She wasn’t really asking him, just talking out loud as she tried to work it out.

“And you have no idea why she wanted to meet you?”

“Only that she was scared of someone, said someone was going to kill her, but I didn’t push because I thought it was just another one of her games. Clearly it wasn’t.”

Her eyes went wide. “What about Seth? Where’s he?”

“He’s okay. He was home asleep. The police allowed me to come with them and I was surprised at how well he took the news. I realize there was no love between them, but she was still his mother.”

Ember said, “I imagine the cops found his reaction interesting. He no doubt is being looked at as a potential suspect.”

“They didn’t say as much, but I got that impression, yeah.”

“I don’t think he did it,” she said with fierceness.

“Neither do I.”

“Poor Seth. Regardless of his relationship with Heidi, I couldn’t imagine having to stay in that apartment where everything reminds him of her.”

“I agree.”

“Brandon mentioned that he and Seth were hoping to get an apartment together. Right now, he’s living in the group home in Hell’s Kitchen that you, Lucien, and Rafe stayed in,” she said.

“Really? That’s interesting. Next time you see Brandon, mention it to him. I’d help them cover the expenses.”

Ember reached for his hand. “I think it’s a wonderful idea and we can think about it later. Right now, you need to sleep.”

He allowed her to lead him toward their bedroom because he was exhausted. They passed Chelsea’s room and Ember looked back at him. “Are you going to tell her?”

“Not right now. She doesn’t know who Seth is and I don’t really want to burden her with it.”

“Good choice.”

When they reached their room, Ember turned to Trace and lifted his shirt over his head. Feeling her hands on the button of his jeans made him instantly wide-awake and he rose to greet her. She felt him as her hand moved lower to stroke his hard length through his jeans. Her nipples pebbled through the silk of her nightgown and he lowered his head to capture her breast in his mouth.

“You need to sleep.”

“I need you more.”

He took a step back and lifted her gown in one move. He devoured the sight of her as she worked his zipper to free him. He reached for her and tossed her onto the bed before removing the last of his clothes and pouncing, covering her body with his own. She was ready when his fingers found their way between her legs. His knees spread her further as he positioned himself and slowly entered her. His eyes stayed on hers as he claimed her inch by breathtakingly slow inch. It was about more than love: it was affirmation of life and living. When he was fully inside her, he held himself still, fucking loving being part of her, and then he started to move. His mouth closed over her breast and her hands grabbed his ass, urging him to go faster. He rolled, keeping her close, until she was astride him. She needed no further encouragement as she started to move, her hips driving him crazy. He felt her body squeezing him just as he found the spot that he knew would send her over the edge. She cried out as she came.

Trace was rock hard when he flipped her over and started to thrust into her again, deep and fast.

“Again,” he demanded as his fingers found that nub and stroked her. He felt her spasming around him just as he came.

Her eyes were closed when she whispered, “I love when you lose your control with me.”

He didn’t answer with words, but took her mouth in a kiss that made him lose control again.

A
dark cloud hung over the campaign headquarters when Ember returned two days after Heidi’s murder, though most who worked there didn’t know of Heidi or that she was dead. It was probably Ember’s own emotions causing the sensation. She tried to focus her attention on her latest assignment from her editor, reading about Nathaniel Carmichael.

It was strange reading about Dane’s father. Nathaniel was liked, well respected, and a successful politician, who had been an even more successful investment banker before his aspirations turned to politics. Though he had been described as a playboy, he was respectful of women, unlike Dane. From all that she had read, there were no skeletons in his closet, but she was sure the same could not be said for his son.

His life seemed pretty cut-and-dried except for his marriage. Dane’s mom had been beautiful, and there were countless pictures of her, young and smiling on the arm of her husband. For all intents and purposes, the two looked happily in love, but looks could be deceiving, because she’d left them when Dane was just a baby and had never looked back. To have a mother who chose to leave you actually explained a lot about Dane.

Yet Nathaniel had never filed for a divorce. Maybe she didn’t love him, but it seemed that he loved her.

Ember’s attention turned to Charles as he paced his office. He was acting strange, almost nervous. The memory of Heidi’s visit to Charles flashed in her head. It was surprising to Ember that Charles had even known of Heidi, but even odder was the anger Heidi had shown that day. What had that been all about?

Heidi had been blackmailing Trace; maybe she had something on Charles too, but what?

Later that day, Ember returned home to find Trace sitting in the living room, staring at the wall.

“Hi, beautiful.”

“Hey. Where’s Chelsea?”

“I dropped her off at her friend’s. She’s going to spend the night.”

“That’s nice.” She settled next to him, and he turned his focus from the wall to her.

“Charles seems to be taking Heidi’s death hard,” Ember said.

“Why do you say that?”

“He’s off, acting edgy and nervous. He knew Heidi. I told you about the day she came to see him and they had words. Do you think he knew her when she was at St. Agnes?”

“Why’s that important?”

“Just trying to figure out how far back their relationship goes.”

Trace thought on her question. “I don’t know how he would have known her then and I certainly never introduced them.”

“She was there because she was pregnant, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Ember knew they were both thinking the same thing: what a disgusting human being his father had been. Abusing his children, drugging his wife, and knocking up sixteen-year-old girls.

“How the hell did your father even meet her?”

“Knowing my dad, he probably scoped out the high school, the sick fuck.”

“You minimize it, but you took her under your wing, albeit begrudgingly, because she was a link to Seth.” He looked at her funny and she added, “You didn’t have to pay that ransom. I know you, and you could have found several ways to get her to keep quiet without paying her a cent.”

His grin looked almost boyish. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

“I paid her in the beginning because she and Seth needed it, despite the fact that she was blackmailing me. But after you came into my life, I paid her to keep quiet. Stupid, but done with the best intentions.”

She reached for his hand. “And before?”

“I avoided her because she developed a crush on me and I wasn’t at all interested. I didn’t tell you much about her because she was just another one of my father’s messes that I had to clean up. She never was anything more to me than that despite her efforts to change it.”

Ember thought about the talk she and Heidi had had last year and how Heidi had stalked Trace to learn more about him, which had been odd then. But now, knowing what linked them, it only reinforced what he said. She really had meant nothing to him.

“Then why did you use her to try and drive me away?”

“Because unlike the other women of my acquaintance, Heidi wouldn’t have misinterpreted my actions because she knew she meant nothing to me.” He looked a little nervous before he asked, “We okay?”

She leaned into him and pressed her lips to his. “Always.”

He moved quickly to bring her mouth back to his for a kiss that she felt all the way down to her toes. He was grinning when he leaned back.

“Why were you sitting here staring at the wall?”

The humor faded from his face. “The police called. They checked the phone records and I’m off the hook for Heidi’s murder.”

“But?”

“They wanted to go through our conversation again, word for word.”

“Why?”

“The timeline again. Our phone records confirm that Heidi called here at three oh eight a.m. The call lasted two minutes. The medical examiner puts time of death at around quarter after to half past three.”

A chill went through her. “Okay, that’s creepy.”

His eyes finally looked into hers. “It gets creepier. The nine-one-one call reporting the murder was made just before three.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, the person who called nine-one-one about the murder was the actual murderer.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either, but the police have a few theories.”

“And they shared these theories with you?”

“Yeah, I got the sense they were trying to trip me up. But based on what they told me, they think Heidi was blackmailing someone. She went too far and they pushed back. They think that the blackmailee contacted Heidi that night. There’s a record of a call on her phone at two a.m. and I’m guessing it was from a burner phone so they can’t trace it. They’re working under the assumption that he was right in the area, watching Heidi’s reaction to his call. Possibly hoping that if she was working with someone, she’d contact them.”