Command Indecision (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (21 page)

"Nosing?"

"No."

"Sneaking?"

"No." Well, I had been sure-footed, right?

"Tampering? Planting evidence?"

"No!"

"I give up. Wh
at were you doing at the Connor
s
’
?"

"Testing a theory."

Maddox sighed. "You're going to make me beg for it, aren't you? What kind of theory?"

"That not all cake batters are created equal." I took pity on him, addin
g, "I'm not a snoop, but if I were
you, I'd have a poke around Roxanne's bedroom. Maybe take a look at a cake box on her bookshelf. It's kind of a single red sock, if you know what I mean."

"I get you.
” Maddox’s tone softened. “
What am I going to find?"

"Again, not that I looked, but you might find two thousand dollars in twenties and a block of something that isn't cake mix. Oh, and Roxanne was definitely kidnapped. You should be looking for her. Not that I know anything about that either.
Her mother doesn’t seem worried.
"

"Thanks. Listen, about that photo..." Maddox started to say, but I hung up. I'd given Maddox a huge tip and had enough of being generous for one day. But I didn't tell him my suspicion that Roxanne had a boyfriend her f
amily didn't know about: the pill packet and the rose, carefully preserved in paper, being my main clues. Finger
s crossed, I intended to find the guy before Maddox did.

~

I stopped off for a sandwich, a coffee and a lemon surprise muffin on the way back to the base. By the time I drew into the parking lot in front of the
Fort Charles
apartment, I was still puzzled about what the surprise in the muffin was. Climbing out the car, I swung
my purse over my shoulder. Half
way along the path, I encountered my least favorite cop. I stopped, doing a frantic le
ft and right look. There was no
where to hide. With a sigh, I plodded on.

I don't know how long he'd been waiting
,
but Maddox had his arms crossed
as he reclined in his seat,
and if looks could make me want to turn around, head into the nearest open office building and ask if there was a back exit, well, his did. I steeled myself and started walking. Maybe he wasn't waiting for me anyway. I should be so lucky.

"Get in." Maddox's voice
sounded through the open window as I tried to pass by.

I stooped down and his eyes met mine. "No."

"Get in or I'll come around and handcuff you. And I won't be quiet. It'll be a big, noisy scene."

“That’s a dirty trick!”
I got in.

"What took you so long?" he asked. "I left the Connors
’
five minutes after you."

"I was hungry."

"Me too. What did you get?"

I thought about offering him a fist sandwich. Inst
ead, I asked, "What do you want,
Adam?"

"You can't avoid me forever," he said, hitting the remote lock
and rolling the windows closed, essentially trapping me.

"And I can't sit here talking to you. You'll blow my cover."

"Fine. Let's go."

Okay, I
should
have expected that, but I kind of hoped Maddox would say,
“
Oops, off you go,” not that he would pull out and drive around, finally picking a quiet spot
away from prying pedestrians,
to rivet his steely eyes on me.

"What do you think you saw in that photo?" he asked. "And don't give me the run around. You know which photo I mean."

I swallowed, my nerves getting the better of me. "You and a woman who wasn't me getting friendly," I snapped, turning away from him to stare
crossly
out the window.
The gray wall wasn’t exactly postcard perfect, but it was better than looking at Maddox.

"You remember when I said I was working undercover? I think you know what it means to have a whole back story. What you saw was Adam Michaels, new boyfriend of a woman we'll call Miss X. Adam Michaels was having dinner with his girlfriend's criminal colleagues, the people we're investigating for money laundering." A big part of me, a big, guilty part of me, wanted Maddox to stop talking; to stop telling me that I'd read something into a scenario that was smoke and mirrors. Instead, I remained quiet while he continued. "Adam Michaels' new girlfriend wants to show her bosses that she's the stable sort, that she can be trusted. She also wants an in on their business, wants some credibility. So she brings them her ex-treasury worker boyfriend, someone who could be very valuable to them. Of course, she wants the relationship to look real, wants her
colleagues to like him, even th
ough she's told them he's got some money problems and might be in the market for a new job. Of course, a criminal conviction is holding him back. He might be willing to do something less than legal." Maddox paused, letting his back story sink in.

I closed my eyes, a
hot
wave of guilt washing through me. "Of course, you know all about back stories don't you,
Mrs.
Solomon?" Maddox picked up my left hand, his fingers closing over the fake wedding band. He brought my hand to his lips, brushed a kiss on it
and I fought to ignore the shiver that passed down my spine
. "How could you even
think
I would cheat on you, Lexi?" he asked in a low
, hurt
voice.

"You were in a restaurant with her. What was I supposed to think? I could see under the table, you know." I
turned to face him as I
dragged my hand away
. I planted it on his thigh and
squeezed
,
reminding him. "Not exactly necessary, was it?
And you were supposed to be out of town.
"

"She got a little carried away. I couldn't exactly say, 'Back off, I've got a girlfriend,' could I?"

"Could have moved her hand. Maybe Adam
Michaels
isn't into PDAs."

"Maybe Adam Michaels doesn't want to look suspicious when he's close."

"If you're that close, why are you here?"

"
That angle wasn’t working out.
I'm following a new lead," he said. "And look what I
found!
A dead woman, a kidnapped woman, and a drugs angle that goes hand-in-hand with my money laundering case.
Your turn for explanations
, Lexi
. Why are you and Solomon pretending to be married? And why the hell are you sharing a one-bedroom apartment?"

"Cover," I said simply
, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t mention the sleeping arrangements
.
I felt sick.
Maddox's revelation hit me hard, and just as I suspected, it was meant to. I struggled to work out how I felt about it, whether I believed him. Sure, it was plausible. But it was also
conveniently
plausible. What if every undercover op
eration
he went on involved another woman? What if he lied and I believed him? Would I catch him again? And yet again he'd tell me he was undercover? Did I believe him? Could I believe him?

And if I believed him, what did that make me now that
I'd slept with another man?

My stomach churned.

"This to do with the murder?" Maddox asked after a few uncomfortably quiet moments. "The woman who was killed a couple of weeks ago?
Jillian Connor?
"

"Yes."

"You're looking for evidence to convict him?" Maddox
reached for his notepad and flicked through the pages,
check
ing
his notes. "Sergeant Tate?"

"No. We're looking for evidence to support
the theory that
Sergeant Tate didn't kill Jillian Connor."

"Who hired you?"

"I can't say."

"Okay." Maddox's fingers tapped the wheel, a slow steady rhythm that didn't match the way my heart thumped. "Do you think Tate did it?"

"I'm inclined to think no. The evidence doesn't stack up."

"And do you know who did?"

"No."

"Could Roxanne Connor have something to do with it?
We didn’t need a warrant. The mother okayed us taking a look in her room. Hennessey from Chester PD is taking a closer look now.
"

"Gosh, I wouldn't know," I lied. Maddox let it slide, though the corners of his mouth did curl upwards into a ghost of a smile. "Listen, I don't think she killed her sister, but I think
someone
thinks she's a part of whatever Jillian was into. I think it's connected to the drugs.
Maybe your money laundering too. I hear Jillian’s name already came up.
"

"The
se are the drugs
you don't know about in her bedroom where you weren't snooping? Just to clarify."

I nodded.

"And the money? I ran a few of the serial numbers. It's from the same batch we're interested in.
Dirty money.
"

"Then you've probably got more leads than I," I admitted. "Care to share?"

"Not right now." Tap, tap, tap went his fingers; then they stopped abruptly. "Drugs are dangerous, Lexi. Going after drug dealers is not for an amateur. Any chance you can leave this to us?"

Whoa. The
“
leave it to the big boys
”
talk. Nice. "Is Tate's innoce
nce of interest to you?" I countered
, adding, "Just to clarify."

"No. That's a military matter."

"Then I'm staying put. But I'll tell you this
,
if I come across anything dangerous that I can't handle, I'll make sure you know." Right after I told Solomon, anyway.

"I'll wait for the anonymous tip."

We were quiet. "I need to go," I said. "I have somewhere to be."

Maddox's eyes darkened. "Does it start with 'solo' and end in
something that sounds like
'man'?"

"It starts in 'bar' and ends in 'alone'." I promised Kevin,
t
he barman, I’d help
decorate the bar for
the
homecoming
party
and it still seemed like a good place to pick up base gossip. I had a feeling with Roxanne's kidnapping, things were about to come to a head. Someone needed her out the way, wh
ere she couldn't talk, and that suggested something would happen imminently. I really needed to talk to Solomon about it all.

"Do you believe me?" Maddox asked. "About the photo?"

Ah, yes, the mysterious, thigh-grabbing Miss X. "Yes. I don't know. Maybe. Can I phone a friend?"

"There are
no lifelines on this one."

"I need to think, okay?" And I suddenly couldn't wait to get out of there. The car felt stifling, the proximity of Maddox to me too confusing. I didn't know what to think or
what
to say. My chest tightened, like I was about to have a panic attack
, and my mouth dried
.

"Will you at least take my calls?" he asked.

"Yes."

His next question blindsided me, though I should have seen it coming. "Is anything going on between you and Solomon?" he asked.

My fingers curled around the door latch. "I have to go," I said, but he wrapped a hand round my wrist, stopping me as I popped the door open.

"Lexi..."

I swung a leg out.
On top of everything else, I couldn’t handle this.
"I really have to go."

"I'm not sure what to say to you, other than
please
think about this. I've told you what happened and I need you to believe me. You told me it was over when you didn't know the truth and now you do. Think it over. I love you, Lexi. Please trust me."

The rush of pain
at Maddox’s gentle pleading
felt like someone gripped my heart and squeezed it. I just nodded, mutely, and got out, pushing the door shut. He wou
n
d the window down. "This isn't over," he said
, leaning forwards so the sun caught his face, giving his uncombed hair a beatific look
. "I'll be back."

I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak. Instead, I walked off, towards the bar that was now only a few minutes away, the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I had a boss who needed me to keep my mind straight for the investigation
…
a boss who wanted to sleep with me, but offered me nothing. With a sinking feel
ing, I walked away
,
the sound of Maddox’s car firing up behind me.
I realized not once did Solomon mention anything about what would happen between us once the job finished, or if he even wanted something to happen. Perhaps he only wanted a really long one-night-stand?