Deadly Fallout (Red Stone Security Series Book 10) (10 page)

On the front step, she pretended to ring the doorbell as she pulled a small package out of one of her hoodie’s pockets. Since it was so cold out she was wearing gloves and wouldn’t look odd, which made this so much easier. She’d been careful not to leave any prints on the package or the wrapping.

The wrapping itself was a bright silver and green with little snowflakes on it. An early Christmas present for Zoe.

Laughing to herself, she set it right on the front stoop, propping it against the door. The present was small but the contents inside would be very effective.

It was just a shame she wouldn’t be able to see Zoe’s face when she opened it.

Chapter 8

Zoe shut one of her desk drawers and looked up as Gerard stuck his head in her office.

His mouth pulled into a frown. “What are you doing here?”

She held up her hands in mock self-defense. “Not working, I swear. Just had to pick up a few things.” She’d gone to the salon and felt like a new woman. She was about to head home but had needed to stop by work first.

He leaned against the door frame and stuck his hands in his pants pockets. “Hair looks good.”

“Yeah?” Zoe self-consciously ran her fingers through it. She’d had it straightened for a little change. Once she washed it, the curls would return but she’d wanted something different for the next couple days. Almost like a cleansing of all the drama from her past—and if she was being completely honest with herself, she wanted to look amazing for Sawyer.

“Why the change?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you said it looked good.”

“It does. But…something’s different about you.”

Her cheeks flushed as she thought about what she’d done this morning with Sawyer, then she cursed herself. It wasn’t like Gerard could read her mind. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He started to say something but was cut off by a familiar female voice. “Gerard?”

Zoe rolled her eyes but Gerard just sighed. Viola, tall, willowy and beautiful, the physician’s assistant had been crushing on Gerard for a while and couldn’t seem to take a hint that he wasn’t interested. It had placed him in a weird position and Zoe knew he was starting to feel uncomfortable about the woman’s attention. Zoe understood all too well what that felt like since her stalker had been like that with her.

“Want to head out with me?” Zoe murmured quietly. Before he could answer, Viola appeared in the doorway.

She gave Zoe a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Well the feeling is mutual
, Zoe thought. At least the woman was good at her job, very organized, one of her only redeeming qualities.

Without giving Zoe another glance she turned to look at Gerard, already crowding his personal space as she leaned closer, practically shoving her breasts at him. “What are you two doing here? I didn’t think you came in on Saturdays, Zoe,” she said, still looking at Gerard. There was an almost accusing note in her voice.

Zoe didn’t bother answering. Just locked her top drawer as Gerard cleared his throat. “Just catching up on some paperwork, but we’re heading out now.” He gave Zoe a pointed look.

She resisted the urge to smile as she slipped her coat on. “Yeah, Gerard owes me dinner.” A complete lie but she had no problem covering for him.

Viola frowned and glanced at her slim, silver watch. “This early?”

“Gerard likes to get the early bird specials. Especially at his age.” Zoe snickered now, unable to contain her laughter.

He just shot her a dirty look as Viola’s pink-painted lips pulled into a frown. She stroked a hand down his forearm, an action that could be considered casual, but the possessive glint in her eyes was anything but. “I’m heading out to get some drinks before dinner with friends in a couple hours. Do you guys mind if I tag along?”

Zoe couldn’t think of a polite way to say no. Viola might annoy her but she couldn’t be all out rude to her. It was weird that she’d stopped by the office though when clearly she hadn’t done any work since she’d just arrived. Good Lord, was she really here simply to see Gerard?

“Of course not,” Gerard said smoothly and Zoe wanted to kick him as she stepped toward them. She didn’t even want to go to dinner, not when she had plans with Sawyer in a couple hours.

They both moved back and she shut her office door and started down the hallway with them. As they walked, Viola continued chatting. “So where are you guys going?”

“We haven’t decided yet—”

Zoe was cut off when Gerard let out a frustrated curse.

“What’s wrong?” Viola asked as they reached the front door.

“Nothing. Just an issue with my sitter,” he said, looking at the screen on his cell phone. Which hadn’t buzzed or dinged. His expression was apologetic as he looked between the both of them.

Zoe knew he was just pretending that he’d received a text, but Viola seemed to believe him. The woman made a lame excuse why she couldn’t have dinner with Zoe and hurried toward her car as Zoe and Gerard locked up.

“Guess she didn’t want to have dinner with just me,” Zoe murmured.

He scrubbed a hand over his face after locking the door. “I don’t know what to do about her. I’ve been careful not to be alone with her, but…”

“But you can’t keep working like this. Sit down and talk to her and if that doesn’t work, let her go.”

“Yeah, I’m going to. I want you in on that meeting though.”

Zoe nodded. “We’ll record it too.” Because she wanted to make sure her all her boss’s bases were covered in case Viola tried to accuse him of something. Zoe wished he’d just fire the woman but knew Gerard would try to make things work first.

“How’re you feeling after…everything?” he asked as they headed to their vehicles.

She shrugged, not sure about anything at the moment. Zoe didn’t want to say out loud that she was glad her stalker was dead, but she was certainly happy she wasn’t looking over her shoulder anymore. At least not because of Klein. It still freaked her out that a weapon with her fingerprint had been planted at the murder scene. Luckily she’d had a strong alibi. “The whole thing is still surreal. Last night was fun though.”

He snorted. “I saw that. What time did everyone finally leave?”

“Three o’clock.”

He let out a low whistle. “Apparently I really am a senior citizen.”

“Whatever. You left at a normal time. I can’t believe how late everyone stayed.”

“What about your friend Sawyer? How late did
he
stay?” Gerard’s look turned speculative as they reached his Lexus SUV. Grinning, he pressed the keyfob to unlock the doors, waiting for her answer.

“Why do you ask about him?” Zoe didn’t think they’d been obvious last night. Not that she cared what anyone thought. She was single and could do whatever she wanted.

“The man couldn’t take his eyes off you last night and something is really different about you this morning. Besides the hair.”

“I’ll let you know if anything interesting develops between us.” She considered Gerard one of her closest friends but didn’t want to tell him more about Sawyer until she knew where things were headed between them.

“All right. Just don’t…” He trailed off.

A cool breeze blew up over the parking lot and she tightened her coat belt, fighting off a shiver. “Don’t what?”

Gerard lifted his shoulders. “Maybe don’t push him away or come up with reasons he won’t work out?”

She started to defend herself, to insist that she didn’t do that, but bit her bottom lip. Damn it, she did
exactly
that. Pretty much all the time. Sighing, she shook her head. “You’re annoying when you’re right.”

He just chuckled, his breath a faint cloud in front of him as he gave her a brief hug.

Once she was on her way home, her boss’s words rolled around in her head. Gah, she did push people away. Men at least. Relationships were so much work and took up so much damn time that she just couldn’t fit one into her schedule.

At least that’s what she told herself whenever someone asked her out. For years she’d just gone out with men who she considered low maintenance. Men who were in a profession similar to her own and therefore worked insane hours and were okay with her limited involvement in their lives. And vice versa. Ugh, thinking about it in those terms was depressing.

After Rubin left her she’d taken it hard. Harder than she’d admitted to anyone, even her brother, who’d been open about his own heartbreak years ago. It had been too much to admit that she hadn’t been enough for her ex. On paper they’d been the perfect couple. Smart, successful, attractive people in the same field with the same views on politics and religion.

Okay, now
that
was depressing as hell too. Those things were important but she’d seen what her parents had. Their marriage hadn’t been perfect but their love for each other had been. And they’d disagreed on all sorts of things, especially religion and politics. Her father had left a lush lifestyle to marry her mother. His wealthy, elitist parents had been blinded by anger when he’d fallen for a poor, black Jamaican, second-generation American. Zoe wasn’t sure what they’d hated more, her mother’s skin color or her status as a resident. Not that it mattered to her or any of her siblings. Zoe hadn’t talked to them in years. They’d reached out a few times after her father’s death, but she couldn’t be bothered with them. She’d seen what a good marriage was supposed to look like, what a loving family meant and she wasn’t going to let those assholes into her life. Not when they’d flat out rejected her mom. Screw them.

As she steered into her driveway, she mentally shook herself, knowing exactly why she was thinking about her parents’ marriage. She pressed her garage door opener but didn’t pull through when she saw something shiny sitting on her front stoop. Getting out of the car, she hurried along the stone steps, her breath catching in her throat at the next gust of cold that rolled over her.

Smiling when she saw a small gift sitting there, she scooped it up. Probably something from one of the neighbors. Next weekend they’d be doing their annual gift exchange and party. Thankfully this year she wasn’t hosting it at her house.

As she headed back to her car, movement from out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Zoe hid a wince before she let her true feelings show. Letty Nieves was the same age as her and a beautiful woman.

She was also one of the most annoying neighbors Zoe had ever had. Zoe pasted on a smile, thankful her sunglasses covered her eyes, as the woman approached.

Wearing black yoga pants, a black long-sleeved T-shirt and a bright pink puffy vest zipped up over it, Letty smiled as she jogged up the driveway, though the smile was more of a baring of teeth—like a shark. “Hey, Zoe. Everything okay over here? I saw the police here yesterday.”

And there it was. Letty was going to pretend she hadn’t heard from the neighbors what was going on. “Everything’s good. Getting ready for Christmas? Your light show is great this year.” Zoe was the queen of avoiding and deflecting. She’d spoken to a few neighbors about what had happened, but Letty wasn’t one of them. And she wasn’t going to be one of them.

The tall woman with dark hair gritted her teeth, her smile growing sharper. “Thanks. I put a lot of work into it. You’re sure everything’s all right?”

“I’m sure.”

Letty’s gaze narrowed on the gift in Zoe’s hand for a moment before she looked at her face again. “Saw a lot of people over here last night.”

“Oh, yeah, just some people from work and family friends. Last minute get together type of thing.” Zoe inwardly cringed. Maybe she should have invited Letty? No, last night had been a celebration and she hadn’t wanted to have anything ruin that. And it wasn’t like she’d invited the whole neighborhood or anything.

“Okay, well, let me know if you need anything. I’m here for you.” Her voice dripped with a saccharine sweetness that raked over Zoe’s senses.

Seriously, she had no idea why this woman didn’t like her. She figured Letty was just one of those women who didn’t like other women.

Whatever, Zoe didn’t have time to worry about that now. Once she was securely inside her house, she reset her alarm and dropped her purse and coat onto the center island in her kitchen. She wasn’t even going to pretend she could wait to open the gift.

Carefully peeling back the delicate paper, she opened it without tearing any of it. As she lifted the top of the small gold box off, it took a moment to register what she was seeing.

Her stomach lurched and she automatically dropped the square top. It fell to the counter with a soft click. A Polaroid of a gruesome scene—Klein’s dead body, his throat slashed, blood sprayed all over his lanai—

The photo was covering…something underneath it. She could just see the tip of what looked like… No. It couldn’t be.

Swallowing the bile in her throat, she grabbed a pen from her desk on the other side of the kitchen. Chills skittered up her spine that had nothing to do with the cold as she carefully moved the picture out of the way.

A severed finger with dried blood on the stump was nestled on a bed of white stuffing paper.

She wondered if it was Klein’s finger or someone else’s. Klein was clearly dead as that picture showed so who the hell could have done this? Grimacing, she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and called the police.