Trigger Snappy (18 page)

Solomon nodded thoughtfully. To his credit, he didn't tell me I screwed up, or offer any platitudes.

"There's not much to see," said Fletcher, returning inside. "There's a little blood on the deck that I figured was Lexi's, and I found a boot print in the flower bed just below the deck. I'm guessing here, but it looks to me like a women's size seven."

"That supports your theory the assailant is a woman," said Solomon. "Anything else?"

"Nothing. My preliminary search didn't turn up any other prints; and I haven't found how they got in yet. I'm thinking there had to be an unlocked door or window."

I shook my head. "No, Juliet's been really careful."

"Then, perhaps a key?" Fletcher suggested.

"Juliet changed all the locks," I replied, looking up at Solomon. He didn't look happy. "They got another key? How?"

"Same way they got the last set," Solomon said, his eyes narrowing.

"I don't think Juliet has allowed anyone in the house since the locks got changed. Only she and Rob have sets. There was no spare key to steal."

"We already proved to Juliet how easily we could get into her purse," said Solomon.

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't change the fact that she hasn't had anyone in the house."

"Penelope and her kid were here."

"They were here for less than ten minutes; and we had eyes on them the whole time," I pointed out. "She didn't have opportunity. Besides, whoever it is just shot Penelope."

"Is my sister okay?" asked a very loud and familiar voice.

"Garrett, I'm over here in the kitchen," I called and Garrett appeared, followed by Maddox.

"What the hell happened this time?" asked Garrett. "I got a call reporting an attempted murder and the responding officer thought it was you! I didn't know whether you were dead, or presumed a killer."

"Neither," I said. "You're premature if you expected a homicide."

"I really thought I was going to find you dead this time. Are you bleeding?" he asked, his eyes widening as if he'd never seen blood before.

"It's barely a scratch," said Solomon.

Garrett's jaw stiffened. "It doesn't look like a
scratch
. Your hand is covered in blood. She's been shot! "

"I'm okay, really," I told him. "It's a flesh wound. Stop worrying. The victim here is Juliet."

"I was told someone else got shot too." He narrowed his eyes. "Did you do it?"

"No. My gun..." I felt my waistband as my face paled. It took minutes before I realized its absence, and in the shock of learning I'd been shot, I'd totally forgotten. "Oh shit! Solomon, my gun is gone!"

The room stilled. "What?" said Solomon.

"It went off when we struggled then... I don't know... the gun went off and she hit me and stunned me. Then she took off across the yard and I started to run after her, and that's when I heard the second shot..." I dropped my face into my hands. Reality dawned on me with cruel consequences. Penelope was shot with my weapon and now my gun was gone. Unless it had been dumped, the assailant still had it. I felt sick.

"Damn it, Lexi!" yelled more than one man.

"Fletch, go look for the gun. See if it got dumped anywhere nearby," ordered Solomon.

"Take a uniform with you," added Garrett, yelling to an officer. "Lexi, I'm going to need to take a statement from you. You've got all the paperwork for the gun?"

"Yes, I can get you everything."

"And your carry license is up-to-date?"

"Yes."

"You should be okay. Let's hope they dumped it somewhere where it doesn't find its way into even worse hands."

"How much worse could it get?" I asked.

"You mean how much worse than having your gun being used to shoot you and someone else? Oh, much worse!" yelled Garrett. "Aww, crap! Look who just turned up! It's Donahue. Stay put, Lexi. I'll be back."

"That seemed to go okay," I told Solomon once my brother stomped from the room. "I don't think he's too mad."

Solomon smiled. "He's just worried, not mad."

"You're not mad?" That concept was almost worrying. I expected Solomon to be livid at my stupid mistake.

"No, but I am worried."

"John Solomon, worried?"

"Wouldn't you be worried if I got shot?"

I nodded. I wouldn't just have been worried, I would have been paralyzed with fear and shock if that ever happened. Fortunately for Solomon, luck seemed to be on his side. I couldn't say the same for me, however. Then again, the bullet didn't hit anything vital, so maybe I
was
lucky. As I was about to tell Solomon to never, ever get shot, I saw a uniform lurking in the kitchen doorway at the same time as he spotted me.

"Ma'am I need to take your fingerprints and do the swabs from under your nails," he said, stepping in.

"Sure," I said, holding them out.

"I need to check for gunshot residue too," he added.

"You'll definitely find that."

Solomon stepped behind me, giving the uniform space to work as he scraped under my nails and swabbed my hands before asking me to press my fingers onto an ink pad and then a card.

"Should I get an EMT to come look at you?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine, thank you. Is there any news on Penelope Cera?"

"And that is?" the uniform asked as he bagged the evidence.

"The other woman who was shot."

"In the alley? Not yet. Lieutenant Graves said he'll come over to take your statement in a few minutes. He's just finishing up with the owner of the house."

I thanked him again and he nodded at me, then at Solomon before leaving, carrying his little forensic packages with him. "What happens now?" I asked. "And where's Maddox?"

"He walked Garrett through his entrance into the house, and now he's helping the uniforms dust for anything the assailant might have touched."

"Did they find the ax?" I asked, remembering Juliet.

"Embedded in the bathroom door."

I shuddered. "Wow."

"It was embedded so hard, it cracked the door. I suppose it got stuck right as you and Maddox disturbed them."

"Lucky timing. What if she still has my gun?" I asked. "If she went after Juliet at night with an ax, what might she do with a gun?" When Solomon didn't say anything, I asked, "How's Juliet?"

"I'm fine," said a voice from the doorway. "I've had better nights, but I'm fine. Rob will be home in a few minutes, and I have to tell him about all this. I can't help thinking how relieved I am that Robbie didn't stay over, and glad that Penelope said it was a bad idea. What if I hadn't listened to her?"

"It's a good thing you did," I said.

"What happened to Penelope? I heard someone say she was hurt; and I just spoke to Lieutenant Graves and Agent Maddox. No one will tell me anything."

"She was coming to visit and taking a shortcut. Your attacker escaped from the house and ran out across the garden and climbed over the fence and surprised her. She was shot," I told her.

Juliet's hand flew to her mouth. "Is she...? Is..."

"She's fine," said Solomon. "She has a superficial gunshot wound to her leg, but nothing life-threatening."

"And you? Lexi, you're bleeding."

"I was shot in the scuffle. It's nothing, it's healing already," I insisted, feeling a wave of dizziness cresting inside me. "Really, absolutely noth..." I slid off the stool, planting both feet on the ground. The ground suddenly wobbled and gave way. Solomon caught me as I fell.

Chapter Seventeen

"I don't know where to start." Solomon and I were sitting on my couch. I was wearing my pajamas, printed with bumblebees. He had on black jeans, a black shirt and smelled delicious. I, however, was recovering from a GSW that landed me a fast trip through the emergency room and then home to bed. Solomon was lucky I decided to get up at all. In honor of my injury, Solomon kindly turned my living room into our command center.

"Let's start with last night," he said. "All the security lights were unscrewed at the rear of the house; and given that my surveillance didn't see anyone enter by the front, we can be sure the intruder entered from the rear."

I picked up an invisible notepad and invisible pen, pretending to write as I said, "Note to self, add surveillance to rear. Hey, why didn't you do that in the first place?"

"My guy who walked the perimeter assumed the rear was inaccessible. Plus, like I explained before, we were only ensuring Juliet stayed put, not looking for assailants."

"Duh. And what happened to the security cameras and the alarms?"

"Another screw-up. Juliet swears she activated the alarm when everyone left, but it wasn't in operation when I checked, so it was either not activated, or disabled. As for the cameras... we don't know for certain yet. My guy says they went down too, and he was coming over to check when he saw all the commotion."

"Total disaster," I concluded.

"Not a total disaster. You and Penelope got a look at the intruder."

"But our accounts differ. Penelope thinks it's a man; and I'm positive it's a woman."

"She said it was a man when I interviewed her at the hospital this morning, and she said the same thing to Garrett. I have Lucas scanning traffic camera footage in the area to see if there was any unusual activity. We might pick up a speeding car heading away from Juliet's house."

I raised my hand, showing crossed fingers for luck. "I feel so guilty she got shot."

"Don't. You couldn't have foreseen it."

"I'm not sure if I feel worse because I originally accused her of being the stalker. At least, I didn't say it to her face."

"You had a hunch. It didn't play out. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Do you have someone watching the house still?" I asked, grateful he was right.

"Yes, and there's a squad car sitting out front too, but I don't think they'll make a move any time soon. We need to use this window to collate all the data Lucas gleaned, and match Juliet's movements to it."

"Don't you mean, prove there's no match?"

"That works for me too." Solomon passed me a stack of paper and picked up his coffee cup. "I need more coffee. You?"

"Yes, please." I reached for my cup, wincing as my side pulled.

"Stay put and don't move," ordered Solomon, lifting the cup from my hand and landing a kiss on the top of my head. "Don't pull those stitches."

I listened to him stride into the kitchen, turn on the faucet, and rinse the cups. The refrigerator door opened. "You have a lot of food," called Solomon.

"For tonight's family dinner," I replied as I shuffled the papers on my lap. There were hundreds of times and dates for phone calls and texts, with locations listed. Once again, Lucas astounded me; I had no clue how he managed to collate all the data. I just hoped I didn't miss anything while comparing all the pages of computer logs to her phone logs.

"That's tonight?"

"Yes. You didn't forget?"

Solomon appeared next to me and set down the fresh mug. "I never forget."

"You forgot!"

"It might have momentarily disappeared from my memory."

"Tsk. Everyone will be here at eight except Garrett, Traci, and the kids because Sam has chicken pox."

"Sounds like a quiet night."

"With my family?"

"Without Sam."

"It will be nice to get through a family dinner without wondering what he might say. All I need now is for my mom to not mention us getting married or having kids."

"What if moving in together comes up?"

I blinked.
Smooth move, Solomon
, I thought, great segue into the conversation we so far haven’t concluded. "What if it does?"

"What would you say?"

"I would say I'm giving it serious thought."

"How long would serious thought take you?"

"Depends on how many thoughts arise."

"It's really not that hard a question."

I pushed the papers further down my legs and fixed Solomon with my full attention. "I think it is a big question. It's definitely a big question for me. Can we live and work together?"

"We don't work together. You quit."

"We're working together now," I said, waving a hand over the stacks of papers and our open laptops. "Most couples don't work and live together."

"After this case, you're going back to your office and I'm going back to mine."

I pursed my lips. Solomon had a point. Having rejected his offer, so far, to return to the agency, my point was currently moot. That didn't mean his simple request didn't stir up a lot more questions that would either support or detract from my ultimate decision. "Okay, where are we going to live?"

"My house, or yours."

"Well, yes, obviously, but..."

"Lexi, we spend most nights together. You have a closet at my house, and I have some very nice, padded satin hangers here."

"They are nice, aren't they?"

"The pink ones are my favorite," Solomon deadpanned. "Don't you want a permanent, walk-in closet with enough space for more purses?"

My heart fluttered and my mouth dried. "You know all the right things to say."

"What do you say?"

"My parents wouldn't approve."

"You do a lot of things your parents wouldn't approve of."

"I'd ask you to name one, but I can think of a ton without putting much effort into it."

"What don't they approve of? Living together before marriage? We are as close to doing that as you can get, except we have two houses instead of one."

"They do want to see me married one day, you know that. My brothers are all married."

"Daniel married twice."

"If you ever have the misfortune to meet his former wife, you'll understand why they're divorced."

"Serena is divorced."

"You've met Ted. No explanation necessary."

"I think Delgado is going to propose."

"Shut up!"

"He's nuts about her."

"And I'm not even on my first marriage," I lamented. "Serena wins again."

"First and only," said Solomon.

"Serena will laud it over me that she can score two husbands, and I'm still a spinster. I might learn to embroider."

"Why?"

"Spinsters do that."

"You're not a spinster, and your sister doesn't have the best taste in men, except for Delgado who happens to be an exceptional man."

"I'll tell him you said that."

"Do and I'll fire you."

"I don't work for you!"

"Then I'll fire him." The corners of Solomon's mouth quivered. I tossed a pillow at him. He caught it easily, leaning over to tuck it behind my head. When he lingered, I reached upwards and kissed him.

"What if you moved in here?" I suggested.

"You don't have space for a large closet here."

"I have a driveway. You don't."

"Tempting. I have a huge kitchen."

"Mine occasionally features a food-stealing dog from my neighbor's house."

"Like that one?" Solomon pointed. I twisted slightly to follow the direction of his finger. Barney, my neighbor's hearing dog, was sitting in the doorway, his tongue lolling over his salivating jowls.

"How did he get in?"

"No clue. Every door is shut."

"Ignore him and he'll go away eventually."

"Are you sure? He looks hungry."

"He always looks hungry. He'll be starring in his own obese dog horror story on
Animal Planet
if he's not monitored carefully, so don't feed him. Besides, it'll only encourage him." I picked up my cell phone and sent a text message to Aiden letting him know his dog was at my house.

"We could get a dog," suggested Solomon. "I like dogs."

"I'd like a dog, too, but having a pet feels like a PI cliché."

"What else is a PI cliché?"

"You being ridiculously hot."

"Hard life," said Solomon. "Lexi, if I have to convince you to live with me, perhaps you're not ready; and if you're not, that’s how it is. Simple as that."

"It's not that. I... I'm..." I struggled to formulate my thoughts. "I've never seriously lived with anyone before."

"Not even when you were engaged?"

"We lived together for a month, and it was a disaster."

"Just because that was a disaster doesn't mean this will be."

"Have you ever lived with anyone?"

"No."

"Really?"

"I raised my brother and sister. When they left home, I was fully invested in a career. I never had time to live with anyone. It's part of the reason why I settled in Montgomery... so I could have a life."

"And you're ready now?"

"I'm ready for a lot of things." Solomon flicked open the top button on his shirt and I temporarily forgot what we were talking about. He smiled and closed the button just as fast. "Mind out of the gutter, Graves. We can talk about this later. Right now, let’s work out if Juliet could have done any of the stuff she's been accused of."

I took a long sip of the coffee and pulled the paperwork towards me, bending my head to look at it. We divided the tasks up. I had a long list of all Juliet's suspicious correspondence, along with her log-in and log-out times, courtesy of Lancaster Friedland's IT department, including all activity recorded from her personal access pass. I also had her home IT records to match against her suspicious shopping activities. At some point over the next few hours, I intended to prove that Juliet wasn't in the right place to have committed her so-called crimes. Solomon, with a better grounding in financial crimes, took on the larger task of investigating the insider trading violations. Picking up my pen, I began cross-referencing every bit of data, and making notes as I went.

It was an hour before either of us spoke again. "How's it going?" asked Solomon.

I looked up, shaking my head. "Not good."

"What have you found?"

"I can match most of the suspicious online shopping to times when Juliet was in her own home, but the times are weird."

"How so?"

"Odd times of the day. Like, really early in the morning when most people would still be in bed."

"What are you thinking?"

"That Juliet was still in bed and someone snuck into her house and used her computer. She has a work station in the kitchen. It wouldn't be hard to get in, mess with the computer, then leave again without anyone noticing."

"Risky behavior."

"Apparently, our stalker isn't concerned about that," I said, thinking about the previous evening when the stalker came equipped with an ax.

"True."

"Or with being super creepy. I also found some goods that Juliet hasn't accounted for in her list of items."

"Such as?"

"All women's stuff. A couple of mid-range purses, some clothing, some home goods. They were sent to another address. Juliet is paying for stuff she didn't even receive! I think it adds up to... almost twenty thousand dollars. How could she not have missed twenty thousand dollars?"

"More money than sense."

"You sound like my mom."

Solomon laughed. "Give me the address. I'll go check it out."

"I'm coming too!"

"No, you're not. The stalker already shot you. I'm not sending an injured, unarmed woman to a suspicious address."

"I'll wait in the car. Promise! Not even lying. See?" I held up my hands, showing my uncrossed fingers. "Also... I got dibs."

"Dibs?"

"Dibs I found the information; and want to check it out."

"Okay, we'll check it out later, but you are not getting out of the car."

"Fine. I found something else too. Juliet was always logged into her computer at work at the time when she supposedly made those nasty emails."

"That's not good."

"That's not the best bit. She always logged out up to ten minutes before the emails were made. Then the computer is logged into again and logged out only a few minutes later! Then Juliet would log in again an hour or more after that. I call that a good clue that someone else was using her password to log in when she was temporarily away from her desk. I'm going to cross-reference those times against her security pass. I think I'll find she left the office, and maybe even the building."