Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries) (16 page)

I nodded a polite thank you and was extremely proud of myself. Civil was my middle name tonight. In fact, I wished I could have returned a compliment equally inane in value, but I couldn’t lie. Next to Nick, Greg was wallpaper. Sure he was dressed up in his tuxedo and looked like the up and coming insurance salesman he was, but he was pale and boring next to Nick. 

“I didn’t think you’d be co
ming tonight, Greg,” Kate said. Bless her soul for trying to keep the conversation away from me so I didn’t say anything I’d regret later.

“I’m always looking for new clients,” Greg said, a pinched smile in place.

This bit of news made me smile a big toothy grin because if Greg was out schmoozing for clients it meant Kate had been right and the gossip was true. Probably no one wanted to buy insurance from a known cheater.

I leaned over to Nick and whisp
ered in his ear. “I think there’s something wrong with Greg,” I said, only marginally concerned.

“That’s a no brainer. The man left you for a blow up doll. He’s probably wishing he wasn’t such a moron.”

I grinned and kissed Nick on the cheek spontaneously. That was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to me.

“Thank you for the compliment, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. Greg looks like he’s about to keel over from a heart attack. Look how red his face is.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Nick said, taking a sip of beer. “It would make me nervous too if I was sitting in a room full of cops when I was wanted for police questioning.”

“What?” I hissed in his ear. “You can’t be serious. What happened?”

“It seems that you and Greg share a common hangout. The Foxy Lady is a popular place for Whiskey Bayou residents.”

“Greg was at The Foxy Lady?” And then I thought about it for a minute and realized what that meant. “He saw me dance on stage?” I asked horrified.

“Yes and yes. I’ll explain later. Just keep a smile on your face and pretend you don’t know anything.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Perfect. And remind me later to give you some techniques on the art of stripping. I wouldn’t mind you trying on that little leather number for me some night.”

“In your dreams,” I said, but I was smiling like he asked even though I wanted to move to Alaska.

We made it all the way through the first few courses in strained silence and awkward tension. Nick seemed to be the only who was oblivious to the undercurrents at the table, or at least he was a better actor than the rest of us.

I’d also managed to drink three glasses of wine before dessert was served, so I was at the point I didn’t really care
about undercurrents, though Veronica had yet to stop sending Nick sultry glances and massive flashes of cleavage.

The dancing and glad-handing had started, so Greg used it as an excuse to work the floor, shaking hands and smiling his phony smi
le. Both Nick and Mike were up and out of their seats as well, doing whatever it is men do when they have to wear a tuxedo in a crowded place with no sports available to watch. 

So that left me, Veronica and Kate sitting cozy as little clams at the table all by ourselves. I decided some kind of variation was in order to keep things interesting, so I asked for white wine with dessert instead of the red I’d been drinking.

“So I hear you’ve had to get another job because you’re having financial troubles,” Veronica stated, dropping the gloves as soon as the men were out of sight.

“John Hyatt’s just full of information, isn’t he?” I signaled to the waiter to fill up my glass.

“I guess it’s a good thing you have a friend like Kate to give you a job because I heard you made a lousy stripper.”

Kate and I both gasped al
oud but for different reasons. Kate, because this was the first she’d heard of me being a stripper. Me, because my secret was out. Greg was the only person to blame. He had to have been the one who told her. 

Veronica gave me her prayi
ng mantis smile and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay on my best behavior. I sent a mental apology to Nick and Kate in hopes they understood and another out to my mother who was bound to be mortified once word got back to her. 

I’ve mostly been the cause for every gray hair my mother has to color, so I figu
red she wouldn’t be too surprised when she got the news. My mother was strong stock, and nobody had better criticize one of her children. Only she had the right to do that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I fibbed. “Does Greg know you’re sleeping with John Hyatt so you can get information on people’s financial records?” 

“Please,” Veronica laughed. “I don’t have to sleep with a man to get what I want. I have other ways. I’d say I’d give you a few tips, but I saw how you wrapped Mr. Butler around your finger.”

“What does he have to do with anything? Le
t the man rest in peace for God’s sake.”

“You know, it wouldn’t take long for a rumor to circulate about how you found his body. About how it was you who probably killed him in a jealous rage,” she said with a snakelike smile.

Somehow, all three of us ended up in a standing position, Kate’s hand resting lightly on my arm in case I thought of doing anything rash. 

“You’re a liar,” I said, but the color had drained from my face. I knew it wouldn’t take long at all for
a rumor of that magnitude to get started and spread through the town.

“At least I didn’t sleep with the principal to get my job,” she said. “Do you think I wanted to teach Home Ec? I was more qualified to get your position, but it didn’t seem to matter what I did to influence Mr. Butler. He only had eyes for you. Apparently
he’s drawn to women who have a body belonging to a middle-aged housewife. Tell me Addison, did Mr. Butler get tired of you just like Greg? Were you just another cast off? It’s a pretty good motive for murder.”

Veronica leaned toward me
, spewing venom from her fangs, her huge breasts spilling out of her gown. I was still trying to figure out why she thought I had any kind of relationship with Mr. Butler, sexual or otherwise. We’d never said more than a dozen words to each other the entire time he’d worked at my school. And I was even more stunned by the fact Veronica thought she should have had my job. I was almost willing to trade her just so she could see the horrors she’d been missing out on. I wouldn’t mind spending seven periods a day teaching kids how to crochet hot mats or change a diaper on a bag of flour.

“Look over there, even Nick’s lost interest in the forty-five minutes he’s had to spend in your comp
any,” she said, pointing toward the dance floor.

I shouldn’t have looked. But Nick was supposed to be my lifeline for the night. He’d told me he wasn’t going anywhere and I believed him. So I looked.

And there was Nick with his arms around some woman I had never seen before, dancing much too close for my comfort and laughing at whatever she’d just whispered in his ear. This was the last straw for me. If I was going to go down, I wasn’t going without a fight.

“Bring it on, bitch,” I said
, looking straight at Veronica. “What’s going to happen in ten years when the tits you’re so proud of are hanging down to your knees and there’s no one left to give blow jobs to that you haven’t already serviced?”

I heard Kate stifle a laugh behind her hand. Veronica was sputtering and spittle was flying. No
one messed with Addison Holmes. Well, sometimes they did, but not this time.

“
Oh, yeah?” she said, eyes narrowing. “You’re just a sexless wannabe that looks like a pathetic tramp in black leather and just plain pathetic the rest of the time. Maybe you should have stuck with your first instinct and stayed with your lesbian friend here. Oh, wait. You can’t. Even the lesbian managed to find a husband somehow.”

I was so furious I was shakin
g. The room was unusually quiet, and I glanced around to see a group of people raptly paying attention to what was going on between us. My gaze found Nick’s across the room, but it was with indifference. He was nothing to me. 

I was done with people who
only made me look like a fool. I did a perfectly fine job of doing that on my own. I turned back to Veronica when Nick started towards me, hoping that I could make an exit and leave for home before he reached me.

“That’s a fine specimen of man,” Veronica said, her gaze also lingering on Nick. “You seem to be able to find the attractive men, but you don’t seem to be able to keep them. Why is that, I wonder?”

Veronica’s eyes gleamed like black marbles. Her satisfied smirk was more than I could bear. She knew she’d finally gotten to me, but her viper’s tongue wasn’t through inflicting damage. “I’m going to enjoy moving into that little house you’ve had your eye on. I think it’s just perfect for newlyweds starting out. Maybe you’ll have the money to buy it from us when we’re ready to upgrade.”

“That’s my house,” I said, eyes squinted and adrenaline pumping. 

And before I knew it, my arm developed a mind of its own. In slow motion, wine flew from my glass and splashed all over the front of Veronica’s silver gown, making the thin material even more indecent.

She took about five seconds to assess the damage and let out with a screech that would do a banshee proud.

“You cunt!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

You could hear the collective gasp run through the entire ballroom. The C word was never used outside of bars or gaming halls and certainly not by a woman. 

I never saw her coming. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with chocolate cake squished between us and her bony knees in my stomach. I screamed in pain and pulled her hair, bucking my body from underneath to try and dislodge her. I’m sure we made a sight, rolling around across the ballroom floor. 

I scratched and clawed, and it was the only time in my life I’
d been sorry for being a girl because that’s exactly how I fought. I heard fabric rip and got a face full of bare breasts. I did the only thing I could before being suffocated and poked her in the eyes just like I’d learned from
The Three Stooges
. 

Greg loomed above us, trying desperately to break up the fight. He grabbed Veronica under the armpits and tried to lift her off me. I
could tell he was thinking this episode was going to be hell on the insurance business. Veronica’s head snapped back and flattened Greg’s chiseled Roman nose and I started to laugh uncontrollably.     

I finally levered myself up to my knees and was able to get a solid punch to Veronica’s face. I had enough time to hear the satisfactory crunch of bone and cartilage before I felt a jolt on my ass and my brains scramble.

Saturday

I cracked my eyes open and looked through hazy vision to see Nick staring down at me, his face inches from my own.

“Am I dead?”

“Not yet,” he said.

When I woke again, bright light was streaming through my bedroom curtains and every inch of my body ached. In fact, it had been so long since my body didn’t ache I was getting used to the feeling.

My brain was fuzzy and I had a monster headache, so I carefully got out of bed and climbed into the shower. It was after I’d gotten in and turned on the water that I realized I hadn’t had to take my clothes off. Someone had already done that for me.

Nick.

I began searching my memory for what could have possibly happened
the night before. Surely I didn’t have the only wild night of sex I’d ever experienced and then promptly forgotten it. I stuck my head under the hot spray and winced as the water hit the open scratches on my chest and arms.

Oh Yeah.

It was all starting to come back now. I’d made a fool of myself. Again. And Nick was lying scum, just like Greg. I was starting to see an unhealthy pattern develop and somehow I needed to change things. I vaguely remembered visions of Nick at some point during my unconsciousness, but that’s where it ended.

I wrapped a white towel around my head and put on a soft cotton robe, since that would be the least painful to my wounds, and headed into the kitchen.

“You need to put some antiseptic on those scratches so they don’t get infected. I put some on you last night, but you need to keep applying it.”

I whirled around in surprise and clasped a hand to my throat at the sight of Nick sitting at my breakfast table with the newspaper in front of him and a bowl of cereal in his hands.  His hair was still damp from his shower and his feet were bare a
nd propped up on another chair.

“Thanks for the medical advice. Now get the hell out of my apartmen
t,” I said, turning my back on him to get a cup of coffee. I should have known he wouldn’t listen.

He was silent as he moved close behind me. I don’t know whether it was his sexy scent or the way I began to tingle as he approached, but I knew he was there. Still, I jumped when he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Would you like to share why you’re so angry with me, when in my opinion, it should be me that’s angry with you? After all, it was my date that got into a knockdown drag out fight in the middle of the biggest social event of the year in front of my boss and all my co-workers.”