Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (11 page)

A
fter all that
pondering
, I was officially worrie
d that Elisabeth Fong was right. S
omething bad had happened to her best friend.

~

Maddox and I strolled hand
-
in
-
hand through the park towards the bandstand, the soft strains of music floating on the breeze towards us
,
only to blend
with
the laughter of unseen
children.
The jazz band had drawn a decent crowd of families, couples, and older folk, all
present to enjoy
the last days of summer. The heat had ratcheted up a few degrees,
but
the trees were still green, the
ir
leaves thinning slightly
and turning shades of brown and gold at the tips
.
I
t was just warm enough to get away without a jacket. Even better,
I had a huge ice cream cone.
Maddox was watching me lick the ice cream
while
steadily
going
cross
-
eyed.

"Where do you want to sit?" Maddox asked, blinking and looking
around while I played innocent after running my tongue from cone to peaked tip.

"We could sit with my sister-in-law
,
Traci
,
who is pretending not
to
look at us," I suggested a
s
Maddox looked over his shoulder. "Great going, Detective. Now they know we've seen them," I scolded, swatting his arm
while picking
my way towards them,
with
Maddox still holding my hand.

"Fancy seeing you here," I smiled.

"We come for the
last
concert every year," said Traci, patting the blanket they'd thrown out under a tree. Garrett stretched down one side, his arms folded under his head and his eyes closed. The two younger children, Sam and
Chloe,
had drawi
ng books open
. With
stubby crayons in their little hands, they lay on their stomachs, their crossed ankles bouncing in the air. "N
ow that you've run into us, I can officially let you off babysitting du
ty
tomorrow night."

"Yay. Where's Patrick?" I asked, looking around for my
oldest nephew, nicknamed Patrick
t
he Teenager.

"Over by the lake with his friends. We're too embarrassing to be seen with," explained Garrett, opening one eye. "Take a seat, Maddox. I won't shoot you."

"Nice welcome there," said Traci
, punching
him lightly on the arm. Garrett grabbed her and pulled her against him
a
s he
planted a kiss on her cheek
.

"Yuck. PDA," said Sam, crawling over to kiss me on the cheek.

"Yuck. PDA," I agreed, kissing him right back.

"Revolting," agreed Maddox, sitting next to the tree and pulling me against his chest, kissing the top of my head as he leaned us backwards. Sam eyed him suspiciously.

"This is my friend, Maddox," I told him.

"I know. Mom said you're doing the nasty with him." Sam paused
and frowned
.
Traci winced
and closed her eyes
.
"What is that?"
he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't do nasty stuff." I waited until Sam shrugged and got back to coloring before pullin
g a face at Traci. She mouthed “Sorry!”
Behind me, I felt Maddox struggl
ing
not to laugh
, his chest heaving,
then he stopped and sigh
ed
.

"Don't look now
,
but I see your boss stalking towards us."

Obviously, I looked.

In his black jeans and shirt, sleeves rolled to mid
-
forearm as a concession to the
pleasant
weather, Solomon stood out amongst the families.
He looked like he should have “
DANGER
” written on his shirt as he focused on me.
I watched with mild amusement as
more than a few female heads—and
at least one male
—turned
his way
,
following
his path
, the
ir
glances drifting from his handsome face to his lithe
physique
as he strolled towards us.

He
didn'
t even look surprised to see us. H
e just
ambled
over and crouched down next to me, laying his backpack on the ground, as if we'd planned the
rendezvous
. Maddox didn't adjust his hands from where they lay across my stomach
,
nor did I make a move to look less casual. This was my day off
,
and Solomon was date crashing, the epitome of rude.

He held his hand out to Maddox and they shook briefly, the muscles of their arms popping.
Traci sighed. I was vaguely aware of a drop of ice cream trickling its way over my thumb.

"Got a minute?" Solomon asked me.

I licked my ice cream. "I'm very busy," I told him. Lick, lick, lick.

"I can see that."

Sam looked up. "Are you my Aunt L
exi's friend as well?" he asked, his crayon poised in the air.

Solomon lowered his gaze to Sam. "Yes, I am."

"Do you do the nasty with my Aunt Lexi too?"

Solomon blinked. I think it's the only time I'
d
ever seen him stumped. "No," he said. "I only do nice stuff with your Aunt Lexi."

"Good,” said Sam, with confused relief while his mother choked. “
Mom says Aunt Lexi does nasty stuff with Maddox."

"Okay," said Solomon, with a nod. "I like you. Do you want to come and work for me?"

"What do you do?"

"Catch bad guys."

"My dad catches bad guys. What do you do with them?"

"Give them to the police."

"Cool. My dad shoots them."

Across the blanket, Garrett sighed. I thought now would probably be a really good time to take up Solomon on his request, before Sam got it into his head to ask if we all did the nasty together
,
and I spontaneously combusted.

"Okay," I said. "Let's go talk. I won't be long," I told Maddox, squeezing his hand as I pushed up.

"You want me to look after your ice cream?"

"No. You'll eat it."

Sam looked up sharply, probably wondering if that was the kind of nasty stuff Maddox did to women. I held my cone in one hand, brushing the grass that clung to my ankles off with the other
.
I
followed Solomon over to the path that led to the lake. We walked a little way until we found a bench.

"I came by your house," he said, sitting down and folding one leg across the other.

"I'm not in." Slurp.

"I figured that out."

"
So, w
hat's up, ace detective?"

Solomon reached into his backpack and pulled out a file. "The updated background check came in on the hotel's employees. Thought you should look it over before Monday."

"That's what was so urgent? You could have just left them at my house?"

"Files don't get left," Solomon explained as I trawled my memory for
his
lengthy list of rules. This was possibly item four hundred and thirty
-
nine. I'd got
ten
bored
and tuned out
at fifty. "Files get transferred hand
-
to
-
hand, kept on a person and..."

"Locked up," I finished,
taking
a long swipe of ice cream,
and
letting it melt on my tongue. "I remember. Anything I need to look at first?"

"I only skimmed them and nothing stood out."

"That
’s
it?"
The music stopped and I heard the band strike up another lively number, the crowd breaking into claps.

"There's a briefing in there too. Stuff I want you to particularly look at when you go in."

"Okay. When do you need a report?"

"Call me every evening and give me a rundown. Keep notes and make sure you're not obvious about it. I'll expect a written report towards the end of the week when you've had a chance to talk to everyone. Anything that makes you suspicious, record it and I want to know about it."

"
You told me this already.
What if there isn't anything suspicious?"

"There will be something." Solomon watched me take another lick.

"What?" I said
, ignoring the way his eyes lingered on my mouth
. "It's nice ice cream. You should get some." Solomon continued watching me. "Anything else?" I asked.

"This is interesting. I'm waiting to see what you're going to do with the cone."

"I'm going to bite it really hard," I told him.

"I prefer tongue to teeth."

There was absolutely nothing to say to that, so I took the file, flashed slightly dilated eyes at him
,
and stalked off. I felt his eyes on me as I made my way back to Maddox
;
then snap
!
T
he feeling was gone. I chanced a look over my shoulder and scanned the area. Solomon was nowhere to be seen.

"What did he want?" asked Maddox after I shoved the file in my tote bag and nestled back in his arms.

"Work stuff," I said, peering at the cone. Ice cream had melted right down the middle. Yum.

"I thought you were temping again?"

"I am. It's just some extra bits Solomon wants me to do in my free time."

"So you're still working for him?"

"Yes, flexibly. Work is slow," I said, which wasn't, strictly speaking, a lie. I had
already told
Maddox I was temping
. Now I filled in Garrett and Traci, just like I’d been told to, as part of my cover. If
anyone saw me at the hotel and wondered what I was doing, or, even worse, asked me why I wasn't an investigator anymore
, it could be trouble for me
. Tomorrow, I'd tell my family. I suspected my parents would be disappointed. My dad liked the idea of having another crime
-
fighter in the family; my mo
m
thought it was hilarious that her youngest was a PI.

"So, you're what? Typing? Making notes for Solomon?"

"Pretty much," I agreed. Both of those things I would do while working the case.

"I'm sorry the investigating stuff didn't work out," said Maddox
as I settled against him
. "But I've gotta say
,
I'm going to feel less worried about you temping than stalking people."

"I never stalked anyone." I'd
only
ridden along on a couple of surveillance cases with Solomon and Delgado while they explained how it worked and good operating procedures. That wasn't stalking though. It was following someone when they didn't know about it
,
and it was boring.

The other part of my training was with
Luca
s
,
back at the office
,
as he showed me all the computer programs I could use to find stuff out about people
. He
also gave
me an
insight
into hacking, a not
-
strictly
-
legal activity. Along with that, I spent time at the shooting range with my new gun and learning how the whole PI thing worked
, in theory anyway
. It had been a very educational couple
of
months. I suspected it would also be my last month if I didn't come up with the goods on my first solo mission.

"You're less likely to make enemies
temping," continue
d Maddox. "And it probably won't
force
you to drink."

I bit
hard on
my cone and chewed it.

"You've clearly never temped," I said.

Chapter Five

Maddox and I had planned to spend the rest of the afternoon together
,
but by the time he'd driven me home, his cell phone rang
,
calling him in to work.

"Bosses," I said with a shake of my head after he explained
.
"Can't get away from them."

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"You don't have to make anything up to me," I told him. I knew plenty about how cops worked. My father had missed plenty of dinners, games and homework sessions. My brothers were the same. It wasn't personal. It was business.

"But I will anyway. I don't know what I'll be doing over the next couple of days
,
but I'll call you soon. Good luck with the new job. At least
,
only
one of us has to work silly hours now." He pulled me to him and kissed me, then again, then some more. Then
he
did something very naughty with his hands. "I'll have to leave," he said. "Or the whole neighborhood will see me doing nasty things with Aunt Lexi in the back seat."

"The best bit about being a cop is that you can write them up for watching." I gave him a quick kiss and climbed out, waving as I walked through my front door, trying not to be too disappointed
at the direction of our date
.

That was the last I saw of Maddox for the weekend. By the time Lily had forced me into going to the gym with her
,
making
me run on the treadmill
before
an hour of yoga, I was too worn out to even think about doing things that would make the neighbors blush. Instead
,
we had a girly evening with nail polish and soppy movies
,
and Lily updated me on her Jord resolution.

The news was it was going
well
and she had a date with
Owen Anderson,
the cop from O'Grady's. The bad news was she didn't look as happy about her progress as she should be. I did the only thing I could do in a crisis. I got ice cream and two spoons.

"Want to come to lunch with me at my parents' tomorrow?"

"Will Jord be there?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I'll pass."

I understood. When my
short-lived
engagement
went
wrong, I couldn't stand seeing anything that reminded me of the dickwad. I couldn't eve
n drive past his parents' house
;
a
nd I hadn't been in love with him anywhere
near
as long as Lily loved Jord. Now I thought about it, the whole
engagement
had been blessedly fleeting.
And I learned how to shoot after
it was over
.

~

My mother was good to her word and made sure Serena was at Sunday lunch
,
though I didn't get chance to
speak to my sister
.
T
here was a full G
raves turnout, and lunch was moved from indoors to picnic blankets thrown on the lawn outside
,
with the kids running around, my siblings eating, and my parents residing over it all like t
he proud grandparents they were. As an added bonus, my dad was doing his
“M
an
M
ake
F
ire
”
thing over the barbecue. His apron read
,
“COP” just in case we had no idea what his former profession was.

"Maybe that'll be you soon," said Mom, nodding to Serena, rocking her daughter in the shade
as she lovingly looked upon her
. "Your Adam has lovely coloring. He'll make pretty babies."

"Getting ahead of yourself, Ma." We hadn't even tried picking out socks, never mind genetics. We'd only just pulled out the boyfriend/ girlfriend words.

"I live in hope," said Mom.
She patted my knee.
"You aren't getting any younger."

My ovaries winced.
"Thanks!"

"It's true," said Alice, leaning forward to pass a glass of fresh
-
squeezed lemonade. "Your fertility declines after thirty
-
five. You only have a few good years left."

"
Jeez
!"

"Do you get maternity benefits
with
this new job?" asked Mom. "A job with a hotel is a nice solid job to help you raise a baby. Or will you be a stay
-
at
-
home mom?"

"I'm not getting pregnant, okay?
Not by Adam.
"
They raised their eyebrows. “Or anyone else!”

Mom and Alice exchanged a look; a look that told me they didn't believe me, even though I'd
never
mentioned t
he desire to have a baby
, even
once
;
a
nd certainly not with a man I barely
k
new
,
even if I privately agreed
w
e would have beautiful offspring.

Rather than have the state of my uterus debated over by
my
mother and sister-in-law, I corne
re
d Serena and insisted she c
o
me over to my apartment for
the
rest of the afternoon. I think she'd
visited
th
ree times in the five years
that
I'd
lived
t
here, so I was surprised when she agreed.

Later,
after dragging
my hot
-
dog
ge
d self home,
when
b
aby Victoria lay on my living room rug, kicking her gorgeous
,
pink feet in the air and
making little popping noises
with her tiny lips
, I r
econsidered the baby thing. I
wouldn’t call
myself an overly maternal person, and my biological clock didn't seem to be ticking
very loudly
yet, but she made my ovaries hurt
in the very best way
. One day
,
I would probably want one of these little people more than I wanted patent leather
,
open-toe
d,
Christian Dior pumps. I suspected the shoes would be cheaper, more achievable and less likely to turn Maddox into an Olympic sprinter.

"I
want to hire you," said Serena as she wiped drool from Victoria’s mouth.

"Say what?" I took a break from cooing at my new niece,
and
wrenched my eyes away
from her rosebud pink lips
, a
s I
looked
at
her mother.

"I want to hire you," Serena said again, a little more slowly.

"What for?"

"It's...
delicate," she said
, blushing
.

"You have to tell me what it is
,
or I can't help," I pointed out as softly as I could.

Serena, unexpectedly, burst into tears. One moment
,
she was fine
; t
he next, her shoulders heaved
,
and fat tears slid down her cheeks.

I made sure Victoria was safe on the rug
, a barrier of pillows surrounding her
,
even though I knew the chances of her suddenly being able to roll were close to zero
. I
sat on the couch next to Serena, my arm lamely
flopping
around her shoulders. Instead of being comforted, she bawled her eyes out on me
;
then when the tears subsided, scrabbled in her purse for a tissue to
mop her face
.
She held another tissue to her nose and honked. Victoria jumped, little spit bubbles popping on her lips.

"Out with it," I said, mildly shocked. The last time I saw Serena cry was when Hannah Welles scored higher than
she
on the tenth grade spelling bee. Serena had never been beaten before, or
after
.

"I need a private investigator," Serena sniffed.

"I figured."

"It's Ted."

"What did he do?"

"I'm not sure yet." Serena sniffed loudly and her voice wobbled. "I think he's doing someone."

"A woman?"

"Oh God! Do you think he's doing a man?" Serena wailed.

"No, no! Uh, I don't know. I doubt it. He always seemed straight to me," I backtracked.
Really, knowing Ted was straight was one of the few times I was disappointed a man was batting on our team.
"What makes you think he's seeing someone else?"

"Receipts. Being late home. Not always being where he's supposed to be. Look at me, Lexi! I used to be a strong, intelligent woman
!
N
ow I'm crying over a man!"

"
Ted's not just any man, sweetie. H
e's your husband and I'd be crying too if I thought he was doing the dirty
to
me." I'd also cry if I married him, but that wasn't the point. "Tell me about the receipts."

"Flowers. Jewelry. Concert tickets."

"Could they be for a client?"

"What kind of lawyer gives their clients jewelry and sends roses?"

"Point taken. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to find out if he's seeing someone
,
and
if so,
who it is. I want evidence so I can divorce the bastard."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" People often thought that was what they wanted.
Flaherty had worked many
divorce cases
.
He
mentioned
more than
a few times that when people got the actual evidence, they rarely believed it. Sometimes they
even
blamed the investigator.

"If he's playing hide the salami in the punani
,
I want to know about it," said Serena. "He should be at home with me and our baby
,
not having it off with who knows who!"

"I agree."

Serena took on the same look she got when she determined that Hannah Welles would never outdo her again. "Plus
,
Ted is a malicious bastard. I want evidence in case he decides to divorce me."

"Why would he do that?"

"So he can get the house and the cars. He says I'm not the woman I used to be."
She tucked her hair behind her ears and sniffed.

He was right, she wasn't
,
but I suspected Ted stomping all over her for years had a lot to do with that. "Do you like who you are?"
I asked.

"Not really. I lost my job. The bastards made me redundant a week after Victoria was born. I dress like a mom!"

"You are a mom. You could dress in Hervé Léger and you'd still be a mom."

"I
could
be a sexy mom. I
could
be a MILF."

"What happened to post-baby boot camp?"

"I'm so tired
,
I can barely get out of bed in the morning. Victoria's great
,
but she doesn't know what sleeping means. I'm fat and my boobs leak."

"You're going to have to force yourself to go
if you really want to
," I pointed out.
"And you're not fat
,
b
ut back to Ted. Are you sure you don't want the boys to kneecap him?" Our brothers would gladly do it. They'd probably do it really well. I suspected they had been waiting for years.
They probably had diagrams.

"No. His alimony potential will go way down," said Serena, looking on the realistic side.

"Good thinking. I need everything you have on Ted already."

"So, you'll take the case?" Serena brightened.

"Yes, but I'll have to do it in my own time. I'll need anything you've found already. Suspect phone bills, receipts, credit c
ard
bills, places where he hangs out, his work schedule."

"How will you know if he's up to something?"