Wicked Obsessions (20 page)

Selena was determined to run interference with the detective to give Teri a chance to herd her sheep into cars and get away. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the reporters descending on Teri, but there was no way she could help with that too. The tobacco trick had worked. Any pictures they took of Teri would show a distraught, fragile woman. It had to be enough.

"Detective Kidder. How nice of you to come."

His gaze darted from Selena to Teri and back again several times before he accepted the fact that he wasn't going to be able to get to his primary target.

"Good morning, Selena. How's she holding up?"

Selena shrugged and stepped into her "dumb" character. "Oh, you know. Teri tries to be so strong for everybody else, but she cries all the time when we're alone."

"Really?" he asked, looking skeptical. "I thought they were getting divorced."

"Who told you that?"

"Mrs. Gambini. Why? Wasn't that the truth?"

"Of course it's true. Teri never lies. I just didn't think she had told that to anyone but me."

"You two are very close then?"

She nodded. "Best friends."

"Then perhaps you can help me help her."

Selena angled her head. "Sure. What can I do?"

"Just keep an eye on her. She's under a lot of stress right now. Does she have any other friends she can rely on?" When Selena didn't answer immediately, he got more specific. "Lady friends? Any men she's particularly close to?"

"I don't think so."

"What about that Mr. Marshall?"

"Drew Marshall? The new photographer?"

"Yes. They seem to be old friends."

Selena's mouth pursed. "Heavens no, they just met a couple weeks ago. Now that Rico's gone, I'm the only person she's really close to. I'm sure."

"Did you know Rico Gambini as well?"

"I only talked to him a few times. He was usually at work when I was at the studio with Teri."

"Would you say he was a ladies' man?"

Selena saw Teri's car finally driving away. And not a moment too soon. She did not want to answer any questions about Rico Gambini. "He liked women, if that's what you mean. But like I said, I hardly ever saw him when I was there."

"I see. I'd rather you didn't upset Mrs. Gambini by telling her I talked to you about this, but you might be able to guide me in the right direction here. Do you know if there are any blonde women among their acquaintances who Mr. Gambini might have been seeing on the side?"

Selena controlled her reaction to his question. "A blonde?" She pretended to wrack her pitiful brain. "No one comes to mind. Why?"

Kidder shook his head. "Nothing important. Just something that turned up during the investigation."

An alarm went off in her head. "How's that going? I've got to tell you, I think it's just so cool what you do. But I guess it's almost impossible to solve a murder when the mob's involved. Do you think you'll ever find that guy?" She noticed how he stood an inch taller after she flattered him. The man had an ego to play to. Now she would see if he also had an active libido.

"I doubt it. But I do expect to catch the murderer."

She giggled. "Ooh, detective, you said that just like one of those hot guys on a TV crime solving show." She made herself touch his arm and lean forward in a confidential manner. "That sure sounds like you don't think the guy we saw did it. Who do you think did?"

He grew another inch, but backed away from her. Adjusting the waist of his slacks, he stated, "Not completely sure yet. But I have an idea. And I'd appreciate any bit of information you might think of to help me out. We both want to solve this case quickly so that Mrs. Gambini's life can get back to normal, don't we?"

Selena gave him a big, innocent smile. "You can count on me, Detective. I'd do anything for Teri."

* * *

Not until much later that night, when she was in her own bedroom, did Selena let herself consider what Kidder had said at the funeral.

What had she overlooked that they had discovered in that apartment? She had been so careful about her hair. Yet they knew Rico had been with a blonde. That word had to be a key. The detective hadn't said long, white, or silver hair. He had definitely said blonde, which told her precisely what kind of hair it was and where it had been found. How could that have happened? She had shaved and scrubbed. There wasn't supposed to be any speck of herself left behind.

The fact that Kidder would not be given the opportunity to check the hair color between her legs was not enough. Nor could she be certain he wouldn't unexpectedly barge into the studio one day and catch her with her hair down... literally. The bottom line was that he now had a piece of evidence that could tie her to Rico's death, even if Kidder's suspicions weren't centered on her at this time.

But he was definitely suspicious of someone. Why couldn't the old man just accept the obvious? The average cop would have blindly followed the trail she'd left without hesitation.

She had really hated his harassment of Teri, but a certain amount of suspicion had been a possibility, until they saw the condition of the body. Kidder should have backed off by now, and he shouldn't have been hanging around the funeral asking personal questions.

If his sneaky little mind ever turned to her, all he needed was a DNA test on her hair to get a perfect match to the one they had.

Selena picked up the doll resting on the pillow beside her. "What do you think, Juliette? Do we need to make the snoopy old policeman go away?"

Not yet. It wouldn't be smart to take another risk so soon when he may still go away on his own. Let's wait and see.

It seemed to Selena that she had spent half her life waiting to see how people around her were going to behave.

* * *

"But Mommy, why do you have to get married again? After Daddy died, you promised it would just be the two of us."

"And it has been, baby, for four years. I know it's hard for you to understand, but you will when you get older. Tom's good to me... to us. He's not at all like your father. I love him, baby, and I want him to share our life. I'll still love you just as much as ever, but then you'll have his attention too. Doesn't he buy you pretty presents and treat you nice?"

Selena didn't want to give in, even if her mother did speak the truth. And she understood more about the man-woman thing than her mother imagined... especially after she had peeked into her bedroom late one night when her mother and Tom thought she was sleeping. Tom apparently made her mother very happy, happier than Selena could ever remember, but she still wasn't sure she wanted him living in their house.

"He's okay, I guess. Except for all that kissing and hugging."

Her mother giggled. "Oh, I don't know. I kind of like that part."

"Yeah, well, I don't. If he's going to marry you, tell him to keep his kisses all for you."

Her mother gave her a quick hug and laughed again. "Now, don't be such a pouty-puss. Tom is a very affectionate man. It's just his way to give hugs and kisses to people he cares about, and I know he already cares about you. I'll bet in no time he'll love you as much as I do. Don't worry, you'll get used to having a loving father for a change."

"Will I have to call him Daddy?"

"Not unless you want to."

Selena shrugged. She would decide what name fit him after he'd been around awhile. If he kept her mother smiling, maybe she could agree to call him Daddy. If not... well, if not, what she called him wouldn't matter anymore.

Chapter 12

For three days after the funeral, Teri didn't feel like doing anything but vegetating. She slept, ate, and slept some more. A dozen movies made the trip in and out of her VCR, but she couldn't recall what any of them had been about. It was as if her body and mind had decided she needed a vacation after the fiasco at the graveside and afterward in her home.

One of the less obnoxious reporters had told her the media had received an anonymous tip about the murder, but that it was their unofficial opinion that someone within the mob had spread the news. It was typical of them to take advantage of such a situation to promote their deadly reputation. As far as the media was concerned, news was news, and the bloodier the better.

Unfortunately, one newshound staked out her front yard so that he could take pictures and badger the relatives as they left. The result was that no one wanted to leave. Rico's family supplied the food and the womanpower to serve it and clean up afterward, but Teri was on the verge of collapsing when the last of them finally went home on Tuesday.

Everyone who had called since, even Selena and Drew, was asked to give her a few days before coming over.

By Wednesday morning she felt a bit more human, and when Selena called for the umpteenth time, Teri told her to come by. If nothing else, maybe she would sketch a little.

Drew's call that day also helped pick up her spirits. He had been asked to fill in for another photographer on a commercial shoot for a major Madison Avenue ad agency. He was optimistically hoping that the other's case of flu would be his big break, and Teri did also. It meant he would be out of town until Friday, but Teri assured him that although she would miss him, she would be fine... as long as he promised to come to dinner Friday night.

* * *

Kidder's time was almost up. In four days he had to report to Hell, and he knew he didn't deserve that sentence. The investigation that was supposed to save him had come to a screeching halt.

He thoroughly believed he had the whole picture but couldn't prove it. His old pal Hart wouldn't listen to him unless he could produce some solid evidence, or at least one witness to support his theory, no matter how much sense it made. Normally, he would have kept plodding along, searching for clues, tracking down the mysterious blonde accomplice to the murder. Normally, he wouldn't have to worry about a deadline. Hart thought he was crazy. Obsessed over what happened with Lydia. If he didn't come up with something substantial before they confined him to the Property Room, the captain would never assign another detective to follow Kidder's leads. Mrs. Gambini and her lover would get off scot-free.

He had no alternative except to jangle the weak link until it fell apart. It was time to shove Teri Gambini's back against the wall with a direct assault.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Selena," Teri said disgustedly as she set down her sketchpad. "I may as well forget it. My fingers don't want to listen to my brain today."

Selena clucked her tongue. "You're probably trying too hard. Let's just have some tea and talk awhile. I went to see that new musical comedy everybody's raving about."

For the next hour Selena kept Teri entertained with a blow-by-blow account of the play and what every person in the audience was wearing. They were both relaxed and smiling when someone knocked on the studio door.

Teri remembered to look out the window first. With an exasperated sigh, she told Selena it was Detective Kidder, and made herself count to ten before unlocking the door.

"Good morning, Detective Kidder. I hadn't expected to see you again."

He nodded curtly. "I have an important matter to discuss with you. May I come in?"

She hesitated a moment, wishing she had the courage to refuse, then stepped aside. "We were just—" She looked around the studio. For a second she thought Selena had vanished into thin air, until she saw the closed bathroom door. Turning back to Kidder, she saw him eyeing the two cups on the table. "Selena and I were just taking a break but we need to get right back to work. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, thank you." With hands clasped behind his back and a concerned frown on his face, he rocked back and forth on his heels a few times before speaking. "Have you given any more thought to our last conversation?"

Teri sat down and took a sip of her cooled tea. "To be quite honest, Detective, I don't
want
to think about any of it. In fact, I don't even remember what our last conversation was about."

He stopped rocking. "The blonde."

Teri couldn't stop the involuntary muscle twitch of her eyelid, but she tried to ignore it as she calmly replied, "If I recall, I agreed with your assumption, that she must have been the lure to get Rico into that apartment."