Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (40 page)

Ten minutes later, curiosity
gnawing
at me, I crawled over to the window, kneeling up to peek out. They were still there. I lowered myself to the floor and sat against the wall for a moment, thinking. There
was something off about the car’s occupants. Why weren’t they inside visiting
or something
?

O
n my hands and knees, I crawled to the hallway and rooted through the console for the binoculars my dad
once
randomly g
ave
me for my birthday two years ago. I twisted off the lens caps and, feeling like an idiot, crawled back to the window, placing the binoculars on the sill. Kneeling up again, I placed my eyes to the sights and peered through, adjusting the lens and scanning until I had a clear view inside the car.

Something was definitely off alright.

I cr
ept
back to the hallway,
closing the living room door
behind me
. Standing up,
now blocked from view,
I
grabbed my
keys and cell phone and
tugged on my jacket,
then
went into the kitchen for a carving knife
,
which I slid in
to the waistband of my jeans. I
pulled my sweatshirt over the top.

"Don't be scared, don't be scared," I chanted as I ran down the steps, wrenched the door open and strode across the road to the car. Hopping onto the sidewalk, I stooped
down to look through the window. My stomach rolled over
into a knot
.

From my apartment
and binoculars,
I wasn't sure, but close up
,
I recognized the occupants. They were the men who killed Martin Dean.

Even worse, their glassy, dead eyes stared
straight
ahead. E
ach had a
hole
in the center of his forehead that wept congealing blood. Something was pinned to the driver's coat, but I couldn't make out the words
;
and there was no way in hell I was going to open the car door
to get
a closer look.

With shaking hands, I
dialed
911, reported two dead males and gave my address and name.

"Lexi, honey, it's Traci," said the dispatcher when I finished.

"Traci?" I
di
dn't recognize her voice as I shakily gave the details. "I didn't realize."

"Of course not, honey. You just got corpsed. You want me to call your mom and dad?"

"No, they'll just worry." And probably demand I move in with them. I could
cope with
the corpses two feet away better than the emotional blackmail.

"Sure. Sit tight,
sweetie
. Someone's on the way."

I heard a siren in the distance and Traci kept me on the line until a marked car turned
o
nto the street. I didn't recognize the officer, but he seemed to know me, and he made me stand by
his
car while he checked on the bodies
. First he took
a cursory glance
,
then
after
opening the doors
, he
placed
two fingers to their throats.

"Definitely dead," he said, shutting the door. "You just find them like this?"

I nodded. "They were dead when I came out."

"What did you come out for?"

"They hadn't moved since I got home."

"You see the note?"

"No."

"Did you touch anything?"

"No. I just looked through the window."

"Okay." The officer turned as anoth
er squad car drew up behind his
and two more officers got out. Five minutes later
,
the street te
e
m
ed
with people and the medi
c
al examiner
was
called. I leaned against the squad car
,
shivering
as
my brother's SUV pulled up, double parking across my car and Lily's.
Garrett
got out, followed by Daniel. Jord climbed out
of
the back seat
with
a shaky looking Ted
behind him
.

"Traci called," said
Garrett
, crossing the road and giving me a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just cold."

"Where's Lily?" asked Jord, looking around.

"On a date. She wasn't here."

"A date?" Jord's lips set in
to
a thin line.

"Yeah, with a guy
who’s not
afraid to go out with her."

Daniel punched Jord on the shoulder.

"I'm not afraid," said Jord
straight away
. "I don't want to date Lily."

Garrett
raised an eyebrow and Daniel laughed. Even Ted giggled, his face getting redder.
"I'd do her if I wasn't married,
"
said Ted
,
thrust
ing
his hips.

Jord's fists clenched as he turned to Ted
,
and I stepped between them.

"I can't believe we're related to that asshole," said Daniel, in a low voice
when I steered Jord away
. "I swear
,
he
was
hit
ting
on the waitress at
O’Grady’s
."

"Eugh
!
I hope you left her a big tip."

“Huge. And we had to promise the manager not to
ever
bring Ted again.”

Garrett
went over to talk to the first officer on the scene,
and Daniel
remained
, his arm around me,
as Maddox showed up. After what seemed like a short, tense chat, and a few glances in my direction,
Garrett
and Maddox walked over to us.
Maddox shook hands with Daniel.

"Does the name Finklestein mean anything to you?" asked
Garrett
.

"Nothing."

"You ever seen these two before?" he persisted.

I looked over at Maddox, wondering what I should say
.
He gave
a tight shake of his head.

"Don't know," I said, which was the closest thing to not lying outright to my brother's face. Fortunately
,
I was saved from anymore questioning by a kerfuffle
next to
the dead men's car
. W
hen I looked over
,
I saw Ted being muscled backwards, his face going from red to white. We all jumped back as he doubled over and vomited at the curb.

"Can you take him home and clean him up?" I pleaded with my brothers. "Serena will kill you if she thinks you didn't take Ted out for a nice, quiet drink and a game of golf."

"We did take him out for a nice, quiet drink," protested Daniel.

"It was when we took him to Tito's Topless Bar and Grill that things got out of hand," added Jord.

"
Jeez
."
“
Topless
”
and
“
grill
”
were two words that didn’t need to be in the same sentence.

“Blame Ted. We could have stayed
at
O’Grady’s,” said Jord.

"The corpse show was a nice
nightcap
though," said Daniel, moving to slap Ted on the back. "Take a good look at the dead dudes, Ted?"

"Can we do this next week?" asked Ted, straightening up
,
but
swaying.

"No," my brothers all said
in unison
.

"Guys, go home. I'm going back to my apartment."

"One of us should stay with you,"
suggest
ed
Garrett
.

"I'll stay with her," said Maddox. Kudos to him, he didn't
flinch
when my brothers turned to him; kudos to them for not smacking their fists into their palms.
"I know Lexi," he said.

"How, exactly, do you know my sister?" asked
Garrett
, and, like a wall of a muscle, the three of them stepped closer.
Ted slumped against the SUV and blinked.
The big wimp.

"Mind your own," I said. "Maddox, meet
Garrett
—I think you know each other already—and th
ese are
Daniel and Jord, my
other brothers. T
hat's my brother-in-law
, Ted
. If you don't know each other already, this is Detective Adam Maddox."

"
Yeah, w
e know each other," said
Garrett
, his eyes flicking from Maddox to me. "You sure you want him to stay with you? It's not a problem if you want family instead."

"Yes, already. Now can you please clean Ted up?"
I pleaded.

"Call me if you want to stay at
my place
," said
Garrett
. "I can come by after dropping these idiots off."

"Appreciated
,
but no thanks
. Good night."

My brothers made a proprietary show of giving me a hug, and kissing my cheek, but I drew the line at Ted, not just because he reeked
,
but because I didn't like him
.
I side
-
stepped him and headed towards my house, Maddox at my side.