Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (43 page)

"This
is the one I want," I told him, giving the weapon a friendly pat.

"Are you going to tell me why you need it?"

"Just to keep at home." I shrugged like it didn't matter.

"With you and Lily on your own
,
I guess it's a good idea to have some extra security."

"Right," I agreed.

We both thought about the Finklesteins. I hoped Garrett
assumed that
West Montgomery was
just
getting to be a bad neighborhood
,
and not that I was the target. He looked at me for a long time before he said,
"We can set you up in a few days."

"I can't go get one now?"

"Baby steps. It's a gun, not a new sweater." I followed
Garrett
out
of
the range, waiting while he exchanged hellos with some buddies in the small lo
bby. I climbed in the car along
side him
,
but he didn't turn the engine on right away. Instead, he said, "You can tell me if something is wrong. I'm not going to blab to the rest of the family. Not even Traci, if you say not to."

"Nothing is wrong, honest."

"I gotta admit, Lexi, I'm kinda worried. The Finklesteins turn up dead outside your place, I get why you want a gun. But you wanted one before that and you were asking
about
Maddox. Then he turns up and you two seem to know each other. Something doesn't smell right."

"I may not be a cop, but we're a cop family. Of course
,
I know other cops."

"That doesn't really answer anything. So, I'm going to ask you again, Lexi, are you in any kind of trouble? Something you don't want to tell me about perhaps?
‘
C
au
s
e
I gotta tell you, after fifteen years on the force, I've seen everything." I was quiet a long while, thinking what I could say. Evidently,
Garrett
got bored because he asked, "Is it Lily? Is Lily okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine."

"So it is you." This time it wasn't a question.

"Yeah, it's me.
Garrett
, you can't tell anyone about this." And despite orders
to the contrary
, I told him
,
because
Garrett
wasn't just on any team, he was on my team and he was a cop.
And someone had left me the deadheaded roses and the creepy message, neither of which thrilled me to the core.

I told him about finding Dean and seeing the Finklesteins get rid of his body, then how Maddox
and I got out of
there
,
and
how
I found out he was a cop running an investigation
with the FBI
. I omitted plenty of stuff. There was no need to mention my breaking and entering moment, or the rediscovery of Martin Dean, or the stuff at the club
,
or when Lily and I visited Tara Henderson. I did tell him that I'd been snooping around the office.

"I can't believe Maddox got you mixed up in this."
Garrett
's face was impossible to read
.
I saw
him look similar when his oldest kid
got suspended
after being caught spraying graffiti on the school gym's wall. It was his quiet, contemplative look while he decided whether to explode or not.

"He's just doing his job."

"He's putting you in danger because he wants a result."

"It's not like that."

Garrett
inclined his head to look at me. "Please don't tell me he turned his puppy dog eyes on you and told you that you were part of the team."

"Actually his joint taskforce boss at the FBI approved it."

"Jesus!"

"No, his name is Matt Miller."

"This isn't a game,
Lexi. You got mixed up with
the Finklesteins,
so
someone means business. You did the right thing in applying for the permit. You should get a gun, but you can't carry it. You need a concealed
weapon
permit for that."
Garrett
leaned his head on the
neck
rest and closed his eyes. "I'll talk to Maddox's lieutenant tonight. We'll put you somewhere safe until whatever this is
blows
over."

"No.
Garrett
, I'm okay. Really, I am."

"Has he got someone watching you?"

"Not that I know of. But he had a car p
ark
ed
at
my house after I found the Finklesteins."

"You shouldn't be wandering around."

"I'm not, I'm with you and Maddox picked me up this morning. You want me to come and stay at your house? Put Traci and the kids in danger? Or how about
M
om and
D
ad? I don't think so, Gar'."

"You could stay with Jord?"

"Have you seen his apartment? Bachelor hell. It's covered in sports equipment and his
room
mate's girly magazines."

"You could take Lily. That would put her off Jord."

We laughed and took a moment to think about that. I wasn't sure what would put Lily off Jord, but
after seeing
her get
-
up for
working the door at Flames, I did
n't think a few editions of skin mag
azine
s would put her off
in the least
.

"The moment I disappear, or
leave to
stay with one of you guys, anyone
who
is watching me
wi
ll smell a rat. Right now, all I can do is
try to
be normal. Go to work, go home, hang out," I explained. "Just be normal."

Garrett
slammed the wheel and the horn honked, making us both jump, then laugh again. "I want you to get a tracker and keep it on you, a
long with
an alarm. Then I'm going to talk to Maddox. Next time you see him, he might have two black eyes and be walking funny."

"I'll buy some ice." I didn't tell him that Maddox already bugged my cell phone.

"Let's get you home. I want to check the security on your place."

"It's shit," I told him. "But I have a carving knife."

"You ever carve anything with it?"

"No, but it's under my pillow
,
just in case I
get the urge to slice something in the dark
."

"
Jeez
."

Garrett
brought me home,
staying for
a
long
while to poke around my apartment and make a list of
all the
security improvements it needed
.
E
verything
,
apparently,
needed securing after seeing
the way he rattled the windows and played with the door locks
.
After he left, muttering under his breath,
Serena called in a panic and asked me to stop by her house
, hanging up before I could ask why
. Lily poked her head out of her door when I was on my way downstairs
,
so I figured that made it okay to strong
-
arm her into coming with me.

"Want to go out for dinner on the way back?" she asked.

I did. I really did. I wanted to go out and have a nice meal and a few glasses of wine and arrive home
,
feeling warm and safe. Unfortunately
,
after
Garrett
's lecture
,
I also had a healthy dose of paranoia and I wanted to lock my doors and hide in the closet, right after I made sure no one else was
already
in there.

"Let's pick something up," I suggested. "My treat. Chinese?"

"You're on."

Lily drove, seeing as she had to run a coup
le of errands on the way. "W
hat does Serena want?" she asked.

"She didn't say. Just that it was important."

When we got there and knocked, I heard Serena weakly calling, "It's open!" so I pushed the door and went in,
saying
, "Hello?"

"Kitchen!"

"What's wrong?" I asked, clipping along the hallway, Lily
at
my heels. Serena stood hunched over in the kitchen, hands on thighs, breathing hard, a puddle of water by her feet.

"My water broke."

I looked down
at the puddle
around her toes
. "Actually
,
I think you smashed a glass."

Serena looked up and frowned
,
then tried to look over her sizeable bump. "Are you sure? My belly is really tight."

"Maybe you're having those Braxton Hicks thingies?" suggested Lily.
“It’s too early to go into labor.”

"Oh. Maybe." Serena levered herself into an upright position and blinked. "I guess if that was labor
,
it was a lot easier than I thought it would be."

"You'll know when you're in labor," said Lily, taking Serena by the arm and guiding her to the living room
. Mean
while
,
I plundered the cabinets for a dustpan to brush up the glass and a
dish
cloth to mop the floor.

"Is this why you called me over?" I asked. "Where's Ted? You should have called him if you thought you were in labor."

"Yes
,
and
I
don't know," Serena replied as Lily settled a pillow under her back
. She
a
lso
moved the
footstool
so Serena could put her feet up. "I called him and he said he had a business dinner and couldn't make it."