Death By High Heels (The Kim Murphy PI Series Book 1) (11 page)

“Kim?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, I must’ve zoned out there. What’d you say?”

“Never mind, it’s getting late.” He let go of my hand and stood up. I followed him to the door.

“Well, thanks for dinner.”

“You paid. I should thank you.”

“Next time we’ll have to try Italian.”

“Next time?

“When this case is over, I’d like to have a conversation that doesn’t include dead bodies.”

“What makes you think there’ll be a next time?”

Grant grabbed my arms and pulled me close.

“You know there’ll be a next time.” He leaned down, his mouth mere inches from mine, and his stupid phone rang.

“Ugh.” He grabbed his phone and barked into it. “Tompkins.” He listened for a minute before finally telling the voice on the phone he’d be there soon.

“Work, huh?” I asked.

“Lock up behind me. Uniforms will be running extra patrols through here for the next few days.” With that, he turned and left without saying anything about the almost kiss.

I’d been so angry with him for the past few months, yet whenever I was close to him, anger usually took a back seat to lust.

Getting involved with him would be a mistake. First of all, he never even apologized for arresting me. Second, he always acted so superior, bossing me around. Third, there was the tiny little detail about my dad being his boss. I also couldn’t forget what Jackie had said about the possibility he wasn’t single. It was driving me crazy. He didn’t wear a wedding ring and he sure as heck didn’t act married, not that it meant anything.

I yawned. The day had been a long one and I was ready for it to be over. I stuck the leftovers in the fridge and stuck the dishes in the sink. I’d deal with them and a bunch of other things tomorrow. Remembering Grant’s warning, I checked that the doors were locked before heading upstairs. In my room, I stripped out of my clothes and tossed on a tank top and a pair of boxer-short pajama bottoms. A quick stop in the bathroom and I was ready for bed.

***

Some idiot was leaning on my doorbell. That was the only explanation I had as to why it wouldn’t stop. Prying my eyes open, I glanced at the clock. I’d only been asleep for a few hours. I so did not like middle of the night visitors. I was debating what to do when my phone rang. What the hell was going on? My heart began to race. Bad things happened in the middle of the night. You never got good news past eight at night.

My hands shook as I grabbed the phone and answered.

“Hey, Kim, it’s Darlene.”

I couldn’t figure out why the police dispatcher was calling me but she had my attention. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I’ve got an officer who’s been ringing your doorbell for the past five minutes. The guy was about to bust your door down. He was afraid something happened to you on his watch. I told him to keep his boxers on and I’d try calling you. Hang on a second and let me tell him you’re okay.”

There was a click and Darlene was gone. A few seconds and another click later and she was back.

“Not that I wouldn’t love to chat with you, Darlene, but what’s wrong?” I asked again, not sure I wanted the answer.

“On his sweep through he noticed you had a flat tire. Trouble is it had a knife stickin’ out of it. I told him to meet you at your back door.”

“Oh, he doesn’t have to do that. I’ll deal with it in the morning.”

“Sweetie, he has to so a report can be filed. This is official police business. Make sure it’s Stevens before you open that door. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”

“No, that’s okay. Thanks, Darlene.”

“Anytime, sweetie, bye-bye.”

I flipped on the light and searched for my keys. It never failed, whenever I was in a rush I managed to misplace things. Dumping my purse on the bed, I found them and raced down the stairs. I peeked through the blinds and sure enough, Officer Stevens was waiting for me.

“Evening, Miss Murphy. Sorry to bother you.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Thanks for spotting it.”

“No problem. The tech guys’ll be here any minute. They’re gonna dust for prints and they’ll take the damaged tire as evidence.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll go inside and call AAA. There’s no telling how long it’ll take them to get here.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. You have a spare, right?”

“Yeah, in the trunk.”

“Good. We’ll make sure to put the spare on for you before we leave.”

“Oh jeez, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem. Heck, we’ll have the car up to take off the damaged one, we might as well finish it up.”

“Well, thanks.”

“It didn’t look like whoever did this got inside your car, but I thought we should check just in case.”

“Oh, sure.”

We walked over to my car, careful not to touch anything. Officer Stevens turned his flashlight on and we both peered inside.

“You’re right,” I said. “The inside is fine.”

“That’s a relief. One less headache for ya anyway.”

I smiled.

“So, any idea who’d want to do this?”

“The list is long,” I joked.

He laughed. “Any names stand out more than the others?”

“Honestly, other than my ex, I haven’t managed to piss off too many people lately.”

“Your ex, huh? What’s his name?” he asked, a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other.

As much as I’d love to have my ex questioned by the police, I’d never give him the opportunity to claim police harassment. “No, I was just kidding about him.”

“Now you know if you’re being hassled, we can help.”

“Really, I was joking. Besides, do you think someone would really be stupid enough to bother me knowing about my dad and brothers? That would be suicidal.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Luckily for me, the lab techs arrived before my mouth could get me into any more trouble. Twenty minutes later, the techs had taken pictures and removed the tire with the knife as evidence. Since there weren’t any all-night tire stores, and if there were, I wasn’t going, they put the spare on and I assured them I’d get a new one on in the morning.

The driver’s side of my car looked dirty thanks to all the powder they used to check for fingerprints. There was the awkward moment when they requested to take mine to rule them out and I had to remind them I was already in the system.

I thanked everyone and signed the report. Before I could make it back inside, Grant tore into the parking lot, lights flashing. At that point I was just grateful he’d had the good sense not to use the siren. With all the activity, we had already caused enough of a spectacle.

The car had barely come to a complete stop when Grant got out and raced over to me.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Just a little ticked off.”

“Ticked off? Why aren’t you on your way to the hospital?”

“I’ll pass, thanks. I’ve spent enough time there lately,” I replied.

“Wait a minute. Weren’t you stabbed with a knife?”

“I wasn’t, but my tire sure as heck was.”

“Hey, detective, we’re done here. So, I think you’ve got this,” Officer Stevens said.

“Before you go, call in a request for extra patrols through here.”

“Already done.” He turned toward me. “Good night, Miss Murphy.”

“Good night, and thanks again.”

Grant waited until we were alone to speak.

“What am I going to do with you?”

I had a few suggestions, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about sex. At least not right now.

“Oh jeez, you’re shivering. Let’s get you inside.”

The poor man was being a gentleman, assuming I was cold when all I really wanted to do was get him naked and take care of my sexual drought. I let him lead me inside my apartment. He locked the door behind us. Oh my, maybe he did get it. I walked toward the stairs and stopped when I realized he wasn’t behind me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to sleep on the couch in case you get any more unwanted visitors.”

Seriously? The man was so hot I’d seen women walk into street signs while staring at him. There was also the lady who tripped over a chair, though that one was kind of funny. Yet here he was in my apartment, and instead of ripping my clothes off, he was planning to sleep on the couch. Swell. It wasn’t like one more sex-free night was going to return my virginity or anything, but damn.

“I’m sure the idiot is done for the night.”

“I’m staying.”

“Suit yourself.”

I stomped up the stairs, stripped out of my clothes, and crawled under the covers. I spent the next few hours tossing and turning. I was just about to call it quits and go downstairs in search of chocolate when my bedroom door opened. For a second I wondered if I could reach my gun, but then I realized just who it was walking toward me. He was the reason for my tossing and turning and my sexual frustration.

“Kim?”

“What’s wrong? You need another blanket?”

Instead of answering me, Grant walked over to the bed and crawled under the covers. I rolled over toward him. “Did you get lonely down there?” I asked.

“I couldn’t sleep. How about you?”

“No.”

“Maybe we should do something about that?”

My heart was pounding so loud I was surprised he didn’t have to shout over it. The mere thought of what I wanted him to do to me had my panties wet. “Oh God, yes.”

Chapter Eight

Wednesday

I hit the snooze button a dozen times before dragging myself out of bed. Just as things were getting hot and heavy last night, Grant had called a halt to our activity. He had claimed some bull about not wanting to take advantage of me. I was so horny it had taken everything I had not to beg him for it, protecting what little pride I had left.

Half a pot of coffee later I made it to Lakeview Gym and began my daily torture session. Twenty minutes into my workout I had to call it quits, thanks to my liquid motivation. I hopped off the treadmill and pretended not to notice the snarky look of the woman next to me. Since I planned on returning to the gym, I didn’t give in to my juvenile urge to flip the bird. My mom would be so proud.

I rushed off to the bathroom. I was washing my hands when I heard the door open. Looking up in the mirror, I spotted Maria walking toward me, followed closely behind by her hangers on. It had been a whole twelve hours since someone had driven me crazy, so yeah, I guessed I was due.

Alone, I could take her. She’d fight dirty, but so could I. With her little posse eager to please her I’d be lucky to get out in one piece. There was only one exit and queen bitch stood between it and me. Ignoring her wouldn’t be an option. Picking a fight wasn’t one either. Plastering on my best fake smile, I turned toward her, eager to avoid a scene. “Maria, twice in one week, I can’t believe it.”

“Kim, what a surprise.” She looked me up and down. “I never would have expected to see you here.” Her clones giggled at their leader’s wit.

“Yes, it’s so much easier to work out regularly than to spend my vacation recovering from liposuction.” It was my turn to smirk while the trio gasped.

There was no way Maria would let me go without peeling a layer of skin off for my act of betrayal. Maria had shared with everyone unfortunate enough to be in her presence all about her
vacation
to the Caribbean, but she had let it slip to Brenna that she had really gone to California to get some work done—like a boob job and a butt lift. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from laughing. It was my dumb luck Maria was quick to recover. The shocked expression on her face was replaced by a smile that revealed the bleached teeth in her mouth. This was going to be bad.

“Yes, you know how it is having a career and being a wife and mother. Not to mention all the charities I volunteer for. Oh, that’s right. You don’t know. You don’t have kids and, well, you’re divorced.”

Her cohorts smiled, providing her all the encouragement she needed. “It must be so difficult not being able to keep your man satisfied. How many women did he sleep with while he was married to you? Next time you might want to hurry up and get pregnant. Maybe that way you can hang on to him.” Maria turned to bask in the glow of her royal subjects.

“Yes, my ex did have a thing for bleach blonde sluts. Were you number twelve or thirteen?” I brushed past the trio of bitches, careful not to touch them.

I made it to the door, freedom was a mere step away, but I couldn’t resist one last dig. “Oh, by the way, your roots are showing.” I hurried out, but just before the door closed I heard her shout, “Bitch.”

No longer interested in working out I headed toward the parking lot. Jeez, this sucked. If she-bitch was a member, I would have to seriously consider changing gyms. I’d only been going to this one for a few months but I liked it, as much as I could like a place that contained evil machines that made you sweat and hate every moment you were there.

I’d never be able to focus knowing there was a possibility Maria was lurking somewhere. Maybe I could fix it so she got kicked out. I had no idea how I’d do it, but she had to go. I couldn’t afford to change gyms, but she could. It seemed fair to me.

Back home, I took a shower and got dressed in my standard work uniform of jeans and a t-shirt; today’s color choice was red. After drying my hair and adding some makeup, it was time to consider my breakfast options. A quick scan revealed my choices were nonexistent since someone, me, had forgotten to go grocery shopping. Well, it seemed I’d have to fit in a trip to the grocery store soon. Just great. Where was a fairy godmother when you really needed one? Huh, so much for fairy tales and happily ever after. For now, my stomach was empty and needed food. I grabbed my purse, got in my car, and headed straight for the nearest McDonald’s drive-thru.

Once inside my office, I sat at my desk and started in on my breakfast of an Egg McMuffin, a hash brown, and a large coffee. A couple of bites in, the front door opened and closed. Just great, a client showed up and I was stuffing my face. What a way to instill confidence. Before I could get up and welcome my visitor, Grant stomped into my office.

“What are you doing here? If you’re checking on my virtue, it’s a little late.”

“Why do you have a cell phone if you’re not going to answer it?” Grant asked, ignoring my witty repartee.

“What are you talking about?” I pulled my phone from my purse and looked at the screen. Naturally, the battery was deader than my niece’s goldfish, Bubbles. She was currently on Bubbles number four, or was it five? I’d lost count. Every time one went belly up, my sister would dispose of the body and run to the pet store for a new Bubbles.

“Kim, are you listening?”

“Sorry,” I muttered, tossing the useless phone into my purse. “What’s up?”

“Angie Davis. When was the last time you saw her?”

“What?”

“Answer the question,” he growled.

“The other night at The Spitting Parrot. Why?”

“What was she doing with your business card?”

“I gave her one. What’s the big deal?”

“Did you write on the back of it?”

“No. What’s going on?” I asked, nausea threatening to empty my stomach of what little I had eaten.

“Did you agree to meet her again?”

I remained silent. Whatever was going on was bad and I had to be very careful how I answered.

“Kim!”

“Okay, okay, jeez. Yeah, she couldn’t talk at work, so we agreed to meet yesterday for lunch. She was a no-show.”

“So then you went to her apartment looking for her?” he asked, though it was obvious he already knew the answer.

“Yeah, so?”

“Last night one of our patrols found her car behind the abandoned movie theater out on Route 48.”

I swallowed down the bile that threatened to escape. “Was…was she in it?”

“No. All we found were her keys in the ignition and your business card in the cup holder.” Grant leaned on the back of a chair, his face covered by his hands.

There was something he wasn’t telling me. Homicide didn’t investigate missing persons unless there was enough evidence to suggest the missing person was dead. I had to know what happened.

Grant stood back up and sighed. “Kim Murphy, where were you yesterday between two p.m. and eight p.m.?”

I gave him the rundown of my day from waiting at the restaurant for Angie up until he arrived at my place last night, omitting the part about Brandon’s involvement.

“Can anyone corroborate your whereabouts?”

I hesitated. Mentioning the waitress would send Grant running off to talk to her. While it was possible she’d remember me, she most certainly would remember I hadn’t been alone.

“I…don’t know. Sorry. So do you think Angie met up with someone and took off or what?”

“Leaving her keys in the car wasn’t smart.”

“Maybe she thought she’d be right back.”

“Not likely,” he muttered.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Grant ignored my question. “You might want to get an attorney.” He turned to leave.

I jumped up and ran around the desk, blocking his exit. “What the hell are you talking about? Why do I need a lawyer?”

“Kim, you know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation with you.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you told me Angie was missing.”

Grant grabbed my arms, his eyes narrowed, his face flushed. After all this time I should have known better than to anger him, but I could not seem to stop myself.

“You are so frustrating.”

“Looked in a mirror lately?”

My skin tingled under his grip. This was so not the time to notice his lips were mere inches from mine. Eyes that resembled storm clouds would so not appreciate where my thoughts had traveled. Realizing this was not a good idea, I stepped back and took a deep breath, hoping the distance would clear my head.

Grant shook his head as if to clear his own thoughts. “Stay away from this case. All your interfering is doing is causing more work for the professionals.”

“I am a professional,” I snapped.

“Yeah, one step up from a night guard at an empty lot.”

“Funny. Is that the best the big bad homicide detective can come up with?”

If this had been a cartoon, steam would have poured from Grant’s ears while his head whistled like a teapot. I would have giggled at the image but knew if I did, Grant would have me in handcuffs before I could move.

“Have you ever thought that maybe your meddling could be endangering peoples’ lives?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Maybe you’re asking people questions that are making the real killer nervous and he or she is getting rid of anyone who might know something.”

“Then I’m doing the right thing.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“No, are you?”

“You should be locked up! You’re not only a danger to yourself, you’re a danger to the public.”

“Screw you!”

“Not now, I’ve got work to do, but if you keep offering, I might just have to take you up on it.”

“Ugh, get out!”

“Gladly!” He stomped past me and slammed the door on his way out.

God, he could be so smug and arrogant. Then, other times, he could be sweet and funny a little voice in my head reminded. There really should be a mute button for that dang voice. I sat down at my desk and spotted my forgotten breakfast. Now cold. I tossed it in the trash. Desperate for caffeine, I took the cup into the kitchen and nuked the coffee in the microwave. As I waited for the ding, I wondered what could have happened to Angie. Jeez, I hoped she was okay. Was Grant right? Was my investigation causing more harm than good? I wasn’t sure, but I had to press on, not only for Lindsay, or me, but for Brian’s family. They deserved to know who killed him. The only way they would get closure was to see the person or persons responsible in jail. Though Ohio had the death penalty, it was rarely used. Being Catholic, I was supposed to be against it, but there were some monsters on Earth walking around as human beings that really did need to be exterminated.

Six months ago I had, in a sense, administered the death penalty when I had pulled the trigger. It was difficult knowing I had ended a life, no matter how much of an evil monster he was.

My large, loving family had surrounded me with love and support, almost smothering me with their kindness. It was my mom who had suggested I talk with Father Steve. I had balked at first, but eventually agreed, thanks to her pushing.

I hadn’t been to confession for some time—like, before I got married. I thought it would be a little weird. I was wrong. It was very freaking weird. I mean, I was admitting to killing someone. It didn’t matter that the guy kidnapped me and framed me for a murder he committed all before trying to kill me. There was this whole
Thou Shalt Not Kill
thing. That was pretty straight forward. There was no other way to interpret that.

After what seemed like forever for the both of us, Father Steve finally tried to convince me God loved me and had forgiven me. I still was not sure about that, but at least the half dozen times I’d attended Mass since then I hadn’t been struck down or heard God telling me to get out, so it seemed Father Steve knew what he was talking about. I guessed. I’d know for sure when it was my time. Not that I was in any rush, especially if the good Father was wrong. Eternity in a place that required an SPF of one billion didn’t really seem like my kind of place.

It took two cups of coffee before I had worked up the nerve to call Jackie. As usual she had the inside information and was willing to share—for a price. Today she was in an extremely good mood. She didn’t even attempt to blackmail me into babysitting duties or anything else. I filled her in on what little I knew before asking for details.

“Well, you already know almost everything, except that they found blood in the lady’s car.”

“Blood?”

“Yup, not a lot. So, if she bled out, it wasn’t in the car.”

“Oh God.”

“Sorry I don’t have better news.”

“Not your fault.”

“No, but sometimes it sucks being the messenger.”

I laughed. “It sure does, but I’m pretty fond of this messenger.”

“Thanks, back at ya. Oops, gotta go, my other line’s ringin’. See ya Saturday.”