Only One Man Will Do (17 page)

She breathed in a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ll probably be feeling better by then. It’s just that with Tom’s death and all…and now Jim’s too. I’m feeling really freaked out. I need some alone time to process everything that’s been happening.”

He leaned forward to brush his lips against hers.

“Until Wednesday, then.”

He reached over and finished opening her door and shut it behind her when she was in the seat. She pulled her seatbelt on and forced herself to smile at him once she had rolled the window down.

“Good-night, Dmitri.”

He nodded and stood back as she drove out of the parking lot. Her last view of him was seeing him watching her drive off in the rearview mirror as she pulled into the street.

She held herself together until she got her car parked and was up in her condo. Then her control broke and she cried, long and hard. She mourned her murdered friends who had been her lovers. That was bad enough.

But to think that Dmitri might be the one who killed them? What the fuck for? To get me to himself? He’s been doing a good job of that already…no need to kill anyone.

Is he capable of murder? Of course he is! He as much as told me he has killed before. He might have done this. He knows how to take a life. But is it him? How can the hands that make me so crazy with lust, be the same hands that pulled a trigger and killed Jim? How can the man who has moved so far into my life and my heart, be the one who killed Tom, whose whole life was ahead of him?

Holy shit! And what am I going to do about it? Cover for him? Or turn him in? And if I turn him in and he finds out, will he kill me too?

I’ve never been in love before. No man has ever been able to crawl so far into my head that I’d even consider covering for him, or lying for him. What am I gonna do?

It was late when she finally crawled into bed, the help she sought from the Reverend Jack Daniels only partially quieting the voices yelling in her head. What little sleep she got was fitful and not at all relaxing. She woke up almost more tired than she was the day before. Now she felt a bone-weariness that threatened to make her unable to even get out of bed. But there was a funeral to go to and she owed it to Tom to lead the other bikers in honoring him by riding along with him to his final resting place.

Alexandra dressed as if it was a Friday night and she was heading to the bar. The fact that she was drinking lots of coffee since it was morning leant a sense of surrealism to everything. Not that she needed anything else to remind her of the nightmare her life had become.

She picked out the business suit she’d change into when she raced back after the funeral, when she exchanged her Harley for her SUV. While taking a final look at herself in the mirror she stuck out her tongue.

You look like shit, girl! Dark circles under your eyes…everyone’s gonna see you’re not getting any sleep. And your eyes look haunted. If that cop is there he’s gonna know you’re hiding something. I did give him Dmitri’s phone number, but I’m betting he’s smart enough not to answer a call from a number he doesn’t recognize.

I’ll bet the detective will be at the funeral, but Dmitri won’t. So much for being my support in my time of need. Fuck it all…time to head out.

* * * *

As she strode into the funeral chapel for the service before the procession to the cemetery, Alexandra kept her head high and her shoulders thrown back, emphasizing the size of her breasts that were barely contained in the leather halter she wore under her leather vest. Her upper arm tattoos were on display, and that, combined with her monumental cleavage and skin-tight jeans, caused plenty of loud whisperings of disapproval from those already gathered in the room. She had expected it and ignored it.

She kept her sunglasses on to hide her eyes as she walked in, and looked around for the others she knew were there because she had counted the Harleys in the lot. She was the last one to get there, and they only had to wait a few minutes before the minister made his way to the front of the room to begin the prayers that would lead up to the sealing of the coffin.

As he spoke she looked around for Dmitri, but didn’t see him anywhere. But as she had suspected, Detective Jones was there, studying the gathering with impassioned eyes, since after all, this was just another part of his job.

After the prayers were done, everyone was invited to walk by the casket one more time to say their final farewells to Tom. His mom and brother were the first ones to approach him, and they remained there, huddled close to each other, the younger man trying hard to be strong for his weeping mother. The extended family members and friends were next, lining up to say goodbye before they headed out to their cars to get ready for the procession.

Finally once everyone else had been up, Alexandra led her gang up to take their last leave of their companion. Alexandra was the first one to stand with tears in her eyes, as she leaned over and gently kissed Tom’s lips one last time.

She stood to the side with his mother and brother as the rest of her gang took their leave.

Bob put a pack of Tom’s favorite cigarettes into the casket with him. Steve put in a pint of Jack Daniels. Katie put in a nosegay of flowers.

Chuck added a pack of poker cards, “In case he gets bored.”

Angela put in a photograph from her ultrasound, “Because he was so excited to see the baby.”

Brad put in a paperback, “His favorite sci-fi author,” he explained.

Leann put in a quart of Tom’s favorite beer. The rest just stood in silence or gave the biker salute to their fellow rider one last time.

Alexandra gave Tom’s mother one last hug and nodded at her gang, “It’s time for us to saddle up, people. Let’s show everyone how we honor one of our own.”

They walked together out to their bikes and fired them up in rapid succession, the throaty roars bouncing off of the funeral home and surrounding buildings to create a satisfyingly loud echo of noise. As Alexandra looked around with pride at her friends, she saw Detective Jones standing and talking with one of the relatives. He seemed to feel her gaze and looked up to nod at her. She nodded back in acknowledgement, then they all stuck the orange funeral stickers on their windshields and got ready to follow the procession.

The ride was uneventful. As Alexandra had expected, the loud roar of the bikes drew everyone’s attention, and many stood respectfully or removed their hats as the procession went by. She had tears still unshed in her eyes.

See, Tom? Everyone can see how important you were to us. You didn’t deserve this, honey. I’ll do everything in my power to help find who cut you down, and make sure he pays.

From the back of her mind, or maybe from her heart, a tiny voice whispered,
Even if it’s Dmitri?
She nodded as she rode.
Yes.

As they stood around at the hole in the ground that Tom was to be lowered into, Alexandra had the feeling she was being watched. She kept looking around and thought she caught a glimpse of Dmitri behind a large nearby family tomb. But when she moved to get a better look, he was gone. As she moved again, she noticed that Detective Jones was watching her intently, and looked briefly in the direction she was looking before meeting her eyes. She decided to pay more attention to the prayer the minister was intoning before the body would be lowered into the grave.

Once the family had their chance to toss a clump of dirt onto the coffin, they thanked everyone for their attendance and invited them to join in a luncheon at a local restaurant. The people began to disperse back to their vehicles. Alexandra wasn’t in the mood for talking, and neither were any of the other bikers. They silently returned to their bikes and fired them up. Since they were all heading in different directions, they headed off independently, or in pairs. Rich was the last one left standing with Alexandra.

“Are you alright, Alex?” he asked gruffly. “I know this is hard on you. Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe come and spend the night with you at your condo?”

Alexandra shook her head. “No, Rich, but thanks for asking. I’ve got to go change and head to my office, and I’ll be working really late tonight, to make up for leaving early yesterday, and being late today. I’ll barely have the energy to make it home and will probably collapse as soon as I get there.”

He nodded. “If you think of anything I can do to help you deal with all of this, just call me. Anytime.”

Since his bike was next to hers, they were standing close together, which was the only way they heard each other over the sound of Rich’s Harley. Rich leaned over and kissed Alexandra, a light touch at first, then gaining in pressure until she looked up at him in surprise as she backed away. She pushed at his hand that reached around her waist for her butt.

“Hold on, cowboy! I’m still reeling from burying one of my boys, and there’s another funeral we’ll have to attend soon. I’ve never been so not-in-the-mood in my life. I’m sure I’ll recover eventually. But for now? Hands off.”

“Fine,” he growled, then turned and hopped on his bike to ride off.

She watched him ride off for a second then got on her bike. Before she could turn the key, Detective Jones stood next to her.

“Miss Blackstone, a minute, please?”

“What is it, Detective?”

“We’ve been unable to contact the man you call Dmitri. But I asked some of your friends and they indicated that he knows where your condo is. In fact, though none of them have ever been to it, he’s spent the night with you. Is this true?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“So I’d like you to take my card with my number at the station on it and keep it on your person at all times.”

She looked at the card then at the detective.

“Why?”

“Because I want you to call me if you’re contacted or confronted by the man we want to talk to.”

“What if I’m not at home?”

He nodded. “Give me a location and I’ll find you. I’ll use the GPS in your cell phone if I have to.”

“But it’ll still take time for anyone to get to me, right?”

He looked pained. “Sometimes it takes longer than other times. Depends on time of day, traffic, how many officers are busy elsewhere. That kind of stuff. But I can assure you, someone will be alerted that you need assistance the minute you call my number, even if I’m not there.”

She held out her hand and he handed it to her.

“What are you going to do to Dmitri?”

He looked surprised but his face quickly went back to neutral.

“We just want to talk to him. Ask him a few questions. That’s all.”

She put the card into her bra top before staring at him, letting him see she noticed his eyes had followed her movements.

“Do you really think he’s involved with this?”

He shrugged while looking up at her eyes. “I don’t know. But we won’t find out until we can ask him some questions.”

“Okay. Fine. If I see Dmitri, I’ll call. Anything to help find out who’s been hunting my boys.”

He nodded. “Good. Thanks.”

She turned the key and fired up her Harley, the noise temporarily deafening both of them. She had to yell for him to hear her.

“Let me know if you find out anything. Bye.”

He moved back and she rode her bike out onto the street, to head home to change into her businesswoman persona for the day.

* * * *

As she had expected, she had a very long and tiring day at the office. After work she barely made it home before she collapsed in exhaustion, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

When the alarm went off the next morning, she toyed with smashing it against the wall. Accepting the inevitable, she got up to begin another grueling day trying to catch up on her work. She was living on coffee and adrenaline, which was not a very productive combination, but she had too much work to do, not much time to do it, and very little desire to do it at all. She had missed a few vital meetings, so she had to read a lot of emails to catch up on current projects. She met with her sales and marketing managers to get back into the loop on what they were working on and had a few messages she had to send to clients who expected the personal touch from the owner of the company.

I’m
glad I’m too busy to think about the hell my personal life has become,
she mused during a visit to the bathroom.
I just hope I can get some sleep tonight. I’ll have clients in for meetings for the next two days, and I can’t keep looking like a zombie with bloodshot eyes and dark shadows on my face. No one cares that I’ve just lost two very close friends. All they care about is that their business is being taken care of. So my head’s gotta stay in the game.

It was almost eight when she finally left the office. Her secretary was long gone, as were most of her employees. She had chased the cleaning crew away and told them to come back to do her office later. She nodded at their supervisor as she entered the elevator, to indicate she was leaving. She barely noticed anything on the short drive back to her condo. All she could think about was taking a long soak in her Jacuzzi and crawling into her bed to seek some oblivion.

As she turned the key then opened the door she knew he was there. The unmistakable aroma of freshly-cooked dinner assailed her nostrils.

Shit! Shit! He’s here! How am I gonna alert the detective?

Dmitri had obviously heard her closing the door. He strode quickly into the room to enfold her in a bear hug. She had to force herself not to burst into tears because all she really wanted to do was let him continue to hug her. She wanted to tell him all of her problems and hear him comfort her. But there was the whole trust issue…

“
Sashka
! You look so tired, my love. But I have an apology to make to you.”

For what? Killing my friends?

She cleared her throat, swallowing around the hard lump that threatened to make her cry.

“Um, I’ve gotta pee. There was a lot of traffic on the way here, and they had closed the bathroom on my floor for cleaning. Hold that thought and I’ll be right back.”

He nodded. “Of course. I’ll pour you something to drink.”

She quickly walked down the hall to the bathroom and turned on the exhaust fan. She dialed the number on the card she still had tucked into her bra. It rang five times before it was picked up by the detective himself.

“Hello?”

She tried a loud whisper. “Detective Jones? This is Alexandra Blackstone.”

“Is this Miss Blackstone? I’m having trouble hearing you. Can you speak up?”

“Not really. I’m in my bathroom. He’s here. Dmitri’s in my condo.”

“I’ll grab a few officers and be there as soon as I can, Miss Blackstone. Keep him talking, but don’t arouse his suspicions.”

“Okay. Bye.”

She put her phone back into her bra but put the detective’s business card under some towels in the linen cabinet. She flushed the toilet and made a face at herself in the mirror as she ran the water to simulate washing her hands.

Keep him talking, huh? How? Ask him who he’s going to target next?

She was dismayed to notice her hands were shaking and her breathing rate had sped up.

Get control of yourself, Alex. You can’t let him see you’re scared of him. I am scared of him, right? Or is it just that I want him so badly I have to force my hands to not touch him? Shit…shit…shit!

She walked back down the hall and into the kitchen. Dmitri put some food onto a plate and placed it on the one side of the small table. She sat down heavily in the chair and took a sip of the beer he had poured into a glass for her.