The Devil Makes Three (27 page)

His smile turned devious. “It’s all very convenient, isn’t it? That Richard the Shark would end up dead just after he made bail, that had very sketchy backing. And suicide? Even better. Very out of character if you ask me. But it certainly wrapped things up nicely. I don’t know who you worked with, but they took care of things efficiently. Even gave you a great alibi with the apartment fire and all. Now we can all put this mess behind us and move on.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insisted.

He nodded and smiled. “Of course you don’t.” And with a nod, he turned and walked around the side of the building, out of view.

Seconds later I had crossed the parking lot and let myself into my apartment. Immediately, I leaned against the door, pulling out my phone and dialing Corbin. After a few rings, I became aware that the sound of a ringing phone came from behind my closed bedroom door.

Corbin lay on my bed, hands behind his head, relaxed smile on his face. His coat, which I hadn’t taken the time to notice earlier, looked newly purchased and was an exact replica of his old one, sans bullet holes. It lay across the foot of the bed, as if it belonged there, as if it owned the spot, rather than my cat.

“Hey, Temptress. How’s it going? You look a bit bemused.”

“Try numb.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Cohen was just here.” As I said it, reality dawned on me and it wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it wasn’t exactly painful either. Corbin was here and Cohen had just been here moments before in the funeral home. Not only was there no way he could have gotten past me to get into the apartment without me seeing him, but he couldn’t have changed his clothes that fast either. That left only one option in the multiple personality mystery.

Corbin was Collin.

“Damn. And I wanted to be the one to tell you the good news about our friend, The Shark,” he said with a smile bordering on charming. “I didn’t think earlier was the right time, what with you being in a murderous rage and all.”

“You killed him.” I felt myself begin to break. Tears slid down my cheeks.

He sat up on his elbows and eyed me. “I thought you’d feel happy. We’re off the hook. It’s over.”

I shook my head, thinking of Collin and what he would do if he ever found out the truth. “It’s not over. It’ll never be over. I was kidding myself when I thought killing Martins would solve more problems than it created.”

Cohen eyed me with raised brows. “Sounds like you found your moral to the murder. How precious.”

“Don’t mock me. And the worst part is that this has all culminated in the taking of an innocent life!”

He grimaced slightly and got up, coming to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. For some reason, his approach instilled no fear in my heart. Logic told me he was a brutal murderer, but past experience told me I was not in danger.

“You cannot be talking about Richard the Shark. He was anything but innocent. Trading in guns wasn’t the only thing he did with them. He’s spilt his share of blood. Usually of innocents, in his pursuit of monetary gain. He deserved a nasty end.”

“Like you?”

“I don’t kill innocents.”

“What about Candy?”

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me. “Need I remind you that was your idea? I only busted in to keep you from doing more blood work than you could truly handle. Personally, I could have waited a few more weeks in killing her. I’m overworked. And Candy was hardly innocent. Need I remind you of the bullet wound you sewed for me? Not to mention the hundred other shady things she had going on.”

“If you’re overworked why don’t you take a vacation?” I asked. My stomach began to curdle again, though what it contained to eject, I didn’t know. If I threw up again it was going to be pure stomach acid.

“Not now. I have too much on my docket. Speaking of which, we need to talk.”

“About?” I asked.

“Katie.”

“Katie?”

“Yes. Katie.”

After a moment it dawned on me that he might not know about my friendship with his other flunky. Or at least, hadn’t known about it before the car accident.

“I’m going to need some clarification here,” he said, letting go of me and settling back on the bed, his arms crossed and his jaw set.

It didn’t take long to explain the situation. He said little and divulged even less with his expressions. When I finished I had the distinct feeling I was a science experiment that had gone awry, and the lab tech was about to toss me out with the trash.

“What did she tell you about her work?” he finally asked when I finished.

“Not much. No specifics anyway.”

“Good. For both your sakes, you better be telling the truth.” He stood up and pushed me back, pinning me against the wall. His body crushed against me making it difficult to breath, and I was suddenly reminded of the first time he had come to the funeral home and threatened me in regards to Collin and Cohen. “And don’t you ever do anything like that again. Do you understand me?”

“Do what?” I whispered with my last bit of breath. If he didn’t move, I was going to suffocate, and so was he. I had yet to brush my teeth since I puked in the garbage can, and felt certain my breath didn’t smell very good. But he didn’t seem to care. Snaking a hand up to my throat, he squeezed slightly then bent down and kissed me hard, his tongue encircling mine in a sneak attack that made me realize air wasn’t all that important if it meant he had to stop. When he finally broke off the kiss, I gulped air, and fought for my vision to return to normal so I could attack him in return.

“Don’t ever try to act the vigilante again. If you have trouble relating to the work I’ve given you, you call me. I’ve told you that before and I mean it. I don’t care if your mid-car chase. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“You realize I’m not going to let this slide, right?”

I bit my lip and forced my eyes to meet his. “What are you going to do to me?”

He cocked his head to one side. “I don’t know, but it’s obvious you need repercussions.”

My heart skittered at the thought.

“Maybe I’ll recommend Tanner Family Funeral Home to Candy’s parents for your punishment.”

The skittering of my heart came to a grinding halt. “Don’t you dare, Corbin. That’s just mean.”

“So is all the anxiety you’ve put me through.”

I was about to respond, but unfortunately his phone vibrated and he stepped away, studying the screen, all business. Growling at his obvious lack of proper priorities, I stamped my foot and tossed the paper bag with the gun onto the bed. I hadn’t even realized I still held it until he pissed me off; he was lucky I wasn’t the type of girl to go killing people willy-nilly. “I can’t handle this,” I muttered.

He closed his phone and shoved it back in his pocket then glanced at the bag on the bed. With one swift move his surprisingly soft hands were back on my skin, tilting my chin up to face him. His eyes looked like dark pools of inscrutable sincerity. “You can handle it and you will.” His lips brushed mine and his arms tightened around my waist. “That’s one of the things I like about you so much.”

His lips traced my jaw line then progressed down from my ear to my collar bone, making my body break out in goose bumps.

A knock at my front door interrupted any further progress, and we both glared towards the offending area. Most likely it was my father checking up on me, or my mother with some house-wares.

“You should answer that,” he said, stepping away from me. “I’ll wait for you right here.”

I nodded and backed out of the room, pulling the bedroom door closed behind me. Opening the front door, I found myself faced with Collin.

“Oh crap.” I blurted out.

“Well hello to you, too.”

For a moment I stood stunned, turning from him, to my bedroom door and then back again and again. “Oh crap,” was all I could come up with.

“Right,” he studied me for a moment, then poked his head in and glanced around. “Is this a bad time? I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by. Is that okay?”

For a moment, I considered what an odd turn my life had taken in the last month or two. I had gone from never having a visitor before, to men dropping by like druggies dropped acid. When did the standard change? I wondered. But then, my mind moved on to the more pressing topic.

Corbin. Collin. Cohen. Three of them. Three. What were the odds of me meeting and becoming connected with a set of triplets in less than a month? Triplets that were still physically identical, no less, despite 30 plus years of maturity. No random moles, no excess weight gain or height differences in any of them. All three, exactly the same. They even had the same hair style.

“This is surreal,” I said, tossing my hands in the air and backing up a bit. “That’s all there is to it. Surreal.”

“Pardon? Are you alright?”

“No. I’m really not. I’m actually not feeling that good right now,” I said. “I just had an unpleasant experience with a garbage can and a re-visitation of today’s meals, and I think it’s going to happen again.”

He cocked his head to one side. “Sounds rather unpleasant. I won’t keep you then. But I did want to tell you the good news.”

“Oh?”

“Cohen called me earlier. It would seem everyone is off the hook.”

“Oh. That. I know. He came by and spoke to my father. That’s part of the problem. People just popping out of nowhere, rocking my boat.”

“What?”

I cringed slightly at my admission. I should have kept it quiet. The last thing I wanted Collin to know was that I was familiar with both his brothers. Taking a deep breath I back pedaled and pulled myself together. “Well, just how the guy died. It kind of caught me off guard. Strangulation must be a bad way to go.” Or perhaps an air bubble to the heart is worse. Only the dead can say.

He nodded. “Yes. I guess guilt causes people to do crazy things.”

If Collin could convince himself Richard the Shark ever felt guilt in his adult life, he was a fool. Corbin was right. The man I bought the gun from was a hardened criminal, like Martins and the drug dealer he had killed. Or like Corbin. Or like me?

“Anyway, my father recognized your brother and gave me the third degree about it,” I said, changing the subject. “He thought I’d been stringing both of you along.”

“What did you tell him?’

“I told him that was ridiculous.”

He considered me for a moment.

A sudden urge to change the subject again squeezed at my brain and I looked around. “So, Cohen must feel pretty relieved to have the whole case solved. He’s got closure now. I guess we all do, for that matter.”

Collin shrugged. “I didn’t really need to know who killed him. Really, he never concerned me at all.”

“Odd that you’re the only one.”

It slipped out before I had a chance to think.

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, Cohen was concerned. I admit, I was too. And I assume others were. Like my parents maybe. Perhaps your father and other siblings cared as well.”

“I doubt my other siblings cared and my father moved on a long time ago.”

“Sounds like your family is better adjusted than mine.” I motioned to the door. “I’ve got to brush my teeth and gargle.”

“I could wait. We could go out.” He took a step towards me rather than back through the door. His tone dropped to a flinty suggestion. “Or we could stay in.”

“I have to work tonight.”

“I’ll have you over there on time.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and considered his actions, beginning with him knocking on my door unannounced. No matter what he said, his actions now seemed much more aggressive and forward than before. Even when we had gotten around to getting a little action from one another, the vibe emanating from him had never felt like this. This observation came accompanied with the suspicion that while Martins’ murder had been a factor, he had held himself back from something. Personal vulnerability would be my guess. He had shielded himself from emotionally volatile situations, and now that the Martins situation lay behind us all, he was letting loose.

The idea that I might benefit from this sudden release was more than tempting. But it didn’t change that I had his brother in the next room, probably waiting for the exact same thing.

“Collin, I think you should go.” I decided in a split second.

“What? Why?” he wrapped his arms around my waist, just as Corbin had only minutes before, and began nuzzling my neck.

“My stomach isn’t up to much. Maybe we could get together another time.”

He pulled back and grimaced. “What’s wrong? This is really not the reaction I expected. You’ve just gotten exonerated from a crime you didn’t commit and your sister’s murderer is dead and buried. You must feel something.”

“I do,” I said, unable to resist the temptation and running my hand up his chest. “But now isn’t really the time.”

“Why?”

I couldn’t explain it. Exoneration didn’t mean I was innocent, and no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t mean he would be able to accept the truth if he ever learned it. The facts were staring me in the face. I was a murderer and a grave robber. What relationship could I possibly have with a professor? If this was something I really wanted, I was going to have to figure things out for myself and turn over a new leaf. And I was going to have to be one hundred percent sure he would never learn the truth.

“Is there someone else?” he asked suddenly.

I couldn’t answer that question either. What was I supposed to tell him?

“I see.” I expected his grip to slacken but it didn’t. He kept a firm hold on me and bent down to whisper in my ear. “Do I know him?”

“Maybe.”

“Is it serious?”

Glancing back up at him, I met his stare. “Are you?”

“As serious as I can be right now.”

And who knew what Corbin thought. Even if he was serious, getting it out of him would be about as pleasant as a public flogging.

Leaning against Collin’s chest, I breathed in his scent. He smelled like heaven. “So am I. Let’s just leave it at that and see where we end up, okay?”

He tilted my chin up and kissed me gently. Immediately I cringed, pulling back, but he kept a firm hold, forbidding me to break the connection. Apparently he didn’t care about my breath. And apparently I didn’t care about Corbin in the next room, because I stopped struggling.