The Sex On Beach Book Club (22 page)

He rolled his eyes up to her. “Clerk at the police station.”

She sighed and walked around the couch. “Okay, so I suppose word could have gotten around. I'll do a little research on Cullen's mother and see what I can find.”

“I'll give you what I have. His parents' names are Jed and Peggy Vail. Father's a boat mechanic. Cullen left home young, came to California to make it big.”

“Got it. I'll see if there's some trail that might have tipped off the shooter that we were at the boat.” She looked at Wes and saw that Monty had fallen asleep. The dumb dog. Wes turned around and walked past the gurgling fish tank into the library, where she assumed he would put Monty in his bed.

“What did Rodgers say?” George asked.

She looked over to see the pain lines were easing on his face. “She said it looked like a nine millimeter bullet that cut a path through you before burying itself in Cullen's boat. They dug two just like it out of Cullen. When they test it, they'll see it came from the same gun.” It was past eight, and dark outside. They had spent time giving statements and at the hospital while George was sewn up and disinfected. They never did get onto Cullen's boat since Detective Rodgers immediately took control of the boat again as part of the investigation into George's shooting.

“They'll never find the shooter.” George closed his eyes.

Holly shifted her gaze to Wes as he walked back into the room. He looked nearly as bad as George. Watching your friend get shot qualified for a bad day.

Wes ran his hand around the back of his neck. “If you hadn't called our names…”

“Good instincts,” George muttered.

It was her job to be alert and rely on her instincts. She changed the subject. “George, do you know if Helene, Nora, or Maggie own a gun?”

“Maggie. For two and a half years since she was mugged at an ATM.”

“Concealed?”

He was slower to answer. “No.”

The drugs were kicking in. She looked back to Wes. “Do you have a guest room with a bed?”

He nodded.

George said, “Are you going to threaten me again?”

Holly grinned at Wes but answered George. “Do I need to?”

George opened his dark eyes. “I kind of like it.” He sat up and got to his feet.

She liked George. He was a no-bullshit guy, and from what she could see, a loyal friend to Wes. He'd gotten shafted by the bad guys and forced out of the job she suspected he had loved. But he didn't wallow in pity. Shit happened and he dealt. “Then you'll love me in the morning before I've had coffee.” Holly planned to stay the night. She'd called her brothers to bring Jodi and Kelly over.

He chuckled and headed down the hall. Wes followed him. Holly went into Wes's kitchen and looked in the fridge with the vague idea of making them something to eat.

“Hungry?” Wes moved up behind her.

She looked back over her shoulder. “I thought you might be. I can make something if you're hungry.”

He put his arms around her and settled his chin on her shoulder. “You can cook?”

Keeping her gaze on the fridge, she said, “How do you think my brothers, dad, and I managed to keep from starving?”

“Donut shops?”

She had to fight a smile. “I can shake and bake with Betty Crocker any day.”

“I don't know if that was a mixed metaphor or just blasphemy.” He turned his mouth to the delicate skin on her neck. “I'll be happy to feed you, Hill
baby
. If you're hungry.”

Desire raced through her. “Not now. George is…” She shivered when he dragged his wet tongue around to her collarbone. “Wes!”

He lifted his head to her ear. “Thank you. You saved George's life today. I was right there with you and I have no idea what tipped you off.”

Instincts that she trusted. “Dumb luck.”

Wes reached past her for a package of chicken and handed it to her. “I'll start the barbecue. You wash and season these.” He pulled her back and shut the door.

She put the cold package of chicken on the counter and asked, “You want to cook all that chicken?” It was a super-sized package of chicken thighs—enough to feed a small army.

“Yes. We'll eat the leftovers tomorrow.” He went out onto the deck.

Holly found a large platter, washed the chicken, and nosed around until she came across seasoning that she liked.

Wes came back in. “Wine, soda, or beer?”

She turned from the chicken, looked at him, and felt a sudden tightness in her chest. It was hard to get a full breath. Damn it, she liked him. He didn't try to change her. “Uh, whatever you're hav—” Wes's doorbell cut her off.

Holly hurried into the living room, where she'd left her purse by the fish tank, and got out her gun. Wes was already at the front door looking out the peephole.

“Recognize who it is?”

Wes heaved a huge sigh. “Who else? Your brothers, with the girls and someone else I can't quite see.”

Curious who the other person was, she yanked open the door—“Dad!”

“Dad?” Wes repeated behind her.

Before Holly could recover, her dad pushed Joe out of the way and engulfed her in a bear hug. “Hey, Princess. I hear you're having all the fun without me.”

She felt hot tears sting her eyes. Just his voice could do that. When her mom left, Holly had cried herself to sleep many nights. One night, her dad came home early from a long shift and heard her. He came into her room, scooped her into his arms, and told her that her mother hadn't deserved her. She had seen tears in her dad's eyes then and she knew she had to be strong for him. But she never stopped loving her dad's hugs, his rough voice, or his insistence that she was his princess. She'd never made him cry again until the night in the hospital when they'd all learned she'd never have children.

Careful of the gun she still held, Holly hugged him back. “I told you about the case, Dad. But you were fishing with your buddies.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Your brothers tell me you're dating a guy.” He turned his gaze to Wes. “Would that be you?”

Wes stepped forward and held out his hand. “Wes Brockman, and yes, sir, I'm dating your daughter. She's also working on a case for me.”

“We're not dating.” She shot a killer glare at her brothers. “Wes, this is my dad, Eric Hillbay.”

Wes said, “Come on in. I was just getting ready to put chicken on the barbecue.”

Kelly shifted from foot to foot, looking everywhere but at Wes. “I'll help. Do you have potatoes, Wes? Or rice? Oh, I know, baked beans—do you have some cans of baked beans? I can doctor them up if you have molasses…” Her voice slid away as she headed toward the kitchen.

“I brought beer and potato chips.” Seth hefted a couple plastic grocery bags.

Holly closed the door as they all piled into the kitchen. She looked down at the gun in her hand. She should probably shoot someone, but she wasn't sure who. Her brothers were usually at the top of her list, but Wes was strong competition.

They were not dating. It was just sex.

“I
'm going to see if George is awake and take him some food.” Kelly started putting together a plate of chicken.

Wes shut the refrigerator door where he'd been getting out a second round of beer and soda. Setting the bottles and cans on the counter, he put his hand on Kelly's shoulder.

She flinched.

He felt for her. She'd been scurrying around all night, cooking beans, serving chicken, and picking up empty plates. She was nervous and making herself sick. “Kelly, honey, I'm not mad at you. You had good reason to trust Nora with the key to the store.”

Her shoulder shook. “I'm sorry, Wes! I mean, Nora is your team mom, and she's so nice, I—”

Damn. He took the plate from her hands and hugged her. “I know. I'm not sure if Nora's involved. But I'm not mad at you, okay?” He looked down at her head bent into his shirt.

She shuddered and took a deep breath. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away.”

He pulled her face up. “I know you are. But you have to know you can tell me anything, okay?” He wanted Kelly and Jodi to come to him if they needed help. They were young and away from home. Two smart, pretty, and nice girls. He'd kill anyone who hurt them.

She nodded.

“Go wash your face, then see if you can get George to eat.” He let her go.

She asked, “George is going to be okay, right?”

He clamped his jaw, and had to force himself to relax his hands. “Yes. The wound hurts, but it basically just needed a whole bunch of stitches and some time to heal. That's it.” He'd been trying not to think about what it felt like when he'd heard that shot and seen George slide to the ground—like he lost a brother. If he had a brother.

She studied his face, then said, “I'll get him to eat after I wash my face.”

When he turned around to grab the beers, he saw Holly standing there. She looked…odd. Like she'd seen something that made her mad or sick or sad. “Hey, you okay?”

She walked past him holding a bowl. “Yes, I'm just getting more chips.” She picked the bag up and dumped them in the bowl.

A thread of anger started inside of him. “You saw me hugging Kelly. You can't think—”

She turned around. “I don't. I think you treat her like a little sister. Like family. You need a family of your own. Which means I have a job to do so you can make that happen.” She picked up the bowl and walked outside.

He watched Holly for a second, relieved that she didn't think the worst of him. And yet, there had been something distant or regretful in her voice, something that had slid around her protective shoulder chip. But she was coming to trust him, and in time she would realize she was safe with him. Safe enough to share her truths with him and trust that he would guard them, not hurt her with them.

He grabbed the beers and soda for Jodi off the counter and went outside.

Jodi got up and took the soda. “I'm going to read for a while.”

“You and Kelly will be all right sleeping in the third bedroom?” The girls had brought with them their stuff, and the overnight bag Holly had packed to go to Riverside. “The couch in there folds out into a bed.”

“We'll be fine. 'Night, Wes.”

“Get some sleep. You'll be able to go home to your own apartment soon.” He walked out to Holly and her family gathered around the table by the fire pit in time to hear Holly catching her dad up on the case.

He opened his beer and drank it. Life was ironic. The reason Wes had contacted the DEA about the doping death of Conrad Nader was because he didn't trust cops.

He didn't like cops.

Now he had a serious case of the hots for an ex-cop who came from a family of cops. And they were all discussing his case.

The irony was that these cops cared about their jobs like his dad had cared about exposing corruption in those who were supposed to protect and serve the public. Wes and his sister had grown up seeing the dark side of the thin blue line.

It turned out that maybe Wes had missed the point—that most cops cared about the job and really did want to make a difference. Holly had given him the gift of that knowledge. He turned his attention to her father.

Eric Hillbay sat with his arms linked behind his head, leaning back in his chair with his legs stretched toward the fire pit. The flames flickered over his face. Finally he unlinked his hands and sat forward. “What's your next move, Holly?”

She looked around the table. “Nora tried to call Wes a couple times, and we're pretty sure she wanted to talk. But when we saw her, she seemed scared. I think she's our weak link. In fact, I think she wants to tell what she knows, but she's scared.”

Her dad said, “Of what?”

Holly started to answer, but Wes jumped in because he'd been thinking about this exact question. “She has a son, Ryan. She'd do anything to protect Ryan. So she might be afraid that she'll go to jail and Ryan will have no one. Or she might be afraid someone will hurt Ryan.”

Eric studied him. “You don't think she killed Cullen? Or was part of it?

He shook his head. “No. The Nora I know could not have shot Cullen twice unless her son was in danger. Nothing we've found on Cullen suggests that he was threatening her son. And I doubt she has the skill to shoot George from a distance as someone did today.”

Joe twisted off the cap of his beer. “Not bad, Brockman. But she's part of the alibi. In fact, they were all supposed to be at her house when the murder occurred.”

He nodded. “I know. And she appears to have gotten the key and alarm code.” He had to be clear about this. “Let's look at facts. Her husband was embezzling and she didn't know. She's naïve, she's trusting, or used to be. My gut, the same gut that made me rich doing deals for baseball players, tells me Nora trusted the wrong people and got pulled into a nightmare she doesn't know how to get out of.”

Holly nodded. “So she might have gotten the key thinking that one of them was going to meet Cullen at Wes's bookstore for a reason other than murder. Actually, I don't think Nora was at the bookstore at all when Cullen was murdered. I think she stayed home and made it look like all three of the women were there so her neighbors would confirm the alibi.”

Wes looked at her. The firelight played off her dark hair, catching the blond highlights. She had it twisted up again. He was starting to realize she wore it that way as part of her effort to keep herself tough and distant. Quietly, he asked, “You think Nora was used?”

Holly met his gaze. “And now she's trapped. That's the only way I can make it work. I think one of the other two went to the bookstore to meet Cullen, maybe to distract him while the third one went to his boat to steal the laptop.”

“Where they thought their real names were linked with the nicknames on the Web site.” He thought it over, seeing it line up to a point. “But why was Cullen murdered?”

Holly paused, then said, “Because one of the women had an agenda the other two knew nothing about. Getting revenge on you. And once Cullen was murdered, she controlled the other two by pointing out that they were accomplices to the crime.”

The silence was broken by the waves pounding the surf and the fire crackling in the pit. Someone had been coming to his book club and cooking up ways to destroy his life. Who did he know who was that manipulative and cold? “Maggie or Helene?”

Holly said, “I think so. What we have to do is use Nora to find out which one. Once we get Nora to break the alibi, and find out which woman went to the bookstore, the police can take it from there.”

Eric asked, “How do you plan to use Nora?”

She folded her hands around her bottle of beer. “Wes and I can't get close to Nora, or Maggie or Helene, thanks to Brad.” She picked up her beer and took a quick drink.

Wes could feel her anger, maybe pain. He watched her for a few seconds, cognizant that her family gave her the same courtesy. Given that her brothers liked to torment her on a regular basis, he knew he was right. Brad had hurt Holly and it went deeper than money. The very fact that his kick-ass PI hadn't gone after Brad to extract revenge or justice in some way told him a great deal. He also remembered Holly telling him that Seth had gone after Brad.

Wes liked her brother even more. He hoped Seth had done the job right.

Holly set her beer down and said, “We can't talk to Nora, but Seth can.” She looked at her brother. “I think you should use your dubious charm and see if you can get Nora to trust you. Get her to tell you whatever you can. Find out if she has Cullen's laptop or knows where it is. Anything that will help us.”

Seth leaned forward. “What kind of woman is Nora?”

Holly made a face. “Much as I hate to say this, I'm going to borrow the O'Man's description. She's the Invisible Woman. No one really notices her. She wants it that way, because of her ex-husband's embezzling conviction. That was enough negative attention for her. But she's still a woman. And Cullen was able to pinpoint the loneliness and need in her then exploit it. It's on his Web site, The O'Man. He made her feel singled out, like he could see something special about her that everyone else was missing.”

Seth nodded. “I can do that.”

Joe said, “I'll snoop around the other two, see what I can come up with.”

Holly nodded. “The name Hillbay will tip them off, so maybe you should…”

Joe grinned at her. “Lie?”

Seth slapped him on the back. “Give it a try, Joe. The truth hasn't been working for you.”

Holly snorted. “Shut up, both of you. I don't know what women see in you two. You're both ugly and dumb as bricks.”

Eric broke up the bickering by saying, “I'll go by in the morning and see all my old friends at the station. Find out what the scuttlebutt is on this case.” He stood up and looked at his sons. “We're leaving.”

To Wes's surprise, Joe and Seth both got up and followed their dad out.

A half hour later, Wes finished loading the dishes into the dishwasher. The girls were asleep. Holly was making notes and working in the living room. He shut the dishwasher and went in to coax her to bed. He was glad she was staying the night. People he cared about were developing a nasty habit of getting hurt.

He walked past his fish tank and turned toward the couch. Then he smiled. She was sound asleep, her files and yellow tablets spread out over her lap. She had taken out her hair clip and hooked it on the edge of one of the tablets. She'd been sitting straight up, but her head had fallen to the back of the couch. He walked over and picked up her notes, papers, and pictures, and put them in a neat stack.

He looked down at her. He'd never forget the protective stance she'd taken over George once he'd been shot. She was not going to let the shooter get a second chance. Beautiful and street smart, she had a heart of gold that someone had cut deeply. It made his gut turn over. Reaching down, he lifted her into his arms.

“Hey.” She tried to force her eyes open. “I'm awake.”

He laughed. “Go back to sleep, Hill
baby
. I've got you.” He took her across the living room, and turned down the hall into his room, which faced the beach. After laying her on the bed, he took off her shoes. Then he reached for her pants.

“I can do it.”

He looked up at her sleepy eyes. “I know.” He tugged her jeans down and caught sight of her green panties. Ignoring his dick's reaction, he pulled her to a sitting position to strip off her top and bra. Then he pulled the covers back, lifted her up and set her on his sheets. “Go back to sleep.” He covered her up, kissed her forehead, and headed into the bathroom. By the time he came out, she was asleep again.

Wes didn't mind. He got under the covers, pulled her into his arms, and closed his eyes.

 

The feel of someone stroking his cock made him rock hard. He woke up instantly. It was still dark, early morning, but there was just enough light for him to see Holly sliding down his chest. Her warm hand was wrapped around the base of his dick.

Either he was having a sizzling sex dream, or he'd just woken up to a fantasy come to life. Her hair was spread out on his belly as she scooted lower. He touched the back of her head. “Holly?”

“Hmm?” She flicked her thumb over the sensitive tip of his penis.

He jerked and felt the rush of hot sperm flood his balls. He looked down at her, at the slope of her shoulder, the curve of her back, the fall of the one breast that he could see, and further down to her butt, barely covered in green panties. Was she horny? Deciding to get him so hot that he wouldn't demand so much from her? Trying to get his brain to work, he said, “You could just ask if you want sex.”

Her warm breath teased his dick. Then she said, “I'm taking what I want, Brockman.” She leaned her head lower and licked him. Then she said, “Unless you object?”

His cock screamed at him to lie down and shut the hell up. “No objections.”