Whiskey Rebellion Part 18

"So you think it was Greg who killed Mr. Butler?"

"No, I know Greg didn't kill Mr. Butler. But he wasn't completely innocent either."

"If you know Greg didn't kill Mr. Butler, then that means you must know who did," I said surprised. "Why didn't you tell me? Why aren't you arresting them? Get off your a.s.s and get to it. I don't need a babysitter if that's what's holding you back."

"I'm waiting for is the proof before I can make an arrest. The bad guys always make a mistake, Addison, and that's what I'm waiting for."

"Well, who is it?"

"I can't talk about it. This is a small town, and I don't want to give him the opportunity to make my job harder."

"Are you saying you think I'm going to take the information you give me and run around telling everybody who the killer is?" I asked. Blood rushed to my ears and I could only hear the sound of my heart beating in anger. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A civilian," Nick said patiently. "This is my investigation and you're already too involved. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Your investigation," I said, understanding. "I'm right in the middle of this mess and you don't want to involve me in your investigation. You're threatened because if you tell me what your suspicions are I might catch the murderer before you do. It's because he and I have some sort of twisted connection."

"You're out of your mind. You think you're Magnum P.I. since you started working for Kate, but you have no clue how dangerous the situation you're in is. I'll handle this, Addison. I don't want you interfering. I want your word."

"I don't think so. These are people from my town that are being targeted, and I feel like it's my fault. Their deaths are weighing me down until I feel like I'm going to suffocate. This isn't about you doing your job. It's about your protective instincts as a man. I'm just as capable of drawing the killer out as you are. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

We were both standing at this point, tension and anger radiating off both of us in waves.

"If you know something or are planning some harebrained idea you need to tell me. I'm the investigating officer on this case and you do not want to be charged with obstruction. You are a high school history teacher. Do you see how there's one of us that needs to be kept in the loop, and it isn't you?"

"What a horrible thing to say. I've helped you with this investigation from the beginning. You came to me asking for help. I have as big a stake in it as anyone. Bigger as far as I'm concerned."

"I've got plainclothes officers in place doing round the clock surveillance. You snooping around and stirring up trouble is not going to help me." His voice had increased in volume the longer he talked.

"You're yelling at me," I said, surprised.

"I'm not yelling. I never yell," he said doing just that.

"I bet I can find out who the killer is before you. What do you say to that?"

"You're turning this into a compet.i.tion?"

"If you want to be cra.s.s about it, then yes."

"I can't believe this. Why couldn't I have found a nice girl somewhere who just wanted to make a nice quiet life with me and keep me warm at night?"

"n.o.body could make a nice quiet life with you. You're completely unreasonable. As far as keeping you warm at night, it sounds like you're wasting your time with me. What you need is a lapdog."

Nick growled low in his throat and for a second I feared I'd pushed him too far. "What does the winner of this farce get?" Nick finally asked.

"OhmiG.o.d," I said and burst into tears. "I can't believe I'm arguing with you like this is some stupid compet.i.tion after I just killed Greg." Nick wrapped his arms around me. "I'm s...s...sorry. I c...c...can't h...h...help it." I snuffled and snorted and soaked his s.h.i.+rt while he held me tight and let me cry it out.

"It was an accident, Addison. And from the looks of him, it seems like somebody did a number on him before he ran in front of your car. From what you said in your statement it looks like Greg was definitely running away from something. We'll find out for sure once we get the ME's report back."

I cried harder. "It's okay," he whispered. "You've had a lot to deal with over the last two weeks. I'd be worried about you if you weren't having this kind of reaction."

Greg's death had hit me harder than I'd thought. He'd been out of my life for months and I'd only wished bad things on him. It looked like my wishes had come true, and guilt was eating at me from the inside out.

I wiped my eyes on a towel he gave me and backed away. "Thanks," I said mortally embarra.s.sed. This was not a good way to start a relations.h.i.+p-extreme adrenaline rushes followed by bouts of l.u.s.t followed by the bizarre, the surreal and finally the desolate.

"I've got some things to do to follow up on the case, so I need to take off for a few hours." He ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture. "I've got two dead bodies that are somehow linked and a third I have a sinking feeling about. Something about Greg doesn't sit right with my gut. The first victim was stabbed multiple times with a d.a.m.ned pocketknife and the second was killed with a freaking .22. The ME is putting a rush on Greg's autopsy, so I'll have a report before the end of the day. I'll call you as soon as I know anything conclusive.

"Oh, well, you probably need to get started," I said even more depressed.

"I called your mom earlier. She's going to come over and stay with you until I can get back. I don't want you to be alone right now."

"You called my mom?" The tension headache from the day's events came back in full force.

"Of course I called your mom. You can't stay here by yourself, and I can't spare an officer to guard you full time. I need every man I've got on duty."

"But my mother? Couldn't you have called Kate? Haven't I been through enough for one day?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "You're overreacting. Don't forget we're having dinner tonight. And don't argue with me about it. You need to get away from here for a little while and wind down. And I need it, too. It's no wonder you're upset. I would be too if I lived in this pile of rubble."

"You'll regret bringing my mother into this. Just wait until she starts interrogating you. My mom has a tendency to leave people a little rattled. Or maybe the word I'm looking for is confused."

"Why, because she asked me if I was single and if I liked children? Or maybe because she wanted to know my medical history and asked point blank if I'd ever had an STD."

I groaned and ducked my head. If I wasn't the reason Nick should be running for the hills then surely my mother was.

"I especially liked it when she asked if I was only looking to 'dally' with you," he said grinning.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her I wanted to get you naked as soon as possible and then she invited me to Sunday dinner. We're supposed to bring a dessert by the way."

Nick smiled over his shoulder at my open-mouthed expression before shutting the door behind him. I was not ready to bring Nick home to eat dinner with my family. n.o.body had bothered to ask me if my intentions were honorable. I was having some pretty naughty thoughts about "dallying" myself.

I heard the rumble of my mom's Dodge before it turned into the parking lot. It was a big boat of a car, and my mother looked like a child sitting behind the wheel.

I'd showered and changed into dry clothes, and I was currently looking for something to wear out to dinner that portrayed grief and l.u.s.t both at the same time. There weren't a lot of outfits in the world that could combine the two so I just decided to go casual.

My mom unlocked my front door and came in with bags slung over both arms.

"What's all this?" I asked.

"I've brought you a few necessities," she said, pus.h.i.+ng me towards the couch until I was laying flat on my back. "That nice young man mentioned you're without a car, so I brought mine for you to use until you get yours back. I'll call and have a neighbor come pick me up when I'm finished here. I stopped by Peach Tree Bakery and bought an ice cream cake. I've got a twelve-pack of Corona, my manicure kit and Sleepless in Seattle."

"That's so sweet." My eyes started to well with tears again. I'm not much of a crier normally, but I seemed to be leaking tears at an alarming rate. Maybe it was hormones. I was thinking I probably needed to drink quite a bit of that Corona so I wouldn't get dehydrated.

"I also brought the video from when you graduated high school," she said, and I started to cry harder. "I was so proud of you. I got great footage of your valedictory speech. Maybe we should watch that first."

I could think of about a million things I'd rather do instead, but I just nodded my head noncommittally.

"Of course, it was also a bitter-sweet moment because I realized how old I'd gotten without even noticing. Then before I knew it I was afraid to wear a bikini in public anymore and my pubic hair started to turn gray. Let me tell you, that's a real eye opener."

I always had such nice, tender moments with my mother. I decided this moment needed the gift of silence.

"Now there will be no more crying today," my mother said briskly. "I've got just the thing you need." She whipped a large cuc.u.mber out of her handbag.

I was pretty much speechless.

"Do you always carry produce in your handbag?"

"Only when necessary. Now lie back and let me put some slices on your eyes."

"Oh. Slices on my eyes. Good idea."

"Of course slices on your eyes. What else would I be doing with it?"

I had no idea, but it was probably best if I turned my brain off and stopped thinking of the possibilities.

Amazingly enough, the cuc.u.mbers worked like a charm and my face lost the puffy redness that too much crying always brings. I'm not one of those pretty criers anyway, so the fact that I looked less like Quasimodo and more like my original self was a step in the right direction.

I'd gotten my mother to leave before Nick showed up so he wouldn't have to go through the inquisition twice in one day. I heard my front door open and paused. A combination of adrenaline, fear and ice cream cake roiled in my belly. I'd left the door unlocked and I hoped to G.o.d it was Nick letting himself in instead of the murderer.

I didn't have a gun or a knife, and the towel rod on the wall had fallen off long ago, so I didn't have anything I could hit him with either. I took stock of the cabinet and pulled out a can of hairspray in hopes I could blind him long enough to escape.

I heard the muttered curses and relaxed. It was just Nick, and he was irritated about something. I put away the hairspray and continued to put the finis.h.i.+ng touches on my makeup.

"Don't you ever lock your doors, woman?" Nick bellowed from the other side of the bathroom door. "There's a murderer out there."

Considering Nick had yelled the statement and I was locked in the bathroom, everybody in the whole building now knew I sometimes forgot to lock the door. It's not like there was a lot of traffic on the fourth floor of a condemned building.

When I came out Nick was lounged back in a chair and watching ESPN highlights. I'd pulled on a comfortable cotton sundress in bright yellow and sandals, but when Nick turned and looked at me the desire in his eyes made me feel like I was wearing something sinful.

Of course, I'd picked the sundress because I hadn't been able to get my other skirt b.u.t.toned after I'd finished off a good portion of the ice cream cake. It was a good thing I'd eaten those cuc.u.mber slices to offset the calories.

"I really don't feel like going out," I said. I'd hoped he'd changed his mind about the whole thing. I didn't feel like facing a crowd of people, some of which would be rude enough to ask what it had been like to run over my ex-fiance.

"The last thing you need is to sit in this depressing apartment and wallow."

"But I want to talk to you about what happened this afternoon. About Greg. What did the ME say?"

Greg sighed. "The ME said Greg had been poisoned. The discoloration of the lips and the slight smell when she opened the stomach makes her think it was a.r.s.enic. She said it would take a while to get the results of the Marsh test and make sure, but she was almost positive it was the cause of death."

"What?" I asked. "But I thought I was the cause of death."

"a.r.s.enic is a poison that can be found in almost every household in one form or another." Nick ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture. "Which means we're going to have a h.e.l.l of a time narrowing down the source. The ME said whoever gave Greg the dosage didn't give him enough to kill him right away. He could have ingested the poison and been deathly ill for up to two days before dying. Stomach cramps, nausea, chills, fever. It's not a pleasant way to go. He would have been in and out of consciousness. Someone was holding him against his will and he managed to escape, despite the poison working its way through his body. The ME said Greg was in the last stages when he ran in front of your car. She can't be sure if the organ damage and the hemorrhaging he suffered were due to the poison or your car, so she's going with the poison. Which means I have myself another homicide that ties into all this. I told you my gut didn't feel right about Greg's death."

"That's terrible." What Nick had described sounded like the worst kind of torture and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Not even Veronica. "Poor Greg."

"I'll find out who did it, Addison. It's my job." He squeezed my shoulder and pushed me toward the door. "Now we're done talking about murder for the rest of the night. We're going to relax and get to know each other."

That was something to think about. If we didn't talk about murder, what else would we talk about?

To say that dinner was a disaster was an understatement of epic proportions.

"I've never been here before," I said, inanely. "I hear the food's very good."

"Mmmhhhmmm," Nick said, noncommittally.

We both looked around, our eyes on anything but each other, trying to think of something to say that would get us through what looked like an impossibly long meal.

He'd taken us to the The Waterfront, a seafood place between Savannah and South Carolina, and we'd been led to a table that overlooked the lake. The whole scene should have been very romantic, but we'd managed to make it the most awkward dinner ever. On the positive side, I hadn't run into a single person I knew.

There was one point during the meal where I leaned over a little too far, and I was sure Nick got a glimpse down the front of my dress. His eyes glazed over and his features softened, and I thought, Oh, boy. Here it comes. Here's the Nick Dempsey I've come to know. But then the magic was interrupted by the waiter refilling my water gla.s.s, and I was left with nothing but a shortness of breath and a need for extra dessert.

We left the restaurant in silence. I think the word "date" had become an obstacle as soon as it was mentioned. We were doing just fine without mentioning any kind of potential relations.h.i.+p.

I turned in my seat as Nick drove us back to my apartment, admiring the strength of his profile and trying frantically to figure out a way to get us back on at least "friendly" terms. I could only think of one thing to say.

"Nick, I don't think we should date anymore."

He turned and looked at me, his face solemn. "I think you may be right."

We attacked each other as soon as we reached my front door. If I hadn't gotten my key in the door in another thirty seconds, Nick would have taken me where we stood, and that would have been perfectly all right with me. Nick slammed the door shut with his foot and pushed me against the wall, his hands everywhere at once and his lips fused to my own.

"G.o.d, I want you," Nick panted as his lips made their way down to the valley between my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

I wasn't capable of rational conversation, so I pulled off his s.h.i.+rt and ran my hands over his torso. I didn't protest at all as the straps from my sundress slipped over my shoulders and the bodice fell below my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. All I cared about was having a Nick induced o.r.g.a.s.m.

When the heat of his mouth found my nipple, my knees gave out and Nick had to press me harder against the wall so I wouldn't fall in a gooey puddle to the floor. I worked his belt free and unb.u.t.toned his pants so I could feel what I needed inside me with my hands.

"Please-please," I begged.

I protested when Nick kept my hands from stroking his shaft.

"Stop, baby, I won't last, and I need to be inside you right now."

I agreed whole-heartedly, so I wrapped one leg around his waist. He had my dress pushed up far enough to see that the expense of an underwear of the month club members.h.i.+p was well worthwhile. I was in the perfect position to feel a strange and erotic sensation coming from the front of his pants.

"Nick, your pocket's vibrating," I said, biting his earlobe and running my fingers through his hair. G.o.d, I loved his hair, thick and just long enough to tangle my fingers in.

"You haven't seen anything yet, baby. It can do a lot more than that."

"No, I mean, it's really vibrating."

Nick stopped his hand from taking the journey the rest of the way up my thigh, and I moaned in frustration when the tip of his fingers just skimmed the edge of my panties. He detoured away from giving me ecstasy to reach into his pocket.

He leaned his forehead against my own, his breath shaky while he checked the display, and I could feel the struggle within to get himself under control as he listened to whoever was speaking on the other end. I was surprised the phone didn't disintegrate as tight as he was holding it.

"s.h.i.+t," he yelled, leaving my half naked body against the wall and throwing the phone hard enough to leave a dent in my wall.