Page 9

9

L ulu was full of surprises, and his enthusiastic acceptance of her invitation had surprised him as well. If he was going to be spontaneous, there was no better time than now to do it. He was glad he’d said yes.

They’d thanked Chase for dinner and headed back to Lulu’s apartment over the sheriff’s station. Henry had made a lame excuse about going to see a friend, and he’d be back later. Kai had a feeling the guy wanted to give him and Lulu some time alone. He didn’t need to, though. It wasn’t like that with Lulu.

Admit it. You’ve thought about kissing her. When you mentioned kissing a girl in the moonlight, you were thinking about her.

The fact was, the more time Kai spent with Lulu, the more he was attracted to her. It wasn’t just that she was gorgeous - which she was - it was more. She was more. More funny, more intelligent, more friendly, more kind, more intuitive, more enjoyable.

As a child, he’d only known her one way. She was the slightly out-of-control Lulu Reilly who never backed down from a dare. All grown up, she was still unpredictable, but not in a dangerous sort of way.

He hadn’t come back to Harper intending to fall for anyone. He wasn’t against the idea, but he had a great deal of work ahead of him to make the newspaper viable. He’d assumed that he’d concentrate on that goal before possibly adding a romantic relationship to his life.

Here I go again. Overthinking situations. Maybe I should sit back and see what happens.

She’d poured each of them a glass of ginger ale, ruefully explaining that she tried not to drink when she was going to be on duty the next day. He’d agreed that was a good plan and that he was fine with a soft drink.

“My dad had this whiteboard in the storage room,” Lulu said, propping it on the arms of an overstuffed chair. “I don’t know if he forgot about it, or that maybe he just wasn’t a visual person. But I am, so I dragged it up here. I just didn’t realize that I’d need it so soon. It’s magnetic, so I ordered some of these magnets that will hold pictures and things up on the board.”

She also had three different colors of markers - green for things that they were sure about, blue for not so sure, and red for not sure at all or known lies.

It looks like Lulu was organized, too.

“I’m going to put Dana’s photo right here in the middle,” Lulu said, placing the picture in the center of the board. “Now, who do we have as possible suspects? Even if I haven’t talked to them yet. I’m going to be busy tomorrow with more interviews.”

“Her ex-husband, Jay Bradford,” Kai offered. “And let’s not forget his girlfriend, Allie. She didn’t like Dana and even threatened her life.”

“She did,” Lulu agreed. “And I’m going to mark their alibis in red because we know one or both of them are lying. I think we also need to add in Glen Foster. Not because I think he’s a killer, but because I need to talk to him about what Dana and Jay were discussing the night before she died. At this point, he has information we need.”

“There are rumors about Glen and Dana,” Kai reminded her. “We need to talk to him about that, too.”

“And also, the mysterious boyfriend,” Lulu said, placing a paper with a large question mark on the board. “If she was seeing someone, we need to find out who it was and talk to them.”

“What else do we know?” Kai asked. “Can we say that she probably knew her attacker since it happened in her garage, and there is no sign of a struggle?”

“I’m not sure we can say that definitively yet,” Lulu replied. “They could have snuck up behind her. I do think it’s more likely that she knew them, but I’m not ready to hang my hat on that. Not yet.”

“Man or woman?” Kai challenged. “You were leaning toward a man because they would have had to move a dead body. Are you still thinking that way? Because we have a woman on the board lying about her alibi.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Lulu sighed. “I still think it would be difficult for Allie to move Dana’s body to the lake. Not impossible, but damn difficult. Plus, we didn’t find any drag marks in the garage or driveway, only drops. To me, that means Dana was carried.”

“So…a man?”

“Or a man helping a woman,” Lulu replied. “What if Allie killed Dana, realized what she’d done?—”

“And called Jay for help,” Kai jumped in. “I see where you’re going with this. That’s a possibility.”

“There’s a huge problem with my theory though,” Lulu pointed out. “If they were in it together, you’d think they would have taken five minutes and got their stories straight. They didn’t do that.”

“They could be terrible criminals,” Kai suggested. “Frantic about what Allie had done, still in a state of shock. If it wasn’t murder in cold blood, they might not have thought about syncing their alibis. I doubt I’d be an effective killer.”

“I think you’d be good at it,” Lulu said with a shake of her head. “You’re organized, and you think things through. You’re detail-oriented. Not that I’m saying you have killer instincts or anything. I don’t think you’d kill anyone, but if you decided to, I think you’d probably have an excellent shot at getting away with it.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment because I think you meant it as one,” he replied with a laugh. “I’m not a killer, but I could be a good one. That’s…kind of nice in a weird way. Sort of like, I’m not a race car driver, but if I put my mind to it, I could be a good one.”

“A race car driver?” Lulu said, rolling her eyes. “Now I don’t know about that. That might be a stretch.”

“Would you be a good killer?”

Why on earth did he ask that? What a stupid question. What was it about this woman that made him forget how to pause his mouth until his brain caught up?

“Is this on the record or off?” she joked.

“Definitely off.”

“Then, yes. There’s a high probability I’d get away with it. Remember, I’ve studied murders since I was a kid, and I’ve made investigating murders my job. I could be overconfident. But the fact is, with modern forensics and investigation tools, still only about half of murders are solved. The other half go cold. Stranger murders are even harder to solve.”

“Do you think Dana was killed by a stranger?”

“No, I don’t. I think she was killed by someone she knew. Do you think she was killed by a stranger?”

Did he? He wasn’t sure. He’d never investigated a murder before, unless he counted one of the mystery books he liked to read when he had some free time.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I haven’t ruled it out in my head. I do agree that it’s not the most likely explanation. We would be saying that a stranger was driving around, came upon the long driveway to Dana’s house, decided to turn down it and saw the house, decided to kill the person in the house, and then waited until she came out to the garage and hit her over the head. Then he or she picked her up and transported her to a second location instead of leaving her body at the house and taking that time to get far away from the crime scene. It does seem far-fetched when I say it out loud.”

“If it was some sort of serial killer, he might have picked Dana out as a victim days or even weeks ago. He may have seen her in town, or at the bar she worked at,” Lulu explained. “He may have followed her for a few days to see her routine. He could have seen that she lived in a remote area, and began to plan how he would do it. Imagining it. Fantasizing about it. Then he gets the rush of killing, but the build-up just starts all over again with a fresh victim.”

“Jesus, that sounds horrifying,” Kai groaned. “That’s hunting a human being like an animal.”

“That’s exactly what it is, but I don’t think that’s what happened here,” Lulu replied. “My gut is telling me that it was someone she knew. Someone she trusted.”

“Maybe we should list out everyone Dana would have trusted,” Kai suggested.

“Or should have trusted,” Lulu replied. “I want to talk to her friends about her relationship with her family. And I want to talk to her family - separately - about her relationship with her friends and co-workers. Tomorrow, I need to go to the bar where she worked. Maybe she was dating one of the customers but keeping it quiet.”

“We have too many suspects,” Kai said. “Too many unanswered questions.”

“It’s still early in the investigation,” Lulu reminded him, placing her marker on the end table. “We haven’t talked to everyone of interest yet. Hopefully, by the end of tomorrow, we’ll have a better idea of who is lying to us, and who is telling the truth.”

“What if everyone is lying to us?”

“Then we’re trapped in Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.” Lulu glanced at her watch. “I know I sound a little crazy, but I don’t suppose you’d want to go for a walk? I have too much pent-up energy, and I need to walk around to sort out my thoughts. If you don’t, it’s fine. I’ll just go. But if you do go, I’ll make hot chocolate afterward.”

The temperature had dropped since the sun went down and was now firmly in shiver your ass off territory. The last thing he wanted to do was go outside and freeze to death, even if it was with a woman as beautiful and intriguing as Lulu Reilly.

“Sure, that sounds like fun.”

The words tumbled out of his mouth without warning. He’d wanted to be more impulsive, and now here he was. They could put on his tombstone that he died of frostbite and spontaneity.

But it meant he had more time with Lulu.

It just might be worth it.

Lulu was in disbelief that Kai had agreed to walk with her in the freezing cold. She could see their breath misting as they trudged along the dark quiet streets of the downtown area. They were both bundled up in their coats, plus Lulu was wearing gloves and a scarf. She didn’t mind the cold so much, and it always helped clear her head when too many thoughts were clouding it.

She didn’t have a clue as to how she was going to fall asleep tonight. Images floated in and out of her mind as she pictured Dana’s last day alive. That was something she still needed to put together - the total timeline of the last twenty-four hours for their victim.

“It’s a little chilly out here,” Kai said, his hands shoved in his pockets.

He wasn’t dressed well for the temperature. The coat didn’t look warm enough, and his hands had to be about to drop his fingers.

“You moved here from Los Angeles?”

“I did, why?”

“I’m guessing it doesn’t get cold there?”

She heard his chuckle and saw another plume of mist from his breath.

“It does, but not often and not like this. Plus, I only ever visited my grandparents in the summer. For some reason, I sort of blocked out about how cold it could get here in Montana. This cold is colder, if you know what I mean. I keep reminding myself to get some gloves and a better coat, but I get busy and forget.”

“We can go back inside,” she offered, feeling guilty that he was so cold. “I can think inside.”

“It’s fine,” he assured her. “We’re not walking to Denver. It will be okay.”

She didn’t believe him for a second. He even sounded cold.

Reaching out her hand, she captured his when he momentarily pulled it from his pocket.

“What you need is body heat.”

After the words came out, she realized she’d just said something rather provocative in nature. Yet, her statement was true. The heat of another body would warm him up.

I kind of want that body to be me.

The feeling had been growing all day. Wanting to spend more time with him. Wanting to hear what he had to say about any and all subjects. Wanting to know all the little details about his life.

She recognized the signs. She had all the symptoms.

She was starting to fall for Kai Oliver.

It wasn’t a shock. He was the kind of guy that she found attractive. Quiet, thoughtful, intelligent, with a quirky sense of humor. It didn’t hurt that he was sexy as all hell either. Those silver-blue eyes ought to be illegal in all fifty states.

Don’t get me started on the dimple in his right cheek when he smiles.

She’d never been the shrinking violet type when it came to her love life. She didn’t play games or hard to get. She’d simply let the guy know she was interested, putting the ball in their court. If they followed through, it was good. If they weren’t interested, that was okay, too. It might smart for a little while, but she was a grown woman. Not every man was going to want to be with her.

Lulu had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized they’d come to a halt on the sidewalk. Kai had turned toward her, so they were looking into one another’s eyes. It was hard to make out his expression in the dim light of the moon, but she could feel the warmth of his gaze and the heat emanating from his body that was now mere inches from her own.

A tension had grown between them, but it wasn’t a wall pushing them apart. If anything, it was a force pushing them closer together. She could feel her body swaying towards his, and then their lips brushing together as soft as the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.

His arms slid around her, pulling her closer so that she was pressed against the hard muscles of his frame. He kissed her again, deepening more this time until she forgot that they were standing on a public sidewalk in the middle of town where anyone could see them.

Lost in the maelstrom of emotions, Lulu didn’t care if anyone saw them. The entire world had ceased to exist, and it was just the two of them alone. His lips, his arms, the fire that had been slowly building between them and would surely explode if they gave it free rein.

Of course, Kai was the first one to come to his senses. He backed away as if shocked by his own behavior, his fingers raking through his hair. He seemed to be trying to say something, but no words came out.

I’ve rendered him speechless. Is that good or bad?

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his voice raspy in the cold. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Well, shit. She didn’t want him to be sorry. She wanted him to want to do it again.

He took a few steps away from her, turning so she was looking at his back. For a moment, she thought he was simply going to walk away without saying anything else. Her entire body was on fire for this guy, and he didn’t feel the same way.

Crushing. That’s how it felt. If there’d been a convenient hole that opened up in the sidewalk, she would have happily hidden in it.

But then he whirled around and strode back to her, his hands gripping her arms. Not painfully, but solid. She couldn’t move away, but dammit, she didn’t want to.

“No, that’s not true. I’m not fucking sorry. I wanted to kiss you, and I’m not sorry that I did it. I’m only sorry if you think I’m a jerk and want to kick me in the balls for being forward. But for once, I followed my instincts because I desperately wanted to kiss you. I hope that you wanted it, too.”

Lulu could feel the smile on her face, her cheeks stiff from the frigid temperatures outside. Yet, she was warm on the inside, her abdomen fizzing with bubbly champagne.

“I don’t want to kick you in the balls.”

“That’s good.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers again. She could feel the tingle all the way to her toes.

“And I did want you to kiss me.”

“That’s good, too. Very good.”

It was good, except that they hadn’t moved from the spot on the sidewalk. They were still standing like statues in the cold.

“Kai, take me home.” She reached up and traced his jaw with her fingertips. She could see her hand trembling visibly. Could he read on her face how much she wanted him? She could feel his need without him having to say a word. “We have to get warm.”

Or hot. She knew what they could do to chase the cold away.

Spontaneity didn’t have to be a bad thing.

Kai Oliver wasn’t what she’d planned, but there was no way she was walking away from him tonight.

She’d worry about tomorrow in the morning.