Some Like It in Handcuffs (7 page)

She led him into the small room off the hallway between her bedroom and tiny bathroom. Judson walked toward the large dry erase board which covered the length of one wall. An outline of Karina’s last day, in vivid detail, filled almost every available space in neat cursive writing.

“You’ve been busy.” He turned to her.

“And that surprises you?” Sunny lifted her chin. “You don’t think much of my abilities.”

“It remains to be seen.” Judson fastened his hands over his hips.

They stood regarding each other for several tense moments, and then Sunny cleared her throat. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.” She rested her weight on one foot, while the other tapped the wooden floor in perfect rhythm. “I thought we’d get together sooner than this. We’re working a case where every second counts, and if you can’t let me know when you’re going to be here, then we have a problem.”

“Hey, don’t go all boss lady on me.” Judson lifted one brow and stepped toward her, humor dancing in his eyes. “Next you’ll be cuffing me to drag down to the station like a common perp.”

“Not funny, Judson.” Her voice rose. “If you’re going to treat this like a joke, let’s forget it. You can go back to the precinct, and I’ll continue with what I was doing in the first place, before everyone decided to run my life.”

“Don’t make me regret my decision to help you.”

“Please. You act like you’re doing
me
a favor, like I’d be lost without you.” She waved him away with a flick of her wrist.

“Whoa, Wildcat, you’re acting like I hand-picked you to work with.”

“I’m serious about my work—and quit calling me
Wildcat.
” She walked to the small round antique table in the corner and tossed the envelope in the center. “It’s been five days since I heard from you. What am I supposed to think?”

“You have my number.” He rocked on his heels. “If you were so concerned, you could’ve called.”

“Why should
I
be the one to call? You said
you’d
be in touch.”

“Well, if you
had
called you’d know I was finishing up some paperwork so I could devote all of my attention to this.” His hand encompassed the room.

“Is that your attempt at an apology?” She raised her chin.

“Will that make you calm down?”

“It’ll be a start.”

“In that case, I’ll go one step farther. I apologize for not keeping you better informed.” He grinned.

Her posture relaxed. It would be next to impossible to stay angry after he’d apologized, even though it wasn’t the best apology she’d ever heard, but topping it off with his knee melting grin pushed her over the edge. She blew out her breath; apologies aside she needed him to have access to the information at the precinct, especially the evidence box. “When I didn’t hear from you I thought you backed out on me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Not that I’m admitting I own these traits, but you might think I have a bossy attitude and a big mouth.” A sliver of a smile curved her lips.

“Wildcat, your attitude and mouth don’t scare me.” His long hair fell over his forehead. “I should’ve known better. Whenever I work with a girl—
woman—
I should check in more often.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her brow creased.

He shook his head and pushed the hair from his eyes. “You’re just like my last partner.”

“We are not partners.”

“Call it whatever you want. Either way I had a bad habit of not keeping her up to date on my whereabouts. It was a sore spot between us.”

They sounded close. Her stomach tossed and tightened. “Smart woman.”

“She was.” His voice lowered. “She was the best.”

Sunny’s heart thumped against her chest. His face hardened, his eyes dulled. It didn’t take a detective to realize there would be no discussion about his last partner. She wouldn’t push the issue, at least for the moment.

“Okay, let’s start over.” Sunny lowered her eyes to the package on the table. “I’m sorry, you’re sorry, we’re square. Sound like a deal?”

“Deal.” His husky voice eased the weight on her heart.

“Let’s check this out.” Sunny smiled at him. “I’m dying to know if any of these pictures will help us.”

“Glen said they’re all shots from outside of Karina’s apartment complex. He forgot he had them.”

She opened the brown document sized envelope and the pictures spilled over the surface of the table, along with a thin white envelope stuffed full of several sheets of lined paper. Sunny pushed it aside as she sifted through the photographs.

“Looks like people standing around, nosy neighbors, and shots of the police working the scene.” She picked up a few pictures to examine them. “Here are some pics of the neighborhood.”

Judson pulled a partially hidden picture from the pile. It was larger than the rest and looked like a professional portrait. Sunny whistled and blinked in quick succession as she took the glossy print Judson offered.

“This deserves a place of honor. It’ll be a constant reminder of why we’re doing this.” Sunny plucked a thumb tack from a tray and secured the glossy picture onto the wall, off to the side by itself. She wanted it to stand out from the others, so it’d be the focal point when she came into the room to work. Karina’s face smiled back at her. She wore her graduation cap and gown, her face full of hope, excitement and the future.

“Good thinking.”

Sunny stepped back, her vision blurry, sniffed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Judson came up beside her, resting his arm across her shoulders. They both stood in silent respect.

“Karina was so beautiful.” Sunny’s hushed voice quivered. “I wish I’d gotten the chance to meet her.”

“It’s the perfect spot for her picture, Sunny. Glen said she’d been valedictorian of her class.” Judson’s fingers caressed her shoulder. “Don’t turn all girly on me now. Let’s get to work.” He squeezed her upper arm.

“I know, I know.”

He pulled a chair from the table then held it out for her. “After you, Wildcat.”

Not that she’d let him know, but she liked his nickname for her. He’d singled her out to make her special.

Heat oozed through her body as she took the offered seat. “I don’t have a lot of time, Judson, I have to be—somewhere in a couple of hours.”

She almost messed up and revealed her secret. Sunny looked away when he sat beside her, hoping he hadn’t noticed her pause.

He didn’t miss a beat. “What time do we have to be at Benny’s?”

“What—what are you talking about?”

“Sunny, Sunny, Sunny,” he drawled, dragging out her name each time he said it.

“Judson, Judson, Judson.” She swallowed, and tried to win him over with her exaggerated smile.

It didn’t work.

“I thought I warned you against playing me for a fool. Although your charm is quite effective, I won’t be swayed. I’m not under your thumb like your brothers and dad.” His slow smile warmed her from head to toe.

She wiggled in her seat and looked away. Needing a distraction, Sunny grabbed the white envelope from the table stuffed with papers; the pressure from her fingers bent the corners as she mumbled, “Nobody’s under my thumb.”

“Come clean, you might as well fess up. I know you’re still the resident bartender at Benny’s.” He snorted. “I’ve seen you there.”

Her head jerked up. “You’re spying on me? Following me?”

“If that’s how you want to phrase it, go ahead. I prefer to say I’m staying on top of the situation.”

She glared at him. His cavalier smile told her he knew everything and her heart sank to her stomach, filtered down to her knees then thudded to the floor.

“Okay…okay, you caught me.” She might as well confess. Shrugging, she leaned back. “That must’ve been you the other night. Benny said someone was watching me.”

“Now you’ve caught me.” He didn’t take his eyes from her face. “Am I mistaken or did you not agree to be straight with me when we started this?”

“I know.” She sighed. “Damn it, Judson, I couldn’t give up my contacts there.” Her arms folded over her chest, and she looked at him from beneath her lashes. “How else will I be able to get information if I don’t work the case right where the main players are?”

“I understand.” He placed his hand under her chin, and forced her head up.

“You do?” She squeaked.

“And I have no problem with it. But, the Playhouse is a rough place. I should be there when you are, so I can keep an eye out for you.”

The touch of his hand along her jaw wreaked havoc on her concentration. If his touch affected her this much, how could she survive his eyes on her for a full eight hour shift? She gulped. Talk about foreplay. At least on her end.

He withdrew his hand. The movement pulled her to him as if he were a magnet. She stopped with a jolt. No need to make a complete fool of herself.

Her skin burned where his hand touched. She put her fingers to her chin in an effort to catch the heat.

“Trust me; I’ve been in seedier spots than Benny’s. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve gotten out of some sticky situations on my own.” Even though she wanted to sound tough, she couldn’t hide the shakiness in her voice at the idea of having him around while she worked. “Plus, it’d blow my cover to have you lurking around.”

“You’re not getting out of it that easily. I have a plan. We’ll tell them I’m your ex that’s trying to win you back.”

Sunny rolled her eyes, laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding. Nobody will buy that.”

“If you want me to keep my mouth shut when I’m with your brothers, you’ll make sure they do.”

His devilish grin caught her off guard, the mixture of a threat and his charm were a dangerous combination. Her stomach thrilled, she pressed her hand to it. To have him help behind the scenes was enough, but now he wanted to intrude in her investigation at the bar. She’d have to put up with it to solve Karina’s murder, and show her family she wasn’t out of her league.

“Well, when you put it like that, I’ll give it my all,” she said through a tight-lipped smile. She didn’t like being forced into the situation, but her choices were limited to none.

“Good.”

“But, again, just for the record, I’m more than able to handle the situation.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “You never cease to amaze me, Sunny.”

“Someday I might just have to show you how I can handle myself. Even you’ll be surprised when I flip you over my shoulder and you’re looking up at me with your back pressed against the floor.”

“You’re giving me something to look forward to.”

Sunny rolled her eyes, but the heat coming from his expression sent a tingle across her skin. “Since I’m working tonight, how do you want to do this? Tell me where you’ll be sitting and what you’ll be dressed like so I can find you.”

“I’ll surprise you, how’s that?”

“You’re a man of mystery, Detective Blackwolf,” she said, chuckling as she observed the sparkle in his eyes.

“Isn’t that what all women want?” he teased.

“That’s the rumor.”

Judson lifted her hand in his, her breath caught in her throat as his firm grip closed around her fingers. His touch was so hard and strong, but soft and gentle at the same time. When his thumb caressed the tender skin of her palm she had to concentrate to suck back a moan. Guarded gray eyes met her wide blue ones. The flutter of ten thousand butterflies soared in her stomach, and Sunny lowered her lashes.

Sunny dreaded work tonight. She walked into the smoke-filled room with legs of lead, and her eyes wandered over the tables crowding the floor.

Judson left her apartment a little over two hours ago so she could get ready, but assured her he’d see her soon. She had no idea if he would be here at the start of her shift, or if he’d show up later.

She rubbed damp palms down the backside of her shorts, and stopped short outside the back room where she clocked in when she heard Slater and Tasha’s voices.

“What’d she say to that?” Concern filled Tasha’s voice.

“She wasn’t thrilled when I told her we’d have ta put her down. It reminded her of that last time.” Slater’s voice was hard.

“Yeah, but that was over twenty-years ago. You’re off the hook due to time restraints.” Tasha’s chuckle sounded unsure, tense.

Sunny’s heart stuck in her throat, and she held her breath in an effort to hear every word.

“Her words exactly. ‘Murder doesn’t have a statute of limitations.’” Slater’s voice grew near as their footsteps crossed the old wood floor.

Sunny ducked around the corner and flattened herself against the wall as they stepped into the mudroom.

“If ya happen ta see her, don’t mention I told ya.” Slater finished as they stepped through into the bar.

“No way, I don’t want to get on her bad side.”

With her hand to her throat, Sunny expelled a long breath of air. Murder. Statute of Limitations. Did Slater know something about Karina’s murder, something more than she originally suspected. But, it didn’t make any sense for Tasha to be involved in any of this. Heck, she was only a couple of years older than Sunny. She would’ve been a child when Karina was killed. But, what if Slater was using her to keep tabs on Benny? Learn what he knew and thought. It almost made sense. Sunny had noticed Tasha and Benny together more often than before, but hadn’t thought much about it. She assumed Benny asked Tasha to help with the new hires and take a leadership role with the other dancers.

Sunny swallowed hard, her heart still pounding against her ribs. It sounded like they were talking about Karina. All the words and the time line fit. But who was the mystery woman they both seemed wary of?

She walked inside the room and punched in. A chill ran over her skin, and she rubbed her hands up and down over her arms in a swift movement.

The letter she’d received today was still tucked inside her purse. Someone had placed it in her mailbox, and it wasn’t the mailman, only her name appeared on the envelope, no address or stamp. The shaky penmanship, written with a bold black marker, commanded her attention with the four simple words.

Benny’s closest friend knows.

Her stomach grew queasy with tension and excitement. Whoever wanted to help her had been right at her front door. Benny was the first person to come to mind. He always had a black marker somewhere on his person, be it his pocket, or gripped in his fingers when he was at the bar. But it wasn’t like a bold black Sharpie marker was uncommon.