Leanne Banks - Hot Stuff

Minutes later Kellen closed and locked the front door, and he and Cate stood for a moment appreciating the silence. The crime scene people were working in the stairwell, but everyone was out of the condo. A police strobe flashed against the living room window. The strobe originated from a lone squad car parked four floors below on the street. The strobe blinked off, and Cate sighed in relief. It was close to midnight.

“Are you really going to be okay alone in this condo tonight?” Kellen asked.

“Sure,” Cate said. “I’ll be fine.” And she burst into tears.

Kellen gathered her to him and held her close, resting his head on hers.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” Cate sobbed. “I didn’t even know that dead guy. And nothing’s missing or broken in Marty’s condo. And I’m really pretty safe when I throw the bolt from the inside, right?”

“Right,” Kellen said.

“Why am I blubbering like this?”

“Emotion,” Kellen said. “Sometimes it just has to come out. You held yourself together when we found the body and during the whole police investigation, and now you can relax and let the emotion escape. It’s like a safety valve.”

“Why aren’t you crying?”

“I’m a big strong man. It would be unseemly for me to cry like a little girl.”

“Will you cry when you’re alone?”

“No. I’ve seen a lot worse than this.”

Cate snuffled and hiccupped and went to the kitchen in search of a tissue. She blew her nose and stared at the butcher-block knife holder on the granite countertop. The large carving knife was missing. She looked in the dishwasher. Not there. She looked in the silverware drawer and the junk drawer. Not there.

Cate went back to the living room where Kellen was straightening furniture. “The large carving knife is missing,” Cate said.

Kellen looked over at her. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. I looked in all the drawers, and I can’t find it.”

“The body in the stairwell didn’t have any knife wounds.”

Cate shrugged and did one of those hand gestures that said I dunno.

“It’s late,” Kellen said. “And we’re both tired. I think we should go to bed and clean this up in the morning.”

“I have to get the blood off the floor tonight.”

“I hear you. Where do you keep the mop?”

“It’s not your problem.”

“It is my problem,” Kellen said, wrapping his arms around Cate. “I really like you. I mean, really like you.”

“I like you too,” Cate said. “But I’m not sure I trust you.”

“Smart woman,” Kellen said. And he brushed a kiss across her lips, and then he gave her a second kiss that lingered and deepened and turned very serious.

Cate felt the need curl into her, and she instinctively pressed herself against Kellen. His hand immediately moved to her butt, holding her in place.

“Oops,” Cate said. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s done,” Kellen said. “You can’t take it back.”

“It was an accident.”

“I liked it.”

“I can tell,” Cate said.

Kellen looked down at her. “Still too soon?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, how about this… I clean your kitchen floor, and you go to bed. When I’m done I’ll sleep in Marty’s room. Tomorrow morning I’ll buy you breakfast, and we can talk.”

“That would be really nice of you. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the blood. I’ll owe you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Kellen said.

Kellen was on the couch, text-messaging on his BlackBerry when Cate emerged from her bedroom with Beast.

“Did you sleep okay?” Cate asked Kellen.

“Yes. And I had a chance to comb through the condo again. And again, I found nothing. Marty steals expensive jewelry. He needs to keep it someplace until he moves it out to a fence. There’s no safe here. Not even a strongbox. Where does Marty keep the jewelry?”

“He keeps his personal jewelry in the top drawer of his dresser. I’ve never seen any other jewelry in the condo. Maybe he uses a safety deposit box at his bank.”

“I’ve been through his records. I can’t find any evidence of a safety deposit box. No receipt. No reference to one. That doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist, but usually someone as organized as Marty keeps paperwork on file.

“The only item of interest that I found in my search is a key. One single key on a gold key chain. It looks like a house key. Does Marty have a partner?”

“You mean like a boyfriend? I don’t think so.”

“He never brought anyone home?”

“No. I’m sure he has friends, but he never brought anyone here. Maybe Marty has a second condo.”

“If he does it isn’t under his name. I’ve checked tax records.”

“Beast and I are going walking,” Cate said. “We’ll be back in a half hour. You promised to take us to breakfast.”

“We can do both simultaneously,” Kellen said. “I’ll walk Beast with you, and we can eat breakfast burgers in the park.”

It was a little after eight in the morning and traffic was moving on Cate’s street when they all trooped out. Sometime during the night it had rained, and the air felt scrubbed fresh of grime and toxins. Beast pranced in the cooler air and did what he had to do in the park. Kellen carted cartons of coffee and bags of egg-and-sausage burgers to a bench.

“I love this,” Cate said, feeding a burger to Beast. “It’s a morning picnic.”

“I’d love it better if I felt I could keep you safe,” Kellen said. “I don’t like people breaking into your condo.”

“One of the people who broke in isn’t going to break in any more.”

“True. But there were at least two people in your kitchen. I have a friend who’s a locksmith. I’m going to send him over later this morning to change your front door lock.”

“I can’t do that. It isn’t my condo. And Marty won’t have a key.”

“If Marty wants to get in he can ring the doorbell. And if you aren’t home he can call you. I’m sure he has your cell number.”

“I just assumed someone was picking the lock.”

“It’s possible, but it could also have been someone who had a key. You live in a secure building. The only way to get through the outside door is to get buzzed in by a tenant or to unlock the door with a key fob.”

Cate finished her coffee and breakfast sandwich, and gave one last sandwich to Beast. They gathered the wrappers and bags and cups, tossed them all in the trash, and crossed the street. They were in front of the condo building when Kitty Bergman screeched to a stop and parked her Mercedes in a no-parking zone.

Kitty jumped out of her car and stormed over to Cate, waving a copy of the morning paper. Beast yelped and hid behind Kellen.

“What the heck is this about?” Kitty yelled. “Marty’s agent found dead in the stairwell! Preliminary investigation suggests he fell down the stairs and broke his neck. First of all, I know Marty’s agent, and that sack of horse manure would never use the stairs. And second, you killed him, didn’t you?”

“Why would I want to kill him?”

“Everyone wanted to kill him. He was a disgusting parasite.”

“I didn’t know him,” Cate said. “And I wasn’t in the building when it happened.”

“She was with me,” Kellen said.

“Who are you?” Kitty asked.

“Kellen Koster.”

Kitty hiked her Prada tote higher on her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at Kellen. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“Not today, but maybe someday.”

“Spare me the riddles,” Kitty said. “I wouldn’t be talking to you at all, but you look like you have a good package.”

Cate and Kitty and Kellen studied his package for a moment.

“Thanks,” Kellen finally said, smiling.

The elevator door opened, and Cate stepped in and pulled Beast in after her.

“Nice meeting you,” Kellen said to Kitty. He followed Cate and Beast into the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. “Obviously a woman with keen powers of observation,” Kellen said to Cate.

Cate and Julie stared at Cate’s kitchen counter. It was filled with cakes.

“Honey, that’s a lot of cakes. Did you bake them all today?” Julie asked.

“Yep.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

Cate didn’t know. She’d already given cakes to everyone she could think of. “I wish school would start,” Cate said. “I need something to occupy my mind. I don’t start my shift at the bar until five tonight. That’s two hours away.”

“How about a pedicure?”

“Just did that.”

“Oh, yeah,” Julie said, looking down at Cate’s toes. “I love that pink color. They’re real pretty.”

“I cleaned the condo. I walked Beast. I balanced my checkbook. I went food shopping.”

“I guess you’re trying to keep your mind off the dead man,” Julie said.

“Yeah,” Cate said on a sigh.

Actually Cate was trying to keep her mind off Kellen. Now that Kitty had drawn attention to his package it was all Cate could think about.

“Did you read the article in the paper this morning?” Julie asked. “It said the man’s name was Irwin Moss. And it said he was Marty’s agent. And the police thought Irwin came over to talk to Marty, and there was a fight, and Irwin left in a huff and fell down the stairs. And the police said they couldn’t locate Marty. And they mentioned your name. They said you were Marty’s housekeeper.”

The phone rang and Cate got it in the kitchen.

“I’m in front of 2B again,” Sharon said. “And I’ve got him this time. I know this will work. You have to come down to see.”

“Now?” Cate asked.

“Now! Right now.”

Cate and Julie stuck their heads out of the elevator when it opened on the second floor. They looked down the hall at Sharon, who was making giant come here signals to them, and they both stifled a grimace.

“Here’s the deal,” Sharon said. “I think he’s in there. I’ve been watching all day. And I heard music playing around one o’clock. So I’ve got a couple packs of cigarettes, and we’ll all light up and blow the smoke under his door. Eventually he’ll see the smoke and rush out, and I’ll have him!”