2 A Dyed Blonde and a Dead Body (6 page)

"That's because I never got the letter," Bekki groaned and turned her face into the firmness of his chest. She couldn't believe that a heartbreak that had been following her for nearly her entire life had been a complete mistake.

"When I got back, and you didn't want anything to do with me…"

"Because I thought you left without saying goodbye," Bekki reminded him.

"I just thought I had to move on," he admitted with a slight nod. "I thought that was what you wanted."

"It was never what I wanted," she pursed her lips slightly and peeked up at him. "That summer was the best time in my life."

"Mine too," he replied quietly. "So maybe we can start over?" he suggested hopefully.

"I don't know," Bekki said as she slowly sat up. He placed the ice pack back on the table beside the couch and looked over at her.

"Why? Isn't it worth seeing if we still feel the same way?" he asked, his eyes not leaving hers.

Bekki felt her chest tighten. She already knew she felt the same way. If she was honest with herself she had never stopped feeling the same way.

"We're not kids anymore Nick," she reminded him. "We've both lived our lives, and grown up, and changed."

"All the more reason to get to know each other again," he said as he curled his arm around her waist and pulled her back closer to him as gently as he could. "Don't tell me you don't feel it too Bekki, because that night in the truck…"

"I know," Bekki breathed. "It's not that I don't want to Nick. I just don't want to give you the wrong idea."

"What idea is that?" he inquired his questioning persistent.

"That I'm ready for anything serious," she explained hesitantly.

"This is about Trevor, isn't it?" he asked with a sigh.

"That has something to do with it," she admitted. "Like you told me about Lydia, you think you know someone…"

"But that's the point Bekki," he grasped one of her hands gently in his own. "All I'm asking for is the chance to get to know you again. I don't need you to protect me, I'm a big boy, and I know the risk. I just want the opportunity to see where this could go."

Bekki smiled a little at his words. She had been hoping he wanted just that, but it was still hard for her to think of getting back into a relationship after the betrayal she had felt when Trevor cheated on her.

"Well, in that case Detective," Bekki offered a subtle smile. "I did break into Julie's room. And I still think Lydia didn't kill herself. And I'm not going to stop until I find out who did it," she said sternly. "That's who I am. Are you sure that's who you want to get to know?"

'Positive," he replied and leaned in for a sensual kiss. When he pulled away, he tugged her back down into his lap. "After you get a little rest."

Bekki yawned as the late hour insisted she sleep at least a little. She settled back against him and smiled as she felt Nick's arms wrap around her. In his grasp she felt safe. She drifted right off to sleep.

***

It seemed as if only minutes had passed, but in truth Bekki had been sleeping for hours. She woke to the smell of coffee, and a piercing headache. She groaned as she slowly sat up. As soon as she saw that she was laying in her bed, her heart skipped a beat. Nick must have carried her into the room while she was sleeping. It made her feel a million different ways at once to think that she had slept so deeply that she didn't even notice. Had he slept beside her? She couldn't tell from the ruffled blankets.

“Coffee?” Nick asked as he leaned against the doorway of the bedroom. Bekki shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

“No thanks, I think I just need some Aspirin,” she winced as she reached around to touch the back of her neck.

“Here let me take a look,” he said as he sat down on the bed beside her. She held her breath as his fingertips coasted along the slope of her neck and his body leaned closer to hers. He began to rub softly beneath the small knot that was still on her neck. His soothing touch eased some of the shooting pain she was feeling.

“That's nice,” she sighed and leaned back into his caresses. “So are we going to arrest her today?”

“We are not arresting anyone,” he reminded her. “I'm the one with the handcuffs. And no, we don't have enough evidence to do that. Since you wouldn't let me call in the team to process the scene, we have nothing to arrest her for.”

“Seriously?” Bekki sighed with frustration.

“Hey, don't ruin all my hard work here,” he said sharply and moved his hands over her shoulders to massage them.

“Well, I guess I'll just go into the salon then,” Bekki sighed.

“No you won't,” he corrected her. “Sammy is running the salon. You're staying home, and resting, and staying out of trouble.”

“Do you really think that's possible?” she asked with a wry smile.

“No, but I'm still going to tell you that's what you should be doing,” he answered, hiding a smile which quickly faded. “I mean it Bekki. Somebody attacked you last night. If it were up to me I'd put a car on you, but I know you wouldn't like that.”

“You're right about that,” Bekki frowned.

“So please just let me do my job and stay in bed?” he suggested.

“Well, if you promise to give me another massage later, maybe,” Bekki nodded a little. She felt as if she could sleep for hours.

“Good,” he kissed the top of her head gently. “I'll call you with an update, okay?”

She nodded and smiled as he left the room.

“Thanks Nick!” she called after him.

She lay back in the bed and as soon as she did she was reminded of her need for Aspirin. Nick had already left, so she went to the bathroom to search for a bottle. Nothing there. Nothing in the kitchen.

“Ugh,” Bekki winced as her head pounded. She was just going to have to go to the store and get some. After she dressed she decided it would be best to walk into town. She didn't trust herself to drive after a blow to the head. When she reached the store she bought the biggest bottle of Aspirin she could find and a bottle of water to go with it. After taking two and washing them down with a gulp of water she walked back out of the store and into the town square. That was when she spotted Julie. She had just left the local diner and was staring hard at her phone. Bekki knew she should just head straight back home, but she couldn't. She wanted to know exactly what Julie was up to. As she trailed after her, the woman continued to stare hard at her phone. She wasn't texting, or playing a game, it was almost as if she was looking at a map.

Bekki crept close enough to her to catch a glimpse of the app she was looking at. It was a map, with a blinking red icon. It looked like a GPS. Bekki hung back, not wanting Julie to realize she was there. She followed Julie all the way to the edge of the lake. When the woman paused, Bekki did too, a few feet away. She ducked behind a bush, and looked past Julie at the water.

A very tall and handsome man stood at the edge of the water with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He was dwarfed by the lake spreading out before him, making him appear quite young and vulnerable. No one stood with him, and he didn't seem to be in any hurry to turn away from the natural beauty. His shoulders were slumped. Bekki was a little too far away to be sure, but she thought they were trembling. Bekki realized that Julie must have been using a tracking app. It was probably linked to Dan's phone.

"Daniel," Julie said as she stepped up behind him. Bekki's nostrils flared with anger as she realized that the woman who she suspected had killed Daniel's mother was about to embrace him.

"Julie," he said with surprise as he spun around to face her. "What are you doing here?" he frowned, his eyes narrowed. He did not seem terribly happy to see her.

"I heard about your mother," she said quietly and stepped a little closer to him. "I'm so sorry, Daniel, I know how deeply you loved her. I just didn't want you to be alone at a time like this,” she reached out and gently grasped his forearm.

Dan's expression hardened as he studied her. It was clear that whatever problems had arose in their marriage were not ones he was willing to forgive. However, in the next moment Julie slid her arms around his waist and hugged him, pressing her body close.

"Please Daniel, I know this past year has been difficult, I know that you hate me, but don't shut me out now. I know you need someone," she purred her words and looked up at him pleadingly.

Bekki shuddered with disgust as she thought about what she believed this woman had done to Lydia, and now she was heartless enough to try to offer comfort to her son? Dan didn't have any idea that his mother's death had been anything other than suicide, however, and certainly no notion that his soon to be ex-wife could have somehow been involved. So he hugged her in return, and rested his chin against the top of her perfectly coiffed head.

"Julie, I just don't understand it. If she was upset about something, why didn't she just come to me? Why didn't she just ask for help?"

Julie sighed and closed her eyes as she hugged him tighter. "That's something we may never know Dan. She was a good woman, but she held a lot of things inside. Maybe she had her own secrets."

"Maybe," Dan nodded a little. "But it still seems so impossible."

Bekki leaned her head back against the side of a canoe shelter as she listened to their conversation. She wanted to jump out and accuse Julie right then, but she remembered what Nick said. There was still a possibility that Julie had nothing to do with Lydia's death at all. But why was she in town, before Dan arrived? Was it still possible that something she had said during a visit with Lydia had upset her to such a degree that Lydia had decided to kill herself? As she watched Dan's large frame envelop the rather petite Julie, another damning thought occurred to Bekki. If Julie did kill Lydia, how did she get her body up and into the noose? She didn't look strong enough to pull off something like that. Bekki decided it was time to return to the scene of the crime, and start from the beginning again. But she needed to make sure she did so on her own.

As she was walking back towards the bakery she stopped short. Nick's car was parked in front of it. Bekki ducked behind a building, hoping that he hadn't seen her, doing exactly what he had asked her not to do. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. Had he seen her? She peeked at the phone and saw that it was indeed Nick calling. She reluctantly answered.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

“Hey, did I wake you?” he asked, sounding as if he was very concerned.

“No,” Bekki replied, her eyes widening with relief as she realized that he hadn't actually seen her. He was just calling to check in. “I was just resting,” she bit the end of her tongue lightly and hoped he wouldn't be able to tell that she was lying.

“Good, make sure you keep doing that, okay?” he asked.

“Of course,” Bekki cringed.

“Listen, I have some more information on Daniel Brentwood and Julie,” he said quickly.

Bekki peeked around the corner of the building and saw Nick pacing back and forth in front of his car. She ducked back behind the building.

“Oh what is it?” she asked and started walking in the other direction.

“It seems they're in the middle of a very messy divorce. They both have high paid lawyers, and let's just say it's not exactly amicable.”

“Well, that might be why she attacked Lydia,” Bekki said carefully, trying to disguise the fact that she was walking.

“If she did,” Nick reminded her. “But you're right. There's some bad blood there. Apparently Lydia and Julie even had a very public argument over Dan at a restaurant. Lydia accused Julie of being after her son's money, and it turned into a big media frenzy.”

“I bet,” Bekki shook her head. She could easily imagine Lydia calling Julie out in front of a crowd of people. “No wonder she was holed up here.”

“Exactly,” Nick said. “I'll let you know if I find out anything new, all right?”

“Thanks Nick,” she smiled into the phone.

“Bekki, make sure you're resting. Don't answer the door for anyone, got me?” he said sternly.

“I know, I know,” Bekki insisted and ducked down one of the side streets that would lead back to Rose Hill Drive.

“Call me if you need anything,” he insisted.

“I will Nick, thanks again,” Bekki hung up the phone swiftly. By the time she reached her house she was tired. Since Nick was at the bakery she'd have to wait until later to look it over again. She decided to lay down and rest for a little while. However, as she closed her eyes all she could see was Julie wrapping her arms around Dan. The poor guy had no idea what kind of woman he was married to. The very idea of Julie getting away with the horrible crime haunted her so deeply that she could not sleep. Within an hour she was awake again and ready to do some real investigation work. She called Nick's cell to get an idea of where he was.

“What are you up to?” she asked when he answered.

“I'm on my way to you, with the dinner you missed,” he replied with a gleeful tone. Bekki bit her lip to keep from groaning. She was going to be stuck sharing dinner with Nick.
“Bekki, are you all right?” he asked when she was quiet for so long.

“Sure, I'm just a little tired,” Bekki explained. “I was going to sleep for a while.”

“Well you have to eat too,” he said firmly. “I'll be there in a few minutes. As long as you take a few bites, I'll leave you alone.”

“All right,” Bekki smiled a little at how sweet he was being. It was nice of him to look out for her with such dedication.

When Nick arrived he spread their feast out on the dining room table. It was an Italian dinner of ravioli from the local restaurant, one of Bekki's favorites.

“Mmm, that smells great,” she grinned as she picked up a fork.

“So did you actually get any rest today?” Nick asked as she began devouring her portion of ravioli.

“Some,” Bekki nodded. “It's hard for me to sleep, knowing what happened to Lydia.”

“Just remember Bekki, Julie is innocent until proven guilty. Sometimes things look very different to what they actually are.”

“Maybe,” Bekki shrugged slightly. She didn't want to argue with him. He didn't have to be certain, but she was. As they finished their meal Nick started clearing away the take out containers.