Cowboy Famous: Book 4 (Cowboy Justice Association) (19 page)

Now that was a strange request, but this guy was in show business so who knew what was normal and what wasn’t. He’d have to ask Jazz later.

“I can’t allow that.” Griffin held up his hand. “Her body is already being prepped for transfer to the nearest medical examiner. Also this is an active crime scene. I can’t have you tromping all over it ruining possible evidence.”

“She’s not a body, she’s a human being,” Tony puffed, his face turning a funny shade of red. “I’m responsible for her while she’s here.”

“I apologize. Sandy is being prepped to be moved. And I still can’t let you in. But since you’re here I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What kind of questions?” Tony was frowning and trying to edge past Griffin. He had to step in front of the producer and place his hand on Tony’s arm to keep him still.

“Where were you between eleven and one today?” Griffin watched Tony’s expression closely. There was something about this guy that made Griffin think twice.

“I was in my room on a conference call with the network. Why? Wait. You don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? I didn’t do this!”

Tony’s voice rose above the others talking and everyone came to a halt for a moment and looked their way. Swallowing hard, the producer shook his head, his once red skin pasty white. “I didn’t hurt Sandy. I liked her. She was a nice girl. I could never hurt anyone, Sheriff. Never.”

This time his voice was softer but it quivered with fear. Griffin’s gut was telling him the man spoke the truth, but with a killer you couldn’t be sure. Some of them were so slick you could be convinced of anything by them.

“How well did you know Sandy?”

Tony’s hand rubbed his chin and then the back of his neck. “Not well. I met her during auditions in New York a few months ago.”

“I thought you lived in Los Angeles.” Griffin grabbed his notebook from his pocket and found a fresh page, noticing the notes he’d made about Casey’s murder earlier. Now he had not one but two open homicides at once and low resources. It was damn hard to do right by these victims when he couldn’t even staff at normal levels.

“I do, but I travel all over. Both of us do, really. Gordon and I scout locations for our reality shows months in advance and do some auditions. That’s where I met Sandy.”

“Did you date her?”

Griffin was using “date” as a euphemism for something far more animal and Tony seemed to get the idea at once. The producer shook his head vigorously but sweat had popped out on his forehead. Not a good sign.

“I’m dating Caitlin, Jazz’s roommate,” the man said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and mopping his brow. “I’m not a cheater.”

“So if we check for sperm we won’t find any of yours then? Are you sure? I can get a warrant for your DNA.” Griffin looked down at the now wilting man who was hanging his head. Tony looked up at Griffin and then closed his eyes and sighed.

“I had sex with her last night and this morning, and a few times during the week,” Tony admitted in a small voice so unlike his denial a few minutes earlier. “But I didn’t kill her, Sheriff. Sandy and I just had one of those on-set things. Casual and uncomplicated. Have a little fun and at the end everyone goes their separate ways with no hard feelings. It has nothing to do with how I feel about my girlfriend.”

Griffin despised men like this. Men who made excuses for their lack of character and expected everyone else to make allowances.

But it didn’t make him guilty. Not yet anyway.

“No hard feelings, huh? That isn’t what I saw or heard this morning. It seems Sandy was very pissed off at you. From what I heard, you’d promised she wouldn’t be voted off the show and she would be in the final two.”

Tony looked like he might cry, his expression tragic and pale. “I may have said I would help her but the viewers control who gets voted off. If she thought that she misunderstood.”

“Yeah, I just bet she did.” Griffin closed his pad with a snap. “I’ll have more questions for you down at the station.”

“Am I under arrest?” Tony was visibly shaking now.

“No. Do I need to place you under arrest? You aren’t thinking of skipping town, are you?”

Griffin didn’t trust these show biz types any farther than he could throw them. Jazz not included in that. He’d already decided she was someone he could rely on and trust.

“I just talked to the network. They’ve decided to cancel the show due to this horrible tragedy. They don’t want to be seen as cashing in on a young girl’s death. I was planning to round everyone up and get them on the next plane home.”

Jazz, gone? Griffin didn’t like the fact that he responded so negatively to that thought but now wasn’t the time for deep introspection.

“First of all, no one is leaving town. Until I get everyone’s alibi and confirm it, you are all suspects. Everyone stays.”

Tony nodded, obviously not in the mood to argue. “I’ll have to call the network again. They’re expecting me back tomorrow.”

“You do that.” He couldn’t resist asking. Jazz had really hoped to win. “What happens to everyone since you have to shut down? All that prize money. Does that mean no one gets it?”

“The insurance company will make sure all the crew, the town, and the network gets paid. The contestants as well. They’ll probably just take all the prize money and divide it five ways. They’ll all come out okay.”

And Griffin wouldn’t be obligated to take any of them as a deputy. He should be jumping for joy but it was hard to be happy about anything when a young woman’s life had been snuffed out long before her time.

“I’ll need to talk to everyone, Tony. All the contestants and all the crew.”

The producer nodded again and pulled out his cell. “I’ll call Gordon and tell him to get everyone together. Do you want them at the station?”

It was as good a place as any. He’d start with the contestants and work his way through with the help of his deputies. They might just get done by tonight.

“Yes. Competitors first. If they have any proof of their whereabouts, now would be the time to produce it. Except for Jazz. She has an ironclad alibi.”

“What’s her alibi?” Tony was punching in a text and scowling at the phone.

“She was with me all day.”

This time Tony looked up and nodded. “That is a damn good alibi. Wish I had it. I was right about you two, wasn’t I?”

“Shut up, Tony,” Griffin responded, not willing to play the man’s games today of all days.

This time a killer wasn’t going to go unpunished. If he couldn’t solve Casey’s murder, then by God, he’d solve this one.

*   *   *   *

The click of the door roused Jazz from where she was dozing in Griffin’s man-sized leather recliner. Rubbing her eyes, she pushed the chair closed with her legs and watched as one very tired sheriff shut the front door, kicked off his boots, and made his way into the living room.

“Did I wake you?”

“I was just dozing a little. What time is it?” The sun was down and the room had grown dark with only the flickering of the television for light. Griffin pulled off his hat and sent it sailing across the room to land on the dining table.

“Damn, I’m beat. I didn’t think we’d ever get through those statements. You’re going to have to come to the station tomorrow, Jazz, and give one too. I let it slide tonight because you’re not a suspect. But you might know something that could help us.”

That got her attention. Sitting up straight in the chair, she stretched out her stiff legs with a yawn. “Is everyone on the show a suspect then? That’s terrible.”

“They were at the beginning of the evening but luckily several people do have strong alibis so we were able to cut down the number of suspects in a few hours. That helps a great deal. Levi and Peggy were with Adam studying their handbooks so we can cross them off the list. The crew was having lunch in the diner and there were witnesses so I’ve marked them off as well.” Griffin cushioned his head with his hands and stared up at the ceiling. “That leaves Wayne, who can’t seem to account for his whereabouts at all. Very fishy. Also Tony and Gordon. Tony says he was on a conference call with the network part of the time but I don’t have corroboration of that yet. The rest of the time he’s not sure of what he was doing, which I find odd. Gordon says he was with Tony the entire time. Now that I believe considering the way he has his nose stuck up Tony’s ass twenty-four seven.”

“So Tony’s your main suspect? Maybe someone from town did it.” She hated to point the finger at people she didn’t even know but she couldn’t imagine Tony killing anyone. Just having him under suspicion was going to upset Caitlin.

“I’m concentrating my efforts on Tony, Wayne, and Gordon until someone tells me that Sandy had contact with anyone else. I’ve impounded Tony and Gordon’s rental car and I’m doing background checks on all the contestants.”

“Including me?” Jazz got up from the recliner and sat next to Griffin feeling the heat from his body.

Griffin nodded, his gaze capturing her own. “Even though you have a solid alibi, I can’t treat you any differently than the others. It wouldn’t be right.”

“I don’t mind. I don’t have anything to hide, but damn, there’s that integrity again,” Jazz sighed. “All that honorable stuff is keeping me celibate.”

His silver-gray eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. “About that. You’ll probably find out tomorrow but the network has cancelled the show. They don’t want to be seen as cashing in on Sandy’s death. Tony said the insurance company will probably just split all the prize money between the contestants.”

The news wasn’t completely unexpected. She’d wondered today as she’d waited for Griffin just what the network and producers would do. Canceling the show was one of the options she’s considered. The money would come in handy but she would miss out on the exposure, although she’d been thinking about that less and less these past few days.

“You won’t get a new deputy,” she said, not wanting to think about leaving. There was nothing holding her here now.

“I’m going to make Levi an offer. But I’m more worried about you. Are you okay about this? I know you wanted to win.”

His hand curled around hers and their fingers entwined, sending streaks of heat to her extremities and making her nipples bead behind the lace of her bra.

“You know I never really wanted to be a deputy. I’m fine with the network canceling the show. I’m disappointed but that just means I need to work extra hard at getting another break.”

It sounded kind of depressing when she said it. Going back to her empty and fairly vacuous life wasn’t as appealing as it had been only a few days ago.

“I hope you get it.” Griffin’s voice was soft and it sent shivers up her spine. Just being near to him was doing dangerous things to her equilibrium. He could arouse her with just a few words or gestures without really trying.

“Your mother stopped by earlier,” Jazz said, unwilling to discuss her career and the goals she’d set for herself when she was only a teenager. “She left a roast chicken in the refrigerator and a few other things. She heard about Sandy and thought you might work late. Said that you don’t take care of yourself very well.”

Griffin chuckled, his lips curving into a smile. “I probably don’t, but then I always know she’ll drop off a chicken or a pot roast. Did you have some?”

“It seemed weird to make myself at home like that, eating your food and using your kitchen.”

“I told you to make yourself at home,” he reminded her.

“I thought that meant to watch television or maybe sit on the deck. I didn’t think it meant eat my food, look through my closets, and take a nap in my bed.”

His callused fingers slid from her hand up her thigh and for a second she couldn’t breathe. Her pulse began to pound in her ears and she had to swallow hard to be able to speak.

“Did you look through my closets?”

His mouth was close to her ear now and she was literally shivering with arousal at his nearness. Clamping down on her emotions, she inwardly shook herself trying to control her runaway heart.

“No. I didn’t nap in your bed either.” Her voice sounded rusty and choked, and she almost swallowed her tongue when he began to nuzzle her hair. This Griffin wasn’t one she was familiar with at all. Was he playing with her?

“Now that is a real shame. I would have liked to come home to you in my bed, Hollywood,” he said deeply. She pulled back in shock as his words began to penetrate her addled brain.

“What about your integrity?”

Without answering her, he quickly levered to his feet and gave her the most wicked grin she’d ever seen. She yelped as he scooped her up and her world turned decidedly upside down. Tossing her over his shoulder, he gave her bottom a playful slap as he strode into the bedroom. She was unceremoniously tossed on the king-sized bed and barely able to catch her breath before Griffin’s large body was coming down on top of her, flattening her into the mattress.

“Honey, the show is over. I’m not your boss anymore, if I ever really was. So we can do dirty, raunchy things together all damn night and my integrity is securely intact. I’ve been looking forward to this since Tony told me the news.”

She stared up into his face, so sexy and handsome. He was grinning from ear to ear and she could feel his very hard cock up close and personal as it pressed into her belly. If he was as big as he felt, she was in for quite a night. There was only one thing left to say.

“Thank you, baby Jesus. Let’s get naked.”

Chapter Sixteen