Mad, Bad and Blonde (31 page)

“No, I’m sorry for not telling you what I was doing reopening the investigation into Karl Hunter’s case. I screwed up badly,” he said. “The facts, or what we thought were facts, were too neat and tidy. I should have caught that. Faith caught it. She’s good at her job.”

That might be, but Faith was no longer sure that working for West Investigations was the right job for her after all.

She left her parents together and caught a cab home. It had been one hell of a day that got worse when she arrived at her building to find her runaway groom, Alan, standing there waiting for her.

He eyed her new blonde, bad self uncertainly. “Faith, is that you?”

She nodded.

“Good news. I’m baa . . . ack.” As if expecting a hero’s welcome, he opened his arms to her.

Chapter Eighteen

When
Faith didn’t run into his tanned arms, Alan appeared taken aback. He stood there, perfectly groomed as always, his light brown hair expertly gelled, his eyes greener as a result of his tinted contact lenses. “What’s happened to you?”

“What happened to me? I got over you, that’s what happened. As well as being held at gunpoint this afternoon, but that’s another story. What are you doing here? If you’ve come to pick up your Wagner opera CD collection, you’re about a month too late.”

“I didn’t come for my CDs, although I can’t believe you got rid of them.” Seeing the dangerous look on her face, he hurriedly said, “Never mind. I copied them onto my iPod, so that’s okay. It’s just that for sentimental reasons I really liked that set . . . Never mind. I can see talking about that upsets you. I came back for you.”

“Then you’ve wasted a trip.”

“Are you still angry about the wedding thing?”

“The wedding thing? You mean dumping me at the altar? Yeah, I’m definitely still pissed about that.”

“Okay, so I may have made a mistake.”

“
May
have?”

“Definitely did.” He gave her a toothpaste ad smile. “But I’m back now.”

“So what?”

“So we can pick up where we left off.”

“No, Alan, we can’t.”

“Well, not
exactly
where we left off. Not with that big wedding.”

“Not with any wedding. You said I was boring.”

“Nonsense. I didn’t use those words exactly.” He pulled out his iPhone. “I kept a copy of the text message. Look, here it is.” He turned the phone to show her the screen.

She shoved it back at him. “I don’t need to see that. And I sure as hell don’t need to see you. Go away.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“But we were about to get married,”

“
Were
being the operative word here. That’s all in the past.”

“How can you throw away the two years we had together?”

“You threw it away. But you know what? You did me a favor, although I would have preferred that you told me you were having doubts instead of taking the coward’s way out.”

“I am not a coward.”

“You wanted excitement and adventure. You didn’t want me, and you didn’t have the nerve to tell me that to my face.”

“I was trying to spare your feelings. Telling you to your face seemed rude.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“And I was trying to find myself,” he said. “I was confused.”

“I don’t care.”

“Okay, you’re upset with me. I get that now. I’m more self-aware than I was before. I’m a better me.”

“Bully for you.”

“I’m a better me, so I can help you become a better you.”

“You can help me by leaving me alone,” she said.

“You don’t mean that. You don’t want to be alone.”

“She’s not alone.” Caine appeared out of nowhere to stand by her side. “The lady is with me now.”

Alan was not a happy camper. “Who the hell are you?”

“The man who’s going to make your life hell if you don’t beat it right now.”

Alan retreated a few steps and gave Caine a wary look. “I’m her fiancé. I deserve an explanation.”

“You’re her ex-fiancé, and you deserve to have your ass kicked.”

“He’s not worth the trouble.” Faith grabbed hold of Caine’s arm.

“It’s no trouble,” Caine growled. “It would be my pleasure.”

“He’s a former Marine,” Faith told Alan. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold him back, so you’d better get out of here while you can.”

“If I leave now, I’m not coming back,” Alan warned. “This is your last chance.”

“No, it’s your last chance, Alan,” she said. “Leave while you still can.”

He angrily walked away.

Faith turned to Caine. “You came back.”

Caine nodded.

“I wasn’t sure you would.”

Yuri stepped outside to join them. “Is it safe to let Caine in the building now?” he asked.

Faith didn’t know how safe it was, but she was no longer looking for safe. She was looking for love . . . and answers.

So was Caine. At least he was looking for answers. She had yet to discover his thoughts about love.

“Did you know Alan the Asshole was coming to see you?” Caine asked once they were inside her condo.

“No.” She sank onto her couch. “I had no idea. I thought he was still in Bali.”

“Are you still in love with him?”

“Did it look like I was still in love with him?”

He shrugged. “You were pissed, but that doesn’t mean you don’t still love him.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive. Look, can we change the subject, please? I have a question for you. How did you know that I was at Nolan’s house?”

“I put a tracking device in your purse last night.”

“Why?”

“To keep track of you.”

“Because you don’t trust me.”

“It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter of security.”

“By the time you got there, I had the situation under control,” she said.

“Yeah, you did.”

“I am glad that you showed up, though,” she admitted. “An extra pair of hands in a case like that is a good thing.” “Sure.”

“You were my backup.”

“Looks like I was.”

“And still are, showing up the way you just did to get rid of Alan. Not that I couldn’t have taken care of him myself.”

“Right.”

“Sometimes it’s nice to have backup.”

“Yes, it is.” He started pacing. “I should have provided backup for my dad. I should have known that I was investigating a murder and not a suicide. But my dad’s last e-mail to me said he was sorry and he couldn’t go on. If that doesn’t sound like a suicide note, I sure as hell don’t know what does.”

“Is that all he wrote?”

Caine nodded. “Two sentences. That’s it.”

“Fred Belkin could have sent that e-mail from your father’s laptop. It didn’t say anything specific.”

“You’re right. My dad would have said something about joining my mom. He loved her so much. Too much.”

“How can you love someone too much?”

“Trust me, it’s possible.”

She wondered if Caine hadn’t inadvertently just given her a key to his inner self. If he thought his father loved his mother too much, it made sense that he wouldn’t want to make the same mistake. And he definitely made it sound like a mistake, like love was something to be avoided.

She should ask him about that now. She really should. But she wasn’t ready to hear his answer yet. So instead she referred back to the case. “I thought someone was following me when Megan and I were at the stained glass museum the other day. Do you think it was Fred Jr.?”

Caine nodded. “He did babble something about that while you were in the bathroom before the police took him away. You should have told me about it earlier.”

“I thought I was just being paranoid or something.”

“He was also the one tailing Weldon.”

She paused for a moment before quietly saying, “I looked for you at the hospital today, but you’d left.”

“I went to the cemetery. Did you know my dad liked model trains? He collected several of them. They’re packed up in a storage unit. He hated celery and liked watching
NCIS
on TV. I’d forgotten that kind of stuff. The little things. He taught me to love broccoli. I never told anyone else that. And he made these weird fried egg and ketchup sandwiches.”

Faith knew Caine’s staccato sentences were a sign of his stress. Blinking back the tears, she softly said, “I wish I’d gotten the chance to know him.”

“He was a good guy. A special guy.”

“I’m sure he was. After all, he had a son who’s a pretty special guy.”

“I thought my dad wasn’t tough enough to fight off the depression that sucked him in every year on the anniversary of my mom’s death. I thought he was weak to give in instead of fighting.” Caine’s voice grew hoarse with emotion. “But he wasn’t weak. He was murdered.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah.” He stopped pacing and sat on the couch next to her. “Me too.” He gently wiped away the tears rolling down her cheek. “Don’t. Don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry. I’m usually tougher than this.”

“I know you are.” He kissed her. Words were abandoned in favor of caresses that started out tender and became increasingly passionate until he carried her to her bedroom and made love to her with a deep desperation that had her gasping his name as she came again and again.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Megan grabbed Faith the instant she opened her front door the next morning. “I’m sorry I didn’t call first. I had to come see for myself.” She looked over Faith’s shoulder. “Am I interrupting something?”

Faith turned and caught sight of her blouse still draped across her couch where Caine had left it last night when he’d undressed her. “No. Caine left before I woke up this morning.”

“Our parents are kind of nervous about what Caine’s going to do next.”

“Me too.” He’d made love to her with a newfound sense of intensity that both thrilled her a lot and unnerved her a bit. Was that his way of saying good-bye? He’d left without waking her. He’d never done that before.

Back in Italy he’d threatened to make her father pay big time for falsely accusing his dad. She didn’t know if he still planned on doing that, and she hadn’t felt right about asking him after he’d shared his memories of his father with her following his visit to the cemetery.

“Did he say anything?” Megan said. “Give you any clues about his plans?”

“Not really.” Faith smoothed the red wraparound jacket she’d worn her first day at West Investigations. Today she teamed it with a black pencil skirt and comfy shoes. Lifting her hand, she touched the cameo she’d bought for herself in Positano. This was the first time she’d actually worn it. “I’ve got to get going, or I’ll be late for work.”

“You could take a day off. Don’t you need some time to recover?”

Faith really needed time to figure out what to do next. And not just regarding her relationship with Caine but the rest of her life as well. Last night she’d dreamed she was back at the library, and she felt happy. She woke this morning wondering if she’d tossed the baby out with the bathwater by leaving the library.

“I may have made a mistake,” Faith said. “I mean, I’ve made plenty of them, but . . .” She shook her head. She didn’t have the words yet, because she hadn’t made a decision. Once again she was the Queen of the Question Mark in the Punctuation Hall of Fame but lacking any answers. “Never mind. Come on. Walk down with me.”

They stepped into the elevator together. “Did you hear that Alan showed up yesterday?” Faith said.

“No. He had the nerve to come here?”

“I didn’t let him in the building.” Faith pushed the button for the lobby. “I’ve got to say it felt really good to kick him to the curb.”

“Good for you.” Megan shared a fist bump with her. “You go, girl!”

Faith arrived at work to find Gloria waiting for her. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Gloria hugged her tightly before standing back to look at her outfit approvingly “Red. Good for you. Show the world who’s boss.”

“Her father is the boss,” Abs said as she joined them. “I heard you had a busy day yesterday. Wilder than story time at the library, I’ll bet. I can understand how a hostage situation can spook you.”

“I’m not spooked,” Faith said. She wasn’t having second thoughts because she was afraid. She was having second thoughts because she thought she was going to die at Fred Jr.’s hands, and that made her reassess her life. All this time, Faith had wanted to be more like Abs. But looking at her now, Faith suddenly realized that was no longer the case. She didn’t want to be permanently emotionally detached like Abs . . . And that’s how Faith would eventually become if she stayed here on a full-time basis.

Talk about an aha moment. She’d just had one, big time. She did still have a few questions for Abs, however.

“Why did you warn me off investigating Karl Hunter’s case?” she said. “What was your stake in this?”

Abs eyed her with newfound respect. “You’re suspicious. Good. That’s a good thing.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“You kept going on about intuition and trusting your gut. I don’t work that way. If the case was flawed, that meant your intuition stuff was right, and I’m not happy with that. I prefer the world based on facts. It may not always be right, no system is. But it works for me.”