Acquainted With the Night (4 page)

“It’s okay. David doesn’t have an early lecture tomorrow, so he can get Charlie off to school in the morning. I’ll see her, then go home and sleep so I can relieve you in the morning.”

“They’re telling me they might be able to send her home before lunch, if the CAT scans are clear.”

Nicole brightened. “That’s great. I’ll stick around anyway. I really want to see her a minute. Why don’t I get us both some coffee? I need to call David. He was really worried.”

CJ smiled. “Your husband is a good guy. I’ll be right here. I have a couple of calls to make.”

CJ first called Lieutenant Rod Chavez, an old friend from her days as a detective with the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Department. After telling him what happened and relieving his anxiety about Alex’s condition, she related the information about the vehicle that had run her off the road.

“What the hell?” he grumbled, and she could picture him tugging at his thick black mustache in irritation. “Somebody tried to kill her?”

“I have no idea, but Alex certainly thinks it was no accident.”

“Well, I do believe I agree with her. That woman you’re shackin’ up with has good instincts, y’know.”

CJ laughed for the first time in hours. “‘Shacking up’? Really, you are so offensive. We are married, you know.”

“Hmm, married. I’m trying to remember where I heard of such a thing.”

“Put Ana on. I’ll mention that to your wife and we’ll see how that bad back of yours survives you sleeping on the couch.”

“Hell, how d’you think I got the bad back in the first place? If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just make a call or two and see what we’ve got.”

“Call me back on my cell, will you? I’m staying here. They’re keeping her overnight.”

“Will do. Tell Alex to rest, okay?”

She called Vivien next, and got a cranky greeting. “What the fuck, CJ?”

“Oh, sorry, darlin’. Did I interrupt something?”

“Yes and no. You failed to interrupt rounds one and two, but have managed to screw with round three.”

“Viv. Too much information. Way too much.”

“Hey, you called and you asked. I trust this is some kind of emergency.”

CJ explained, and spent several minutes reassuring her about Alex’s condition.

“Do you want me to come to the hospital?” Vivien demanded.

“Not directly. I came here in the ambulance with Alex, so what I need for you to do is go and pick up my car. It’s on I-225 southbound, just south of the Parker Road exit. You’ll need to drive it here, which means you’ll have to take a cab to get to it.”

“Wait a sec.” There was a muffled conversation that CJ assumed was Vivien getting rid of that night’s date. After a minute, Vivien got back on and said, “Don’t worry. Marja will drive me there, and I’ll bring your car to the hospital. She’ll follow me and bring me back. I’ve still got your spare set of keys around here somewhere.”

“Marja?”

Vivien cleared her throat. “Blond bartender,” she added.

“Oh. Of course. Thanks for doing this and thank, um, Marja for me, too.”

“No problem. We’ll see you inside an hour.”

CJ studied her phone with an air of disbelief. How on earth did Vivien do it? She must have dated at least fifty women in the seven years or so CJ had known her, if “dated” was the right word.

Nicole returned with coffee, remembering to bring two tiny containers of half and half for CJ. In a few minutes CJ’s cell rang again, the caller ID showing Rod Chavez’s home number.

“I am a very suspicious man,” he began.

“What is it?”

“Patrol unit found the car a few minutes ago. It was abandoned, in a Home Depot parking lot on East Mississippi.”

“Wait. That’s north of the accident. Alex was traveling south.”

“Yeah. Interestin’, isn’t it? He, she or they must have turned around. If we hadn’t had a description and the partial from Alex, we probably wouldn’t have found it for a day or two. Anyway, the car was reported stolen from a parking lot at Aurora Mall around eight or so this evening. And, no surprise, there’s some damage to the right front bumper. We’re gettin’ it towed so we can look for prints and match the damage.”

“Let me get this straight. They took it from Aurora Mall, and then they dump it a few hours later less than a mile away? And in the meantime, they drive it fewer than ten miles, run Alex off the road and then drive it back to virtually where they stole it in the first place?”

“Yep, and if you think that sounds screwy, I’m on board the train with you. Something smells bad,
pelirroja.
”

CJ closed her phone and sipped at her coffee thoughtfully. Something did indeed smell bad, and it wasn’t the hospital coffee.

Chapter Three

Alex struggled to manage her purse and briefcase while she opened the door to their condominium without moving her shoulder too much. Her wrist, in a soft cast after almost two months, was healing without much discomfort, but her shoulder continued to give her pain even between physical therapy sessions.

She got the door open and gratefully dumped everything she was carrying onto the table in the foyer. She stepped over CJ’s shoes left discarded in the front hall, as usual. She called out, “Kitchen or bedroom?”

“Kitchen,” CJ responded. Her voice sounded brittle to Alex’s ears.

Alex found CJ standing next to the kitchen island, savagely chopping celery on the wooden cutting board.

“Um, hi,” Alex said tentatively. “You have a bad day?”

CJ continued slashing at the vegetables. The knife was making dull thuds against the wooden board.

“Sweetheart?” Alex ventured.

CJ threw the chopped celery into the frying pan behind her on the stovetop, and started hacking away at a carrot.

“My day was just peachy. And how was
your
day?” CJ asked, through a tense jaw.

“Okay,” Alex said. “Limited duty isn’t really much of a strain for me, since it’s pretty much all I do anyway. I had some statistic reports to write. You want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“You didn’t have any special issues today?” CJ asked tersely.

Alex put her hand over CJ’s hands to stop the relentless chopping. “Apparently you know that I did. Are we going to talk about this?”

CJ slapped the knife down and Alex caught her glare. “Steph called me. Can you imagine how pleasant that conversation was? I would have been happy never to see the woman again after our little encounter in March, and now she calls me to tell me you’re harassing her.”

“I’m not harassing her,” Alex said, trying to keep her voice mild. “She had an FTA, so I sent out a patrol unit to her office.”

“You sent a patrol unit out because she failed to appear for a
speeding
ticket?” CJ exclaimed. “That sounds a lot like harassment to me.”

“I was just getting her attention,” Alex countered.

“Oh stop it, Alex! You’re not fooling me and you’re not being honest with yourself. Despite the fact that you have not one shred of evidence that she had anything to do with the accident, you keep after her.”

“That’s not exactly accurate,” Alex said coolly. “It’s a bit much of a coincidence that we have an unpleasant encounter with the woman and a few hours later someone tries to kill me.”

“Alex, for God’s sake,” CJ said, exasperated. “Motive is not evidence. She has an alibi. She says she was with Patty all evening. Patty confirms that. Besides which, the woman does not have the skills to boost a Toyota, much less handle the demolition driving it would take to run you off the highway.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do! Alex, I lived with her for two years. She could not have pulled that off. And Patty just isn’t smart enough to lie successfully. She didn’t do it, Alex. Give it up.”

Alex said stubbornly, “One phone call and she could easily have hired someone to do it for her.”

CJ leaned across the island with her hands braced on the granite top. “You think she has a car thief on call, just in case she needs one? Listen to yourself, Alex. She had a couple of hours. She couldn’t go through the Yellow Pages or go online and do a search for ‘murderer for hire.’ You’re not making sense.”

Alex crossed her arms and wished she hadn’t as the pain shot through her shoulder. “It’s still too big a coincidence.”

“Coincidences do happen. Alex, have you had a pain pill today?”

The twinge from her shoulder must have shown on her face, Alex decided. “No. I don’t need one.”

CJ said, “I disagree. Stop being such a martyr and take one. I’ll finish dinner.”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “Does this mean we’re through with this fight?”

“Up to you,” CJ said, but her voice had softened in tone. “I said what I wanted to say. At least Steph called me instead of Paul, but I don’t think she’ll stop at calling your boss next time.” Her voice gentled further. “And if Paul has to log an official complaint, the Internal Affairs Inspector will be assigned to investigate.”

Alex recognized CJ’s attempts to end the argument with a gentle joke. “Well, that’s okay then,” she said with a little smile. “I’ve got a lot of influence with the head of IA.”

“Do you?”

Alex leaned into her for a kiss. “I’m pretty sure.”

CJ stroked Alex’s cheek gently with her fingertips. “Will you please think about what I said? Going after Steph without any proof is a bad idea.”

Alex frowned. “You seem a little too worried about Stephanie’s feelings for my taste.”

“You know what? I don’t give a flying hushpuppy about Stephanie Morrow or what she thinks or how she feels. But I care very much about you, your mental health and your career. So do me a favor, will you? Until or unless we get some evidence, just let it go, all right?”

Alex stared into CJ’s bright green eyes. “You know that’s not exactly the way I work.”

Very quietly CJ said, “I do know that. And you know sometimes we just can’t solve every case.”

Alex turned away. “I’m well aware of that. Whoever ran my father down twenty-four years ago is still out there somewhere.”

She felt CJ come around behind her. The next moment she felt CJ’s arms circle around her waist. Alex leaned back into the warmth of CJ’s body and felt herself relax.

Into her ear, CJ murmured, “I’m sorry, darlin’. I should have realized why this was so difficult for you. I just want you to recover from what happened, whatever it takes. I love you, you do know that?”

“I know, sweetheart. And I promise I won’t talk to Stephanie again unless we get something else to go on, all right?”

“All right. Good. I know how hard this is for you, and I admire your ability to…what’s the word?”

“Grow? Change? Evolve?”

CJ laughed. “One of those, anyway.”

* * *

Alex had a new mystery novel. She was reading studiously, propped up at her end of the couch. CJ closed her book and let it slip to the floor by the couch with a small thump. She stretched luxuriously and said, “God Bless the Fourth of July. I just love these three-day weekends.”

Alex looked at her over the top of her own book. “Do you? I get antsy away from work too long.”

“Well, there’s a surprise. I swear, if it weren’t for my cooking, you’d never come home from work at all.”

Alex set her book, open, on the back of the sofa. “Yeah, I only come home for your meatloaf.”

CJ managed a pout. “Oh, darn. I thought it was the irresistible allure of my sexual charms. And by the way, I’ve been thinking about spicing up my meatloaf recipe. Maybe chile peppers?”

Alex said, “I don’t think you should touch the ancient family meatloaf recipe.”

“Your opinion is duly noted. So what time is the Ryan family picnic on Monday? Noon?”

“Yes,” Alex answered.

“Nicole reserved one of the shelters, right?”

“My sister, the woman who puts brushing her teeth in her daily planner? Yes, dear, she reserved the picnic shelter.”

“Have I mentioned recently how happy I am that you finally got that cast off your wrist?”

“Why, yes, you did mention it. And you also remarked on how pleased you were that the physical therapy on my shoulder was successfully completed.”

“I did, didn’t I?” CJ said, trying to look innocent while pressing her bare foot along Alex’s calf.

“I just wish we’d found whoever ran me off the damn road,” Alex said unhappily.

“Could you maybe not go into that again?” CJ stretched once more, and brushed one foot up the inner seam of Alex’s shorts. It sent a pleasant little thrill of pleasure directly up Alex’s leg.

“Why don’t you want to discuss the case?” she teased.

“Because I’m trying to seduce you.”

“Right here on the couch?”

CJ gave her a look of pure heat. Alex sat up a little and murmured, “Come here.”

CJ got onto her hands and knees and slowly crawled down the long sofa toward Alex, the expression on her face far from innocent. Alex felt her heart beat faster. When CJ got to her, Alex said, “Sorry it’s been a while.”

CJ looked into her eyes. She murmured, “Don’t apologize, Irish. Just make it up to me.”

Her tone was lighthearted, but Alex suddenly wanted nothing more than to do just that. She began caressing CJ through her T-shirt. CJ leaned into the touch, then reached down to take the shirt off.

“Nope,” Alex said, and leaned forward to nuzzle her breasts through the fabric.

CJ made a little hissing noise as Alex used her teeth, biting lightly at her lover’s nipples, still protected by both shirt and bra. Alex put her hands up under the shirt, stroking CJ’s belly and continuing to work her mouth until she had CJ moaning loudly.

Alex pulled at the waistband of CJ’s shorts, pulling shorts and underwear down and off without moving her mouth away from CJ’s breasts. CJ went to her knees over Alex, her arms propping her over Alex’s body.

Alex stroked up from CJ’s knees, across her naked thighs and down. CJ moaned again and began to push her hips into Alex.

“So impatient,” Alex whispered.

“Honey, please.”

Alex continued her touching until CJ was grinding against her in need. Then Alex found her wetness and caressed her, lightly at first, then with more and more determination.

CJ dropped her head on Alex’s shoulder, breathing hard into her neck. “God, Alex, touch me.”