Death of a Chorus Girl (The Delacroix Series Book 1) (25 page)

My contrived theory doesn’t mean Tom is innocent but it at least puts an end to the whirlwind of my thoughts.  I return my book to the shelf as the elevator doors open.  “Emp!  I told you not to wait up.”  I greet Wes with a brotherly hug.  Concern laces his next comment.  “Jeez, you look like hell.  Everything alright with you and Rich?”  His eyes cut down the hall as the lines of his jaw harden.

I laugh because I was about to make the same observation about him and the act unruffles his feathers.  “Yes, everything is fine between us.  How about you?  The problems of the world weighing you down?”

“You could say that,” he concedes as a hand runs through his hair.

“You want to talk about it?”

He smiles, ruffles my hair like he did when we were kids, and then kisses my forehead.  “Maybe one day but it’s not something you need to worry about now.  Mind if I go to bed?”

I am extremely tired myself so I tell him “no.”  We walk down the hall arm in arm and leave kisses on the others’ cheek before retiring to our rooms.  Richard doesn’t make a sound or move when I enter.  His breathing is light but cadenced. 
Oh, God!  Will he see me differently now?  Will he think me foolish for putting my faith in a flawed man?  Will he blame me for the trouble his partner is now mired in?
  Depression weighs me down and I quietly slip into bed submersing myself in the cold I only know when not in Richard’s arms.

Richard Giordano: Em’s Bedroom

“I… I just… I think I need some time alone.”

My heart sinks.  After everything we have confided in the other,
Worthy
is going to be the issue that divides us? 
He
is going to be what makes her question her trust in me?  I hope I am wrong and maneuver my body to stand.  “No, Richard, stay.  I don’t want you to leave.”  I guess that is something, though I wish Em would talk to me.  Pain, fear, doubt, it all sits heavy in her features.  This burden is weighing on her delicate frame.  All I want to do is take it from her.  Give her back her optimistic worldview.

The door closing behind her opens the floodgates in my mind.  God damn Steve! 
He
is the guy who wouldn’t be seen in public with Annie.  He has to be.  It’s the only explanation for why none of her friends batted an eye when he asked questions about her murder, about her lover.  I don’t necessarily blame myself for not knowing.  After all, I only ever heard about his conquests.  I never met them; he never named them.  Bobby must not have either because there is no way he would keep silent about Steve investigating the suspicious death of a women they were connected to.

Both Annie and Steve hid their relationship.  Why?  Even without talking to either of them about it, I know it wasn’t a fling.  That picture was taken in Steve’s apartment.  The look in his eyes expressed how much he cared for her.  Which explains the changes in his appearance of late.  I would be a wreck if it was Em, and that would have been true from the moment I saw her.  Why didn’t Steve confide in me?

I have some ideas on answers for that question as well.  If word got out Steve was seeing, what most of us would consider, what he derisively called, a toity, oh, there would have been hell to pay.  I know better than most.  I catch enough of it just from being his partner.

The reasons why Annie kept their relationship to herself elude me, at first.  In my limited experience, most women don’t like being relegated to the shadows.  Most prefer their men to stand proudly beside them.  Could it have been because Steve wasn’t the only guy she was seeing?  It would make sense.  There had been two semen samples and he wasn’t a guy who would be party to a threesome with two guys.  Two girls?  Yeah.  Two guys?  No.  It begs the question, did Steve know beforehand, or did the truth slap him in the face when the results came back?

So Steve hid Annie to protect himself from workplace humiliation.  Annie possibly hid Steve because he wasn’t the only man she was sleeping with.  If Steve suspected or had even known, would he kill over it?  Would he kill her?  I don’t want to believe he would.  I hope I know my partner from the last two years better than that.  Does the timing even allow for it?  We drove to the scene together and he was his normal, abrasive self.  Did I miss something, though? 
Was
there enough time?

Which brings me back to why didn’t Steve recuse himself from the case when he learned our victim was Annie?  Not doing so not only casts suspicion on him, it also is a detriment to the legitimacy of our case.  The minute a defense attorney learns of their personal involvement, all the work we did will be thrown out as corrupt, regardless of who our murderer is.

Then there is Worthy.  Is he a good guy or a bad guy?  I get the impression from Em that even she acknowledges he is a good guy with some very bad tendencies.  Yet, she cares about him.  She is genuinely worried about his wellbeing.  In fact, it doesn’t appear as though she has even considered what all of this will mean to her shows.  She’ll be fine financially if this ends up ruining her reputation and therefore career.  Her emotional and mental health will be crushed.  She loves her work.  Loves this art.  Losing it will completely decimate the woman she is.

You’re becoming as dramatic as the people she works with.  Whatever Worthy’s involvement, it doesn’t have to be the end of the woman you’ve come to love
.  She’s highly regarded on her own merits.  Worthy’s partnership as her co-producer on this current show might ruin her transition into that role, but she is the sole owner of her choreography business.  There are members of her community who will rally behind and support her.  There are investor’s that will… Fitzwallace!

Fitzwallace will give Em whatever backing she requires, but at what cost?  His interest in her isn’t strictly professional; isn’t strictly financial.  I didn’t need Bobby to describe the way Fitzwallace eyed her at the
Covered
event I missed, like a starving man eyeing a steak dinner.  He always looks at her like that.  Married or not, Fitzwallace won’t be sated until Em is his personal sex toy to play with at will.  Will he be so despicable as to require that of her to maintain her presence in this industry?  If she refuses, will he freeze her out?

I have more questions than answers by the time she sneaks back into the bedroom.  She must still be upset because she turns her back to me when I reach out to her, leaving me feeling as though there are miles between us.

Empathy Delacroix: Distance

The first rays of the day stretch across my face, but it isn’t their warmth I relish in.  For a moment, the events of yesterday are forgotten.  Sometime during the night, Richard and I had sought out and found the other.  I snuggle back into him and hear his contented sigh as he pulls me closer.  “I love you, you know,” he groggily greets me.

“I love you, too.”  I carefully turn in his arms and bring my lips to his.  “You don’t blame me for yesterday, do you?”

“No,” Richard answers against them.  “Of course I don’t.  I was afraid you were upset with me.”  Yet again, we both jump to assuming the worst outcome instead of trusting in the best.  I giggle and some of the tension seeps out of my body.  His lighthearted chuckle erases the rest.  “Aren’t we a pair?  Well, when the end of the world happens, at least we’ll be prepared.”  His fingers trace the contours of my face while his eyes search my soul.  “Are you ready to face the day?”  I sigh, resign myself to what probably lays ahead, and resolve not to let it beat me down.

We get up and go out to greet Wes who is sitting at my table finishing his coffee.  A wistful smile curls his lips when Wes sees us approach hand in hand, with Richard whispering endearments in my ear.  “You two look happily conspiratorial.  What plot are you hatching?”

“Just planning for the end of the world,” Richard laughingly hedges.

For some reason Wes doesn’t find it funny.  He knocks his coffee over as a pallor overtakes him.  “You alright, Wes?” I ask.  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  He mutters an apology about the spill, purposely not answering my question, and announces he needs to get going.  “Are you leaving tonight after the debate or tomorrow morning?”

“Tonight,” Wes confirms.  “When the election is over we need to coordinate schedules and the four of us should get together.  I know Charlotte would love to see you again and I would like to get to know Rich here a little better.”

We all agree and Wes gets up, shakes Richard’s hand, kisses the top of my head, and grabs his bag.  Just before the elevator doors close, he stops them with his briefcase.  “Oh, I almost forgot.  You need your key back.”

“Keep it.  I’ll get another one made for myself.  That way you always know you’re welcome anytime.”  This time the doors close, taking my cousin with them.

“You okay?” Richard asks as he hugs me.

“Yes.  It’s just very rare that I get to see my family at all, the little I have left.  I’m worried about him.  He wasn’t his usual carefree self.”  The visit was nice but he just seemed distracted the whole time. 
He’s heading a national campaign.  Cut the guy some slack
.

“What are your plans for today?” Richards inquires after clearing his throat.

Is it that time already?  Do I really have to learn the consequences of the events from the day before?  Tom probably won’t want to talk to me.  He probably thinks I betrayed him somehow.  I can’t blame him.  It feels like I did, even though I know I didn’t.  Why won’t he agree?  And, God, when Fitz learns about all of this?  I shudder at the thought, mainly because I have no idea what he will do.  I retrieve my phone without answering Richard.  The missed calls and texts are not a surprise.

“Looks like the meetings I had today for the show are cancelled.”  Richard’s face brightens at the thought of us having an actual free day together.  It would have been the first in weeks, had I been free.  “Only to be replaced by meetings with the PR people to deal with the fallout from Tom’s very public questioning yesterday.”  This is going to be a nightmare. 
Covered
is a good Off-Broadway show but I’m not sure it is good enough to survive this kind of marketing disaster.  Which sucks for everyone who is working so hard to get it to Broadway.  “I’m sorry, looks like I have yet another full day.  You’ll be here when I get home, or do you need to go home as well?”

Richard’s hands cup my face as he kisses the tip of my nose.  “Yes, I plan to be here until you kick me out.”  His lips then find mine.

“Keep kissing me like that and you can be assured I’ll never kick you out.”

“Then you’ve caught onto my master plan,” he admits while chuckling.

Richard Giordano: 57
th
Precinct

“Em’s holding up?” I sit in the captain’s office with the door shut and the blinds closed.  He wants to update me on what happened after they took Worthy for questioning and asked me to come in.  “I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise that your partner is on an unpaid suspension, pending investigation, for not coming clean about his relationship with your victim.”

Nope, no surprise there.  “Does Steve suspect Em of any involvement?”

“No, we only said the girl’s phone was found and their relationship therefore exposed.”  Good.  The less Steve knows about where the phone came from, the better.

“Worthy, on the other hand, is not so straightforward a discussion.”

Yeah, again no surprise.  “I’m sure his high-priced attorney made sure of that.”

“He sure didn’t help.  In the end, it didn’t matter, though.  We got the warrant to search Worthy’s office, since that’s where the phone was found.  It was executed this morning.  The evidence collected is priority one for every lab rat here.”  I still haven’t heard anything that required me to come down to the precinct.  In truth, I don’t need any information other than my partner is suspended.  “But
he
instantly knew who found the dead girl’s phone and where.”  I groan.  Of course, Worthy would!

“Here’s an interesting morsel, though,” the captain offers.  “
His
primary objective was keeping
your girlfriend
out of the line of fire.”  That is interesting since Worthy never struck me as someone who puts another person above of himself.  “Guess who he was afraid would pull the trigger?”

If it isn’t us, which why would he think it would be, who is it?  Worthy has to know I won’t let anything endanger Em.  No, there is only one person I’ve ever seen make Worthy squirm.  He is the same shill my girlfriend is currently meeting with at this very moment.  He will know and if Steve
is
the mole then there is a distinct possibility that Steve will learn about Em’s involvement in his suspension.  “Fitzwallace,” falls like a lead weight out of my mouth.

“Bingo,” the captain confirms. 
Damn it!

Empathy Delacroix: Partners

“Where’s Tom?” I ask after opening the door to Tom’s conference room to find it
empty
.  “Where are the PR people?”  I am entirely uncomfortable with this turn of events.  Especially considering I can’t stomach being with Fitz in a group most times.

An ice-cold shiver runs up my spine when his hand finds the small of my back. Fitz gives me a not so gentle shove into the room.  Had I known it was just going to be just the two of us, I wouldn’t have shown up.  “I’ve taken care of the PR piece.  I was able to make the warrant disappear and stated we invited the NYPD into Tom’s office once
the three
of us found the chorus girl’s phone.” 
Dear Lord!  Does he seriously have that much clout?
  “You and I have business to discuss, sweet.  Private business.”