Nowhere to Run (Stephanie Carovella) (2 page)

She bit back a harsh laugh. No, correction, she’d put aside her differences with Angel so Angel could mourn him.

It took time for them to rebuild their friendship but they did and it had grown from strength to strength.

Now, here she was, preparing to bury her. It just seemed unfair- unfair and senseless. She wanted answers. She wanted to know why her best friend was left so unprotected and she wasn’t going to stop until she got them.

Leaning down, she picked up the carry bag by her feet. Unzipping it, she removed her laptop, booting up.

Tapping her fingers impatiently, she waited for her laptop to start up. A faint smile touched her lips. She’d get her answers. She’d be a royal pain in someone’s ass until she found out exactly what had happened to Angel.

Jesse didn’t tell her much, only that he’d found her dead. Raped and murdered. Her throat slit, and her own panties shoved deeply down her throat.

Stephanie took a ragged breath. Angel had always been the life of the party and for her to be killed like this was almost too much to bear.

Opening MS Office, she started typing notes, her thoughts racing. Whoever killed Angel wanted to show his dominance. He’d wanted to prove he was stronger, more powerful than she was, and to show he was in complete control. The killing was precise, careful, and controlled.

Images of Angel’s crime scene hit her. Kodak images lodged in her brain. Images, she would never forget. Opening Photoshop, she loaded the crime scene photos, studying them intently. As a crime reporter for the
L.A Times
, she’d seen more than her fair share of bloodied crime scenes, but they’d never affected her until now. This one was different. This time the killer had made it personal.

Angel’s body was staged and positioned to show power, strength and domination. A Dominatrix dominated. The message had been clear to her as soon as she’d seen the crime scene.

Thanks to her old connections within the L.A.P.D she’d gained access to the crime scene report and the photos. Gena Evans was the leading Detective assigned to the case. She smiled slightly at the irony.

At one time, the three of them had been inseparable. Gena loved Angel as much as she did. They’d been Sorority Sisters to the very end. But time had changed them all. It had made them all a little tough, even a little harder. Eventually they’d begun to drift apart.

The last time she’d spoken to Gena was at Dominic’s funeral, and even then they were words of anger. Old wounds were reopened and new ones festered to the surface.

Gena had spoken to her as if she hated her. In response, she had lashed out – channeling all her pain and grief towards Gena. Within days, she’d left L.A altogether, determined to never look back.

She grimaced. She wasn’t looking forward to crossing swords with Gena, and Gena certainly wasn’t going to appreciate her sticking her nose into the murder investigation.

She wondered how Jesse was dealing with everything. She knew him well enough to know he blamed himself for Angel’s death. He believed he should have been there to protect her.

Stephanie’s lips curved into a smile. Leaning back, she pictured Jesse Carlisle in her mind. A staunch Texan, proud of it and his country to the core, Jesse Carlisle was a man with a killer smile and equally killer body to match. They’d been lovers up until Dominic’s death. When she’d left L.A, she’d left him behind.

Jesse had been her first serious relationship after Dominic. Dominic’s best friend, it was Dominic who had encouraged them to date, giving them his blessing. She grimaced – or at least as much of a blessing as he could have given.

She’d truly hoped Jesse would be the one to ease the ache inside her heart and make her forget about everything. Forget about Dominic. Three simple words from him were the reason she was on this plane tonight.
I need you.

Those words were enough for her to swallow her fears, break the vow she’d made to herself, and return to the very city that had almost destroyed her.

She shivered. Now there were only three. Three of the original gang left. Now it was just Jesse, Ben, and herself. Absentmindedly, she wondered if Ben had flown back to L.A yet.

The last time she’d spoken to him was four months ago. He’d been on tour with his band, Destroyer, in the South of France. He’d been so angry with her – angry she’d left without so much as a goodbye to him.

The words were just too hard to say. She laughed mirthlessly at the irony of her, a writer, unable to express how she really felt.

Jesse told her Ben’s reaction to Angel’s death was to throw a TV out of a 30-storey window. Her smile widened, the image flickering through her mind. She’d bet the hotel where he was staying wasn’t thrilled with his reaction.

Ben was the very opposite of rock star stereotypes. Usually a gently and placid person, he rarely got angry and never had the rock star tantrums that he, sometimes, was entitled to. His reaction showed how deeply his grief for Angel went. It showed how deeply all their grief ran.

She’d missed him, she realized. At one time, he’d also been her lover. They’d been lovers briefly before and after Dominic. They both knew nothing between them would ever last, and accepted this.

Stephanie smiled again, thinking how similar Ben and she were. Both had been burnt by love, and both were too afraid to give their hearts completely to one person.

They were both also very good at keeping secrets. Her smile faded, a shudder running through her. She wondered what her friends would think of the dark secrets she’d kept from all of them. Secrets, she vowed they would never know about.

In some ways Ben and she were perfectly suited, because they knew where they stood with one another and had always known when it was time to let go.

They’d never tried to make their relationship work. It would never have lasted; his quiet demeanor was the completely opposite to her fiery disposition. Instead they’d shared brief moments of needed oblivion and then let each other go.

 He’d found a lover closer to home – in the arms of his drummer, Ana, and she’d met a man with a stubborn streak as long as her own. She could just imagine how Jesse and Ben were going to react to Leigh. Grimacing, she realized she was unsure of their relationship. It still felt completely foreign to her.

She’d loved passionately in her life, but after Dominic something deep inside of her shut down. She’d never truly let anyone get close enough for her to let them in. She’d never allowed herself to love again, or even entertained the possibility of it - until now.

She rubbed her forehead wearily. Angel had been happy for her and accepted her decisions without any questions. She’d supported her choice after she’d left her high-flying career as a crime reporter and left L.A.

Angel had understood, perhaps better than any of them, her decision to leave it all behind, and simply disappear. She’d supported her decision to move to a place where no one knew her or her past and stood by her when she decided to jump head first into a relationship with Leigh. Nothing between them was ever going to be easy, but with him she hoped to be at peace with herself.

Angel had accepted Leigh into Stephanie’s life with warmth and encouragement. Stephanie would always be eternally grateful for this, especially when she, herself, was unsure it would last.

She bit her lip nervously. She didn’t know how Ben and Jesse were going to react to Leigh, which is why she hadn’t told them she had remarried. She stared down at the simple white gold band which still felt foreign on her finger. Taking a deep breath she took the ring off, dropping it into her handbag.

Angel had been thrilled when she’d told her she’d remarried and had supported her even when she’d wondered if it had been the right decision. Angel had been her family, her soul sister, someone who she had been able to share almost everything with.

No matter where they were or what time it was, they’d always been able to pick up the phone and just talk. The loss she felt was crippling. It was as if another part of her was missing. Another part of her had died. It was why she needed to find out why Angel was murdered. She couldn’t let it rest until she knew the truth. Instinct told her that it wasn’t going to be easy. But, she was a fighter and she would fight hard until her best friend’s murder came to light.

Chapter Two

Ben Reynolds waited impatiently beside Jesse Carlisle for Flight BA095 to land.

“It’s late. What if she’s not on it?” He snapped, quelling the urge to light up a cigarette. He’d quit smoking four weeks ago after Angel had forced him to and his girlfriend, Ana, was making him stick to his promise.

Smiling, he knew if he lit up then Ana would make his life a living hell until he begged for forgiveness. She had that effect on him. There was only one other woman who could drive him just as crazy and she was 45 minutes late.

He didn’t know what made him more nervous – the fact one of his best friends would be back where she belonged or the fact his heart seemed to be skipping an extra beat just at the thought of seeing her again.

Not wanting to dwell on his feelings, he glanced at the man standing beside him. He didn’t like the way Jesse was reacting to Angel’s death. He acted like it wasn’t such a big deal; as if he hadn’t discovered one of his best friends raped and murdered. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t natural to grieve like this.

Yet, he also understood Jesse’s desire to block the grief out. He hadn’t completely grieved himself. It was still too surreal for him. Every time he thought of Angel dead, his heart constricted. Nothing felt like it was ever going to be the same again.

“Plane’s landing.” Jesse muttered, staring at Ben from behind dark shades he refused to take off. He started walking towards the arrivals terminal, not waiting for Ben to follow him.

Part of him had dreaded seeing Ben again when he’d arrived back in L.A, and the same feelings were now reserved for Stephanie. He knew she’d tell him to mourn, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t mourn until he buried the bastard who’d hurt Angel. He wouldn’t sleep until whoever killed Angel was sent to hell.

Stephanie strode through L.A.X’s arrival terminal, scanning it for Jesse and Ben. Spotting them immediately, she slid on dark shades to hide her shadowed eyes.

She was suddenly filled with a deep sadness, the urge to run to both Jesse and Ben and hold them tightly, almost overpowering her. She wanted to just hold them, and never let them go. Quelling the urge to cling to them and break down crying, she took a deep, calming breath.

“And then there were only three,” she whispered to herself.

Her smile faltering, she lifted her hand and waved. Drinking in the sight of both of them, she smiled at the obvious contrasts. She’d never been able to work out how she could have been involved with two men so completely different.

Ben was blonde, with a dazzling smile and piercing blue eyes, which could rock a woman to the core. He was gentle and sweet, yet brutally honest. He also had a devastating effect on women, which was only heightened by the fact that he was so oblivious to it.

Even now, standing in the airport in faded jeans molded to his thighs and a Green Day T-Shirt, he was unaware of the admiring stares.

Stephanie smiled wryly. Knowing Ben as well as she did, he was craving a cigarette and wishing he hadn’t quit.

She turned her attention to Jesse. Dark eyes, which were almost black and could pierce a woman’s very soul, watched her from behind sunglasses. Jesse was as intense as Ben was laid back, but with the same devastating effect on women. It was an effect he was well aware of. Even now, her body hummed in remembrance of his touch.

She smiled widely. It never failed to shock people when they discovered these two polar opposites were best friends. Her smile faltered when she thought of Dominic, the man who had shared characteristics with both of them. He had brought them together as friends and had balanced out their friendship.

Ben was the first to speak when she reached them.

“I was afraid we’d missed you,” he said huskily, his arms automatically wrapping around her without hesitation.

Stephanie’s own arms slipped around Ben, holding him tightly. She whispered, “Never.”

Stepping back, she was surprised at Ben’s reluctance to let her go. Lacing her fingers through his briefly, she turned to Jesse. They stared at each other for a moment, both silently stepping forward, their arms awkwardly enveloping each other.

“I’ve missed you,” Jesse whispered close to her ear, adding softly, “I just wish you were coming home under different circumstances.”

Stephanie nodded, blinking back tears, her hold on him tightening. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed both Jesse and Ben until now. “Me too Jess, me too.”

Stepping back, she pasted a fake grin on her lips. “Well, I guess I was wrong about never stepping back into this hellhole.”

Jesse nodded, a lump developing in his throat. He cleared it quickly. “Come on. Let’s get the hell of here.”

Stephanie moved in between Jesse and Ben, linking her arms with them. “Which one of you is going to take pity on me, and let me crash on your couch?”

Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Jesse interrupted him. “Ana would freak if you stayed with Ben.”

Stephanie nodded in understanding, not seeing the glare Ben shot Jesse. She shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not a big deal. I’d be freaked if a skeleton from my boyfriend’s closet blew back into town.”

Bumping Jesse with her hip, her lips twisted into a smile. “I guess it’s just you and me then, huh cowboy?”

***

The man watched through the crowded terminal, his eyes traveling over the sleek lines of the redhead’s body. Scanning the terminal, he slowly began to follow her.

He scowled. The whore actually thought she could stroll back into L.A as if nothing had ever happened. As if she hadn’t abandoned him. She had left him and walked away without even a goodbye. And, now she was back, acting like nothing in the world was wrong.

Following her down the escalators, he whistled a jaunty tune, a smile plastered on his lips. Inside, the fury he felt made his blood boil. Yes, she had been bad. She would pay. Time and time again, she would pay. This time there was going to be no escape for her.