Random Acts of Murder: A Holly Anna Paladin Mystery, Book 1 (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries) (16 page)

I raised my hands. Despite myself, a small laugh escaped. I loved seeing her so excited. I just wished it wasn’t about Rex. “I’m not kidding. But, Jamie, you’re not going to go, are you?”

Her smile disappeared faster than a feather on a windy day. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“It
’s . . . Rex.”

“Exactly.” She nodded, her eyes scarily wide and a
damant. “It’s Rex.” She fell back on her bed. “I never imagined in a million years that someone like him would give me the time of the day. Not only did he do that, but he went out of his way to find me. To track me down. That’s what every girl dreams about.”

I had to find the right words, but it was so hard. “Do you trust him, Jamie?”

“How can I trust him? I don’t know him. He was a police officer, though. He started a nonprofit. If he wasn’t running against your brother, you would like him. Admit it, Holly.”

I shook my head. “
I can’t admit that. There’s something about him that bugs me.”

She sat up and narrowed her eyes. “For once, can’t you just be happy for me?”

“I’m happy for you a lot, Jamie.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not going to be here, Holly. You’re leaving me. I need someone
else in my life. Rex would be someone.”

Her words felt like a slap in the face. I stood and step
ped toward the door before my emotions got the best of me. “I see. Well, you should get on with your life.”

“Holly, I
didn’t mean it like—”

“No, you’re right. Life is too short to live for the approval of others. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Holly, please.”

I stepped into the hallway and hurried down the stairs.
I ran to my car and took off, fighting tears.

I’
d been determined not to feel sorry for myself. But right now, all I felt was sorrow.

How did one come to terms with death? With the realization that life would go on with
out you?

I didn’t know. But one way or another I had to figure it out.

Because reality was feeling realer and realer all the time.

CHAPTER 26

My phone rang as I cruised down the road. It was Chase.

“Hey, can we meet? I want to talk over a few things with you.”

It beat going back to my house and feeling sorry for myself. “Sure thing.”

He picked a café that overlooked downtown in the Mount Airy section of the city. I found him at a table by the window. The waitress was obviously flirting with him. He smiled back, saying something that made her giggle.

Why did my heart tighten at the sight? Chase and I could never be together. I knew that. Even if he was a
changed man, there were still so many reasons to stay away. Disappointment still nibbled away at my spirit, though.

He looked over at me, something in his eyes shifting when he saw me. “Holly.”

He stood and pulled out a chair. I willed my cheeks not to flush as I sat down. I loved being treated like a lady, though. It was almost like he knew the way to my heart.

Which was a shame
, since he was just flirting with the waitress.

“Sh
e was just telling me that she’s dropped two plates already today. She considered it fair warning,” Chase offered. “I’m passing that info along to you now.”

That released some of the tension I
felt. Maybe he hadn’t been flirting. Maybe he’d just been being friendly. “I see.”

I let out a slow breath
and smoothed the black tablecloth. “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” played on the overhead, and the comforting scents of bacon and eggs filled the air. I’d been here once before, and I knew the Cosmic Café prided itself in taking familiar foods and making them different. The whole café felt a little otherworldly with its brightly painted walls and open, airy design.

“I’ve be
en thinking about you all today,” Chase started.

That lump—becoming all too familiar—appeared in my throat.
I glanced over at Chase and tried to swallow. “Have you?”

“
For the record, I thought T.J. was a jerk yesterday. I can’t apologize for him enough.”

I
played with the water glass in front of me. “He has strong opinions.”

“That’s one way to say it.
But he had no right to accuse you. I almost think he wants to nail you in this so his friend can win the election.”

“People would do a lot of things to get into office, wouldn’t they?”

He snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Being in office too many times means power. People would sell their souls to have that. I’ve seen it too often.”

“I guess I just can’t understand that.”

He took a long sip of his tea. “It’s because you’re kind.”

“If you’d heard the conversation I just had with Jamie, you wouldn’t think I was so kind.”
I fought back a frown as my heart thudded into my chest. I hated fighting with people, but I especially hated fighting with Jamie.

“Oh, come on. It couldn’t be that bad, could it?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it could. Rex Harrison asked her out, and I told her she should say no. She took it as an insult. It wasn’t pretty.”

“You’re just looking out for your friend.”

Exactly!
“I wish she’d see it that way.”

“She’ll come around. She knows you well enough to know your heart.”
Chase offered a kind smile.

“The heart is easy to deceive Chase.”

The waitress appeared again. “Here’s a plate of nachos. Can I get you anything to drink? I promise not to spill it on you.” She smiled.

I raised my condensation-covered glass.
“The water is great. Thank you.”

She nodded and left.

Chase nudged the nachos my way. “I hope you don’t mind. I was in the mood for something spicy. These actually have shrimp and bacon on top, so there’s something to offend everyone.”

“You’re
surprising, Chase.”

“As are you.” He leaned back. “How’s your mother doing?”

“I think she pours herself into her work because she misses Dad.” I gulped, realizing I’d just way overshared. “Of course, that’s not what you were asking. She’s doing fine.”

“The death of a loved one can leave a hole in people’s lives, can’t it?” His serious gaze held mine.

“It really can.”

“How about in your life?”

I shrugged, already emotional and desperately needing some control at the moment. Despite that, I blurted, “No one in my family gets me, Chase. I feel like an outsider.”

I wish I could say that life was too short to have
superficial conversations and that’s why I kept going to these deep, honest places with Chase. I really didn’t know why I was pouring out so much, except that maybe I needed to talk and Chase just happened to be there.

“They love you.”

“They make me feel incompetent because I don’t react like they do.” I shook my head, decidedly resolving to change the topic and get it off of me. “You know a thing or two about loss, too. I keep thinking about what happened with your brother. I’m really sorry, Chase.”

“Me, too.
Sometimes, in my line of work, I think I’ve accepted the uncertainty of life, of whether or not we’ll see tomorrow. If we’ll see our loved ones again. But there’s really no accepting it. When it happens to someone you love, you can’t prepare yourself for it. It hurts, no matter what.”

I picked up a nacho and played with a chip for a moment. “I
guess we should talk about the case, huh?”

“I’d rather we didn’t.” H
e let out a sigh. “But you’re right.”

“Anything new?”

“I’m still not sure how you tie in, though.” He looked in the distance and shook his head. “Stealing your cleaning supplies? It’s just strange.”

“
Maybe someone wants to frame me.”

“But why?”

I shrugged. “To throw the election?”

He
let out a slow breath and leaned closer. “I suppose that could be a possibility. But they’d be better off implicating your brother.”

I couldn’t argue.

He leaned closer. “Here’s the other thing I don’t understand. Shooting at you out in public is a very aggressive, in-your-face thing to do. Implicating you at a crime scene is a very subtle thing. I don’t understand why someone’s doing both.”

“I’ve thought about that. I don’t understand it either.”

“It’s almost like there are two people after you.”

Alarm raced through me. “You really think so?”

He sighed again, long and slow. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t fit. Why try to take you out one minute and simply make your life miserable and complicated the next?”

Two people targeting me? Now that was something I hadn’t considered. It was something I didn’t want to consider because it was too scary, too unnerving.

“Is there anything else you can think of?”

I wiped my mouth, my mind racing.
Abraham. Should I mention Abraham? How about John and everything that had gone down last night at the youth center? That had
potentially
gone down, at least. I had no proof. Only theories.

I shook my head. “I really
don’t know, Chase.”

Chase
leaned back and rubbed his chin.

I played with my straw a moment, considering my words. “What do you think of Rex
Harrison?”

“Rex?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s got the support of a lot of people, especially down at the station.
T.J. thinks he walks on water. I’ve only met the guy once myself. Why do you ask?”

“There’s something about him I don’t like.”

“Maybe it’s the fact that he’s running against your brother?”

“I don’t know. I think it goes deeper than that.
Have you heard of Orion Enterprises?”

“Everyone around here has.”

“I guess Orion himself is a big supporter of Rex. His company has done some unscrupulous things.”

“Most companies have, I’d imagine.”

I obviously wasn’t getting through to him. Maybe that’s because there was nothing there. “I guess you’re right.”

He tilted his head. “Where’s this going, Holly? Tell me what
you’re thinking. Please.”

“I’ve heard that the leader of the
Praetorian Guard is someone with power and money. I also know that Orion could fit that description.”

“So you think he’s killing people around town and implicating you?”

I sucked on my lip for a minute. “I just wonder if there’s some kind of connection. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but something in my gut is telling me that something is off.”

“
You’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. Maybe you should sleep on it.”

I could tell when my idea had been dismissed. I couldn’t even
argue about it, though it was out there. And I hadn’t connected all of the pieces.

“Trust your gut, Holly. There could be something there.
Maybe not that ties in with this case, but keep your eyes open.”

Gratitude filled me. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

We finished eating, Chase paid, and we stepped outside. I soaked in the perfect evening for a moment. It had been freezing cold only a couple of weeks ago, and we’d gotten several inches of snow.

Today, it was in the sixties and almost felt like spring, only in
February.

“
Want to take a walk down to the park real quick?”

I glanced up in surprise. “I figured you had to get back to work.”

He shrugged. “I do. But I still have a few minutes. I stand by my mantra that it’s good to take a couple minutes to clear your head. Besides, I’m going to be working most of the night.”

“Are you not
sleeping?”

“Here and there.
The mayor is putting pressure on us to figure out what’s going on. Apparently, the national news picked up on this story.”

I mentally paused. “Why? This doesn’t seem like national story material. It seems like life in the inner city.”

“I’m not sure how they caught wind of it. Maybe it’s the whole ‘Good Deeds Killer’ designation.”

I wrapped my arms over my chest and continued to walk toward the park in the distance.
Silence fell between us, not necessarily uncomfortable, but I still felt the strange need to fill it.

“What’s the killer doing
right now, I wondered as I wandered. Plotting his next crime? Delighting in what he’s already done?”

“What?” Chase jerked his head toward me.

I paused and shrugged. “What?”

If I acted like the words didn’t come from my mouth, would that mean they didn’t?

“Did you just say ‘I wondered as I wandered’?”

“
That would be weird if I said that.” I slowed my steps.

“You’re a piece of work.”

“Artwork.” I winked.

He chuckled, the sound deep and full. I loved hearing it.

“By the way, you’ve got something on your chinny chin chin.” I pointed to a tiny feather that had probably been floating in the air.

“There you go again.” He wiped
the down away.

“What am I doing now?”
I asked innocently.

“You’re speaking as if you’re in a fairy
tale.” We skirted toward the cars.

“Nonsense.”

He cast me a sideways glance. “No one says
chinny chin chin
, and the other day, I caught you saying
oopsie daisy
.”

“Well, they’re missing out.”

He laughed harder. “You’re one of a kind.” He paused by my car. “You know, tonight was good for me. Thanks for meeting. It was a nice tension breaker.”

I smiled genuinely. I never expected to enjoy myself this much around Chase. But I had.
He left me wanting more.

Not just more being around him.

More time on this earth.

His eyes held something deeper than before as he turned to me. “Good
night, Holly.”

“Good
night, Chase.”