Black Ice (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (10 page)

Before he could defend himself, she turned on him, knocking him up against the wall. “Don’t touch me. Don’t lay a finger on me, or I’ll break it off.”

“Okay. Okay.” Ryder swallowed hard as he stared into her eyes. “What happened?”

She turned her back to him and continued punching the dummy. “My mother invited Levi Holmes to our Christmas dinner. She invited him and his mother to eat dinner with us like he’s part of my family. And he had the balls to tell her he wanted to see me.”

“Who’s Levi Holmes?”

“My ex.” She kicked the dummy’s crotch. “I don’t want to see him. I never want to see him again.”

Ryder grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her body from behind. She kicked and flailed, struggling to get out of his grip. He wouldn’t let her. “Stop it, Blake. Stop fighting me.”

“Let me go!”

“Blake, you’re with me. Ryder. Not Levi.” She stopped struggling and sagged in his arms. “You’re okay, baby. No one is going to hurt you.” He turned her to face him. “Do you believe me when I tell you that?”

She didn’t respond, and he let it slide. He took her to a nearby bench and left for a moment to retrieve the first aid kit. When he came back, he knelt in front of her. Her knuckles were red and would be bruised in the morning. Some bled a bit from the punches she threw.

“I told you, it’s not your responsibility to take care of me.”

Ryder huffed. “Really? Is that how you see it? Maybe I’m making it my responsibility.” He wrapped her knuckles in a few bandages and cleaned up his mess. “Look at me, Blake. I don’t give a shit if you can take care of yourself or not. I don’t care if you want me here or not. I’m here for you, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

She stared at her hands for a long time. “He wants to see me. Why does he want to see me?”

Ryder pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Honey, don’t think about it. It doesn’t matter. You don’t want to see him so you won't.”

“Hey, Warren, some guy is out front asking for you.” Detective Bratman jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

“I don’t have my gun.” She met Ryder’s eyes. “Give me yours.”

“No. If someone needs to be shot, I’ll shoot him.” He helped her stand. “Go get dressed.”

The man that wanted to speak with Blake turned out to be Sophie Stevens’ fiancé, Rick Romano. She relaxed a bit when she saw his face and ushered him into a vacant interrogation room.

“I want to talk with you about Sophie’s case. I think I know who murdered her.” Rick sat in the seat closest to the far wall.

Blake glanced over at Ryder who crossed his arms over his chest, cop face in place. “Who, Mr. Romano?”

He leaned forward with tears in his eyes. “I found something in Amanda’s things. She left it at my house when she stayed over a couple nights ago.” He pulled out a vial of white powder and tossed it on the table. “I asked her what it was, and she refused to tell me, saying it wasn’t what I thought, and I needed to give it to her so she could throw it away. We argued, and I threw her out of my house. I don’t know what it is, but this note sat beside it. Someone wrote about how much the mystery person knew Amanda hated Sophie, that she should give her this if she wanted her to die.” He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Blake. “I know it may not seem like it because of my actions, but I loved Sophie very much. I’ll admit I never treated her like I should have, but I did love her. I wanted to call everything off with Amanda after Christmas. Sophie gave me an ultimatum, and I chose her. Amanda knew I’d choose Sophie over her every time.”

Blake opened the folded paper and read the simple script of what Rick had said. No sign of from the author. “Excuse me for being blunt, but how do I know you didn’t collaborate with Amanda? Even if her prints were on the vial proving it was in her possession, yours are there too. If we find traces of that substance, whatever it is, in Sophie’s toxicology report, you could be held responsible along with Amanda.”

“I didn’t kill Sophie.” Rick had a frantic look in his eyes. “You think I killed Sophie?”

“We’re looking at all angles. We have video of you right before Sophie left the building, in your car, I might add.” Blake pulled out a seat and met him, eye to eye. “Care to explain to me again what happened between the two of you that night?”

“I stayed in the ballroom. The party carried on in full swing. Sophie had a glass of wine and got into an argument with Amanda in the back hallway. I diffused the situation, and Sophie wanted to leave. I called for the car, they brought mine by mistake, and Sophie climbed in and took off. I tried to stop her a couple times, but she ignored me. That’s all that happened.”

“So you called the valet for the car?” Ryder asked, still leaning against the closed door.

“Yes. On my cell phone.” He pulled it out of his pocket and punched the buttons. “Right here is the valet number. The call was at eleven twenty-seven, lasting twenty seconds.”

He handed the phone to her. Blake looked at the screen. “Who did you talk to, the name of the valet?”

“Perez, maybe? I don’t remember his first name.”

Ryder opened the door and snagged another detective’s attention.

“I only want to help find Sophie’s killer,” Rick continued. “I didn’t do anything wrong no matter what you may think.”

“My question for you, Mr. Romano, is why didn’t you bring this in when you found it? You said you found it a few days ago and threw Amanda out of your house. Why didn’t you call us then and let us test the vial?”

Rick pressed his fingers together in front of him. “Because I think someone is trying to kill me too.”

Blake glanced over at Ryder who stood stone-faced with his eyes narrowed as he stared at Rick. “Who do you suspect?”

“Robert Stevens.”

* * * *

Ryder crossed the room and stopped when he stood in front of Rick. “What gave you this idea?”

“A week before the party, Robert specifically asked me to drive my Jag to the event. He said he wanted to show his buddies the new model. I didn’t think anything of it until he asked Sophie to run an errand for him. She drove her car to the party, leaving me to drive myself. He never asked Sophie to do anything for him before. I see now that Robert planned this, planned our separation to kill me and Sophie accidentally died instead.”

Ryder pulled out a seat and sat down as Rick continued.

“When I got there, Robert ignored me the entire time. I knew he wanted to give Sophie the money for the down payment on our first house together. He’s never liked me. He kept whispering to his men all night long. It gave me an uneasy feeling. I can’t help…I don’t want to think that I caused Sophie’s death because the car was mine and I called the valet causing the mix-up. Robert’s not a terribly malicious man but he does have people in high places and those willing to cover up his tactics should he need to. If Robert tampered with my car and caused Sophie to wreck, I—”

He broke down in tears. Ryder met Blake’s eyes and knew immediately what she thought. Ryder was ninety-nine percent certain sweet Sophie Stevens found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately, when she realized it, it was too late.

“Detective Warren, someone is here to see you.” Detective McKenna poked his head inside the interrogation room.

“Excuse me,” she said.

Ryder kept his eyes on Rick while Blake left the room. “I need you to write a statement and sign it.” He snatched a notepad from the counter and handed it to Rick. “This time, Mr. Romano, don’t leave anything out.”

* * * *

“Who?” she asked McKenna. The other officer pointed.

The man stood with his back to her. Approximately six-feet tall, he wore a leather jacket and black jeans with dark boots. She didn’t recognize the style or the size as anyone she knew. She walked to her desk, grabbed her weapon, and stuffed it in the small of her back.

“I’m Detective Warren. May I help you?”

The man turned around and those obsidian eyes, ones that haunted her for way too long, shined back at her. A toothpick bobbed in his mouth while he chewed, before he reached to pull it out. Blake’s stomach churned as her respiration rate increased.
Levi.

“Long time no see,” he said with an eerie grin. “Never would have thought you left me to join the police force but stranger things have happened.” He glanced down at her knuckles. “What happened to your hands?”

“I beat the shit out of someone. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you. Can we go someplace more private?”

“No. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. I don’t care about your opinion or your concerns. I, quite frankly, don’t ever want to see you again.” Blake gripped the edge of a nearby desk. “So the best thing for you to do is turn around, walk out of here, and pretend we’ve never met.”

Levi narrowed his eyes. “Or what?”

Without thinking twice, Blake reached for her gun. She pointed it directly at him. “Or I make you.”

“Uh, is there a problem here?” Ryder’s voice came from her side.

“Not yet, Detective.” Blake narrowed her eyes. “But, if Mr. Holmes doesn’t leave the premises right now, there will be.”

Her finger brushed against the trigger, and Blake took a deep breath. She pictured this moment so many times in her mind.
The confrontation.
She brushed the trigger again a little harder this time. His heartless nature shined in his eyes, menace on his face. He hadn’t changed one bit.

Ryder pushed past her and stood between her and Levi. “I’ll escort you out.”

Blake finally lowered the gun, though she watched Levi and Ryder until they left her sight. She moved to the window and pulled the blinds down, keeping her eye on the parking lot. Ryder shoved Levi against a black sedan. She knew Ryder would retaliate, and he didn’t disappoint. His right fist landed against Levi’s cheek, knocking the man down. Ryder said something to him and turned his back, heading to the door again. She let the blinds go and stood there waiting for Ryder to return.

He came in and stopped in front of her for a brief second with a hard look on his face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Get an officer to pick up Stevens and Cummings for questioning. I’m taking the vial to the lab to see if it matches anything in the toxicology report.” He pushed past her.

“Ryder?”

He stopped, keeping his back to her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

He turned back for a moment, his gray eyes going soft for a second. “Anytime.”

After three long hours of nothing but coffee keeping her awake, Blake pushed aside Amanda and Josh’s statements and rubbed her eyes. Amanda admitted to the vial being hers, stupidly, so if the substance came up in the vic’s system Amanda went down for murder. She even entertained them with a little story of how she got it, putting Josh Perkins, the waiter, on the scene as well. He had priors in drug dealing and trafficking. Amanda wanted to kill Sophie, used the drug Josh gave her, and waited. She also gave them another interesting bit of information. She and Josh were lovers.

Stevens, however, had come down with the flu and unfortunately couldn’t make it to the station. If she didn’t have other things on her mind and an intense lack of energy, she would have gone to the rich bastard’s house and dragged him there herself.

“Something to make tomorrow interesting.” She rubbed her neck, reading over Romano’s and Cumming’s statements.

“Go home, Warren.” Ryder handed her a bottle of iced tea. “You’ve had a busy enough day.”

She twisted the cap and took a swig. “Did you talk to Lou?”

“No, but I will. Tomorrow, bright and early. Now, go home.” Ryder glanced toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.”

Blake gathered her stuff and led Ryder outside. She’d parked his SUV on the opposite side of the building. Ryder grabbed her hand and pulled her against him, wrapping an arm around her as they walked in silence. Blake rested her head against his shoulder, allowing him to give her the comfort she needed.

“What did you tell him?”

He pressed his lips against her temple and smiled. “I told him to stay away from you. That if he came back he wouldn’t have to worry about your gun. Mine is much bigger, and I never miss a shot.”

Blake stopped him and turned in his arms so that she faced him. Her arms wrapped around his waist as she relaxed against him. “Do you think he’ll listen?”

“I hope so.” Ryder rubbed her back. “I’ll meet you at home.”

She leaned back and pulled his mouth down to meet hers. “Don’t be too long.”

Blake climbed behind the driver’s seat with Ryder standing beside her, making sure the car worked properly. She knew he felt guilty for the last time that landed her a bed in a hospital. He made sure she had her cell with her to call him if anything happened. Satisfied, he kissed her again and shut the door.

She backed up and pulled out of the parking lot into traffic. Snow and ice covered the hazardous roads. She took it slow, keeping her eyes out for small spots of ice hidden on the road. She had spent most of the early morning hours in bed, sleeping in until ten. But she’d worked on this case the entire day, and finally, possibly found the break they needed. Her mind ached, her body was sore, and her knuckles burned.