Microsoft Word - T108JustDesserts.doc (11 page)

him cheating on her. She hated him for that, hated him as

strongly as she still loved him. The tears began to flow

freely, wetting the pillow into which Jade pressed her face.

She bit her lip as the spasms rocked her body, gripping

Daniel inside her. They nearly always came together, it was

something she cherished, and this time was no exception.

Daniel roared with his own release before collapsing on

top of her. Laying his face on the pillow next to hers, Daniel

sighed and then stiffened. “Baby. You’re crying. What’s

wrong?”

He rolled off of her and turned her body to face his,

wrapping his arms around her. Sobs wracked her body as she

allowed him to hold her. She shook her head and didn’t

answer.

“Ah Jade. You should have told me you were upset. I

wouldn’t have…” He shook his head and stroked her face.

“You haven’t been right since what happened in that pawn

shop, baby. Maybe you need to talk to a professional.”

It was not the shooting in the pawn shop that bothered

her. It was that she was too insecure and afraid of being

alone to confront Daniel about the photo of him with another

woman. But she nodded as he cradled her head and kissed

her wet face.

She should have never gone looking for proof. She

thought knowing would help, but now it was way worse.

Jade let out a long shuddering sigh as Daniel held her tighter.

She could not go on like this much longer. It hurt too badly.

What the hell was she going to do?

~

68

Cat Johnson

“You cried through the whole thing? And he didn’t

notice until the end?” Donna asked in surprise.

“I was face down. He couldn’t see,” Jade explained,

swallowing a larger than wise gulp of white wine.

“Oh.” Donna raised a brow at that revelation.

Grace nodded. “And besides, how could he have seen

her in the dark anyway?” Grace reasoned.

“No, the lights were on,” Jade said.

“You leave the lights on?” Grace frowned at Jade and

then looked at Donna and her new man Sam. “You, too?”

Donna, mouth full with a piece of olive bread dipped in

oil, nodded. “Mmm, hmm.”

Grace snorted. “Well no man is getting in bed with me

with the lights on. I don’t want to see his thing and I sure

don’t want him seeing mine. It may feel good but there’s

nothing pretty about any of the parts involved.”

Sam choked on a swallow of beer. “Ah jeez, do you

guys always talk like this together?” Sam wiped both hands

over his reddened, stricken face as if to rid him of the image.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Donna smiled slyly at him. “Can I

get you another beer, Sam?”

“God, yes.”

Donna chuckled and reached from her chair into the

fridge. It seemed they always ended up in the kitchen when

they hung out at Donna’s apartment, as small and cramped

as it was.

“Mmmm, Don. This bread is the best.” Grace ripped a

piece off and dipped it in the oil.

“I know! Isn’t it great? It was still warm when I bought

it this morning,” Donna agreed, cutting a few more pieces

and putting them in the napkin-lined basket. “Sam, try

some.”

Jade hid her smile as Sam frowned and said, “Can I have

some butter on it?” Both Grace and Donna turned toward the

poor man like he had suggested something obscene.

“Butter?” Grace sputtered. “No. Dip it in the olive oil.

Here, I’ll put a little salt in it for you. Brings out the flavor.”

69

Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

Donna nodded. “It’s extra virgin olive oil and unfiltered.

I had to order it directly from Italy. They don’t even sell this

particular kind here in the States.”

Sam raised his brow. “Okay. If you say so.” He added

with a low mumble, “I can think of much better uses for oil

but whatever.”

Jade leaned forward toward Sam. “They are very serious

about their eating. You’ll get used to it.”

Grace gave her a look. “You could stand to eat

something yourself. You’re skinnier than usual.”

Jade sighed, knowing it was true. Lately she had barely

been able to choke down a meal. Even now, the small bit of

wine she had consumed on an empty stomach had gone

directly to her head. “I can’t eat.”

“Snap out of it, Jade. You can’t go on like this with

Daniel. You have to confront him. Today.”

Uh, oh. Donna was taking the tough love approach. Jade

had seen her get like this when Grace was acting ridiculous,

but Donna’s wrath had never been directed at her before.

“I know I do.” Jade felt her eyes begin to fill with tears

again and laughed bitterly. “Can’t do it tonight, though. He’s

‘working late’ again at the office.” She snorted at what that

probably meant. Donna was right. This was tearing her apart.

She couldn’t live in limbo like this any longer.

“Go and confront him there,” Grace suggested. “If

Daniel isn’t at the office when he said he would be, you will

have proof he wasn’t there because you were. If he is there

with someone else, you’ll catch him red-handed. Right,

Sam? What’s your professional opinion as an ex-cop and

private investigator?”

At Grace’s question, Sam looked up from inspecting the

piece of olive bread in his hand with an expression of

surprised horror on his face that was laughable. “Oh, no. I’m

not getting involved in this.”

Grace scowled. “Why? Male solidarity? Are you siding

with Daniel on this?”

Sam’s brow furrowed into a frown. “No. I’m just staying

70

Cat Johnson

out of it.”

“You are Daniel’s neighbor. Have you ever seen that

woman there before or since?” Donna queried.

Jade waited for Sam’s reply.

“Only that once and honestly, I literally only saw her

walking into the apartment. Nothing more.”

She let out a long breath of relief at his answer.

Donna looked at Jade with her stern face again. “You

really do need to confront him.”

Jade nodded. “I know. Will you guys come with me to

his office tonight?”

Grace swallowed a gulp of wine. “Sure.”

“Of course, Jade.” Donna nodded and then turned to

Sam expectantly.

He opened his eyes wide. “Oh, no. I’m not going. I’ll

wait right here for you to get back.”

Donna scowled. “Fine.”

“There is one problem. It’s a secure building. There is a

guard twenty-four hours a day on the desk in the lobby and

after hours, the front door is locked,” Jade informed them all.

“Hmm. That could be an issue.” Donna sighed.

“No way. This one could flirt her way past anybody.

Look at her! If the guy has a pulse, we’ll get in.” Grace

hooked a thumb at Jade. “And we’ll both show some boob

too, just in case. Who wouldn’t let the three of us in?”

Sam looked up at the ceiling helplessly and mumbled.

“God help me.”

Donna raised a brow at him. “If you came with us, you

could help us get in. Flash a badge or something.”

“First of all, I don’t have a badge any longer. Second, all

Jade has to do is talk to Daniel, not sneak into his office. If

you
had talked to
me
instead of jumping to conclusions that

first night, you would have saved us both a lot of grief. And

third, I repeat, I am not getting involved in this.”

Donna shrugged. “Fine. I only hope the three of us don’t

end up in jail.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You do and I’ll get you

71

Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

out…tomorrow morning, after you’ve all learned your

lesson.”

There was a resounding, “Hmmph!” from Donna and

Jade had a feeling Sam wouldn’t be getting any that night.

But she couldn’t worry about her friend’s sex life. They had

a break-in to stage, an office to infiltrate and an alibi to

crack.

72

Cat Johnson

“I don’t think we’ll be flirting our way past the guard,”

Donna hissed from her hiding spot behind a tree out on the

sidewalk in front of Daniel’s office building.

Jade stared through the window at the boxy woman in

the unattractive, ill-fitting uniform and considered. “I don’t

know. If the butch haircut and the police-issue shoes with the

gum soles are any indication, we might be able to flirt our

way past her.”

Grace snorted, her ‘Cherries in the Snow’ red lipstick

brightly visible even under the muted light of the streetlamp.

“None of us can pass as a lesbian.”

“Sure we can. We are lipstick lesbians,” Donna clarified.

“Do you really think combat boot-wearing dikes

generally go for the lipstick lesbian type?” Grace challenged.

“Sure, she would just be the husband and we would be

the wife in the relationship,” Donna reasoned.

Though the lesbian debate going on next to her was

fascinating, Jade had a better idea.

“Let’s go around the side. I remember Daniel

complaining once that they had a fire drill and everyone

came out the emergency fire exit. He said the door was

propped open with a butt can for the smokers, as always. I

remember this because he said someone kicked the can over

during the drill and spilled all the butts and it reminded him

of the floor of a frat house after a party.”

“Hey, it’s worth a try. I don’t want to have to flirt with

that in there.” Donna glanced one more time into the front

glass window of the building and shuddered.

Grace chuckled as they made their way around the side

of the building. “I was just thinking how it’s a good thing

Belinda is away. She’s such a rule-follower, she would never

have let us do this.”

Donna laughed. “You’re right. But we would have done

it anyway and she would have come along and had an

absolute heart attack over the whole thing.”

73

Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

Jade turned to quiet them. “Shhh. I don’t know if there

will be anybody out here.” Grace, not one who enjoyed

being told what to do, screwed up her face in a scowl. Jade

ignored her, she was getting used to Grace.

The minute they turned the corner they all knew they

were in luck. The door was propped open by a bucket and

there was not a soul in sight.

Jade breathed a sigh of relief. One obstacle down. Now

she just had to brace herself for what she might find upstairs

in Daniel’s office.

Grace’s hand touched her shoulder. “Wait. First maybe

you should call him. See if he still says he’s at work.”

Donna nodded. “Good idea. You should do that, Jade.”

Jade nodded. She hated this—the sneaking around trying

to catch him, the suspicion eating her up. Would it be any

better knowing for certain? Probably not, if what she feared

turned out to be true.

Blowing out a breath, she dialed Daniel’s cell phone

number and waited.

“Hey, baby.” He knew who it was from his caller ID and

answered with his usual greeting.

“Hi. Are you still at work?” Jade’s voice only shook a

little bit, that was a good sign she supposed.

“Yeah, afraid so.” She heard him sigh. “I probably have

another hour or two here. I’m sorry, baby. I wanted to see

you tonight but this has to get done.”

“That’s okay. Really. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Jade’s

hand holding the cell phone started to shake and she steadied

it against her ear.

“You got it. Love you.” He sounded so cheerful while

she felt like vomiting.

“You, too. Bye.” Jade flipped the phone closed and

turned to the girls. “He says he’s here.”

“Then up we go.” Grace pushed past them and into the

dimly lit stairway. “But we are not taking these stairs all the

way up to the third floor. We’ll walk up one flight to avoid

the guard and then we’re taking the elevator to three.”

74

Cat Johnson

Donna followed Grace in and Jade heard her say, “Fine.

Hey, why do they even have a guard if the employees are

going to prop open the side door anyway?”

Her friends’ voices faded the further they traveled up the

stairs. Jade stood at the bottom, unmoving, until she couldn’t

stall any longer. Time to face the music.

~

Daniel Kopek ran one hand through his too long hair in

frustration—he really needed to get a haircut, if only he had

the spare time. He stared at the blueprints in front of him.

“Even with getting rid of the marble in the bath you still

can’t get the cost down any further?”

His general contractor Tim shook his head. “Sorry. The