No Other Lover Will Do (17 page)

“Oh, I do like you, I like you a lot,” he said seriously. Kandace raised her eyebrow at him.

“You don't have to say…”

“I know, and trust me, I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe it or mean it. Kandace, you're special, very special to me, and I want to see where we go in the future.”

“With you in New York and me in Charlotte or Atlanta? Long distance relationships didn't work after summer camp when we were kids. What makes you think it will work now?”

Solomon propped up on his elbows. “Let's see,” he said. “I have a jet and I can be wherever you are whenever I want. Don't make me build hotels in Charlotte or Atlanta just so I can see you every day.”

“I really think you'd to that,” she said with a laugh.

“Try me and find out,” he said. Solomon stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “And as much as I hate to get out of this bed with you, I have to go check in with my front office manager and make sure Carmen's not on the property, and also find out what's going on with the murder investigation.”

Kandace shivered at the mention of Carmen's name. “God, I hope she's gone,” she said. “How long have you known her?”

“Nearly four years, and all that time I had no idea that she was crazy. When I walked into my suite last night, she was waiting for me as if we were involved in more than business. That was a side of her I had never seen and never want to see again.”

“What are you going to do about her? I mean, she's so involved in your business and there's no way you can work with Carmen after all of this,” Kandace said.

Solomon nodded in agreement. “I wish this never happened, you know. As crazy as she is, she was a great asset to the business, but she has to go.” He reached for his BlackBerry and sighed. “I'm going to hate making this call.”

“To who?”

Solomon dialed a number. “To my brother, Richmond.”

“Do you need some privacy?” she asked.

Solomon shook his head, but Kandace went into the bathroom anyway. She needed a shower to wash away the feeling of dread that had settled on her shoulders as she thought about Carmen De La Croix.

 

“Richmond,” Solomon said. “We need to talk.”

“What? You have more accusations to hurl at me?” he snapped.

“Actually, no. First, let me apologize to you for the things I said when I was in New York. I know you didn't have anything to do with Danny's death and I have to tell you, you were right on another front,” Solomon said as his stomach clenched. Apologizing wasn't his strong suit and apologizing to Richmond was akin to standing in front of a firing squad.

“Wait a minute. What are you admitting I was right about?” Richmond asked, and when Solomon heard the smugness in his voice, he wanted to hang up on him.

Instead, he decided to tell him why he called. Getting rid of Carmen was more important than worrying about his brother being a jerk. “Carmen De La Croix.”

“What about her?”

“She's crazy and we need to let her go. Call the IT department and have them remove her access from the computer system. Then I need you to send an e-mail to all of our properties and have her banned from the locations.”

“What happened?”

“That's not really important, but you were right about her. Who knows, she may have been…” Solomon's voice trailed off as he thought about the last phone call he had with Danny. “What is the detective's number who is handling Danny's murder investigation?”

“You don't think she had something to do with it?” Richmond asked.

“After what happened down here, I wouldn't be surprised,” Solomon said. “But she's fired. She no longer works for us and we have to make sure she's far away from us.”

“I can't say that I'm surprised that she's nuts. Since you've been gone, I've had some strange conversations with her. Any time I mentioned your name, she'd get this strange look on her face, as if I was making sacrilegious comments about Jesus.”

“Really? I guess you were trying to enlist her for your coup d'état,” Solomon observed.

“Maybe. I told you a long time ago that you were placing too much trust in this stranger.”

“Okay, I don't need to hear ‘I told you so' right now,” Solomon said. “Just give me the detective's number.”

“All right,” Richmond said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Hold on and I'll find his card.”

He makes me so damned sick,
Solomon thought as he waited for his brother to return to the line.
It's too bad Carmen didn't develop a fixation on him.

Richmond returned to the line and gave Solomon the detective's phone number. “I hope this woman has taught you a lesson,” Richmond said.

“And what lesson would that be?” Solomon snapped. “According to you, it was going to be a woman I slept with that brought me down. I'm still on my feet and I never slept with Carmen. What is it that I should be learning?”

“Why do I even bother talking to you?” Richmond said. “Get this mess cleaned up or I swear, I'll have Mom and Dad remove you as CEO.”

“You're not getting my job that easily,” Solomon said, then pressed the
END
button on his phone.

Even if Kandace thought the room was a dungeon, she couldn't deny how wonderful the six-speed showerhead felt as she stood underneath the warm spray. She hadn't been aware of how long she'd been in the shower until Solomon walked in to the bathroom and stepped in behind her.

“I figured that if I was going to get some hot water, I'd have to join you,” he whispered against her ear.

Kandace turned around and smiled at him. “This shower feels so good. I've got to get one of these showerheads installed in my bathroom at home.”

“Stop hogging the jets and let me see what all the fuss is about,” he said as he lifted her into his arms. The water hit him in the face and he nearly dropped Kandace.

“Watch it,” she said as she slapped her hand across his damp chest.

“You know I wouldn't drop you,” he said. But he did put her down and blocked the shower spray from her. “Hot damn! What do you have the shower set on, boil?” Solomon turned more cold water on and Kandace laughed as she stepped out of the shower.

“That's just what you get for coming in between me and my showerhead,” she said as she wrapped up in a plush towel. “How did the call with your brother go?”

“Ugh, if smug was a disease, he'd be fatal. I told him what happened here and I still got an ‘I told you so.' But talking to him did make me think about something.”

“What was that?” Kandace asked as she dried her face.

“The last time I talked to Danny, he said he'd found something out about Carmen that didn't add up. Then the line was disconnected. I called him back and he said he made a mistake. I didn't think anymore about it—then he turned up dead. If this hadn't happened with Carmen, I would've never put it together. I think she may have had something to do with his death.”

“You think she killed him?” Kandace asked as she dropped her towel.

“I don't want to believe that. Maybe she let the killer in. I don't think Carmen is that dangerous, but just to be on the safe side, I locked her out of the company electronically,” he said as he shut the water off.

“That's a good idea. How do you think she's going to react to that?” Kandace asked when he stepped out of the shower.

“Well, I hope the NYPD will keep her busy. After I talk to Frances, I'm going to call the detective on Danny's case and see if he can find anything out about Carmen, and whether she was near Danny when he died.”

“Are you sure she's back in New York? What if the police can't find her because she's still here?”

Solomon grabbed a towel and dried himself. “I don't think she'd stay here. Someone would see her and security would escort her off the property.”

“This thing is starting to scare me,” she said. Solomon crossed over to her and hugged her against his chest.

“I'm not going to let anything happen to you,” he said. “If you don't want to stay down here alone, then come with me.”

“But your meeting, that's about business and I shouldn't be there.”

“And I'm not leaving you here when you just said you were afraid,” he said. “So, get dressed and come with me.”

Kandace decided not to argue and headed into the bedroom to get dressed.

 

The phone wouldn't stop ringing in Kandace's suite. Carmen wasn't going to answer it again, but she knew she had to get out of the Wonderland Suite in case Kandace's friends came looking for her. Looking out the window, she saw that the snow was falling fast and furiously, like a blizzard. She wouldn't be able to leave the mountain now, but she would have to find another place to go. Solomon had probably told everyone about what she did, which meant her access to the resort would be stripped away. Maybe she could stay in the basement room for a few days and then she would make her move. All was not lost with Solomon. Not yet.

The phone rang again, but this time it was her cell phone. “Hello?” she said in a whispered tone.

“Carmen De La Croix?” a male voice asked. It wasn't Solomon and that made her sad.

“Yes, who is this?” she asked.

“It's Detective Dave Myer, NYPD. I need you to come into the precinct and answer some questions about Danny Jones.”

“I'd love to come in, but I'm not in the city right now,” she said.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“Atlanta,” she lied. “I was scouting a location for Solomon.”

“Really? Are you not aware that he fired you?” he asked.

“Fired?” she asked with a terse laugh. “You're lying. Solomon couldn't run this business without me. He'd never fire me.”

“Is that so? Because I spoke to him about a half hour ago and he told me that he did fire you and thought you might be in North Carolina at the resort where you trashed his room. The police are already investigating a murder there and we can ask the detectives to hold you until we get there.”

“But I am not in North Carolina,” she said. “I told you I am in Atlanta. Yes, Solomon and I had a misunderstanding, but that happens in all relationships.”

“Am I hearing you correctly? You and Solomon Crawford were involved in a relationship? Miss De La Croix, I'm not an avid Page Six reader, but Mr. Crawford has been photographed with a number of women and you've never been one of them. Also, if you and Solomon are dating, why were you seen having drinks with Danny Jones the night he was murdered?”

Carmen felt cornered, just like the night the house burned. “Danny and I worked together,” she said, after taking a clearing breath. “We had a drink, I went home, and he returned to the office. So, now that I've had an argument with my boyfriend, I'm a murder suspect?”

“Your boyfriend? Danny or Solomon?”

“Solomon of course,” Carmen said. “I tell you what, I can come and talk to you next week.”

“No, we need to talk to you now,” Myer said. “And I'm willing to get on a plane and come right to North Carolina where your cell phone is pinging from.”

Carmen hit the
END
button on the phone, then turned it off. She dashed out of the room and ran down the employee stairs, nearly knocking over two housekeepers on the third floor.

Carmen ran all the way to her rental car and climbed in the backseat so that she could clear her mind. The police were getting too close, and for Solomon to fire her, it was too much.
How can he do this to me? If it wasn't for me, this place wouldn't be open. Solomon can't do this without me and he's not going to. I know we can make up and we're going to be fine. She's behind this. Kandace told him to get rid of me, I know she did. She's threatened by me and how much Solomon and I mean to each other. I don't know why he's letting that piece of vacation ass tell him what to do with our business,
she thought as she crawled across the seat and started the car so that she could warm up. Carmen wanted to leave, but she couldn't be too far away from Solomon when he came to his senses. He would come around, and when he did he would beg her to forgive him and she would. Then they could get back to the way things used to be.

“I know you still love me, Solomon. I know it,” she said as she turned the heat up higher. After a few moments, Carmen turned the car off because she didn't want to call attention to herself in the parking lot.

She would've driven to another hotel, but the parking lot was covered with snow and the plows hadn't come to clear a path for people to drive yet. Carmen wished that she'd taken a blanket from the resort so that she could cover up with more than the leather coat. All she had to do was wait until it was time for the shift change and she could sneak in and wait for Solomon. He would listen to her and he would get that woman out of their lives.

“If he doesn't, I will.”

 

Kandace and Solomon walked into Frances's office and sat across from her desk.

“Mr. Crawford, I'm so sorry about what happened in your suite,” she said. “I had no idea…”

“Frances, you need to make sure every staff member knows that Carmen De La Croix is banned from this building. I think she could be dangerous and she may be involved in Anita's death,” Solomon said.

“Why would you think that?” she asked. “Have you talked to the police?”

“No, but I think she's also involved in a murder in New York. I've called the detectives involved in that case and they will be sending someone down here to talk to the staff and work with the local police.”

Frances tugged at her collar and expelled a long sigh. “She seemed so normal every time I talked to her,” she said.

“What did you two talk about?” Solomon asked as Kandace squeezed his hand.

Frances rose to her feet. “Well, she called from New York right after we opened and asked for the guest registry.”

“That's how she knew about me,” Kandace whispered to Solomon.

“And you sent it to her?” he asked.

Frances nodded. “I mean, it didn't seem like an unusual request. I thought she wanted to monitor how many suites and rooms we'd booked. Everyone was talking about the fact that we were doing so well in this economy and how it was so remarkable. I thought maybe she needed the information for press or something. Then she came here looking for you, Mr. Crawford. She wanted a key to your room. She said she had a pressing matter to tell you and it was private.”

Solomon shook his head in disbelief. “So you just gave her a key to my room?”

Frances widened her eyes as she looked at him. “She was my boss. What was I supposed to do? No one could locate you and your cell phone's voice mail was full.”

Kandace patted the back of Solomon's hand. “Calm down,” she said. “It's not as if you didn't use your role as owner to get what you wanted. Remember how you showed up every place I was?”

Frances's face relaxed for a minute and then she apologized to Solomon again. “I had no idea that she was a scorned woman trying…”

He held his hand up and cut her off. “No, you have the wrong idea. Carmen and I were business partners and she wanted more. But how did she get the key to Kandace's room?”

“I didn't give her a key to a guest's room. It is possible that she got a pass key card from a housekeeper cart,” Frances said.

Kandace and Solomon looked at each other in disbelief. “Is it possible that she took a key from the housekeeper who was killed?” Kandace asked.

“Only housekeepers and the maintenance staff have those key cards,” Frances said. “Oh my God, what if Anita tried to stop her and she killed her?”

Kandace shivered as terror froze Frances's face. “Mr. Crawford,” Frances said, “we need to beef up security and…”

“I'll do it. I want to keep everyone safe. First thing we need to do is reprogram all of the locks so that the old pass key cards don't work.”

Frances crossed over to her desk, picked up the phone and called the maintenance staff. “It will be done within the hour,” she said.

Solomon and Kandace rose to their feet. “We're going up to my suite, and please make sure no one gets a key to the room other than me or Kandace,” Solomon said as they headed out the door.

“Yes, sir,” Frances replied.

When they entered the lobby, Kandace stopped and looked out of the glass front door. “Look at all of that snow.”

“Wow,” Solomon said. “And it is still coming down.”

“You know, there is one thing that I want to do,” she said.

Solomon wiggled his eyebrows. “Me too and as soon as we—”

She placed her hand on his chest and cut him off. “When it stops snowing, I want to make a snow angel.”

“That's all?”

Kandace slapped him on his chest. “Remember, I grew up in Guam and there was never any snow. And snow in Atlanta is nothing but ice.”

“All right, all right, snow angels it is. But you know you're going to be incredibly wet when you're done.”

Kandace offered him a seductive smile. “I could be incredibly wet right now.”

“So, why are we down here talking when I can take you up to my suite and find out?” he asked as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the elevator.

“Put me down,” she laughed as he stepped into the elevator car. Solomon stood her up against the wall and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Incredibly wet?” he asked as he unbuttoned her pants.

“Solomon, what if those doors open and one of your guests gets on?” she asked as he slipped his hand inside her pants.

“Then you will have some explaining to do,” he said as his finger reached the crotch of her panties. “Because you are incredibly wet.”

“Solomon,” she moaned as his finger found her throbbing bud, making her even wetter than she was before. Kandace looked up at the display and saw that they were on the fourth floor. “Are you going to do this all the way up to your suite?”

“Yes, unless you can't handle it.”

Kandace gasped as his finger moved in circles inside her. “I don't think I can. There's no way I can stand here for another four floors.”

With his free hand, Solomon pressed the button for the fifth floor and the doors opened instantly. “For the last time in Wonderland,” he said as he removed his hand from her crotch.

Kandace pulled her key card from her pocket and unlocked the door. She barely closed the door and placed the external lock on the door before Solomon pressed her against the door, ripped her shirt off and pulled her pants down around her ankles. Kneeling down, Solomon's mouth found her hot opening and slipped his tongue in between her wet folds of flesh. Kandace threw her leg over his shoulder and held on to the doorknob as he licked and kissed her in the most intimate way. Her knees trembled, her heart beat like a conga drum as he sucked her clitoris until she felt her desire pouring from her body like rain. Solomon pulled back from her and lifted her into his arms and then he tossed her on the bed.