And off he went. “Oh, I’m moving to Los Angeles after the first season of Century’s End is complete. I’ve spoken to an agent out there about representing me.”
The look on Juliana’s face told me this was nothing he had discussed with her.
Chapter 54
Alex Martinez was worn-out. In a good way. She sprawled in the king-size bed in the tiny lower Manhattan apartment of Officer Tom McLaughlin. Aerobic energy could be as useful in sex as it was on the job. She was still smiling, listening to the gentle snores of her new lover.
The whole night had been wonderful. Dinner at the Tavern on the Green. The stroll through Central Park, which included a visit to the stables. He was really a special guy.
But one thing stuck in her head. She had asked about Michael Bennett, which might have been a mistake. It probably wasn’t a big thing to Officer McLaughlin. He had gone on and on about the homicide detective.
Now she tried to calculate all the ways that might come back to haunt her after Detective Bennett was dead. Would Officer McLaughlin remember the conversation and discuss it with the detectives investigating the murder? If so, did he know anything about her that could be useful? She never did let him have a photograph.
She rolled it over and over in her brain. The sooner you handle a problem, the better things work out.
She wondered if Officer Tom McLaughlin could be a loose end. A loose end that could expose her later.
She rolled over and slipped out of bed silently. She got dressed in the cramped space between the edge of the bed and the wall.
She looked down at the sleeping form of Officer McLaughlin and reached into her purse for her stiletto. She hit the button, and the blade popped straight out of the handle with just a little mechanical click.
She ran through her options once again. This man had done nothing wrong and did not deserve to die because of the mistake she made. But she couldn’t risk someone coming to the ranch one day to arrest her and separate her from the girls.
She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the city in the dark apartment. Sometimes she wished she was someone else.
Chapter 55
Alex stood in the dark room with the stiletto in her hand, ready to make a drastic decision. Then she was startled by Tom McLaughlin’s voice.
“Do you have to go?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I need to tell you something. Just so I feel good about where we are. And I don’t want you to think I’m keeping any secrets.”
Alex just stood in the darkened room wondering if she should say something like, It doesn’t matter. Because it wouldn’t in just a few seconds.
Tom kept talking anyway. “I didn’t tell you that I have a daughter.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to think I was trying to hide something. I also don’t want to freak you out. But I have a three-year-old named Emily.”
“Are you married?”
“No. I asked Emily’s mother to marry me when we found out she was pregnant, but she wasn’t interested. Now I have to fight hard to make sure I’m as involved in Emily’s life as I want to be.”
Alex didn’t know what to say.
Tom said, “I hope this doesn’t change anything. I had a great time, and I hope we can see each other again.”
To Alex it did change something. It added something to her careful calculations. Suddenly she thought of a girl, not much younger than Gabriela, calling out for her absent father. Her father, who was a decent, hardworking man and didn’t do anything wrong.
He sat up in bed and reached for the light on the nightstand.
Alex quickly dropped the hand with the stiletto into her purse.
Tom said, “Let me walk outside and get a cab with you.”