“The doorbell rang while I was pouring my glass of wine. I was up anyway, so I went to get it. The military police were there. They pushed past me into the house and arrested Laurence for committing a horrible murder that night, just a few hours earlier.
“I remember looking at my husband, and him looking at me. He shook his head in absolute amazement. No way he could have faked that look. Then he said to the police, ‘You officers are making a mistake. I’m a sergeant in the United States Army.’ That’s when one of the cops knocked him down with his baton.”
Chapter 52
I WAS TRYING to forget that I was on a case. Carrying around a nasty straw doll and lidless evil eye. In pursuit of killers. Relentless as I had ever been.
I walked into the lobby of the Wyndham Buttes Resort in Tempe, and there was Jamilla. She had flown east from San Francisco to meet me. That had been our plan.
She was wearing an orange silk blouse with a deeper orange sweater around her shoulders, slender gold bracelets and tiny earrings. She looked just right for the Valley of the Sun, which is what I’d heard the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe was called.
“I suspect you already know this,” I said as I walked over and gave her a big hug, “but you look absolutely beautiful. Took my breath away.”
“I did?” she asked, seeming surprised. “That’s a nice way to start our weekend.”
“And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Everybody in the lobby is checking you out.”
She laughed. “Now I know you’re putting me on.”
Jamilla took my hand and we walked across the lobby. Suddenly I stopped and spun her around into my arms. I looked at her face for a moment, then gave her a kiss. It was long and sweet because I’d been saving it up.
“You look pretty good yourself,” she said after the kiss. “You always look good. Tell you a secret. The first time I saw you in the San Francisco airport, you took my breath away.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Well, we better take this upstairs, get a room, before we get in trouble down here.”
Jamilla leaned in and gave me another quick kiss. “We could get in a whole lot of trouble.” And then another kiss. “I don’t do things like this, Alex. What’s happening to me? What has come over me?”
One more hug and then we headed for the hotel elevators.
Our room was on the top floor with a view of the Phoenix skyline and also of a waterfall cascading into a mountainside swimming pool. In the distance, we could see jogging and hiking trails, tennis courts, and a golf course or two. I told Jamilla that a nearby football field we could see must be Sun Devil Stadium. “I think Arizona State plays there.”
“I want to know all about Tempe and Arizona State football,” Jamilla said, “but later on.”
“Oh, all right.”
I touched my fingers to her blouse, which was brushed silk. “This feels nice.”
“It’s supposed to.”
I slowly ran my hands over the shirt, Jamilla’s shoulders, the tips of her breasts, her stomach. I massaged her shoulders and she leaned up against me and let out a long “mmmm, yessssss, please and thank you.” It was like an impromptu dance, and neither of us knew exactly what was going to happen next. So nice to be back with her again.
“There’s no hurry,” she whispered, “is there?”
“No. We have all the time in the world. You know, this is called entrapment in police circles.”
“Yes, it is. I’m fully aware of that. It’s also an ambush. Maybe you ought to just surrender.”
“All right, I surrender, Inspector.”
There was nothing except the two of us. I had no idea where this was going, but I was learning to just go along, to enjoy each moment, not to worry too much about the destination. I hadn’t been with anybody recently except that day with Jamilla in Washington. Nobody else in a while.
“You have the softest touch of anyone,” she whispered. “Unbelievable. Don’t stop.”
“So do you.”
“You seem surprised.”
“A little