“Our killer leave behind any clues?’ Adrian asked.
“No blood beyond the bathroom,” Hank replied. “Our killer was pretty clean on entrance and exit. No finger or handprints.”
“Nadine Beaumont mentioned something in her report last night,” Marley chimed in. “She said that Georgia physically and verbally attacked the salon owner, Jazz Roman.” I hated when people called him Jazz instead of by his name. “According to her, Georgia also threatened to destroy his business right before she stormed out.”
I could tell she was hesitating to say more. “What aren’t you saying?”
“Well,” she paused for a second then continued, “the scissors used to kill Georgia look like a pair of sheers a stylist would use.”
I felt as if she punched me in the stomach. I knew to the depths of my soul that Josh Roman was many things, but a killer was not one of them. Granted, the amount of talking we did was minimal during my investigation into Bianca’s death that led a madman straight to Josh’s door and nearly cost him his life. Josh and I got off to a horrible start when I stuck my foot in my mouth and made an ass of myself. I spent weeks trying to atone for it, but he wanted no part of my apologies.
There was one glorious afternoon when we quit hissing and spitting at one another long enough to do what we really wanted. As long as I live, I’ll never forget the look on his face or the way his lean body moved over mine when he rode me like a stallion. It was only once, but there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to get us back there again. If I were honest, I would admit there were many things I wanted from Josh but doubted I’d ever get them. Two months had passed since I shot and killed Bianca’s killer in his bedroom and we hadn’t spoken. Sure, we’d seen each other in town and nodded at one another in acknowledgment, but that wasn’t good enough.
“Come on. Josh?” Adrian asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I was happy to hear Adrian was as doubtful as I was.
“I don’t know, Detective,” Hank said to Adrian. “That business is all that he has and maybe he retaliated when it was threatened.”
The business wasn’t all he had. Josh had friends who loved him, pets he cherished, and a long client list who adored him. Hell, even I knew that and I sadly didn’t know much about him. Well, I knew the face he made when he came from the pleasure he got from my dick. I knew that he tucked up nicely against me when we cuddled afterwards. I knew that someone or perhaps several people had hurt him badly enough for him to erect a shield around his heart. I couldn’t prevent my mind from wondering back to an encounter we had at a gay club called Vibe.
I kissed him until someone bumped into him hard enough to jolt him. He pulled back and stared up at me with shock and I probably wore a matching look. It was no ordinary kiss you see. It felt like the little imp burned himself beneath my skin and I wasn’t so sure what the fuck to do about it. Then he opened his mouth and took the decision away.
“Did that feel like kissing a girl to you?” He leaned in and pressed his lips against my ear. “I might be on the lean side, but that’s because I do yoga and I’m extremely limber. I can reverse cowboy like you can’t even imagine. Well, you’ll have to use your imagination because you’re not man enough to act on the desire I see in your eyes. You think you’ll be less of a man or less gay if you sleep with a man with soft skin and a lean body. To guys like you, fucking men with big muscles on manly frames makes you feel more manly yourself.”
“You don’t know shit about me, Jizz.” I was sounding like a sixth grader, but his accusations stung. Hard.
“I know all about guys like you, Detective.” He shook his head as if he pitied me.
“My name is Gabe.”
“Okay, Gabe.” He rolled his eyes as if I was stupid; maybe he was one of those that thought all jocks were dumb; I was neither a jock nor dumb. “A lot of guys want to fuck me, to use me as their own personal blow up doll with ready orifices to please them until the next strapping stud comes along to grab their attention. I’m never the guy they take home to meet mom and dad. I’m not good enough.”
The next day he had showed up at my house with cookies as an apology and we ended up in my bed. When I woke up, he was gone and he wanted to pretend it didn’t happen when I approached him to talk about it. He referred to it as a “mistake.”
“Anyone is capable of murder,” Marley said, as if we needed a lecture. She just shrugged when I aimed a dark scowl in her direction. Their attention to detail was appreciated, but I didn’t need them playing junior detective.
“I think we’ve done all we can do here for the time being,” Adrian said. He looked at me and said, “I guess we better head over to Curl Up and Dye and talk to Josh.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. I had so many emotions warring inside of me and I just needed to push them all down so I could focus on doing my job. Georgia Beaumont, regardless of how she lived her life, deserved my undivided attention. I had myself totally convinced I could do it until we walked outside and the man himself was standing on the sidewalk in front of her house.
I couldn’t tell how long he’d been standing in the cold, but his pink cheeks and nose told me it had been awhile. I saw the small bruise beneath his eye and knew it must’ve been from the assault that Nadine mentioned to the police. His large, expressive eyes were wide with fear and it was all I could do not to reach out to him. I knew my gesture of comfort would be rejected, not to mention completely unprofessional since I had to treat him like a suspect. The concern in his hazel eyes turned to irritation when he saw me. I blew out a quiet, frustrated breath and prepared myself for his hostility.
“What happened?” he asked between chattering teeth.
“Let’s talk in my car,” I said to him. I hit the button to remote start my Dodge Charger and gestured for him to precede us. He looked hesitant, but he bit back whatever reply he had for me because of Adrian’s presence.
Adrian got in the back seat, leaving Josh to climb in the back seat with him or take the passenger seat beside me. I knew he’d rather sit with Adrian, but must have figured it would look weird so he reluctantly climbed in beside me. I hit the ignition button to fully start the car before I cranked up the heat and turned on the heated seats for Josh.
“Georgia Beaumont was murdered sometime last night or early this morning.” I kept my eyes on him so I could gauge his reaction and the devastation in his eyes was exactly what I expected. “The M.E. hasn’t released the time of death yet.”
Josh closed his eyes and shook his head, trying hard to find his composure, but my words cut him deeply. He bit his lip, but not before I saw it tremble. “Poor Georgia,” he said softly. “She just wanted to be loved.”
“We heard about the fight between the past and present Mrs. Beaumont. Can you tell us about it?” Adrian asked.
We listened as Josh described the event in great detail, including how he had rules in place that they were not to be booked on the same days. I could tell the altercation upset him and he wasn’t happy about banning Nadine from his salon.
“Is that when Georgia Beaumont struck you?” I asked.
Josh raised his hand and touched the tender spot beneath his eye. “I’m not sure which one of them hit me. It could’ve just as easily been Nadine.” He went on to explain he’d been struck while trying to stop them from rolling all over his floor and wasn’t sure who hit him.
