Chaz and Kyle didn’t hear a word I was saying though because they were too busy staring into each other’s eyes. I was about to start patting my own back when Alyssa burst into the room.
“Dr. Vaughn,” she said breathlessly, “Beth Handerneski called and said their bull got loose. They tracked him down and lured him back in the trailer, but not before he cut himself pretty bad on a fence. They want to know if you can come out and take a look at him.”
Kyle broke eye contact with Chaz and looked at his receptionist. “Tell them I’ll be out there as soon as I finish up here.” When Alyssa left the room, Kyle was back to doctor mode.That’s some damn bullshit right there.“Come here, pretty girl,” Kyle cooed to Diva. He picked the cat up, and she purred loudly as she butted her head against his chin. Kyle talked to her the entire time he examined my shameless cat. He gave her ears an extra scratch before he handed my feline over to me. “I’ll let Molly give her the booster so that Diva doesn’t get mad at me.” His comment made me laugh. “I better get out to the Handerneski’s farm and look at Tank. I’ll see you guys around.” He stopped in front of Chaz and said, “Maybe I’ll find you online, and we can play together.”Oh, that sounded a little naughty!Kyle left the room without waiting to hear a response from Chaz.
Once we were alone in the exam room, a hard shiver worked its way through Chaz’s body as if Kyle had asked him to play with his joystick. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who thought so. “I’m going to kill you,” Chaz said when he could finally talk again.
“Gabe won’t let you,” I said smugly.
“He’ll help me when he finds out what you just did,” Chaz said, sounding wounded.
“What? I told Kyle that you like to playWorld of Warcrafttoo. Did I lie?” I asked.
“You insinuated much more than that, and you know it. What the hell was that ‘sometimes they’re standing right in front of you all along’ bullshit?”
“It wasn’t bullshit,” I replied. “Gabe had been right in front of me all along.” Well, we lived in the same damn town anyway, which was the same as Kyle and Chaz. Besides, maybe they had already connected online and didn’t even know it. That damn Tank had to get loose and ruin it. Lucky for him I loved all of God’s creatures, or I’d turn him into meatloaf.
“Just because it happened to you doesn’t mean it will happen for me. You really embarrassed me, Jazz,” Chaz said softly. “I know you’re just trying to help, but please stop it. There’s no way a guy like that wants a guy like me.”
My best friend was beautiful in every possible way, and I wished he could see what I saw in him. I let out a soft sigh and apologized. “I won’t do it again,” I added. The look in his blue eyes told me that he didn’t believe me for a second, but he didn’t argue.
Molly came in and gave my cat her booster shot so that Kyle could remain in Diva’s good graces. Chaz was oddly silent on the way home, and I worried that I had gone too far. I pulled into his driveway and looked over at him after I put my car in park. Chaz was staring off into the distance as if lost in thought. A large grin split his face, and I looked through the windshield to see what made him smile, but didn’t see anything.
“Care to let me in on the secret?” I asked him.
Chaz jerked in his seat as if he forgot I was even with him. “Uh, I just had a thought.”
“And?”
“Strategy really,” he clarified. “For, um… my game.”
“A strategy for your game can make you smile that big?” I asked doubtfully.
“I just figured out the solution to a problematic part of the game, so, yeah,” Chaz replied. “No time like the present to get to it. I wish I could say it’s been fun today, but that would be a fucking lie.” He handed Diva’s cat carrier to me so that he could get out. “See you tomorrow,” he said absently before he shut the door. I could tell his mind had already gone back to hisstrategy.
Buddy was anxiously awaiting our return as if he was worried about Diva. The two had become friends rather quickly, but only after Buddy let her know he wouldn’t give into her demanding behavior. Buddy was licking the side of Diva’s face in greeting when I left them to reunite in the living room so I could change the sheets on my bed and set up a romantic scene with fresh linen and candles throughout the room.
I had just removed the comforter from my bed when movement across the alleyway caught my eye. A white moving van was backing into the driveway of the home that had belonged to my friend Bianca, who was murdered the year before. In fact, her case was the one that first brought Gabe to my door. Her house sat empty since she was killed, except for when my creepy ex-boyfriend squatted there to spy on Gabe and me, but it appeared the vacancy was coming to an end.
I watched as two tall men exited the van and walked around to the back to open the large sliding door. Their uniforms were the same color as the moving company logo painted boldly on the side of the truck. My creative brain immediately started to imagine who might be moving in. A sexy single guy for my Meredith? A young family with children whose laughter would echo throughout the streets during the spring and summer months?
One of the guys walked up the back steps to the door that opened into the kitchen. He disappeared inside for a few minutes then reappeared when the garage door opened from inside. I forgot all about my task and stood there gawking at the activity going on across the alley. I decided to guess who was moving in based on the furniture they unloaded.
The first item was a large ornately carved wooden headboard that took two of them to carry. Okay, that alone didn’t give much away. Next thing I saw was a gigantic flat screen TV that told me a man was moving in. But was he alone? I went to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee when the movers didn’t return to the van right away. I wasn’t gone long, but when I returned, I saw that there was a sleek black Mini Cooper with white racing stripes on the hood parked in the driveway next to the moving truck. I had serious stripe envy and wondered if Princess would look cute with a set of silver ones.
My musings were interrupted when a tall, slender man walked out of the garage. I squinted my eyes and leaned closer to the window to get a better look. He appeared to be wearing a pair of AG jeans that cost as much as an hour in my salon chair. His shirt was a dove gray, long-sleeved T-shirt that bore the Hermes logo on it. I would’ve bet money that Gucci made the black leather biker boots he wore on his feet. Just who was this stylish man and what was he doing in Blissville?
The wind kicked up and blew his longish locks of dark brown hair away from his face making it look like a model shoot. It was hard to tell from where I stood, but I thought I saw strands of caramel highlighted hair when the sun came out from behind the clouds. I was willing to bet those highlights weren’t natural either. The man tilted his head back as if he was worshiping the early spring sun.
Suddenly, as if he felt my intense gaze focused on him, he lowered his head and looked in my direction. He was too far away to be certain, but it felt like our eyes locked regardless of the distance between us.
My heart raced suddenly while an inexplicable fear washed over me. I took a step back from the window and pulled the curtains closed, severing my connection with the man. I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but the stranger’s appearance in our neighborhood wasn’t an accident. I couldn’t be sure of what it meant, but I was certain I’d be the first to find out.
THE INTERVIEWS WITH THEclub employees didn’t turn up any new leads. According to them, Nate hadn’t acted strangely leading up to his death, none of them were aware of any illegal activity occurring at the club, and none of them knew that Jonathon Silver existed until he bought the nightclub. On the surface, the interviews looked like a complete waste of time, but I wasn’t a surface guy.
“Did you notice how similar their answers are to one another?” I asked Dorchester and Weston. “As if they rehearsed what they were going to say before coming in.”
“I thought so too,” Weston replied.
