Picture Perfect Murder (Ryli Sinclair 1) (13 page)

“What do you think? Should we question Patty and Kim?” I
asked Aunt Shirley on our drive back to the retirement home.

“I guess it can’t hurt. Thing is, I think we can find a ton
of stories about people hating Dr. Garver, but I’m not sure how they fit with
killing Iris. Seems to me the killer should have just kept
their
mouth
shut if the motive for killing Iris was to shut
her
up.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I’d thought the same thing.

I pulled up under the awning to let Aunt Shirley out. “Make
sure you put that dress to good use tonight. I don’t want you moping about the
next few days…not when we have a murder to solve.”

I was glad the car was dark enough to hide my blush. Or I
thought it was until Aunt Shirley started laughing. “Ain’t no shame in a woman
wanting to remember she’s a woman.”

As I peeled out of the circle drive I could still hear Aunt
Shirley cackling.

Garrett lives five miles from town out in the country. His
gravel and dirt driveway entrance is secluded by large trees and tall grass,
which always makes it difficult to find. I’ve only been out here twice, and
both times were with Matt.

The house itself sits on seven acres, with one acre being a
pond behind the house. Matt said the first thing Garrett did when he bought the
house a year ago was build a two-car garage Morton building to the left side of
his brick and vinyl house. The façade of the Morton building was made to match
his house.

I’m not sure how to describe the layout of the house, except
to say it’s a ranch-style home, but there is a second floor over half the house
where the loft is. The landscape was fairly new. The first time I was out here,
there was just a lot of dirt and gravel. Now there was a small area of grass
surrounding the house, with two curved rock gardens running the length of the
house, separated by the walkway. The walkway was basically round cobblestone
markers placed on top of the grass, but close enough together you didn’t feel
like you had to leap to hit the next marker.

I was on time, straight up eight o’clock. Grabbing my purse
I got out of the Falcon, made sure there were no wrinkles in my sweater dress,
and carefully made my way to the large mahogany door with beveled glass and
sidelights. I was about to knock on the door when Garrett beat me to the punch.

And a punch is exactly how to describe what I felt when he
opened the imposing door. He had on dark, loose-fitting jeans with a black,
long-sleeved fitted t-shirt. He stepped back to let me in then quietly closed
the door behind me. I was suddenly very nervous.

The house opens up to hardwood floors throughout the whole
house. The doorway to my left is a large laundry room complete with white
floor-to-ceiling shelving on one wall, washing basin, and a red front-loader
washer and dryer.

To my right is a half wall that separates the entrance of
the house to the dining room and kitchen area. He has a nice-sized kitchen with
huge stainless steel appliances, just like Matt and Dr. Garver. I’m not sure
what it is about stainless steel that people like. I find it tedious cleaning
off all the fingerprints.

I knew from past visits that the narrow hallway that passed
in front of the open kitchen led to a bathroom at the end of the hall.

I felt Garrett guiding me directly ahead, through the
extra-wide doorframe, and into the main living area of the house. There was a
small step down into the living room, which I took very carefully. I’d hate to
fall and embarrass myself. I was suddenly glad I went with flats instead of
heels.

The enormous living room had panoramic floor-to-ceiling
windows built into the back and right side walls. You could see the beautiful
view of the one-acre pond and woods behind the house. The wall to my left
housed a stone fireplace with a large wood beam as the mantle. The exposed beam
ceiling and curved wooden staircase almost directly behind me that led up to
the loft and bathroom gave this part of the house a log-cabin feel.

The lighting in the room was soft and romantic. From one of
the exposed beams in the center of the room Garrett had a suspended wagon wheel
with six dimly lit mason jars hanging from the wheel. There were a couple more
floor lamps throughout the large living room, but tonight they were not lit.

 Garrett led me to the plush green sofa, love seat, and
recliner area grouped in the center of the room, facing the fireplace. I walked
around the large oak coffee table and perched carefully on the edge of the
sofa. No way was I going to lean back and worry about wrestling my body out of
the over-stuffed couch. Which is
exactly
what would happen if I leaned
back.

“I’ll get you a glass of wine,” he said as he turned and
walked back into the kitchen. I couldn’t help myself, I watched his jean-clad
butt walk away from me.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I got up and walked toward the
back wall of windows. It was dark outside, so I couldn’t see the pond, but the
coolness of the glass windows helped to calm me down.

“Here.”

I turned and took the glass from Garrett. I noticed he
didn’t have anything to drink. “Aren’t you going to have a glass?” I asked,
taking a long drink to calm my nerves.

“I’m on call tonight…hoping to hear back on a question I
have floating out there,” he said cryptically.

“What question?” I couldn’t help myself.

He smiled at me, took the glass from my hand, and set it
down on a nearby end table. He walked slowly back to me, his eyes never leaving
mine. The spit dried up in my mouth.

I’m not sure why, but I took a step backward. My butt hit
the cool glass of the window. I had nowhere to run. I swear I saw Garrett’s
pupils dilate.

One of his hands grabbed my waist and pulled me to him, while
the other slid through my hair to cup the back of my head. The pressure of his
mouth on mine was soft at first, but after a few second his mouth grew harder.

And that wasn’t the only thing that grew harder.

He backed me up against the window, his tongue parting my
lips. I had no choice but to hang on to his shoulders. I’m not sure who moaned
first, but the next thing I know I have my hips grinding against him and my
hands running through the back of his close-cropped hair.

I’m not sure how long we stayed like that, kissing and
touching wherever we could. Between my breasts tingling and stomach fluttering,
I felt like I could explode at any minute.

Garrett pulled away from me, panting slightly. He didn’t say
anything, just stared at me as he ran his shaking hands through his hair. I
have to admit, I was still so turned on, I couldn’t even move without fear of
convulsing.

“I’m thinking we should head out to Paige’s before things
get so far out of control there will be no turning back,” he said.

And
that would be a bad thing?

But he was right, we needed to get going or neither one of
us would be able to put the brakes on. Hoping for a nonchalance I wasn’t
feeling, I walked passed him and grabbed my wine from the table. I drank it in
one gulp. “Ready when you are.”

The ride to Paige’s place was silent. Not exactly
uncomfortable, but silent nonetheless. I was afraid of ruining the moment by
asking questions about the murder investigation, so I elected to keep quiet.

We were only a few minutes late. As I fluffed my curls, I
hoped I didn’t look how I felt…disheveled and turned on.

Paige opened the door before we got to it and ushered us
inside. “I was beginning to wonder what happened to you two. I almost…” She
trailed off as she took in my appearance. Her eyes widened and she giggled.

Dammit!

I tried giving her the evil eye so she’d shut her mouth, but
she just waved me off. Looping her arms through Garrett’s, she all but pushed
him into the kitchen. “Matt’s in there. We’ll be in in a sec.” She gave him a
gentle shove then turned back to me.

“Don’t!” I hissed, hoping Garrett was out of earshot before
she went psycho.

She quietly squealed as she raced back to me. “You look like
you’ve been sexed. Dish!”

I shut my eyes and counted to five. The truth was, I didn’t
know what to say. I never seem to know what to say when it comes to Garrett.
“No, we didn’t. But we did have a good make-out session.”

Did
people still call it making out?

“Yeah, that I can see. Your hair is really poofy, and your
lips are totally swollen.”

I touched my mouth. I thought the tingling was just my
imagination. “It was amazing!” I blurted. I couldn’t help myself.

“I knew it would be. C’mon, let’s go find our boys.”

Garrett and I ended up staying for about an hour. Between
bites of the delicious lava cake, we talked about the upcoming wedding and the
winning football season the Granville Bulldogs were having so far. The minutes
flew by.

Garrett caught my eye on my second yawn. Smiling, he leaned
over and whispered in my ear. “I don’t want you falling asleep on me. I do have
plans for us before I head back to the office tonight.”

I’m pretty sure I whimpered, because I felt the low timbre
of his knowing laugh in my ear.

Just when I was afraid I’d melt into a puddle on the floor,
I heard his phone go off. Garrett looked at the number and sobered. “I need to
take this. I’ll be right back.”

I looked over at Paige. I knew this was probably the call he
was waiting on. How could I “accidentally” overhear the conversation? I looked
down at our empty plates and glasses. I had an idea.

Paige must have known what I was going to do, because she
reached over and helped me stack up all the plates. Picking up the dishes, I
quietly tiptoed into the kitchen where Garrett had wondered when he took his
call.

He had his back to me, which I figured was a plus. It
allowed me to eavesdrop without him knowing, and I got to look at his butt.

“You’re sure it’s ketamine?” There was a pause. “Okay,
that’s what I figured. Can you tell how it’s being administered?” There was
another pause. “Okay. Thanks again for getting back to me so quickly.” He ended
the conversation, and before he turned around said, “Did you get all that,
Sin?”

Oh, my God! How did he know I was there? I made sure I
hadn’t made a peep as I entered the kitchen. I didn’t know what to do. Should I
turn around and leave? Pretend I didn’t hear anything?

Before I could figure out what to do, he turned around and
slid his phone back into his front pocket. “I saw your reflection in the
window,” he said.

“I didn’t mean to hear,” I said. A hollow lie, even to my
own ears.

He didn’t say anything, just smiled. “Uh huh, right. So now
you know what I’ve suspected. Seems the victims were given ketamine, which
explains how they were able to be easily manipulated and didn’t put up a
fight.”

“I did notice the dishes at every scene. Two mugs, sometimes
plates and silverware…but always two washed mugs.”

“I noticed them, too. We ran tests for fingerprints and
DNA…nothing.”

I briefly wondered how hard it was to come by a bottle of
ketamine. Did it even come in a bottle? I had no idea what it was or how it
came, but I was determined to find out.

Before I could ask any more questions, Garrett guided me out
of the kitchen and back into the living room where Matt and Paige were
snuggling. “We should probably head out. Give you two some alone time,” he
said, grinning at Matt.

Matt and Paige stood up and walked us to the door. Paige
gave me a little hug and whispered, “Call me tomorrow and tell me what you
heard in the kitchen.”

Hoping no one else had heard, I ducked my head and walked
out the door with Garrett. He opened the passenger side door for me and I slid
in. Buckling my seatbelt I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach.

I watched the interior light came on again as Garrett opened
his door and buckled his seatbelt. Not once saying anything. The light faded
and he started the engine, putting the car in reverse. As he turned to look
over his shoulder, he caught my stare.

Garrett put the car in park and reached out and tucked one
of my curls behind my ear. I saw the look of desire in his eyes, so I wasn’t
completely shocked when he leaned in and kissed me. It was a soft, barely there
kind of kiss. He parted my lips with his tongue.

Next thing I know we’re like two teenagers left alone to
park for the first time ever. I’m not sure how our seat belts came off, but
they did. I’m also not sure if he hauled me onto his lap or if I just leapt
there, straddling him. My right knee fell in between the seat and the door.
Half cursing and half laughing, Garrett slid one hand through my hair to cup
the back of my head and had the other hand on my ass…both pulling me closer to
him, if that were possible.

My sweater dress was practically bunched around my waist,
leaving my pink lace panties exposed. The combination of the lace and his
erection pressing against me as I gyrated on his lap was almost enough to send
me over the edge. I had just started untucking the front of his shirt from his
jeans so I could slide my hands up his chest…when his phone made a loud
chirping noise.

Groaning, Garrett broke off the kiss. We both just stared at
each other, breathing heavy. I realized I was practically naked and tried to
pull my dress down. Cursing, Garrett knocked my hands away as he simultaneously
reached in his pocket to get his phone.

I almost screamed in frustration.

After reading the text, Garrett tossed his phone into the
console. He then began helping me tug my dress back into place. He must have
noticed the devastated look on my face because he pulled me down for a quick
kiss.

“Know this, Ryli. Tonight I’m going to drop you off at your
place because I have to go back to the station and work for a while. Just know,
once this case is solved, I will not be dropping you off at your place on
nights like these. You will be going home with me.”

About
damn time
!