She gained courage and touched him again. Her fingers moved around his chest. Softly. Sensuously. “You don’t have much chest hair.”
“I shave.”
A feeble attempt at a joke. What should he do? He didn’t want her to stop. He didn’t want her to continue. He did nothing.
She broke the silence. “I have the advantage over you.”
Before Drake could guess what she meant, she reached down and pulled her shirt over her head in one fluid motion. As she tossed it on the chair, Drake was struck with the inane thought that here was proof she didn’t wear a bra.
She smiled. “There. We’re even.”
She went back to playing with his chest. He sat frozen.
She spoke again. “Do I have to do everything? You can do to me what I’m doing to you. It would be nice to have somebody I like touching me for a change. Or you can just look. Your choice.”
He did some of each. Her skin was silky. Her nipples reacted to his touch. He tried to come to his senses. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
It sounded like one of the cliches Melody accused him of spouting. Grace apparently thought so too. “Yes, we should. Why not? Because of Melody? She’s out with somebody else. You’re not sleeping with her. Why shouldn’t we enjoy each other? I know you like me.”
To prove her point, she slid her hand down his front, finding out for herself. He was scared for the first time since he had been young. “I don’t know if I can perform after all this running.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll do what we can. Maybe I can help.”
She could. Drake couldn’t believe how strong he suddenly felt.
CHAPTER 22
Drake was startled into wakefulness by the loud knocking on his door. His first thought, mixed up with his recurring erotic dream, was that Grace had returned. What time was it? It was dark outside. Drake clicked on the light beside the bed and looked at his watch. Almost 5:30. Morning.
He still couldn’t shake the idea that it must be Grace. Was she upset about last night? He was naked; he needed to put something on. He grabbed his briefs from the floor and pulled them up. They would have to do. He opened the door, fully expecting to see Grace. Instead he saw Melody.
From the look on her face she must be steaming mad at him. How did she find out? She came into the room and closed the door behind her. She was shaking and breathing hard.
“Grace is dead.”
Drake couldn’t grasp what she said. “What?”
“Grace is dead.”
Drake’s legs wouldn’t support him. He sat down hard on the bed. Grace was dead and he had caused it, although he wasn’t sure how. He didn’t want to know. He wanted to rewind the clock. But he had to know. “What…what happened?”
“Drake, she was murdered.”
“When?”
“A few minutes ago.”
Melody sat down on the bed beside him in the same spot Grace had occupied last night. She was still breathing hard, which was unlike her. She never seemed to breathe hard, even while running. Drake finally understood what was happening. Grace was dead but not because of him. Melody was upset about Grace, not with him. Grace had been murdered. Grace with the silky skin. But how? Why?
“What happened?”
“Her alarm went off at quarter to five. It woke me. As you know, it happened before, so I was suspicious. She started getting dressed. I asked her where she was going. She said she was meeting somebody in the parking lot, but she wouldn’t tell me who. She said it was okay; it wasn’t anything bad, and she’d be back in a little while. I couldn’t go back to sleep.
“She didn’t come back. Finally, at five fifteen I couldn’t stand it any longer. I got up, threw on some clothes, and went out the side door. At first I couldn’t see much. The motel has several outside lights, and my eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. I walked around the parking lot. Nobody was there.
“Then I saw a shadow between two cars back in a corner away from the building. It was more than a shadow. It was Grace. She was on her back. I could see her face, lit by a spotlight like some sort of holy vision. I saw the hole in her forehead. I’m sure she was shot. I checked her neck for a pulse. There wasn’t any. I ran around to the front of the motel and went in the main entrance. I yelled at the desk clerk to call the police. Then I came here.”
An approaching siren told Drake that the police were on their way. Melody looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. “We have to get out there and show them where Grace is. Get some clothes on.”
“I wonder how many murder cases the sheriff’s department gets here.” Drake voiced his thought to Melody.
They were back in his room following several hours of confusion and trauma while the San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s department carried out their initial investigation. It had taken some time for a detective and other specialized personnel to arrive on the scene following the arrival of the sheriff’s officer. They were in a rural part of the county, some distance from the populated area surrounding the city of San Luis Obispo. The staff appeared to be doing a competent job. The initial finding was that Grace had been shot at point-blank range with a bullet from a small caliber gun.
Fred, Peaches, and the runners had been notified. They all reacted with shock and disbelief. Fred immediately cancelled the day’s run and booked them for another night at the motel. The other guests were more or less inconvenienced, depending on how close their cars were parked to the murder scene. Some were temporarily blocked by police vehicles. The cars on either side of Grace’s body were checked for blood and other evidence.
Melody said, “We need to catch our breath for a minute. I told the detective all I know, which, unfortunately, isn’t much.”
“I told him something that I also need to tell you.”
Drake hesitated then blurted it out. “Grace and I were together last night.”
To his surprise, Melody didn’t show much of a reaction. “I suspected it. She refused to go out with me. She was gone when I returned. She came back a few minutes after me looking…well, looking like a cat who’s been in the catnip. She’s had her eye on you since day one.”
“I figured the autopsy would show it, so I didn’t want there to be any question. I also gave the detective the gun we got from Sterling. It hasn’t been fired, so there shouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t want it to be found in a search.”
“One reason I immediately ran to your room was because I had an irrational fear that you might have done it. But when I saw you, I knew better.”
“I had no reason-”
“I know; I said it was irrational. You don’t kill the cow that gives you cream.”
“It was the first time…”
“And only, unfortunately.”
They sat in silence for a minute. Drake tried to organize his thoughts. “The detective talked about a possible mugging. I don’t think-”
“I told him several times that she was meeting somebody. She had no money on her. Her clothes weren’t messed up. It wasn’t a rape attempt or anything like that.”
“The last time she went out early she met Sterling.”
“Sterling’s consorting with the girl from Ipanema.”
“Which leaves him out of the picture. What about Fred?”
“What about Fred?”
“She had information that could get him fired.”
Melody thought about that. “Possible motive. I don’t think we want the local authorities looking into that.”
“No. It’s out of their jurisdiction. Maybe now’s the time for us to talk to Casey.” Drake had a pang of guilt. “Maybe we should have talked to him before.”
“ If Fred did it, we couldn’t have foreseen it. Casey’s on his way. He’ll be here this afternoon. Fred told me that.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to call Blade and fill him in. I don’t think the Las Vegas mob had anything to do with Grace’s death, but since he’s involved in the betting and also the Malibu incident, I want to keep him informed.”