Kara Lennox - One-Night Alibi

“You’re telling me this now...because...?”

“Because I want to see you again. But I figured you ought to know the worst before you decide if that’s gonna happen.”

For a moment she looked unbearably sad. Had he disappointed her that thoroughly? But what she said next surprised him.

“I already knew.”

“What?”

“I saw it on TV. That’s why I was staring at you at the wedding. I recognized you.”

“Oh.” He rolled away from her, trying to wrap his mind around the implications. “Please don’t tell me you’re turned on by the idea that I’m violent.”

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not that at all.”

“Then what’s this about?” Some women were attracted to notoriety, even the negative kind. “You like bad boys? ’Cause I’m not one.”

“I know you’re not. I confess I was a bit curious, but after spending a very short time with you, I was sure you couldn’t have done what you’re accused of.”

“Really? That seems a little naive.” All those doubts he had about why she’d come on to him reared their ugly heads. He should have listened to his gut when it told him something was off-kilter. His gut was always right. “Did Mandalay send you? Or his lawyer?”

She sat up, pulling the sheet up to cover her breasts. “Good God, no.”

“That would be a good ploy. Send the pretty girl to seduce the sucker. Set up a fake burglary. Maybe coax the disgraced cop into yet another violent act, conveniently witnessed by said pretty girl—”

“You can’t think I had anything to do with that.”

“I don’t know what to think. Most women would have cowered behind a locked door. But you were right behind me, where you could clearly see everything that happened.”

“I’m not most women.”

He wished she didn’t look so damn fetching wrapped in a sheet. Even while he suspected she might be trying to finish trashing his career, he wanted her with an acuteness that stole his breath away.

Hudson scrubbed his face with one hand. Maybe he’d made a mistake. “Okay. Okay, I’m probably wrong.”

“Maybe I should go home now.”

“Liz, you don’t have to leave.”

“Oh, I think I do. Don’t stir yourself. I’ll call a cab.”

“No, I’ll take you home.” Maybe she’d cool off on the drive to her home. Maybe he could undo what might have been the worst mistake of his life. “Just let me jump in the shower. I won’t be five minutes.” He needed a shower in the worst way. A cold one.

He didn’t wait for her to agree. He scooted off the bed and trotted to the bathroom. He’d be done by the time she was dressed.

He scrubbed down quickly, then dried off and brushed his teeth. He’d be damned if he’d force her to deal with his morning breath. In the unlikely event she let him get close enough that she could smell his breath.

A quick swipe of deodorant, and all that was left was to throw on some clothes. He exited the bathroom.

“Liz?”

Nothing. He checked the kitchen, living room and second bathroom.

Her things were gone.

She was gone.

* * *

“I COULDN’T DO IT.”

“What the hell? Couldn’t find him? Couldn’t pull the trigger?”

“He had a woman with him.”

“So?”

“You think I should have plugged her, too? Or left her behind as a witness?”

“You were wearing a ski mask. She wouldn’t have recognized you. It would have been written off as a burglary gone bad.”

“I don’t leave loose ends like that. And I don’t kill women. Nuh-uh. You didn’t say anything about a woman.”

“Christ, do I have to do everything myself? You realize if I go down, so do you. Hudson Vale got a good look at Jazz. If he finds her before we do, it’s all over. She’ll sell us out like day-old fish. It will all come out—do you understand me? We’ll all go down.”

“We’ll get him another day.”

“Time’s running out.” The man paused, thinking hard. “You know, never mind. I shouldn’t have asked a boy to do a man’s job.”

“Oh, go screw yourself. You think it’s so goddamned easy to kill someone, you do it.”

The man hung up. It was remarkably easy to kill someone. Establish an unshakable alibi. Pay in cash. Leave no evidence behind, including no body.

His muscleman had outlived his usefulness. He was going to have to take care of him. Tonight, before the idiot got drunk and blathered to someone what he’d been up to. Then he’d take care of the others. He’d find Jazz and finish her off. Himself.

* * *

ELIZABETH FELT AWFUL for the teenage girl huddled in her office. Tonda Pickens was in a terrible situation, no doubt about it.

“If Jackson finds out I’m pregnant,” she said tearfully, “he’ll kill me. He will.”

The fear was not ungrounded. When a woman was pregnant, she was much more likely to become the victim of violence from the very person who was supposed to love and protect her. Plus, in Tonda’s case, her boyfriend-slash-pimp had hit her before.

“What about going home to your mother?” Elizabeth asked. “You haven’t talked to her in a while. Maybe the fact you’re having her grandchild would improve her attitude.”

“Hah, you kidding? This is what she did to me for just kissing a boy.” She lifted her hair off one side of her face, revealing a jagged scar. “I can’t even imagine what she’d do if she found out Jackson and me...” She looked out the window, swallowing convulsively. “I have to get rid of it. I got no choice.”

“Yes, you do have a choice.” Elizabeth wouldn’t counsel a nineteen-year-old prostitute to have a baby and keep it. But neither would she advise her to “get rid of it.” Her job was to lay out all the options and let the girl make her own decision. It was the only way, because Tonda was the one who had to live with the physical and emotional consequences. “You do not have to go back to Jackson or your mother. There are shelters for women in your situation. Safe havens.”

“If you’re talking about one of those homes for unwed mothers where they make you pray and then make you give up the baby for adoption, no way. I won’t carry a baby nine months and give it away. I’ve seen girls do that. It racks ’em up bad.”

Elizabeth had, indeed, been thinking about a place similar to what Tonda described. It was a godsend for some girls, but not suitable for everyone.

“There are a number of places you could go. We could look into them together, find the one that suits you.”

“What if I wanted...to keep the baby?” Tonda asked cautiously.

“If that’s what you want to do, you have that right. No one can make you give it up. I won’t lie to you—it won’t be easy. If you want to keep the baby, you’ll have to find some way to provide for it and yourself. Jackson would be legally obligated to pay child support, but I’m guessing that forcing him to do that would be a challenge?”

“I’d rather not even tell him.”

Elizabeth would rather she didn’t, either. What kind of father figure would a pimp be?

“I shoulda been more careful.”

“You’re not the first person to make a mistake, or the last. It happens. The thing to focus on now is making good decisions going forward.”

Tonda placed a hand on her abdomen. “I know I said I wouldn’t go for adoption, but what if I changed my mind? Could I find a good home for the baby?”

“We can certainly try. If you do a private adoption, you get to approve the adoptive parents. Just say the word, and I’ll get you into a women’s shelter—a temporary place until we can figure something out. But you don’t have to go back to Jackson.”

Tonda shook her head. “No. I’m not showing yet. Jackson won’t know. I have to think. Maybe I’ll call Mama. Give her some time to get used to the idea before I see her in person.”