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  “Grayson...” She exhaled. “Look, this is just too weird.”

  “You bring out something inside of me, Dee.” He moved his hands down her arms.

  Jesus.

  “When I saw you earlier, I wanted to take you right here and I didn’t give a damn that Swanson was here.”

  Lord, have mercy.

  “I haven’t felt so attracted to a woman in a long, long time. You’ve awakened something in me, Dee.” He kissed her neck and sniffed her shoulder. “Am I wrong or did you feel the same way?”

  God help me.

  “No.” She wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You’re not wrong.”

  They kissed.

  “Ah.” Grayson rolled off Dee and lay on the floor. “God.” He panted. “That was incredible.” He put his hands on his chest. “I’m sorry if I was rough but I wanted you so much that I couldn’t control myself.”

  Dee leaned up with her dress pulled to her waist and her panties beside her. She swept her messy hair over one shoulder. “What...what did we just do?”

  “We had sex,” he answered, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. “And it was amazing. The best I’ve had in a long time.”

  “This is crazy.” Dee brushed her hand down her face. “What am I doing? I don’t do shit like this. This is what those stupid women in those Lifetime movies do.”

  He touched her face. “It was unavoidable. You felt it too. You know you couldn’t have gone home without going crazy.”

  You got that right. What I don’t understand is...why? Damn, I must’ve needed some more than I thought.

  “I’m an idiot.”

  “What?” he whispered.

  “How do I know you didn’t plan this?” She pulled the straps of her bra and dress up. “How do I know you didn’t just want some ass?”

  “Come on.” He kissed her. “You know it was more than that.”

  “Do I? We barely know each other.”

  “Just because we just met doesn’t mean the attraction isn’t genuine.” He put his arm around her. “Couldn’t you tell how I felt for you when we made love? It wasn’t just sex, Dee.”

  “Then what was it?”

  He sat up. “It was a connection that I haven’t experience in a long time.” He rubbed his thumb against her cheek. “I saw a beautiful woman who has been sitting around far too long, waiting on something or someone who never comes.”

  She looked down.

  “You don’t need to ever wait, Dee.” He moved his thumb across her lips. “And as long as I’m around you don’t have to.”

  “I...” She sighed. “I feel so ashamed.” She laid her hand on her face. “I wanted it but I feel like it was wrong.”

  “Honey, it wasn’t wrong.” He caressed her cheek. “You deserve a man who will care for you and who wants you. You don’t have to pine for anyone. You’re too good to want a man who doesn’t want you.”

  “But it’s not that easy, and if you think that sleeping with you makes me stop wanting Winston then you’re wrong.”

  “Your heart should care for you before anyone else.” He rubbed her thigh. “Why waste it on someone who doesn’t see the treasure that you are?”

  She chuckled. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a natural born bullshitter?”

  He laughed. “You’re something else and I’m not bullshitting.” He kissed her hand. “If I was only after sex, would I care about how you feel right now?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  “I’m in love with Winston so this could only be...this.” She looked into his eyes.

  “And I’m fine with that.” He kissed her cheek. “I understand.”

  “You wrap me up, Grayson.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “In your words and in your touch. And believe me, I’m not easy to charm but you charmed me.” She tugged on his shirt. “You made me feel like a woman again. I haven’t felt that way in a while.”

  “And doesn’t it feel good to be wanted?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re confused by what just happened?” He rubbed his eye. “I am too. I don’t do this all the time either. I want to pursue this.”

  “I can’t promise that.”

  He kissed her. “I need to see you again, Dee.”

  “I need to think about this, okay?” She stood. “I got all this shit going on in my head.” She fixed her hair over her shoulders. “Please promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this. Lisa can never find out. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  She bent down to get her panties.

  He grabbed them. “I promise.” He stood and stuffed them in his pocket.

  “What are you doing?”

  He winked. “What happens in my bedroom stays in my bedroom.”

  “But this isn’t your bedroom.” Dee pointed to the floor.

  He slipped his hand under her dress. “We can go to my bedroom.”

  “What part of me saying I need to think don’t you understand?” She slapped his hand away. “This is not happening again, Grayson.” She got her shoes. “Can I have my panties, please?” She held out her hand.

  “No.”

  “So is this a ritual of yours or something? Keeping the panties of women you sleep with?”

  “No. I just want yours.” He kissed her nose. “I want to smell you even when you’re not here.”

  “That’s kind of creepy.” She slipped into her shoes. “You know that right?”

  “But it turns you on doesn’t it?”

  She shook her head and grinned. “I must be crazy, too, but it kinda does.”

  “Listen.” He rubbed his hands together. “I thought of someone who you might want to speak with concerning the investigation.” He held out his hands. “Now I’m not saying she had anything to do with Edana’s death, but she might be a person of interest because she and I have a rocky past.”

  She stood. “Who?”

  “Her name is Misty Kurtz and she’s a freelance screenplay writer. I hired her to adapt some of my work into screenplays but it didn’t work out.” He held his waist. “We couldn’t get along. Misty kept overstepping her bounds and she got irate with me.” He tugged on his opened shirt. “To be honest, she scared the shit out of me. She started doing all these weird things.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well when she didn’t like something I said about her work, she’d ignore me then she’d leave these threatening messages on my voice mail. Or I’d try to contact her about changing something in the script and she wouldn’t ever call me back, but then she’d leave some strange note on my car.”

  “That is weird.”

  “So I fired her. I was too afraid for my safety.”

  Dee got her purse. “So you think she’d kill Edana to get back at you?”

  “I know it sounds ridiculous but I wouldn’t put anything past Misty.” He twirled his finger in a circle. “She is way out there. She’s nuttier than ten fruitcakes.”

  Dee grinned.

  “I’m serious. Everyone who knows her says something’s wrong up there.” He pointed to his head. “She always said she’d get me back for firing her.” He shrugged. “Maybe she did.”

  ****

  The Next Day:

  “So you think I killed Edana Paul?” Misty Kurtz yanked a paper from her printer. “Did Grayson tell you that?”

  “No.” Dee cleared her throat. “We just have to question everyone who could possibly be involved.”

  “Uh-uh.” Misty peeked at Dee over the top of her large glasses. “I write murder mystery screenplays for a living, Detective Quarter. Try again.”

  “We assure you this is strictly procedure.” Lisa walked around Misty’s home office. “I mean, you wouldn’t have any reason to want Edana dead, right?” She stopped by Misty’s chair.

  “I mean, it’s not like you’d want to kill Edana to get back at Grayson for firing you is it?”

  “Please.” Misty got the last sheet of paper from the tray of her printer. “Being fired from
working with that retard was a blessing.”

  Lisa turned toward the table behind her. A small, decomposed bird lay on its back with its eyes wide open. She glanced at Dee, whose mouth dropped at the sight.

  “Grayson Paul,” Misty whispered. “He’s a joke and he’s got the entire world snowed.” She rolled her eyes. “Brilliant writer my ass. He’s a—”

  “Uh...” Lisa pointed to the bird. “Is that a real bird?”

  Misty looked at it then pushed her glasses up. “Yes.”

  “Well, uh...” Dee’s face wrinkled up. “Is he dead or uh—”

  “Yes.” Misty scratched through her wild, blonde hair. “He flew into the house and I couldn’t catch him.” She looked at the bird. “I found him on the table. I never fed him or anything so I guess he died.”

  “Uh...” Lisa looked at Dee.

  “What the hell?” Dee whispered.

  “Uh...” Lisa moved from the table. “Do you plan on throwing him out?”

  “Yeah, I just haven’t had a chance to yet.” Misty wiggled in the chair.

  “Uh...” Lisa moved her hand in a circle. “How long has he been...there?”

  “He died about a month ago.”

  Dee blinked. “You’ve kept a dead bird in the house for a month?”

  “I usually keep him in the freezer.” Misty rocked her head and smiled. “He kind of inspires me, you know?”

  Dee pointed to it. “A dead bird inspires you?”

  Misty nodded. “Things don’t have to be alive to make sense. It’s all about understanding things beyond the surface.” She picked up the bird. “He speaks to me.” She turned him upside down. “You don’t have to be alive to speak.” She dropped him back on the table.

  “Oh Lord have mercy,” Lisa whispered.

  “Leece,” Dee whispered. “This woman is as crazy as a—”

  “Shh.” Lisa smiled at Misty. “Okay now.” She exhaled. “Dee, maybe we should get back to the case.”

  “Yeah, we need to, uh...woo.” She fanned. “Definitely get back to Edana. Uh, you don’t like Grayson much do you, Misty?”

  “And why should I?” She looked over the papers she’d just printed. “It’s hacks like him that are turning the literary world into a joke. No one respects today’s literature.” She moved her rolling chair toward Dee. “What happened to real writers whose work left you affected years after you read it? These days everyone wants this popcorn-book crap! No one wants literature that makes love to them anymore. They want books that just give them cheap thrills.”

  “Grayson is a wonderful writer,” Dee said. “Maybe you’re just jealous because he’s a famous writer and you’re stuck here in your home basing screenplays off other writers’ work and getting inspiration from dead birds.”

  “Dee.” Lisa nudged her. “Cool it.”

  “No, I’m not going to let her say these horrible things about Grayson! He works hard.” She flicked her hand to Misty. “Who is she to question that? What has she done?”

  “Cool it.” Lisa turned to Misty. “So why exactly did Grayson fire you?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Misty rolled to the smaller desk across the room, got a notebook, and rolled back to her computer desk. “He was jealous of me.”

  “Seriously?” Dee chuckled. “Why in the hell would Grayson Paul be jealous of you?”

  “He’s jealous of me because I come up with all my own ideas and his are spoon fed to him.”

  “And what does that mean?” Dee crossed her arms.

  “I’m telling you he’s a hack.” Misty pushed up her glasses. “If you’re such a fan of his then I’m sure you’ve heard what people say about him.”

  “What is she talking about?” Lisa asked.

  Dee rolled her eyes. “Some jealous people have been spreading rumors that Grayson doesn’t write his own books, but it’s a lie. They say that shit about every famous writer.” Dee glared at Misty. “And usually it’s some wannabe who never made it big who says it.”

  “You can think I’m jealous of Grayson all you want,” Misty said. “But he fired me because I was better than he was.” She snatched her glasses off. “I worked my ass off to produce a damn good screenplay and he decides to dump me.” She wiped her glasses with her blouse and put them back on. “He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He’s fine as long as he can use you, then when he can’t he’s through with you.”

  “Well that’s not the Grayson I know,” Dee said.

  “Grayson you know?” Lisa grimaced. “You don’t even know him.”

  “I know him enough.”

  Lisa looked Dee up and down. “And what does that mean?”

  “It means she’s fooled by him like his legion of fans.” Misty put more paper into the printer. “But the truth will come out one of these days. I didn’t kill Edana.” She programmed the computer to start printing. “Believe me, I’d get revenge on Grayson in other ways.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Owen Holloway got out of the pool. “I don’t know what you want me to say.” He grabbed the towel off the lounge chair. “I told you everything yesterday.”

  Lisa glanced around the pristine yard of the two-story property.

  “Edana kept you in the lap of luxury didn’t she?” Dee stood beside the lounge chair. “She treated you like a king.”

  Owen lit a cigarette.

  “She gave you money when she was still with Grayson. She gave you money for your tanning business,” Dee continued, pointing to him. “She kept you in nice clothes. You never wanted for anything.”

  He pulled the cigarette from his lips. “So?”

  “So it had to piss you off when she dumped you and threw you out of her house.”

  “Of course it did.” He puffed on the cigarette. “No one wants to be dumped.”

  “Especially not when it’s the golden goose that’s doing the dumping, right?” Dee smiled. “The more I look at things...the more your motive seems the obvious one for murder.”

  He jumped up. “I was pissed at Edana for dumping me but it wasn’t because of the money. It’s because I loved her.”

  Dee poked out her lips.

  “I don’t care if you doubt that but I did. Everyone painted me to be some gigolo from the start. That I was some conniving cub just looking to take some cougar’s money.” He sucked the cigarette then yanked it from his mouth. “Well I wasn’t. In fact, Edana pursued me, yet I’m the one labeled the home wrecker because she decided to step out on her marriage. That was her choice.”

  “So who should we be looking at as her killer if not you?” Dee asked.

  “Duh.” He waved the cigarette in her face. “The man of the hour.”

  “Grayson?” Lisa asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He scoffed. “Grayson killed her because she left him for me. He’s hated us both ever since.”

  “But Edana and Grayson have been divorced for two years,” Lisa said. “Why would Grayson wait all that time to get revenge?”

  “Because he’s smart.” He fanned smoke. “He waited until he wouldn’t be seen as the one with the most motive. He’s trying to make it look like I did it, but I didn’t touch Edana.” He pointed to Dee. “You’re a fan of his, right? I can tell. You read Grayson’s Sandbox?”

  “Of course. It’s one of my favorite mysteries.”

  “What’s Sandbox?” Lisa asked.

  “It’s the third installment in the Ronnie Pine Series,” Owen said. “It’s sick. Have you ever read any of Grayson’s books?”

  Lisa shook her head.

  “The man’s fuckin’ twisted to be able to come up with that shit.”

  Dee raised her head. “It’s not twisted...it’s brilliant.”

  “You call that brilliant?” Owen counted on his fingers. “Women being hacked up. Men having their testicles cut off and sewn back on while they’re still alive.”

  “Ugh.” Lisa shivered. “Dee, you read that mess?”

  Owen flicked his cigarette toward the ground. “Women h
aving their breasts hacked up and having parasites planted inside. He’s sick! Who could come up with shit like that?”

  “A damn good writer would that’s who,” Dee said. “Look at Stephen King’s work. Would you call him sick?”

  Owen puffed. “But the difference is, King didn’t kill his wife.” He looked at Lisa. “Grayson did. Read his books.” He pointed his cigarette at Lisa. “A lot of those murders in them resemble murders that have happened right here in Baltimore.”

  Lisa gaped.

  “So?” Dee held her waist. “Like he’d be the first writer to take inspiration from the things that happen around him. He writes murder mysteries! Of course he’s gonna see murders as inspiration.”

  “It’s more than inspiration.” Owen shook his head. “And it’s not just coincidence.”

  “So what are you saying?” Lisa moved closer. “That Grayson had something to do with these murders?”

  “Oh please!” Dee threw up her arms. “He’s making this shit up as he goes along. The murders in Grayson’s books might be similar to murders that happened here, but they are also similar to murders that happen everywhere!” She laughed.

  “Dee.” Lisa grabbed her. “Get a grip.”

  “He’s the one who needs to get a grip!” She snatched her arm from Lisa. “And you’re an idiot for even listening to this crap.”

  Lisa faked a smile at Owen. “Excuse us for a second.” She grabbed Dee’s arm and dragged her across the yard.

  “Hey!” Dee yanked free. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I was going to ask you the same fuckin’ thing! We’re trying to solve a murder, Dee.”

  “I know that.” She yanked down her blouse. “You think I’m stupid?”

  Lisa scoffed. “I don’t know what the hell you are to be honest.”

  “And I’m supposed to just stand by while people drag Grayson’s name through the mud?”

  “This is about finding out who killed Edana...not Grayson.”

  Dee smacked her lips. “I know that.”

  “Do you? Seems to me he’s all you care about.”

  “Oh that’s ridiculous.”

  Dee’s phone rang.

  She checked the caller ID, then turned away from Lisa. “Hey,” she whispered.