Page 54 of Deadly Designs

Christian said, “Everyone, get some sleep,” when theyreturned to the house. “We’ll catch up around noon.”

They retreated to their rooms to rinse off the stenchfrom the fire before falling into bed. Aja Blue climbed the stepsfirst and waited for Christian to join her. She took his hand andguided him to her room. They stripped off their clothes, and heturned the taps in the shower to hot before helping her inside.Then he made slow, sweet love to her, bringing tears to her eyes.They mingled with the water and disappeared down the drain.Suddenly, she couldn’t stop crying. Maybe it was the tenderness heused when touching her or the passion he ignited when he was burieddeep inside her. It could be the overwhelming love she felt forhim. Or maybe the events of the day had caught up with her. Mostlikely, it was everything combined.

Christian turned off the water and wrapped her in afluffy white towel. Then he picked her up and carried her to bed.With one hand, he ripped down the covers and placed her on themattress like a precious object before following her down andgathering her close.

Aja Blue was always the strong one. She was theleader everyone turned to for advice and guidance. But right now,she passed the baton to Christian and let him carry the weight.

#

Seeing Aja Blue cry shattered Christian. She wasalways so tough and strong, and her breakdown made him want to weepwith her. Instead, he held her, letting her know she wasn’t alone.He breathed a sigh of relief when she fell asleep, hoping she couldfind peace, even if only for a short while. Still, he didn’trelease her. She clung to him in slumber, and he wanted her to knowhe was with her.

Sunlight filtered through the windows. Christian hadnever been one to sleep late or nap, so he thought about the case,going over the details in his head. Later today, they should havean ID on the victim found in Aja Blue’s shop. Christian hadn’t toldAja Blue, but when they’d visited Jay’s apartment, he’d gatheredsome of his hair from a brush and placed it in an evidence bag,which he’d given Detective Herbert. He’d had a bad feeling aboutAja Blue’s assistant from the beginning.

It didn’t sound hopeful that they would identify theperp who had fired the explosive into Aja Blue’s shop from thevideo of the white-panel van. The license plate was gone, and therewere no distinguishing features to make it stand out. The windowshad been darkened to the point of being black. Hundreds ofidentical vehicles had to be in the Norfolk and Virginia Beacharea—maybe thousands. Detective Herbert was gathering video fromtraffic lights in the vicinity, but that wouldn’t help unless theycould follow its route. Highly unlikely.

Christian had turned his phone to vibrate, so whenhis watch buzzed, letting him know he had an incoming call, hecarefully slid out of bed. Aja Blue grumbled restlessly. He shiftedhis pillow into her arms, and she glommed onto it with a purr.

He checked the screen. Detective Herbert. Christianhadn’t bothered to dress after showering with Aja Blue, so hepadded naked across the hall to his room—after making sure it wasclear—to his room and answered.

“Detective Herbert.”

“Hey, Zamora. I hope you were able to rest.”

“Some,” he lied.

“We have an identification on the body.”

Christian closed his eyes. That was fast. How wouldhe tell Aja Blue her assistant was dead? “Who was it?”

“The dental records came back as a match. The victimis Byron Zikes.”

Chapter Fifteen

Christian’s eyes snapped open.“What was that?”

“The victim is Byron Zikes, the man we arrested forvandalizing Ms. LaLonde’s shop.”

Christian tried to process what he was hearing. He’dbeen prepared for the detective to tell him that Jay Guitterez wasthe deceased. Instead, it was the man who had spray-painted nastymessages on Aja Blue’s storefront. “What the hell?”

“Yeah, it throws a monkey wrench into theinvestigation.”

More like a bomb.

“I had an interesting conversation with Zikes’smother when I informed her about her son’s death. She insisted thata man and woman came to visit yesterday, and they were the ones whokilled him. She said they threatened Byron, telling him, ‘Your lifeis about to become a living hell.’ Know anything about that?”

Christian winced. “Uh, no.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That we’d look into it, and I just did.”

Christian’s admiration of the detective just kickedup a notch, or several. “Is there any news on the van used to firethe explosive into the shop?”

“Dead end. There is no way to identify it. Thecameras lost it.”

How did Zikes end up dead in the place he’d defacedhours earlier? “Do you have footage of someone luring Zikesinside?”

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