The Cop Read online

  What he knew from firsthand experience was that J.C. Riley enjoyed bossing people around. And she was very smart. She’d certainly picked up on the fact that he had a personal interest in figuring out what had happened at St. Peter’s Church. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Nik continued to pace. He wasn’t comfortable with the fact that he was that transparent to her.

  But there was no denying that for him this case was very personal. What he felt for Roman Oliver went beyond a sense of family obligation. Over the years since Kit had first brought him home, Nik had come to admire Roman as a man and to like him as a friend. He’d spoken nothing less than the truth to Roman’s father. He was going to find out what happened.

  He had to for both Roman’s and J.C.’s sakes.

  Pausing, he rested his hip on the edge of his desk and refocused his mind on J.C. She was rich, bossy, smart and on top of that, she had a curiosity that more than matched Alice’s and probably led her down into just as many rabbit holes.

  He frowned. Prime example—she’d rushed headlong into the sacristy after hearing gunfire, and now a man was hell-bent on killing her. The woman had more guts than brains. She needed a keeper.

  And he’d been handpicked for the job.

  Shit. A man would have to be crazy to think about getting seriously involved with a woman like that.

  Nik stopped, stunned at the direction his thoughts had taken. No way. He was not thinking of getting involved with J.C. Riley. He’d already broken a rule by becoming “sex buddies” with someone he was supposed to be protecting. Wasn’t that bad enough?

  Nik reached for his coffee mug, found it empty and swore under his breath. He wasn’t a man who made a habit of lying to himself. If he wasn’t thinking of J.C. in more serious terms, why hadn’t he stayed right beside her in that bed and continued to enjoy all the side benefits of being a sex buddy?

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. What in the hell was he worried about anyway? Whatever was going on in his head, his relationship with J.C. Riley had “temporary” written all over it. They came from different worlds, they wanted different things. She didn’t even like him, for heaven’s sake. As soon as Snake Eyes was in custody, she’d go back to her life and he’d resume his.

  And while he was stewing about this, her would-be killer was planning his next move. And the police were building their case against Roman Oliver.

  Nik swore again, at himself this time. By some lucky twist of fate, she was still alive. If he wanted to keep her that way, he’d better stick to the plan and start doing his job. Easing a hip onto his desk, he picked up his recorder and focused his attention on his whiteboard.

  J.C. WASN’T SURE how long she’d been standing and staring at Nik. She’d borrowed one of his shirts and followed the soft sounds of a jazz trombone from the bedroom to the doorway of a small office. She should have knocked immediately to signal her presence, but he’d been so intent on talking into the small recorder that she’d waited.

  He was working. The realization did more to ease the hurt she’d felt when she’d awakened to find him gone than the lecture she’d given herself as she’d showered. She’d been foolish to think of his absence as a form of rejection. Clearly, she was going to have to work on the sex-buddy thing. Equally clear was the fact that he was having an easier time with the concept than she was.

  His hair was still damp from a shower, just as hers was. Since he was standing with his back to her, she could look her fill. He was wearing nothing but jeans, low on the hips, leaving his back and feet bare. She tried to recall if she’d ever before found bare feet sexy. He ran one of his hands through his hair, and she recalled just how that hand had felt on her skin. Heat pooled in her center.

  That was all it took. He didn’t even have to touch her to make her desire him all over again. She wanted to walk in there right now, wrap her arms around him and feel that hard body pressed against hers. The urge to do just that was nearly overpowering.

  Get a grip, J.C. Breathe. No, that wasn’t going to work. She’d used his soap and shampoo, and the scent was…him.

  Think. Someone was trying to kill her. It would be a lot smarter and safer to concentrate on that. Deliberately, she switched her gaze to the other objects in the room. It was sparsely furnished, and it reminded her of the small office she used in her apartment. No window, no distractions. She had a couch, too, but her computer was a laptop. Her choice of work music was different, too. She preferred the classics—Galway on the flute, Bell on the violin…

  And instead of a whiteboard, she’d lined one wall with cork where she pinned up her current research and ideas for new recipes. Narrowing her eyes, J.C. studied Nik’s whiteboard more closely and recognized the sketch of the crime scene. For the first time, her brain registered what he was saying into the recorder.

  “…witness saw five people enter through the sacristy door. The bride and the mystery blonde, the groom and his driver/bodyguard. And Roman Oliver. She didn’t see the shooter she calls Snake Eyes come in that way. Nor did she see Sadie Oliver, the bride’s older sister. So they must have entered through the main doors in the vestibule.”

  “Someone must have let Snake Eyes in. I’m not sure about this Sadie Oliver. Who’s she?”

  Nik whirled to face her as she entered the room. “I’m working.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “I can see that. You’re trying to figure out what happened at the church and why. Your captain wouldn’t approve. But I do. Let me help you.”

  Nik’s eyes narrowed. “I work better alone.”

  “So do I. But I have a vested interest in this. I want my life back.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I think you have a vested interest in this, too, aside from babysitting me. It has something to do with your brother Kit, doesn’t it? When I asked you before, you said, ‘Maybe.’” She folded her arms across her chest. “What’s Kit’s involvement in all of this?”

  Nik opened his mouth and the look in his eyes had her temper flaring. “Don’t you dare give me that speech about how you’re the cop and you’re the one who gives the orders. I think we’ve gotten beyond that. And I…” She let the sentence trail off when his lips twitched.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Fair is fair. If I have to stop giving orders, so do you. Deal?”

  It was her own lips that were twitching now. “Maybe. But first, you have to tell me what your special interest in this case is.”

  When Nik had finished telling her about Kit’s relationship with Roman Oliver and the case that the police were building against Roman, she moved to him, wrapped her arms around him and said, “I’m sorry. What can I do to help?”

  NIK FELT SURPRISE and something else move through him—not the passion that he’d felt before. This was different, warm and sweet. And when he put his arms around her, it just felt right.

  J.C. was the one who drew back, and when she did, she was all business as she turned to study his white-board. “We’ll just have to figure out what happened at the church.”

  Had she felt what he’d just felt, he wondered. He wanted to take her back in his arms and ask her. But ask her what? He wasn’t even sure of his own feelings. How could he ask her what hers were?

  “When I arrived, Father Mike let me into the rectory. Then he went across the walkway and let himself into the church. So the church was locked up until then.”

  “How can you be sure that he didn’t open the front doors?”

  “I can’t, but think about it. There weren’t any guests invited to this wedding. The bride and the groom and even your friend Roman all came in through the back. They either knew that Father Mike wasn’t opening the doors or they tried them, found them locked and drove around.”

  She tapped a finger on the area he’d labeled “parking lot.” “The dining room of the rectory has a full view of this area. If Snake Eyes had come in through the sacristy entrance, I would have seen him. I saw everybody else. Therefore, I’m betting someone had to have let him in. Same goes for Sad
ie Oliver.” She turned to face Nik. “Who is she, by the way?”

  “The bride’s older sister. She’s a tall brunette and she left her purse in the vestibule near the spot where I found Roman.”

  “So she’s missing, too?”

  “Yes. But let’s get back to Snake Eyes. If your theory is correct, he must have had an inside man.”

  “Or woman,” J.C. said.

  “You’re thinking of the mystery blonde?”

  “She’s a possibility.”

  He nodded. “But right now Roman is the prime suspect.”

  “But he’s a victim, too,” J.C. pointed out.

  Nik shrugged. “He could have planned it that way or it could have happened by accident. The police are going to figure him for the inside man.”

  She turned to him. “How do you know what the police are figuring?”

  “It’s what I would be thinking myself if I hadn’t known Roman for over ten years. He was Kit’s roommate in college. He’s been coming to the restaurant and our house since he was eighteen. He’s got a temper, yes, but he’s a grown man, and he’s learned how to control it. I can see him coming there to stop the wedding. Hell, they’re kids. But I can’t see him bringing accomplices with orders to kill the priest.” He frowned at the whiteboard. “And my relationship to him, my feelings, make me less than objective.”

  “No problem. I can be objective for both of us. There’s no way Roman Oliver let the shooter in. The argument began within seconds of his arrival, and after that, I’d say he was busy in the sacristy.”

  Nik studied her. “You’re sure?”

  She nodded. “I’ll even put it in writing for your captain, if you like.” Then she shot him a grin. “I told you I could help you, Slick. What do we do next?”

  “We figure out who did let Snake Eyes in. What about Father Mike?”

  J.C. considered that for a moment, then shook her head. “Father Mike was very concerned about keeping the wedding a secret. No one was supposed to be there besides the bride and groom and two witnesses. If someone had knocked on a door, he would have told them to go away.”

  “Unless Father Mike was the inside man.”

  “No way.” There was triumph in the look she shot him. “If Father Mike was in on it, why would Snake Eyes try to kill him?”

  She had a quick mind. Nik made a mental note to add that to the list of things he was learning about J.C. Riley. He preferred to work alone, but she was helping him, and he’d never been a man to cut off his nose to spite his face.

  Moving closer to the sketch, he pointed to the two other entrances—the main doors at the front of the church and one off the room where baptisms were performed that allowed access from the side street. “Which door do you think Snake Eyes came in?”

  Without hesitating, J.C. pointed to the front entrance. “That one.”

  “Why not the side door?” Nik asked.

  “Not many people know about it. And Father Mike uses that room when he’s setting up a wedding. He’d be sure to see if the door was left ajar. If you wanted to let someone in unnoticed, a much better plan would be to open one of the main doors in the vestibule and leave it ajar. The person could slip in whenever they arrived.”

  Nik considered her theory and decided he liked it. “So Snake Eyes could slip in and if the door was still open, Sadie Oliver got in that way, too. That would explain why she didn’t have to use the sacristy door like everyone else.”

  “My pick for the inside man is the man who got shot, the one I figured was a driver/bodyguard.”

  Nik stared at her. She was ahead of him on that one. “How so?”

  She kept her eyes on the whiteboard. “The argument and the fight took place in the sacristy. We both think Roman came to stop the wedding. He and Paulo got into a fight.”

  Nik’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out and flipped it open. “Hold that thought.”

  “I’ve got some bad news.” Dinah’s voice was pitched low and he could hear the noises of the squad room in the background.

  His stomach knotted. “Roman?”

  “No further word on him yet. But the dead man in the sacristy has been identified as Paulo Carlucci’s bodyguard, Gino DeLucca. The bullet that killed him probably came from Roman’s gun. They’re still running tests to confirm that, but I thought you’d want to know.”

  “Thanks. Any news on the man who shot Father Mike?”

  “Not yet.”

  Nik tucked his phone into his pocket. “No news on Snake Eyes.”

  “Is Roman all right?” J.C. asked.

  “No news on him, either.”

  “But…?” She moved forward to take his hand. “There’s a ‘but’ in there. Tell me.”

  She saw a lot, and she cared. He was a bit uncomfortable with the emotions that were stirring in him. “My partner says that ballistics will most likely confirm that a bullet from Roman’s gun killed the man in the sacristy. And you were right about that. The dead man was Paulo Carlucci’s bodyguard, Gino DeLucca.”

  “Then it makes sense that he was the inside man. He came to the church with Paulo. If Father Mike had them come earlier for a rehearsal, he would have been able to case the place. He also probably knew that Juliana and Paulo were seeing each other. He could have leaked the information. Maybe to Snake Eyes—whoever he is.”

  “The most likely person he’d leak it to would be someone in the Carlucci family.”

  Together, they turned and looked at the whiteboard again.

  “Paulo and Roman are busy trying to beat each other up,” Nik said, picturing it in his mind. “Father Mike is probably trying to break the fight up. And DeLucca slips away to let the killer in. Or maybe that’s what he’s doing when the fight breaks out. Then he comes back to the sacristy. Maybe his job is to keep the groom out of it while Snake Eyes handles the priest.”

  “Or the bride,” J.C. commented.

  “Could be,” Nik mused. “And since we’re assuming that Roman’s not part of it, his presence must have been a surprise.”

  “And not a happy one,” J.C. said. “Roman could have shot DeLucca in self-defense. Then he tells Paulo to run. I heard someone tell Paulo that after the shots. Paulo races up the sacristy stairs to the loft to protect his bride.” She used her finger to trace a path from the altar, down the center aisle of the church to the vestibule. “Roman follows Snake Eyes, chases him up the vestibule stairs, they struggle and Roman falls.” She paused and frowned as she brought her finger back to the altar. “Then Snake Eyes comes all the way back to the altar to shoot Father Mike? He would have had to really work fast. And there were those shots I heard coming from the choir loft when Snake Eyes was at the altar.”

  Nik studied the sketch. She was making sense. “So maybe Gino DeLucca let more than one person in.”

  “Or he left the door open and someone took advantage of it.”

  For a moment, neither of them said a thing. Nik tried to think with his cop’s mind. “On the other hand, if we go along with the current police theory that Roman was behind everything and brought backup, they sure as hell didn’t come in the sacristy door with him, and when would he have had time to go all the way to the vestibule to let them in?”

  “He wouldn’t have.”

  “That’s what I want to believe. But a good cop doesn’t play favorites.” He shook his head. “I just can’t conceive of the man I know coming to his sister’s wedding to stop it with armed gunmen. I could never do that to Philly, and I don’t believe Roman could do it, either.”

  J.C. slipped her hand into his. After a moment, he said, “Whichever way you look at it, whoever was behind it, the plan went wrong. And it all happened so fast. When did Father Mike let you in the church?”

  “Six forty-five. It was five to seven when the groom arrived, a few minutes later when the bride and the mystery blonde went in. Roman arrived shortly after seven.”

  “I got the call from dispatch at seven-twelve.” Nik moved closer to the board. “There were shots fi
red in that upstairs room. There was blood in two different areas. Based on the timing of the shots you heard from the sacristy, I think you’re right, and Snake Eyes must have had an accomplice in addition to DeLucca and that’s who Roman chased up the stairs. Meanwhile Snake Eyes’s job was to eliminate the priest.”

  “What about the mystery blonde?”

  For a moment neither of them spoke. Then J.C. said, “Maybe she’s the accomplice who fired the shot in the upstairs room and pushed Roman down the stairs. Then she takes off with the bride and groom, and Snake Eyes stays behind to eliminate witnesses.”

  Nik’s eyes narrowed as he turned the possibility over in his mind. “You’re thinking it was a kidnapping plot?”

  “It’s possible, isn’t it? The bride and groom have disappeared. Their families would pay a lot to get them back.”

  “Sadie Oliver has also disappeared.”

  “You think she was kidnapped, too?” J.C. asked.

  “Or she did the kidnapping.” His thumbs were pricking big time, but he wasn’t sure at which possibility. “There’s still a lot we don’t know.”

  “Right.” She cocked her head to the side as she studied the whiteboard. “It’s kind of like a recipe.”

  Nik turned to look at her. “How’s that?”

  “We’re still lacking some of the key ingredients and the proper amounts. But once we have them, it will all make—”

  Her sentence was interrupted by a growling sound.

  “What in hell is that?” Nik asked with a frown.

  J.C. pressed a hand against her stomach. “I’m hungry.”

  “Again?”

  She lifted her chin. “Still. I was hungry when we got here, remember? And your cupboards were bare.”

  “If you have to eat all the time, why aren’t you fat?”

  “I work out and I keep moving.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned at her. “I noticed. And I’m not complaining.” He leaned closer and kissed her.

  She was just leaning in to him when he drew back and led the way out of the room. “As it happens, I’m hungry, too.”