Chapter Thirty-Eight
Gabriel
I stood at the window of my Los Angeles penthouse and stared out at the palm trees in the distance. I’d missed the place more than usual, and though glad to be back, I hated the reason. I couldn’t bring Luna back to the vineyard to recover with the renovations already in progress.
As soon as the investigators gave me the all clear, I had a team of contractors go in and tear out the carpet and knock out the wall that separated my bathroom from the bedroom. A little rearranging would be good for our future stays there, but I didn’t want to make it our permanent residence.
I turned and glanced around my bachelor suite and decided this wouldn’t do, either. Luna needed a proper home, not a penthouse apartment.
Mason and Joe were right at home, lounging on my black leather couch and watching ESPN updates while Luna chatted with Kim in the bedroom, their laughter so loud at times I cringed knowing Luna’s throat must have been on fire.
It had only been three days since the incident, and I’d called us all together when I’d heard that Detective Hatcher was in town and wanted to stop by with his final report.
I had been more anxious than the others, pacing from the window on the far wall and back to the door for the past hour. I’d waited all these long weeks to get my name cleared, and it couldn’t come fast enough.
A knock at the door had me crossing the distance and Mason turned down the sports report as Joe, being the protector he was, stood and stepped to stand near the window.
I opened the door to find the graying cop with his cold stare. He’d dressed up for the occasion, or whichever one had brought him all this way.
“Good afternoon, Detective. I appreciate you stopping by.” I waved him in, and he took a seat in my favorite leather recliner.
“I wanted to come by and talk with you about my final report and what we’ve concluded from statements from his family and roommates, if you’re interested.”
I nodded, but wasn’t really interested in the whys. Nothing could justify the animal’s actions in my eyes, but I’d spare myself from later curiosities by being informed.
I took a seat next to Mason and hoped Luna stayed in the room. I didn’t want to upset her with any of it. Ever since I’d given her that first glass of champagne, her life had been turned upside down and I’d vowed to myself to keep things as stable as possible from there on out.
Hatcher pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and glanced down at it. “You said Kyle Johnson had a beef with you over your rejection for his invention?” I nodded, knowing I’d already told the police that, but hoped he’d get away from questioning me because I hadn’t invited him for an interrogation.
“He was more upset about his layoff, which I think was the actual catalyst. He spoke to a friend about you, another ex-employee, who told us he took the layoff as a slap in the face and made some remark that you’d stolen his idea. He said he was sick of the likes of you always getting ahead. So there you have your motive. My report will lay out how he tried to set you up with the murder of the first victim, Tammy Stapleton, who he assumed had some relationship to you.”
He shook his head. “Sad what a little white lie can do to a person.” I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat and other than sadness for the girl, I didn’t know what to make of it. If she hadn’t lied to her family and friends, she’d had never been involved.
Hatcher cleared his throat and flattened the paper out on his knee before he met my eyes. “In regards to Cindy Clarke and Stacey Boyd, when his first attempt here in Los Angeles failed to get your attention, he went after them.
“Stacey’s mother said she’d been offered a job and went down to Vegas to meet with the owners, who, it turned out, didn’t exist. I kept that from you in case something slipped, but in Cindy’s case, she hadn’t told a soul what she was doing there. I imagine it was the same situation: Johnson had already killed Stacey when Cindy showed up. Poor girl walked right into a trap. He’d timed it all perfectly and there was no trace of him at the Serendipity other than that clip you found.”
Mason placed his hand on my shoulder and we exchanged a look. The work I’d done had paid off.
“Did you ever find out how he got into your home?” Hatcher folded the paper and placed it back into his coat.
Joe came forward and stood behind me. “We’ve determined he came in on the truck that distributes from the winery. It was the only logical explanation, and turns out that the driver had noticed some of his stock had been disturbed sometime earlier.
“My guess is, after he came in on the truck, he made his way up to the house and slipped inside using the glitches as cover.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if I almost caught him sooner. If Luna hadn’t changed rooms, if I hadn’t stayed up all night… There were a million ways I could have prevented it.
Seeing him in that doorway behind her, I’d grabbed my gun and ran. My feet were like lead as I ran up the stairs and my heart pounded in my ears so loud that the gunshot was nothing but a faint pop. Luna had turned blue around the mouth; her eyes were bulged with fear and helplessness as he loomed over her with his face twisted. She clawed at him, lazily as if in slow motion.
I cringed. I hated having that memory and worse, when the first bullet made contact, he’d jerked backward and hovered as the blood spattered before he lurched forward, landing on her chest. I sprang forward to get him off of her, and that’s when Joe jerked the guy up and hammered on his face so hard I heard his jaw break.
I scrambled for Luna and took the cord, which had gone slack, from her neck and cringed again at the marks he’d put on her flesh.
My attention was brought around by Luna, who walked out with Kim behind her. The room fell into a hush as she crossed the room and sat beside me. Kim stood with Joe.
Detective Hatcher shifted in his seat toward the edge and regarded Luna with a smile. “How are you, Ms. Spencer?”
“I’m fine, thank you. And, it’s Mrs. Grant now. Remember?” Pride swelled in my chest. I liked my name on her.
The detective laughed. “That’s right. I do remember. As a matter of fact, I brought something for you.”
He reached into his other coat pocket and pulled out a small yellow envelope. Luna’s eyes lit up, and she leaned forward, taking my hand for support. The good detective didn’t have a habit of handing us good news, so she approached with caution. I leaned forward with her as the detective placed a small stack on the table in front of us but he kept his hand over them.
“There were quite a few people who came forward with evidence, and while most of it was useless, I had to document it all. As you know, the wedding chapel’s cameras were on the blink, so there wasn’t any footage recovered other than the two of you going in.
“There was a lovely couple who witnessed your marriage, though, and the woman had taken several photos of the experience.” He pushed the stack toward us, and Luna gasped and picked them up.
“Wedding photos!” She flipped through them, and Kim leaned down over her shoulder as Mason and Joe chuckled.
I looked up to find the detective smiling ear to ear. “Thank you. You don’t know what this means to us after everything.”
“Trust me, I do. I’ve been waiting until the day I could officially give you the all clear so I could give them to you, and when I found out I had to come down for business, I figured it was the perfect time.” Seeing the smile on Luna’s face, I had to agree: the perfect time.
She glanced up from the photos. “So you knew he was innocent all along? Even when you asked us to stay in town?” Her brow rose and she gave him a scolding glance.
Hatcher met my eyes and shrugged. “Rich billionaire bastard like you, I figured someone was after your money. I could also tell that you two needed more time together, especially when these photos showed up.”
“You knew we were married?” I glanced at Mason, who shrugged. I thought I’d done a good job of hiding it, but I should have known with all the camera phones, someone would have taken pictures.
“Oh yeah, that’s why my badge says detective.” The old man flashed Luna a wink as he got to his feet.
“Thank you for stopping by.” I stood and shook his hand and Mason did the same before showing him to the door.
Kim and Luna giggled over the photos and whispered like school girls.
“Pass those over and stop sharing secrets.” I took the stack and flipped through them as Luna leaned onto my shoulder to see.
Kim stood up and locked arms with Joe. “When are you going to take me to Las Vegas?”
Luna and I glanced behind us to the big guy. His face was red, but his expression was far from revulsion. “Why? You feeling lucky?” He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.
“I see a double date in your future,” said Mason, who took his phone from the table and tucked it into his pocket. “I also see a drink in mine. I’ll see my way out.”
“Wait a minute, I asked you here for a reason.” He stopped and turned to lean against the chair.
“Luna’s dad has given us his blessing, but he had one condition: we have to have another ceremony.”
Luna sighed, glancing down at the photographs. “While I adored my drunken, whimsical Vegas wedding, I had to agree with my father. I’d always wanted him to do the ceremony, and I’d really prefer things feel more official.”
“I agree, as well. I hated that our family and friends couldn’t be there. So, we wanted to talk to you all and extend our invitation and make a few requests.”
“Kim, I’d like you be my maid of honor, of course, and Joe, since my father is performing the ceremony – and you’ll most likely be delegated to our safety that day – I’d like you to walk me down the aisle.”
I turned to Mason, who looked bored, and I imagined he’d prefer to be anywhere else. “I’d like you to be my best man.”
His eyes lit with surprise as he flashed a wicked smile. “Does this mean I get to throw you a bachelor party?” He glanced to Luna, who looked at me and shrugged.
“I’m already married,” I said. His face fell into a grimace.
Luna nudged me. “Of course, you can have a bachelor party. I know you’ll behave yourself.”
“Perfect! When’s the date? I want to book the best suite in Vegas. It’s perfect: gambling, booze, and strippers!” He clapped his hands together and laughed wickedly.
I turned to Luna. “You realize we’ve created a monster?”
As laughter belted around us, the warmth of life bloomed in her cheeks.