Woke Up Dead Read online

  “Anyway,” Sam was saying, picking up his fork and cutting into the chicken. “I’ll do some background checking into the family tomorrow and find out what this other incident is. I’ll keep in touch. Maxine, that means I’ll call you, don’t call me. Or pop in on my dinner.”

  “Yes, boss—boss,” she finished. Yes, bossman.

  Typically, Sam first met with the client in a public place where they felt more comfortable. He might meet with them again once or twice during the course of a long investigation. Then the final meeting where he gave the client the report Jennie had typed up and the bill. Sam wasn’t going to get rid of her that easily, though. He didn’t look all that convinced that she’d heed his request either.

  They ate in silence. She was glad to see him eating. Later, when Pepe brought the bill, she snapped it up and put it on her credit card. He tried to shove money at her, but she wouldn’t take it.

  “Sam, I barged in on your dinner. Besides, you took my case. It’s the least I can do.”

  “When did you become so darned stubborn? I mean, you were stubborn before, when it came to getting your way, but not in buying something for someone else.”

  She winked at him. “Told you I’d changed.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  She pulled a checkbook out of her bag and wrote a check for Sam’s retainer. Luckily Maxine-the-first had a nice balance, even if she had no home of her own. Everything in her new life depended on Sam. She’d be content to work at the agency again doing what she’d done before.

  “All right,” he said, standing and running his palms down the front of his pants to smooth them out. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “What are you doing now?” She didn’t want to just show up at the Hound Dog; he’d think she had hired somebody to investigate his habits.

  He gave her an impatient look. “I’m going to unwind for a while. Alone.”

  “Aw, Sam. Don’t you want some company? You look kind of down lately.”

  “Maybe I want to be down.”

  He did have his melancholy moods, and seemed to revel in feeling blue. That’s when he put on the soul-ripping blues and sank into it. Sometimes he’d do that at the club, too, when a particular song came on.

  “Listen, Maxine. Go home to your fiancé. That’s where you belong, not hanging around with your ex-husband.”

  “I don’t want to go home,” she stated, dreading the thought of returning to that white place with the dummies. “Those things give me the creeps.”

  “Things?”

  “You know. The dummies. They’re always watching me. He even has them in the bedroom.”

  “All I can say is, you must have known about them before you agreed to marry the guy.” He took her shoulders in hand and turned her to face him. “I know what your problem is.”

  “You do?” His fingers felt warm on her shoulders, and she had the urge to close the gap between them and bury herself against him.

  “You’re getting cold feet. This flower box thing has made it worse. Soon you’ll be just as excited about marrying the guy as you were before. You’re just a little confused.”

  This was the Sam she knew: compassionate, warm. At least a glimpse of that, anyway.

  “Sam, hold me for a minute. Please?”

  He met her gaze. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I—”

  She slipped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Inside his open coat she felt warm and safe, like a worm in a cocoon. How could she convince him to let her stay there for a while…say about three days or so? After a moment, Sam slipped his arms around her, though he didn’t press her any closer. Then again, maybe that was impossible.

  “Maxine,” he murmured into her ear a moment later. “We’re not supposed to be friends, remember? Acquaintances don’t hug each other, not for more than maybe a brief hello or goodbye.”

  She opened her eyes. “I know.” Reluctantly, she loosened herself from him. He let her go far too easily. “I’m sorry.” The heck she was.

  He touched her chin. “Everything will be all right. This has thrown you off. Come on; I’ll walk you to your car.”

  She didn’t want to go to her car, because that meant he wasn’t letting her tag along to the Hound Dog. Sinking into some blues was sounding pretty darn good right about then. Throwing herself on him wasn’t going to accomplish anything but to alienate him.

  Except for a car parked farther up with its lights on, the street was quiet. He walked beside her to her car. They’d had to park nearly a block away from the restaurant. She was watching Sam, who was looking at the ground about a foot behind her.

  “Thanks for letting me eat dinner with—”

  Headlights slashed across them. The sound of an engine roared through the air. The car bore down right at her.

  “Maxine!” she heard Sam yell.

  Her body was frozen as she stared at the lights coming at her. The terror of the car accident twelve years ago filled her. The regret of losing Sam again numbed her. No, no, no, she thought as adrenaline shot through her. She felt his hand on her arm as he pulled her out of the way.

  The car jerked to the right, tires squealing on the asphalt as the driver tried to cut her off. She wasn’t fast enough. The car nudged her backwards. Sam’s arm went around her shoulders, hauling her against his body. Then she felt the hard pavement as they both hit the road.

  CHAPTER 6

  “I’M ALL RIGHT, I’m all right,” Maxine heard herself saying between deep breaths, though she had no idea why she was saying it. She certainly didn’t feel all right. Her body was racked with waves of trembling. The black haze in front of her materialized into the night sky. She blinked, turning to find Sam crouched beside her and feeling his warm, deep breaths across her cheek. “What happened?”

  “Someone tried to run you over.” He looked around, as if making sure the driver wasn’t coming back to finish the job. “Are you really all right?”

  “I don’t know, actually.” The sounds of shattering glass and crunching metal still echoed in her head. That was another accident; another lifetime. She curled her fingers, then her toes. Thank God everything moved as it should have, though her muscles were tighter than stretched rubber bands. The trembling was getting more violent. “Yes, I think I’m all right.”

  “I’m going to call the police.”

  “No, don’t do that. Do you really think the driver was trying to do this on purpose?”

  “Oh, definitely. When he missed the first time, he tried to swerve to the right to get a second try. But I couldn’t see who was behind the wheel, and I was too busy eating asphalt to get a look at the driver’s license. Did you recognize the car or see who was driving?”

  “I didn’t see anything but headlights. I felt like those deer probably do, frozen in fear. I couldn’t move.”

  Her body ached as she tried to get to her feet. Sam’s fingers wrapped around hers as he helped her up, watching her carefully. He pulled her to the side of the road and the safety of the cars they stood between. “You’re shaking,” he said, rubbing up and down her arms.

  “I’ll be all right.” She willed the trembling to stop, but it kept coming, wave after wave of it. She scanned the road on either side. Had whoever done this parked the car and snuck back to see his handiwork?

  “Come here,” Sam mumbled softly, pulling her against him. “You’re safe now.” His hand stroked down her hair in rhythm with her trembling.

  She pressed closer, shutting her eyes against the warmth and solidness of his body. His chest still rose and fell heavily, and beneath the layers of his clothing she could hear his heart hammering away. She felt safe right there. If only the rest of the world would leave them alone and let this moment ride into forever.

  The scene played in her mind over and over, but she couldn’t pick out any detail. Sam kissed the top of her head, then rested his cheek against that same spot. She realized she wasn’t trembling anymore.

  “
Do you want me to take you to the hospital? Just to make sure everything’s all right,” he asked.

  “No, I’m okay.” To prove it, she reluctantly moved out of his embrace. Hopefully it wouldn’t take nearly getting run over to get another one of those. “You yanked me out of the way. You saved my life, Sam.”

  “Not quite fast enough. I wasn’t exactly planning to dodge hit and runs tonight. Maxine, you were right all along. Someone wants you dead.” His voice was calm, but the undertone of dread was clear.

  She watched in the direction the car had torn off into. “I could have died, just like that.” Again. She turned to Sam. “I really am in danger, aren’t I?”

  “Yes.” He held her hands in his. They were both shaking, though Sam had taken those terrible trembles away. “Maxine, I think you should go to the police. This is attempted murder.”

  “The police won’t believe me. You hardly believed me before. What are they going to get from this? We can’t identify the car. I see no one out here who could have seen the car. I have no evidence from the flower box. No, I want you to investigate this. And I want to hire you as my bodyguard.”

  His fingers tightened on hers before he let go abruptly. “No, Maxine. I’m not going to do this. For one thing, I’m not trained as a bodyguard. I’ll refer you to someone who is.”

  “And for second thing?”

  He looked at her. “What?”

  “You said ‘for one thing.’ What’s the other thing?”

  He ducked his head, pressing his fingers to his temples. Finally he met her gaze, his eyes filled with pain. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

  She touched his arm. “Why, Sam? I need you.”

  His voice sounded raspy when he spoke. “I couldn’t save Jennie; how can I take responsibility for your life?”

  “Sam, that was an accident.”

  “It doesn’t matter. She was right there, and I couldn’t save her. How can I depend on myself to save yours? Or anybody else’s?”

  “That’s why you want to work for someone else, doing paper trails, isn’t it? Because you don’t think you can handle it anymore.”

  He didn’t answer for a moment. Finally he looked away and said, “Yes.”

  She inhaled deeply to calm her breathing for once and for all. “Sam, you just saved my life right here. If you hadn’t moved me out of the way, I would have been hit.”

  “I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t even looking.” He shook his head wearily. “My instincts aren’t there anymore. I used to be able to feel this kind of thing coming.”

  “But I felt your arm pulling me. You knew somehow.” After a moment, she said, “Sam?”

  He looked at her. “I’ll investigate your case, but you’re going to have to find someone else to look after you if you don’t go to the police.”

  She didn’t want to start all over again with the police. “They can’t help me. Only you can.”

  “I told you I’d investigate. Don’t ask me to do more than that.”

  She didn’t want to push too hard, afraid he’d back out completely. “All right, Sam. If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what has to be.” He handed her his car keys. “Sit in my car for a minute. Lock the doors.”

  She watched him scout the area, walking to the roadway to look for potential witnesses. It was so dark out, no one in the restaurant would have seen the car, even if they had been looking through the curtained front window. He disappeared from her view, and she sat back against the vinyl seat and let out a long breath. Her back ached, and she stretched it. Her heart was still pounding a hundred beats per second, though she kept taking deep breaths to calm it. Now she knew how Maxine-the-first must have felt as she’d driven to Sam’s office: terrified. Because of Jennie’s accident, Sam didn’t feel competent to protect her.

  A tap on the glass startled her. She breathed a sigh of relief to see Sam standing there. He slipped inside and closed the door.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Yes. Thanks to you.”

  He shook his head, then pulled out a cellular phone from his coat pocket. “Call home now. See who’s there and who isn’t.”

  “Ah, good idea.” She dialed the number. Aida answered. “Hi, Aida, it’s Maxine. Is Armand home?”

  “Yes, and he’s been worried sick about you. You’re a naughty girl to make him frantic this way, Ms. Lizbon. You ought to spend a few hours in the corner.” She paused, as if expecting Maxine to actually have a response to that. “Hold on a moment and I’ll get him,” she finally said.

  A second later, Armand picked up the phone. “Darling, where have you been? I was ready to call the police.”

  She remembered her vow to make him mad enough to break off their engagement, but she couldn’t find it in her to do that right then. The truth would be enough anyway. “I’m with Sam.” She heard a disgusted noise, but kept going. “Someone tried to run me over just now.”

  “What?”

  “Armand, who’s home right now?”

  “What do you mean? No, you can’t think anyone here would do that? You’re wrong, darling. Sally has been home since noon, not feeling well. Aida just took some soup up to her. James walked in the door five minutes ago. Where are you?”

  She could hardly answer, after being ready to find out who the murderer was. “In the city.”

  “Shall I come get you?”

  “No, I’ll be driving home. I’ll see you shortly. Goodbye.” She disconnected. “Everyone’s there.”

  “Damn. If it is one of them, they could have hired someone to do the job. Believe me, there are enough punks around here that would pull off something like this for the right kind of money. That just makes it harder. I’ll check with my contacts to see if anyone in the usual group was hired for such a thing.” His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “Are you sure you’re all right to drive? I can take you home.”

  “No, I’ll be okay.”

  “I’m going to follow you home, just to make sure. I want you to call my friend tonight. He knows what he’s doing, all right?”

  “All right.” Her voice sounded small and thin.

  He walked her around to her car, gesturing with his finger for her to lock the doors. She looked up at him through the glass, wishing she was back in his arms again. Her gaze kept flashing to the rear view mirror, watching him as he followed her back out to Armand’s mansion. It was the last place in the world she wanted to be. And possibly the most dangerous.

  Armand was waiting outside when they pulled up. How he could look both worried and agitated was beyond her. He rushed to her car when she pulled to a stop. She buried her hands in her coat pockets as soon as she closed the car door. He was looking for them as he spoke, but gave up and let his hands drop to his sides.

  “Darling, please tell me what’s going on.” Armand turned to find Sam walking up behind him. His displeasure clearly won over his worry for a moment. At least until he heard about the car that had tried to run them over. Her particularly.

  Sam re-verified the whereabouts of the family members and if anyone had received a phone call in the last hour. Except for her call, the phone had been silent.

  “I was hoping the punk had called to let his client know the job was botched,” Sam whispered to her, sending shiver down her neck with his warm breath. “Maybe whoever’s behind this is smarter than we think.”

  Armand opened the door as soon as they reached the foyer, his incredibly subtle way of ushering Sam out. Sam didn’t need anymore of a hint, apparently, and walked easily out the door. Maxine followed him, taking a few steps onto the front porch.

  Armand stepped out also, after giving her a pointed look which she ignored. His directed that annoyed expression at Sam. “I want to go on record that it’s ridiculous to even think anyone in my house would have done this to Maxine.”

  Sam’s fingers closed over her shoulders. “I want to go on record that your fiancé here is in danger, and you better damn well take th
is seriously or you’re going to lose her.”

  Just that small touch made her feel more protected than a suit of armor or a platoon of soldiers acting as bodyguards. Despite his deadly tone of voice, she couldn’t help but feel warm inside. Sam cared.

  “Here’s the name of the guy I told you about,” Sam said, handing her a business card with a name and number scribbled on the back. “Call him as soon as you get inside.” His words became puffs of fog in the cool night air.

  Her fingers brushed his as she took the card, and she held his gaze, making her words more meaningful. “Thank you, Sam.”

  “So you think this is real now?” Armand asked Sam, pushing into their space.

  “I would bet my life on it, but I wouldn’t bet hers. Your girl’s in danger, Armand. She won’t go to the police, though I’m not sure how much help they would be either. But she needs help.” He turned to her. “I’ll be in touch. Let me know if Mark can’t help you.”

  She nodded, wishing just like the first time that he would stay. He got back in the car and pulled away, taking a part of her with him and leaving an empty ache deep inside her. His tail lights became smaller and smaller, then just a spark in the distance. She crossed her arms in front of her and anchored her hands over her shoulders, wishing it was Sam’s hands on her still.

  “Maxine?” Armand cleared his throat. Maxine,” he said, louder this time.

  She finally dragged her gaze from the empty driveway and hoped she didn’t look as bereft and alone as she felt. “Yes, Armand,” she heard her tired voice say.

  “I don’t think I know you anymore.”

  She looked at him, trying to keep the frown off her face. “I don’t know me anymore either, but I can’t live like this. I’m afraid to be here.” She nodded toward the house. “I’m afraid to leave the house. I’m hiring a bodyguard.”

  “I won’t allow it.” He sounded firmer than she’d ever heard him. For a moment, despite the circumstances, she admired him. Then his voice went soft again. “Darling, this is crazy. Let me stay home and take care of you. If—and I think it’s crazy—you think my family is doing this to you, then they wouldn’t dare try to hurt you if I was with you. I’ll stay by your side twenty-four hours a day.” He actually found her hands inside her pockets and grasped them through the coat’s material. “No one will hurt my kissums.”