Chapter Six

Aja Blue was having one of those horrible dreams in which she desperately needed to use the bathroom, but all the toilets were either out of order or disgustingly soiled when she pushed the door open. The pressure of her bladder finally woke her, and she sat up. The room was unfamiliar. She looked down, surprised to see she was still dressed in yesterday's clothes. Why was that? She smacked her dry lips together and ran her tongue over her teeth. She hadn't brushed them last night. Eww. She was a stickler for oral hygiene.

That's when she remembered where she was. Before she wet the bed, she jumped up and made use of the attached bathroom. As she lathered her hair in the shower, an image popped into her head of her and Christian getting hot and heavy. Then she remembered he'd left her alone in bed, totally turned on and ultimately unsatisfied.

Aja Blue should probably be glad he hadn't taken advantage of her. She had been drunk, after all. But her pride was dinged that he'd walked away. By the time the shampoo washed down the drain, so had her anger. Christian was a decent, honest man. Noble. She'd known he was a kind soul the moment she'd met him. She felt safe with him and knew without a doubt that he'd never hurt her—intentionally.

Since they were going to her office, she dressed professionally and secured her hair into a bun. With a light touch of makeup, she was ready to go.

She smelled the enticing aroma of coffee as she left her room. Christian was in the kitchen, looking at his phone and drinking from a mug. She refused to be embarrassed for her wanton behavior last night, so she squared her shoulders and marched forward.

He looked up and smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Coffee's fresh. There are muffins and bagels on the table. Would you rather have an omelet?"

She perused the pastries and selected a blueberry muffin. "No, this is good."

Aja Blue sat at the table to eat, watching him for signs of unease. There were none. That was a relief. She would have needed to apologize if so.

"I have a phone for you to use." He held it up.

Her brows raised. "Wow, that was fast." She took it from him.

"Any calls to your old number will ring there, and you can access your messages and texts."

"Thanks." She scrolled to the email, punched in her username and password, and hoped for one from Jay. There wasn't.

"Also, I will need you to wear Kevlar when we go public."

"You mean like a bulletproof vest?"

"Exactly. They're lightweight and not bulky so that they won't be obvious." He lifted his shirt to show her his. She hadn't realized he was wearing one.

"You think it's necessary?"

"I'm not taking chances with your life."

A shiver went through Aja Blue at his forceful words. "Okay."

"As soon as you finish breakfast, we'll stop by Jay's place."

"Let me put on the vest. I can eat on the way." She was anxious to talk to her assistant and ask why he'd ignored her calls and worried her for a week.

Aja Blue ducked into the downstairs bathroom to remove her shirt. The vest was sleek, but she had on the wrong top for it. She darted up the steps to her room to change. She found a tunic that would conceal it better and pulled it on.

When they were in the car, she turned to Christian. "I don't want my employees to know I hired you."

That sexy brow quirked. "Did you hire me?"

Aja Blue frowned. She'd called him, and he'd dropped everything. They'd never discussed payment. Heck, she didn't even know how much his company charged. Since she'd received the threatening letter and package at her office, she decided Aja Blue Designs would pay, which would count as a work expense. She hoped her accountant agreed. "We'll talk about that later. I will introduce you the same way I did to Roland, as an old friend visiting for a while, who works in security."

"Not a lie," he agreed. "We have known each other a whole week."

She chuckled and buckled her belt. When they were on the road, she guided him to Jay's apartment. As they got out, she glanced around, and her stomach dropped. "His car still isn't here."

When they approached, the same woman from the last time was watering flowers off her first-floor patio.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Christian said. "Good morning. I wanted to ask if you know most of your neighbors?"

"Sure do. I've been here since seventy-eight. Know ‘em all."

"Have you seen Jay Guitterez from apartment six?" Aja Blue asked her.

If it were possible, her furrowed nose wrinkled even more. "That the foreign fellow who thinks he's a woman?"

"He isn't foreign and doesn't think that," defended Aja Blue.

"Looks like it. Dresses like it."

"Yes, sometimes he does, but that's no one's business but his. He doesn't hurt anyone, and he's a good person."

"So? It's unnatural."

"No, it isn't."

"You one of them too?"

"One of what?" Her voice was low and held a hint of warning. The woman ignored it.

"Cross-dressers? You really a man?"

"You think I'm a male?"

"Man dressed as a woman," she expounded.

Sensing her impending streak of violence, Christian grabbed her arm before she could slug the older woman, which would no doubt lead to her arrest. She took a deep breath to calm her rising temper.

"Ma'am, could you let us know if you've seen him in the last week?" Christian pressed.

"Ain't seen him. Don't wanna see him. Don't care what happened to him." She waved a skeletal hand. "Maybe he went back home to where he belongs." She turned her back to pluck dead petals from her petunias.

"He's from New Jersey." Aja Blue lunged for her, but Christian grabbed her around the waist in mid-air.

"One hit," she begged him.

"She's not worth it. Let's go."

"Old bat," she muttered, and she felt Christian chuckling. She was sorely tempted to kick the planter of daisies in front of her. Instead, she allowed Christian to guide her up the concrete steps.

Christian stopped before the wooden door with chipped blue paint and a black number six. "Somehow, I expected something fancier for Aja Blue LaLonde's assistant."

"Jay's notoriously thrifty," she informed him. "He can afford something better but chooses not to spend the money."

Aja Blue knocked, not surprised when there was no answer.

Christian twisted the handle and it opened with a rusty squeak. Aja Blue swung her gaze to him. "I didn't try that yesterday."

"Call out for him," he whispered.

"Jay? It's Aja Blue. Are you here?"

Christian opened the door wider, and she jerked to a stop. He smacked into her and then clasped her shoulders. "Damn."

"Yeah."

Jay's apartment looked much the same as her condo. Whoever had trashed her place had hit Jay's too. No surface was left untouched by the destruction.

"Aja Blue, I'm going to make sure he isn't home. I need you to wait outside."

"But if he's hurt—"

"I'll let you know. Go outside and call the police while I search."

She wanted to argue. Despite doing so for the first part of her life, she didn't take directions easily. But Christian was here to help her, and he was the expert. Backing outside, she dialed nine-one-one.

#

Christian feared he'd find Jay Guitterez under one of the piles of destroyed furniture and belongings. It wasn't a coincidence that Jay's apartment had been trashed like Aja Blue's condo. He'd bet his 401k the same person had done the damage.

He stepped into a space that was likely to be Jay's bedroom. In the middle of the floor was a pile of colorful garments ripped to shreds. Sequins and glitter were everywhere, some from the destruction and some from the room décor. With the tip of his gun, he moved aside a hot-pink feather boa draped over a lighted mirror. Several pictures were tucked beneath the frame, including a group shot with Aja Blue smiling at the camera. She was so gorgeous.

His phone buzzed, and he took it from his pocket. Speak of the devil . . . who clearly had no patience. He punched the talk button. "Yes?"

"Did you find him?"

"No."

"Damn it all to hell and back."

Christian knew she was upset because she'd cursed instead of using her made-up word salads. He didn't want to worry her further, but it didn't look good for her friend. "I'll be out in a minute."

There was no foul smell of, say, body decomposition, so he doubted Jay was inside. He made quick work of the rest of the small apartment. A police car pulled up as he stepped outside.

The unhelpful woman from the downstairs apartment approached the cop when she exited her vehicle. They were too far away to hear what the woman said, but judging by the animated gesturing—most aimed in their direction—it wasn't good.

"What is that old bat doing?" Aja Blue muttered.

"Up here," Christian called out.

The officer glanced up and nodded. She moved around the other woman, but she kept following, her gums flapping.

"I am going to slug her. You know that, right?"

"She's ninety if she's a day," Christian chided. "That would be elder abuse."

"So? She's a bigoted, narrow-minded old hag. Maybe I'll knock some sense into her, make her more accepting."

He doubted that would be possible. The woman was too set in her ways.

The cop stopped in front of them. "You called nine-one-one?"

"We did," Christian confirmed.

"Go away," Aja Blue snapped to the woman from downstairs, who had followed the officer.

She stuck her nose in the air. "I have every right to be here. It's a free country."

"Ma'am, please exit the premises and return to your apartment."

She looked as if she wanted to argue but started down the stairs with a huff. Christian watched to ensure she navigated them safely and almost regretted it when she yelled over her shoulder, "Remember what I told you, officer."

No doubt it was about Jay and his cross-dressing ways.

The cop gave a half-hearted wave to appease the woman and turned to them. She took out a notebook and pen. "I'm Officer Lamb. What's going on?"

"We have a crime scene and a possible missing person. Jay Guitterez."

The cop pointed to Jay's apartment. "The occupant?"

"Yes."

"What's your relationship with Mr. Guitterez?"

"He works for me," Aja Blue told her. "I'm his boss."

"And you?"

Christian stuck with the story they planned to tell her office staff. "Ms. LaLonde and I are old friends, so I'm here with her. Full disclosure, I work for a security company." He took out a business card and handed it to the cop.

She looked at it, and her eyes widened. "You're with CObrA Securities?"

"I am."

"Impressive."

It was, and he still considered himself lucky that they'd hired him. That name carried clout.

"Let me take a look at the crime scene."

Aja Blue stepped back, and Officer Lamb entered the apartment to view the carnage. "Have you gone inside?"

"I have. I needed to make sure Mr. Guitterez wasn't inside."

"He wasn't?"

"No, and before you ask, I didn't touch anything." Technically, it wasn't a lie since he'd used the gun to move the boa on the mirror aside.

"I'll get a crime scene unit here to document and take pictures."

"You should talk to Detective Nicole Herbert," Christian advised. "Ms. LaLonde's condo was broken into like this, and we filed a report."

While she was on the phone, Christian asked Aja Blue for Jay's phone number. After she recited it, he called Tyler and asked him to trace it.

"It's a no-go," Tyler announced. "It's turned off. Last hit I get from it is where you are right now."

That's what he'd been afraid of. The man's apartment had been trashed. No one had heard from him in a week, he had no family, and his phone was off. He was virtually untraceable.