Free Hot as Hell by Helenkay Dimon

over to the gurney. She did not even bother to use Marie’s name, a fact that made Lexy smile despite the nervous energy attacking her insides.
    “Again, call me Tate,” he said as he walked over.
    The female detective ignored his request a second time. “We need you all to look at the body. See if you can tell us who he is, or if you’ve seen him around.”
    Tate straightened to show off every inch of his six-foot frame. “He is no one affiliated with the spa, I assure you.”
    “How about we look at the guy before you make that kind of pronouncement, hmmm?” Detective Sommerville said with an authority that belied her size.
    Tate did not give up the fight. “I doubt—”
    Detective Somerville lifted the sheet back. “Well?”
    Marie gasped.
    Tate made a sound closer to a gurgle. “Charlie?”
    Lexy had been trying not to look at the body, but Tate’s comment captured her full attention. “Henderson?”
    Noah studied the dead man’s face before turning back to Lexy. “The guy from this afternoon?”
    How was she going to get out of this ? “Looks like him.”
    Because it was him. The guy accused her of stalking and then wound up dead on her floor. Any way she examined the time line, it did not look great for her.
    Or for Noah.
    “Sounded like you all agree this is Charlie Henderson.” Detective Sommerville eyed Lexy, too. “Ms. Stuart? Anything you need to tell me.”
    Lexy swallowed hard. “No.”
    “Do you know him, ma’am?”
    “I don’t know him know him.”
    “Is that English?” The harsh edge returned to Noah’s voice.
    “He works here,” Tate said.
    “Wait a minute. We’re going to go one at a time.” Detective Sommerville pointed her pen at Tate. “Tell me what you know.”
    “He works security here. Well, I guess you would now say worked.” Tate’s gaze did not leave the dead man’s face. “He walks the premises, checks on problems, that sort of thing.”
    “Does he have access to the inside of the rooms?” Detective Sommerville asked.
    “Well, yeah, but only in emergencies,” Tate said.
    “Since he’s dead, I’m thinking we have an emergency.” Noah kept looking at the dead man’s face as if trying to memorize it.
    Lexy did not have to. She had seen Charlie Henderson’s face every time she opened the file she dragged with her from home. She followed the guy to the spa, he confronted her, and now he was dead.
    Detective Lindsay took over and grabbed Tate by his elbow. “Mr. Carr, come outside with me.”
    “Why?” A squeal replaced Tate’s otherwise even nature.
    “You and I need to talk, sir.”
    Tate tried to break free from Detective Lindsay’s grip. “I didn’t do anything.”
    “Stop moving.”
    “But I—”
    “We need some privacy,” Detective Lindsay said as he led Tate and Marie outside. “So does Ms. Stuart.”
    Yeah, Ms. Stuart needed something all right. Something like a drink or a few days in bed. Charlie Henderson dead in her room. Somewhere along the line they had ventured into nightmare territory.
    She peeked at Noah out of the corner of her eye and noticed the locked jaw and cold eyes. No way was Noah going to let this subject go. And now they would both be suspects in Henderson’s murder.
    She hated this supposed spa.
    “Ms. Stuart?”
    Lexy was so stunned, her body so stiff with shock, that she almost missed Detective Somerville’s questioning tone.
    Noah did not wait for Lexy to regain her senses. “No more verbal games, Lexy. Who is he?”
    Lexy bit down hard on her bottom lip. She tried to think of a way out of this situation. Like, maybe an earthquake could strike and save her from having to answer.
    “Lexy?”
    “Ms. Stuart?” Detective Sommerville said her name at the same time Noah tried to get her attention.
    Lexy looked from the detective to Noah and back again. Yeah, no way to run from this part. She had to come clean.
    At least a little clean.
    “He’s the reason I came to Utah.”

Chapter Eight
    D etective