Free Hot as Hell by Helenkay Dimon Page A

Sommerville’s expression turned from concerned to something much more harsh. Her features sharpened and the small bit of openness she had treated Lexy to disappeared.
    Noah knew the feeling. Finding out his fiancée was involved up to the tip-top of her pretty green eyes in a murder did not help his frustrated disposition one bit.
    “You were at the spa with him?” Noah said the words nice and slow. Tasted them and nearly spit from the sour stench.
    “It’s not what you think.” Lexy’s voice shook as she spoke.
    She should be scared. This went well beyond fun and games, so Noah did not try to keep the anger out of his voice. “Lexy, you have two seconds to start making sense.”
    “What I meant to say is that I saw the man around the spa. I ran into him today and said hello.”
    He had seen that conversation. Couldn’t hear it, but watched her body language. Whatever the two of them said went on much longer than the time it took to give a simple greeting.
    “That’s not even close to what you said a second ago,” Detective Sommerville pointed out.
    “It’s what I meant.”
    “Sounds as if you’re changing your story, ma’am.”
    Lexy rubbed her forehead. “It’s been a long night, detective. I’m sure you understand.”
    Noah agreed with that part. Everything else she said about this Henderson character was pure bunk. But he saw the fear in Lexy’s eyes. She tried to cover it under a layer of bullshit, but he knew her well enough to know she was unraveling inside.
    The way he saw it his only choice was to step in and try to keep Lexy from being taken away in handcuffs. He turned his attention to Detective Sommerville. “It’s been a rough hour.”
    The detective scowled. “Ms. Stuart can speak for herself.”
    He agreed with that, too. Half the time the problem was in convincing Lexy to shut up. Her uncharacteristic struggle to form a sentence for the last few minutes had him slipping into his own form of panic. The angry kind.
    “Ease up,” he said to the petite detective.
    Lexy rested her hand against his chest. “She’s just doing her job, Noah.”
    He sighed. So much for trying to protect Lexy from herself.
    The voices on the lawn outside Lexy’s room had died down. More police officers arrived to rope off the scene and keep the other guests back.
    “Ma’am, do you or do you not know Charlie Henderson?” Detective Sommerville asked.
    “I know who he is.”
    “Meaning?”
    “I’ve seen him around.” When the detective stayed quiet, Lexy fumbled with more words. “That’s it.”
    A few more minutes without serious intervention and Lexy would probably admit to killing the guy. Noah searched his mind for the quickest way to get her away from the police and alone. Then he would get some answers.
    He damn well better.
    Detective Sommerville pulled the sheet over the body and nodded to the ambulance crew to take the gurney away. “Did either of you have contact with Mr. Henderson today or anytime before today except for this ‘hello’ you referred to a second ago?”
    “No.” Lexy gave the response before the detective finished her question.
    “Not me, either,” Noah said at a more respectable pace.
    “Just because homicide is not the leading source of crime in this county does not mean we don’t take it seriously.” The detective aimed her comments at Lexy. “Or that we don’t know how to solve one.”
    “Of course,” Lexy said.
    “This is not a time to tell me only half a story, ma’am.”
    Despite the harsh circumstances, hearing someone lecture Lexy about telling the truth broke through his frustration. Usually Lexy gave that speech. From her frown, he guessed she did not appreciate being on the receiving end of the “you owe me the truth” diatribe.
    “Maybe you need a reminder about how we ended up at this point, but the guy was on my floor,” Lexy said with a bit more strength to her voice.
    “If something happened like, maybe, you defended yourself from a