She sighed. “I’m right and you know it.”

  “I do.”

  His agreement surprised and delighted her. She popped the last of her hamburger into her mouth. “Okay, let’s go talk to my boss and let him know the fallout of the afternoon.”

  And she prayed she still had a job.

  “Apparently, hell has just frozen over,” Ash murmured as they walked into Kelly’s office.

  Kelly whirled to face him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  He shut her office door and leaned close. “An elected official did something bold.” The D.A. had just informed Kelly and Ash they could proceed with the investigation of both Catherine Reed’s and Steve Carlson’s murders. “We can proceed with the investigation.”

  “Carefully,” she whispered.

  He smiled at that one condition. “I know how to tiptoe around fragile egos. I can be very good and you know it.” His looked down into her face. She still had the most beautiful mouth. Full lips that tasted like wine and honey. The first time they’d kissed, it had nearly knocked him on his butt.

  Her eyes widened in shock and she swallowed.

  His fingers ran down her cheek, then smoothed a stray hair off her cheek. He wondered how long her hair had grown. Each time they’d been together, she had her hair pulled back into some sort of a twist. He itched to take it down and run his fingers through it. The little piece of information she had let slip earlier at lunch, that she wasn’t involved, gave him a heady sense of satisfaction. It also gave him other insane ideas.

  A knock on the door broke them apart. The door opened and the secretary stepped into the room.

  “Kelly, here’s the report you asked for.”

  Ash knew an excuse when he heard one. He wondered if Teresa had picked up on the vibes between Kelly and him. The pheromones nearly knock him on his keister.

  Kelly accepted the folder and retreated behind her desk. “Teresa, Detective Ashcroft is going to need a desk. What’s available in the office?”

  “That’s not necessary, Kelly. I can work in the conference room and keep any papers here in your office.”

  Teresa’s expression fell. “There’s an empty office on the other side of my desk. If the detective would like to work there, no one would object.”

  “Why don’t you go and check out that office? It might work better for you instead of the conference room. That room is in use constantly and you wouldn’t have any peace or privacy.”

  Ash knew exactly what his ex-wife was doing. She wanted him out of her office. Their little tête-à-tête scared her. Well, he couldn’t blame her. “Sure, why don’t you show it to me, Teresa.”

  The young woman looked entirely too pleased with the idea. “Follow me.”

  As he walked out of the room, he stabbed Kelly with a look that said he knew what was going on. Ash felt like a zoo animal as he walked through the office. The lawyers and secretaries stared at him. He didn’t believe his reputation deserved the reaction he got, but who knew what Kelly had told them about him.

  “This office just became available last week,” Teresa informed him, stepping into the small office. It had a simple desk, file cabinet, a couple of chairs. But it had carpet, a plant, which he had no doubt Teresa would water, and a view.

  “What do you think, Detective?”

  He thought he’d been saved. He wouldn’t be in Kelly’s way and they had just proved that they needed space.

  “I think, Teresa, you’ve come up with a workable solution to our problem.”

  She beamed and stepped close. “Good.” She lightly brushed his arm. “And if you need anything else, you let me know.” The expression on her face told him what direction her mind had wandered.

  “I’ll remember that, Teresa.”

  “Good.”

  “Will this work, Ash?” Kelly’s voice rang out.

  Teresa and Ash turned to find Kelly by the office door. Her disapproval glowed in her eyes.

  “I’ll get back to work,” Teresa mumbled, and rushed out of the room.

  Kelly didn’t say anything, but turned and walked back to her office. He followed and slammed the door shut behind him. He reached for her.

  She jerked out of his hold. “What you saw, Kel—”

  “It’s none of my business.” The look on her face didn’t match her words. “But I don’t want you involved with any of my staff.”

  “Then maybe you should talk to your secretary. She’s the one who has been sending out signals that she wanted something more than a friendly hello.”

  “And you have to respond?”

  The situation was going to hell. “I wasn’t responding. I was being polite. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

  “Oh, I just bet you don’t.”

  “I can handle the situation myself, Kelly.”

  “Why don’t we review both the cases and see where we are and what our next step is?”

  What he wanted to do was finish the little business he and Kelly had going before they were interrupted. It was stupid and he knew she wouldn’t go for that, but that didn’t stop the want.

  “Sure, let’s see what we can come up with.”

  She looked relieved.

  Too bad she didn’t want to finish what they’d started. He had the oddest desire to do just that.

  Chapter 6

  W ondering who’d hit him in the head with a board to scramble his brains, Ash pushed open the door to police headquarters. That had to be the only explanation for his thoughts over the past few days. What the hell was he thinking—wanting to kiss Kelly? If he was honest with himself, he wanted to do more than just kiss her and that shocked him speechless.

  Ignoring the ugly truth, he walked to the elevators. He needed to see if his partner could help him interview witnesses in the River Oaks section of the city. Julie was better at schmoozing with the vaulted of society than he was.

  “Hey, Ash, how’s it going?” David Lyons, a patrolman, greeted him. Ash had investigated a murder in which David was the officer who’d found the body in the park.

  “Can’t complain,” Ash replied.

  “I heard you were working with your ex-wife.” His brow arched. “How’s it going?”

  Gossip ran rampant in the department. Sometimes, it was worse than a small town. But, then again, the cops were a small city within the larger population of Houston.

  “As well as could be expected.”

  David shook his head. “Better you than me, friend.” He nodded and walked toward the roll call room.

  Ash didn’t doubt every individual within the department knew of the situation, which didn’t improve his mood. Now, not only everyone in the D.A.’s office had him under surveillance, but his buddies here were watching with a jaundiced eye. Added to that were the privileged of this city, who felt they didn’t have to talk to a common detective. Great, just what he wanted, three different and various groups waiting for a misstep.

  When he arrived at Homicide, his mood could only be described as dark.

  Julie glanced up from her desk. “What foul wind blew you in? Did the D.A. shoot you down?”

  Ash threw down the file he carried. “No, I came to see if I might talk you into helping me interview witnesses connected with Catherine Reed’s murder.”

  “So if you’re still in business there, why look like you want to start a fight?”

  He glared at his partner. “You try working with your ex.”

  “Kelly giving you problems?” Confusion rang in Julie’s voice.

  “You want to help me or grill me?” he replied.

  Understanding registered in her eyes. Wisely she didn’t comment, for which he was thankful. Not only could Julie handle suspects with ease, she could weather his moods.

  “Sure I’ll help.” She stood and grabbed her suit jacket. “Let’s go.”

  They said nothing on their walk to the parking lot.

  “What did you and Kelly came up with this afternoon?” Julie asked as soon as they were outside.

  He welcomed the question. “We wanted to check out the state of the Reeds’ marriage. In the file it didn’t list any friends they’d interviewed, so we decided to question all the guests at the party Andrew and Catherine attended the night of her death. That’s where I thought you might be able to get more information from these folks than me.”

  Julie laughed and glanced over the hood of his car. “It’s not that you can’t deal with those people, Ash. It’s that you choose not to. You’re like my cocker spaniel—you don’t give a snort.”

  He resisted smiling, but he admitted she was right. This time, he was even more inclined to not put up with prissy rich folks. “I’m not the only one. Kelly had just run into the Procters’ attorney minutes before she showed up in Homicide.” He grinned, the thought lightening his mood. “She was fit to be tied.” He started the engine and pulled into traffic.

  “Sounds like you and Kelly have a lot in common.”

  Too much, Ash thought.

  The drive to the River Oaks section took less than fifteen minutes. This section of the city was old money—which for Houston meant from the thirties. They quickly found the large mansion and asked to see Mr. and Mrs. Ackers. They were shown into the library. The wood-paneled room screamed of wealth and breeding. Riding trophies sat on the mantel and a large photo of Mrs. Ackers and her prized Arabian hung over the fireplace.

  A young, handsome woman in her mid-thirties walked into the room. Ash guessed she must be wife number two or three, because he knew John Ackers.

  “What can I do for you, detectives?” she calmly asked, looking at Ash.

  “We need to ask a few questions about the night of Catherine Reed’s murder,” Ash answered, realizing that Mrs. Ackers might prefer to talk to a man.

  “Why are you still investigating her death? Didn’t her killer die?” She glanced at Julie, then back at Ash.

  “He did, but we need to tie up some loose ends,” Ash explained.

  Mrs. Ackers didn’t look convinced, but took a seat on the couch next to Ash.

  “We know, Mrs. Ackers, that Steve Carlson worked as an attendant here parking cars the night of the murder. Other things might have been stolen from your other guests. We wanted to put an end to this mess,” he explained, hoping to disarm her suspicions.

  “I haven’t heard of anyone else having a burglary that night.” She pressed her mouth into a tight line. After a moment, she sighed. “There were close to two hundred guests at the event, Detective.”

  “Could you tell me what you remember of the party, Mrs. Ackers?” Julie asked, jumping into the conversation.

  Mrs. Ackers leaned back. “Catherine and Andrew arrived late. I only saw them briefly. After about an hour, I heard a commotion. I rushed in here and heard Cathy tell Andrew to ‘go to hell,’ then she stomped out of the party. He followed.”

  “Do you know what they were fighting about?” Ash questioned.

  She looked as if she had just tasted something unpleasant. “Andrew’s mistress was at the party.”

  This was news to Ash.

  “I didn’t know about the liaison at the time, but after I heard Catherine and Andrew fighting I sought Cathy out.” Mrs Ackers looked up, guilt coloring her eyes. “She told me about the situation.”

  “How did the fight start?” Ash asked.

  “Apparently Catherine found the two of them in a compromising position in here.”

  “What’s this woman’s name?” Ash asked.

  “What’s going on in here?” demanded John Ackers as he strode into the room. He was close to sixty and overweight. His bald head and small eyes proved to Ash that money could buy almost anything, as demonstrated by his wife sitting next to him. She did have a nice rock on her finger.

  Leaping to her feet, Mrs. Ackers rushed to her husband’s side. “John, these are detectives with the Houston police. They wanted to know about the party we had the night of Catherine’s death.”

  “When I talked to George Procter, yesterday, he assured me that all this nonsense was finished.” As John glared at them, Ash suddenly had a feeling that the man had other fish to fry besides the investigation into Catherine Reed’s murder.

  Ash opened his mouth ready to inform Mr. Big Bucks that he had a job to do, but Julie beat him to the punch. “No, sir. There are some questions we still need answered. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”

  “I don’t want my friends disturbed,” John replied.

  “We don’t have a choice in the matter,” Ash answered.

  “But I do. If you want to talk to me, contact my lawyer.” He clamped his hand around his wife’s arm and pulled her from the room.

  Ash and Julie looked at each other.

  “Well, it wasn’t your technique this time,” Julie commented.

  “I know. Apparently, there’s more than one secret out there.”

  The housekeeper appeared in the doorway. “I’ll show you out.”

  They followed the older woman to the front door. As she opened the door, she stepped closer to Julie and whispered.

  Julie stopped and studied the woman, then nodded. They were in the car before she spoke.

  “Andrew Reed’s mistress was Joanna Kris.”

  Ash paused. “The housekeeper told you that?”

  “She did.”

  “I knew you’d get the info I couldn’t. Now all we have to do is find Joanna’s house.”

  It took them only twenty minutes to discover where Joanna lived. Her home was two blocks from the Ackers. When they knocked on the front door, Joanna answered it.

  Julie explained why they were here. “Sure, c’mon in. I’ll talk to you about that pig.” Joanna stepped back and motioned them inside.

  Ash arched his brow, signaling to Julie that this could be a gold mine. They walked into the house, then followed an unsteady woman to a lush den and living room. She flopped onto the couch, then patted the cushion next to her. “Why don’t you sit down, Detective Ashcroft?”

  He didn’t glance at Julie, but felt her amusement. She silently dared him to take Joanna up on her offer. He did.

  Leaning back, Joanna smiled and asked, “What do you want to know about that miserable SOB?”

  “Were you and Andrew Reed lovers?” Ash began.

  She nodded. “We were.”

  Ash glanced at Julie, then back at Joanna. “And now it’s over?”

  “Yup, it is,” she groused.

  “We heard from other sources Catherine Reed discovered you and her husband in a compromising position at the party given by the Ackers on the night of her death. You want to explain to us in your own words what happened?”

  She picked up her drink and took a swallow. Ash could smell the tequila. “I told Andrew it was foolish to try anything in that library, but he brushed off my concerns.” She shook her head. “I don’t think Andrew expected her to make that big a scene. She did. Looked like her world had ended.”

  “Why wouldn’t he expect his wife to complain if she found you and her husband in delicto flagrante?” Julie asked.

  Joanna’s chin came up. “She knew he was straying. Besides, an indiscretion isn’t unusual in this community. If you want to stay married to money, you swallow your pride and take what they dish out.”

  “Is that what you did?” Ash asked.

  “My husband was glad to have a young woman on his arm. It was the price he paid.”

  “Let’s get back to Catherine Reed,” Julie interjected. “What did she do when she caught you and her husband?”

  “She probably wouldn’t have made a scene. But she was with several other people when they walked into the library. She stared at Andrew and said he’d regret his actions, then turned and walked out of the room.” Joanna finished her drink, then threw her glass onto the coffee table.

  Julie jotted several notes on her pad.

  “What was your reaction when you heard of Mrs. Reed’s death?” Ash asked.

  Joanna rested her head on the sofa cushion. “I thought that I’d be the next Mrs. Reed.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  She rolled her head toward him. “The bastard dumped me six months ago. Found a younger, more nubile woman. He’s such a jerk, he can’t keep his pants zipped.”

  So the mistress had been cheated on. It wasn’t an unusual or unique story. They’d investigated more than one instance of multiple betrayals and the murders that had resulted.

  “Were you surprised by Catherine’s death?” Ash pressed.

  She studied her hands, pressed her lips together. “Yes. It was a shame that man killed Catherine.”

  Ash leaned forward. “Which man are you talking about?”

  Suddenly Joanna appeared stone-cold sober. “Steve Carlson.”

  “Did you see Steve Carlson at the party?”

  “No.” Joanna stood. “I have an appointment.”

  Ash glanced at his partner. He wanted to press Joanna about her story, but Julie shook her head.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Kris, for helping us,” Julie said.

  Joanna quickly shook Julie’s proffered hand and walked to the entrance hall. As they passed by the grand piano, Ash noticed a picture of Andrew Reed, the mayor of Houston, the quarterback from the Rice Owls, with Joanna settled among the men.

  Ash picked up the framed photo. “When was this picture taken?”

  Joanna walked back into the room. “Five years ago.” She took the picture out of his hand and held it to her chest.

  “That’s a lovely dress you have on,” Julie commented.

  “Thank you.”

  Ash waited for her to add to her statement, but she didn’t say anything more. After being so forthcoming earlier in the interview, Joanna’s lips had suddenly clamped shut. What had happened?

  She rushed to the front door and opened it. There was nothing they could do but leave.

  “Thank you for you help. You’ve been very cooperative.” Ash smiled, trying to ease the woman’s nervousness.

  No response. He took his business card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Joanna. “If you remember anything else about that night, call me.”