Part 9 (2/2)
”I know that you've talked to the police and the FBI, Nick. What did Dominique die of?”
Nick kissed my brow. ”There's no official medical examiner's report, yet.”
”Nick,” I begged.
”The forensics investigation being over doesn't mean the crime's been solved, ladybug.”
”How did she die, dammit?”
”The police and the Feds combed the dressing rooms and stage last night, checking under every splinter for the diamonds or some kind of murder weapon.”
”Whatever that might be,” I said. ”Stop stalling.”
Nick hesitated as if trying to choose his words while he swirled my hair around his finger. ”It appears she died of anaphylactic shock. She had a fatal allergic reaction to something.”
”Peanuts?”
”Yes! They found traces in her bloodstream. I take it that was an issue?”
”G.o.d yes. But that's impossible. Dominique would never go near a peanut. She was so allergic that you couldn't touch a peanut, then touch her because the imprint of your finger would welt up on her skin.”
”That's insane.”
”Some people are that allergic. I know because she told me that Kyle did that to her once when he was a kid. He'd had a peanut b.u.t.ter sandwich at nursery school. After he touched her cheek, not only did she welt up, her throat closed and she was rushed to the hospital.”
”So that's why she had her own cook,” Nick speculated.
It still didn't make sense. ”That doesn't explain what happened to her face.”
He stood and unb.u.t.toned his s.h.i.+rt. ”There were traces of peanut oil in the welts on her face, Mad, hence the swelling. So that's how the poison entered, through her facial pores.”
”What? She got splashed with peanut soup?”
”I didn't say it made sense, which is why the case hasn't been solved. I'm just telling you what the cops got from the preliminary forensics report.”
”And what about the diamonds? Was she killed for them? Are they connected?”
”n.o.body's sure, but we're keeping a watchful eye on her lover, from a distance for the moment.”
Twenty.
There is only one gift you should accept on your first date-diamonds.
-MISS PIGGY ”Dominique had a lover?”
”A young lover.”
I sat forward. ”In other words, she paraded him around?”
”Yes, but they kept it cozy and private, and she had nothing to say about him to the press. No one can even find a picture of him facing the camera.”
I chuckled. ”He wasn't her lover. She hired him to bolster her image. s.e.xy actress flaunts boy toy. It's called publicity, Jaconetti.”
”Well, her toy's a suspicious character, who we're watching. Gregor Zukovski, from a small Slavic country. He's known to the Bureau and every other intelligence agency. We suspect he might have taken the diamonds for terrorist purposes.”
”Oh, I hope I'm wrong about her hiring him, then. Would he have poisoned Dom to get them?”
”Yes, but one wonders why he would murder her in public.”
”So he was nowhere near her when it happened,” I said, ”which pretty much makes the Parasites, and anybody who worked at the theater, suspect.”
”Right. Problem with Zukovski is that he knows every government employee in the tri-state area. So, if he gets on a plane, the Bureau has asked me to get on it with him.”
”That's dangerous.”
”Nothing new, and you know it. That's my job, ladybug.”
”I didn't need it confirmed, thanks, today of all days.”
”If I can find the diamonds while we're still in United States airs.p.a.ce, I can take them and Zukovski back with me.”
d.a.m.n. Seducing Nick to keep him safe wouldn't work. He'd recently had a run-in with a live nutcracker. ”I might need you here,” I whispered. ”This is difficult for me.”
”Yes, you've lost your friend, but you're the most independent and least needy person I know. Don't try to give me the guilts. It won't work. Besides, I'm here now.” Nick's eyes smoldered and he leaned my way.
”Don't let those bedroom eyes of yours make any promises the big boy can't keep,” I whispered against his lips.
He frowned and his cell phone rang before his lips met mine.
”Tucking A!” I snapped, as he sat up to answer it.
”I'm on my way,” he said a minute later. ”Airport, ladybug.” He slipped on his shoes. ”Gregor Zukovski's on the run. Looks like he's taking the next plane to Slovenia.”
”And that's where?”
”In a galaxy far away.”
”You're going after the man who might have killed Dom, alone? You're chasing a possible diamond thief on his own turf?”
”I won't be alone. Your brother's waiting for me at the airport.” He kissed her nose. ”You didn't hear that from me, and you're not to tell a soul.”
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