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“I DON’T WANNA TALK.” Gage slammed Ursula against the wall of his poolside cabana the next day. “I wanna fuck.” He took her lips into a sloppy kiss, drowning her in saliva.
“Gage!” She clawed at his naked, damp shoulders still wet from his morning swim. “I didn’t come over here for this.”
“Bullshit. What happened, huh?” He restrained her in his resilient arms. “When Lang was alive you couldn’t get enough of me.” Water dribbled from his cheeks. “Now you’re playing hard to get?”
“Listen.” She pushed as he kissed her neck. “I came to warn you.”
“Just fuck me.” He kissed down her canary-yellow dress. “Save the other shit for later.”
“I’m serious.” She shoved him off, her tall body landing on her feet. “Why do you have to be such a pussy hound all the time?”
“Please.” He straightened his black swim trunks. “You want me just as much.”
“We gotta get our stories straight.” She fluffed her hair off her shoulders. “The police are gonna find out we’ve been fucking sooner or later.”
“Not if we play it cool.” He tilted his head, his tongue leaning out his mouth. “Now get over here.” He pointed at the wood panel floor. “Don’t make me chase you because I will.”
“This isn’t a damn joke.” She jumped off the wall. “We could be implicated in Lang’s murder.”
“You worry too much.” He sat on the bright green pad on the purple swing. “They won’t find out.”
“Wilks will find out anything. She’s relentless. People talk and your servants know we’ve been fucking even if you pretend they don’t.”
“They’ll keep their mouths shut if they wanna keep their jobs.” He widened his legs, hanging his arms between them. “Even if they found out about us we can always deny it.”
“That’s not good enough.” Ursula rubbed her cheek, looking at Gage’s rectangular pool through the window. “Wilks has always been suspicious of me ever since Boyce’s murder. Gage—”
“Gage nothing.” He pushed his feet into the black shower shoes. “Don’t say my name unless you’re screaming it from passion.” He lowered his brow. “You don’t think I killed Lang do you?”
“Gotta be honest. You’re not exactly acting like the grieving lover.”
He stood, pulling up his shorts. “You’re not exactly acting like the grieving friend either.”
“Why would I kill her?”
He shrugged, looking away. “Why would I? Apparently the police think Hock Meadows did it so why are we even having this boring ass conversation when we could be making each other scream and moan?”
“Just because he’s been charged it doesn’t mean he did it.”
“Ursula.” Gage walked around the blue and orange, fish-shaped table, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going to keep having this conversation every time we see each other. Either you believe I didn’t kill Lang or you don’t.”
She backed toward the door, rolling her hips. “What if I don’t?”
“Then maybe we shouldn’t see each other anymore.” He tried to decipher the bizarre expression on her lovely face. “Is that what you really want?”
“I like you a lot, Gage. More than I thought I would when we started this. At first it was an attraction I couldn’t fight but you slowly made your way into my heart. I know you couldn’t hurt anyone...” Her voice trailed. “But, I get a feeling about Lang’s murder I can’t shake.”
“Maybe you killed her and you’re casting doubt on me to save your ass.”
Her eyebrows rose. “How could you say something like that?”
“I don’t have to prove myself to you or anyone. If you truly believe I killed Lang then get the hell off my property and don’t come back.”
She clutched her bosom. “You don’t mean that.”
He tightened his jaws. “I’m sick of you questioning me.”
“Fine.” She got her purse off the woven two-seater. “I guess this is it.” Her eyes pleaded as if she expected him to keep fighting but he’d had enough. “I’ll see you around, Gage.”
He grabbed the top of the wooden chair. “You’ll regret turning on me.”
“Is that a threat?”
The door opened and Detectives Quarter and Wilks strolled in.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Dee said. “Is that a threat, Gage?”
He threw his head back, grabbing his waist. “What the fuck is this about?”
“Well, well, well if it isn’t my old pal Ursula Vickers.” Connie took her shades off. “Funny finding you here.”
Gage glared at Ursula who rushed out the cabana.
“Should we let her go?” Connie asked Dee.
“We’ll get to her later.” Dee closed the door. “Right now we have some questions for our buddy Gage here.”
“Shit.” He grabbed the peach wine cooler and sat on the swing. “How did you get in here anyway?”
“Your maid let us in.” Connie sat on the wicker chair covered in lavender upholstery. “Beautiful estate you have. Your pool is amazing.”
“What do you want?” He sipped, clenching his teeth afterwards. “It’s my day off and I’d like to enjoy it, which I can’t with you two here.”
“You’re used to getting what you want, aren’t you?” Dee sat on the round bean bag chair. “Rich boy.”
He snickered, shaking his head. “Here we go.”
Dee smiled. “I bet there’s nothing you can’t get.”
“We’re wondering how far you’d go to make your wishes come true,” Connie said. “Did you kill Lang because you wanted Ursula?”
“Seriously?” He guffawed. “Get the hell off my property.”
“We heard every word between you two just now,” Dee said. “You’ve been fucking each other for a while.”
“I didn’t kill Lang to be with Ursula.” He set the wine cooler on the floor. “If I wanted Lang gone I’d have broken up with her.”
“Maybe not.” Connie rocked her head. “You have your reputation and status to consider. Someone like Lang would’ve been acceptable in your social circles but someone like Ursula not so much.”
“I don’t care what people think of me. If I’d wanted to be with Ursula then I would’ve been.”
“You’re in love with Ursula,” Dee stated.
He faked an obnoxious laugh. “Not even close. Ursula and I were just friends with benefits.”
“Nice try,” Connie said. “I saw how you were looking at her. You care deeply about her.”
He sat erect, clearing his throat.
“We heard the pain in your voice when you asked her if she thought you killed Lang,” Dee said. “Doesn’t seem like a man who doesn’t care about what Ursula thinks of him. Which means you most likely love her.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be so complicated. Ursula and I hit it off after we met at one of Lang’s student’s recitals. We had sex the same night. We just had this unspeakable hunger for each other. At first it was curiosity and then it turned into much more.”
“Did you love Lang?” Dee asked.
“I swear I did with all my heart.” He touched his breast. “But, I was falling in love with Ursula.” He got his wine cooler and sipped. “She’s like a drug. You get one hit and you long for more.”
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Dee said. “Easy to see how a man could be swayed by her.”
“She’s more than beautiful. We connected on a level I’d never experienced before. Pretty soon the pillow talk I had with Ursula outweighed any conversation I had with Lang and I hate myself for feeling that way. I didn’t murder Lang though. I’m telling the truth.”
“You hid this from us.” Connie reminded him. “That makes it hard to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“You arrested Meadows, right? Didn’t he do it?”
Dee wiggled her foot. “Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty.”
“Speaking of Hock...” Connie clasped her hands. “You’re reaffirming that you never heard of him and had no idea he was being intimate with Lang?”
“Course not.” He scowled. “I still don’t believe she was involved with him or that she went to that sex club.”
“You understand how it wouldn’t look too good for you if you knew about Lang and Hock?” Dee inquired. “That would give you one hell of a motive to kill her.”
“I’d never heard of Meadows until he was arrested.” He breathed through his nostrils. “Is that all you needed?”
“That’s it for now.” Connie stood, fixing her blouse. “Thanks for the cooperation and if you feel like disappearing, don’t.”