The Perfect Frame Read online

  “Since it’s Warren’s gun, it stands to reason he’s the one who put it there.”

  “Maybe, and then again, maybe not. In any case, I’ve already sent someone over to his place to bring him in for questioning.”

  Mack knew that although his friend recognized the determined look on his face indicating he would want to be present when he questioned the man, Bob wouldn’t let him.

  * * *

  Mack sat cooling his heels in Bob’s office, waiting for him to finish questioning Hank Warren. Needless to say, he was mad, even though he knew procedure wouldn’t allow it unless he was Toni’s lawyer or Warren’s. Finally Bob returned to his office.

  “Well? Did he explain how his gun happened to be at the scene of the crime?”

  “Says he gave it to Ms. Carlton for protection months ago.”

  “Yeah, and I’m General Schwarzkopf. Toni hates the guy, and from what I’ve seen when the two of them are together, the feeling is mutual.”

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it might not have always been that way between them.”

  Mack considered his friend’s words, but he couldn’t believe that there had ever been anything between Toni and Hank Warren. None of this was making any sense to him. It was as though he and Toni were in a maze and couldn’t find the way out.

  Clifford had hinted at something between him and Toni, but he hadn’t believed anything the bastard had said about that.

  Against his will, Mack started remembering another time when he hadn’t believed something about another woman. And he’d been proven wrong. Suddenly it was shades of Linda Hutton all over again.

  Mack had quit the force because of that woman and what she had driven him to do with her lies, evasions and deceptions.

  Don’t forget she almost made you abandon your honor.

  Mack closed his eyes. As if he could.

  One thing was sure: He had to come to grips with his feelings concerning Linda and the present situation, or he’d be no good to Toni or himself. He’d thought he was done with that part of his past, and faced everything he’d had to face, but he was evidently wrong. He owed it to Toni, and himself, to wash away the residue of the emotional garbage Linda Hutton had dumped on him.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As Toni slowly awakened and her eyes began to focus, it took a few moments for her to remember where she was and why. Then it all came back to her in a flash. Her first clear vision was of Mack slumped in a chair beside her bed, deeply asleep. Her lips molded into a smile. He looked so uncomfortable in the chair that she felt sorry for him.

  She wondered what time it was and how long he had been in the hospital.

  Mack groaned, moving his body this way and that, trying in vain to find a comfortable position in the hard chair. Unable to find one, he slowly began to awaken. Opening his eyes, he yawned, stretching out the kinks in his arms and legs. When his elbow connected painfully with the arm of the chair, his senses quickly cleared and he swore under his breath. This certainly wasn’t his bed.

  Toni laughed. “Such language.”

  “Toni! You’re awake.” Mack’s brown eyes darkened in concern. “How do you feel?”

  Toni moved to raise her head and a throbbing pain shot through her brain and she moaned, closing her eyes and gingerly resting her head against the pillow.

  Worry brought a frown to his face. “You’re obviously in pain. Do you want me to get the nurse?”

  “No. I’ll be all right in a minute.”

  Mack wasn’t convinced of that. He straightened in his chair and reached for her hand. “You need to take it easy and not move around too much until the doctor says you can.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “You’d better believe it.” He grinned.

  Her heart did a crazy flip-flop whenever he did that. Her smile faded when thoughts of her situation intruded.

  “What is it, Toni?” Mack asked, watchful.

  “Nothing, just reality setting in. Has Lieutenant Barnes said anything to you?”

  Mack looked away evasively.

  “I want the truth.”

  He wasn’t eager to discuss this with her, but knew he wouldn’t get any peace until he did.

  “The gun beside Clifford’s body is registered to Hank Warren.”

  “Hank!” Her faced brightened. “It must mean he’s the one who killed Clifford.”

  “The way he tells it, he gave it to you months ago for protection.”

  “Say what?” Toni raised up on the bed. The dull throbbing in her head forced her to lie back. “Mack, he’s lying through his teeth.”

  “According to Bob, he sounds pretty convincing.”

  Toni sensed that there was more behind Mack’s words and her temper flared. “What do you believe?”

  “You can’t stand the guy; everyone knows that.”

  “But do you know it? And do you believe it? Is the reason you have a problem discussing it because he called me the night you and I first…”

  “Made love?”

  Seeing the question in his eyes, she glared at him. “I told you I didn’t know why he called. I don’t even know how he got my phone number, since it’s unlisted. And for your information, I wouldn’t give it to him if he were the last human on the planet.”

  The line, ‘the lady doth protest too much,’ flickered through Mack’s mind, but only for a split second. He shook the doubt away.

  Toni noticed the gesture and guessed what it meant. Her hot Italian and African American temper flared again, even hotter this time.

  “You can choose not to believe me, I—ooh, my head.” She stopped and carefully touched the area above her left ear before limply collapsing against the pillow.

  “Toni!” Mack gently eased her into his arms. “For your information, you little wildcat, I believe you. I just couldn’t stop my male jealousy from rearing its head.” He lovingly stroked a stray lock of her hair away from her face. “Hey, I don’t like the idea of you working anywhere near the guy, let alone him having anything personal to do with you. Okay?”

  “But he hasn’t. It baffles me why he would hint that he had. Even more than that, I want to know what prompted him to call me.” Her brows arched in thoughtful contemplation. “I wonder if Clifford said something to him. In the past, Hank has insinuated I was having an affair with the boss and that I was attempting to use it to edge him out of the running for the director’s chair.”

  “His lies could make it look like you had both a personal and a professional reason for killing Clifford.”

  “And if anyone believes I was involved with Hank, they might assume he and I were actually—”

  “In on it together,” they said in unison.

  Toni was quiet for a few moments. The trap her dead boss had so cleverly set for her was clamping ever tighter, bearing down ever heavier as time went on. She closed her eyes on her agonizing thoughts.

  “I think I’d better leave. You’re looking peaked, and you’re trembling.”

  Her eyes fluttered open and she protested. “I don’t want you to go, Mack.”

  “And why not?” he inquired.

  Toni’s faced heated. “You know why.”

  He grinned. “I do? Maybe a little mutual reassurance is needed here. Do you think?”

  “And just how can I give you that?” A teasing look lighted her face.

  “Like this.” Mack lowered his mouth to hers in a tender yet arousing kiss. “I want your head to ache for an entirely different reason. Let’s not forget how much I want to make love to that beautiful body of yours.”

  “Just my body? You’re so cruel,” she said, feigning hurt feelings and turning her head away.

  “I want all of you, sweet Toni. Every lovely inch of you.” His lips found hers.

  “I want you, too, Mack, so bad.” She moved her mouth over his, savoring every nuance of the contact. Then she slipped her arms around his neck. “But at the moment it’s a little difficult.” She glanced around her ho
spital room.

  “You have a point,” he said, unwilling to give up what they were sharing. “You’re not in any shape to handle me right now anyway.”

  “I’m only temporarily out of commission,” she answered wryly. “Temporarily being the operative word.”

  Reluctantly Mack moved away and headed for the door. Then, turning when he reached it, he gave her a smoldering look. “I’ll be back later. I’m going home and get some sleep. Hang in there, kid,” he said, the last in a passable Humphrey Bogart imitation.

  Toni smiled to herself. Mack was everything a woman could ask for in a man and more. He was warm, loving and had a wacky sense of humor. And he was good at what he did. But would he think so if he couldn’t keep her from going to prison? She didn’t want to think what it would do to him, so she intended to save herself. But where should she start? For sure, she had to get out of this hospital.

  Any time now Lieutenant Barnes would come in to question her. She could tell him the truth as she knew it, but would it be enough to satisfy him, the D.A. or a judge? She doubted it. Then what?

  They’ll arrest you.

  She had to think of something before that happened. Half an hour later she heard a knock at the door. Toni tensed when it opened.

  “Ms. Carlton?” Lieutenant Barnes stopped in the doorway. “How are you feeling?”

  “Does it matter?” When she saw him grimace, she was instantly ashamed of her attitude. As Mack had said, the man was only doing his job. “If you want to talk to me, I’m ready.”

  He seemed relieved as he walked across the room and stood beside her bed.

  Toni’s lips quirked into a wry smile. “You may as well sit down.”

  “Such a gracious invitation.” His lips did a similar quirk.

  “I’m sorry. I know this can’t be easy for you since you and Mack are such close friends.”

  “No, it isn’t. Just know it’s nothing personal.” He took out a notepad and pen and started writing. “We discovered that the gun at the crime scene belongs to a colleague of yours. And according to Hank Warren, he gave it to you months ago for protection. Is that true?”

  Her mouth thinned to an angry line. “No, it isn’t. The gun may belong to Hank Warren, but he never gave it to me for protection, or any other reason. The man is a liar if he said otherwise.”

  Lieutenant Barnes glanced at her, appearing momentarily thrown by the vehemence in her answer. He wrote something down on his pad. Glancing up from it, he asked, “How did the gun come to be at the crime scene?”

  “I have no idea.” She gritted her teeth. “Hank must have put it there,” she answered simply.

  “And how do you explain that your fingerprints were on it?”

  “My fingerprints? I—I don’t remember picking up the gun, let alone handling it. Since the gun belongs to Hank, it stands to reason that he’s the one who killed Mr. Clifford, hit me in the head, pressed my fingers onto the gun, then left it and fled.”

  “That would be a logical assumption, except that he claims to have an alibi for the time of the killing and adamantly insists that he gave you the gun months ago when the two of you were involved.”

  “We were never ‘involved,’ as he put it. I’d never sink that low.”

  Toni realized that she shouldn’t be discussing this any further without a lawyer. She also realized it was her word against Hank Warren’s until his alibi could be checked out. Snake that he was, and deserving of the name, he wasn’t the one accused of embezzlement and now murder.

  “If I allegedly killed my boss, can you explain how I came to have a concussion?”

  “According to the doctor, you could have sustained the injury in a fall.”

  “Meaning?”

  “You could have tripped. When we arrived on the scene, you were on your knees beside the body.”

  “So, I killed the man and then tripped over the body, giving myself a concussion?” she said, her voice incredulous. “Give me a break, Lieutenant.”

  He looked uncomfortable. “We’re not getting anywhere with this. I can see you’re not feeling well. I’ll come back later. The doctor says he’ll probably release you tomorrow morning. We’ll have to take you down to the station for more in-depth questioning. I think you’d better have your lawyer present.”

  “Of course. We wouldn’t want my rights violated, would we?”

  “Look, Ms. Carlton…may I call you Toni?”

  “Yes, if you want to.”

  “Toni, I have no personal axe to grind. I’m, as you said, only doing my job. Mack is a friend of mine and has been for years. We were once partners when he was on the police force. He believes you’re innocent and will do all he can to help you.” The lieutenant rose from his chair and shoved his notepad and pen into his jacket pocket. “I’ll be back this evening after you’ve had some rest.”

  As Toni watched him leave, a feeling of impending doom closed in around her. Tomorrow they would be sending her to jail. They might call it protective custody, or just simple questioning, but she knew better. She thought about what Lieutenant Barnes had said about Mack. He was right. He would help her—if he could. The question was, could he? Could anybody?

  Toni laid her head back against the pillow, feeling completely drained—both physically and mentally. When she thought about Hank Warren and the lies he’d told, she wanted to scream and rant and rave and all around pitch a fit, but she was just too tired at the moment. What good would it do, anyway?

  She’d never find out the truth sitting in jail. Although she wasn’t officially under arrest, a policewoman was stationed outside her door. And she believed that once they got her down to the station, they’d arrest her for murder. She had to think of a way to distract the policewoman and escape this craziness.

  Toni got out of bed and, on shaky legs, walked over to the closet and pulled her jeans out and struggled into them. It took her a few minutes to recover from her efforts. Then she made it back to the bed and collapsed on it, pulling up the covers. She had to rest and conserve her energy for later.

  Toni closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She still had one hell of a headache and her arms and legs felt so weak. How was she ever going to get away from here? And there was no mistaking that that was exactly what she had to do if she wanted to find the real murderer and clear herself.

  She eyed the nurse’s call box hanging on the side of the bed.

  That was it!

  * * *

  Several hours later Toni initiated her escape plan. She knocked the pitcher of ice water on her food tray onto the floor. The policewoman peeked her head inside the room to investigate.

  “I was thirsty and reached for the water pitcher.” She shot the woman an embarrassed smile. “Needless to say, I felt weak and I’m afraid it slipped out of my hand. I tried the call button, but it doesn’t seem to be working.” She flicked the button and nothing happened.

  “Do you want me to get you some more ice water?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “No problem. And I’ll get someone to mop up the mess.” She picked up the pitcher and went into the bathroom to rinse it. As she left the room, she said, “Be right back.”

  Toni threw back the covers and eased herself out of the bed and grabbing her shirt and jacket from the closet, dashed into the bathroom to finish dressing. Seconds later she opened the door and stood behind it, flattening herself against the wall.

  A few minutes later the policewoman returned with a fresh pitcher of ice water. Seeing that the door to the bathroom was open and Toni wasn’t in there, she turned and rushed to the closet. Finding it empty, she ran out into the hall to search for Toni. Toni left the bathroom and hurried from the room. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted a nearby supply closet and swiftly darted inside.

  Toni was crouched down behind a canvas-covered receptacle filled with dirty linen when she heard voices outside the room. Luckily she wasn’t discovered when the door opened seconds later. Realizing that th
e policewoman wouldn’t waste any time summoning help to search for her missing charge, Toni knew she had to get out of the hospital fast.

  When Toni looked out into the hall, she found it empty and stepped out of the supply closet and headed for the stairs. The way she was feeling, she would have loved nothing better than to take the elevator, but that was definitely out. Even though her room was on the second floor and all she had to do was make it down to the ground floor, she put going down the stairs right up there with running the L.A. marathon.

  Just as she opened the stairwell door, Toni saw a policeman hurrying to the elevators and quickly closed the door. She swallowed her fear and stayed still until he got on the elevator and the doors closed behind him. She casually walked over to the telephone alcove. It was then that she realized she didn’t have her purse or any money in her jeans pocket. She would have to make the call collect.

  “Hello,” a sleep-husky male voice answered.

  “Collect call from Toni. Will you accept the call?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mack?”

  “Toni?” He cleared his throat.

  “Yes, it’s me. I haven’t got time to explain, but I’m leaving the hospital. Meet me at the corner of Wilshire and Westwood in fifteen minutes and please hurry.” She hung up before he could answer.

  Toni thanked God Mack didn’t live that far from the hospital. Just then she saw an elderly lady shuffling out of the elevator and walked over and offered to help her. Keeping her face averted so that the security guard couldn’t get a clear look at her, Toni and the lady walked past the security desk and out of the hospital. Moments later, Toni helped the woman into a waiting taxi, then made her way to the corner to wait for Mack.

  * * *

  Mack was wide awake now. Why was Toni leaving the hospital? What could have happened to panic her into running? He scrambled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

  A few minutes later, as he was leaving the house, his brother Matthew drove up in his mini van.

  “Matt, you caught me on the way out.” It occurred to Mack that the police would be, thanks to his friend Bob, on the lookout for his car and license plate number.