Released

  A Champagne Books Short Story

  Released

  By

  Kimber Chin

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Champagne Books

  www.champagnebooks.com

  Copyright © 2009 by PKCS Incorporated

  September 2009

  Cover Art © Champagne Books

  Produced in Canada

  Other Books By Kimber Chin

  Breach Of Trust

  Invisible

  Selling Forever

  Released

  The world's sexiest murderer stood in front of him, her fists clenched, brown eyes blazing. If Alvar cared at all about his life, he'd be scared.

  But he didn't, so he merely crossed his arms, blocking her from the entrance. "You shouldn't be here," he drawled. "I'm working." And he was, waiting to escort the Boss from his office to his home.

  "You didn't return my calls," she accused him.

  Nor had he written her back. Not once during the decade and a half in prison. “We have nothing to say to each other.” Nothing he could say. "Go away, Edenia."

  "I waited for you." She didn't move, her six inch heels firmly planted on the busy sidewalk, forcing passersby to negotiate around her.

  She’d waited for him? Why? Was he the only sucker in town? "I didn't ask you to wait." She could peddle her lies somewhere else.

  "You didn't have to ask. I love you."

  The words he’d always dreamt her saying. He forced a laugh. It came out harsh. "You don't know the meaning of love."

  "I…" Her full mouth opened, and shut, and opened again.

  He wanted to kiss those flapping lips. Dios, she got to him. Even knowing what a little liar she was. "You let me go to jail, Edenia. Jail," he ground out. "That isn't love."

  "You pled guilty, you wouldn't let me hire lawyers." She pushed his chest. He didn't budge. "What was I supposed to do?"

  "How about telling the truth for a change?" That's all he wanted, the truth. Thousands of letters and she hadn't shared that once.

  "The truth?" Edenia flipped her long dark curls over her shoulder. "When have I ever lied to you?"

  Before he could answer, Alvar felt a presence at his back. Mierda. He tensed. That could only be one person.

  "Is there a fuckin' problem here, Alvar?" Mr. Santos demanded.

  "No, Boss." He stepped to the side, moving with the man to the waiting limousine, ignoring Edenia.

  "Alvar, don't you dare walk away!" She wouldn't be ignored.

  "We're done, Edenia." Forever. Alvar opened the door, and gave the love of his life one long, last glance before following his Boss into the vehicle.

  His Boss, chewing on a toothpick, watched him as the car pulled onto the street. "That her?"

  He knew the story. Tavos Santos made it a point to know everything about everyone. "Yes, Boss."

  Mr. Santos snorted. "You're a jackass, Alvar."

  "Boss." He conveyed his feelings in that one word, unable to say more without getting his ass fired. He couldn’t afford that. The job market for bodyguards convicted of killing their Bosses was tight.

  "You are. One look at her and any asshole knows she couldn't kill a fly." His Boss played with a small white glove he carried with him everywhere. His own memento of lost love. "Innocent fuckin' eyes."

  Alvar felt a moment of doubt before remembering. "She's a terrific actress, Boss." She fooled him. Completely.

  "Academy fuckin' award winning." Dead eyes examined him. "But your fuck up is for the best. You and I are animals, Alvar. We don't deserve classy fuckin' women like your Edenia." He turned his head to stare out the tinted windows, his scarred profile hard, signaling that the conversation was at an end.

  Which left Alvar to wonder if he made a bigger mistake today than he had fifteen years ago.

  ~ * ~

  "I waited for that big jerk." Three hours later, Edenia

  continued to vent as she filled Blue's bowl. The elderly hound dog limped over, his drooping eyes conveying perfect sympathy with his mistress' situation. "All these years, I waited."

  She threw her arms out. "And I built this place for him, did you know that?" Blue howled mournfully. There was a chorus of affirming yelps from neighboring boxes. "Not that I regret it." She assured her four-legged family. "And not that he'd appreciate it anyway." His dream was to breed guard dogs. Instead the state of the art kennel was full of animal shelter strays.

  "What am I going to do, Blue? She flopped down on a stool. "I've loved him for so long." Blue rested his old head on Edenia's jean-clad thighs. Jeans because she no longer cared what she looked like. This afternoon, she had, spending agonizing hours perfecting her makeup, hair, designer dress, and heels. She absentmindedly scratched behind the dog's ear. All for nothing. "I’m such a fool."

  "You're not the fool, Edenia." Alvar loomed over her. "And you didn't kill him, did you?"

  "Of course not." She didn't have to ask who, her abusive husband's death was permanently stuck in the forefront of her mind. "You did." She rolled her eyes. And since Alvar had killed the bastard himself, why would he ask such a stupid question?

  "Dios." He paled. "He was right."

  Who was right? She gently moved the drooling dog's head to the side so she could stand. "Why are you here, Alvar?"

  Although she was a tall woman, Edenia had to tilt her head back to look him in the eyes. Wiser, more wary, eyes than those of the twenty-three year old boy she’d once loved stared back at her. He was a man now and, idiot that she was, she loved him still. "I thought we were done." That hurt her more than Dimas' fists ever had.

  "I thought you killed him." He ran both hands over his bald head.

  Edenia wanted to do the same, her fingers itching to touch him. "I was a frightened teenage kid." She ignored her conflicted feelings, focusing on the equally confusing conversation. "I didn't kill anyone. You…"

  "I didn't." Grooves lined his mouth.

  That made no sense. "You pled guilty." She moved into the corridor, securing the kennel behind her.

  "Because I thought you killed him. I had to protect you, Edenia. Or I thought I did. Dios." She caught the flash of pain on his face before he turned. "All those years in that hell hole. For nothing."

  He had gone to prison to shield her from a crime she’d never committed. That would drive any sane man mad. She circled him slowly, out of reach of those powerful arms, looking for signs of violence. There weren't any. This was Alvar, not Dimas.

  Alvar stood motionless, his eyes squeezed shut; his short, dark eyelashes glistening with moisture. Abandoning caution, Edenia wrapped her arms around his big barrel of a torso, pressing her ear against his chest, listening as his heart beat a frantic, out-of-control tempo. Soon his arms came up around her too.

  "You were in the bathroom?" He finally asked, as though he questioned his own memory.

  "I was." There, she had washed away the imprint of Dimas' hands on her body, the blood on her face. She touched the tiny scar above her right eyebrow. "I heard the shots." The Crack! Crack! Crack! had been deafening. "I was scared, but I did what you always told me to do in emergencies. I locked the door and waited." Those minutes before he knocked had been the longest of her life.

  "Dios." He gripped her to him tighter. "You could have been…"

  Killed. "I know." But if he had died with Dimas, nothing els
e would have mattered. She gazed up at Alvar.

  He bent his head, kissing her, his lips firm yet gentle, the contact instant electricity. She gasped, allowing his tongue to slip inside. He explored. She allowed him, passively waiting. When the pain associated with Dimas' assaults didn't come, she tentatively touched his tongue with hers causing a shiver to ricochet through Alvar's body.

  He broke, breathing heavy. "He's still out there." Dimas' murderer. "I left you unprotected."

  "I survived." She gave him a reassuring smile. Being apart from him almost destroyed her but she had survived.

  "And you'll find him." He'd want to, to clear his name.

  "I don't know if I can. It's been a long time." He ground his square jaw. "The evidence will be impossible to uncover."

  Not all the evidence. "I have a copy of the surveillance videos." In her bedroom, where she watched images of Alvar every night before falling asleep, reminding herself how much he loved her. "You'll know who entered the house."

  That earned her another kiss followed by a fervid vow, "I'll find him, Edenia, I promise. And when I do…" He cracked his knuckles.

  ~ * ~

  "See!" Alvar jumped up, pointing to the break in the picture.

  "Where?" Edenia's beautiful face compressed in confusion. "I didn't see anything."

  He hadn't noticed either. Not at first, not with the hours of footage. Only after giving the video to the Boss' expert, Jack, had the abnormality been discovered. "It's easier if you watch the time stamp." He played the frames again.

  "Oh." Complete comprehension now. "We're missing three minutes. Why would…"

  "That's when he entered." The killer. To shoot a man to death a bathroom door away from Edenia. Waves of red hot anger and white cold fear washed over Alvar. "Someone deleted it." The killer. Or it could have been an accomplice. Dimas Robano had many enemies. "Was it missing when you got it?"

  She blinked at him. "I don't know. I wasn't myself after…"

  After the murder. He hadn't been either, the trial a daze. "Who's been in your house?"

  "Which one?" This new house was all Edenia. Cozy, warm, the home they always talked about. No servants, no security. "And when? It's been fifteen years, Alvar," she pointed out.

  "Mierda." A dead end. "Anyone could have accessed the videos."

  "Not necessarily." Her face grew rosy. "I kept them in the bedroom and no one went in there."

  "No one?" His focus no longer on the investigation.

  "I waited for you, Alvar."

  She had waited for him. Faithfully. Dios. For him. The man who failed to protect her from Robano. "It could have been deleted before." Had to. Because the thought of a killer in Edenia's bedroom made him want to split skulls open. "I have someone looking at your copy. If it is recoverable, he'll do it."

  He heard a soft click. The front door.

  She didn't notice. "Do you think you'll…"

  "Shhh…" Alvar hushed her, gently pressing his index finger to her mouth. There was someone in the house. Footsteps approached. Quiet. Stealthy. He motioned for her to stay still and moved to the doorway.

  "Denie."

  Alvar acted before the name registered, grabbing the man, twisting his arm behind his back, pressing his face against the wall. The stranger struggled, kicking, and twisting, and yelling, "No, no, never again."

  "Alvar, stop!" Edenia pounded on his shoulders. "He's a friend."

  A friend. He let go. The platinum blond-haired man slumped against the wall, his entire body shaking.

  "Stigr, you okay?" Edenia reached out.

  "Don't." This so-called friend cowered from her. "Don't touch me."

  "But… I…, Ummm…" She turned to Alvar for help.

  Edenia couldn't see how Stigr's defensive stance mirrored hers of fifteen years ago. She didn't understand that there was nothing a stranger like him could do. That this was an old wound reopened.

  By his actions, Alvar took a deep breath. "I…"

  "No." Stigr blocked his approach with one slender hand.

  Dios. With Edenia, he had pushed past that hand, taken her in his arms, and rocked her. Like hell he was going to do that with this character. "I'm not going to hurt you." He kept his voice soft.

  "I wouldn't let you," Stigr snapped, the fear now morphing into anger. "I'd kill you first."

  Alvar let that empty threat go. "I know you." Stigr had

  a face one wouldn't forget.

  Eerily luminescent eyes, filled with hurt and hate, met his for an instance then flicked away. "I worked for that devil Robano."

  Edenia's husband. Alvar remembered now. He drove this man to the office to meet with him. Late at night. "Worked?" Too late at night for a business meeting.

  "What other business would I have with him?" Slight shoulders twitched. "He was a monster."

  "Stigr was his accountant." Edenia hurried to elaborate. "He helped me after…"

  After he had gone to prison. Stigr's name mentioned in her letters. This was the Stigr who ensured Edenia received her fair share of Robano's wealth. This was the Stigr who helped her build the kennel. He was there when Alvar couldn't be. Dios. This Stigr was a threat.

  Alvar widened his stance, straightening his shoulders. "I appreciate you doing that." The 'for me' unspoken, unnecessary.

  "I'd do anything for Denie." A soft glance in her direction expressed Stigr's feelings. "That's why I'm here."

  "What is it?" Edenia squeezed Alvar's bicep.

  "Kurt…" Stigr stopped, his attention gripped by the paused image on the screen.

  It was a frame showing the mansion's front door. Alvar frowned. There wasn't anything special about it.

  "Kurt what?" Edenia nudged.

  "He… he..." Stigr shook his head as though to clear it. "He quit."

  She groaned. "His contract…"

  "Was only for a year. It's been a year. I tried to get him to stay but…" Stigr smoothed his French cuffs. A fancy shirt for a visit to a friend.

  "What am I going to do?" Edenia flopped back on the couch. "I can't look after the dogs by myself."

  "I'll help." Although Stigr made the offer to Edenia, his unearthly eyes were on Alvar.

  Challenging him. "No need. I'll do it."

  "Could you?" Stigr scoffed, inching closer to the couch, closer to Edenia.

  "I can." Alvar sat down, put his arm around her, and

  gave Stigr his best eat-shit-and-die glare. "She needs a dog trainer, not an accountant."

  "You're a bodyguard, not a dog trainer." Disdain twisted thin lips. "And she doesn't need a bodyguard."

  "Are you sure about that?" Because Alvar wasn't. She let anyone, including this character, simply walk into the house.

  Stigr's pretty face froze. "What are you implying?"

  "Nothing." Edenia stepped in. "He isn't implying anything. Stigr, I appreciate the offer but we're okay, Alvar can handle it."

  "Alvar can handle everything," Alvar expanded. In case, there was any confusion about the situation.

  "I don't think…" Stigr hesitated in the doorway, his eyes darting between Edenia, Alvar, and the screen.

  "Then don't."

  "We'll be okay," Edenia ignored Alvar, assuring Stigr. "I'll call you later."

  Much, much later if Alvar had anything to do with it.

  "You do that, Denie." That promise seemed to pacify him. "I want to hear everything." Another hard glance at Alvar and Stigr was gone.

  Alvar waited until he heard the slamming of the front door before asking "What do you know about that guy?"

  Edenia patted his chest, smiling ruefully. "Enough to know he's going to knock next time."

  ~ * ~

  "Wiggles," Alvar called out, his voice firm. The beagle raised his head. "Come."

  The dog needed no other encouragement, hurling himself with all his might at his new master's legs. Mock staggering from the impact, Alvar looked across the play area at Edenia and shook his head, the corners of his eyes crinkling. She bit back laughter, tr
ying her best to appear encouraging.

  "What's he doing?" Stigr leaned against a pole, arms crossed.

  "Teaching Wiggles to sit."

  Alvar jogged the beagle around the perimeter, burning off some of Wiggles' excess energy. Wiggles panted, his pink tongue lolling out while Alvar, with his longer legs, moved

  effortlessly.

  "Sit?" Blond eyebrows shot up. "How about stopping him from chewing shoes first?"

  "He'll do that too." She was confident. Although Wiggles was very fond of shoes, Edenia had seen Alvar perform bigger miracles. "When he's through with Wiggles, he'll be the perfect dog. Some family will want to adopt him, give him a home." Freeing up space for another stray. They could help more dogs this way, putting Dimas' ill-gotten wealth to good use.

  "That'll take a lot of patience." Stigr doubted her plan.

  Edenia didn't. "He has it."

  Alvar had patience in spades. He crouched down, talking to the dog on his own level, Wiggles' head cocking as though he understood.

  "Hhhmmm…"

  She heard the concern. "He's not like Dimas."

  "His job is violent."

  "But he's not."

  Alvar guided the dog's nose up and back with a doggy treat. Wiggle sat with a smack. Success. Edenia clapped in appreciation. This caused Wiggles to jump up again. Alvar chuckled, shaking his finger at her.

  She smiled back, not at all repentant, before turning to her friend. "It'll be okay." She'll be okay. "Alvar doesn't like violence. He does what he has to do and no more."

  "He slammed me against the wall, Denie." Stigr rubbed his bruised wrist.

  "He was protecting me. He thought you were Dimas' killer." Stigr wasn't the only one worried.

  "Why," his voice squeaked out that word, "would he think that?"

  "He doesn't know you, that's why," Edenia consoled. She wanted the two of them to get along. She loved Alvar, and Stigr was her best friend.

  They watched in silence as Alvar tried again. This time, Edenia didn't clap, and Wiggles stayed sitting. The beagle received a pat on the head and a doggy treat as a reward before Alvar strolled over to them, Wiggles jumping around in joyous circles beside him. "Did you see that?"