Love Overboard - By Janet Evanovich Page 0,33
of his ultimate intentions, but she knew he’d shown her a part of himself that was very private. And she knew from the pressure against his zipper that the intimate web he’d woven around them was fueling more aggressive desires in him. He was a pirate after all, she thought happily. And he was making love to her, seducing her slowly and thoroughly.
“This is special, isn’t it?” she asked, winding her arms around his neck and sensuously brushing her lips across his. She felt his hand tighten at the small of her back, felt him stir when she pressed her hips forward.
She was taunting him, Ivan thought. She finally recognized her power. She was making him burn with each erotic movement of her body. She was telling him that she wanted him. And Lord knew, he wanted her.
“I’m probably making a mistake by not locking the bedroom door right now,” he said, “but I think we should put this on hold. I don’t want to make love to you, then discover Lucy and Melody have been listening on the other side of the door.”
“Speaking of doors—the closet is definitely locked.”
Ivan turned and tugged, but the door wouldn’t open. “Wait here. There’s a big old skeleton key in the master bedroom that might work.”
He returned a couple of moments later, tried the key, and gave Stephanie a wink when the lock tumbled. He swung the door open with a flourish, and a cadaver fell out, crashing onto the floor at Stephanie’s feet.
Stephanie made a strangled sound and clamped her hand over her mouth.
Ivan hung on to the door and took a deep breath to steady his heart. “Jeez!”
Both took a step back from the body.
“This guy’s been embalmed!” Ivan said. “He’s wearing makeup.”
“Looks to be in his seventies,” Stephanie said.
“This is sick. This is really sick!”
Stephanie reached out for Ivan with a shaky hand. “You know what’s even sicker? Me. I hate to be a wimp about this, but I think I’m going to throw up. Yes, I’m definitely going to throw up,” she said, rushing to the bathroom.
Five minutes later, she was seated on the tile floor, resting her back against the tub with a wet towel draped over her head.
Ivan massaged her shoulders. “You feel better?”
Stephanie nodded. “This is embarrassing.”
“I thought cops got used to seeing stiffs.”
“I was in narcotics, not homicide, and believe it or not, I’ve never had a dead person fall out of a closet at me.”
“I hope you’re not going to blame this on Aunt Tess.”
“Ivan, your house is a loony bin.”
“Honey, this is your house.”
She removed the towel and pushed herself to her feet. “We should call the police. Some undertaker is going nuts looking for that poor old man.”
They walked down the hall to her bedroom and stopped at the door, not able to believe their eyes. The body was gone.
“Am I imagining this?” Stephanie asked. “Did I just throw up over a figment of my imagination?”
“I can guarantee you he didn’t walk away.”
“So someone took the dead guy. While I was in the bathroom, someone came in here and bodynapped him.”
They exchanged glances and knew they were both thinking the same thing. “Melody!” they called in unison.
Melody came to the head of the stairs. “What do you want?”
“There was a dead body here, and now it’s gone. I don’t suppose you know anything about this?”
Melody looked interested. “A dead body? A grossly dead body?”
Stephanie furiously pushed her damp hair back from her forehead, feeling herself teetering on the edge of civility. She’d tried to be philosophical about the toilet, the porch, the water heater, and the multitude of bizarre things that had happened to her, but this was the end. Disappearing bodies were not part of the bargain.
She glared at Melody. “Someone took that body. That body did not just up and walk away. Even Ivan said so. Someone took it, and there’s only one person in this house who would be nutso enough to do it. You. I know you took that body. Now where is it?”
“She’s getting a little weird,” Melody said to Ivan. “Probably PMS.”
Lucy came up behind Melody. “What’s all the racket about?”
“They think I took a body,” Melody said. “They’re missing one.”
Lucy looked from Melody to Stephanie to Ivan. “Uh-huh.”
“It’s true,” Stephanie said to Lucy. “There was a body here.” She lifted the dust ruffle and looked under her bed. “My closet door was locked, so Ivan came up to unlock it, and this dead guy fell