Chapter 38
It’s been roughly an hour of silence when my phone dings with a message from Leah. I click on it.
Leah: I just found out what happened. Are you doing okay?
Amelia: I’m fine. Just a little rattled. They’re putting me up in a nice hotel downtown though, so I can’t complain. How are you?
Leah: Only you would find your ex dead in your apartment and then ask how I’m doing.
I’m about to type out a response when my body goes numb.
I never told her who died in my apartment.
Was it on the news? I do a quick internet search for Justin’s name but don’t see an article linked to him. Why would Leah assume it was him…unless she knew him? Or killed him.
No.
My eyes flick to Caleb at the desk. He’s hunched over his computer and doesn’t look up when I scoot off the bed. I hurry to the bathroom covering a scream in my hand.
Because I’m overreacting. Liam is the killer. We know that. I”m just rattled by this whole thing. I”d accuse anyone at this point. I take a few deep breaths, reminding myself of what I know.
This is Leah. The girl who was my first friend when I started at Curl Up and Dye. The girl whose heart was broken by a terrible ex when she found out he was chea—
My heart plummets to my stomach.
Leah and Justin?
No.She was dating a guy named Johnny that she met on a…freaking dating app! I slap my forehead. What was the name Justin used on that app when I caught him cheating?
I don’t remember getting a good look at it, but I know he was using a different name.
And that day when Leah saw the picture of Justin on my phone…she dropped her shears and ran out of the room acting bizarre.
Oh my gosh, did Leah kill Justin?
There’s no way. Leah is a nice girl…whom I have known for exactly one month. But still, she’s sweet and kind. She’d never hurt anyone. Though I’m sure that’s what some people said about Ted Bundy.
My thoughts are racing, intent on reaching one conclusion: Leah is innocent. But is she?
I drum my fingernails on the phone case as I think back on the last couple of days. Leah was on her break yesterday when Justin came into the salon, but everyone else knew what happened and could have told her. Did that upset her? Was she jealous he came to see me? When she followed me into the break room she said, ”That man needs to be taught a lesson.”
I shiver and can’t seem to stop. My kneecap quivers like it’s about to come loose from my body.
What if she came to my apartment around the same time he showed up and got angry with him? The blonde in the baseball cap! She was the woman on the security footage the detective showed me. She was there at the same time Justin was. Did she do it as an act of vengeance for us both? Or maybe he attacked her first and she fought back.
That has to be it. It was a mistake, that’s it.
Ifshe did it, and I refuse to believe it, she had a good reason. Which means I need to talk to her before Caleb finds out and arrests her.
My fingers tremble as I type out a response.
Amelia: Come to think of it, I am pretty shaken up. Do you want to meet at Joe”s Cafe in the morning? I could use a friend.
I include the address of the cafe across the street from my hotel. Her response is immediate.
Leah: Of course! I’ve got an appointment at eight. How about seven?
Amelia: That’s perf—
“Hey.” Caleb materializes beside me and I jump, sending my phone flying. Right into the toilet.
“Caleb!” I screech.
He calls me the menace? I was about to bust this case wide open but there goes my evidence.
Caleb curses before shoving his hand into the toilet after it. “Sorry.” He pulls out my dripping wet phone. “Most phones are waterproof these days, it should be okay.”
It is not okay. The phone glitches and dies. Seems to be a recurring theme around me lately.
“Let’s go get rice,” I say.
“No thanks, I’m not hungry,” Caleb says, tapping away on his phone.
I shove his shoulder. “For my phone.”
“Oh, right, yeah. Sorry, I was distracted. I’ll get it replaced if it doesn’t work.”
“Is that why you barged in on me in the bathroom?” I level him with a stare. “It could have been a full moon in here.”
He flinches. “I’m sorry. But I might have something to cheer you up.”
I stand up straighter. “Now I’m intrigued.”
“I found someone who worked with Justin.”
“At the nursing home?” I ask.
He scratches his neck. “Justin didn’t work at a nursing home.”
“Yes, he did, he was a lifeguard. I know because he always came over in board shorts and was very tan.”
He arches a brow. “Were those your only observations?”
“No!” I fold my arms. “He told me stories about the little old ladies he helped.”
“Well, he was lying to you. The last time he worked as a lifeguard was in high school.”
Why, of all things, this takes me by surprise, I’m not sure.
“Where did he work then?”
“At a startup software company. It went under three years ago and after that, nothing. That’s why I couldn’t locate his so-called boss. But one of his colleagues from the company mentioned he and another guy might have been into selling drugs after things went south.”
“At the nursing home?” Why can’t I let this go? Though I hated Justin’s lack of ambition while we were together, I enjoyed thinking of him rescuing little old ladies. It was one of the reasons I liked him so much. He was tender and…an excellent liar. Goodness, my relationship with him was like one big red flag flying in front of my face but I was so colorblind I thought it was green.
His brows furrow. “Uh, I don’t think he sold drugs at a nursing home. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I found the other guy so…”
I clap my hands, liking where this is going. I’ll go find Leah tomorrow when I can sneak away from Caleb. Tonight though…“We’re going to go get him, right?”
His shoulders drop. “We don”t have evidence of anything.”
“Oh.” I fall back against the vanity.
“But…” he starts and I bolt back upright. “We can go on a stakeout.”
“I’m in!” I say, much too eagerly.
“I thought you might be.” His eyes crinkle in the corners.
A stakeout with Caleb. The two of us, all alone in a dark sedan, watching and listening. Until the sounds of each other’s heartbeats are all we can hear and the windows fog up. Then he reaches over the seat and grabs my face, planting the kiss on me I’ve been dreaming about since, well, since two hours ago.
He clears his throat and I’m positive my thoughts must be written in Sharpie across my forehead.
“You know this won’t be very fun, right?” he asks.
Won’t be fun? Was he not aware of the scene that took place in my head?
I told him I wouldn’t kiss him, but how could he resist me in dark, cramped quarters? “So, a little, boring stakeout? Perfect. I’ll go change.”
Note to self: when Caleb says boring, he means boring. No food, no bathroom breaks, no music, and get this…no talking. What is interesting is how much Caleb seems to be enjoying it. He’s like a kid on Christmas and I’m a tad concerned. Only a psychopath would thrive in these kinds of hostile conditions.
He’s ‘shushed’ me no less than twenty-five times already, and I’m beginning to wonder if his grand plan for bringing me along was to see if I could actually keep my mouth shut.
I glance at the clock on the dash. We’ve been sitting out here in the empty alley across from an apartment complex for almost an hour and the only thing that’s happened so far is a stray cat chasing an empty chip bag. It went on so long that I felt bad for the cat and tried to get out of the car to help, but Caleb pulled me back and gave me a stern talking to about the dangers lurking outside. Like the spooky shadows and gross smells…so, I haven’t exactly been listening.
“Okay. I can’t do this,” I say.
Caleb shoots me an amused look. “What? I thought you were practically a detective. Now you’re telling me you can’t handle a little stakeout?”
“Well, maybe if you would have let me wear my ninja costume I would feel more at one with the nature of the event.”
“Your ninja costume came with six-inch stilettos and, uh, other illegal assets.” He clears his throat and tugs at the collar of his shirt.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “To which asset are you referring, Agent Miyagi, my nunchucks or my throwing star?”
He clenches his jaw and looks out the side window, pretending to study something important.
Okay, so it was my sexy ninja outfit from Halloween last year that provided an unnecessary amount of cleavage and not a real ninja costume. Unless real ninjas wear pushup bras and booty shorts. “It would have been better than this frumpy black hoodie you drowned me in.” I pull at the thick cotton on my chest. But I’m lying. It’s his hoodie and I’m never ever giving it back.
He shakes his head and chuckles. And returns to silence. As a general rule I don’t participate in many boring activities, but remaining silent is my least favorite one.
“Okay, fine.” I throw my hands in the air, but it doesn’t portray my annoyance accurately with five inches of sleeves dangling off my hands like I’m a toddler. “I give. I’m going brain-dead here. I need socialization. And food. And a bathroom. Actually, that last one is kind of a necessity, so I’m getting out.” I reach for the door handle, but Caleb stops me without even looking in my direction.
“No.”
I pinch his arm and he grunts but removes it. “This is not a yes or no kind of situation. I have to go.”
“Here.” He holds out a water bottle to me.
I gape at his ridiculously attractive side profile and the plastic water bottle he’s extending. “Not happening.”
I’m being held here against my will, and despite my hopes, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Time to make a run for it.
I shove the hoodie sleeves up to my elbows, playing with a button on the dash with one hand while my other hand slips to the door handle. I wait a moment for him to crack and change his mind. But he doesn’t.
He’s left me no choice.
“What’s that?” I point out the window on his side of the car to a shadow that has been there all night. “Is it a man?”
Caleb leans further away from me to get a better look and that’s when I throw open the door and jump out like a criminal on the loose. I’m Usain-freaking-Bolt, catch my dust with your stupid water bottle, Cale—
Two strong arms latch around my waist and I’m lifted off the ground and tossed over a shoulder. In my line of sight is the very firm tush of an extremely frustrating FBI agent. Not that I’ve memorized it or anything.
“Put me down!” I bang on his back.
“No.”
I reach for his butt and pinch with all I have, but as before mentioned, it’s ridiculously firm.
“Fine, then you should know, this position is pushing on my bladder and I’m two seconds from peein—” My body flies through the air, off his shoulder, and straight into a cradle against his chest.
“Better?” He stops at the car.
“Much.” I nod, my head shaky. This stakeout resembles my fantasies after all.
And then he drops me in the passenger seat.
“We have to go, he’s leaving,” he says.
My brain is still caught up in the clouds, but my body is reminding me of a very important thing. “But I still need to pee. And don’t offer me a water bottle again. I will murder you.”
“I’m sorry, that was a joke but it wasn’t funny. Let’s see where he’s going, then I will personally escort you to the nearest bathroom.”
“And then can we talk about how you’re a freaking ninja?”
He arches a brow. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t even hear you coming after me.”
His expression hardens. “I didn’t like watching you run away.”
He shuts the door then runs around the other side of the car and hops in. But I’m still sitting awkwardly in my seat, too stunned to move.
The car starts, and without warning flies forward. The movement propels me sideways into the window with the side of my forehead.
Pain shoots through my skull as I pull myself back upright.
“Sorry, Amelia,” he says, right before he steps on the gas.
I guess I can add whiplash to my list of grievances tonight.