Chapter 5
Alex held out her phone so Fallon could read Sloane’s message. She wasn’t going to say this out loud in a roomful of mourners—and murder suspects.
Taking the girls home. Will you keep an eye on everyone? Listen for anything interesting? Focus on Ava and Ryan, Lucy Kowalski, Jordan Hughes, Milo Cole. And anyone else Cara worked with. And Ethan… Also Hannah.
Fallon nodded, her expression pleasantly neutral. Their boss had a way of always looking relaxed no matter the situation. Alex had even seen her stare down the barrel of a pistol once with barely a blink. Later she’d admitted she’d been terrified, but looking at her, Alex never would have known.
The woman was one of Alex’s personal heroes, something she would never admit to anyone but Rose.
Her sweet wife… Speaking of, where was Rose?
Alex turned to find her by the fireplace talking to Milo Cole.
The older man had been Cara’s boss, was Ava and Ryan’s boss.
The CEO of Beacon Industries. A legend in the tech world and a Grade A asshole according to Cara, who’d confided in her that he had been sued—and settled—more than once by people he’d fired in a fit of rage.
“I’m going to do a lap,” she murmured to Fallon.
Fallon took a sip of her drink, nodded and broke away from the corner they’d both been hovering in.
Considering Fallon looked a lot like Halle Berry, she turned heads wherever she went.
So while she couldn’t blend in the way a lot of their crew could, she would still likely end up with more usable intel than Alex.
People liked being close to someone as beautiful as her and it often worked in their favor.
Alex was used to watching others, to paying attention. It was part of the job, and hell, it was part of being an introvert. She was really good at blending into the background, which was why she was so effective at her job.
She knew the names and faces of the individuals Sloane had texted her about because she’d been serious before—they were all keeping a close eye on the murder investigation. This wasn’t the kind of thing they normally did, but this wasn’t a normal situation.
She lingered by the drink station, marveling at the spread of mimosas, teas, coffee options and finger foods. The memorial was set up like a fancy brunch, which…Cara would have approved. Alex knew that much. The woman had loved a good brunch and expensive champagnes.
In most worlds they never would have met, but Cara had been at the small airport where she and Sloane kept their planes hangared, meeting Sloane for lunch one day.
Alex hadn’t believed that the tall, elegant (nice) woman was grumpy Sloane’s older sister at first. But then she’d seen them interact and it had been so obvious.
They’d stayed in touch, probably because Cara had been the one to continue texting at first, but eventually she and Cara had been talking weekly.
Alex had lost her older sister to suicide years ago and was under no illusions about why she’d held on to that lifeline from Cara.
She’d felt a kinship to the other woman and Cara must have felt it too.
Or maybe she’d just been born to be a big sister.
At that thought, Alex had to steel herself and blink back another round of tears.
She was getting far too emotional when she was supposed to be helping the case—helping find Cara’s killer.
Even though she rarely drank, she plucked a tulip-shaped flute filled with bubbly and slowly made her way outside, listening to snatches of conversation as she went.
Mostly about how the neighborhood would miss Cara, what a good mom she was, a couple men talking about work… Outside on the expansive patio was more of the same.
There were large heaters set up to combat the icy wind coming off the lake beyond, and another drink and food station out there as well. People were quietly murmuring among themselves as she moved around.
When she saw Ava and Ryan off to the side of their pool talking in hushed whispers, she moved a little closer and pulled out her phone, pretending to text.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their conversation, short-lived though it was, had them both stalking off in separate directions, their body language interesting.
Alex debated who to follow, but her decision was made when Ava headed into the house. It would be easier to follow her than Ryan, who was practically racing out of there.
To her surprise, Alex watched as Ava headed up the stairs instead of returning to the party, her steps determined, if a bit wobbly.
“My love, what are you doing?” Rose slid up next to her in the foyer.
“Spying,” she whispered even as she held out her phone for her wife to read Sloane’s text.
Rose blinked, then nodded as she read. “Ah.” She glanced over her shoulder, then turned back and whispered, “Well, I can tell you Milo Cole is a giant boor. Other than that, I’ve got nothing on him.”
“Such a lovely memorial,” Alex murmured slightly louder as a man stepped into the foyer, smiled politely at them.
Rose agreed with a gentle murmur and they continued to make nonsense small talk as the man oh so casually made his way up the stairs, his strides as determined as Ava’s had been.
He didn’t look like most of the men Alex had seen at the funeral.
And not just physically. He was as fit as the other men here in their thirties and forties, but he was harder, had likely served in the military or been in law enforcement.
She couldn’t define how she knew, but considering she’d been a detective for a decade before falling in with Fallon, Alex trusted her instincts.
He had that same bearing as so many men and women she knew.
Hints of tattoos peeked out from under his long-sleeved button-down shirt—something she didn’t see on anyone else here.
Hmm, interesting.
“That’s Marcus Chesky.” Rose’s voice was pitched low. “I overheard him talking to someone earlier,” she added at her look.
“He lives in the neighborhood too,” Alex said, immediately recognizing the name.
“Cara mentioned him more than once.” Cara had said he was a friend, someone she’d gone to once when she’d needed help, but when Alex had gently pushed for more information (because it had been clear Cara was dealing with something serious), her friend had dismissed the whole thing.
Now it kept Alex up at night wondering if she should have pushed harder.
“Why don’t you hang out in there?” Rose asked, gesturing to the sitting room. “And see which of them comes down first? I’ll go make another round for the both of us.” She wasn’t an investigator, but she still thought like one more often than not.
Alex nodded and ducked into a small but plush sitting room with a piano and sat in the corner, pretending to play on her phone.
It took almost twenty-seven minutes before Ava made her way down the stairs, her cheeks holding a healthy glow, her eyes a bit brighter. Luckily she didn’t glance in Alex’s direction.
Another three minutes later, Marcus Chesky followed, casually smoothing down his pants as he reached the bottom step.
Unlike Ava, he saw Alex, paused as they made eye contact.
Alex kept her expression neutral, politely nodded once and glanced back at her phone and continued her faux texting. He didn’t linger, but moved back in the direction of the living room.
Interesting indeed.