Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter
Twenty-Five
“We’re done here.” Theo slid her laptop into her backpack, which she then hung from the handles of her wheelchair.
“Ready, Livy?” I asked my niece.
She slurped up the last of her chocolate milk and bounced out of her chair. “Ready!”
I helped her into her coat, and the three of us left the café that was conveniently situated two doors down from South Paws Veterinary Clinic.
Outside, Livy ran ahead a short distance, picking up a bright red-and-orange maple leaf that the blustery wind had carried from somewhere other than the treeless street we were on. The gray October day called for a jacket, but I’d left the Mirage with nothing more than a sweater.
In accordance with our text exchange, Theo had met us at the café with her computer so she could try to hack into the vet clinic’s security camera footage to confirm—or shatter—Rosario’s alibi.
I’d asked her ahead of time not to mention what she was doing or why when Livy was around.
So we’d simply told my niece that Theo was working on a project.
“Any success?” I whispered to Theo while Livy was ahead of us.
“Of course.” She shook her head as we continued along the sidewalk. “Someone should tell the clinic that their system has a whole list of vulnerabilities. Their security is like Swiss cheese.”
“But did you get what we need?” I pressed.
“Rosario was there when she said she was. She wasn’t anywhere near the Mirage when Freddie was killed.”
That was some progress, at least.
I scratched Rosario from my mental list of suspects.
That left Hoffman and Minnie.
“So, about your ex,” Theo said. “If you want, I could hack into his bank account and get your money transferred back to you.”
“You could seriously do that?” I asked, shocked and a little awed. “What are they teaching you at that school of yours?”
Her smile had a mischievous tilt to it. “I learn the best things outside of school. And, yes, I can totally do it. Tonight, maybe, if my parents aren’t hovering.”
“Not so fast,” I said. “I can’t let you do that. It’s illegal.”
“It was illegal for him to steal from you.”
“Sure, but I’m not having you break the law on my behalf. Thank you,” I added firmly, “but it’s a no.”
As much as I wanted and needed my money back, that was an easy decision.
I didn’t want Theo getting into serious trouble for trying to help me.
As soon as Hoffman realized that the money had been taken from his account, he’d know that I was somehow involved.
He’d probably spin a good story for the police—with him as the sole victim—and Theo and I would end up behind bars while he remained free as a bird.
“Fine,” Theo muttered, clearly disappointed.
Thinking of Hoffman and my suspects in general reminded me of the surprise I’d received earlier.
“A package arrived for me today,” I said. “One I didn’t order.”
“Good.” Her frown morphed into a smile. “Now we’re real detectives.”
I was pretty sure that a badge or license would make us real detectives, not a murder board.
“We can’t keep it in my apartment,” I said, my voice low. “I don’t want Livy seeing it.” Or my mother, for that matter.
“Then we’ll stash it in the laundry room.”
“We can’t leave our murder board where anyone and their uncle could find it!”
“Well, we definitely can’t have it at my grandparents’ place. They’ve got no clue what I do when I’m out of their sight, and I want to keep it that way.” As Livy skipped back to join us, Theo whispered, “Stash it under your bed. She’ll never know.”
Livy held up the leaf for me to see. “Look, Auntie Em. Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s beautiful, sweetheart.”
She took my hand and continued to skip as I walked and Theo wheeled.
“Theo, why are you in a wheelchair?” my niece asked.
“Livy,” I scolded, “it’s not polite to ask things like that.”
“I don’t care,” Theo said with a shrug. “I was born with something called cerebral palsy. It makes my legs not work a hundred percent.”
“But they work a little?” Livy asked.
“A little,” Theo confirmed.
When we turned the corner, I spotted Wyatt sitting on the front steps of the Mirage. He was hard to miss. So was his metallic green car, parked half a block away.
“Oh, shhh—sugar.” I barely caught myself before swearing in front of Livy.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up at me.
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
Theo grinned in a way I could only describe as wicked when she noticed Wyatt. “Should I leave the two of you to debrief alone?”
“Definitely not.”
Wyatt got to his feet when he saw us approaching. An olive-green military-style jacket hugged his delicious frame.
It would be even better to see him out of it, and everything else, the evil part of my brain piped up.
“Shush.” I realized I’d spoken out loud when Theo sent a curious glance my way.
Livy giggled. “We’re not talking.”
“Hey,” Wyatt said to the three of us, saving me from having to explain that I was shushing myself. He focused his coal-dark eyes on me. “I was hoping we could chat, but you didn’t answer my text message.”
“Right,” I said. “Um. I wasn’t sure about my schedule.” Which wasn’t a complete fib. It wasn’t impossible that someone could have called me, offering me an interview that very day.
He raised an eyebrow. “So you’re not avoiding me?”
“Why would I be avoiding you?”
Next to me, Theo only half succeeded at smothering a snicker. “Answering a question with a question. Classic avoidance.”
“Who are you?” Livy asked, looking way up at Wyatt.
Standing two steps up as he was, he towered over all of us.
“I’m Wyatt.”
I didn’t fail to notice that he hadn’t provided a last name. Again.
Suspicious. Maybe he belonged on the murder board, but I really hoped he didn’t.
Wyatt descended the last two stairs. “Who are you?”
“Livy. It’s short for Olivia. Emersyn’s my auntie.”
Wyatt’s gaze flicked my way as he smiled at my niece.
Theo moved closer. “We haven’t officially met yet. I’m Theo, and I’m in charge of administration at Wyatt Investigations.”
“She’s got a file on you,” I said before he had a chance to comment.
In the space of a single second, his expression morphed from surprised to worried to curious. “Can I see it?”
“You’ll have to ask the HR department.” I smiled as I echoed what Theo had told me earlier.
Before Wyatt had a chance to question my statement, a noisy truck rumbled by, making further conversation impossible for several seconds. A damp gust of wind sent dry leaves hurtling down the street, and a few drops of rain pattered down around us.
“Let’s debrief inside,” Theo suggested once the truck had passed us. Actually, it sounded more like an order than a suggestion.
She took the ramp off to the side of the staircase, and Livy ran that way with her.
Wyatt and I took the stairs. I deliberately hung back a pace so he wouldn’t see me as I desperately ran my hands through my hair, hoping I didn’t look like too much of a mess.
I hadn’t bothered checking my reflection in the mirror before running out the door to meet Livy at her school.
Once I pulled out my keys and unlocked the Mirage’s front door, Wyatt held it open for the three of us to pass through before him.
“Auntie Emersyn, can we play hide-and-seek?” Livy asked once we were in the lobby.
“Oh, hon, I don’t know,” I said, hating to disappoint her. “This might not be the best time.”
“I love hide-and-seek,” Theo said. “I’ll play.”
Livy jumped with excitement. “Yes! And you too, right, Auntie Em?”
“I need to talk to Wyatt, sweetie,” I said, “but maybe after.”
Wyatt grinned at my niece. “We can multitask. Who’s it?”
“I am!” Theo declared.
I stopped Livy before she could take off at a run. “This floor only, okay? And Freddie’s office is off-limits.”
I hadn’t yet told her that Freddie was dead, and I didn’t want her seeing any bloodstains that might still be on the floor.
“Don’t worry,” Theo said. “The office is locked.”
Did she know that because she’d tried the door? Had she picked the lock and snooped inside? Did I even want to know?
Livy slid her arms out of the straps of her backpack. “Can you hold my bag, Auntie Em?”
“Hang it on the back of my chair,” Theo offered. “It’ll fit over my bag.”
“Thanks!” Livy hooked her nearly empty backpack on top of Theo’s.
“Better get ready to hide,” Theo advised us. “I’m counting to fifty.” She placed her hands over her eyes and started to count out loud.
Livy let out an adorable squeak and took off at a run, heading down the corridor to the right.
I skirted around the lobby’s marble goddess statue and took the hallway leading into the wing that had once housed the hotel’s ballroom, restaurant, and kitchen.
Those spaces had since been broken up into apartments and a common area, but thanks to previous games I’d played with Livy, I knew of a place where I could hide.
I realized that Wyatt was keeping pace with me. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Same as you,” he replied.
I opened a door.
Wyatt peeked over my shoulder into the dark cubbyhole of a space. “What’s this?”
“It’s the old dumbwaiter shaft, but the dumbwaiter’s long gone, so it’s empty now.” And the bottom of the shaft was right in front of me.
Fortunately, the shaft had housed a full-height dumbwaiter, so I didn’t have to stoop to get through the narrow door. I slipped into the small space and reached for the doorknob. I almost got a handful of Wyatt’s jacket instead.
“This is my hiding spot,” I said as he followed me in.
“How can we compare notes if we’re in two different places?”
I was about to shove him out into the corridor when I had second thoughts.
I probably shouldn’t trust him alone with Livy when I barely knew him and had no evidence to prove that he wasn’t a killer, even though I really didn’t think he was one.
And how could I make sure he wasn’t alone with my niece if I didn’t know where either of them was?
In my moment of hesitation, I heard Theo call out, “Ready or not, here I come!”
Wyatt squeezed in next to me, and I pulled the door shut. As soon as the darkness closed in around us, I seriously questioned my sanity.