Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Flustered, I raked my fingers through my hair and adjusted my sweater. “We were just…”
My gaze bounced to Wyatt and away again.
I couldn’t look him in the eye without remembering the feel of his hands on me, without reliving the mind-blowing kiss that had left my lips tingling and my brain scattered.
I could still feel trails of fire on my lower back where his fingers had run over my skin.
Theo smirked at us. “Debriefing?” she finished for me.
I stepped out of the cubbyhole. “Um…yes.” I scowled when Theo’s smirk didn’t disappear. “Took you long enough to find us.”
She spun her wheelchair around. “I knew where you were ages ago, but I thought you might want a little more time for debriefing.”
Wyatt retrieved his phone from the floor—the cause of the earlier thud, I presumed—and closed the door to the dumbwaiter shaft as he joined me out in the hall. His arm brushed against mine, sending sparks through my bloodstream that nearly overloaded my brain.
I scurried after Theo, who was rolling swiftly toward the lobby.
“Have you found Livy yet?” I asked.
Wyatt followed us with his long, easy strides, but—for the sake of my still-fuzzy brain—I refused to look his way.
“We’re already on our second round of the game,” Theo replied. “But I’m pretty sure I know where she’s hiding.”
Theo cruised through the lobby, heading for the hall that led back toward the courtyard.
She stopped outside the first of two indoor phone booths, relics from the Mirage’s heyday as a glitzy hotel in the 1920s.
She opened the door and peeked inside. By that time, I’d reached her side and could see that the booth was empty.
She rolled up to the next booth. This time, when she opened the door, giggles burst out.
“Found you!” Theo declared in triumph, reminding me of the moment she’d found Wyatt and me.
I begged my cheeks not to flush, but they ignored me.
Livy sprang up from a crouch and darted out of the booth. She ran for the lobby, Theo following in her wake.
My cheeks warm, I shut the door to the phone booth, looking anywhere but at Wyatt.
“It’s your turn next,” he said.
His words startled me into facing him. “But I initiated the first kiss!”
A slow grin took shape on his face, and heat flashed in his eyes. “I’m happy to take turns with that too, but I was talking about sharing information.”
Now my cheeks weren’t just on fire, they’d been inhabited by two suns, each burning hot enough to destroy the entire solar system.
“Ha!” I tried to sound amused, but the sound came out crazed. “I knew that!” One look at his grin and I could tell he saw right through me. “Okay, so I didn’t,” I confessed in a rush. “But…um…where were we?”
“The dumbwaiter shaft.”
“I meant in our conversation!”
The laughter in his eyes told me that he’d known that full well.
I walked briskly toward the lobby, trying desperately to get my brain functioning properly. “Never mind,” I said as Wyatt walked with me. “Rosario López, aka Snake Lady, was on my suspect list—as you know—but she’s got a solid alibi. I’ve got two other suspects: Hoffman Fisher and Minnie Yang.”
“Minnie Yang hosted the cocktail party, right?” Wyatt said.
“She and her partner, Yolanda.”
“So she lives in unit 211.”
I stopped short. “Right above the dumpster. She could have disposed of the croquet mallet in two ways. Either she took it out into the alley and chucked it, or if she was worried about the security camera—which doesn’t actually work—she could have taken it back to her apartment and dropped it into the dumpster from one of her windows. ”
“What’s her motive?”
I resumed walking again, and Wyatt kept pace with me. “Freddie publicly ridiculed her artwork. She was humiliated and furious enough to use his portrait as a dartboard.”
“I thought that was Rosario.”
“They both played the game, for Minnie’s benefit.”
“Isn’t Hoffman your ex?” When I glanced at Wyatt in surprise, he explained, “I heard you call him by name at the country club.”
Another incident best forgotten.
Like that kiss.
Which I feared I’d never be able to forget.
I also feared that I was now doomed to compare every future kiss against that one and have them fall woefully short of measuring up.
Unless those future kisses were also with Wyatt.
My eyes strayed to his lips, and I had to force myself to look straight ahead again.
Livy bounced into view, providing me with a distraction that I desperately needed.
She was using the padded benches in the lobby as a parkour course, with Theo cheering her on.
Normally, I’d tell my niece not to jump on the furniture, but I thought it admirable that I was even still breathing, considering the state of my mind.
“Why would your ex kill Freddie?” Wyatt asked, and I appreciated that he kept his voice low enough that Livy wouldn’t hear him. “Did they know each other?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but Hoffman was in the building around the time of the murder.
And remember that smashed bottle at the crime scene?
There was a label from a bottle of the same color in Hoffman’s apartment, with broken glass stuck to the back.
Freddie has an intact bottle in his apartment with the same kind of label. ”
“You were at your ex’s apartment?” Wyatt asked. “Not that I’m judging.”
“Not for that,” I said quickly, hoping to set him straight. “He doesn’t know I was there.”
Livy took a flying leap off one of the benches and ran over my way.
“Auntie Em, look what I found.” She opened her hand to reveal a cuff link.
The round fastener was studded with a three-by-three grid of square gems in shades of blue and green, with four tiny diamonds spaced evenly around the edge.
I’d seen the cuff link before, along with its matching partner.
A wave of queasiness crashed through my stomach at the memory. Overpowering cologne. Clammy hands on my arms.
My skin crawled, and anger simmered inside me.
“That was Freddie’s,” I said, my voice faint.
Livy tipped the cuff link into my palm. “You can give it back to him.”
Light from the overhead chandelier—which was missing at least a quarter of its crystals—glinted off the cuff link, revealing the initials TR engraved into the silver.
Theo joined us. “His initials were FH, not TR.”
“Maybe he inherited them.” My voice still sounded weak. I gave myself a mental shake and spoke normally as I addressed Livy. “Where did you find it, sweetie?”
“In the phone booth.”
I glanced back that way. “Freddie must have lost it.”
“But we can give it back,” Livy said again.
I rested a hand on her head. “We’ll make sure it gets to the right person.”
“What would Freddie have been doing in the phone booth?” Wyatt posed the question that was on my mind.
As a group, we moved in that direction. I tucked the cuff link into the pocket of my jeans, hoping that hiding it from my sight would rid me of the memory it triggered.
Wyatt opened the door to the phone booth, and we all stared inside.
The booth was constructed from wood, with a window making up the top half of the door.
What looked like the original plaque remained above the door, with the word Telephone emblazoned on it, but the actual phone itself had been removed, leaving the narrow space empty.
Livy pointed at the back corner. “It was right there. On the floor.”
I still couldn’t think of any reason why Freddie would have been in the phone booth. Had he been hiding from someone? If so, why?
I stepped into the booth and gazed around.
When I looked up, I noticed a water stain on the ceiling.
I pointed it out to the others. “That’s probably why Freddie was here.
” I looked down by my feet. The wooden floor was also marred by a water stain.
“Water was leaking from somewhere up above. It dripped down and probably started trickling out into the hall, drawing Freddie’s attention to the booth. ”
Livy squeezed inside with me. “Let’s see how many of us can fit in here!”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, hon,” I objected as gently as I could.
“Come on, Wyatt,” Livy pleaded.
Theo nudged him with her elbow, her smile matching the evil light in her eyes. “Yes, Wyatt, you join Emersyn in there. You two seem to like sharing small spaces. Livy and I can occupy ourselves elsewhere.”
“Nope! We’re all coming out!” I scooted Livy out ahead of me.
In my haste, I knocked my elbow on the back wall of the booth. I heard a click from somewhere close behind me. Then Theo drew in a sharp breath.
I spun around, and my eyes widened.
Where seconds ago there had been a wall, there was now an open doorway leading into gaping darkness.