20. Aus
AUS
I don’t like this.
Not one fucking bit.
A cop can’t drop a word like “homicide” in connection to a line of questioning and then just leave it at that. Just take Thea into another room.
Hopefully she stayed silent.
They can’t detain her.
I get up out of my seat, waylay one of the waitstaff. “Where’s the study?”
The waiter blinks. “What, sir?”
“The study. My girlfriend… She said she was going to check out the study. Where is it?”
“If she’s talking about the room where our manager works, it’s out the ballroom and across from the kitchens,” the waiter says, “but I don’t think you’re supposed to—”
I don’t give a fuck what I’m supposed to do or not. I leave the ballroom, navigate down a few hallways toward the kitchens, and find a room with a large mahogany door across from them. This must be it.
I put my ear against the door.
Damn it. No sound.
Probably why the cops chose this place to talk to Thea.
What could have possibly happened? And why is Thea connected to it?
I’ve only known her for twenty-four hours or so, but Thea is not a cold-blooded killer.
At least… I don’t think she is.
Maybe I should call a lawyer. I know a few who are friends of friends. I pull out my phone.
Shit!
I never turned it back on after I shut it down when Thea and I were at the Golden Cap. That was nearly nine hours ago. I’m not glued to my phone like some people, but I usually check it a few times an hour. But I was so distracted by Thea that I didn’t even think to look at it.
I boot it up, and…shit!
Seventeen missed calls and a slew of texts from Leo. Several from Scarlet as well.
I look through them.
WHERE ARE YOU?
WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING AUS??
URGENT. PLEASE CALL ASAP.
AUS, SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU OK?
brO, THIS IS GETTING SCARY.
Leo isn’t the kind of guy who texts in all caps. He’s usually reserved, always the guy who needs to speak up more. He and I have a casual relationship, but these are pretty intense texts to send to the guy who signs your paychecks.
Something must be up.
It can’t possibly be related to what the cops are talking to Thea about, can it?
I call Leo. It rings a few times and then—
“Holy fuck, dude. Where the hell have you been?”
“Good evening to you too, Leo.”
“Seriously. Did you throw your phone into a lake or something?”
“I turned it off. I was on a date.”
A short pause. “For fuck’s sake.”
“Dude, I’m still your boss.”
“Why do you think I’m calling you? Why I’ve been trying to call you all day?”
My heartrate spikes. “Is it something to do with Jade?”
“You could say that. The place is swarming with cops as we speak.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. Has been all day. There are fewer guys here now, but they still haven’t fully left.”
“What happened?”
“They’re… They’re investigating a potential homicide, Aus.”
Fuck.
Thea’s talking to cops right now.
And she was at the club last night.
But then why wouldn’t the cops want to talk to me?
Maybe they don’t know who I am. They knew Thea would be at this gala tonight. They’d have no way of knowing I was her date.
Still though, it’s not adding up.
“Who died? One of our patrons?”
“No. It was… fuck.” His voice breaks. “It was Kin, dude.”
I drop my jaw. What the hell?
“Kin? As in the bartender?”
“Do you know any other Kins?”
I lean against the wall for support. “What happened?”
“That’s the crazy part. He was a few blocks away from the club in the early morning. Two college guys on their way to their shift at a nearby coffee shop found him. He was crushed, Aus. By a giant boulder.”
“What? You’ve got to be joking.”
“I’d never joke about something like this, man. There was a tractor nearby. They think someone stole it from a nearby construction site. Someone who knew how to operate heavy machinery, obviously. They brought the boulder over and waited until Kin passed by and…boom.”
“What the actual fuck?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“That’s like something straight out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon.”
“That’s what Scarlet said.”
I rub at my forehead. A fucking boulder? What a terrible way to die. I hope it was quick. “Do they know when it happened?”
“Cops are saying around three in the morning.”
Damn.
Then why are the cops questioning Thea? She wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
She was asleep at Wick’s place when this happened.
Except…
She told me she slept in Wick’s bedroom. That Wick crashed on the couch.
If he left in the middle of the night, maybe in a shitty mood because his hook-up for the evening changed her mind…
She’d have no way of knowing.
I don’t think he and his brother ever really got along. I always got a frosty vibe when I watched them interact.
But because Thea spent the night with Wick…
The cops might think she was involved as well.
I pound on the door. “Let me in, you motherfuckers! Let me in!”