Ramones T-shirt. I need another taste of her, badly, and with the way her heartbeat is fluttering in her throat, she needs me, too. “Can I help you some other way?” I don’t mean for it to sound crass, but it does.
Her hands clench on her thighs, her eyelids fluttering. She likes crass. Good. Because I’m going to own every bit of her with my tongue as soon as she’s ready.
“I’m good. I’m, yeah, I’m good.”
I change tactics. “Okay, let’s talk about the person who you think is killing everyone around you. Do you have any clues about who it is?”
Chewing her lip, she stands and starts to pace. I’ve seen her do this plenty of times in her house, though she’s always talking to Toby instead of me.
“Okay, I’ve gone through a list of people. First, I thought maybe it was someone who was mad at my dad for business deals. Good guess, right?”
“Sure.” I love watching her mind work.
“Maybe they’re mad at him and ruining my life to get back at him. Makes sense. Except--” She swipes a hand through the air. “The people who ended up dying were mean to me.”
“All of them?”
She frowns. “No. And that’s another problem. Mr. Martin from the gas station was never mean. He was the sweetest old man. So why would someone kill him?”
I shrug. “Maybe that death didn’t have anything to do with you?”
“It did, though! Because it wasn’t just a death. It was a murder of someone who knew me. These things are connected, but I just can’t piece it together.”
“If it’s not an enemy, then maybe it’s a friend?” She paces back in front of me, her breasts bouncing beneath my shirt.
I lick my lips. “Go on.”
“But here’s the thing, Silas.” She lowers her voice dramatically. “I don’t have any friends.”
“I’m your friend.”
“Then you’re in danger, like I said.” She shakes her head and continues her sexy walk. “I’ve been back through people who know me. Granger from high school, my first boyfriend who turned out to be gay. Savannah, the mean girl who used to torment me because of my curly hair. Lindsay, my college roommate who was always so nice to me. She even got her hair permed so it would curl like mine. Betty at the bakery--gosh, I hope she stays safe. Her cupcakes are money. Oh, and then there was Mr. Ewing, my old boss. He died of a fall down the stairs in his home. Ruled an accident.”
“But you think he was murdered?”
“Definitely. You know what they found in his computer after his death?”
Yes. “No, what?”
“Upskirt photos. He’d planted a camera in the ladies’ room at the office where I was a receptionist during the summers.”
“Pig.”
“Right?” She continues pacing. “He was murdered. But he never mistreated me, not personally. I mean, maybe there’s a photo of me peeing or something. But how would I know?”
There had been footage of just that, but I took care of it. I wiped the videos of the other women, too, but left a link to the camera up on his desktop so it was plenty easy to find.
“How does Trevor fit into all this? Where did you meet him?”
“I can’t figure it out. We met when he contacted me to make travel arrangements for a vacation to Cabo.” She pauses. “But now that I think back on it, it was odd for him to do that sort of thing. I mean, his parents handled all that for him, right? Why would he be making his own travel plans? He was pampered his whole life.”
“Doesn’t make sense,” I agree.
“It’s him.” She nods. “It has to be him. Maybe he’s been watching me or something. But now he’s disappeared, and he’s getting ready to strike. I can feel it.”
“Don’t be afraid.” I stand and step in front of her, stopping her pacing. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“That’s the thing I keep trying to tell you. Nothing happens to me. It’s everyone around me who suffers.” Her eyes water.
I pull her to me and just hold her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She relaxes and wraps her arms around my waist. “I hope that’s true.”
“Believe it.” I kiss the crown of her head, her wild curls tickling my nose.
After a few moments, she takes a deep breath. “I need to get back. Toby will be waiting, and I have lots of things to do and …” She hurries to my door. “Sorry to bother you.”
I follow and unbolt the lock.