Wicked Games (Deadly Cool #3) - Gemma Halliday Page 0,42

was probably a little after 10. Like maybe 10:15? 10:20?"

"Phoebe claims she left after that and went to the Marriot."

"But it's possible she didn't," I interjected.

"Or she came back," Sam added.

"For our purposes let's assume Phoebe was telling the truth about going to the Marriot," Chase said. "How long would it take for her to get there, be seen walking through the lobby, then slip out a side door and get back to the con to kill Connor?"

Sam looked up as if calculating in her head. "Well, I think earlier today we got back here from the Marriot's lobby in about fifteen minutes."

I nodded. "Okay, let's say she leaves here at 10:15, after Ellen sees her argue with Connor. She gets to the Marriot at 10:30. Would she have enough time to get back here and murder Connor at 10:45 while Sophia was in the bathroom?"

"Sounds like it would be tight," Kyle noted.

"But possible," I countered. "So Sam, that's your timeline."

She nodded.

"Okay, Tyler said he was in the food court," Chase said, picking up the thread as he turned to Ellen. "The pizzeria has a Mario dancing around to attract people to their food every fifteen minutes. So let's say that was 10:30."

"Got it," Ellen said. "Food court. 10:30."

That just left Kyle. Or Jason Pruit.

"According to Raley's notes," I told Kyle, "Jason was seen arguing with Connor at 10:15."

"So he could have been anywhere by 10:45," Kyle said, frowning.

"Not necessarily." I scrolled to the next page of notes on my phone. "Unlike us, Raley did get Jason to talk to him, and he claims to have been at the Peak Games booth when Connor's body was found."

"Checking out the competition?" Sam asked.

I shrugged. "Could be. Or wanting to talk to Phoebe if she had, in fact, just served his client with papers."

"Either way," Chase said. "Could he have been able to kill Connor and get all the way to the Peak Games booth before the body was found by Connor's girlfriend?" He turned to Kyle. "That's your job to find out."

"On it." Kyle tipped his hat regally at Chase. I couldn't help noticing the shape of his shaved head as he did. Sam was right. It totally looked like an egg. I tried not to stare.

"So does everyone know where they should be?" Chase asked.

We all nodded.

"Alright, it's 4:10 now. Let's all get in our positions, follow the suspects' timelines, and see if anyone gets here by 4:45 in time to kill me."

I cringed at the morbidity of that statement, but I could tell Chase was fully into his role and hadn't even realized how it sounded.

Kyle and Sam shared a slightly-longer-than-quick kiss before she made for the exit, heading to her spot at the Marriot. Kyle walked around the booth to the VizaSoft entrance, hovering there as he waited for his moment to pretend to kill and run. Ellen, still looking a bit dejected, swished her tail behind her as she made for the food court.

Leaving Chase and me alone as we waited.

I shifted from one foot to the next, feeling antsy for no reason. It wasn't as if we were really waiting for someone to come kill him, but even the reconstruction felt a little too close to reality for comfort.

"You okay?" Chase's deep voice broke into my thoughts.

"Uh-huh."

"You sure?" he asked. "Because you're dancing around like you have to pee."

I shot him a look. "Maybe I'm just getting into character," I countered.

He chuckled. "So what was she like?"

"Who?"

"Sophia." He turned to face me. "The hot model girlfriend."

I shrugged. I'd forgotten Chase hadn't been with us on either of our visits to her place. "She's fine."

"Fine?" He raised an eyebrow my way. "That's the worst description ever."

I rolled my eyes. "She's gorgeous, okay? And nice. And smells good. Her place is amazing. Gleaming white. I was afraid I'd smudged her sofa."

He looked down at my street urchin outfit. "I'd be afraid of that too."

That's it. Tomorrow I was coming to the con as something hotter. Princessy. Showing some skin.

"So what time is dinner?" he asked.

I felt my stomach flutter. "Six."

"Cool."

I glanced over at him. I couldn't tell if he was actually cool with meeting my parents—scratch that, my mom and her sorta-maybe-dating-but-hopefully-not-serious guy—or if he was humoring me. Or just looking for a free meal.

"It's time," he said, cutting my assessment short.

I looked down at the readout on my phone. 4:40. Time for a potty break.

"Good luck," I told him with a grin as I took off toward