went to the store and immediately came back. There’s no way he just volunteered that information out of nowhere.”
“I guess.” Sebastian turned pensive. “Maybe someone made it up and just got lucky. Stranger things have happened.”
“If you were making up that story, wouldn’t it make more sense to say we were in my bedroom? That’s more likely. Sleeping together on the couch — and nothing more happened than that, gutter mind — isn’t the assumption most people would jump to.”
“I guess that’s true.” He studied my face. “What are you thinking?”
“That someone saw us.” That was the only thing that made sense. “The sliding glass doors give an open view of the entire living room if you’re on the balcony looking in.” A small shudder ran through me at the thought of someone watching us sleep. “Who told you Hunter and I were on the couch together?”
“Let me think.” Sebastian chewed his bottom lip. “I know I heard it this morning. I was getting coffee at the shop. Dana Sandusky was in there getting her usual white chocolate decaf mocha, but she wasn’t talking about you. She was talking about being constipated. She’s pregnant, and apparently that’s a thing.”
I made a face. “Thanks so much for that visual.”
He chuckled. “It was Erin Higgins.” He bobbed his head after a moment’s contemplation. “She was in there getting tea. She seemed upset, looked pale. She said she was feeling sick to her stomach and didn’t sleep most of the night. She told me.”
I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Erin only minutes earlier. “I just ran into her at the coffee shop. Now that you mention it, she brought up Hunter and me being on the couch, too. It didn’t click at the time. Does she live there or something? At the coffee shop, I mean.”
Sebastian chuckled. “No, but Roy’s office is just down the street. She made regular runs because it was her job to keep the agents caffeinated. She’s a big fan of the peppermint tea. Janice — she’s one of the workers there — said she heard Erin was pregnant and that’s why she liked the tea. It settles her stomach.”
“Pregnant?”
He shrugged. “It’s probably Bobby Buttons. Those two can’t stay away from one another. It’s a little disgusting.”
It sounded plenty disgusting. “But ... she didn’t mention being pregnant.”
“Why would she? No offense, but you’re barely back in town. It’s not as if you two know each other all that well.”
“No, but ... .” Something clicked into place. “She said she was dating an old guy.”
His eyes widened. “Okay, maybe she would open up to you.”
“She said that she and Bobby had sexual chemistry but that he refused to get a job.” My mind was working at a fantastic rate. “She said that she decided to go after a man who could take care of her financially. She didn’t care that he was old.”
Realization dawned in Sebastian’s keen eyes. “You think she was messing around with Roy.”
It made sense, and yet there was something off about the assumption. “When I first questioned the workers about Roy’s death, Erin was out front. She seemed genuinely broken up. She said that he was a good boss as she sobbed. Sandy Gellar was there, but she said that Roy regularly gave Erin disappointed looks. She was really snarky about it, as if she knew something but wasn’t sharing.”
“Well, Sandy is excellent with gossip,” Sebastian agreed. “If Erin was pregnant by Roy, though, everybody in town would know about it. Nobody in Shadow Hills can keep a secret.”
“What if it’s more than that?” I asked. “You said that everyone in town was mad at Roy for borrowing things and not returning them. When Hunter went to his house, he found a pristine garage that had recently been cleaned. What if Roy had something really gross going on in his garage?”
“Like what?”
“Like ... .” What? I was a fiction writer and my mind immediately went to the preposterous. I felt as if I was on to something, though.
“Like an underground adult film enterprise,” a voice volunteered from the rear door, causing us both to jolt.
When I turned to see who had entered the building, my heart lodged in my throat. Erin stared at us with unreadable eyes. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you, Stormy?”
“I ... .” It felt as if something big was about to happen, but I couldn’t wrap my head around what it could possibly be.
“This is all your