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“To destroy her work? But why? And who burns a fire when it’s a hundred degrees outside?”
“Ah, guys…” Liam was waving for them to come over. “You’ll want to see this.”
Amanda and Trent hurried over. Felicity had already been set inside a black body bag—zipper undone—and loaded onto a wheeled gurney. They’d use it to transport her out of the house and into the van.
Rideout was dipping long-pronged tweezers into Felicity’s mouth.
“There is something wedged in her throat. I caught a glimpse of it when we lifted her,” Liam said, providing explanation.
The entire room fell silent as the investigators, Amanda, Trent, and Liam watched Rideout slowly withdraw his hand. And there, gripped in the tweezers was a piece of cardstock folded into a small square.
CSI Blair rushed over with a plastic evidence bag and set it on Felicity’s torso.
“Thank you.” Rideout set the find on the plastic and unfolded it with gloved hands. “A playing card, folded into eight even squares.”
Creased in half, half again, and half again…
“Things are getting strange now,” Liam said.
Even stranger than the suggestion the killer stabbed Felicity after she was already dead?
“Yep, weirder by the second.” Rideout held up the card.
The Queen of Hearts.
First, a knife to the heart. Now this. It was time to talk with the ex-boyfriend.
EIGHT
Amanda couldn’t completely set aside Trent’s strong feelings about murders involving a wound to the heart. In this case, it might not be cause of death but it had to serve some purpose. To manipulate the investigation? To throw suspicion on Luis Navarro? If so, the killer needed to know about him in the first place. Or was she complicating things? Had Felicity’s ex exacted revenge and decided to make a statement with the knife and playing card?
Whatever the case, it was too early to leap to judgment, though it also couldn’t be ignored that Navarro deserved a hard look. The fact remained that Luis was given good reason to feel slighted and pissed off. After all, he’d spent seven months with her only to be dumped shortly after Felicity met with huge success. Typically, a man’s pride only had so much tolerance for a bruised ego. Had this slight triggered Luis to murder?
“Right there, Trent. You”—Amanda pointed emphatically from the passenger seat, then lowered her arm and looked back—“passed it.”
“Oops.” He’d driven right by Navarro’s address. “Sorry, I’ll just…” He pulled a tight U-turn and parked in the lot for Luis Navarro’s apartment building.
“You seem deep in thought.” Obviously, whatever was on his mind had him distracted.
“I am.”
Two words, and it would seem the conversation would end right there. While she sensed his thoughts were complex, possibly personal, she tried to lighten the air. “Don’t tell me the playing card has you thinking this is a serial killer?”
He hesitated just long enough to disclose that wasn’t what had his focus, though he said, “You got me,” and flashed her a smile.
She continued playing along. “It’s too soon for that. Come on.” She reached for her door handle and got out.
He shut off the car and followed her lead.
“The Queen of Hearts doesn’t need to be a serial killer’s calling card. It could have been left for any number of reasons,” she added, more because she wanted to talk this out than being under the impression her partner was actually thinking this was a serial killer.
“Not going to argue. Honestly, based on what Celeste told us about this Navarro guy, we might have this investigation all wrapped up in the next few minutes. Well, plus paperwork.” He winked at her. “That will tack on several more hours.”
“Since I’m not really back until Monday…” The implication being she’d cut and run.
“Very funny.” He held the door to the building open for Amanda. Navarro was apartment 310, and they could walk right up.
She knocked while Trent stood next to her, but there was this undercurrent of tension between them. Sometimes their past came back and manifested itself this way. All because they’d kissed—crossed a line they never should have. Despite vowing to forget it ever happened, it had a way of slithering up for light on occasion. Blame it on the indisputable attraction and the fact they cared for one another, but she had Logan now, and Trent was dating. It might be the thought of facing Luis Navarro, a man rejected in love, that had Trent feeling the same way. But she shook the thought aside—discounting this as her ego—and knocked again.
