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“I’m staying with you tonight. I don’t want you alone.”
Sam felt a chill go down his back that had nothing to do with the cold night air. “Roxanne came into Georgia’s apartment last night. Nearly scared me to death. She said she was checking on Georgia because she’d sedated her that day.”
Kit went still. “What did you do?”
“Nearly beaned her with an iron statue, then apologized when I realized it was her and not an evil villain.” He shrugged. “Georgia was still awake because Eloise does snore, thank you very much, and she made tea. I served cookies and Roxanne joined us. We chatted a bit, then Roxanne left. That’s all.”
Kit bit her lip. “She could have been legitimately checking on Georgia.”
“She could have been. But you don’t think so.”
“I truly don’t know. But Roxanne was the one with Benny the day Frankie’s body was found. She’s the one who had him sedated, and we couldn’t talk to him until the next day.”
“I saw him that day, though—after Frankie’s body was found. I talked to him. He was agitated, and she called his doctor to approve the sedative.”
Kit frowned. “True. I wonder why Benny wouldn’t just tell you what had him so upset.”
“He was…scattered.” Sam closed his eyes, trying to remember every detail. He opened his eyes and met Kit’s concerned gaze. “He said that it was his fault and Roxanne said that it wasn’t. Benny yelled, ‘She lies.’ I thought he meant about it not being his fault. I didn’t even think of it till now.”
“It was a chaotic moment, Sam. Don’t beat yourself up. What else do you remember?”
Sam nodded at her attempt to make him feel better, but he still felt like shit for not seeing it sooner. “His pupils were super dilated and he was slurring his words. He was repeating himself. When I first got there, he was beating his fists against Roxanne, but when I drew him into a hug, he was slower. He hit me but it was weak. Then Roxanne gave him a shot and he just wound down. Really quickly.”
“His pupils were dilated before she sedated him by injection?”
Sam nodded. “You think she gave him something before the shot?”
“Maybe. Maybe she needed to quiet him for a while.”
“But then he died.” Grief mixed with blinding fury. “She might have done that, too.”
“Come on. Let’s clean the kitchen and head back to Shady Oaks.”
“You’ll have your gun?”
She never broke eye contact. “I will. And if you or any of the others are in danger, I’ll use it. But I’m hoping to take her in quietly. If she’s guilty.”
Now that Sam thought about it, he was sure that she was. “Let’s go clean the kitchen.”
Shady Oaks Retirement Village
Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California
Thursday, November 10, 1:25 a.m.
Sam couldn’t sleep. Part of it was Georgia’s uncomfortable sofa bed and part of it was the knowledge that one of the nurses had probably killed both Frankie and Benny.
For money. Goddammit.
Another reason for his sleeplessness was sitting at Georgia’s dinette behind him, quietly typing on her laptop. Kit had claimed she’d sleep in Georgia’s recliner, but she’d been on her laptop ever since they’d returned from McKittrick House and didn’t show any signs of stopping.
“You need to sleep, Kit,” he said quietly.
The typing ceased. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know I was keeping you awake. I’ll turn down the light on my screen.”
“It’s not that.” He levered to a sitting position and fixed his gaze on her. He could see her plainly, her face bathed in the blue light of her laptop screen. She probably couldn’t see him, and that made it easier. “It’s everything else that’s keeping me awake. It’s knowing that someone killed my friends and that it’s probably someone I know. Or thought that I knew. It’s wondering if someone’s going to come in here tonight and try again.”
“I doubt she’ll come in tonight. Officer Stern is outside.”
