He takes a step back, breaking the space between us. “Based on the angle, it looks like the bullets came from above.”
A lightbulb goes off in my brain. “That’s it.” I grab his arm. “The balcony.” Pointing, I turn my gaze to the balcony that runs over the entrance. “That’s where the shots must have come from.”
Dominic follows my line of sight. “Can we go up there?”
“Yes but the only way to access it is through the second floor. You have to go out of the ballroom, up the stairs, take two rights and then go down the hall and the doors are on your left.” I pause. “There’s no way anyone could have gotten up there, we had too much security.”
“Anything is possible.” Dominic takes my arm. “Let’s check it out.”
We head upstairs and down the narrow corridor to the doors. He opens them and we step out onto the narrow ledge with a railing overlooking the entire ballroom.
It’s been forever since I’ve been up here, and the space is smaller than I remember. However, no one can deny it gives a perfect line of sight to the cake table.
“The shot had to come from here,” Dominic murmurs. “The way this balcony is built, the person standing here would have a clear shot and still be able to hide in the shadows. Everyone would have been busy enjoying the party, and a lot of people would be intoxicated or occupied. No one would be looking up. And with a silencer on the gun, no one would be the wiser.”
‘But security was supposed to be patrolling this area,” I protest. “Bruno said he was shutting down the entire second floor to deter people from coming up here.”
“Maybe Bruno missed something.”
“So you’re saying a shooter sneaks up here, walks onto this balcony, shoots me, then walks back through those doors into the corridor that has a ton of guards and no one sees them. That makes no sense, how would they escape?”
“Maybe one of the guards was working with the killer,” Dominic suggests.
“It’s possible.” I pause. “When I was leaving my bedroom and coming down the hall I thought I sensed someone in this corridor but I didn’t think anything of it.”
“There are no cameras in this area.” Dominic scans the ballroom.
“No. I don’t know why. I guess because no one comes up here and these doors are supposed to be locked.”
“Shouldn’t a mafia boss know it’s important to cover any possible means of intrusion?” Dominic smirks.
“There were supposed to be guards posted all throughout the second floor,” I protest. “Besides, Bruno would have neverallowed anyone to come up here. What about the porch? That’s where Bruno and his men took me when I got shot. It leads to the side yard and then you have to go around the house to get to the driveway. Security cameras don’t cover the part between the porch and the driveway, there are blind spots.”
Dominic shakes his head. “The angle doesn’t match where the bullets came from. It has to be here. But we can go downstairs and take a look. Standing up here gives me the creeps.”
Minutes later we are back in the ballroom. Together we step through the French doors onto the veranda. The autumn air is crisp and there is a slight breeze. Mums, violas, asters, and snapdragons decorate the space. A railing runs along the entire porch, except for the opening where the steps lead down to the side yard and the driveway.
“Was this open to the guests at your party?” Dominic asks.
“I didn’t close it off so some people might have gone outside to get some air.” I walk over and lean on the railing. “And like I said earlier, this is the way I was taken to get to the hospital.”
“Did anyone notice you? Did you see anyone?” Dominic comes over and stands next to me.
I shake my head. “I was so busy trying to maintain my composure I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t want to let on that something was wrong with me.”
He’s close to me now and I feel the heat radiating from his body. His presence feels like a shield, comforting and dangerous at the same time.
“Based on your injury and the trajectory needed to make the shot, I can conclude that the shots were fired from the balcony in the ballroom. Now we have to figure out how the shooter got up there and escaped without being detected by anyone.” He glances over at me. “You’re shivering.”
“I’m not. I’m fine. It’s warm in the sun.”
He takes off his flannel and puts it over me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, glancing down at his arm muscles. His cologne fills my nostrils.
“You’re welcome. I’m going to need a list of all the guests, the names of everyone on your security team, and all the staff that worked this event. I’m going to have my team do background checks on everyone.”
“I still don’t trust Elio,” I blurt out. “I feel like he had something to do with it.”
