Page 79 of Wild Escape

I glanced around the area, looking for shell casings but didn't find any.

I stayed with the body and told JD to bang on neighboring doors to see if anyone had heard anything. With walls as thin as they were around here, a gunshot would be noticeable. Unless it was suppressed.

Something told me there was trouble in paradise. A falling out between Levi and Hayden. The stakes had been raised when they shot Douglas Caldwell. I suspected the group was beginning to fracture.

It didn't take long for first responders to arrive.

Dietrich snapped photos, and Brenda pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves and examined the remains. Forensic investigators dusted for prints.

The sheriff joined us, and I gave him a recap of the situation.

“What the hell is she doing here?” he asked, nodding at Daphne.

“What do you want me to do with her? I’m multitasking.”

"I know you’ve got a theory about why this guy was killed.”

I told him my thoughts.

JD returned. "I talked to the woman who lives below. She recalled hearing an argument, then a snap, then a thump. Everything went quiet after that."

"What time was that?" Daniels asked.

"About an hour ago.”

“She get a look at the guy?”

Jack shook his head.

I shared a look with the sheriff.

"Find Levi and see if you can connect him to this thing,” Daniels said. “Then I think you better talk to Kenzie. She could be next on the hit list.”

"We're on it," I said.

“I’ll interview the roommate, find out where he was during the time of the shooting.”

“JD and I will head to the Nautilus and try to get Kenzie to talk.”

We left the apartment, plunged down the steps, and hustled toward the parking lot. JD and I crossed paths with Paris Delaney along the way. I didn’t have the time or inclination to answer any questions.

“Cover your face and keep walking,” I said to Daphne. She was supposed to be a fugitive.

I put my hand over the lens and spoke to Paris. “Do not air footage of her. I need to maintain the illusion she’s at large.”

Paris nodded.

I gave her a soundbite and made my usual call for witnesses, then hurried out of frame.

41

"What do you want?" Kenzie asked, her voice crackling through the speaker in the video doorbell.

JD and I hovered in the hallway outside her apartment with Daphne at the Nautilus. The concierge had let us into the building.

"We need to talk to you about Hayden," I said.

"I don't want to talk to you about anything. My mom told me you think I had something to do with the break-in. That's ridiculous. How dare you suggest something like that at a time like this?"