Page 18 of Done Dirty

“Then what?” I asked.

“We spent the last couple of days trashing men and drinking too much and eating takeout,” Becca chimed in. “You know, typical breakup ritual stuff.”

“You living close by?” I asked her.

She grimaced. “In the garage apartment behind Dad’s house. I finished grad school in May and moved back to look for a job. Haven’t had any luck so far.”

“Okay,” I said, noticing that Jack had let me take the lead as another female. “So y’all hung out at your place for a couple days. Did you go anywhere? Maybe out to a bar or to get more ice cream?”

“No,” Becca said. “I raided Dad’s liquor cabinet, and we ordered takeout when we were hungry. I didn’t know Bloody Mary did food deliveries now.”

“One step closer to progress,” I said, making her smile slightly.

“I had to borrow some of Becca’s clothes,” Paige said. “That’s when I knew I had to come back.”

“I told her I would help while Wade was at work,” Becca said.

“I couldn’t face him again.” Tears streaked faster down her cheeks and she wiped them away angrily.

“So you guys were up most of the night drinking⁠—”

“All night drinking,” Becca clarified. “And watching John Hughes movies.”

“Right,” I said. “What time did you leave to come here?”

“Around eight, I guess,” Becca said.

“We took my car,” Paige said.

“How’d you get into the building?”

“I’ve still got my fob and my key,” she said. “I’d Venmo’d Wade my July rent right before he broke up with me. And he kept it.”

“He was a jerk,” Becca said automatically, and then grabbed Paige’s hand. “You can’t pretend he wasn’t just because he’s dead.”

I wasn’t sure if Paige had the fortitude to agree with Becca about the sentiment.

“Did you see anyone in the parking lot?” I asked. “Or pass anyone getting on or off the elevator?”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I wasn’t really paying attention. And the people here don’t really talk to me anyway because I’m not considered a real resident.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re pretty self-important around here.”

“What about the concierge?” I asked. “Did you see him?”

“Oh, yeah,” Paige said. “I forgot about that. I think he said hello. I wasn’t really thinking straight.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Becca and I went straight up to the condo.”

“Did you notice anything when you went inside?”

“Just that it felt wrong,” she said. “Wade is a creature of habit. And he’s a neat freak. OCD really. I thought it was endearing when we first met, but it was really annoying to live with. I have all of my stuff in storage. He wouldn’t let me bring any of it with me. And most of my clothes too. He only gave me a small space in the closet for my things, and only clothing he approved as worthy of being in his space.” She rolled her eyes.

“What felt wrong about it?” I asked, trying to keep her on track.

“Something just didn’t feel right,” she said. “You know when you go in a space and it feels like someone else is there? Like the air was heavy or something. But it was other things too. The lights were on in the kitchen. He never left lights on. He was obsessed about it. But then I saw the underwear on the floor, and I just saw red for a minute. I figured the woman was still there. Who leaves their underwear on the floor like that?”

Jack looked at me and I arched a brow in response.

“I was so angry,” she continued. “I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to confront him. I walked to the bedroom and pushed open the door.” She faltered for a minute and looked down at her hands. “He was on the floor. And there was so much blood.” She inhaled a shaky breath.

“Did either of you touch anything? Touch him?” Jack asked.