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“Did she say what type of gig this was?”
“No, just that she needed to dress really stylishly and that she was meeting someone, a partner, at the Partridge Hotel. There was some sort of private party in the banquet room.”
“How well did you know Tiffany?”
“I’ve known her for a year or so. She works part time for the manager of the gallery hosting events, private parties when the new artwork comes in.”
“Private parties, huh?” Vin asked and looked at Justice.
“Do you know if your friend was working as a prostitute or call girl?”
The redhead crossed her arms in front of her chest and got an attitude. “She wasn’t into that anymore. She tried it a few times when things were tough, but no way. Unless there was some serious dough involved, Tiffany would not sell her body.”
They gave Kelly their business cards and told her to call them if she heard anything else or remembered anything that could help catch her friend’s killer. As they headed toward the door, she yelled to them and headed back. She handed Justice a card.
“I don’t know if this has anything to do with her murder. But there’s this big shot who comes in, often looking for specific types of art. The owner of the gallery sets up private gatherings for this guy. Tiffany was at one of them a few nights ago. Maybe that’s where she met someone, the person who killed her.”
“Thank you, Kelly. We’ll look into it,” Vin said as Justice got into the car. He was staring at the card.
“Who is it? Do you know them?”
Justice looked at Vin. “Looks like this time we’re going to have a few questions for Renaldo Sentinel.”
“Oh shit.”
“Exactly.”
* * * *
Ellie was so tired and it was only lunchtime. Renaldo ordered lunch, and of course it came with a bottle of wine. They were discussing the latest updates from the project and had planned on meeting at the end of the week on-site to go over specific details.
“You haven’t touched your wine. Is it bad?” he asked her.
“I’m sorry, Renaldo. I’m so tired and if I have that glass of wine, I’m afraid that I’ll pass out.”
He smiled softly. “You work very hard. If you like, you can lie down for a while on my bed. I’ll be sure that no one disturbs you.”
She chuckled. “Has that worked for you before?” she asked, standing up and stretching. She was regretting wearing the very high-heeled shoes, but she thought she was going to have to stop at another gallery today and she wanted to look good.
“You’d be surprised, Ellie,” he whispered, eyeing her attire over.
“I need to use the bathroom, and then I’m going to get going. Why don’t you call that gallery one more time and see if I can stop by on the way back to the office?” she asked him.
“You can’t stay and work from here? I can order dinner in.”
“Oh, gosh no. Thank you so much for lunch. I’ll be right back.”
After Ellie finished in the bathroom, she pulled out her cell phone and saw that she’d missed a call from Unc, as well as from Moira. Moira wanted to go to the self-defense classes tonight because she had plans for tomorrow night. There was no way Ellie could make it tonight.
After she washed her hands and absorbed the beauty and elegance of the bathroom, she thought about Renaldo. He was quite the character, but he wasn’t boyfriend material. She felt as if he would be the type of man to constantly nitpick about his girlfriend’s appearance, dress choices, and would be overbearing. Then she thought about Justice, Hunter, Mace, and Seno. Although they were definitely used to being in charge, being dominant, macho, tough, and gorgeous, they seemed compassionate and caring. She was looking forward to seeing them again.
As she headed down the hallway, absorbing smaller pieces of art in Renaldo’s penthouse, she heard male voices and she thought one of them sounded like Justice.
As she rounded the corner she heard Renaldo asking them if they could set up a time to talk and that he had company he was entertaining for the evening.
“Renaldo?” She said his name and then saw both Justice’s and Vin’s expressions of shock at seeing her there.
“Ellie, honey, these two detectives were just getting ready to leave.” He walked closer and placed his arm around her shoulder. She immediately nudged it off and reached for her iPad. She wasn’t certain if she should act as if she knew Justice and Vin, however she remembered that he had seen them talking with her outside in the waiting area of Tratorra’s.
