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Only after several more seconds of my own distracted thinking had passed did I realize Janessa never really answered my question. And we were still going the wrong way.
“So what’s the big mystery?” I asked again. “Where are we going?”
“I wanted to drop off some cobbler to a friend,” Janessa said, making eye contact with me again through the mirror. “Just a quick little stop. We won’t be long.”
Becca held up a dish with the cobbler. “I still think we should have kept more of it for ourselves, but…”
“That wouldn’t be very neighborly, though, would it?”
There was something in her tone—not quite sarcasm, but not far off—that made me think there was more to this visit than just delivering some delicious cobbler.
“And who is this new favorite neighbor of yours?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure it can’t be a guy…”
“No, not a guy…” Janessa’s voice trailed off a little as we pulled off the main road onto a long driveway that led up to a stately house. “It’s Nora Statler. I just wanted to check up on her after the conversation we had at dinner last night.”
Oh, God.
I remembered that conversation all too well.
“I, um… don’t think that’s a great idea,” I said.
“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you about it before we got here.” Janessa shrugged. “But we’re here now, and it would be a shame to let this cobbler go to waste. And anyway, you don’t have to talk to her. I’m just going to say hi and see how she’s doing. Then we can leave.”
Becca wasn’t making eye contact with either of us, so I couldn’t tell whether she agreed with Janessa’s visit or not. Not that it mattered what anyone else thought. I knew what we were doing—and I knew exactly why we shouldn’t be doing it.
“Prescott and Cole are going to be really upset when they find out we’ve—”
“They don’t have to find out at all, do they?” Janessa snapped, cutting me off. “Unless we find out some useful information while we’re here, of course. But all they really said was that I—we—should be careful. And last I checked, there wasn’t anything less threatening than taking some dessert to a neighbor in broad daylight. What do you really think is going to happen? There’s three of us here. Nora isn’t going to shoot us. She sure as hell isn’t going to lay hands on us.”
Okay, so she had a point there. And honestly, if Janessa was going to make this trip regardless of how anyone felt, I would rather Becca and I stay with her than let her go alone.
God, Prescott and Cole were going to be pissed when I told them about our visit. And it wasn’t like I could justnottell them. I wasn’t going to lie to my guys. Not even if it was a lie of omission.
Not now. Not ever.
So that meant we had to make this trip worthwhile. We needed to come up with some more evidence my guys could use.
“Okay.” Janessa parked the car in front of the house and then turned in her seat to look at me. “You can either stay out here in the car or you can come in with us. Totally up to you.”
I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I didn’t even hesitate. I simply nodded and reached for the door handle.
“I’m in.”
* * *
The outside of the house was elegant but in a sort of subdued way. The inside, though?
Even without knowing her, I could confidently say there was nothing subtle or subdued about Nora Statler. It was also pretty obvious that Nora liked nice things. Nice, expensive things.
But it was all too much.
Too cluttered. Too lush. Too many bright colors. Just… too much.
Then again, it all sort of matched her look and personality. Nora was a little too much, all by herself.
From her bleached blond hair to her pink satin robe to the leopard print slippers that matched her living room rug and throw pillows.
Just.
