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“Maximillion Keys’s murder. They received an anonymous tip that you were seen hanging around the club late that night. After it had closed. The tipster was Grady. He’s been trying to convince me something’s up with you. I… I sort of listened. That’s why I started looking into you.”
“I’ve told you, if you have any reservations, you should bring them to me—”
“Celeste stopped by my apartment tonight,” she interrupts. “I got home, and she was waiting in my room.”
Interesting. That I was not aware of.
I block the irritation from bleeding into my tone. I should’ve figured Celeste would do her best to sabotage me prior to taking her pitiful life.
“What did she say?”
“Something’s wrong with her. Kaden, she’s not all there.”
I could’ve told you that.
“She was lying in my bed in your t-shirt, and she told me I’d never accept the real you. Then she offered to tell me the truth.”
I crush my phone within my grasp. “Whatever she told you is a lie. She’s deranged. You’ve said so yourself.”
“I told her to get out. I didn’t want to hear a word she had to say. She left distraught.”
…and then came here to kill herself.
“I’m glad you didn’t buy into her lies. The next time she shows up, call me immediately. I will handle her. Under no circumstances should you be alone with her.”
Though you don’t have to worry about her anymore. Considering she’s dead.
Lyra’s soft breath can be heard on the other side of the phone. The gentle sound stirs something unknown deep inside me. A shiver of a feeling I can’t place wracks down my spine.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. We should talk. About our relationship.”
“You’re off from the piano bar tonight, correct? I’ll come pick you up. Perhaps we can do a late dinner.”
We hang up in agreement. I scoop my keys up and then waffle last second between the impromptu plans I’ve made and how I had otherwise intended on spending my evening. I was supposed to get started on clearing out the mounting dead bodies in my dungeon. Not spend the evening with Lyra.
In what can only be called a selfish and reckless decision, I choose to carry on. I head out to my Tesla and drive across the city to Lyra’s.
Night has fallen by the time I make it. The streetlights have blinked on, and an aroma of dinner being cooked and prepared is fragrant in the air. I park where I always do, against the curb of the old warehouse building, and make my way up.
The hall outside her apartment is so silent, traces of the TV can be heard.
Lyra answers after my second knock. She’s in nothing but her bathrobe, with her thick braids piled on top of her head in a bun.
“You’re here fast. Just got out of the shower. I didn’t have a chance to finish getting ready.”
“I’ll wait. Your roommate?”
“Out for the night.”
I follow her into her bedroom where I’m treated to the delicious sight of her disrobing. The robe drops to the floor, and she walks to her closet in her bra and panties. I glance at her bed.
“I hope you’ve changed your sheets if Celeste was laying in them.”
She laughs. “Already ahead of you. I was so confused how she got in in the first place.”
“She’s like a rodent. She’ll always find a way.”
“So what was it she wanted to tell me?” she calls from the inside of the closet.
