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“No. No. I painted the room over years ago before my parents sold it. She had to come in contact with the paint at the Manor.”
Jason set his tea down on the table. “I think you’re grasping at straws a bit here. You painted over your room, maybe the new owners of the Manor painted over their rooms as well. She—”
“They didn’t,” she blurted.
He stopped and stared at her. “And you know this how?”
“I checked this evening while I was at the party.”
His brow furrowed. “You went to the party? I’m…surprised.”
“It wasn’t my choice. Susan demanded that I attend. I spent most of the night reassuring people that there wasn’t a homicidal maniac on the loose.”
“I see. What room did you see the paint in?” he asked.
“It was upstairs in what I think was a library.” He needed to believe her. This could be a real lead that would take them to Astrid’s killer.
Jason sat back on the sofa. “I thought they didn’t let non-members of the Rainy Day Club off the ground floor,” he stated, his eyes accusing.
“Yeah, well…it was a party. I wandered around some.”
He let out a breath. “I’d advise you to leave this to the department. I know you’re hurting, but seriously Harper, stay out of it and let us do our jobs.”
“But the paint, Jason. She had it under her fingernails.” Harper got to her feet. “You know as well as I do there’s something weird about the Rainy Day people. The whole thing stinks. It needs to be investigated.”
Jason got to his feet. “Okay,” he said raising his hands as if to appease her. “Okay. I will see what I can find out and if anything else leads to the Manor, I will check it out. Your word on paint color isn’t going to cut it.”
He was placating her, and she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t jumping all over this lead.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”
He nodded and then tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to head home.” He walked over to the doorway, and grabbed his coat off the hook.
Harper followed him but had the sneaking suspicion that Jason was feeling disappointed somehow. Did he think she would invite him to spend the night? If so, he was sadly mistaken. She wasn’t one to jump into bed with anyone. A quick flash of the stranger at the party entered her brain. She’d wanted to jump into bed with him, no question.
“Keep dry tonight. Try to get some rest.” Jason offered her a tired smile.
“I will. You, too.”
He leaned over and squeezed her arm. “Please trust me, Harper. I will do my absolute best to find out what happened to Astrid.” He gave her another quick smile and then he was gone.
She watched him get into his car and then closed her door and locked it again. He’d said he'd ‘find out what happened to Astrid, not find Astrid’s killer. Did that matter? Was she splitting hairs? Maybe, but his phrasing bothered her.
A lot.
* * *
Harper woke with a start, her heart hammering against her ribcage. She stayed frozen, listening. What had woken her up? The wind howled. Could that have been it? Maybe a shutter banged or something…except she didn’t have any shutters.
She turned her head and glanced at the clock. And was disoriented by the lack of display.Great. No power.She didn’t think she’d been in bed for a couple of hours. The storm was still raging. Willing her body to relax again, she settled deeper into her pillows. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes popped back open as she caught a smell that didn’t belong in her room. The scent of lavender filled the air. What the hell? She strained her ears but could hear nothing.
Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. Lavender filled her nose. She hated lavender with a passion. Nothing she owned had that scent so how could it be in her house? Grabbing her cell phone off the charger, she started to dial for help. She got as far as the nine-one and then stopped. What the hell would she tell the dispatcher?Hi, it’s the deputy mayor. I smell lavender in my house. Can someone come check, please?Yeah. No. That wasn’t happening.
She bit her lip, hit the second one but didn’t hit the call button. Instead, she kept her finger close to it and then slowly walked across her room toward the hallway, sniffing quietly as she went. The scent was stronger in the corridor. She shivered. Only wearing her boxer shorts and tank was a mistake. With the power off, her condo had cooled down.
Shadows flickered on the wall where the hallway opened to the great room below. A cold sweat broke out across her body. Her hands were slick on her cell phone case. There was nothing that could cause those shadows. Nothing at all. She leaned on the wall and peeked around the corner, looking into the room below.
A small gasp escaped her throat as she clutched the corner. She tore her gaze away and searched every inch of the room below but saw no one. She stayed still and tried to sense if someone other than her was in the condo. She waited for at least a full minute, but she was sure she was alone. At least she was now.
