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“This is not the time to lie. A woman is dead.Twowomen are dead. You were here. This is going to get ugly. Tell me now so I can do damage control. I will find a way to get the information to the police without involving you.” She’d tell Flynn whatever it was and he’d help her with it. She was certain she could count on his discretion.
“Fine.” They stood next to Susan’s sports car. The rain had finally eased off to a drizzle. “I saw Calli earlier in the evening arguing with Gina. They were whispering so I couldn’t make out what they said but Gina grabbed Calli by the arm and I can guarantee that she left marks.”
“Did anyone else see?”
Susan refused to answer.
Harper caught her boss’s gaze. “I don’t care who you’re fucking, but they are a witness and I need to know what the hell is going on.”
“Fine,” Susan said through clenched teeth. “I was with Richard.”
“Lockerby?” Harper tried to keep the surprise out of her voice. Lockerby was a good-looking man and younger than Susan by fifteen or more years. He didn’t strike Harper as the type to want to go out with an older woman.
“Yes.”
Harper nodded. “Okay, then. I will do my best to clean this up and keep you as far from it as I can, but Susan, I was serious in there. Stop screwing around when you’re on city business. Your sex life and Cedar Bluff business can’t mix.”
Susan’s lips thinned into a belligerent line and her eyes snapped at Harper, but she said nothing. Turning, she got into her car and left in a shower of pebbles. Harper stood and watched the taillights fade.
“Learn anything good?” Flynn said coming to stand next to her.
“How much did you hear?”
Flynn smiled. She’d known he was there. She seemed to be able to feel his presence even when she couldn’t see him. “Does it strike you as odd that Lockerby is sleeping with Susan?”
“Yes. He’s up to something. I expect it’s some business he wants to do here in town and he’s going to need Susan’s help to get something done. That’s my guess anyway.” Flynn touched his fingertips to the small of her back.
“You don’t think it has anything to do with Calli or Astrid’s deaths?”
Flynn shrugged. “Probably not.”
Harper shivered.
“Let’s get you back inside. But Harper, I need you to stay very close to me. I don’t like you being here. It’s obviously dangerous. Someone tried to push you down the stairs and they succeeded with Calli, so if you’re here, you’re doing what I say and not giving me a hard time or I will throw you out.”
“Harper?” Jason called. “Are you coming in? Mandy is here.”
“Yeah.”
She started to move but Flynn caught her arm. “Harper.” His voice was pitched low. It seemed to rumble out of his chest and she felt each syllable in hers. She swallowed. The electricity between them was still there, snapping and pinging. She was shocked no one else noticed. To her, it felt like the sky was alight with it.
“Yes, I’ll do what you say. Despite what you think, I don’t have a death wish,” she said and then headed inside. She grabbed her tea from the table again and stood in the middle of the room, the reality of the situation sinking in.
She was going to have to stay in the house for a few days. Sure, Susan had said to stay and monitor the investigation. Make sure Jason treated the members with respect or whatever. But the subtext of her directive waswatch him like a hawk and report back if he screwed anything up.If he offended the members of the Rainy Day Club, all the better as long as Harper was there to smooth everything over. The cops were bullies. They were bumbling. They were whatever Susan thought would make people dislike them. She and the chief were mortal enemies. Anything to make him look bad and her look good. Harper would have to stay and make sure everything was handled perfectly.
Flynn came up behind her. She turned to him. “I’m going to need an office or a place to work.”
“Of course,” he smiled. His eyes snapped at her, the promise of something dark and tantalizing in their depths. “Mrs. Carruthers will get you settled when you’re ready. Then you and I can have a chat.”
She wasn’t getting off the hook and he wanted her to know it.Fine.
The chief looked over at them from the foyer. Flynn stepped forward with Harper. “Chief Clark, I’m Flynn O’Connor, one of the global security officers for the Rainy Day Club.” He offered the top cop his hand.
“Mr. O’Connor,” Clark said but he looked mildly confused. “Where’s Ravi Shah?”
That was a good question. Harper glanced around. She could’ve sworn she’d seen Shah earlier. Where the hell did he go?
“Shah is currently checking our security video from our exterior cameras. He’s already spoken with the night security guard at the gate and no one came by car. We’re checking to see if they came by foot.”
