Page 74 of It's a Wonderful Knife

If River and Lucas were sharing a bed, did that solve the mystery of whether or not their relationship was strictly platonic? It wasn’t that guy friends couldn’t share a bed. But based on my personal experience, a lot of the guys I knew wouldn’twantto, unless it was that or the floor. Usually,ifthere was another option, like a pullout couch, one of the guys would prefer to sleep on that.

Why am I even thinking about this when there’s a murder to be solved?

I was obviously exhausted if I was fixating on something so unimportant. I cleared my throat. “That would be great, River,” I said. “Amelia shouldn’t be alone.”

“I’ll go talk to her.” River moved away, making a beeline for Amelia.

“Do you want me to tell everyone, other than the three people you need to talk to, that they can go to their cabins?” Lucas asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll make sure Gianna, Mona, and Ezra know to stick around.”

Max frowned. “I think your instincts are right. We should talk to Gianna first. Otherwise, Hermina will be alone.”

“God, this is getting tricky.” I grimaced. “Okay, yeah, let’s talk to Gianna now.”

“I’ll go tell her, and we’ll meet you in the office.” Max headed toward Gianna, who was seated next to Hermina.

While he went to Gianna, I approached Ezra. I still didn’t have eyes on Mona. As I neared the older man, he looked wary. “Do you know where Mona is?” I asked.

Ezra shook his head. “Nope. She was upset about something earlier. I don’t know where she went.”

“Uhh…” I found it odd that there was a killer on the loose, but Ezra hadn’t bothered to check on his wife. “Maybe she’s in your bedroom?”

“Could be.” He sniffed, showing no indication he gave a damn.

“I want to talk to you and Mona after I talk to Gianna. Do you think maybe you could track her down for me?”

Giving a weary sigh, he scowled. “I guess.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”

He grunted and headed toward the stairs just off of the living room, which led to the upper living quarters. I turned, shaking my head, and noticed Dakota watching me from across the room. The boy looked tired and worried—understandable under the circumstances. He pulled his gaze away when I noticed him, and he said something to Chloe, who sat beside him. She smiled at him and patted his hand.

When I arrived at the office, Gianna and Max were there, waiting to be let in. Gianna was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She smiled as I neared, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m glad to get this over with,” she said softly.

“I’ll try to make it painless.” I smiled at her as she moved into the room.

“Sit in the comfortable chair,” Max said, taking a seat in one of the folding chairs.

“Thank you.” Gianna settled in the chair, and she crossed her hands in her lap. She looked demure and a bit fragile. She’d pursued Santiago so determinedly, but now she looked deflated. Lost. Not that she was to blame for what had happened between them. Santiago had been equally aggressive in chasing after what he desired.

“I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Santiago.” I spoke softly, and still she seemed to flinch.

“What do you want to know?”

I didn’t want to upset her by being too blunt, but it was late, and I needed to get to Mona and Ezra too. “Can you tell me a bit about your relationship with Santiago?”

She widened her eyes. “My… my relationship?”

“What was he to you?”

She dropped her gaze. “He was a guest, the same as me.”

“Sure, but, I think we both know there was more than that between you.”

Her uneasy gaze flicked up to mine. “No. Why would you say that?”