Page 41 of Kiss Marry Kill

“I was trying to stay out of sight.” He gave me a sheepish look. “Mostly your sight.”

“Should have just gone home, Kobe.”

Letting out a shaky breath, he said, “I know. I know.” After a moment, he continued. “I saw Janelle go for a walk. I was thinking about following her so I could apologize, but then Archie’s chauffeur pulled up. Him and Archie had a short conversation, and then Janelle’s mother came outside.”

“Okay. Do you know why she came outside?”

“Not exactly. I thought she was coming out to console Janelle, but she wasn’t.”

“No?” It was true that, from what I’d seen, Angela hadn’t shown any motherly concern to her daughter. “What did she do when she got outside?”

“She went around the side of the restaurant with Archie.”

“She did?”

“Yep. There’s a little private patio and gazebo there.” He grimaced. “I think Angela was drunk. She was very touchy-feely with Archie. She’s like that when she drinks. I remember when I was dating Janelle, even though she didn’t like me, Angela would flirt with me.”

“Janelle’s mother flirted with you?” I frowned.

“Yes. Only when she drank though. I get the feeling she’s very lonely. She has low self-esteem, even though she acts like she’s the queen of England. She craves attention, and she can’t hide that when she’s drunk.”

I set my pen down. “If she just wanted to talk to Archie, she could have done that at the front of the building.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Any idea what they were doing together in that gazebo?”

“No. The visibility wasn’t great where I was.” He dropped his gaze.

He knew more than he was letting on, that was obvious. “How long were they alone together in the gazebo?”

He shrugged. “I guess about twenty minutes.”

“And then what?”

“Then Angela came back around the side of the building.” His voice wobbled. “She looked flustered, and her dress was hitched up around her thighs.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you suggesting she had sex with Archie on the side of the restaurant?”

He winced. “I’m just telling you what I saw.”

Feeling uneasy, I asked, “Doyouthink they had sex?”

He didn’t respond.

“You should be as forthcoming as possible with me, Kobe.”

“I don’t want to get anybody in trouble.”

Sighing, I said, “Do I need to remind you that you’re the one in trouble right now? The more forthright you are with me, the better. Do you think Archie had sex with Angela?”

“Well, like I said, she’s flirtatious when she drinks.”

“So then… that’s a yes?”

He swallowed hard. “Let me just say, if I’d been the type of guy who cheated on my girlfriend, Angela would have been only too willing to sleep with me. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that I was her daughter’s boyfriend.”

I was definitely thrown by his assessment of Angela. His version of her was at odds with how she presented herself. Of course, people wore masks and pretended to be who they weren’t all the time. Angela did strike me as someone who needed a lot of attention.