Page 28 of Little Dark Deeds (Georgiana Germaine #12)

I ’d been banging on the door of Chad’s apartment for what seemed like several minutes, though in reality, it hadn’t been that long.

“Open the door, Chad,” I said. “Your car’s in the driveway, and your lights are on. I know you’re here.”

The door opened moments later, and I was taken aback to see it wasn’t Chad.

A woman stood before me, her long hair a tangled mess.

Her face was flushed, like she’d been running and was out of breath.

A navy-colored sheet was draped around what appeared to be her naked body, making it clear my arrival had come as somewhat of an interruption.

She blew a lock of hair off her face and glared at me. “Do you have any idea what time it is right now?”

“I’m aware. I need to speak with Chad. Where is he?”

“He’s in the bathroom, lady. Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here in the middle of the night, but he’s busy. To make myself clear, he’s not accepting visitors right now.”

She’d made herself clear.

Now it was my turn to return the favor.

I leaned around her, shouting, “Chad, get out here. Now .”

Unhappy, the woman spread her arms, and the sheet fluttered to the ground. For a moment, she looked embarrassed, and I thought she’d pick it up.

She didn’t, though.

She stood her ground, and part of me respected her for it, but if she thought she was going to prevent me from entering Chad’s apartment, she was about to learn a new life lesson.

“I’ll give you one chance to get out of my way,” I said. “You should take it.”

“Oh, yeah? Or what? Like I said ... you’re not coming in.”

I grabbed her arm, wrenching it behind her back as she yelped in pain, and I wasn’t even pulling, not hard. I pushed her to the side and entered the apartment, releasing her arm as I said, “Don’t even think about coming at me.”

But she’d already thought about it, and she rushed toward me, fists raised. As she attempted to land a punch, I jerked back, and she stepped forward, tripping over my heeled shoe and falling over the back of the couch.

“I warned you,” I said. “Do yourself a favor and stay down.”

I didn’t think she’d heed that advice, but before she had the chance to make another bad decision, Chad rushed downstairs.

“What in the ... Georgiana? What are you doing here? And Lacey, why is your naked body bent over my couch?”

Lacey brought herself to a sitting position, grabbing a couple of couch pillows and placing them in front of her to cover up. She shot me dagger eyes, saying, “It’s her fault. She’s the crazy one, not me. Who is she, one of your ex-girlfriends?”

“Uh, no,” I said. “Not even close.”

I walked back to where the sheet had fallen and picked it up, tossing it at her.

“Gee, thanks,” she said.

Then I glanced at Chad. “We need to talk.”

“We need to talk, all right. Showing up at a person’s house in the middle of the night just because you’re working an investigation is not cool, not cool at all.”

“What are you talking about?” Lacey asked. “What investigation?”

Chad squeezed his eyes shut, sighing. “Remember me telling you about my ex-girlfriend, the one who was just murdered? Georgiana is one of the investigators.”

Lacey raised a brow, her expression softening. “ You’re the friend.”

“I’m the friend,” I said.

“Well, hey ... ahh, sorry about Tiffany, but Chad’s right. You shouldn’t barge in at this hour.”

“It’s not something I do often. This couldn’t wait.”

“ What couldn’t wait?” Chad asked.

“We should talk in private.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t see why Lacey can’t hear it. I have nothing to hide.”

Understatement of the year, right there.

“Don’t you?” I asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You want to talk in front of her? Fine,” I said. “Before Tiffany died, you were following her. You took pictures. Then you left those pictures on Tyler’s wife’s car.”

He cocked his head back, laughing. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. And if you’re lying to me about that, what else are you lying about?”

“I don’t know what you think you know—”

“I don’t think I know anything. Fingerprints can be lifted off paper.

It isn’t easy, but it’s possible. When I met Tyler’s wife, Jana, she gave me the photos you took, the ones you left on the car.

I handed them over to the lab for testing.

About thirty minutes ago, I learned three prints were lifted.

Two belonged to Jana, and the third, to you. ”

“How would my prints even be identified? I’ve never ...” He slapped a hand to his forehead. “I ... ahh, I just remembered. I got pulled over once when I was thirteen for driving my dad’s car to La Salita Loca. So dumb. The cop was being a jerk, and I threw a taco at him.”

“You threw a taco at a police officer?”

“Yeah, and I was arrested for it. It was so stressful, and it happened so long ago, I forgot all about being fingerprinted.”

“Thanks for the story, but you still lied to me. I want to know why.”

Chad glanced at Lacey, thumbing at the door. “Sorry, babe. Georgiana’s right. We should speak in private. I’ll see you tomorrow, all right?”

Lacey shot up from the couch. “Are you kidding me?” Furious, she rushed upstairs, spewing curse words as she hurled items down the stairs—a brush, a pillow, a hoodie, a bag of chips.

As she continued to curse and bang things around upstars, I looked around, impressed with the overall look of his home. It was a lot nicer than I’d expected, and the furniture looked high-end. It was also one of the cleanest homes I’d ever been in, not a speck of dust anywhere.

Lacey came back down and snatched a duffel bag sitting on a chair. Shoving her belongings inside it, she slung the bag over her shoulder, offering Chad a dirty look as she sped to the door. “This is the last time, Chad! The last time. You hear me?”

The door slammed shut behind her, and he swished a hand through the air. “She says it’s the last time, every time. It’s not. But man, I should have bummed a smoke from her before she left. I could use one.”

“Who is she, anyway?”

“One of my coworkers. We’ve known each other for years. It’s not serious. More like friends with benefits, you know?”

I didn’t know.

I’d never had one of those.

“You sure she’s not more into you than you are into her?” I asked.

“We tried to be more than friends once. It wasn’t good.”

I moved a hand to my hip. “Let’s talk about the photos and the fact you lied to me. What have you got to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Sorry is a good start. Why lie in the first place?”

“I don’t know. I thought about telling you when I first saw you, and then I got all in my head about how you’d feel if I did—like I’m a suspect. You believe me when I say I’m innocent, don’t you?”

“How can I?”

“I could never do something so awful. Not just to Tiffany, to anyone.”

In truth, even though he’d lied to me, I wanted to believe him.

I was also sure he still loved Tiffany, and not in the if I can’t have you, no one will kind of way.

But was I wrong?

“Back to the photos,” I said. “I have an idea of what you were hoping to achieve. Still, I’d like to hear it.”

He nodded and dropped down on the couch. “After Tiffany broke up with me, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, and him , the guy who swooped in and made a train wreck of the life we were trying to rebuild. So yeah, I followed them a few times, and I took some photos.”

“Wasn’t it painful, to watch the woman you love with another man?”

“More than you know.”

“But you did it anyway.”

“There was something about the guy, something off . I thought it was just my jealousy of him at first. But the feeling never went away. It lingered until the night I decided to follow him home. A woman greeted him at the door, and they kissed.”

“And you realized he was being unfaithful.”

He crossed his arms. “Yeah, but I didn’t know if he was seeing two women at the same time, or if one was his wife, the other a mistress, or what. I did an internet search of the address, and it came right up, Tyler and Jana Seymour, and I knew he was married.”

“Why not go to Tiffany, tell her what you found out?”

“I would have had to admit I’d been following her around, spying on her.”

“So, you decided to let Tyler’s wife be the bad guy.”

“I thought it was a better plan. Tyler’s wife deserved to know, just like Tiffany did. I put the photos on Jana’s car, figuring it would do the trick, and I was right. That night when Tyler showed up at Tiffany’s, they fought. He cried. She cried. And he left, angry. I hoped it was over.”

I had to admit, it was the smarter play.

Jana did what he hoped she’d do—confronted Tiffany about Tyler.

And the best part?

Neither Jana nor Tiffany knew who left the photos, leaving Chad in the clear.

“I’m surprised you didn’t swoop in, saving the day,” I said.

He shrugged. “I thought it was better to give her time to process it all. Thinking back on that decision now, I realize time was the one thing we didn’t have.”

“You couldn’t have predicted what happened.”

He sighed. “Well, there you have it. The whole story.”

“You were seen one night, taking photos. Except you were in a black truck, but you drive a car.”

“The truck is my dad’s. I thought if I was in my car, she’d recognize me. And hey, if you see Jana again, tell her I’m sorry. I’m sure those photos caused her pain. I was just trying to help her see the truth about her husband.”

She saw it.

And for whatever reason, she wanted him back.

“I just have one more question before I go,” I said.

“Shoot.”

“Has a woman named Queenie come to see you?”

“I was just about to mention her. Yes, she did. She got right in my face, drilling me with questions about Tiffany, asking me where I was at the time of the murder. She told me the police were busy with the case and asked her to come out of retirement to assist. Is that true?”

“It isn’t. Queenie was Tiffany’s neighbor. She’d started conducting her own investigation into the murder.”

“What do you mean she was Tiffany’s neighbor?”

“She’s dead. She was murdered in her home earlier today.”

“Two murders on the same street in one week? That’s crazy.”

“Did she show you anything when she came to see you?”

“Yeah, a photo of a lighter on her cell phone. She said it was found at the crime scene and that it has a bloody fingerprint on it.”

A lighter was found, yes.

But it was a smear, not a fingerprint.

“What else did she say?” I asked.

“She claimed the lighter was mine and said the police were closing in. If I admitted to Tiffany’s murder, I might be able to strike a deal in exchange for my confession.”

It explained why she was dead.

She’d tried to coerce a confession.

Had Chad been the only one she’d accused?

If there were others, had she used the same tactic on everyone?

Those answers would have to wait until tomorrow.

If I was going to be on top of my game, I needed sleep.

“I’m going to head out,” I said.

“Hang on a minute.”

“What is it?”

“The lighter isn’t mine, and everything I just told you is true. I hope it makes up for, you know ... not telling you the truth before.”

“I have a lot to think about. The police will want to speak with you the first chance they get. When you do, don’t lie to them.”