Page 23 of Sinful Seduction
“Molly was home at ten.” Layla twists in her chair and snatches tissues from the box on the table in the far corner. “She was in her room, painting. She had headphones in her ears, which is something she does a lot. She was working on a landscape she’s been adding touches to for weeks. I checked.” She blows her nose and squeezes fresh tears onto her cheeks. “Ichecked, like I do every single night. I told her goodnight, and that I loved her, and I saiddon’t stay up too late. I said how, even though it’s the summer and she didn’t have to get up for school, that she shouldn’t make a habit of late nights. I checked.” Weeping, she drops her head again. “My babies were home when I went to bed.”
MINKA
“So she snuck out,” Archer murmurs, his heavy breath pulsing along the line. “They seem like decent people. Like regular, hard-working folks who know the world sucks, but they’re no one’s victims. Instead of saying shit is too hard, so they’re not even gonna try, they’ve pushed through and achieved good things, finding success and making enough money to be comfortable. And it sounds like they passed those values on to their kids.”
“Or, they thought they did,” I counter. Women giggle, and fabric floats through the air. The inside of Lori’s shop is but a chaotic blip in time, and I… I’m the smartest of them all, hanging at the edges and escaping the tulle and perfume and weird noises. If it weren’t hotter than Satan’s asshole out there, I’d have escaped outside and saved myself the torture of listening to my friends bicker and jeer, too. “So Benjamin is kinda Dad 2.0. Bad boy from the wrong side of town. And Molly is a smart, driven girl, but she’s sneaking out to see him when her parents have already set down a semi-permanent invitation for him to be at the house.”
“Guess they were doing things, or seeing people, her parents wouldn’t have approved of.”
“Dad got an alibi for the time of the shooting?”
Archer chuckles, the sound hitting my ear like a gentle pat of his hand on my butt. “You and I sometimes think the same. Dad has a history in that world, and maybe he’s all straitlaced and professional now—he hashis own financial firm these days—but you and I both know that kind of muscle memory doesn’t go away so easily.”
“You think he did it to get rid of the boyfriend?”
“I asked,” he quips, his shirt ruffling as he moves. “It had to be done, and he wasn’t surprised or offended when I did. Claims he was home with the wife, and at the time they went to bed, all three of their kids were inside the home, locked up and safe. Alibi is wobbly at best, but if we take him at his word…”
“Then he didn’t do it. Wanted to,” I amend. “Probably dreamed of it. But it wasn’t him.”
“Plus, Clay’s statement has witnesses bolting in opposite directions. Fletch and I have been door-knocking and collecting security footage since we left the hospital. Talking to anyone who might’ve seen or heard anything. So far, no one is saying shit, but they’re giving us whatever footage they have.”
“And?”
He scoffs. “And so far, we’re no closer to figuring this out than we were yesterday. How’s dress shopping going?”
“Like I wanna jam a screwdriver in my eye socket.” I snag a seat by the far wall, shoving rolls of fabric to the floor, and frowning at the split in my dress as I sit and fold one leg over the other. I haven’t shaved my legs today, and my skin is one shade darker than pasty white, thanks to my Egyptian ancestors and a weekend spent at the lake last month. Hunching in on myself, my lungs pinch and squeeze in the tight constraints of a boned, corset-style gown.
Because Aubree takes pleasure in tormenting me.
“Eli is chattering about babies.Loudly.Fifi’s helping Mia with her dress and plaiting her hair and doing all sorts of sweet crap that shewasn’tdoing when Fletch was here, like she didn’t want him to see. Oh! And the mayor?—”
“The mayor?”
“The mayor called Fifi!”
“Er…” He stops moving. Stops walking. Stops breathing, even. “So?”
“So, hecalledher! I just know he knew she was here with us, and I know he wants to discuss the road trip from hell. Jen told him I tossed her off a building, Archer. So I know he’s waiting… watching… he’s setting his trap, and he’s coming for me.”
“Did he ask Fifi to hand you the phone? Did he ask her about you? Pumping her for information?”
“Well, no. Not that I know, but?—”
“But you’re a weirdo,” he laughs. “What time are you leaving there?”
“I don’t know! It’s been hours already, and they’re still fliffing and flaffing and fluffing. They’re noisy and clucky and aggressive.”
“The fuck is fliffing and flaffing?”
“It’s annoying and weird, that’s what it is! But seeing as how you’re the primary detective, and you’re currently working a homicide investigation, youactuallyhave the power to save me from this.”
“You think so?”
“I know so! You could say the words right now, Archer. Say you need your medical examiner on scene immediately, and I wouldhaveto go. It’s my job.”
“It’s…” He pauses, grunts, then continues, “Five o’clock. Thereabouts. Which means Lori’s will shut soon, and food will need to be consumed or the womenfolk will rebel. Tell Aubree and them to finish up, then go to the bar and eat.”
“Why should we even go to the bar anymore?” I sit back—my lungs force me to—and rest my head against the wall. “Aubree and Tim don’t stay there anymore. Tim hardly even works there. It’s just Daisy and her perky boobs running the place. So why the hell should I spend my time or money there?”