by Kay Bigelow
Leah grabbed her bag, stuffed the report into it, and left the bungalow. She wanted to talk to Peony and Alex. She arrived at their bungalow in two minutes and knocked on the door.
Peony opened the door with a cheery, “Good morning, Boss.” She was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, and was barefooted.
“Ready to go to work?” Leah asked.
“Absolutely. Come in. I’ll get Alex and my computer.”
Leah followed her into the bungalow. Their bungalow was very similar to her own. But with six women sharing the space, it felt smaller and was more cluttered. Peony left Leah in the living room. She and Alex were back in a minute.
“Let’s go into the kitchen. Our roommates are out at the pool,” Peony said.
“Better yet, let’s go out to the front porch,” Leah said.
Once they were settled with their coffee mugs and computers opened and ready to go, Leah asked, “Have you read Cots’s report on the guests?”
“Yes, we have.”
“What were your impressions?”
“I think we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Alex said.
“Why?” Leah asked.
“We need to establish who she is before we can figure out why she was killed,” Peony said.
“Are you sure?” Leah asked. “What if we figure out why she was killed? Won’t that give us a starting place to find out who she is?”
Peony looked into the middle distance as she chewed on what Leah had proposed.
“What if she was killed not because of who she was, but what she was?” Peony asked after a few minutes.
“What she was? Like a prostitute or something? She’s too young to be a prostitute.” Alex paused, and then said, “Forget I said that. I know better.”
“Possibly, but not likely because of her age. It could be something less obvious,” Peony said.
“Like what?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Let’s keep our options open,” Leah said. “Keep me informed if you find something, Alex.”
“Will do, Boss.”
“Peony, meet me at the big house in an hour, and bring your team. We’ll have breakfast and then get to work. Sometime today, I’d appreciate it if you’d do a sweep of my bungalow. I found both listening devices and video feeds, but Jardain needs assurances that I found everything before she can relax and enjoy our vacation. I also need you to tell me where the video feeds go. I want the tapes and any backups they’ve made. I think someone is blackmailing Stanhope and I want it stopped.”
“I’ll make sure we sweep your place before dinner. We were relatively clean here. One dead listening device and one that gave me the impression of having been put in place in a hurry. Did you, by chance, bring what you found with you?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good. We can begin the analysis of the bugs and vids before we leave for breakfast. The analysis will take a few hours, but we should have results by dinner as well. Then we’ll know the quality and quantity of the bugs and vids. I’ll also get Cots to run a face-recognition search while we’re tied up with the guests,” Peony said.
“Thanks. Alex, will you excuse us? I need to talk to Peony in private,” Leah said to Peony.
Alex went inside while Peony and Leah went out to the road. Leah said, “I’d like for you to watch the videos from my bungalow by yourself. There may be a vid with Jardain and me on it from yesterday. If there is, remove it from the feed and send it to me. Definitely do not let Cots have that part of the video. Also, this is not Jardain’s first visit to Wild and she stays in that bungalow so some of the earlier tapes will undoubtedly have her on them. We’ll deal with the rest of the people on the videos after Cots runs his face-recognition searches.”
“Yes, ma’am. I can snip the part with you and Jardain off the tape because it’s at the end, and no one will be the wiser. Boss, thanks for bringing me here. It’s more beautiful than I ever imagined it would be.”
“I’m sorry you have to work while you’re here,” Leah said. She made a mental note to herself to make arrangements for Peony and a guest return to Wild after the case was resolved for some well-deserved downtime.
“Boss, Alex and I would like to take a look at the crime scene to get a feel for what happened there. Is that okay?”
“That’s an excellent idea. The crime scene is along the east side of the path we took last night to get here. You should see the crime scene tape still marking the scene. We’re not exactly sure where the girl was killed, only where she was found. We haven’t ruled out that she was killed where we found her, so look for something, anything, that might indicate she was killed where we found her. Check out the nearby trees. The doctor said she found something in the face wounds and the only thing near where we found her are trees.”
While Leah knew she would never be comfortable doing it herself, she loved the way Peony’s mind worked. Maybe I could loosen up a little. Life might be more enjoyable if I could admit I liked stopping to smell the flowers without feeling guilty about doing it.
Chapter Thirteen
When Leah returned to the bungalow, Dani was in the shower singing. Leah smiled. Who would have thought Dani sang in the shower? Leah didn’t recognize the song but heard the word “love” a couple of times. She didn’t want to interrupt the performance, so she leaned against the doorjamb until Dani stopped singing.
When Dani stepped out of the shower, she started. “Damn, you’re going to give me a heart attack if you keep sneaking up on me. How long have you been standing there?”
“I didn’t ‘sneak’ up on you. I’ve been here since, I think, the first verse.”
“Phuc.” Dani walked across the bathroom and took Leah in her arms and kissed her. “Since you didn’t run screaming from the room, I guess you really do love me,” she said, smiling.
“Nothing you can do will drive me away,” Leah said, ignoring that Dani had just gotten her clothes wet. She knew she only need stand out in the sun for a few minutes for them to be as dry as the desert.
“I hope not,” Dani said and kissed her again. “What are we doing today?”
“I’m meeting my team at the big house for breakfast. You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“Will you be discussing the case?” Dani asked as she moved into the bedroom. “I don’t suppose we have time for a quick snuggle?”
“I wish,” Leah said as she moved into her closet to make sure she was presentable in the full-length mirror there. When she emerged from the closet, she said, “We won’t discuss the case over breakfast—there’s too many people listening. But we will be talking about it afterward if you want to sit in.”
Dani met her at the foot of the bed after she emerged from the closet.
“I like you better naked,” Leah murmured.
“Tonight, I’ll show you how much I like you naked.”
“God, I hope so.”
“We better get a move on. I’ll call ahead and get them to set a table for us in the private dining room. How many will there be?”
“Seven. Eight if you’ll join us.”
While Dani was on the phone with Camryn, Leah got her daily bag, added her computer to Cots’s report already inside it, and considered herself ready to go. She moved out the front door to the cart and got into the driver’s seat. When Dani joined her, she handed Leah the keys.
“Did you get some new info from Cots you can share?”
“He did a search on all the guests whose check out times are near. Nothing of note there. He also did the searches on the staff.”
“What did he find on the staff?”
“The only one with a red flag was Stanhope and he didn’t add any more than we already knew. He also did an extensive search on Camryn and Anabel Cooper. He found that amongst the people who know Cooper, she is universally hated. He’s expanding his search on her. He likes her for a suspect.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know yet. Perhaps for no other re
ason than he’s eliminated the other people on the list. Or that she’s obnoxious. We’ll find out what we can here, he’ll continue his search, and maybe between us we’ll come up with something concrete.”
“Maybe we’ll find something new here.”
“Dani, I still want to know what your firsts have been. Don’t even think I’ll forget them,” Leah said, smiling.
“I won’t. I want to share them with you.”
As they motored down the path toward the main house, they caught up to the rest of their team who were walking to the main building instead of taking the van. Dani reached over and honked the cart’s horn—the sound barely qualified as a honk since it was high-pitched and tinny. Nevertheless, it startled several of the women because the car was silent and could easily sneak up on people. Leah slowed down enough to tell them they’d be in the private dining room.
“Peony, tired of being beaten by my hover-car yet?” Dani said as they moved past Peony and Alex.
“In your dreams, Bensington,” Peony said, laughing.
Leah had them moving quickly toward the big house before things got riotous.
Camryn was waiting for them on the front porch when they arrived. “I heard you and your people were coming in for breakfast. In addition to giving you the private dining room, we’re setting up a buffet for you. Easier on us and easier for you as well.”
“Thanks so much for accommodating us. I’ve got good news for you. I’ve sent you a message saying you can release some of your guests to return to their homes. However, I want Anabel Cooper to stay here.”
Disappointment was written all over Camryn’s face. “She had the private dining room booked for her and her guest as she does most mornings. I had to boot her out which was fun, but she threw a temper tantrum and lit into the messenger.”
“I’ll tell her I commandeered the room for our headquarters. Will that help? What’s the name of the messenger? Where is Cooper now?” Leah asked.
“That will help a lot. Thank you. The concierge’s name is Bette. And Cooper’s in the dining room abusing more of the staff.”
While they waited for Peony and the others to arrive, Dani stepped over to the concierge desk. Leah watched as she said a few words to the young woman and handed her something. The woman grinned broadly and shook hands with the owner.
“How much did you give her,” Leah asked when Dani rejoined her.
“How do you know I gave her anything?”
“How much?”
“A hundred. She didn’t hire on to be abused by a bully.”
“Do you carry your credits on a bunch of small cards?”
Dani laughed. “No, but I like to have cash to give to the staff when I see them do something special for our guests.”
Leah had discovered most of the people living in Victoria preferred to pay in the old-fashioned way with cash rather than using their credits cards. At least on Xing, cash was making a real comeback. She’d started carrying cash, too, several months earlier. But after wanting to buy a gift for Dani’s grandmother and not having enough cash on her to do so, she started carrying her credits card again. There was something about carrying cash that made her feel…she wasn’t exactly sure how it made her feel—more human?—but she liked the feeling of freedom it also engendered.
Leah enjoyed learning about Dani. The fact that she was kind to her staff was a plus as far as Leah was concerned. It hinted of her being compassionate.
Leah sent a short note to Stanhope telling her that the new arrivals would be working with her team to interview the guests to determine their whereabouts between the hours Reagan had determined for the time of the girl’s death. She also invited them to join them for breakfast and/or coffee.
Dani joined them for breakfast. Both she and Leah sat watching the younger women banter back and forth and get to know one another better. I bet it won’t be long until they’re a cohesive group. There doesn’t look like there’s anyone who wants to stand out from the crowd. She noted the lieutenant was flirting with Peony, who was obviously not immune to the woman and her physical charms. However, when Leah looked at Alex, she apparently wasn’t enthralled with Peony flirting with the lieutenant so she turned her attention to the youngest cop, Bailey. Maybe it’s a very good thing Cots didn’t come along on this trip because he seemed to be having a hard time with Peony having ended whatever they’d had going. He undoubtedly would not care for Peony flirting with the lieutenant any more than he liked her being with Alex. Cots was very humanlike in matters of the heart.
There was no talk about the case at all. After the detritus from breakfast was cleared away, Peony searched the room for bugs. She found two and disabled them and put them into an evidence bag. If anyone had been surprised by Peony’s actions and what she’d found, no one said a word.
Leah asked her crew to break into teams of two. She gave each team a list of guests to be interviewed. Since the guests whose stay on Wild had come to an end had already been interviewed and released, they’d be working on the guests who were due to go home.
“What we want to know is where they were between midnight and nine o’clock yesterday morning. Undoubtedly, many will tell you they were in bed asleep. Verify that if you can. If you have any reason for doubting the veracity of their statements, send me a note with the name of the guest and why you want her checked in more detail. As you go through your respective lists, mark off anyone who is free to leave the planet. I’ll notify them myself. As you complete your list, hand it to either myself, Peony, or Jardain. Also, keep your eyes and ears open, and if you see or hear anything, anything at all, that may be related to this matter, alert me at once.”
“Are gut reactions permitted?” one of the police officers asked.
“Absolutely. Just tell me why your gut is reacting to the guest,” Leah said. After pausing for a minute to let their assignments sink in and give them time to ask any questions that might occur to them, Leah said, “Okay. Let’s get to work. We’ll meet back here at noon for lunch. Then we’ll spend a few more hours interviewing guests this afternoon. We’ll have dinner together, and then the rest of the night is yours to enjoy.”
There were grins all around the table.
What is happening to you? Is it this planet? Or Dani? You’ve never ever given people any time off in the midst of a murder investigation. Drude! You’re getting soft. Or, far more likely, if you give your team the night off, you’ll be able to spend a guilt-free evening and night making love with Dani.
Chapter Fourteen
Once breakfast was over and the teams dispersed, Dani stood talking to Camryn near the door leading into the lobby. Leah still sat at the table holding her mug in both hands and sipping coffee and watching Dani. She was mesmerized by the woman. She’d never experienced an attraction so magnetic and so strong before, even for her wife.
Dani must have felt Leah’s hungry eyes on her because she glanced over. Out of the corner of her eye, Leah caught Camryn following Dani’s eyes and frowning when Dani and Leah smiled at one another. Camryn said something to Dani and left the room. Dani joined Leah at the table.
“Camryn didn’t seem too happy with you,” Leah said, fishing for information.
“She hasn’t been happy with me for a good long while,” Dani said.
“One of your one-night stands gone bad?”
“Yes. It was before I hired her to work here. She wanted more than I’d told her I was willing to give. Too many women think so highly of their lovemaking skills that they believe one night with them will turn any bachelorette into marriage material. Camryn wasn’t happy when I declined a chance to spend another night with her.”
“She must really hate that you’re spending fourteen nights with me. We need to be careful,” Leah said. She made a mental note to read Cots’s report on Camryn sooner rather than later.
“Why? She’s harmless.”
“Haven’t you heard the quote, ‘Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned/Nor hell a fury like a
woman scorned.’ It seems apt here.”
“I’ve heard something similar, but not exactly like that. Where’s it from?” Dani asked.
Leah was sure Dani was trying to deflect the conversation away from her love life.
“It’s a quote from a 1697 play named The Mourning Bride by William Congreve.”
“How do you remember shit like that?” Dani asked.
“The same way you remember psychiatric trivia. And my grandmother was a great admirer of the poets of that era. She would read them to me when I was a kid, then as she grew older, she liked me to read them to her. This was one of her favorites. As a teenager, I often wondered if my grandfather had cheated on her.”
“I’d like to meet your grandmother,” Dani said with a smile.
“You will, I promise.”
“What are we going to do with the rest of our day?”
“There’s not much I can do while the interviews are in progress and Cots is doing his research.”
“I have a couple of ideas on what we can do in the meantime.”
“Do you, now? What might those be?”
“We could take a drive around the compound so you can see the sights of my little piece of paradise.”
“Or?”
“Or we can go back to the bungalow.”
“Feeling the need to do some laps?”
“No. I’m feeling the need to do you.”
Leah stood up, put her bag on her shoulder after digging out the hover-car’s keys, and rounded the table. She held out her hand and said, “Let’s get the hell away from here, then.”
“Your wish is my command.”
They returned to the bungalow. Again, Leah sensed someone had been in the bungalow, but had the sense to take a look in the kitchen before jumping to the conclusion that someone with nefarious intentions had invaded their privacy. The feeling was much stronger than it had been the day before. Maybe the housekeeper is also the keeper of the listening and video devices. Could she have planted them? Of course she could have. I should interview her to see if she did the planting and who paid her to put her job here in jeopardy.