by Cole,Lyndsey
Giovanni looked from Piper to Aria and back again. “Besides Eli, who else are the police considering as suspects?” he asked them.
Jacqueline didn’t open her eyes. She remained lost in her memories of trekking in Patagonia.
Piper deferred to Aria for that question. She hoped Detective Bankston had shared something with his daughter by now.
Aria shook her head. “I don’t know. My dad doesn’t really tell me anything about his work.”
Jacqueline raised her head and her eyes flew open. “Your dad?” she asked.
“Yeah. Detective Garth Bankston is my dad,” she explained. Piper had left out her last name when she introduced her.
Jacqueline rested her head on the edge of the hot tub again and closed her eyes.
“Tell me how you know Eli is innocent,” Giovanni said, returning everyone’s thoughts to Wyatt’s murder.
“He was on video surveillance entering his building and never leaving it during the time of the murder,” Piper answered too quickly. She wanted the questions about Eli to stop. She didn’t want anyone to even consider him guilty since she’d been on a date with him.
Though only Aria knew that.
“Okay,” Giovanni said, holding up his hands in defense. “Didn’t mean anything by it.”
Aria laughed. “Piper’s just defending him because she was on a date with him the night Wyatt was murdered. She doesn’t want to admit she could have dated a murderer.”
Piper felt heat rise in her cheeks. She blamed it on the hot tub and the wine and took another sip.
Giovanni nodded his understanding. “Glad to hear you didn’t date a murderer. He sounds like he has a verifiable alibi. So that’s the end of the road then.”
“Not really,” Piper started. “We might not know who the police are looking at, but we have some other ideas of who might be guilty.”
Giovanni raised an eyebrow. Jacqueline remained uninvolved in the conversation with her head resting behind her. She only lifted it to sip her wine, which was nearly gone from her glass.
“And who might those people be?” he asked.
Piper shot Aria a quick look but her friend didn’t look concerned about sharing their suspects.
Giovanni sensed her hesitation and said, “I actually knew Wyatt relatively well. Not well enough that I knew about his murder before we got home, but he came over several times to work with the dogs.”
Piper tilted her head to the side. “I thought he was a reporter.” Lydie’s article about him did talk about plenty of interest in dogs, including training and fostering them, but she didn’t realize he was that involved.
Giovanni nodded while he sipped his wine. He drained his glass, smiled, and handed it to Piper. “He was. But his real passion was dogs. He had his own business training dogs on weekends.”
“That makes sense. When I told him I was taking care of two dogs, he asked all kinds of questions about them.” Piper didn’t mention that she told Wyatt how annoying she found Ivory and Cherry.
“Did he know you were staying here?” Giovanni asked.
Piper shook her head. “No. Just that I was dog-sitting two Pomeranians.”
“So, what else do you know about him?” Aria asked, turning the conversation back to the investigation instead of her and Piper’s double date on Saturday night.
“Let’s start with your suspects.” Giovanni’s voice turned all businesslike and almost had Piper in hysterics. Here were four completely untrained individuals trying to run an investigation into a murder from a hot tub.
Granted, only three of them were participating, but Jacqueline’s presence only added to the irony.
“Mariah Thorton,” Piper started. “She works at The Sunday Voice but used to work at the Bulletin. Wyatt got her job. So she could want revenge.”
Giovanni nodded encouragingly.
“Amber Choate,” Aria continued, looking at Piper for confirmation. Piper nodded. “An ex-girlfriend of Wyatt’s.”
Piper picked up the details of Amber. “Eli says Amber is crazy. Maybe she was stalking Wyatt.”
Aria turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow. “When did he tell you that? I was just repeating what Lydie told us last night.”
Piper sipped her wine to delay the inevitable answer. “I had lunch with him today.”
“When were you going to tell me that?” Aria shrieked. “I didn’t know you and Mr. Blind-Date-Flannel were even talking.”
Piper smiled at the silly nickname. “If he’s Mr. Blind-Date-Flannel, what does that make me?”
“Anyone else?” Giovanni asked before Aria could answer.
“Yeah, Heather O’Brien,” Piper said, turning back to Giovanni and silently thanking him for ending Aria’s line of questions.
Jacqueline’s face made a quick appearance so she could hold her glass in Piper’s direction for a refill. While Piper was at it, she filled Aria’s and her own glasses as well.
“Who’s that?” Aria asked. “I didn’t know you were doing more investigating on your own.”
“I didn’t really mean to,” Piper said. “But Eli and I got to talking … Heather owns Spiced Up. Where Wyatt was killed,” she added for Giovanni’s sake. “She certainly had opportunity. I don’t know if she had motive, though.”
Aria laughed. “Look at you throwing those words around. You’re really getting the hang of this. You sound like you could fit right in with my dad at work.”
Piper’s face warmed again at the praise and she sipped her wine to give her an excuse from responding.
“And Andy Hayward,” Piper continued, adding her final suspect to the list.
Aria raised her eyebrow in question again.
“Remember when we showed up Saturday night and Wyatt was getting into an argument?” she asked her friend. Aria nodded. “That was Andy Hayward. I knew he looked familiar but I couldn’t place him at the time. It was so out of context and there was so much going on. But I house sat for him. I meant to call him today but I kind of ran out of time. And I didn’t really have a reason to. I just wanted to learn about his relationship with Wyatt.”
“Okay,” Giovanni interrupted. “Five suspects but one has been cleared—”
“I know I said Eli’s innocent, but there were some kind of questionable things going on. Like avoiding the police yesterday. And having two phones, one of which seems to be somewhat unconnected to him so he can avoid being tracked.”
“What do you mean?” Aria asked. “You learned all of this at lunch with him?”
Piper shook her head. “No. That I learned yesterday when I got a drink with him. After your dad used me to track him down.”
“So are there four suspects or five?” Giovanni asked.
Piper met his gaze. She desperately wanted Eli to be innocent. “Five. Eli might not be guilty of killing Wyatt, but his behavior is certainly questionable and could mean he was involved.”
15
“But wasn’t Wyatt a good friend of his?” Aria asked, poking a hole right into Piper’s theory.
“Yeah,” Piper answered, unable to offer any other explanation. “Okay, four suspects,” she finally ceded, thought Eli remained in the back of her mind. She could move him down the list of suspects and come back to him if nothing panned out.
“Good. Mariah, Amber, Heather, and Andy,” Giovanni repeated.
“Honey, why don’t you go get some paper and make notes,” Jacqueline teased, finally opening her eyes. “And while you’re inside, bring the caviar.”
Giovanni laughed. “I’m not getting out of this hot tub. My memory is a lock box.”
Just like Meadow’s, Piper thought. He’d make a good lawyer.
“From what you know of Wyatt, can you think of any reason any of those suspects would want him dead?” Piper asked.
“He wasn’t dating Amber when he came to the house to train the dogs,” Giovanni started.
“Was there anything that might have made you think their relationship didn’t end well?” A
ria asked.
Giovanni shook his head. “He didn’t really talk about his personal life.”
“That’s not true,” Jacqueline interrupted, sitting up straight and looking at her husband. “He went on and on about Amber.”
Giovanni chuckled and sipped his wine. “Not to me, he didn’t.”
“That’s because you’re a guy.” Jacqueline turned to Piper and Aria. “Their relationship did not end well. He broke up with Amber about a month before he came to the house. But she was still trying to get him back. She would show up at his work at the Bulletin, she’d go to Wyatt’s apartment, she even crashed the first date Wyatt went on with another woman.”
Aria’s eyes bugged out. “Like, just showed up at the same restaurant?” she asked.
Jacqueline laughed what could only be called a cackle. “I think he wishes that’s all she did.”
Piper and Aria exchanged a surprised glance. “What happened?” Piper asked, her curiosity growing.
Jacqueline leaned forward, gearing up for a good story. Aria’s eyes sparkled at the anticipation. Aria loved juicy gossip, and Jacqueline seemed no better.
“Wyatt suspected that Amber was following him. So he even warned this new girl—I can’t remember her name. He told her that his crazy ex-girlfriend might show up.” Jacqueline raised an eyebrow as she said crazy. “So they picked a busy restaurant at peak dining time, hoping that Amber wouldn’t be able to get in and get a table. Well, it didn’t matter. She told the hostess she was meeting a couple of friends and pulled a chair up to Wyatt’s table!”
Aria gasped. “She didn’t …”
Jacqueline nodded, a wicked smile spreading her lips as wide as her ears. “She did. Wyatt tried to tell her to leave—even threatened her with a restraining order. But Amber pulled out an engagement ring and proposed to him!”
“What?! She got him an engagement ring?” Aria squealed, clearly delighted at this drama.
“Oh no. It didn’t make that much sense. She got the ring for herself.” Jacqueline cackled again.
“Hah!” Aria belted. “I’m guessing Wyatt said no.”
“You’ve got that right,” Jacqueline answered. “And the new relationship didn’t last, either. He was livid. He thought she might be the one. I wish I could remember her name …”
“It sounds like Wyatt might have wanted Amber dead, but would Amber want Wyatt dead?” Piper asked, refocusing Jacqueline’s attention on the current murder investigation.
“By now, I’m sure she would want him dead. He kept snubbing her. So if she couldn’t have him, she wouldn’t want anyone else to have him, either,” Jacqueline explained.
“Was she actually crazy?” Aria asked. “Or Wyatt just thought she was?”
Jacqueline shrugged and lay her head back down. “Don’t know. Never met the girl. I just know what Wyatt told me.” She closed her eyes and stretched her arms out on the hot tub’s walls behind her. “But if you’re looking for motives,” she added without opening her eyes or lifting her head, “I think you found one.”
Giovanni and Jacqueline called it an early night. They had just enough time to take a long nap before they had to go to the airport again. Jacqueline admitted that they only came home between flights because she wanted to see Ivory and Cherry.
Giovanni wanted to stay at the airport at the VIP lounge. But he did admit that spending a few hours in the hot tub was preferable to anything he could have found in the lounge.
“So you saw Eli for lunch?” Aria asked Piper as soon as they were the only two left in the hot tub.
Piper emptied her glass of wine before answering. She hoped that maybe Aria would change the subject before her wine was gone. No such luck. “I did.” She nodded. “We went to Munchies.”
Aria laughed. “I don’t care where you went or what you ate. You saw Eli. I didn’t know you were giving Mr. Blind-Date-Flannel another chance. After showing up on a suspect list for a murder investigation, I thought he’d be so far off your list of possible boyfriends that you’d need a telescope to see him.”
Piper smiled sheepishly. Her friend had a point. Even if Eli wasn’t guilty, did Piper want to associate herself with someone that close to a murder? It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend. They’d been on three dates. But maybe less. She didn’t know if everything they’d done had really even been dates.
“Did he have any interesting information about why Wyatt might be dead?” Aria asked when Piper remained silent.
“Less than Jacqueline did,” Piper admitted. “He thought Amber was crazy, which Jacqueline just confirmed. And he said Andy Hayward blamed Wyatt for the breakup of his marriage.”
“Why?” Aria asked, scrunching up her face. “Everyone wants to blame someone else for their problems. They can’t just admit they made a mistake to get themselves into trouble in the first place.”
Piper shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask when you had the chance? Come on Piper.” Aria finished her wine. “Do you think we can open another bottle?”
Piper laughed. “Yeah, but we probably shouldn’t. Are you taking another personal day tomorrow?”
“You’re probably right. What time is it anyway?”
Piper picked up Aria’s phone from the edge of the hot tub to check the time. “Ten thirty,” she told Aria.
“What? Really? Already? Where did the time go?” Aria stood up quickly and then sat back down with a splash. “I can’t drive.”
Piper smiled. “Don’t worry. There are plenty of beds here. And the housekeeper will take care of everything tomorrow.”
Aria furrowed her brow. “I don’t need someone cleaning up after me. Come on.” She stood slowly and picked up their glasses. “Bring the wine bottles.”
Piper did as she was told and realized what Aria thought she meant. “I didn’t mean I’d leave a mess out here. I meant she’d change the sheets on whatever bed you sleep in. She makes my bed no matter how many times I tell her she doesn’t have to. But it’s her job and she takes pride in it.”
“Fair enough.”
Aria deposited the glasses in the sink and Piper put the wine bottles in the recycling. “I’ll show you where you can sleep,” Piper said.
“Forget about it. I’m sharing your bed. This house is way too big. I’d feel like I was in another town.”
Aria and Piper changed from their wet swim suits into pajamas and got into bed. Piper thought she was off the hook talking about Eli, but Aria brought it up immediately after a yawn.
“Besides Andy and Amber, did Eli have anyone else to add to the suspect list? You had quite a few names on there when Giovanni asked.”
Piper shook her head in the darkness. “No. I even came up with one of them—Heather O’Brien. She owns Spiced Up. I don’t know if she even knew Wyatt, but she certainly had opportunity.”
“Okay. So Amber had motive. Andy had motive. Heather had opportunity. Wasn’t there someone else?”
“Yeah,” Piper reminded her. “Mariah Thorton. She had motive. I talked to her today. She claims she quit at the Bulletin, but I don’t buy it.”
“Piper,” Aria squealed, sitting up in bed. The blankets pulled toward her and off of Piper. Piper pulled them back. “You can’t just go around talking to murder suspects.”
Piper waited for Aria to lay back down. “It’s not like I met her in a back alley. I went to The Sunday Voice and talked to her. Nothing was gonna happen to me. There were so many people working there.”
Piper could still feel Aria’s gaze on her. She ignored her friend and picked up her phone to check the time.
“Well, what was her motive?” Aria finally asked.
Piper answered before unlocking her phone. “She says she quit working at the Bulletin, but Lydie made it sound like Wyatt might have gotten her fired. Or at least stolen her job.”
“So you think she wanted revenge?” Aria asked.
“I’m not writing that off.” Piper pressed the button on the side of her phone to see
how late it was. But it wasn’t the time that caught her attention when her phone lit up. She had a missed call.
From Andy Hayward.
16
“What is it?” Aria asked when Piper didn’t put her phone down. “Is it that late already?”
Piper didn’t answer right away.
“Piper,” Aria said, rolling over to face her. “Put your phone away. We both have work tomorrow.” Aria yawned.
“Andy Hayward called me earlier,” Piper said, turning the screen off again and stashing the phone next to the bed.
“Andy Hayward, the murder suspect?” Aria asked.
In the darkness, Piper couldn’t see Aria but knew she was still facing her. “Yeah. Andy Hayward the murder suspect. Our murder suspect anyway.”
“Well what did he want?” Aria asked, rolling heavily away from Piper.
“I don’t know. I didn’t have a voicemail.”
“Huh. Weird.” Aria paused and Piper blinked in the darkness. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Piper responded but she knew she wouldn’t get much sleep.
Hours later, Piper heard Giovanni and Jacqueline close the front door and start their car. For more than a month, Piper had the house to herself.
The next time Piper woke, Aria was standing at the end of the bed. “I wasn’t sure you were going to wake up before I left,” Aria said, staring at Piper.
Piper rubbed her eyes. “If you’re just going to stand there and watch me sleep, I’ll wake up.”
“So I noticed. I’ve gotta go to work. Don’t do anything crazy today. Like talk to another murder suspect.” Aria turned and left the bedroom. Piper heard the door click shut so she closed her eyes and rolled over. When the door opened again, she didn’t even crack an eyelid when Aria reminded her, “Not even Andy Hayward.”
Piper’s eyes flew open as she remembered Andy Hayward’s name showing up on her phone last night. She looked to the bedroom door but Aria was already gone.
Piper rolled to her other side and picked up her phone. There were no new calls. Not even a text. And it was only five thirty. No wonder it was still dark out and Piper was still exhausted.
She set an alarm and went back to sleep.