Riley rubbed my back as I stood, leaning against a wall. I could sit. There were seats available. I just didn’t want to. My adrenaline was pumping too hard. Even my pumpkin spice latte couldn’t cheer me up.
I’d left messages for the rest of the residents. Sierra had actually cried. Chad had let out a few choice words. Mrs. Mystery hadn’t answered.
But the main person on my mind was Tim.
What if he’d been in my apartment? What if I lost him again?
How had this happened? A bomb? Had someone done this to send a message?
I straightened as Detective Adams stepped inside. He walked over to Riley and me, bringing the scent of smoke with him.
“There was no one inside the building when the explosion occurred,” Adams told me.
My muscles went limp with relief. Thank goodness, Tim was gone. I didn’t even care where he was, as long as he wasn’t here. “Do you have any idea what happened?”
A bomb. That was all I could think about. Someone had planted a bomb inside the apartment building.
Riley had just been talking about all of the similarities between this case and my very first real case. Strangely enough, that one had also involved a bomb being left outside my apartment. Did someone know that? Were they trying to mimic that investigation?
I held my breath as I waited for his verdict.
“I’m going to need to take you down to the police station to ask you a few questions, Gabby,” Detective Adams said, not even one hint of amusement in his gaze.
Those relaxed muscles tightened again.
“Why?” I said.
“I’ll tell you at the station.”
“No, please tell me now. What’s wrong?”
He tried to take my arm, but I didn’t budge from the wall.
“I know what you were doing inside your old apartment, Gabby.” Detective Adams let out a long breath before clenching his lips together in . . . was that disappointment?
“What I was doing inside my apartment? What are you talking about? Yes, sometimes in the morning I sneak over there just because I like my old couch—”
“You do?” Riley said.
I half shook, half nodded my head. That wasn’t exactly the way I wanted him to find that out. But this was not the time or place to discuss it.
“Yes, I was easing myself away from it.” Like a drug user weaning themselves from their addictions. “But that’s all I was doing over there.”
“I think we both know that’s not true.” Adams gave me a little tsk tsk.
All of the camaraderie I’d felt with the detective disappeared. “Why would I do something illegal? Anything inside was planted. You know better than anyone about everything that’s been happening lately. I almost froze to death yesterday, for goodness sake! When that didn’t work, someone went the opposite direction and tried to kill me with fire.”
Adams sighed. “Gabby, must we do this here?”
I crossed my arms, knowing I had nothing to hide. “We must.”
“Fine. We know about the meth lab in your apartment.”
My jaw came unhinged. “Meth lab? Are you crazy? Do I look like a meth addict?”
“The money’s good. It can tempt the most level-headed of persons.”
“Detective Adams, you know me better than this.” Then I realized what was really going on. I nearly doubled over at the thought of it. I dropped my head and my shoulders sagged. “Oh my word.”
“What?” Adams asked.
I began pacing and shaking my head. I hoped my thoughts weren’t correct . . . but I knew they were.
Could I speak the truth aloud? I knew I couldn’t withhold what I knew. There was too much at stake.
“My brother was staying at my place,” I muttered. “I suspected he might have been doing drugs. I had no idea he’d created a lab . . .”
“Your brother?”
I nodded. Riley rubbed my neck, but it did little good. My world was spinning.
“Do you know where your brother is?” Adams continued.
“I have no idea. I was afraid he was still inside . . .”
“We’ll need to talk to him.”
“Of course.” I squeezed the skin between my eyes. “I just can’t believe Tim would do this.”
“You’ll stick around here in case we have any questions?” Adams continued.
I nodded, wishing I could disappear. “Of course.”
I turned to Riley, and he pulled me into a hug. I melted there, relying on his strength to keep me standing.
“I’m sorry, Gabby.” His voice sounded low and soothing.
“How could he do this to me? How could I not have seen this?”
“Who would have ever thought he would create a meth lab? None of us saw it.”
“This could have turned out so much worse, Riley. And it would have been my fault. Someone could have died.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
I barely heard him. “Our home is gone.”
“Homes can be replaced. People can’t. We’ll find somewhere else to live.”
I stared out the window at the smoldering building across the street. The structure was beyond fixable. There’d be no rebuilding.
Reality as I knew had just changed.
Tears pushed from my eyes. Again.
At that moment, a rundown fifteen-passenger van pulled up right outside the crime scene tape. Tim hopped out and gave the driver a laid-back wave.
I stormed toward the door, ready to give my brother a piece of my mind.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“How could you?” I didn’t want to think that the screeching voice assaulting my ears was mine. Nor the finger that I jabbed into my brother’s chest.
He blanched, looking from me to the apartment building as we stood on the darkening sidewalk with neighbors gawking all around. “What . . . ?”
“I trusted you. I let you use my apartment to help you out. How could you do this? Someone could have died!”
“Gabby—” he started.
“Don’t even try to make up an excuse. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Riley pulled me back. At his touch, I realized that I was in Tim’s face. There in the shadows of my ashen apartment building, I was on the verge of losing control, much like the flames that had consumed the building.
Before I could lash out anymore, Detective Adams interceded and escorted Tim toward a police cruiser. The sound of his rights being read drifted toward me on the autumn breeze.
Tim glanced back at me, and, just for a moment, he looked like a broken, scared little boy—like the brother I’d lost so many years ago.
My heart ached. Literally. My hand flew over it.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on him. But . . . how could he?
Riley placed a hand on my arm, pulling me back toward the coffeehouse. “I’m sorry, Gabby.”
I collapsed into his arms. “I can’t believe this.”
I felt like I was saying the same thing over and over. My brain was struggling to keep up with reality. Maybe it didn’t want to keep up. If it didn’t, maybe I’d cross some kind of threshold into madness.
“I should have checked on him more to see what he was doing in there,” I murmured into Riley’s chest.
“No one would have guessed he was creating a meth lab.”
“I should have been more observant. I thought he was doing drugs. I warned him not to. If I were a good sister, I would have followed up more. Given him more accountability. I would have been there for him.”
“No one is blaming you, Gabby.”
“Well, they should be.”
I looked up as Bill’s car screeched to a halt on the other side of the police line. He stepped out, shaking his head as he stared at the carnage of his home. Katarina joined him, grasping his arm like a lifeline.
“Is this because of me?” He sounded more sober than I’d heard him in a long time.
My heart twisted with regret again. “No, unfortu
nately, it’s not.”
Riley pulled me closer, as if afraid I might collapse.
“Unfortunately?” he questioned.
I shook my head. “Never mind.”
I couldn’t say it yet. I wanted more proof. Then I would try to make amends. Speaking of which . . . I needed to call Garrett. He’d bought the building so I could keep my home. Did he know yet?
Bill stared at what was left of the building, his face growing paler by the moment. I followed his gaze. Fire trucks and police cars surrounded it. A couple of protesters were being treated by paramedics. I’d gotten through with just a couple of bruises and cuts.
Crews would be out here for a while managing the scene. The road was blocked, and smoke hung in the air.
“It looks like I’ll be getting that new place I talked about whether I want to or not,” Bill said.
“Yeah, me too.”
Riley tightened his arms around me.
“Man, I can’t believe it. This place has so many memories,” Bill continued. “I was the first resident here, you know. We’ve become like family over the years.”
I wiped beneath my eyes. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. “We have.”
I couldn’t believe that era was ending.
Where would we all go? What if I didn’t see my neighbors—my friends—anymore?
I felt another major life change coming. The little safety net of my community had been snatched away.
Thanks to The Red Cross, all the residents of the building were provided rooms in a hotel until we could find somewhere else to stay. The accommodations were located in downtown Norfolk, right across from the Scope Arena, a large, dome-shaped entertainment venue.
Thankfully, my car had survived, probably because I’d parked at the coffeehouse to avoid the protesters. Riley would need a rental until we could figure out if his was salvageable. His car windows had busted, two tires melted, and that was only what we could see on the surface. The heat and flying debris could have caused other issues also.
Our hotel room was simple but nice, I supposed. I had to overlook the fact that it smelled like someone had sprayed too much air freshener to cover a bad scent. The fantastic view of Norfolk and the Elizabeth River made up for it.
Sierra and her family were staying at the house of someone from her work who was on a month-long vacation to Europe. I hoped she was comfortable there. Bill was next door, and, right now, Katarina was with him.
Riley and I had gone to the store together and picked up enough supplies to get through a few days, at least. I’d had to buy everything: clothes, underwear, a toothbrush, shampoo, makeup. I tried not to let the thought of it all overwhelm me.
I sat in a stiff accent chair in the corner of my room and crossed my arms. I still felt like I was in shock. But now that I’d had some time to let it sink in, I was thankful no one was harmed. Even Sierra’s cats and Lucky hadn’t been there.
Tim’s image fluttered through my mind, especially the look he’d given me as he was led away by Detective Adams. I wondered how he was doing. If he was sitting in a jail cell.
I couldn’t bring myself to go see him yet. Not until my anger died down.
But I’d called my dad and his fiancée, Teddi, and they were dealing with Tim. It was the best I could do at the moment.
All of my things . . . The things my mom had left me. Mementos from when Riley and I first started dating. My equipment for my job. My silly coffee mugs and obnoxious crime scene knickknacks. They were all gone. I’d never expected to feel grief at the loss of possessions, but I did. All I had was Riley and the clothes on my back.
“Gabby . . .?” Riley came back into the room with two cups of coffee. He paused in front of me and kneeled down. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged, setting my coffee on the table beside me. “I don’t know what I am. I’m mourning what we’ve lost. I’m angry at my brother—to put it mildly. I’m thankful to be alive.”
“I know you’re disappointed in Tim.”
My jaw hardened with welling emotions. “More than disappointed. I let him into my home. I trusted him. This was so . . . irresponsible, to say the least.”
He laced his hands with mine. “We’ll get through this, Gabby.”
“I know. We always do.”
He stood and pulled me up with him. “What do you want to do? Stay up here? Check out the hot tub downstairs? Maybe that will help you relax.”
“The hot tub could be nice. Except I don’t have a bathing suit.”
He leaned closer and his lips lingered on mine. “I’m sure we can find something else to do.”
For a moment, my problems started to disappear as tingles overtook my gloom.
Until someone knocked at the door.
“Gabby? Riley? Are you in there? It’s Bill. We need to talk.”
I sighed and stepped back. Had he heard my brother was responsible for this? Was he coming by so he could tell me off?
I deserved it.
As soon as Riley opened the door, Bill charged inside. He began pacing near the window, his body language screaming “distressed!” I waited for Katarina to follow him inside, but she didn’t.
“There’s something I should have told you from the start.” Sweat sprinkled Bill’s forehead.
Riley and I exchanged a glance as we sat across from Bill on the edge of the queen-sized bed.
“What’s that?” I finally said, partly relieved to avoid the whole Tim conversation.
“I’ve been sitting on a key piece of information. I couldn’t tell anyone. Timing was everything for me.”
“Why is timing everything?” I asked.
“For the election, of course.”
He’d gotten a taste of life at the top, and now he wanted more. How far would he go to get ratings? Had he staged some of the events of the past few days?
He raised a hand, as if he could read my thoughts. “Hear me out before you jump to conclusions. You’ve got to understand. This is big information.”
“What is it?” I hardly wanted to hear this “information.” I was so over all of this. I was over the secrets. Over the lies. Over the vile contempt people had for opposing opinions.
“It’s about Philip Munich,” he continued.
“What about him?” As a wave of exhaustion came over me, I finally sipped the coffee that Riley had bought me. “Let me guess: he has a body double and is the product of his political party. A mindless robot. A Manchurian candidate.”
“No.”
“He was secretly born in another country, and the fact that he’s one of the final two candidates is a scheme of other world governments to overthrow our country,” I continued.
“No.”
“He secretly dodged the draft and did drugs? Inhaling only?”
Bill let out his breath and narrowed his eyes, obviously not as amused by my theories as I was. “He killed someone, Gabby. He killed someone.”
I actually snorted. “Come on, Bill. Really? I mean, I thought my theories were outlandish. Great conversation starters and fascinating to think about. To write books about even. But they’re out there—well, except for the last one, I guess.”
“I’m not kidding, Gabby. Munich killed someone. I have evidence.”
I set my coffee down before I spilled it. “You better not be yanking my chain.”
“I’m not, Gabby. Ask Riley.”
I looked at Riley, my eyes widening. Riley knew about this information? He hadn’t told me.
Riley shrugged, his gaze apologetic. “I couldn’t share, Gabby. I’m legally bound to remain quiet about it. You know that. Client confidentially is most definitely not a conspiracy theory.”
His words may have been true, but they didn’t make me feel better. This was big. Why wouldn’t he have shared it with me with a promise that I’d keep quiet? I knew the answer, but my emotions were colliding with my logic. I was dog-tired and everything was getting to me.
“Start talking, Bill.”
“I�
�ve been sitting on this information for a while. I wanted to make sure it was true. And I was trying to gauge the timing of when to release it.”
“What happened?” I was losing patience.
He raised his hands. “I’m getting to it. I’m getting to it. When Munich was in college, he was quite the party boy, as were the rest of the guys in his fraternity. Then one of his fraternity brothers died.”
Now he was getting somewhere. “What happened?”
“This guy—his name was Frederick Mason—had an asthma attack. A fatal one.”
My lungs deflated at his revelation. I’d been expecting something big—another bludgeoned body left in the freezer or something. “That hardly sounds like murder.”
“Wait.” He raised a finger and sweat dripped off the end of his nose. “There’s more to it. Munich was with Frederick when he died.”
This still wasn’t making sense. I crossed my legs and tried to do some deep breathing before I lost my patience. “He wasn’t able to save him? Was there no inhaler?”
“No, there wasn’t an inhaler. But instead of getting help or calling 911, Munich left him to fend for himself. Apparently, Frederick couldn’t even speak because this attack was so bad. He couldn’t call for help or anything.”
“So Munich basically left him there to die?” I asked.
“Precisely,” Bill said.
My gut felt tight as these new details emerged. “Why would Munich not help?”
“Frederick apparently had information to prove that Munich had cheated on one of his exams. That’s all hearsay, of course. But the theory is that Munich feared his frat brother would take that information to the dean. His academics were already rocky. Getting kicked out of college? Well, that would never work for a future president.”
I paused as his story ended. “Okay, I could see why that would be a reason for concern. But why hasn’t this information ever come out before? I thought you said it happened at a fraternity.”
“It did. But it was over Christmas break. Hardly anyone was there. He could have easily gotten away with it because everyone thought it was a terrible tragedy but not anything malicious. That’s because no one knew Munich was there and could have saved Mason.”
Cunning Attractions: Squeaky Clean Mysteries, Book 12 Page 14