God. Had Amber blamed him for Ariel’s death and had his family killed because of it? He shook his head. No way. No way could Amber have kept that secret for twenty years. But the thought kept nagging at him.
“Nox?”
Livia looked up sleepily from the bed and he went to her, lying down beside her. She stroked his face. “Are you okay?”
“I am. Just thinking about what we’re about to do.”
Livia smiled, her cheek adorably crumpled from the pillow. “Sexy times?”
Nox chuckled softly. “I actually meant our little sleuthing adventure, but I like your thinking.”
He moved on top of her as she rolled onto her back and wrapped her legs around him. “We’re going to make everything okay again,” she said softly, “I promise we will.”
And Nox believed her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Back in New Orleans, Nox and Livia made a plan. Nox would go to the police and ask them to reopen his family’s case; Livia would research as much as she could about the family and his father’s business connections.
At first the police were hesitant to even listen to Nox, but finally, a younger detective, Brian Jones, called him back. “Mr. Renaud, I want to help. I’ve been working cold cases for a couple of years and although the official record is murder/suicide, something has always struck me as off. Let’s talk.”
Nox called Liv. “That’s fantastic,” she enthused, “a real step forward. Haven’t found anything online yet, but I’ll keep digging. I do have to go into work tonight.”
“I’ll try and be back to take you, but if not, make sure you take Jason with you.”
“My pet bodyguard,” she sighed, but agreed to his request.
Livia searched the Internet and looked at every news story, feature, article, and blog post she could find on the Renaud family tragedy. More than one linked it to Ariel’s death, calling Nox cursed, which just made Liv angry. By the end of the afternoon, her eyes were sore and she went upstairs to change for work. As she walked into their bedroom, she froze. On the bed was an envelope, which she knew for certain hadn’t been there that morning. She felt her chest cramp up with unease. The envelope looked like the same heavy paper brand as the one that had been left for her at the college. Expensive paper. Careful not to touch it too much, she eased the note out of it. She couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her.
I told you to leave him. Now everyone will have to die before I kill you, beautiful Livia.
“Jason!”
Her bodyguard came running, flanked by another couple of Nox’s security men. She showed Jason the letter. Grim-faced, he told the men to search the house.
“And you’re sure it wasn’t here before this morning?”
“Positive.”
Jason nodded and got on his phone. One of the security guards came back, his face ashen, and visibly shaken. “Boss, the wine cellar. You need to see this.”
Livia insisted on going with them, but immediately wished she hadn’t. “Oh, Jesus …”
Blood. Lots of it smeared across the whole room, stinking, rotting. The corpse was leaning up against the wall, belly sliced open, entrails hanging out.
All of them retched. Jason kicked the corpse with his toe. “Who the hell brings a cow down here to gut it?”
Livia, covering her mouth and nose, nodded at it. “Someone sending a message. It’s what he’s going to do to me.”
“Get the police down here now,” Jason barked at his men, then turned to Livia was trembling. “Ms. Chatelaine, we need to get you someplace safe. I’m taking you to Mr. Renaud’s offices. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be out in public.”
“No, I need to go to work,” Livia insisted. “Marcel is always shorthanded near New Year’s.”
Jason wasn’t happy and called Nox. When he spoke to Livia, Nox listened to her. “I don’t want to be the one to tell you what to do, even if I think this is beyond worrying.”
“I want to go to work,” she insisted. “It was a cow. Someone’s idea of trying to scare me. Fuck them, Nox.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Fuck them. Okay, but I’m taking you to work, and there will be a fleet of security with you all night long.”
“Deal.”
Marcel greeted her with a warm hug, but Livia noticed the strain in his eyes. “You okay?”
Marcel shook his head. “Liv, I don’t want to pile on but … have you seen or heard from Moriko? She didn’t come in last night, and it’s not like her. I tried to call her but there was no answer.”
Livia looked at Nox, and there was terror in her eyes. Nox nodded to Marcel. “We’ll go to her place.”
In the cab, Livia held Nox’s hand tightly. “Please be okay, please be okay,” she kept whispering as she tried in vain to reach her friend on the phone. In the elevator to Moriko’s apartment, she grew almost angry.
“Why the hell isn’t she answering?”
As she spoke, something hit her shoulder. Liquid. They both looked at it. Blood. It had dropped from above. They both turned to look as they approached Moriko’s floor and with mounting horror, they realized that the floor was covered with blood and that it was definitely pooling out from Moriko’s apartment.
“No, no, no ...” Livia fought with the elevator doors and finally wrenched them open. Nox tried to stop her, his instinct telling him what she’d find, but his outstretched hand missed her. Instead, he kept close as she burst through the door to her friend’s apartment. They both saw her at the same time. Moriko, beautiful, sweet Moriko, half sat, half lay against the wall of her apartment, ripped open by a knife that still protruded from her body. Her clothes were soaked in blood, her eyes were closed, her face deathly pale.
“Oh, my God. God, no please …” Livia sank to her knees and crawled to her dead friend, willing life back into her, but they both knew she was gone. Butchered. Stabbed to death. Livia let out a howl of agony that Nox would never forget and gathered Moriko’s body to her, willing her to breathe, to please, please come back to her. She clutched her to her, not caring that Moriko’s blood was soaking her, her sobs heart wrenching. Nox, his voice shaking, quietly called for backup and the paramedics, but she could see from the amount of blood that there was nothing they could do. Moriko was dead. Murdered.
All Livia could see or smell was blood, even after Nox put her into the shower at the hotel. He had told her the mansion was too dangerous now and she had nodded numbly, not really taking anything in. She felt detached from everything and everyone, even Nox. Moriko was dead.
Now she lay in a strange bed, listening as Nox and the police spoke in the other room. She tried to shut out their voices but also wanted to know what the hell was going on.
There was a knock at the door and Odelle came in, shutting the door behind her. She didn’t say anything but sat on the edge of the bed and held Livia’s hand.
For a long time neither of them said anything. Then Livia, her voice trembling, spoke. “Moriko’s dead.”
“I know. I’m so sorry, Livvy.”
“He killed her because Nox and I are together.”
Odelle shook her head. “Whoever it was killed her because they are psychopathic, Liv. This is not your fault.”
Livia closed her eyes, letting out a sob. “Why is this happening?”
“I wish I could tell you, lovely, I do.” Odelle stroked Livvy’s hair awkwardly. “They’re looking for Roan.”
“Do you really think Roan is behind this?”
Odelle looked so sad that Livvy sat up and hugged her. “I used to think no way, but now … I just don’t know. I still think Amber knows more than she’s telling, but that just might be my bias. Have you seen her lately?”
“Not since before Christmas.”
Odelle sighed and let Liv go. “Well, I guess the police will question her too.”
“Nox said she went out of town.”
“I think she did. She’s been acting strangely ever since she broke things off with Roan.”
Liv studied her friend. “Odie … would Roan have hurt Amber? Or vice versa?”
“I don’t know. I got the feeling their relationship was about sex and that was it. Roan doesn’t do deep.”
“Unless he’s with you.”
Odelle half-smiled. “I was going to argue that but I think you’re right, actually. He does confide in me. Share his dreams and hopes.”
“I really want to believe that this isn’t Roan’s doing, Odelle. For your sake as much as his, and ours.”
Odelle nodded sadly. “Me too, Livvy, me too.”
But a week later, as Livia was arranging Moriko’s funeral, the police came back to them with devastating news. Roan’s semen had been found on Moriko’s body and the slaughtered cow’s body. A countryside alert was sent out for him.
Nox, Livia, Sandor, Odelle, and Amber sat together in a low-key bar in the French Quarter. All of them looked shattered, but Livia couldn’t help studying Amber, who seemed to be on the edge of something else—hysteria? Grief? The other woman, her red hair dirty and unkempt, was biting her nails down to the quick.
“What is it, Amber?” Livia asked her gently but Amber ignored her.
Nox fixed his friend with a stare. “God, are you high? Jesus, Amber, at a time like this?”
She shook her head, but now that Nox had mentioned it, they could all see Amber was tweaking. Odelle rolled her eyes and instead spoke to Livia. “How are you doing, Livvy?”
Livia shrugged. “I keep seeing her lying there, Odie.”
“It’s not your fault, Liv. The medical examiner said she’d been dead for hours.”
“I should have gone to find her sooner. Days sooner. She always looked out for me; I should have done the same for her.” Livia smiled through her tears. “One time, at college, she shouted at me for opening my dorm room door to her without checking who it was. It was her room too, the doofus. Anyway, she made me promise to always check who was at the door, and if I didn’t know who it was, then I didn’t open the door.” Her face clouded over. “What kind of friend am I that I was—”
“Too busy fucking Nox in various European cities,” Amber suddenly said, her tone harsh. “Poor little Livvy, precious little Livvy, spreading her legs for the nearest billionaire …”
It was Odelle, moving quickly, who slapped Amber hard across the face, making them all jump. Amber rocked back, then lunged for Odelle, who side-stepped her, leaving Amber to sprawl on the floor. Sandor picked Amber up as Nox stepped between the two women. Livia was too shocked to move.
“Amber, go home and get cleaned up. And don’t ever, ever talk to Livia like that again. Ever.” Nox was furious.
Amber spat at him. “You think that little piece of trash can replace my sister? My sister who loved you? Was devoted to you?”
“Get out of here!” Livia jumped up to stop Nox from going after Amber, and Sandor stepped in between them.
“I’ll take her home, Nox.”
Everyone was staring at them, some people even taking photographs. Nox put his arms around Livia. “It’s okay, love. She’s gone.”
“What the fuck was that?” Livia said in an incredulous voice. Nox shook his head, holding her tightly.
“I don’t know, baby.”
“It’s Amber’s birthday,” Odelle said quietly, and Nox groaned.
“Oh, God, I forgot. It’s Ariel’s birthday too.”
“I’ve never seen Amber so high on something though. She usually keeps it to pot. That wasn’t pot.”
“No.”
Livia said nothing. Amber’s attack had been so out of the blue. Livia could feel the foundations of her composure crumbling, but she leaned into Nox’s embrace. “Maybe you should go see her. I’m not trying to replace Ariel.”
“I know that. Amber knows that. I apologize on her behalf … she’s not herself.”
Livia looked up at him. “Go see her. Make amends. See if she needs help.”
Nox smiled down at her, stroking her face. “This is why I love you.”
Nox went to meet Amber the next day, and it was a contrite Amber who sat with him. “I didn’t mean what I said,” she began, “please, please, tell Livvy I love her. I didn’t mean any of it. I was just … God, Nox, I miss Ariel so much.”
Nox nodded. “I do too, Amber, you know that. But neither of us could have stopped what happened.”
Amber was silent and Nox was surprised to see something else in her eyes. “What? What is it, Ambs?”
She shook her head. “I can’t … I can’t tell you, Nox. It’s too … it’s something I did. Something I have to live with, except … I don’t know how to live with it anymore.”
Nox was really worried now. “Amber … please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with the threats to Liv?”
Amber gave a mirthless snort. “No, Nox. Not the threats.”
“Then what?”
She mumbled something and Nox couldn’t clearly make out the words. “What? Did you say ‘scare her?’”
Amber stared at him with endless sorrow in her eyes then suddenly got up. “I can’t … I can’t … I’m sorry, Nox.”
It wasn’t until he was in bed with Livia later that it dawned on him what Amber had said. When he realized, it sent a cold arrow right through his heart. He said the words over and over to himself, hoping beyond hope that they didn’t mean what he thought they did.
“He was only supposed to scare her.”
Amber wasn’t talking about Livia … she was talking about Ariel.
Amber knew Ariel’s killer.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Are you sure?” Livia was looking at him with shocked eyes. Nox had related his entire theory to her as they sat eating breakfast the next day, and now Livia sat back, her distress obvious. “You think she hired someone to scare her sister and he went too far and killed her?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Nox said, grim-faced. “I always knew Amber was jealous of Ariel, but I never thought she would have done this.”
Liv shook her head. “Maybe it was a prank gone wrong.”
“Pranks gone wrong don’t end with a woman being stabbed to death, Livia. Whoever killed Ariel meant it. He gutted her … he enjoyed doing it.”
“So, Amber got in with the wrong crowd. Maybe she wanted someone to scare her sister, but she picked a psycho who killed Ariel instead and has been blackmailing Amber ever since.”
“Wow, you really ran with that theory.” Nox was impressed.
Liv half smiled. “It just came to me. It’s not hard to figure out Amber’s motive.”
“It isn’t?”
“You, numbnuts. Amber’s in love with you.”
“No.”
Livia rolled her eyes. “Dude, wake up. Of course, she is. She always has been, but once the plan with Ariel went awry and Ariel died, she knew she could never be with you, that it would make her look guilty and sooner or later she would give herself away. Problem is, what do you do now? Do you go to the police?”
Nox sighed. “I think I’d better talk to her again first. If the killer is the same guy and she knows it, then maybe we get it out of her in return for not bringing her into it.”
“But how will we tell the police how we figured it out?”
Nox’s green eyes were dangerous. “We don’t. I’ll deal with whoever it is.”
Livia swallowed hard. “Nox.”
“No one threatens the woman I love. No one. And for Moriko, for Pia, for Ariel … I’ll deal with it.”
Livia was both scared and turned on by the menace in his tone. She leaned over and crushed her lips to his. “I love you,” she whispered, “please take care.”
“I promise.” His kiss was sweet and tender and went on for a lot longer than expected before they were interrupted by his cell-phone buzzing. Looking regretful, he broke away from her and glanced down at the screen.
“It’s Detective Jones.” He answered the call and Livia listened as he spoke, his face clouding over.
What now? She thought wearily, and got up to go take a shower. Nox caught her hand and she saw his distress. “Okay, thanks, Detective. I’ll be right down.” He hung up the phone.
“What is it, baby?”
“Amber’s going to have to wait. They’re digging up my family today.”
Nox insisted on watching as his family members were exhumed from their family mausoleum. Livia stayed with him, holding his hand as his expression changed from determination to sorrow as the coffins were raised. He turned away as the medical examiner opened his brother’s casket.
Nox gagged and threw up while Livia, not knowing what else to do, rubbed his back and tried to console him. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Nox wiped his mouth. “It’s okay. I know we’re doing the right thing.”
His family’s caskets were loaded into the ME’s van and taken away. Left alone, Nox and Livia gazed down at the empty graves. “Promise me,” Nox said, “that when we die, we won’t be buried like this. Let’s both get cremated and fly in the wind for eternity.”
“Agreed, baby. Mausoleums creep me out.”
Nox half smiled at her attempt to cheer him up. “Our family will be a happy one.”
“Certainly will.” Livia said firmly. “All this crap we’re dealing with right now will be behind us, and we’ll have a bunch of kids and we’ll be happy. Summer vacations in Italy, Christmases in Vienna.”
“I can’t wait.” He splayed his fingers out over her belly. “Is it wrong that I kind of want you to be pregnant right now?”
“Ha,” she said. “Let’s wait until psychopaths aren’t threatening to kill me, shall we?”
His smile faded and she nudged him. “Sorry, bad joke.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Right back at ya,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go see Detective Jones.”
He watched them from the farthest end of the cemetery. They had no idea that whatever they were doing was only going to make his plan to kill Livia better. He had almost brought them to their knees … but what he would do next would destroy Nox Renaud forever. There was just that one loose end to tie up, and he would do that in spectacular style.
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