by Vakey, Jenn
“I’ll keep talking to the staff and see if anyone else had any suspicions,” she said. “I did also get the feeling that some of the members of the staff had some issues with her.”
“That’s bound to happen. See if anyone had a reason worth killing for. I’ve got a dinner date with Katy tomorrow, so let’s do our checkin around lunchtime. She would kill me if I brought work home when it wasn’t an emergency,” he stated.
“Yes, yes she would,” Rilynne chuckled. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Rilynne glanced over at the clock when she hung up. The party wouldn’t be over for several more hours, but she knew it would be nearly impossible to sneak back in without risking her position within the household.
Instead, she grabbed her toiletries bag and headed to the staff restroom. The woman’s restroom was large. There were four doors coming off of the main room, which in itself had a large double vanity and a cushioned bench strategically placed in the middle of the room. The two doors to the right were bathroom stalls. The smaller door on the left was a linen closet, and the last housed a large bathtub.
She turned on the water in the tub and hung her robe on the bathroom door as she closed it behind her.
When she stepped into the steaming tub, a wave of warmth instantly spread through her. No matter what happened during the day, a hot bath always seemed to carry it away. She eased herself down, lying back until her head sank below the surface. Keeping only her mouth and nose above the water, she let out a deep sigh and felt her entire body relax.
She could have spent the rest of the night wrapped in the warmth of the water had Nancy not rapped on the door a few minutes later.
“How much longer are you going to be?” she called through the closed door. “After scrubbing the driveway clean for you today, I have to shower off before getting in bed.”
Rilynne could hear the distinctive note of resentment in her voice, though she was sure removing the stains from the driveway hadn’t had the dirtying effects Nancy claimed. “Just a few more minutes,” she said as she sat back up and reached for her shampoo. After quickly washing her hair, she wrapped herself in her robe and walked back to her room.
Not being able to look over case files during her free time was going to take some getting used to. She found herself almost lost with boredom as the night progressed. There was a small television in her room with a few basic channels, but she wasn’t accustomed to being stuck in a room with nothing else to occupy her time. Rilynne felt as though she would burst by the time the lights from the driveway started streaking through her room.
She glanced out her window and saw the cars starting to make their way down the driveway. The third one to pass her window was the familiar black SUV Ben had bought a few months before. When Nicole Bennett framed him for murder, his car had been pulled apart by the forensic team. Though they put it back together, he complained that it never drove the same. Rilynne finally convinced him it was time to upgrade, and even helped him pick out a new one.
She waited until he was out of sight before reaching for her phone. She wondered for a moment as she dialed if he would have the disposable phone he’d been given by the department on him.
“Care to explain?” Rilynne asked when he answered after just two rings.
She heard him chucked before sighing. “Explain what?” he asked coyly.
“How’d you swing an invite to the party tonight?”
“You know me,” he stated. “I have my ways.”
She rolled her eyes at his attempt to avoid the question. “Well, then how about you tell me what you were doing here?”
“I would have thought that was obvious,” he said. “I just really wanted to see you in your maid outfit. It was definitely worth a night of mingling. I will admit, though, I was hoping it would include more lace.”
She sighed and shook her head, still watching the trail of cars slowly leaving. “I will say, I was incredibly shocked when I saw you get out of your car, and not just because you were here. A tuxedo is a good look for you.” She grinned and walked to her bed. “You should have seen the other maid drooling over you. I think she spent the entire party camped out behind that plant, just watching you. Well, at least until Cyndi Lewis kicked us out.”
“Yeah, I noticed her standing there. At first I only saw the uniform, so I thought it might have been you,” he stated. “I was hoping I could sneak away from the rest of the guests, but it was nearly impossible. You should have seen the mayor when he saw you, though. He wasn’t aware there was an undercover operation going on at the time. Luckily, only the chief and I were with him, because he didn’t hide his shock well.”
“That wouldn’t have gone over well at all,” she stated.
“No, but I won’t lie, it would have been really funny to watch. From what I’ve heard, Cyndi Lewis doesn’t always restrain herself well. Finding out a detective was working undercover in her household would have probably caused a pretty public scene. Especially with the chief and mayor present.”
“That’s the last thing we need on this case,” she said as she dropped back onto the bed.
“The mayor wasn’t entirely pleased he hadn’t been notified about your assignment,” he continued. “The chief had to cool him down and explain that it was necessary in order to conduct the investigation, and assure him the Lewis’ would never find out. So, how’s the case going?” he asked. “Have you solved it yet?”
“I just started investigating. I’m good, but I’m not that good,” she said. “Besides, it’s hard to get much work done when you’re responsible for a list of chores to complete each day.”
“Well, do you have any leads yet?” he asked. “Surely you’ve been able to get someone comfortable enough to open up.”
She didn’t know how much to tell him. Though she was sure he would understand the steps she was taking, it wasn’t really a conversation they should be having over the phone. “I’m working a few angles, but no one’s sticking out yet,” she replied simply. “Although it’s apparent that a few people had issues with her, I haven’t found an obvious reason why anyone would have wanted her dead. Despite their disagreements, everyone for the most part seemed to like her.”
“Are you sure someone at the manor killed her?” he asked.
She had been wondering the same thing herself, but didn’t see any other possibilities. “With the timeframe Dr. Andrews gave, I would have to say yes. Unless she sneaked out without anyone seeing her-which I don’t think is feasible-she was killed here. The question then remains, how’d someone kill her and move the body without being seeing in the process?”
“You’ll figure it out,” he said with a yawn. “You always do.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t take too long,” she said as she rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. “It’s one thing to clean up my own house, but I don’t enjoy cleaning up after others. If it were just basic cleaning, that would be one thing. This guy is unbelievably messy, though. I spent half of the day scrubbing paint off of the walls and ceiling in his study. Don’t even ask me how it got there.”
“Well, rest assured that your house is still as clean as when you left it. At least it was when I stopped by after work today,” he stated.
“Good,” she replied. “How’s Lori doing? Has she been able to get with Avery about finding a place?”
From the rustling coming from the phone, she had the feeling he was nodding. “I took her over there yesterday morning, and they spent the entire day shopping around. I believe she actually found a house on your street that she likes,” he said. “She also stopped by the preschool Jerkins uses and secured a spot for Kim. She mentioned something about being eager to get her back, but I don’t know if she’s planning to have her come down before she gets settled in her own place.”
“Good,” Rilynne said. “I told her Kim could stay at my place with her for as long as she needs, so make sure she knows it’s really all right. I know how much she hates being
away from her. And thank you again for looking out for her while I’m doing this. I hate that I can’t be there myself.”
“Of course,” he said before pausing. “Are you really trying to set up Lori with that guy who lives next door?” Ben asked in an uncertain tone. Rilynne rolled back over and laughed to herself. Though they hadn’t interacted in several months, there was still an incredible tension between Ben and Joe Ackerman. This had only compounded when they were set to face each other in the boxing ring again. Had it not been cancelled when Ben was shot, the front yard encounters would have become inevitably unbearable.
“I think they would be perfect together,” she stated. “They’re both single parents and Lori was very pleased when I told her he was a boxer.”
He scoffed, “If you call that boxing.”
Rilynne shook her head as her eyes settled on the abstract painting on the wall. “You can’t judge someone’s boxing skills solely by how they fared against you when you were angry,” she said.
“I wasn’t angry,” he said defensively. Again Rilynne laughed, but this time it was much louder. “Okay, I was a little angry. He was pushing my buttons, though. Anyone who actually heard the things he was saying would have wanted to clock him.”
She knew exactly what Joe had said. When Ben arrived at the bar after the match, Rilynne had seen the entire encounter. While she wouldn’t have wanted to hit him, she could understand why Ben had. He had always been very short fused when it came to men disrespecting her. She pushed the comments off-knowing he only said them to get to Ben-but Ben didn’t take it nearly as well. Instead, they resulted in Ben knocking Joe out cold just minutes into the match.
“Other than your utter dislike for him, I can’t think of anyone better for her,” she said.
“There are tons of single guys at the station. Can’t you just pick one of them to play matchmaker with?” he pleaded.
She was amused at his insistence. “Lori won’t date cops,” she replied. “Besides, I would think you’d want him to start dating someone.”
“No,” he said abruptly.
“You’re hilarious,” she said as she slowly shook her head. “So are you going to tell me how you really managed to swing an invite to the event tonight?” she asked again. “I glanced over the guest list, and it appears that you were on it even before I took the case. That pretty much kills your wanting to see me in my uniform story.”
“Like I said, I have my ways.”
Rilynne rolled her eyes and grinned. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
“We all have our secrets, you should know that better than most. Besides, life would be boring without a little mystery.” She could hear the mischievous grin on his face.
Her first urge was to ask what secrets she had, but quickly stopped herself. “I have plenty of mystery in my life already,” she said, trying not to allow the knots building within her reveal themselves as she spoke. “Take this case, for example. I feel like I’m stuck inside of a murder mystery game. You know who died, and who was in the house at the time, but you have to figure out who, what, and where?”
“I’ve got it!” he stated loudly. “It was the butler in the library with the wrench.”
“Now you sound like Matthews,” she chortled. “Besides, there aren’t any stairs in the library. Ladders, but no stairs.”
“Well, I tried.”
She could hear the distinctive ding over the line that told her exactly where he was. “Shouldn’t you be going home instead to the office?”
“How’d you know I was at the office?” he asked curiously. “You’re following me, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I actually sneaked into the back of your car before the valet returned it to you. I figured it was a far more comfortable place to lie down than this ridiculously soft mattress they put in this room,” she said sarcastically, rolling back over and staring at the ceiling above her. “You just wanted to show off your tuxedo, didn’t you?”
He chuckled as the elevator dinged again. “You caught me. I’m actually expecting a case file, but didn’t have time to pick it up before going to the fundraiser tonight. I just wanted to grab it before heading home. I figured since you’ll be tied up on your case for a while, I might as well spend my off time trying to get as much work done as I can.”
“Like you really need an excuse to work,” she laughed. “You’re the only person I know who likes to work as much as I do.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” he stated as she heard the elevator doors open yet again. “I just like to occupy my time.”
“Well, I think I’m going to turn in. I have a long day of after party cleanup ahead of me tomorrow. If I don’t get enough sleep, I might just consider killing someone myself.”
“We can’t have that, now can we,” he chuckled. “Sleep well.”
After hanging up, Rilynne reached over and turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. She had barely closed her eyes before the room changed in front of her.
She was standing on a stage lit up by hundreds of flashing lights. She could hear clapping and cheering from the audience, but the lights were shining too brightly for her to see anything past the edge of the platform.
“Our next contestant is Detective Rilynne Evans,” she heard from just behind her. She turned to find two large podiums at the center of the stage with a large wheel placed between them. Standing behind the podium on the left was Ben, wearing the same tuxedo he wore to the fundraiser.
“Detective Evans is a member of our very own Addison Valley homicide unit,” he continued in a cheesy, dramatic voice. “Her hobbies include solving murders, getting kidnapped, and eating cheeseburgers.”
“Hey,” she said defensively. Before she could say anything else, she was shuffled by a stagehand to the second podium. When she stepped up onto it, the room was once again filled with cheers.
She turned back to Ben, hoping for an explanation. The moment the chatter died down, though, he started speaking again. “For those of you who are new to the game, here’s how it’s played. The case will be laid out in its entirety, and Detective Evans will be given thirty seconds to solve it,” he explained. With his hair slicked back and the phony grin on his face, he reminded her of nearly every game show host she had ever seen. “So let’s solve…that…case!”
He pulled out a large stack of note cards and flashed the audience his smile. “Let’s begin,” he said as he glanced down at the top card. “Brittney Price was a maid,” he said before flipping to the next. “She was murdered and thrown into the lake. So, Detective Evans, solve…that…case!”
“That’s all of the information you have?” she asked as a panic swept over her. “Where’s the evidence? Who had a motive to kill her?”
“Fifteen seconds,” Ben replied, again flashing his cheesy grin.
She looked around for any assistance, but before she could even begin to come up with a reasonable suspect, a loud buzzer sounded in her ear.
“I’m afraid time’s up,” Ben said, though the smile didn’t leave his face. “You can choose to keep what you’ve won so far but leave the case unsolved, or risk it all and spin the wheel.”
Rilynne looked closer at the wheel placed between them. The large wheel was divided into ten equal slats. Each had the face of a member of the Lewis household, along with one holding only a question mark. “So I’m supposed to just spin the wheel?” she asked. “I spin the wheel and it’ll tell me who murdered Brittney Price?”
“Why, of course,” he replied, his goofy smile faltering as if unsure why she was questioning the game.
“Well, then I guess I’ll spin,” she said, reaching for the wheel. She grabbed a notch on it and spun it as hard as she could. After taking a step back, she watched it spin around and around. Her heart began to race at the idea of the answer being just moments away. She quickly lost hope, though, when she realized the wheel wasn’t slowing.
She sat and watched it spin for what felt like hours befor
e looking back toward Ben. If he was at all perturbed by its failure to stop, he didn’t show it. She was just about to give up and walk off of the stage when the clicking from the wheel started to slow. As she turned back around to face it, she saw it finally coming to a halt.
This was going to be it; she was going to have an answer at last. To her dismay, the wheel stopped on the one slat she had hoped it wouldn’t.
It landed on the question mark.
Chapter Seven
Before heading out the door the next morning, Rilynne stopped by the kitchen.
“The eggs and bacon will be finished in just a moment,” Lisa said when she saw her walk in.
“I’ll just take some toast for now,” she replied. “I’m going to go for a run, and don’t want a full stomach.”
Lisa pointed with her spatula to the plate sitting in the middle of the large island, which had a stack of toast already sitting on it. Rilynne still wasn’t entirely comfortable with someone else preparing all of her meals. In a way, it made her feel lazy. Lisa didn’t seem to mind it, though. She actually reminded her a bit of her mother, being both the same age and roughly the same height. Their hair was even a similar shade of auburn, though Lisa’s was much shorter. Lisa was also a few pounds heavier, though that didn’t say much being that Amber was maybe one-ten soaking wet. “Help yourself,” she said. “There’ll probably be extras when you’re done if you’re still hungry.”
“Thanks, Lisa,” Rilynne said as she grabbed two slices and walked back toward the door. After quickly finishing them, she pushed the door open and stepped outside.
It felt good to get out of the house and away from curious eyes. She wasn’t sure if everyone was so interested in her because she was a new arrival, or if it was just fallout from the murder. Either way, it made her uncomfortable.