As if on cue, a power tool roared to life somewhere in the house.
Nick took off out of the room at a run.
“Look, as much as I love you guys, you really need to not just show up and cook a meal—” Riley paused for a moment and listened to the raised voices coming from the hallway. “Or start renovations without asking.” She dropped both slices into the toaster and hit the lever.
“Hey, I work here. I’msupposedto be here,” Mrs. Penny said, holding up both chocolate-covered hands. The eighty-year-old was now a not-so-silent partner in Nick’s private investigation firm, Santiago Investigations. A decision Riley was certain Nick was bound to regret.
“I’m just saying it would be nice if you called before you came over—or at least didn’t break in.”
“And I’m saying if you gave us all a key we could come and go as we please without breaking more windows,” Mrs. Penny said, crossing her arm over her chest. She had a tiny piece of glitter on the end of her nose.
“I would never wish to invade your privacy,” Gabe said earnestly. His brown-eyed puppy-dog gaze slid to the bowl of Halloween candy.
Riley rolled her eyes. “Help yourself. I’ll buy more candy.”
Gabe’s biceps bulged cheerfully as he dove for the candy bowl.
Nick returned to the kitchen and shoved a circular saw onto the top shelf next to the refrigerator. “For the last time, if I want your help with renovations, I’ll ask you,” he said to the men who followed him.
“Look at all these sexy ladies,” Fred said, patting the frosted tips of his boy-band toupee. He wore a pair of harem pants and a T-shirt that saidYoga Does a Body Good. The Bogdanovich twins had the market cornered on lusting after the opposite sex.
Mr. Willicott shuffled in behind Fred. The man could pass for an elderly Denzel Washington…if Denzel was grumpy and confused most of the time.
The toaster spit forth her bagel and, with a glance over her shoulder at Gabe, Riley snagged the non-vegan cream cheese from the fridge.
Nick came up behind her and settled his hands on her hips. “I need you to babysit today, Thorn,” he said, rubbing his stubble against her neck.
Riley dropped her knife. “Again? I was going to ask you to take me shooting again. I feel rusty.”
“As soon as I find Beth, everything will go back to normal. I promise. I just need you to hang in there for a little longer.”
His lips tickled their way down her neck. “Please, Thorn?”
She was helpless against that.
“Fine. But you owe me. And the first order of business when you find Beth is to figure out what’s rotting in the Smelly Closet upstairs.”
His grin was lethal. And the flash of dimples had her knees going weak.
“Anything for you, Thorn.”
“Breakfast is served,” Lily trilled.
3
10:01 a.m., Friday, October 25
After breakfast, Nick gave the boot to as many elderly neighbors as possible before heading into his office. He’d taken the second room on the left off the foyer because it connected to Riley’s office at the front, though unfortunately it was through a door that had been paneled over.Remove paneling from office doorwas buried somewhere on page four or five of his To-Do list.
He’d get to it eventually. There were a lot of things he’d get to. Including organizing his office and getting some real furniture. His temporary desk consisted of a paint-splattered folding table he’d borrowed from Riley’s dad. There was a large whiteboard on wheels in the middle of the room with dozens of photos and notes scrawled in marker pinned to its surface.
But for the time being, the place looked like a police station file room had vomited up decades of paperwork. It was a whiteout inside with enough paper on the floor and every flat surface to look like Liberty Mountain Ski Resort in February.
It was fine. It was functional for the time being.
Every detail of Beth Weber’s disappearance was in this room, including the answers. He just needed to find the key.
He took a sip of coffee and studied the photo stuck to the center of the board. Dark hair, a perpetually flirtatious smile. Mischievous brown eyes. In high school, Beth had been a peppy cheerleader. In college, a peppier sorority sister. She’d loved attention and pretty things…as well as annoying her mother and driving her big brother crazy.
