I peered closely at the reusable bottle. It had the wordsGrub Tubzprinted on it.
“Is that the same brand of water bottle that Minnie has?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“She gave it to me as a sample product.” Leona screwed the capback on. “I think she’s hoping I’ll like it enough to buy more Grub Tubz containers.”
“Minnie sells the products?” I glanced Wyatt’s way and could tell he was wondering why I was so interested.
“It’s a side hustle,” Leona explained.
“Did she ever sell some to Freddie?” I asked, ignoring Hoffman as he sidled up to us.
“I don’t know, but she might have. Or maybe she gave him a sample too. Before he ended up on her bad side, that is. She’s given samples to several people in the building. It’s a good way to drum up business.” She addressed Hoffman next. “Break’s over in two minutes.” She smiled at me. “See you at the Mirage, Emersyn.” She wiggled her fingers in a wave as she disappeared back inside the warehouse.
“Hold on.” I swung around to face Hoffman. “You’re taking acting lessons?”
Hoffman shrugged one shoulder. “I’m thinking of moving to Hollywood.”
I felt sorry for Hollywood but happy for myself and the rest of New York City. Except…
“You won’t be going anywhere other than to jail,” I said, not at all sorry that I might be bursting his bubble.
His eyes filled with scorn. “I didn’t kill anyone. And if you ever try spying on me again, I’m going to call the police and tell them you’re harassing me.”
He turned on his heel and stormed into the warehouse, slamming the door shut behind him.
“He’s a nasty piece of work,” Wyatt remarked once we were alone.
“If only I’d realized that much sooner,” I said with a sigh of regret.
But Hoffman could be charming when he wanted to be, and I’d so wanted to believe that he was as crazy about me as he’d pretended to be.
I stared at the brick exterior of the warehouse, my thoughts swirling.
“What are you thinking?” Wyatt asked.
“Minnie told me that she never talked to Freddie, except maybe to say hello, but he had a Grub Tubz flyer in his apartment.”
“And he probably got it from Minnie.”
I nodded. “She must have talked to him more than she admitted to.”
Wyatt drew the same conclusion as I had. “So she lied.”
“And why do that if she had nothing to hide?”
Chapter
Forty-Nine
I ended up taking the subway home. Wyatt wanted to drive me from Longwood, where he’d left his car, but I declined the offer. My brain felt like a pinball machine, with my thoughts shooting here, there, and everywhere. One second, I was thinking about the murder and the next about the kiss. Then my thoughts jumped to the story Wyatt had shared about his background before hopping to Livy’s guardianship and then back to the kiss again. It was exhausting and distracting, and I needed some time to settle the whirring in my head.
I arrived home—just barely beating the rain—to find Livy hyped up from ice cream, leftover chocolate cake, and a lip-synch battle with Jemma. By the time she’d had a shower and dressed in her pajamas, she’d settled down enough that I could at least hope she’d fall asleep without much trouble.
Jemma wanted a detailed account of the stakeout as soon as I arrived home, but I made her wait until Livy was asleep. She grumbled a bit but gave in and scrolled through her social media feeds while I tucked my niece into bed.
“Did you have fun with Jemma?” I asked Livy as I sat on the edge of her mattress.
She nodded, hugging her dinosaur stuffie with one arm and aplush turtle with the other. “I love Jemma. I want to make her a friendship bracelet.”
