Theo rolled her eyes and nudged her glasses up. “Every murder investigation needs a murder board. Have you not watched any mysteries?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “We’ll take care of the board later. For now, let’s start with the victim. We need to search Freddie’s apartment.” She punctuated that statement by taking a big bite out of her cheesecake.
“Oh, no,” I objected. “We’re not breaking into anyone’s apartment.”
Theo inhaled the rest of the cheesecake and licked the last bit of pink filling off her thumb before reaching into the pocket of her jeans. She pulled out a small rectangle of thick paper. “I’ll call your boss and get him to help.”
As she produced a cell phone in a purple case from a bag hanging on the back of her wheelchair, I stepped closer and got a good look at the business card in her hand.
“Where did you get that?” I asked as soon as I saw the wordsWyatt Investigationswritten in glossy black ink. “And what do you mean by my ‘boss’? I’m the one in charge, okay?”
“Everyone says you’re working with Wyatt from Wyatt Investigations. If you’re in charge, why is his name on the card and not yours? Hey, was Wyatt the guy on the elevator?”
“Yes, but it’s not reallyhisname on the card.”
She scrunched up her nose in a way that was utterly adorable, although I suspected she wouldn’t want me saying so. “His name’s not Wyatt?”
“Okay, it is,” I conceded, “but the agency wasn’t named for himspecifically. Just…Wyatts in general.”
Fictional hot cowboy Wyatts, anyway, but I didn’t deem it necessary to share that detail.
“So he’s not working the case?” Theo asked.
“Definitely not.”
She heaved out a long-suffering sigh.
“And neither are you,” I pointed out.
She leveled a stare at me that sent ice creeping through my veins.
A jumble of words bubbled out of me. “I mean…technically…it’s…um…just me on the case.”
She didn’t let up on the stare. “Do you even have a job? Like, a real one?”
“Not at this exact moment,” I hedged.
“Would you honestly say that you have your shit together?”
“That question requires a complicated answer. You see—”
Theo was already wheeling her way to the door. “I’ll start with Freddie’s apartment.Someone’sgot to keep this PI agency from going under.”
I dropped my purse on the couch and took two steps to follow Theo. Then I dashed back and grabbed my phone and keys before chasing after her.
“You know the agency isn’t real, right?” I had to jog to keep pace with her.
“It is now.”
She zoomed off down the hall, leaving me in the dust.
“I’m really not sure this is a good idea.” I hovered next to Theo, my gaze darting up and down the hallway like an erratic Ping-Pong ball.
She kept her focus on the lock she was currently trying to pick with the help of a set of slender metal tools. “No risk, no reward.”
“When the risk is five to ten in the slammer, I’m not sure any potential reward is worth it.” I wiped a bead of sweat from my hairline. The hallway I was keeping an eye on seemed to waver and tilt. Was I about to faint? I clutched one of the handles on Theo’s wheelchair. “I think I’m having heart palpitations.”
“Get a grip. We’re investigating, not carrying out a jewel heist.”
I suspected that masterminding jewel heists would be right up her alley.
