“I was having a late lunch with a client at Carmine’s when the restaurant’s power went down. He grabbed a cab quickly after that and left, but I don’t have to go back into the office today. And since I’m so close, I’ll come pick you up from the studio.”
“You don’t have a car,” I pointed out.
“It’s only a few blocks. I’ll walk.”
“It’s a torrential downpour out there right now.”
“The rain is lightening up a bit,” he said as a brilliant flash of lightning was chased by a crash of thunder.
“Are you crazy? You’ll never find a cab right now.” It was pouring rain and there was a widespread power outage, meaning the subway lines weren’t running. There wouldn’t be a single empty cab in a five-mile radius. He should have grabbed a cab immediately after the power went out.
“I’ll run.”
“In your suit?”
“I’ll see you in a little bit.”
The line went dead, and I sighed, laying back on the cool floor and attempting to tamp down the anticipation curling in my belly. I was excited to see him. The only real time I had these days was weekends, and seeing him once or twice a week was starting to feel like it wasn’t enough. I waved away the fear that stabbed at me.
I gathered my things and hauled my bag onto my shoulders, waving to Warren and Derek as they left the room together. They kept everything professional when they were at rehearsals, but I couldn’t help but notice how often they left together. Despite all the trouble their forbidden tryst had caused, it hadn’t stopped them from continuing with it behind closed doors.
That Was A Mistake
Darknessloomedoverthelittle theater as I carefully made my way to the stage in the windowless room. The ghost lights that usually lit up the orchestra pit were off because of the blackout, but I could make out the outline of a figure sitting on the edge of the stage.
My fingers wrapped tightly around the heavyprop I’d grabbed on my way down here. I ignored the way my hand trembled as I picked my way across the stage, my footsteps light and quick over the stage floor.
“You came,” he said, smugness coming off him in waves.
“You didn’t give me much choice, did you?” I answered through clenched teeth, barely suppressing the rage flooding through my system alongside the utter terror that someone had found out.
“No, I didn’t. I know you did it,” he sneered.
“I already told you, I didn’t do anything,” I said halfheartedly.
It didn’t matter, really. No matter what either of us said, I couldn’t let him leave here. The darkness lent us both a sense of anonymity. Maybe it would be easier that way. To kill him, I mean.
If I couldn’t see his face as he died, maybe he wouldn’t haunt me the way Cheryl did. She’d stayed with me after her death. Frankly, I was tired. Unable to rest with her shade lurking nearby day and night.
And now this?
“You can give up the pretense. I saw you coming out of the breakroom that day. I have to hand it to you; I never would have suspected you. Clever to use something as simple as a food allergy. Didn’t want to get your hands dirty?”
I ignored his condescending tone. It was imperative I find out which tracks I needed to cover so that no one else learned the truth.
“How’d you figure it out?”
“A stroke of luck. Eve came up to me, asking about who had left the rehearsal room that morning. She mentioned the killer needed time to go to the breakroom and switch out the salad dressing. That’s when I remembered seeing you leaving the breakroom. I don’t know why it took me so long to connect those dots.”
My stomach clenched with nerves, ice running through my veins. Did Eve know?
“Does anyone else know?” I asked, desperate to know how far I had to go to salvage my career, my life, my reputation.
“Nah, I was going to tell someone, make a call to the good detectives, but then I thought maybe I could get something out of keeping my mouth shut.”
My stomach unknotted. Eve didn’t know. He hadn’t told anyone. No one knew he was here with me in the dark.
My resigned sigh echoed in the silence. “What do you want?”
