“You sure?”
“Positive. Now are you ready to Featherton the fuck out right now?”
She laughs, which is music to my ears and I’m happy I’ve been able to distract her from our problems. Her skin is still flushed and her lips are swollen from our kisses, but we’re both smiling as she slides off my lap. Adjusting myself, I throw her a wink. Of course she rolls her eyes at me and it might just be my favourite expression. “You’re shameless.”
“Hey, you were the one grinding on me. I’m only a man, my control can only be pushed so far.”
“Like I said, shameless.”
Handing her a maker, I tap the papers scattered around us. “Phin told me his whereabouts, the girls did too. I briefly knew what Merle was doing but he wasn’t one hundred percent sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, he said that they both forgot to lock up, but Phin was pretty sure he left their room to lock up downstairs. When he came out of the bathroom he was already in bed asleep. So he doesn’t know if he actually went or not.”
“That's weird. Let’s ask him again.”
I nod, because the idea of our gentle giant Merle having anything to do with this would be ridiculous.
BY the time we finish all we can, my back aches and my bums numb. Warm sun stretches across the floor and even with the window open, the room has become stuffy and on the verge of making me sweat. The day has turned humid and on the cuff of downpour, which the country desperately needs. Starling mentioned we were expecting heavy rains which will shut down a lot of areas in Yorkshire with flooding, making me itch out of my skin. The village bridge we came over looked like it would barely survive a heavy pour, let alone a flood.
“You can take the boy out of the city…” I mumble, sitting back so I can strain my neck to look for the first grey cloud. The sky is ominously clear, yet I know with our luck we’ll be stranded here, or something stupid along those lines.
Offering Robin the last piece of chocolate, I’m about to suggest we head downstairs for some food, but my brain hurts from trying to connect non-existing dots. We have no clue how many are left, but the secrets found so far don’t screammurder.Phoenix's secret of course caused utter uproar, but then it'slaughable imagining someone like my best friend committing murder. It’s quite laughable thinking about any of us doing it.
“It’s so hard to treat everyone as a suspect, because I can’t imagine anyone doing it. No one's giving off killer vibes.” She says, plucking the words from my thoughts.
“I know. Detective Starling said it had to be one of us, and if no one came onto the property, maybe he’s right.”
“I think we need to ask everyone where they were, if they had any interactions with Corbin before the weekend and find the secrets. If we can get everything written down, at least we can look at this as a full picture.”
Turning my face to look at her, her brows are furrowed as she reads over everything we wrote. Something niggles at me. “Have you thought about how this seems really similar to the way you wrote the pool murder? In your book.”
Her eyes snap to mine, wide and confused. “What do you mean?”
“Cardinal suggested it, how it’s weird we found him exactly how your character is killed. Blow to the head, found in water. I don’t think the detectives know, but do you think someone is fucking with you? He threw a murder mystery to fuck with you in the first place, so what if someone else is doing the same?”
Looking over our work, she picks up the paper with all the details of how we found the body. She couldn’t remember much, but unfortunately I’ll never forget what I saw for the rest of my life.
“My god, you’re right. It’s exactly how I wrote it. How did I not make the link?”
“I only just finished the book and it wasn’t an immediate thought I had. It could be completely coincidental, but let’s make a list of guests who potentially want to target you.”
“The only people I didn’t know before the weekend were Cardinal, his sister, Bran, Jay and you. Aya didn’t seem to know who I was and I doubt he told her.”
I grab the last plain sheet of paper and write the names down, including my own. She glares at me and takes the sheet, using her pen to cross my name out. “That's ridiculous. We might have only met but I’m sure you’re not kissing me and secretly plotting my demise.” She’s so fucking cute sometimes, but she’s also right. “Also, maybe it's a little self-centered of me, thinking I’m connected. The pool is a coincidence.” Holding my palms up, I nod once and thankfully her stomach makes itself known with a dry growl.
“Right, hit pause on sleuthing. Let’s grab some food and ask the others what we need to know. Hopefully they started looking for the next clue.” I stand on numb legs and stretch, helping her up but keeping my hand firmly in hers as we walk to the door. If I keep at least some part of me connected to her, she can’t run away again.
“I’m pretty sure Detective Starling wanted to speak to you.” Robin says, reaching out for the door first, looking back at me as she turns the lock and opens it.
“Yeah fat chance of that happening. I’m trying to avoid him.”
Without even a pause, a pinched voice replies from outside my room. “Ah Mr Hastings. It makes sense now why I’ve not been able to find you.”
Chapter fifteen
Robin
