SIXTEEN
For three days, Brittany couldn’t bring herself to leave her apartment. She told Captain Martinez, she needed personal leave. Remarkably enough, he granted it to her. Now she wished Kurt would leave her alone. He came to see her several times, but she texted him to go away. He tried calling, tried texting, but she wouldn’t respond. The fact that he’d withheld that tidbit about Austin and Kurt being stepbrothers was just too much for her to handle.
And then there was Austin… The only thing he’d lied about was his relationship to Hillary. Yet, that was a very important part of their investigation. Why hadn’t he told her? She knew why. Because it made him look guilty, especially after Hillary was killed. The least he could have done was let Brittany know that he hadn’tpaidfor Hillary’s services!
Kurt had texted her to let her know that because of Austin’s solid alibi, they had released him. Obviously, his ancient artifact had been used as the murder weapon, but according to the members of his board that were interviewed, Austin had been with them around the time of day when Hillary was murdered.
Brittany really didn’t know how to feel, anymore. She’d never cried so much in her life as she’d done these past three days. And all because of a man…two men, to be precise. Both men could have been the Prince Charming she’d been waiting for all of her twenty-five years. But in one night, she discovered that Prince Charming was a liar! Frowning, she shook her head. Talk about ruining someone’s life…and this one just happened to be a doozy. Not only had it ruined her trust with both men, but now she’d thought about putting in for a transfer. She couldn’t work with Kurt Hamill now.
The buzzing of her phone brought her out of her thoughts. Before answering, she checked the caller ID. It was her brother, Rick. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she cleared her throat. “Hello.” Inwardly, she grimaced. She still sounded like a frog with laryngitis.
“Britt? Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sick?”
She sighed.Only sick in the heart…“No.”
“Are you still coming to the family dinner tonight? Dad wanted me to call you and remind you that you can’t miss out on this one.”
She groaned. She had forgotten about it. Hopefully, she’d be able to get rid of her puffy eyes by tonight. “Yes, I’m coming.”
“Great. Dad will be happy to hear. Do you want me to pick you up?”
Out of her three brothers, she was closer to Rick since he was only two years older than her. Her other brothers wouldn’t have even thought of picking her up. She smiled. “Sure. Sounds fun.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at six forty-five tonight.”
“Okay, bye.”
She glanced at the clock on the dvd player. It was only ten o’clock? What was she going to do to pass the time? She couldn’t get a good night’s rest, because every time she closed her eyes, Austin’s face was there. He wouldn’t leave her memory. She’d recalled every moment they were together, and every word…
Why was his door opened that first day?
Curling on the couch, she hugged the large pillow. This was where she and Austin had cuddled and had a make-out session…
Had someone broken into his suite that morning?
She shook her head, trying to stop herself from thinking. She wasn’t on the case anymore. Martinez took her and Kurt off immediately after learning how close she’d become with Austin, and especially because of Kurt’s relationship with the suspect.
Austin hadn’t been surprised that she had entered his suite…
“Augh!” She took the pillow and placed it over her head. Perhaps she needed a shrink. She couldn’t get these voices out of her head. From now on, she didn’t want anything to do with Hillary Banks’ case.
The killer had returned the murder weapon to Austin’s house to make him look guilty.
Slowly, she lowered the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Her mind started working the way it did when she was a police detective, and suddenly, she had left her own pity party. Somebody had set Austin up. But who?
She put aside her dislike for him, and the fact that he broke her heart, because now she was in detective mode. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? The reason Austin’s door was open that first day was because someone else had been in there to return the weapon. He didn’t know why his door was opened, either. The doorknob hadn’t appeared as if someone forced the door open. Nothing in his penthouse suite appeared to have been taken, so it wasn’t a robbery.
Energy shot through her, and she jumped up to a sitting position. Whoever had returned the weapon must have a key. Could it be someone who worked in the hotel? For some reason, she didn’t think so. Was it his maid? Then again, the ancient artifact was heavy, so she doubted the maid would be able to carry it. Whoever carried it must have been spotted by someone…
Security cameras!
Brittany grabbed her cell and started to punch in Kurt’s number, but then stalled. He wanted to see his stepbrother put behind bars. Even if the proof smacked him in the face, he wouldn’t believe it. No, she had to be the one to solve this puzzle. She would be the one who would find the real killer.
She hurried into the bathroom to check her appearance in the mirror.Ugh!She stuck out her tongue. Considering she hadn’t showered for two days—which meant she hadn’t washed her hair—was it any wonder she looked so terrible?
