I licked the chocolate off my fingertips and walked over to meet him. I wanted to give him a hug, but I sensed he wouldn’t want me to.
“How did you and Madison know to show up?” I asked.
“The security guard notified LAPD that a possible murder suspect was on the grounds,” Shuman said.
I’d forgotten that I’d mentioned Lacy Hobbs’s name when I’d called about the bobbleheads possibly being stolen again.
Jeez, was I wrong about that or what? Belinda was really here to kill me.
I guess my private detective skills still needed some work. But at least I’d been right about the security guards spotting Belinda and me on the surveillance camera.
“Are you all right?” Shuman asked. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”
I’d answered that question a couple of times already, but I guess Shuman wanted to be sure.
“I’m good,” I said. “When did you start back to work?”
“This morning,” he said.
A few minutes passed with us just staring at each other. I wanted to ask him a zillion questions about where he’d been, what he’d done, why I hadn’t heard from him, if he was okay. But Shuman had put some sort of wall up around him, and I couldn’t bring myself to try to get through it.
The door to the lounge opened and Detective Madison walked in. He looked as if he’d aged since the last time I’d talked to him.
Amanda’s murder and Shuman’s disappearance had taken a toll on everyone.
“You’re free to leave,” Madison said.
I guess he was content with the confession I’d heard Belinda screaming as I left the parking garage and no longer considered me a suspect in Lacy’s murder, but I wanted to make sure.
“You’re closing the case?” I asked.
The case that wasn’t closed seemed to spring up between the three of us as if someone had said Amanda’s name aloud.
Detective Madison’s expression turned grim. He looked at me, then at Shuman and said, “We’ll find the man who murdered Amanda. We’ll find him.”
Madison walked away.
I turned to Shuman and asked softly, “Are they going to find him?”
He shook his head. “No. They’re never going to find him.”
CHAPTER 27
My apartment was only a semi-mess now, thanks to Cody, but several things still needed to be done. I figured I could get Lyle and his construction crew to handle them.
I sat on my couch wearing sweats, my hair in a ponytail, a package of Oreo cookies on my left and a one-pound bag of M&M’s on my right, watching the History Channel. I’d grown to appreciate their programming—who didn’t love Ancient Aliens—during my extended stay in breakup zombieland, but today I was just tired and wanted to veg out.
Yesterday had been one heck of a day. So much had happened I couldn’t even process it all. After leaving Sheridan’s estate last night I’d come home and fallen into bed. I’d have to face reality sometime today—maybe after I’d gotten through the Oreos.
Just as the narrator on TV started in on how aliens had come to Earth to mine for gold, my cell phone rang. I hoped it was Marcie—I could really stand a good, long talk with my BFF—but Jeanette’s name appeared on my caller ID screen. What the heck could she want?
Since I’m not big on suspense, I answered.
“Good news, Haley,” Jeanette said. “We won!”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
She must have realized that because she said, “The contest. Our store sold the most fashions from the runway show—the most in the entire chain. We won!”
Jeez, so much had happened I’d forgotten all about the contest.
“And you know what that means,” she said, in a third-grade somebody-likes-you chant.
Oh my God. We’d won the contest. That meant I’d have to go to the corporate office and work—with Ty.
My heart started to race. A thousand thoughts flew through my head.
I really needed to talk to Marcie now.
“You know, the most exciting thing about the fashion show was all those young girls who were there,” Jeanette said.
I remembered seeing dozens of stylishly dressed girls in the audience.
I got a weird feeling.
“Who would have suspected it?” she went on. “We’ve never had a concentration of that demographic before. I don’t know where they all came from.”
One of my conversations with Amber flashed in my head. She’d told me Ty had her hire a group of actresses.
My weird feeling got weirder.
I needed a distraction.
I spotted the gift bag from Sheridan’s party that Tiberia had given me. I grabbed it off my kitchen counter.