Trouble In Bloom (21 page)

The old me would have jumped at the chance to know. The new me said, "Nope."

"Now I know something is terribly wrong. Is it about
Booby
?" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes at his immaturity, though I supposed I was just as bad, never calling his girlfriend Ginger by the right name. "Bobby's fine."

"But you still don't want to know? I called in a favor, got the inside scoop . . . "

I felt myself caving. "Oh, all right."

"That's the Nina I know and loved."

I noticed the past tense. "Well?"

"Feisty this morning," he said.

I did feel on edge. A lot had happened over the last few days. I was stressed. "Kevin, I've got a client waiting."

"Fine. As I said, I called in a favor—"

"Yeah, yeah."

"You're one of a kind, Nina. You know that?"

"Are you buttering me up?" I had the sneaking suspicion he didn't just call to share news.

"Me? Never!"

Now I knew he was.

"As I was saying, I called in a favor. The M.E. is awaiting some tox screens and such, but the case is all but closed. Thad Cochran killed Genevieve."

"Are they sure? There's an awful lot of behind-the-scenes stuff going on there."

"So I've heard on the news, but the evidence points in that direction. I guess they interviewed Thad, and he confessed to having been with Genevieve in the hot tub the day she died. They'd been doing this near-asphyxiation sex game."

"Did he confess he'd killed her?"

"Actually, no. Said she was fine when he left her in the hot tub, but there had been an arrest warrant issued for Thad yesterday. That's why the detectives were at the studio last night—waiting to take him in."

I guess he did have good sources. "So, the case is closed."

"Unofficially."

It did make sense. I supposed. Except the part about Thad killing himself. He wasn't the type, and if it had really been a sex game gone wrong, then was it truly murder?

"Stop," Kevin said.

"Stop what?"

"Thinking about the case. Let the police handle it, stay out of it. No snooping."

"Me, snoop?"

"Nina . . . "

"Kevin . . . " I was just giving him a hard time. Truth be told, I was beyond glad to have the case closed. I never wanted anything to do with
Hitched or Ditched
again.

"So, is that all?" I asked.

"All?"

"You just called to tell me about the case?"

"Well, now that you bring it up, there is something else."

Hah! I'd known it. "What?"

"I need to go no contact."

My stomach dropped. "Why?"

"I can't talk about it."

"I'm not understanding, Kevin. You're a homicide detective. Since when do you go undercover at all?"

There was a long silence before he said, "Since I started doing some work for Ian."

Ian the DEA agent? Oh good God.

"Nina?"

"I'm here." A thousand questions popped into my head.

"I can't answer any questions."

"I wish you'd stop doing that!"

"What?"

"Reading my mind. I hate it."

"I know."

I groaned.

"I'll be okay."

"I'm not worried about you."

He laughed. "Liar."

"I'm not," I lied. "It's Riley." Which was actually true.

"I'll be okay, Nina."

"If you're going no contact, then you're in danger, right?"

He didn't say anything.

"Shit." My hand shook. How come hearing his voice, worrying about him, still happened after all this time?

"Since when do you swear?"

"I've just taken up the habit. Does Tam know you're working with Ian?"

"No."

"Does Allspice?" I was referring to Detective Ginger Barlow. Kevin's partner both in and out of the bedroom.

I could hear his smile. "Running out of spices?"

"Maybe. Does she?"

"No. No one but the DEA, my immediate supervisor, and you now."

"Why'd you have to go and tell me? This is just what I need, one more stress in my life."

"Because of Riley, Nina."

Right. Riley. Who'd be wondering where his dad was.

"What do I tell him?" I asked.

"You don't have to tell him anything. I'll call when he gets out of school and let him know I have to go away for a while."

I drew in a deep breath. Outside, I caught sight of snowflakes starting to fall.

October was a crazy month here in Cincinnati. Eighty degrees one day, snow the next.

My intercom buzzed. "Ms. Lowther here to see you," Brickhouse said.

I held my cell to my chest. "Give me just a minute more, please." I waited a beat and said to Kevin, "I've got to go."

"Don't worry about me."

A lump had lodged in my throat. "I won't," I lied.

"Yeah, and I won't worry about you snooping into the
Hitched or Ditched
case."

"Actually, you won't have to."

He snorted. "I'll call if I can. 'Bye, Nina," he said, then hung up.

I closed my phone, dropped it into my backpack. It immediately rang again. Ana's cell number lit up the screen. I pressed the silence button, dropped it again. I wasn't in the mood to talk to her right now.

Automatically, my hand reached for my bottom drawer, to my chocolate stash. Just as I pulled it open, I remembered it was empty.

Only . . . it wasn't.

Confused, I pulled the box of Almond Joys from the drawer. A note was taped to the top of the box.

My eyes and nose stung with held in tears.

I took a minute to compose myself, then buzzed Brick- house. "Please send Pippi in."

"Right away," she answered.

"Oh, and Mrs. Krauss?"

"Yes?"

"Did Bobby happen to stop by yesterday?"

She clucked. "Oh, did I forget to tell you?"

"Must have slipped your mind."

"Must have."

A minute later Pippi was settled across from me, worry in her eyes, a frown on her lips. "I don't know what to say."

"We don't know for certain any of my people were involved."

"Fair enough. However, there's never been a single incidence of theft at Lowther House in its existence. The day you and your workers come in, a valuable ring goes missing?"

It did seem a little coincidental, and everyone knew how I felt about that.

"When was the last time the ring was seen?"

She fidgeted. "No one is absolutely sure. Definitely a hundred percent Tuesday. Saw it myself when Minnie was watching the poker game."

I'd seen it then too.

"Perhaps she simply misplaced it?"

"We've looked everywhere."

"Pippi, I think we should call the police."

"No! I mean, that's not necessary. We should be able to work this out between ourselves."

"May I ask why not?"

"I don't want to drag Lowther House's reputation through the mud, Nina. People pay me a lot of money for their privacy. I feel responsible for bringing your company in, and feel I must try to resolve this issue myself before alerting the authorities."

My eyebrows inched upward. That answer sounded too pat, too practiced to be completely true. "I cannot go around accusing my employees without proof."

"Have you spoken to the young man who brought Minnie back to her room yesterday?"

"He was in her room?"

"Yes. She has a pass card for the alarm system, so she doesn't have to remember the code for the east wing."

"No, I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet."

"I've heard your employees—"

"I vouch for all my employees and their character." Even Jeff Dannon, though I didn't know why. I'd had very few employees revert to their illegal ways after I took them on.

She rose. "Please speak with him and get back to me. I'll be waiting for your call."

I walked her out, watched her settle into her Lexus and drive away.

"Mrs. Krauss, could you please call together an emergency employee meeting?" I didn't want to ruin everyone's day off, so I said, "Tomorrow, nine A.M. sharp."

Brickhouse clucked. "Who's she accusing of what?"

I tipped my head. "Was that sentence grammatically correct?"

"Don't start with me, Nina Ceceri."

"Jeff. Missing diamond."

"I don't believe it."

"It's not for us to decide. Just call the meeting."

I poured myself a cup of coffee, dumped in some creamer, some sugar, and carried it back to my office. Checking my phone, I saw Ana had called three times, my mother once. Nothing from Bobby.

He'd be taking off just about now . . .

I wasn't in the mood to talk to Ana or my mother, so I busied myself with invoices for the next hour. The office was quiet. Everyone except Brickhouse had the day off. The chimes on the front door jangled loudly.

"Well, well," Brickhouse said.

Curious, I went to the doorway. My muscles were slowly forgiving me. Deanna stood there, holding two nine-bythirteen-inch trays.

"German chocolate cupcakes," she said, holding them out.

"Bees and honey," I mumbled, hearing my mother's voice.

"There's one for every hour I've been gone. I know they're your favorite." She held them out with such a look of sincerity that I couldn't help forgive her on the spot.

"Come on," I said, holding out my arms. "Let's get this over with."

She stepped into my hug, tears in her eyes.

Brickhouse clucked and mumbled something about me being a softie.

I guess there were just some things I couldn't change about myself. "Let's just forget the last couple of days and move forward."

Deanna nodded. It was the first time I'd seen her speechless.

I led her into my office, took the pans of German chocolate cupcakes, removed the foil off the top pan, plucked out a cupcake and bit into it.

Duke would have had a fit if he could see me, but since my butt was still sore from the treadmill incident, I figured I'd earned the calories.

Deanna sat across from me, still a jumble of nerves. Her leg bounced, her thumbs rotated around each other, her left eye twitched.

"With the current setup of TBS, there's not a need for more than one designer," I started out.

"Not this again," Deanna mumbled.

I smiled. "That's why I'm going to start a new division of Taken by Surprise."

Her thumbs stilled. Her knee still bounced. "New division?"

"Weekend Warrior, and you, Deanna, will be in complete charge of it."

Her eyes widened. "What is it?"

"There aren't many people who can afford TBS's services. I realize that, and I feel bad they're not more available to everyone. So, I got to thinking, what's the most expensive part of our ser vices?"

"The labor," Deanna said.

I knew she was smart.

"Right. So, what if TBS offered a special ser vice? We— rather, you—design the landscape and pull together all the materials needed for the design. Everything will be delivered to the homeowner's front step. Then the homeowner does all the work to see the design come to fruition. It will be a fraction of the cost we charge now, people can do it on their own time schedule, and there's a sense of accomplishment they receive by doing the yard themselves, without the hassle of searching for the right type of stone, the perfect plant, liners, pumps, all the tedious, time-consuming details."

Her face lit. "I love it!"

"I knew you would."

"I'm so sor—"

"Ah!" I shook a finger. "We weren't going to dwell, remember?"

"Okay. Can I say thank you?"

"You just did."

"When do I start?"

"Now." I pulled a file from my drawer. "Here are some names I've accumulated over the last month or so of people who were interested in a makeover but couldn't swing it for one reason or another. You should contact them, offer this new ser vice. I guarantee your spring will be busy."

Slowly, she stood, clutching the folder. "I'll make you proud, Nina."

I didn't tell her she already had.

Looking up at the wall clock, I noted that Sherry Cochran's appointment time had come and gone. I'd stuck around just in case.

I ate another cupcake as I tidied my desk, gathered up my handbag. "Why don't you go home, Mrs. Krauss?" I asked, headed for the door. "I'll be out all afternoon, and there's really no need for you to stay."

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where?"

"If you must know, to the mall." I was due to meet Perry there in forty-five minutes.

She grabbed her purse. "Good timing. I need a few things myself."

"But—"

"Close your mouth, Nina Ceceri. We'll take my car."

"But—"

"No arguments."

"And to think I was just beginning to like you."

"Ach. We can't be having that, can we?" She pushed me out the door.

Lips pursed, eyebrows dipped, Perry said, "No, no! Get it off right now! My eyes!"

I pointed at Brickhouse's cleavage. "You could hurt someone with those. Poke someone's eyes out."

"Donatelli's going to love it," she said, admiring the leather bustier in the dressing room's full-length mirror.

Perry cupped his mouth, directing his words so only I could hear him. "I hope this Donatelli doesn't have a heart condition."

"If he doesn't now," I whispered, "he will after he gets a look at that."

Brickhouse spun. "I wonder if they have a matching skirt."

"No!" Perry and I shouted at the same time.