“Forgive me, but I just woke up to the sound of the sky falling. You lost me at gut feeling.”
Cree pointed to the picture “She told me this house holds secrets and that the flower represented her. She told me out of all of her packed belongings, the diamond was the one she wanted least.”
West rubbed his hand through his hair and squeezed his neck, moving closer to examine the picture. “So you decided to try and figure out the house’s secrets?”
“I was pulled to the picture. Every time I walked by it, every time I see it, something just pulls me to stare a little longer.”
“So what’s down those creepy stairs? You think she hid some dead bodies?”
Cree shrugged and turned back to the opening. “I haven’t looked yet.”
West slipped the flashlight from her fingers and held it with his gun as he eased inside. The stale air made it difficult to breathe. Wooden steps creaked beneath their feet, leading deeper into the darkness. Cree rested her hand on his shoulder.
“You plan to shoot a ghost?” Cree asked from behind. Any chance of them being stealthy in case something or someone lurked inside flew out the window.
He eased down off the last step and paused, letting the flashlight run around the room.
A light illuminated from above, and he turned to find Cree had a hand on a switch. She shrugged. “You can never be too careful about infestations of rats, rodents, and scary basement clowns.”
West flicked off the flashlight and walked farther into the room. “I think you’re safe from infestations of anything but dust bunnies.”
Cree walked around the huge hidden room. The basement ran the entire length of the house.
Boxes and old furniture lined the walls. He ran his hand over the closest box. An inch of dust covered it. “Why would she board up the basement?”
Cree squatted and opened one of the boxes. She pulled out an old pan. “Maybe all this outdated stuff scared her.” Cree put the pan back in the box and pushed herself up. She pointed to a TV in the corner with rabbit ears sitting on top. “Look, she owns a poltergeist TV. Don’t go into the light, Carrie Ann…” Cree chuckled, reciting the words from the show that probably terrified her when she was little.
“Clowns and poltergeists.” West shook his head, setting his gun down on top of a dresser, and had started removing some of the blankets from beds and other stuff when he paused after pulling one off of an old trunk.
“I feel like a voyeur,” Cree whispered. “This was Calinda’s real life.”
West lifted the trunk lid to find a wedding dress inside. Cree pulled it out and held up the yellowing lace. “I didn’t know she ever married.”
“Neither did I,” West said, pulling out a single picture sitting on top of a shoebox. Calinda was wearing the wedding dress. Her smile was huge as she gazed into the groom’s eyes. Eyes that were extremely familiar. Standing next to her in a tux was none other than West’s best friend, Prince Phillip, only younger, wearing a cocky grin. “What the…”
Cree slipped the picture from his hands. “That looks like…”
“It is,” West said, stepping back, his mind racing to make sense out of all of this. How in the hell had that happened? Surely his best friend would have told him that he’d married the actress. None of this was making a bit of sense. If they’d truly been married, that meant he’d slept with his best friend’s wife. His stomach rolled at the thought. All rational reasoning was gone in a split second.
“Um…West.” Cree said, digging through the shoebox. She pulled out a piece of paper. “Looks like it was official. They had a certificate and everything dated only a month before her death.”
She handed him the document and continued digging through the trunk to find an opened envelope. She slid the letter out.
My dearest Calinda. You will always be the light shining in my heart.
Love always, your Phillip
Cree handed West the note and opened the box. Sitting inside was another black box, only this one was expensive looking, leather with an impressive gold insignia on top. “Do you recognize this?”
She showed him the insignia.
“It’s the Wellington insignia. It’s the royal seal.”
She flicked the lid open to find a diamond as big as her fist sitting inside on top of a bed of black satin. “Half the case is solved.”
He took the box from her hand and carefully picked up the diamond and grimaced. They’d found so much more than the diamond. He’d found his best friend had lied to him. Phillip hadn’t told him everything, and worse than that, maybe if he had, Mya wouldn’t be dead. “You can’t tell anyone what we’ve uncovered. We thought not finding the diamond would kill his chances at becoming king.” West waved the certificate of marriage. “This one paper could destroy him.”
Cree rested her hand on her hip. “Now who’s being overly dramatic?”
“It’s against our law, especially considering the royal family can’t get divorced. This one piece of paper points the finger directly at Phillip. Even if he didn’t kill her, it gives him motive to have wanted her dead.”
“Or your other buddy Katherine. She was, after all, born to be his wife. Can you imagine if she ever found out about this?”
The click of the hammer had us both spinning around.
Chapter 16
Bunhead stood at the bottom of the stairs, making me stiffen. She watched as West glanced at his gun. I settled my hand on his arm. One dead body was enough for this case.
“Don’t even think about,” Victoria said, grabbing West’s gun and stuffing it in the waistband of her jeans.
“Victoria, what are you doing?” West demanded.
Her lips twisted and her beady eyes narrowed. “Mya told me the diamond was a wedding present.” She shot her weight on one hip. “Put the diamond and the paper down and step back.”
West didn’t make a move.
Victoria pointed the gun into the concrete and pulled the trigger, the bullet exploding near my feet, making me squeal and jump.
“Fine,” West said, slowly putting the stuff down. He pushed me behind his back. He held up his hands. “Mya told me the diamond wasn’t here.”
“Why would she tell you the truth?” Victoria said, grabbing the paper and the diamond. “She was playing you, Archer. She knew the diamond was here, and she was going to come back for it, but she died, on your watch.”
West shook his head. “She wasn’t a member of the resistance. I would have known.”
“You’re such an ass. You still think that she loved you?” Victoria tsked. “She was using you, Archer. She was feeding the group everything you found out.” She sneered. “You played right into her hands and believed everything she wanted you to believe,” Victoria said and glanced around the room. “Pathetic but fitting that this is where you two will die.”
Victoria eased backward toward the stairs, taking them one step at a time while keeping the gun pointed in our direction. Our only hope was she’d fall and break her neck. There was no stopping her.
“I’ll kill you, Victoria. When I get out of this, you’re a dead woman,” West growled out.
“You won’t get out this.” She chuckled. “No one knows this room exists. No one is coming to save you.”
She disappeared up the steps, and West ran behind her, banging his hand against the now closed and locked door.
“I knew I should have thrown a cookie at her,” I said, turning back into the room. My gaze went to the ceiling. The last time I’d been locked in a room, I’d found a ventilation shaft to escape from. I wasn’t in luck this time. “She was probably the one that killed Calinda.”
I moved some boxes away from the wall to see if there was any escape routes.
“She didn’t kill Calinda,” West announced, jogging back down the stairs.
“How do you know? She looks capable,” I argued.
“She was on the damn plane with me and Katherine.”
“Perfect,” I grunted,
moving another box out of the way. “So we have crazy bunhead and another killer still running around. Well, at least Calinda was wrong.”
“About what?” West said, pulling me away from the boxes and into his arms, where he held me. His heart was racing beneath my ear as he surrounded me with his warmth.
“She said when I found the diamond that I was going to die and that you would leave me.” I leaned out of his hold and stared up into his eyes. “I’m still alive, and it looks like you’re stuck with me, at least until we find a way out.”
He cupped my cheek. “She said I would leave you?”
I nodded just as his lips lowered and hovered over mine. “Never by choice.”
His eyes searched mine before he kissed me in that make-my-heart-melt kind of way, momentarily helping me forget that we were going to die in a dust-filled basement with a TV that Carrie Ann probably used to go into the light.
He broke the kiss and kept his arm around me.
“I’m sorry Mya broke your heart.”
He let out a sigh. “She reminded me I still had one.”
“I’m also sorry your friends kind of suck.”
“Mine might, but yours don’t.” He grinned, slipping the watch off my wrist.
“I don’t suppose you ever took out the tracker in my watch from the last case.”
“Someone has to watch out for you,” he said, glancing around the room. “If I can just figure out a way to reverse the signal.”
I glanced down at the box that held the wedding dress and grinned. I pulled out the jewel-encrusted hairpins that looked like chopsticks with pointy ends. “You have fun with that.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Get us out of here,” I said and jogged up the steps.
“How?” He followed.
“The same way I got the door open the first time. I picked the lock.”
“I didn’t know you knew how to pick locks.”
I shrugged. “I spent a lot of time in the library growing up. My godfather is a cop. I thought maybe one day it might be useful to know how to get out of handcuffs. When I was younger I’d sneak out of the house to hang out in town with my friends. I figured if I ever got busted by the cops and they tried to return me in handcuffs, I’d give them a run for their money. That led to me reading how to get into locked spaces. You know…in case I needed to break out of jail.”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of girl who bends the rules.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t know me back in my younger days. I didn’t bend the rules. I bent until those suckers snapped apart. I just need…”
Two seconds later I turned the lock until it was unlocked and opened the door. The fresh smell of pastries I’d baked smacked me in the nose, making my stomach growl.
West ran to the front door while I walked into the kitchen and started some coffee. By the time he stormed into the bedroom and came out in full gear, packing another gun, I handed him travel mug of my fresh brew. “You’re going to need this.”
His lips twisted at the corners, and he kissed my forehead. “You’re going to make a great wife.”
“You’re wasting time. Go catch bunhead, get the diamond and the damning papers, and call me later.”
He raised his coffee cup and stormed out the door. Bunhead deserved whatever she had coming to her.
I picked up the phone and shot off a text to Butler Spade. He was, after all, the owner of the house, and I needed to tell him about the closed-up room.
Sleeping?
Nope. Recording for the last two hours.
I glanced at the clock. It was only seven a.m. You due for a break?
Is everything okay?
Sort of. When you can spare a few minutes, can you stop by your house?
I’m leaving now.
I might have ended the text with a few smiley faces and other emoji that I thought might make him smile. God knows when he found out about this room, he might not be all that thrilled.
West Archer
Chapter 17
West pulled into the hotel just as Victoria was getting off her bike. He’d jumped out of the car with his gun pointed in her direction. “Oh no, you don’t.”
He slid the backpack off her shoulder and pulled the key from the ignition just as Katherine stepped out the sliding doors with one of her security guards.
“West, what are you doing?”
He kept the gun pointed at Victoria as he unzipped the bag and pulled out the diamond. He held it out to Katherine. “Put this under lock and key.”
“Victoria?” Katherine’s brows dipped. “Where did you get this?”
“Cree found it,” West answered.
“Go ahead and tell her what else the psychic found. She’s going to find out.”
“West? What else did she find?”
“Your prince is a widower. He married the actress. Just wait until the world finds out. He chose her over you.” Victoria laughed.
“She’s part of the resistance, Katherine. She claims Mya was too.”
West took her by the arm and led them both back into the hotel and up to Katherine’s room, where the additional security detail was waiting. He was seconds away from handing her off when he remembered. He lifted her shirt at the waist and pulled out his other gun and stuffed it in his jeans. “You might want to pat her down to make sure she doesn’t have any other weapons.”
They watched as the guards closed the door before Katherine spoke. “Is it true? Did you know about this?”
West dug through the bag and found the paper that proved it. He handed it to Katherine. “I didn’t know, I swear.”
Katherine eased down into a chair as she read the certificate. Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes turned misty. “Is Cree okay?”
“She’s fine. I left her drinking coffee.”
Katherine raised her gaze to his. “You have to stop her from finding out who the killer is.”
West squatted in front of her and took her hand. “She can clear his name. Isn’t that what we want?”
Katherine swallowed hard. “What if he did it? What then?”
West refused to think his best friend was a killer, but the certificate in Katherine’s hand made him question exactly what he knew about his best friend. Did anyone really know him at all?
“He didn’t do it,” West said, trying to hide the doubt in his voice.
“What if he did, West? You know what needs to be done. If he killed Calinda, Cree’s going to find out, and then he’s going to order you to silence her. Crown or not, we both know you won't and then what? You’ll run and take her with you and he’ll send someone else.”
“This is Phillip we’re talking about.”
She lifted the paper. “Exactly. This is Phillip, not the widower, the future king.”
West rose from his spot and didn’t answer.
“You told him you would do what’s necessary.” Katherine rose and took his hand. “If she for one minute thinks it’s him, then both of our hands are tied. Now, if she quits her search, no one gets hurt.”
West held Katherine’s gaze. “You’re asking me to go against everything she stands for.”
“I’m asking you to save her life.”
“You’re asking me to save Phillip’s.”
“I’m taking Victoria back with us.” She held up the paper. “I’ll let Phillip decide her punishment. You have less than twenty-four hours before he calls you. I hope you can talk her out of pursuing answers.”
West turned his back and walked out of the suite.
Chapter 18
I stood silently next to Butler as he gazed around the basement at the contents. “You found the diamond down here?”
“Yeah and then Victoria stole it from us and locked us in.”
His gaze met mine. “But you’re okay, right? She didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m okay.” My smile was genuine. “I’m not sure what you’re going to do with all this stuff. I mean technically it’s h
er sister’s right?”
Butler tossed his arm over my shoulders. “I’ll deal with this and arrange to have it delivered to Calinda’s sister or attorney or wherever it needs to go.”
Butler led me back up the stairs and into the living room to sit on the couch.
“How’s the hunt for the killer going?”
“Not great.” I sighed. Not great was an understatement. All of my suspects were dwindling, and the new suspects were untouchable in another country.
A knock sounded on the door, and Butler got up to answer it. I was almost afraid to see who was standing on the porch.
“Spade, I wasn’t expecting to see your ugly mug,” Charlie said by way of hello.
“Cree needed me. What can I say?” Butler answered.
“Needed you, needed you? Like, am I interrupting?” Charlie asked, pushing his way into the house.
“Keep it in your britches, boys. I’m not in need of that kind of help.” I chuckled as Charlie walked in and sat down next to me.
“So did the Lord ditch you again?”
“No, the Lord didn’t ditch her,” West answered for himself, walking through the front door.
Testosterone was starting to fill the air as West took the seat on the other side of me. I turned to face him, ignoring the others in the room. “Did you make it time?”
He leaned in and kissed my lips. “I did, thanks to you.”
“That’s our girl,” Charlie announced. “Well, technically, my girl.”
I turned to face him. “Excuse me.”
“I got us into Destined Rehab.”
“How?” I asked, ignoring his previous comment.
“I told them I was dating a beautiful, smart, intelligent woman who doesn’t like the limelight and I was afraid that I was going to lose you to the lord.” Charlie looked over my head. “They’re expecting you too.”
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