Dark Shadows (Gia Santella Crime Thrillers Book 11), Kristi Belcamino [ereader with dictionary .TXT] 📗

I’d saved the best for last:

“And my gun and silencer is missing out of my nightstand drawer.”

I could see him working the inside of his mouth with his teeth, thinking.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Was he shot?”

“No idea,” I said. “His friend did CPR, but after that I tried to keep them away from the body. I didn’t really examine it.”

He nodded. “Probably a good idea.”

9

On our way back in, Ryder stopped at the kitchen and poured three fingers of tequila.

“Breakfast?” I said smiling.

He didn’t smile back. He slid the glass across the black granite counter toward me.

I made a face. He raised an eyebrow.

I picked up the glass and downed it.

“Ready?” he asked.

Back in the living room, I stood by as Ryder took charge.

“The police inspectors are going to want to speak to all of you individually,” he said.

“Why?” Hannah said, her voice shrill. “It was an accident. He must have had too much to drink, hit his head, and fell in the pool and drowned.” She looked around wildly at the others and then her gaze settled on Amanda. “You were the reason he was drinking so much. This is all your fault.”

Amanda jumped off the couch and became a blur of flying blonde hair and long pink talon nails scraping at Hannah’s face. Both women were screaming. Before I could get there, Hannah had flipped Amanda onto her back and had her hands around Amanda’s neck. The blonde’s eyes were bulging.

“You wanted him so badly,” Hannah said. “Now you can have him, you bitch. You could have had him for the past ten years. You never wanted him until I did. That’s because you never wanted me to have anything. Ever since we were little, you’ve always had what I wanted—the clothes I wanted, the toys I wanted, the vacations I wanted, the boys I wanted. Why couldn’t you let me have this one thing? All I wanted was him. I’ve given you everything our entire friendship. All I wanted was him. Why didn’t you let me have him?”

Tears dripped down her face.

I watched. I knew I should do something, but I was too interested in what Hannah was saying.

Ryder was now in the room and pulled Hannah off of Amanda, who sat up holding her neck and gasping for breath. Everybody else appeared to be in shock, stunned into immobility.

Then the doorbell rang again.

Sabine went to Amanda’s side to check on her. I glanced at Ryder. He jutted his chin toward the door, and I nodded.

While Ryder headed toward the front door, I took Hannah by the arm and led her into the dining room.

“You okay?” I said.

“No,” she said. “I’m not fucking okay.”

“I know,” I said. “But you have to get your shit together now. The police are here, and they are going to want to talk to you. You have to calm down. You have to think. I need you to remember everything you can about last night. I think maybe you were drugged. I would tell them this and maybe ask for a blood test. And make sure they check that glass by your bed.”

She bit her lip and nodded. A tear slipped down her cheek.

“Who do you think did this?” Hannah asked.

I shook my head and pressed my lips together.

“Did he have any enemies? Anyone you can think of? Did he piss anyone off since you guys got to Cannes? Maybe someone who followed us here?” I wasn’t sure if someone could have gotten in from the backyard. It was basically on the side of a hillside cliff, but maybe if someone wanted to badly enough?

“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” she said.

“I’ll have to talk to Ryder, but I think it would be pretty hard for anyone to get into the house at night. That alarm is shrill. Can you think of anything at all from last night that struck you as odd?”

She frowned. “Maybe.”

“What was it?”

“I saw Amanda and Owen arguing right before bed. He went up to bed. She went out to the pool by herself.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Lucas and I went up to our room…” she trailed off.

“They argued. But it sounds like you did, too. Amanda said you and Lucas argued last night.” There it was.

Hannah looked down. “We did. It’s the same argument we always have. I get jealous. He reassures me that he wants me, not Amanda. He says he could’ve been with Amanda for years but never was. It’s my own insecurity. Now, every time they talk or hang out, which they’ve done for years, I get jealous.”

“Do you remember anything after you and Lucas went up to your room?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Yes,” she said and nodded. “It was late. I remember Lucas getting out of bed and saying he needed to go get something to eat from the kitchen.”

She sat up straighter. “I told him I was thirsty, and he brought us something to drink.” She looked over at me. “That’s the glass on my nightstand. Do you think we were poisoned?”

I frowned.

“Do you remember anything after that?”

“No,” she said. “Not until Sabine woke me up and told me.”

Her lip curled, and she began to sob.

Ryder reappeared in the doorway. I could hear voices from out at the pool. They must be out examining the body.

“The inspectors are asking everyone to stay in the living room, and they will call each person one-by-one to question,” he said, giving me a glance. “I told them they could use the study.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “Thank you.”

They started with me in the little study off the kitchen. It was filled with a large glass desk, potted plants, and prints of Paris maps. A large window overlooked the backyard, but showed the fire pit area, not the pool.

The detective behind the desk rose to greet me. He was heavyset with a buzzcut and a long, droopy moustache. But he had a friendly smile, which was disarming. Probably on purpose.

“I am Commissaire Boucher.”

“Giada Santella,”