Page 76 of Blue Moon

“Ooh, lucky her. He makes excellent brownies.”

“A fruitcake named Mark has been sending Luna food for weeks, and now Marcel leaves dessert?”

“Oh, the stalker…right. That’s definitely not Marcel.”

“How can you be sure of that? And how the hell did he get her address?”

“One of the Cats probably found it for him.”

“The cats?”

“Dusk, Tulsa, Jezebel, Barbie, Spider, Dice, Sin, Storm, Echo… The Cats. That’s what we call them because they live in Casa del Gato. The Cathouse.”

“He needs to be checked out.”

“I’ll make some calls, okay?”

When Ryder hung up, Rocky was sniffing his way around the apartment, and Luna was staring at the brownies.

“Can I eat those?” she asked. “Marcel’s hardly gonna have signed his name on the note if he poisoned them.”

Hand on heart, Ryder didn’t think Marcel was the culprit. He was more concerned that the man had managed to get right to Luna’s door. The concierge desk was manned at this time of day, so why hadn’t Marcel been stopped?

“You can eat them. Stay here and keep the door locked.”

“Where are you going?”

“To speak with the concierge.”

Who denied there had been any visitors for apartment 502 until Ryder pointed out that they had evidence in the form of brownies, and when the man tried to claim it was no big deal, Ryder stood over him until he agreed to check the camera in the lobby. They watched Marcel enter the building through the unlocked front door and wait at the desk for a minute or two, scrolling on his phone. When nobody materialised, he stood on tiptoes and peered right over the counter, then shrugged and headed for the stairs. Fine, Marcel was in the clear, although Ryder was still far from happy about him showing up at Luna’s address uninvited. And the concierge needed re-education. Ryder put the fear of God into him before heading back upstairs.

To find Tulsa leaning against the wall beside Luna’s door.

“I knocked, but she wouldn’t open the door.”

Good.

“How did you get inside the building? I’ve been standing by the front desk for a half hour.”

“Through the parking garage. I’m not walking past those jackals with the cameras.”

“New question: why are you here?”

“Shani called in a tizzy and said you thought Marcel was stalking Luna, and I’ve come to set you straight. He might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he’s our pain in the ass, and he’s not a stalker. So get that shit outta your head.”

Her tone left no room for argument, but Ryder stood his ground.

“You’ve had a wasted trip. The concierge left his post and didn’t lock the front door, so I know now that Marcel got sick of waiting and meandered upstairs. But he did overstep by coming to Luna’s home. How did he get the address?”

“At a guess? From Sin or Echo. He only wanted to bring Luna food. He brings everyone food.”

“You need to stop him from doing it again.”

“No!” Luna shouted, her voice muffled. The locks clicked, and the door flew open. “These brownies are amazing. He can bring them any time.”

“He’s making medovik tomorrow. It’ll take him all day.”

“What’s medovik?”

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