Page 97 of Blue Moon

“Yeah, fine, we’re finishing up on the prep now. But I have some news. I’m not sure whether you’re gonna like it, but?—”

“If it’s about Julius, I already heard. Popping open the champagne would be inappropriate, right?”

“You’re okay?”

“I’ll just say ‘thank you’ and leave it at that.”

“Thank you? Moon, it wasn’t me. Fuck.”

Oh. He hadn’t done it, and I’d basically accused him of cold-blooded murder. Great. Fortunately, he didn’t take offence.

“Then who…?”

“We don’t know. Blackwood is monitoring the situation, but there’s no obvious suspect right now. The body’s a mess, but there were two holes in his chest and no weapon nearby, so the cops are working on the assumption that an intruder shot him with a small-calibre weapon.”

“A burglar? Was it a home invasion?”

“If it was, they didn’t steal much, but the police still need to do a thorough search of the house.”

I shuddered. “You think the killer knew him?”

“Statistically, it seems likely. Only a quarter of murders are committed by strangers. And do I think he had enemies? Yeah, I do. Ninety-five percent of the performers he represents are young and female, and predators like him rarely stop at one victim. If another girl confided in a boyfriend or a brother, and they felt the same way about Julius as I did… I’ll be the first to chip in toward a good defence attorney.”

“And I’ll match your contribution, anonymously of course.”

Ryder let out a long breath. “You’re really okay?”

“About Julius? I’m fine. No, more than fine—maybe even happy. But I do miss you.”

“Miss you too, moon. Hopefully this should only take a few more days.”

“Have you met her yet? Elene?”

“Not yet. She thinks I’m still in the US. But we have a meet arranged the day after tomorrow, and we had to let her suggest the location because Tripp isn’t familiar with Tbilisi. It takes time to scout the area.”

“Where did she suggest?”

“A Mexican restaurant. We had a conversation about burritos, so I guess she thought I’d like it.” He yawned just as a crash came from outside. “What was that?”

I jumped up and yanked the door open. Luis was sprawled on the floor with dried-out cheese pastries scattered all around. Rocky was wolfing them down, one at a time, while Venus crawled toward the kitchen on her hands and knees.

“He fell over the dog,” Derek explained.

“And so did Venus?”

“No,” she called, “I just can’t stand upright. I think I’m gonna puke.”

“No, no, don’t do that!”

The housekeeper ran for the door. “Ma’am, I’ll get a bucket.”

“Luis fell over Rocky,” I told Ryder. “And Venus is still drunk.”

“Don’t you have a show today?”

Shit, yes, we did. On second thought, perhaps losing the contents of her stomach wouldn’t be a bad idea?

“Derek, could you be a sweetie and carry her to the bathroom?”

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