Page 61 of Be Very Quiet

“Diagnosis?” Luca asked.

“As I told you, I’m fine.”

“What did the doctor say?” Christian questioned.

“That I have a bump on my head, and I’m good to go.”

“Do I need to go find him?” Luca pressed.

Audria rolled her eyes. “Slight concussion. A couple of stitches. Not anything to worry about. Have they found Kelli yet?”

“We haven’t heard anything. Do you want to get that filled?” Luca pointed to the prescription in her hand.

“I don’t need the painkillers.” She ripped up the paper and tossed it in a trash can.

Liliana thought herself a badass, but Audria beat her by a country mile.

#

As they were leaving the hospital, Luca’s cell buzzed. “Russo.”

“Mr. Russo, this is Cosi Azan, from Home While Away Suites. You asked me to call if Mr. Douglas Speke checked out.”

“Yes, Cosi. Thanks for calling. Did he leave today?”

“Well, I’m not sure. Housekeeping entered his room to provide weekly services, but his personal belongings were gone. He’d left the key on the dresser. I can’t give an exact date on which he left, but housekeeping confirmed that he was present last week when they went to clean the room.”

“That’s the information I needed, Cosi. You’ve been a big help. Thank you for letting me know.”

“No problem. Have a good day.”

“That was Cosi?” Audria said.

“Yeah. He confirmed Speke had moved out but didn’t know the exact date. Where are you going?”

Audria raised a brow. “Uh, back to the condo?”

“You aren’t driving.”

She frowned with her hand poised to open the driver’s side door. “Why not?”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Christian huffed and snatched the keys from her hand. She made a swipe for them, but he held them out of reach.

“Audria, you have a concussion,” Luca reminded her.

“Mild,” she corrected. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Christian had already slid behind the wheel, so her argument was moot.

Audria grumbled all the way around the SUV to the passenger side. Luca helped Liliana into the back. They stopped to pick up sandwiches for dinner, though no one was particularly hungry. Too much was unknown about the latest murder and Officer Gilbert.

There was still no word on Douglas Speke’s whereabouts. He’d vanished off the face of the earth. No credit card activity or hits on any of his accounts. His phone hadn’t been used, so there was no way to track him. The disappearing act shot him to the top of the suspect list.

It was well past midnight when they arrived at Liliana’s condo. The first thing Luca noticed when they reached the lobby was that Warren wasn’t there. It was a woman with short, cropped black hair and a severe expression.

“Who is she?” he asked Liliana.

“No idea. I’ve never seen her before.”

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