Page 69 of Deadly Designs

“You mean he drowned?” She shook her head. “Jayfeared sharks, and he couldn’t swim. He wouldn’t have gone in thewater.”

“He didn’t go willingly, honey. He was shotfirst.”

Aja Blue’s breath hitched in her chest, and the tearsfell again. Jay hadn’t deserved that. She mourned his life and theloss of things he’d wanted to accomplish. He would’ve been the bestinterior designer ever; she was sure of it. He had fire, drive, andtalent—all the ingredients necessary to be successful.

When she gathered herself, she wiped her face andstood. “I’d better make those calls. I want them to hear it from mefirst.”

“Whatever you need, honey. Do you want me to staywith you?”

As easy as it would be to continue to lean on him,she needed to be strong for her employees. “No. I’ll be outsoon.”

He kissed her. It was a gentle melding of their lips,but it meant everything to her. His thumb brushed a tear from hercheek.

“I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. After he left,she stood and walked to the attached bath, turning on the taps towash her face. She found a towel and patted it dry before glancingin the mirror. Ugh. It was worse than she expected.

She’d always been the kind to rip the Band-Aid off,so she called Sara Lea and asked her to conference in Marla andDarwin. When everyone was on the line, she didn’t beat around thebush. “Jay was found dead today.”

Sara Lea screamed, Marla gasped, and Darwin shouted,“No!” It took several minutes, but she waited until they hadprocessed the news before giving details.

“We have to have a funeral,” Marla sniffed.

“We will. I’ll plan something for later this week.”Aja Blue wasn’t sure when his body would be released since he was amurder victim. She swallowed bile.

An hour later, Aja Blue felt utterly drained as shedisconnected. Everyone wanted to recall memories of Jay, and thoughit was too soon for Aja Blue, the others had needed to do it, soshe’d listened. She’d told them to share those stories during thefuneral.

Aja Blue checked her watch and gasped. It was waypast time to pick up Presley. She hurried to the bathroom to cleanup, but it was a lost cause. There was nothing she could do todisguise the puffy, red eyes or the splotchy cheeks. Even her hairfelt limp with sorrow. She looked exactly how she felt: miserableand sad. After gathering her thick locks into a haphazard ponytail,she headed to the kitchen.

Kayne smiled at her while Christian watched her likea hawk. “Okay?”

“I will be,” she said. “Don’t we need to pick upPresley?”

“I called and told her we’d be late,” Kayne said.“There’s no hurry.”

She knew how much the woman wanted to be out of thehospital, and Aja Blue was already carrying around too much guilt.“I’m ready.”

#

Christian wished he could take Aja Blue’s pain away.Hearing her sobs had broken his heart. Hell, he’d almost cried withher. Knowing she was hurting and there was nothing he could do waslike a knife to his gut.

If not for Kayne being an avid audience, he’d havegathered Aja Blue in his arms and kissed her tenderly, letting herknow she wasn’t going through this alone.

He would be by her side. For how long, he couldn’tpromise. Since it looked like they might’ve caught the killers,he’d be going home soon. That thought caused another sharp pain inhis stomach. How would he walk away from her?

Kayne had parked in the garage, so they used the dooroff the mudroom and climbed inside the SUV. The drive to thehospital took forever with traffic. They finally turned into thelot and parked. Christian helped Aja Blue out, and then he andKayne flanked her.

“Exactly like the bodyguards I had when I wasyounger,” she muttered.

Aja Blue was referring to her youth as a child star.She’d told him she used to receive creepy fan letters, whichsounded disgusting. There were some genuinely sick people in theworld.

The door to Presley’s room was open, and the bed wasempty.

Kayne stuck her head in the small, attached bathroom.“Where is she?”

“Let’s try Detective Herbert’s room,” Christiansaid.

They stopped by the nurse’s station for informationbefore heading down the hall. Laughter sounded as they neared.Presley was inside, chatting with the beautiful detective. Thebandage around Presley’s head was gone.

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