Page 62 of Diamonds & Deception

“We can do that. Check-in with Michael at the front desk. He’ll bring you to us.” Drake ends the call and turns to me. “The detective would like to ask you a few questions. We can talk with him here or downstairs in my office. Where will you be most comfortable?”

Theweisn’t lost on me. “Do you mind if we go to your office?” I don’t explain why, and he doesn’t ask. Despite what happened a few nights ago, the penthouse has been a refuge for me, and I don’t want to ruin that by bringing the detectives into it.

“Not a problem. He’ll be here in twenty minutes.” Drake picks up his phone and dials. “Michael. When Detective Marshall arrives, send him to my office, please.”

Drake hangs up and fires off a text to someone. I get up and clear our plates and wash the dishes. It’s the least I can do.

“I’m going to shower and change,” he says before going to his room.

As soon as he leaves, I feel so alone. I have no one to lean on. My sister is dead. My best friend is dead. My parents are not handling their grief well, and I can’t bring this to them. They hadn’t seen Lenora since our college graduation, but they loved her and took her out to dinner with us whenever they visited.

I should probably shower as well, but I don’t have the energy to. I wash my face, put on some mascara, and stay dressed in my leggings and sweatshirt. There’s no appropriate or inappropriate attire for meeting with a detective to discuss your best friend’s murder.

I wait for Drake in the living room, staring out the windows and looking down at the city. People walk at different paces as they head to work or breakfast or possibly home after pulling an all-nighter. Joggers with headphones and Air Pods whiz past them getting in their morning run.

Life is moving for the people below while it’s stopped still for me. I’ve lost my sense of direction. Work no longer satisfies me. I don’t have a social life or family who is strong enough to comfort me.

Daisy lies in a patch of sun on the floor next to me. I’m incredibly thankful to Jennifer for convincing me to adopt her yesterday. Hell, has it only been a day? Less than twenty-four hours since I’ve had her? It seems like a lifetime ago when Lenora and I were laughing over something perverted she’d said over our fancy luncheon at the Boston Public Library.

I wipe away a fallen tear and press my forehead against the cool glass. I don’t know how long I stand there, staring off into the distance when I feel a hand on my lower back.

“Are you ready?” Drake asks softly behind me.

I nod and crouch to kiss Daisy. “I’ll be back, sweet girl.”

Drake gives her a scratch as well, which makes all my negative thoughts about him vanish. He’s righted his wrongs tenfold by now. I’m no longer mad at him for how he tortured the truth out of me. I deserved the humiliation.

He’s been my saving grace, my guardian angel since I found Lenora’s body. Drake keeps his hand on my lower back as he guides me into the elevator and down the hallway to his office. The last time, and only time, I was in here I had a vibrator on my clit.

My cheeks warm at the memory. I glance over my shoulder at Drake and wonder if he’s thinking the same. His desk is big and imposing, and I remember how he said how badly he wanted to bend me over and fuck me on it.

I squeeze my eyes shut and move blindly as he leads me to the seating area by the windows. I take a seat on the couch and fold my hands in my lap. Drake goes to his minibar and takes out two water bottles, handing me one.

“Thank you.” I uncap it and take a sip, not realizing how dry my throat is.

We don’t have to wait long for Michael to bring the detective up. There’s a sharp rap on the door, and Drake crosses the room to open it.

He guides the detectives in my direction, and I don’t even attempt to stand. I don’t trust my legs to hold me upright without Drake by my side.

“Miss Winters. I’m sorry for your loss and to meet again this way.” Detective Marshall holds out his hand and I shake it. “This is Detective Carlton. She’s been investigating your sister’s case as well.”

We shake hands and they both take a seat in the two chairs across from me while Drake sits by my side.

“I’ve read through Deputy Malone’s report from yesterday, but would you mind going through the events that led up to your discovery of Miss Sumner?”

I go through the details again, detached and without crying, while the detectives scribble in their notebooks.

“Do you remember anything suspicious? Possibly a face from your lunch or that you’d seen before another time? During your walk or at the shelter?”

I shake my head. “I wasn’t paying attention to anyone around me, but I didn’t have the feeling of being followed or watched. Lenora never mentioned anything either.”

“Did she allude to a past relationship gone bad? A date who may have wanted more than she was willing to give?”

I almost laugh. They obviously haven’t dug too deep or they’d learn Lenora was quite free with her body. Of course, it could be a jealous lover, but she’d been away for months and hadn’t told anyone she was ending her work trip early. She wasn’t supposed to be back until next week.

I tell the detectives this and they jot it down.

“Anything else you can think of that seems off? No detail is too small or insignificant. It’s often the details witnesses overlook because they think it means nothing that ends up solving the crime,” Detective Marshall says.

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