Page 49 of Not That Complicated

I shifted my weight. “Bedroom.”

“Which bedroom is that?” Patel asked.

And that struck me as an odd question. I only had two bedrooms up there. They’d checked the master bedroom for more bodies when processing the scene last time. I had assumed. “You did check the rest of the master bedroom underfloor, right?” I said suspiciously.

“For what?” Liam said. “More bodies?”

“No, Liam, for woodworm.”

“Sarcasm isn’t helpful, Mr Underwood.”

“Stop calling me that. It’sRay. We all know you’ve had your tongue in my mouth, or the pair of you wouldn’t be thinking this is some desperate lonely housewife/policeman porn.Oh, officer,docheck my bedroom.”

Patel arched an eyebrow at Nash. “Do you need to recuse yourself, detective?”

I liked her.

“I had a pint with the guy.”

Liam, I did not like. “Theguy?” I said. “Apint?”

“I know him socially,” Liam ploughed on. “We’re not dating.”

“So very not,” I told her crisply. “He’s not that great of a kisser.”

Patel cracked a smile.

“You did check, though?” I said. “For other bodies? Because I got the boards relaid and the new carpet’s down and everything.”

“I think someone shone a torch under there,” Liam said.

“A torch? Is that all? It was a crime scene. It’s not standard procedure to investigate a little harder than shining a torch?”

“I assure you that all correct protocols were followed, Mr Underwood,” Patel said. “And it was a body disposal site, not a crime scene.”

“If I’d known, I’d have checked myself,” I muttered, lying through my teeth, as I led them out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I slowed as we reached the top, and hesitated at the guest room door. I bravely opened it and stepped back. “He’s in there,” I said, pointing.

Liam nudged me forward with a hand at the small of my back.

I threw my arms out and gripped the edges of the doorframe, starfishing. “I’m not going in there and you can’t make me. You go ahead. You can’t miss him. He’s right there in his tub in the hole.”

“Fine.” Liam shuffled me out of the way and strode in, his shoes striking the bare boards loudly.

He stood and stared down into the hole. “Huh.”

Patel headed downstairs, already on her radio.

Hands on hips, Liam cut a look my way.

My I-told-you-so smile slipped at his thoughtful expression. “What?” I said.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I took a deep breathand dialled.

“Hello, Premier Lodge,” the voice at the other end said. “How can I help you?”

“Hi,” I said brightly. “Is Adam there?”

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