Page 48 of Never Letting Go

They both nodded their heads.

“Stick together,” Grayson said. “The last thing we need is for anyone else to disappear.”

“We plan to,” Luciana said. “Stick together, that is.”

“Good.”

“What are you doing with that?” Bella eyed the knife.

“We’re going to put it somewhere safe so the cops can see if it’s evidence.”

“Evidence?” Bella asked. “You said that was just ketchup on there.”

“It is, but like I said, it’s a long story and there isn’t time.”

They parted ways. After only another minute Damon and Grayson came to the kitchen. There were several blocks of knives with the exact same handle as the one in Grayson’s hand.

Anyone in the hotel could’ve placed the weapon underneath the chair. But nobody had noticed it until after Trey paced around the circle accusing Grayson of murder. And Trey was jealous of Mateo.

He could very well be the killer. And they left him in the ballroom with so many of the wedding guests.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Ariana pressed her ear to the door and listened. The hallway was still quiet outside of Rita’s suite. Ari had nearly made it to the ballroom when she realized the guy who had been standing guard outside the room wasn’t there.

She’d left Rita in her hotel room all alone.

Her first thought was to ask a clerk about the guard. She hurried to the front desk, but it was unattended. Ari waited a minute but felt like a sitting duck with a killer on the loose.

So, she’d returned to the suite and tried to watch something on the TV while Rita took her bath. Once the bride-to-be got out, she fell asleep in her bed with the towel wrapped around her.

Ariana hadn’t been so lucky. She’s spent most of the time watching the lightning zip across the sky. Branches and twigs flew through the air, occasionally slapping the window along with fat raindrops. Mostly, she paced. But at least she knew Rita was safe.

Damon would eventually think to look for her here, or she would leave for their room when Grayson returned. Too much was up in the air, and someone needed to stay with Rita. With any luck, the bride would be able to sleep until morning and then be able to get married without a worry. She’d have an exhausted maid of honor, but that was what coffee was for.

Hopefully the police were already here and on the trail of the killer. All the windows faced the woods, so she couldn’t even glimpse the parking lot from the suite.

Jiggle, jiggle!

Someone was trying to get in.

Ariana’s heart raced. She looked around for something to use as a weapon.

The door flung open. Grayson stumbled in, followed by Damon. They both looked as sleep deprived as she felt.

“Are you two okay?” She raced over to Damon then threw her arms around him.

He held her tightly. “We think we know who might’ve killed Mateo!”

“Who?”

Grayson closed the door and locked the deadbolts. “My cousin Trey. He’s always been jealous of us, and he was accusing me in front of everyone in the ballroom!”

“He did more than that,” Damon said.

“What happened?” Ariana asked.

Grayson reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag. It had a knife with something red smeared on it.

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