Page 54 of The Anniversary Party

Sasha nodded. “Right. So, did anyone see someone going into Joy and Grady’s room?”

“It doesn’t have to be after Rex was killed,” Leo cautioned. “We don’t know how much time elapsed between when he was struck and when he died.”

Brian scanned the room. Then he sighed heavily. “Well, if no one else will say it, I will. Tessa went in there. Sorry, Tessa.”

Tessa rubbed her forehead and slumped her shoulders. “I did.”

“You planted the candlestick?” Joy asked.

“No, I went into your room. Probably right after you took off for the kitchen. I needed to talk to Grady privately.”

“About what?”

“It wasprivate,” Tessa said, enunciating. “That’s why I spoke to himprivately.”

“Tess, I think we’re past that,” Leeza said in a sad voice. “I mean, he’s dead.”

“You sure?” Tessa asked, keeping her attention on Leeza.

“Yeah.”

Tessa lifted her chin and addressed the room. “I wanted to talk to Grady about hiring Leeza as a sales consultant.”

“What?” Paul blinked at his wife. “You didn’t tell me about this.”

She breathed heavily, her nostrils flaring. “I knew we needed the money, Paul.”

Her tone was curt, and Leo knew she meant they needed the money to pay off Paul’s debt to Rex. It was also clear that she didn’t want to discuss the issue in front of all of their friends. But Paul was either oblivious to her discomfort or didn’t care.

“No, we didn’t. We’re doing fine.” He glared around the room. “We’re doing fine,” he repeated.

Leo kept his expression impassive as he watched Paul Conklin’s agitation grow. The man’s wife was less restrained.

She laughed. “No, Paul. I don’t know exactly how much money you owe Rex, but I know it’s more than we could ever pay back with our current salaries.”

Paul sputtered.

She continued, “He held it over your head like a sword. I thought if I went to work for Grady and Tessa’s company, we could pay Rex back and get out from under his thumb.”

Paul’s angry gaze fell to the floor.

“You borrowed money from Rex?” Chance asked. “Dude, you could have asked me.”

Bethany’s eyes flashed, but she held her tongue. Leo imagined she’d have wanted input on a decision like that.

“It was a lot of money,” Paul mumbled to his feet.

“Paul’s gambling again,” Leeza explained.

Tessa leaned over and rubbed her friend’s arm. Bethany gasped and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’ Leeza gave her a sad, tremulous smile.

Paul lifted his head and tightened his jaw. “You really want to air our dirty laundry in front of our friends and humiliate me?”

“You did this to yourself,” she told him. “And even after I found out, I stayed. I stayed and tried to find a way out of the mess you made. But you? You’re pouting because I went behind your back to look for a better job. You’re more worried about protecting your image as Rex’s best pal than solving the problem.”

“It’s not like that.”

“It’s exactly like that. Rex was a douche—sorry, Annette. He held the fact that you owe him money over your head and made you dance like a puppet.”

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