“I wouldn’t take a car down the pass,” Nate said as they made their way to the lobby. “If you know what you’re doing, you can get down on a snowmobile, but I think even Stef is planning on spending the night. Max is going to take Rach back home when he can because their kids are with a sitter. But he’s made that run a thousand times. Alexei, Holly, and Caleb are staying. I got a room for Henry and Nell and their baby. Under protest, of course.”
He huffed out a laugh, surprised he could find any humor at all in the situation, but the idea of Nell staying in the same place she’d recently protested against was amusing.
It was so very Bliss.
He didn’t want to leave this place. He didn’t want to leave Lucy and Ty.
The doors opened and Nate exited first. Michael followed. There was one thing he needed to do. “I need to see that tape.”
Nate let out a long sigh as he found a quiet corner. The lobby bar was to the left, and there were still a few guests milling around. To the right, it looked like the ballroom was dark and closed up. “Do you honestly believe Lucy is capable of killing a man?”
Insidious thoughts crept around in his brain, tickling all those nasty places he didn’t want to go to. “She already has. She helped Hope kill Hope’s ex-husband.”
“That was self-defense.”
“Maybe she thought this was, too.” He had to consider all the possibilities. “Brock tried to hurt her. I was there. I thought I would have to intervene, but she took care of him herself. Apparently he threatened her again. You said you thought he was a sociopath.”
Nate looked around as though trying to make sure they weren’t being listened in on. “He was a piece of work. He was definitely determined to get some payback. She hurt his pride, and that was something he couldn’t overlook. But I have a hard time believing Lucy could coldheartedly poison someone. And if you trust my instincts on Foster, you should trust them when it comes to Lucy, too. You know what it’s like. You’re not so far from the US marshals that you don’t remember how to size someone up.”
Ah, Nate was wrong about that. “Yeah, there’s a reason I left. My instincts are shit.”
Nate sighed. “Come on, Mike. That’s not true. You’ve helped me more than once over the last couple of years, and you’ve been damn good. You got tricked once. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again. It doesn’t mean Lucy is anything like Jessie.”
He’d thought he would never let it happen again, but here he was. In that moment, he couldn’t truly see the difference between the two. He needed more information. “I want to see the tape. I want to see what happened between them, what she’s covering up.”
“I don’t know that she meant to cover up anything.”
“Then why wouldn’t she tell me?” He didn’t understand at all. He’d asked her if something had happened. He’d offered to help. He’d wanted to protect her. “You said you had a long talk with her. She didn’t mention that conversation at all.”
“I was only trying to make sure she took him seriously. She’s been a waitress for a while, and she’s had to deal with asshole tourists before,” Nate explained. “I wanted her to know this guy was different. Have you thought about the fact that if Brock Foster was willing to treat a perfect stranger like that, what he must put some of his family members through?”
Michael forced himself to be still for a moment, to actually think about something beyond his own bruised heart. Nate was right about one thing. He wasn’t thinking like a cop at all. “Their father is elderly.”
“Yep.” Nate leaned in. “That was my first thought. I don’t know much about the family, but I do know they’re wealthy and the father is very old, and sometimes the fight over the inheritance starts early. I’m going to do everything I can to figure this out before Monday because I assure you someone is already on the phone with CBI, and they will show up. Depending on what buttons get pushed and who’s pushing them, Lucy might look like an easy way out for the Fosters.”
He didn’t like the sound of that, but he wasn’t so naïve that he didn’t know sometimes corners were cut to protect the wealthy.
Why the fuck had she lied to him?
“I’m setting up in Cole’s apartment,” Nate offered. “I’ve already called him, and he’s agreed to let security help us with anything we need. Why don’t you come up there with me and help me do some research? I know it’s late, but the Internet is always open. We can at least get a grasp on the company the family runs. The dad has already been notified, and he’s coming back once he can get through the storm. I’d like to have some questions for him. Unless you want to go back and talk to Lucy. She might have a perfectly reasonable explanation.”
“I asked her flat out if anything had happened.” It had been the day after their crappy first date. “She was mad we hadn’t texted her back. That was why she did it. She withheld information because she was angry with me.”
“That doesn’t sound like Lucy.” Nate settled the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. “Look, I can’t let you back on the crime scene. You’re too close to this, but you can do some research. If you don’t want to research the company, you can figure out where the nearest place a person could buy cyanide from would be.”
“The Dark Web is where I would go.”
“Lucy doesn’t own a computer. I don’t think she would know how to access the Dark Web even if she did.”
“It could all be an act. She could know far more than she’s saying, and she could find a computer to use.” Michael felt stupid pointing these things out. They sounded ridiculous even to his own ears, but he also knew he would have felt the same way if he’d said them about Jessie at the time.
“We could check the new library branch.” Nate was obviously placating him. “It opened last month, and they have three whole computers anyone can use and the best Internet access in the valley.”
“I’m just saying, if a person wants it badly enough, they can make it happen.” He wasn’t wrong about that. He’d seen it time and time again. “I don’t know much about cyanide. I can take a look into it and write up a report.”
“I would appreciate that. I don’t know much about it either. I worked for the DEA for years, but that wasn’t the kind of drug we dealt with,” Nate admitted.
A familiar figure caught Michael’s eye. Nell Flanders walked toward the elevator, Henry beside her. Nell had a bundle in her arms.
He’d spent time with Nell Flanders. He’d known she was an author before most of Bliss had. He also knew she was a walking encyclopedia of weird knowledge. Nell had written twenty plus romance novels, many of them romantic suspense with surprisingly gruesome murders for the hero and heroine to solve.
She would likely be on several FBI watch lists if her husband wasn’t so good at getting around the Internet without leaving a footprint.
“Nell,” he called out.
She turned, her gaze going straight to him. Her expression immediately softened, and she strode over. “Michael, I’m so sorry poor Lucy got caught up in all of this. How is she?”