“Thank you,” Renee said. “It helps to have old friends around. And thanks for bringing Remi out. Especially after everything the two of you have been through.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Sam said, earning a smile from his wife. “Have the police said anything else?”
“No,” she said, using her crutch to cross the room, taking a seat on the couch. “I’m sure I’ll hear more today. Amal’s crushed. Hank, thank goodness, is keeping his head about him, even though I left him stranded at the airport. After finding Warren, I totally forgot I was supposed to pick him up.”
“What happened?” Remi asked.
“Where do I even start?”
“The beginning,” Sam said.
“That would be the phone call from José about the break-in.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, showing Remi a photo. “The theft of Echo.”
“They took the whole floor?” Remi asked.
“Worse,” she said as Remi handed the phone to Sam. “They hacked out her face. You can see it in the next photo. We were lucky they didn’t completely destroy the floor taking it out. There was a significant crack running along the tree she’s leaning against, which sort of helped them.”
Sam enlarged the photo on the screen, seeing a young woman in white, her hair pulled back with bands in a classical Grecian style, peering at something just beyond the tree she hid behind. He scrolled to the next photo, where Echo’s face had been hacked out. Though the mosaic was many hundreds of years old, the colors were still vibrant. “Let’s hope the police find it.”
“Items sold on the antiquities black market don’t often resurface.”
“You think Warren stole it?” Remi asked.
She nodded. “The police believe he was trying to steal another section of the mosaic the next day when he died. They found the chisel beneath his body.”
“An accident?”
“So it would seem. After the other suspicious happenings around here, I did some searching on my own. I found a listing for Echo on a website that I know Warren’s used in the past. In hindsight, I should’ve called the police the moment I saw the listing. But Hank didn’t want to wait. He was hoping to get there before the mosaic disappeared. Who knows what else they stole after digging around in the rubble.” She gave a sigh. “Needless to say, Hank’s still upset about it.”
Hank walked in from the hallway, overhearing her. “I’m just grateful you weren’t hurt. Who knows what might have happened had you caught him in the act.” He gestured to Sam and Remi. “It seems we’ve all had our share of problems. LaBelle told me everything the two of you have been through. I can’t imagine how harrowing that must have been for everyone involved.”
“For now, everyone’s safe,” Sam said. “We’re hoping they catch whoever was behind it.”
“Let’s hope they do,” he said.
Renee used her crutch to pull herself up. “Who wants a cup of coffee?” she said, her smile overly bright.
“Sit,” Hank said. “I’ll get coffee for everyone.”
“How’s your ankle?” Remi asked as he left.
“Much better.” She lifted her pant leg, showing off a bruise that was turning yellow. “The doctor wants me to rest it a few more days.”
“So listen to him,” Hank called out from the kitchen.
“Easier said than done. I’m almost on a first name basis with the police, with everything that’s gone on.”
“Hank’s right,” Remi said. “You need rest. Come stay with us. You can keep me company by the pool. It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”
“As divine as that sounds, I have a video conference with the university tomorrow and a ton of paperwork.”
Remi leaned forward, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Just angle your phone camera so they don’t know you’re actually poolside drinking Bloody Marys. Besides, Sam has a meeting himself tomorrow, so you can keep me company.”
“I can’t,” Renee said as Hank returned.
“Seriously?” Hank handed her a mug of steaming coffee. “How often do old friends drop by?” He looked over at Remi, saying, “I’ll personally drop LaBelle off at your hotel tomorrow morning. Sometimes she’s overdedicated to her job.”
“It’s settled,” Remi said, taking her friend’s hand in hers. “You’re coming to stay with me.”
Sam leaned back in his chair, watching Renee LaBelle’s face. Curiously, she seemed less than enthused at Remi’s announcement. Which was odd, considering the two women were fast friends.
Back at their hotel later that night, he pointed this out to Remi.
She dismissed his assessment entirely. “After finding Warren dead, I doubt anyone would act normal. Honestly, Fargo, I think you’re being a bit paranoid.”
“Pragmatic, not paranoid,” he replied. “There’s a discrepancy in the books, Warren’s dead, and, like it or not, you’ve got to talk to her about it. Tomorrow.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
While the sun is shining, bask in it.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
Late the following morning, beneath the shade of a large umbrella, Remi and Renee settled into their lounge chairs, two Bloody Marys on the table between them.
Remi picked up her glass, looking over at her friend. “Tell the truth. Aren’t you glad you came?”
She took a deep breath. “I needed this. Every time the phone rings, I jump. I haven’t been able to sleep since I saw Warren at the bottom of the villa, his blood all over the mosaic, and all I kept thinking about was that this is all my fault.”
“How can it be your fault?”
She again picked up her drink, stirring the stalk of celery in the glass. “As I said, the police think he came to steal another piece of the mosaic when he fell. The deck repair wasn’t quite finished. It is now, but I should have had made sure it was done before I left.”
“That’s hardly your fault.”
“How could he have been so desperate that he couldn’t come to me if he needed money? I know it wasn’t drugs, so what was it that drove him to steal?”
“Maybe he had a gambling problem.”
“Maybe . . .” The two women sipped their drinks in silence, staring out at the pool, where a middle-aged man was swimming a slow lap down the length. “What I really need is to get back to work. I’m worried the university’s going to find out about Warren’s death, the embezzlement, my accident, then cut their funding and send us all home before we finish.”