Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 04 - Dirty Deeds (20 page)

Air loomed beneath me. My arms flailed. My stomach dropped.

Ajay reached behind me and pulled me back up. I found my balance and laughed so hard I cried. How had that just happened … again?

I put a hand over my heart and drank in deep gulps of air. “Oh my goodness. My life flashed before my eyes.”

Ajay only grinned, apparently having the agility of a monkey as he gracefully held on to the tree with one hand without even the slightest hint of strain on his features. “Never be afraid of falling. When you get back up, you will be stronger.”

“Interesting take on it. I’ll chew on that thought.” I chuckled, feeling silly for my overreaction. “My goodness. What a day. I can’t wait to tell my fiancé about all of this.” I felt better mentioning Riley, just in case Ajay was getting the wrong idea.

“Your fiancé is a very lucky man.”

My cheeks heated. “Thank you. I think I’m the lucky one.”

“Then it sounds like the two of you will be good together.”

I sighed. “Maybe. It’s hit me with some clarity today that I’m keeping too many secrets from him.” So much for not getting personal.

“Secrets can ruin a relationship. You should tell him. Trust him.”

“You’re right. I should.” I nodded. “I’m going to. I’m not going to let anyone interrupt this time.”

“Good for you, Miss St. Claire.”

I glanced over at the rock again, knowing I needed to focus here—which wasn’t something I was very good at sometimes. I soaked in the leaves, a tangle of roots, and several smaller rocks.

My heart froze. Something was out of place. I squinted, trying to get a better look. Was that? Could it be … ?

I gasped, shaking my head, sure my eyes were deceiving me. “Hand … ”

“You need a hand?”

I shook my head. “No, there’s a hand over there. I think I know who it belongs to.”

CHAPTER 25

Ajay helped me over to the rock. Suddenly, I forgot about my fear of mountainous heights. I sank into the dirt and brushed some specks off the fleshy appendage there.

“Oh, dear God,” I prayed, closing my eyes a moment.

“It is a woman,” Ajay muttered.

Using my fingers, I swept away some more dirt. That’s when a face emerged. Jackie’s dead, lifeless face. I quickly soaked in the bruises on her neck, the cut on her forehead, the bluish tinge of her face.

She hadn’t fallen to her death. She’d been murdered, and her body had been stashed here.

I lowered my head, mourning this woman and whatever had happened to her.

Ajay’s hands covered mine. “I am sorry. Did you know her?”

I shook my head. “Not really. My friends did, though.”

I heard the squeal of four-wheelers in the distance. Was that the killer coming back to make sure no one discovered his stash?

“We might want to hide,” I muttered. I made the internationally known sign for “Murder.” Okay, maybe not. But I put my hands at my throat as if I were being choked. Close enough, right?

Ajay’s eyes widened, and he stepped deeper into the recess of the boulder. I stepped back, too, wishing I hadn’t. Dead body. Possible spiders or wild animals. The cliff of death one good slide down the mountain away.

Creepy crawlies—either imaginary or real—danced across my skin. The cool, damp boulder crept through my shirt. The smell of dank earth filled my senses.

My ATV! I realized. It was still on the trail. Visible. An obvious sign that someone was here.

Ai yi yi.

The sound of the four-wheelers got louder and louder until finally, I knew they were right above us. I waited to hear rough voices. To see a gun. To look into the eyes of a killer.

Voices drifted downward. “This is …  remote. Nature at its best.”

Was that … Derek?

“I know she said to meet us here,” someone else said, someone else who sounded an awful lot like Riley.

Riley! Of course!

I took a step away from the cavern where Jackie had been buried. I grabbed a tree to steady myself, noting all of the dirt caked onto my fingers. I could only imagine what the rest of me looked like.

“Riley?”

He stopped and squinted, his gaze searching his surroundings. “Gabby?”

I waved a hand in the air. “Riley, I’m down here!”

A moment later, I saw my fiancé looking down at me, along with Derek, Lillian, Jack, Lane, and Veronica.

Riley’s eyebrows came together. “What are you doing? And who’s that with you?”

I looked back, knowing how strange this must look. Me out in the woods with a strange man, and both of us covered in dirt and under a rock. But I didn’t have time to explain Ajay now. My lips pulled down as the grimness of the situation hit me. “Riley, I found Jackie. We need to call the police.”

“What do you mean you found Jackie?” Riley slid down the mountain until he reached me. I didn’t miss the scowl he gave Ajay. Could Riley actually be a little jealous? It wasn’t an emotion I’d ever seen on him before.

“She’s … she’s dead.” I pointed to her body.

Riley closed his eyes and turned his head away. “Oh, Jackie.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I wished it were good news.”

Riley turned back to his friends. His hands were on his hips, and he looked all lawyer-like and in charge. “Why don’t you guys go call the police? We’ll wait here until they arrive.”

His friends all looked pale and slightly shocked, but they nodded and climbed back on their ATVs. Even Derek. A moment later, they roared away.

Riley eyed Ajay for a moment, and that’s when I realized I hadn’t introduced them. “Riley, this is Ajay. Ajay, Riley.”

They shook hands, but I could feel tension stretch between them. I wasn’t sure if I felt flattered or annoyed by it. Maybe a little of both.

Ajay seemed to sense it also because he nodded toward the path. “I should stay up there to direct the police on where to go when they arrive.”

I nodded. “That sounds great. Thank you.”

He disappeared down the path, leaving just Riley and I standing there. Riley and I and a dead body, at least. I wanted to use what I’d learned as a medical examiner to look her over, but I knew I’d be disturbing the scene. I didn’t have gloves or evidence bags or a camera even. I’d touched too much already.

Riley’s thumb rubbed against my cheek. “You’re filthy, you know.”

I looked down and saw the dirt stains on my knees, leaves in my hair, a small gash on the side of my arm. I could only imagine what my face looked like. Probably like I’d just been mud wrestling.

“It’s all in a day’s work.” I offered a weak smile.

“How … ?” He looked behind him at Jackie and shook his head.

“It’s a long story.”

He pointed back at Ajay. “And him?”

I shrugged. “It’s another long story. Right now, I guess we should think about Jackie.”

***

“I can’t believe she’s dead,” Lillian mumbled.

We’d gathered in Derek’s suite. That was, after the police had come, I’d been questioned and finally been told I could leave, but to stick close by in case they had any questions.

Been there, done that before.

Too many times.

I still couldn’t believe Jackie was dead, either. If Clint was telling the truth, then what had happened?

Derek shook his head. His normal smugness was gone, replaced with what I guessed was shock. “Who killed her?”

Silence stretched a moment. That was the question of the hour. I had absolutely no idea. I didn’t think Clint was guilty, though.

Lane’s finger suddenly jutted out, and it was pointed toward … me?

“Gabby was the one who found her body.” Accusation stained his voice.

Riley’s hand slipped around my waist. “That doesn’t mean she had anything to do with the murder,” Riley said. “She’s a professional investigator.”

Veronica stepped forward. “Or is she?”

“Of course she is. What are you talking about?” A touch of anger hinted in Riley’s voice. I appreciated the fact that he was standing by me in what was turning out to be an ugly game of Clue.

Veronica’s eyes lit with what I could only call vengeance. “I overheard her conversation. She was fired from her job with the medical examiner.”

Tension stretched every part of my insides until I thought I might break over and over again. Veronica must have been in the other room when I talked to Sierra. She’d purposely been quiet so she could overhear our conversation.

Fire lit through my veins. “It’s not like that. I wasn’t fired.”

Riley turned to me, confusion in his eyes. “What is she talking about, Gabby?”

Panic galloped through me, destroying every sane emotion in its path. “I’ve been trying to tell you,” I started. “They had budget cuts. I was let go.”

His eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I nodded toward the group around us. “It’s complicated. I tried to, but … ” I shook my head. “It just didn’t work out.”

Certainly he had to acknowledge that I’d started the conversation several times, but we’d been interrupted.

“She’s been sneaking around with that Indian man also,” Derek added.

I jerked my head toward Derek. “I have not. You don’t understand.”

I felt dizzy, like the whole room was spinning. Or maybe I was the only one spinning and the rest of the room was just fine.

“Gabby?” Riley asked.

I sighed. “It’s not like it sounds.”

“I saw her leaving his room in the middle of the night,” Derek said.

“I can confirm that she snuck back into the room a couple of nights ago. I thought she’d crept out to see you.” Veronica shrugged. “I guess not.”

I pinched the skin between my eyes, nausea growing in my gut. “None of you know what you’re talking about.”

“Maybe she wasn’t discovering Jackie’s body. Maybe she was
burying
Jackie’s body,” Lane said.

Everyone in the room went silent and stared at me. I wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out. That wasn’t a possibility, though.

“I think I saw her in a maid’s uniform. I thought it was strange, but with all of this that’s been mentioned, maybe she was plotting her getaway,” Lillian said.

I threw my hands in the air. “I was hired to investigate. That’s why I was creeping around. I was looking for answers, trying to help!”

“You promised not to investigate,” Riley muttered. “I thought we both agreed.”

“Jackie’s mom asked me.” I shook my head, feeling like the whole world was collapsing around me. “I just wanted to help.”

I tried to keep explaining, but no one seemed to hear me.

“She would know how to cover up a murder since she did work for the state medical examiner for a couple of weeks,” Veronica said. “Plus, who better to clean up a dead body than a crime scene cleaner?”

“I can explain all of this.”

“Gabby’s not a killer,” Riley said. His eyes held disappointment that broke my heart. I wanted everyone else to disappear so we could talk. No one made any move to leave, though. At least Riley had defended me.

“Do you ever really know someone?” Derek asked.

Riley sighed. “I know Gabby well enough to know she wouldn’t do that.”

“If she lied about one thing, there’s no guarantee she wouldn’t lie about another,” Veronica continued.

I wanted to throttle the woman. I really did. But that would be no way to prove my case that I was innocent. “I don’t have to explain anything to any of you,” I said. I looked up at Riley. “But I do need to talk to you.”

The look in his eyes—part suspicion, part disenchantment—caused my gut to clench. Finally, he nodded toward the door. “Let’s go.”

We walked silently down the hallway. I just kept going, knowing he’d stop when he was ready. We went downstairs, out the front door, and kept walking until we reached a gazebo overlooking a pond.

With each step, dread built. It bit into my muscles, squeezed my lungs. My mind raced. How was I going to explain all of this? Where did I start?

I carefully sat on the wooden bench there, wishing we were here to enjoy the water and the stars and the crickets. The breeze hinted at a coming storm, and lightning cracked just over the mountains.

I never wanted to feel like this again. I knew that. “Riley—”

“Why did you lie to me, Gabby?” His voice held a tone I hadn’t heard before. Disappointment? Resentment? I wasn’t sure.

A million excuses rushed through my mind. But none of them seemed right to share right now, because it didn’t matter how I tried to paint the picture—I’d been wrong. And now I may have ruined the best relationship in my life.

“I wanted to tell you the truth. I did.” Words escaped me, leaving me shaking my head. “I don’t know.”

He leaned with his elbows on his knees, like he had the weight of the mountains on his shoulders. “I thought you respected me more than that.”

“I respect you more than anyone, Riley.” I did. He had to believe that.

He shook his head. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I do, Riley. I messed up. I really did. Just for the record, I never cheated on you, though. Never. The Indian dignitary … he was … ” Where did I start? I had no idea. Instead, I ran a hand through my hair, unable to face the mess I’d made. “It’s hard to explain.”

His eyes—wide and hurt—met mine. “You could have told me about your job, you know. That wouldn’t have changed anything.”

“I know.” And I did know that now. I knew it with absolute clarity. At the time, it had seemed so hazy, though. Looking back, maybe I’d purposely avoided the subject. Maybe I’d wanted to wait until after this trip so I could hold on to my new title for just a little while longer.

He suddenly straightened and pointed to my hand. “Where’s your ring?”

I gasped when I saw my bare finger. “It was here earlier.” When had I seen it last? I’d had it when I left for my ATV excursion. “It must have come off when I almost fell down the mountainside.” I wanted to throw up. Seriously. “I’m so sorry, Riley. I’ll find it. I promise.”

He let out a little grunt and stood. He remained silent a moment, and I couldn’t stand not knowing what he was thinking. I wanted him to take my hand and tell me he forgave me. Instead, he shook his head. “I just need some time.”