Bylines & Skylines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 9) (25 page)

“No. She was happy being a floater. If she tried to move up the ladder, maybe then she would’ve ticked someone off. She never wanted that, though. She was happy with her station.”

“What about other men?” I prodded. “Was she involved with anyone else? Was there a love triangle or anything?”

“This isn’t a soap opera,” Griswold said. “Love triangles aren’t a real thing.”

“They kind of are,” I argued, and I wasn’t just saying that because I was living a weird one in my everyday life. “Maybe someone had a crush on her. Maybe she hurt someone’s feelings by turning them down and didn’t realize it. Did she ever tell you any stories like that?”

“I … don’t think so,” Griswold said. “We were low-key. We were happy to sit in our hotel rooms and watch movies instead of going out with everyone else. We weren’t really part of the ‘in crowd,’ if you know what I mean.

“Most of the people here want to be someone, so they’ll step on everyone to achieve that,” he continued. “I needed to remain mysterious and Kristen just wanted to be left alone. She never ticked off anyone because she wasn’t involved in playing games like everyone else.”

“Could her refusal to join in have angered someone?”

Griswold shrugged, helpless. “I honestly don’t know. All I know is that I miss her and I don’t know what to do with myself.”

I wasn’t sure how it happened, but for some reason I felt sorry for him. He really wasn’t a bad guy. He just pretended to be one. “Well, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“That’s a stupid thing to say. It’s empty. It means nothing.”

I couldn’t argue with that. “I’m still sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t help me,” Griswold said. “Sorry does nothing. What am I supposed to do now?”

I had no idea how to answer. “I guess you can only do what feels right in your heart.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what that is.”

Oddly enough, I understood the feeling. “Oh, stop pouting. I’ll find you a bottle of exotic water.”

“Are you going to spit in it?”

“No. That would be immature.”

“I guess that’s something,” Griswold muttered.

“I might rub the lip of it in my armpit, though,” I said.

“You are … so weird. I kind of like you even though I want to hate you.”

“Yeah, I have that effect on almost everyone.”

“
W
here are you going
?”

I jerked my head over my shoulder and found Jake trailing behind Eliot and me in the parking lot shortly after five. The convention would continue for a few more hours, but the sheriff’s department was taking over security camera duties so Eliot could leave at a reasonable hour. That was his primary focus and Derrick seemed happy to take over the task when Eliot mentioned it. Of course, Derrick still lived in fear of what I would do to pay him back for the dinner fiasco – and I encouraged that.

“We’re going to look at a house,” I replied, seeing no reason to lie. “Eliot says it has everything we want and there are no red bricks in sight.”

“I didn’t say there were no red bricks in sight,” Eliot clarified. “I said that this house had orange bricks. The neighbors might have red bricks.”

“I’m not sure I can tolerate that.”

“Knock it off,” Eliot warned. “We’re finding a house and you’re going to live with red bricks from the neighbors whether you like it or not. Other people like red bricks.”

“Stupid people.”

“Avery!”

“Someone should film you guys living together,” Jake said, grinning. “It would be the best reality show ever. I can’t wait until Avery meets the neighbors. She’ll go from hating the bad element to being the bad element.”

Eliot smirked. “That occurred to me, too.”

Well, it hadn’t occurred to me. This was just … dismal. What if he was right? “I never thought about that.”

“You’ll be fine,” Eliot said, pressing his hand to the back of my neck to keep me moving toward his truck. “You seem to make friends wherever you go.”

“Not on purpose.”

“Yes, I know,” Eliot teased. “No matter how surly you try to be, people still like you. What a terrible cross to bear.”

“Whatever,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and glancing at Jake. “What’s with you? It’s Saturday night. Shouldn’t you be attending some political fundraiser or something?”

“I cancelled my appearance tonight,” Jake replied. “I … um … broke up with Cara this afternoon and didn’t want to answer questions about where she was or deal with people trying to fix me up once they realize I’m alone.”

Holy crap! “You broke up with her?” My eyebrows flew up my forehead. “Like … for real?”

“No, I didn’t it in a video game,” Jake snapped. “Of course it was real.”

“But … you were here this afternoon,” I said, my mind busy with a series of endless possibilities. “You didn’t do it over the phone, did you? Oh! You didn’t do it by text, did you? I did that to a guy I dated once – we only went on two dates, for crying out loud – and he threw a rock through my front window.”

“I love hearing these stories about your past,” Eliot deadpanned. “They make me love and respect you even more than I do now.”

“Stuff it,” I muttered, annoyed. “Seriously, though. You can’t break up with someone over the phone. It’s considered bad form. I know because Carly explained it to me after I made the mistake myself.”

“I did not break up with her over the phone,” Jake said. “In fact, I wasn’t planning to break up with her until tomorrow. I didn’t want a scene at the fundraiser, so I decided to wait one more day. I was going to fake sick so she wouldn’t try to go home with me.”

“Oh, that’s smart,” I said. “I find projectile vomiting scares off even the most ardent admirers.”

Eliot flicked my ear and shook his head. “You’re a freaking nightmare sometimes. You know that, right?”

I ignored him. “If you weren’t planning to do it today, Jake, how did it happen?”

“She called to talk to me and I might have mentioned that I didn’t have time to focus on her because I was worried about what you were doing,” Jake answered. “That set off a firestorm of curse words I haven’t heard since the time you were drunk in high school and tried to light a cigarette off the stove and burned your eyebrows off.”

I snorted. “I remember that. It was like this big whoosh across my face. Thankfully my eyelashes were saved.”

“Yes, that’s just what I was thinking,” Jake drawled, shooting me a dirty look. “I hung up on her because I didn’t have time to listen to the drama and she showed up here.”

“She did? How did I miss that?”

“I believe you were drying Griswold the Magnificent’s tears,” Jake replied. “That went south really quickly, by the way. You went in there all gung-ho and then ended up feeling sorry for him. How did that even happen?”

“He was very convincing. Forget about that, though. No one cares about that. Cara showed up here and … what? Did she challenge me to a brawl? Did I miss my one and only shot of dueling to the death?”

“Sadly, I don’t think it will be your only shot,” Eliot said, his dark eyes contemplative as they searched Jake’s face. “I missed it, too. I’m sorry if you needed backup.”

“You were where you were supposed to be,” Jake said. “Avery’s safety is more important than the implosion of my love life.”

“Says you,” I shot back. “Give me the dirty details. What happened then?”

“She showed up and demanded we talk,” Jake said. “I took her into the security office and … snapped. I told her we were done and that I couldn’t take the jealousy and her crap any longer.”

“What did she do?” It was like watching
General Hospital
, only the storyline was juicier and no one was propping up a mob boss. “Did she cry? I’ll just bet she’s a crier.”

“Avery, shut up,” Eliot ordered, casting a sympathetic look in Jake’s direction. “Did she cry? I hate it when that happens. Avery rarely cries, but when she does I give her whatever she wants. That’s how I ended up pretending to be Princess Leia the one and only time I’ll ever do that.”

Jake was appalled. “Why do I need to hear about that?”

“I wasn’t saying it for your benefit. I was saying it for hers. I keep catching her shopping for plus-sized costumes. She thinks they’re the only thing that will fit my shoulders.”

“I did that once,” I protested.

“She started out crying,” Jake said. “It was uncomfortable and I apologized. Then she turned angry. I mean … she turned quick.”

“Like when David Banner was tossed over a bar in the original Hulk television series and turned into a big scary monster when no one was looking?”

Jake made an exaggerated face. “Yes. It was exactly like that.”

“Really?”

Jake shrugged. “Sadly, yes. It was like that and it was freaky. She said that she knew it was going to happen and then she blamed you. I knew she was going to do that, but … it still sucked. I tried to explain that you had nothing to do with my decision, but she didn’t believe me. Then she made a veiled threat about telling everyone what a jerk I am and took off.”

“That sounds rough,” Eliot said. “If you need to go for a beer or something, it shouldn’t take more than an hour to look at the house.”

“How about I just go with you to look at the house?”

I was shocked at the suggestion. “You want to go house hunting with us?” Despite my worry, I couldn’t get Carly’s offhand comment from earlier about a threesome out of my head. “That seems … weird.”

“It’s totally weird,” Jake agreed. “I don’t want to drive my official vehicle in case she follows me, though. Derrick is taking it back to the department for me. I thought I could go on an outing with you to throw her off.”

That didn’t make it any less weird. “You’re hiding from her? For how long?”

“Just until she cools down.”

“You can come with us,” Eliot said. “Another voice of reason might be good to talk Avery off the ledge when she considers jumping.”

“Why will she consider jumping?”

“He’s exaggerating,” I answered.

“Oh.”

“I’m not exaggerating,” Eliot said. “She’s a pain when she wants to be.”

“I’m totally calm and rational where this move is concerned,” I added.

“That’s good,” Jake said, falling into step next to me.

“Did I mention our new real estate agent’s name is Bunny?”

“Knock it off, Avery,” Eliot ordered. “It’s already going to be a weird night. There’s no reason to add to it.”

Even when he knows me he doesn’t grasp the full spectrum of my dysfunction. Perhaps he has a bit of a learning curve to surmount even yet.

“
W
OW
.”

Jake let out a low whistle as he followed me up the pathway to the house. Bunny, her bright smile plastered in place, greeted Eliot as she ignored me.

“This house is great,” Jake said.

“You haven’t even seen inside,” I pointed out, although I couldn’t help but agree that the front façade of the split-level was utterly masterful. “It could look like crap inside. There could be red brick everywhere.”

Bunny shot me a warning look before focusing on Jake. “Omigod! Sheriff Farrell! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m just checking out the house with my friends,” Jake replied.

“Then we’re all going to dinner,” Eliot added.

“Red Lobster,” I said.

“We didn’t agree on Red Lobster,” Eliot argued. “I don’t even like Red Lobster.”

I narrowed my eyes. Did he want this to go well?

Eliot capitulated almost immediately. “Fine. We’ll go to Red Lobster.”

“You’re so whipped,” Jake teased, smirking.

“Coming from the guy hanging out with his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend as they look at a house because he’s hiding from his newly ex-girlfriend, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Eliot shot back.

“Boys! That will be enough of that,” I said, holding my hands up as I slipped between them. “They’re overdosing on testosterone,” I explained to Bunny. “They can’t help themselves.”

“I’m still not sure why they’re here together,” Bunny said.

“Oh, they’re just playing a game because they don’t want anyone to know the truth about us,” I explained. “We’re polygamists. Jake and Eliot are my husbands.”

Bunny’s mouth dropped open as Jake shook his head and Eliot snagged the back of my T-shirt.

“Keep it up,” Eliot warned. “I’ll feed you liver if you’re not careful … or sushi. You hate sushi.”

“I love sushi,” Jake said.

I snorted. “That’s the word on the street.” I jerked my shirt away from Eliot’s grasp and practically dared him to take me on with a challenging look. “Let’s see the inside. I really like the outside.”

“Wow, at least we’re getting through the front door before you veto it,” Bunny said, her smile back in place as she winked at Eliot. “She’s a handful, this one.”

“Yes, sometimes I wish I could hand her back,” Eliot said, although his smile was fond when he floated it in my direction. “Not often, though.”

“Oh, geez,” Jake muttered. “I might’ve been better off letting myself be stalked.”

“This is going to be fun,” I said, lightly slapping his arm. “It’s like watching a train wreck and not being able to stop it. I guarantee you’ll have a good time.”

“I’ll settle for not getting heartburn,” Jake said, following me into the house as Eliot brought up the rear.

I sucked in a breath when I saw the foyer. A large chandelier – one that managed to be modern and not tacky – twinkled in the first part of the great room. The rest of the house opened into a living room that featured a catwalk overhead and huge bay windows looking out on the fenced-in backyard.

“That’s nice,” Eliot said, moving around me. “There’s a pool and a privacy fence.”

“All you’re missing is a hot tub,” Jake said.

“I’m going to get one if the yard is right for it,” Eliot said. “I like this yard. It’s almost all landscaping and minimal upkeep.”

“I thought we were getting a mower?”

“We are,” Eliot said. “There’s still work to do in a yard without a lot of grass.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“I never thought you were,” Eliot said, shaking his head as he glanced around. “This is nice. The ceramic tile is nice. The carpet is nice.”

“Nothing is red,” I added. “Where’s the basement?”

Bunny pointed toward a door on the other side of the room. “I think you’re going to be happy.”

“I don’t know,” I hedged. “I’m hard to please.”

“Oh, something tells me even you can’t turn your nose up at this basement.”

I cast a quick glance at Eliot before following her toward the basement. He looked amused … and almost a little relieved. That made me realize I’d made this entire process harder than necessary. It wasn’t a surprise really, but I vowed to ease up and stop heaping criticism on him when he didn’t deserve it. This was supposed to be a fun time in our lives.

Bunny wasn’t lying when she said the basement was impressive. The entire thing was as big as the main floor and it was finished with drywall, carpeting, a wet bar and a built-in entertainment center. It also had a wine room (which I was going to turn into something else, because no one drinks that much wine) and a finished bathroom with a shower.

“This place is amazing,” Jake said, running his hands over the bar. “I cannot believe how cool this is. Do you know how much money they put into this? There are two refrigerators and a dishwasher back here.”

“It’s definitely nice,” Eliot said, his fingertips busy as they walked over the pocket door that separated the basement from the storage room. “I like this.” He glanced at me. “What do you think?”

What did I think? I could already see the Restoration Hardware shelves I had my eye on against the walls and my
Star Wars
stuff on display for the world to see. “I want it.”

Eliot was taken aback. “You want it?”

“I want it,” I repeated. I could see us living here … and we were happy. “This is the place.”

“You haven’t seen the rest of the house, Trouble,” Eliot said. “Don’t you think we should look at it first?”

“Fine,” I said, tamping down my enthusiasm. “Let’s look at the rest of the house.”

Eliot extended his hand and I took it. “That sounds like a plan.”

“Then I want it.”

Eliot sighed, briefly pressing his eyes shut before opening them again. “Bunny, do you have an offer sheet handy? I have a feeling we’re going to want to make an offer if the rest of the tour goes as planned.”

Bunny looked as if she’d won the lottery. “You bet.”