Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (27 page)

Darla shook her head and sighed.

“Just another minute, Miss Lawson,” Darla said. “I will
see if Mr. Conway is available.”

“Thank you,” Katt said and let her breath out.

“Okay, let’s go,” James said from behind me.

“Are you insane?” I said as I turned to him. “I want to
hear this.”

James looked at the floor and shook his head.

“Fucking asshole,” Katt said as she continued to rap her
fingernails against the marble.

“See, Katt’s talking to you,” I said to James.

“No actually, she’s talking about you and right now, she’s
on the money,” James said and smiled. “You never told me how gorgeous your
roommate is. A ménage à trois with her and you would be heaven!”

“Ha-fucking-ha. Haven’t you had your fill of ménage?”

“Never,” James said and winked.

“Hey, why don’t you go down to the beach now? I’ll catch
up with you when I’m finished here.”

“Not a chance, Pearson,” James said. “I’m staying right
here.”

“Why? I’m not going to do anything to interfere. Are you
telling me the man who sticks his cock into me every single day doesn’t even
trust me?”

“Yes. And stop trying to turn this into something it’s
not. I’m allowing this, but, I’m staying.”

“Wow, you’re being a jerk,” I said and stuck my tongue out
at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” James said and pointed over my shoulder.
“Close your mouth, here comes Conway.”

Mr. Conway shuffled out from his office toward Katt. He
looked like he aged twenty years in three weeks.

“Hello, Miss...” Mr. Conway said and straightened his tie.

“Lawson,” Katt and I said at the same time.

“Miss Lawson, yes,” he said. “I am Mr. Conway, the
Battleroy’s manager. What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Conway,” Katt said and took a deep breath in before
letting it out in a huff, “I am, was, Sophia Pearson’s roommate and best friend
and I--”

“Therrault,” Mr. Conway said.

“Excuse me?” Katt said.

“Oh, man,” I said and shook my head.

“Her last name was Therrault,” Mr. Conway said. “Married
to Mr. Therrault.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I was Sophia’s roommate and I need to
ask you a few questions. And before I am asked again, I am not a reporter.”

“Well, Miss Lawson,” Mr. Conway said, “I really don’t know
what I can tell you. I barely saw her. In fact, I had no encounters with Mrs.
Therrault at all. I only had a brief dealing with Mr. Therrault.”

“See, that’s important,” Katt said and rummaged through
her purse and pulled out a notebook. “That I want to hear about. Just a minute,
I need to find my pen.”

Katt yanked scraps of paper, her wallet and other refuse
out of her overstuffed purse and slammed them on the desk as she looked for her
pen. No one at the front desk offered her use of their pens, including Mr.
Conway and his was right in his front pocket. Katt’s hands shook as she
ransacked her purse.

I looked back at James who, knowing exactly what I was
thinking, shook his head at me.

“I thought you said a long time ago you couldn’t read
minds,” I said.

“Well, apparently I can read one-track minds,” James said.

“Just another moment,” Katt said as she rummaged, “hold
that thought, Mr. Conway. I know it’s here. Ah!”

Katt pulled her pen out and it flew from her trembling
hand and hit the floor. I bent down to retrieve it.

“Sophia!” James said.

I froze in my half-bend and twisted around to look at him.
He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Alright,” I said and stood up, “calm down. It was
instinct.”

As Katt crouched to the ground to pick up her pen, Darla
looked at Mr. Conway and rolled her eyes. I fought the urge to rip Darla’s thin
lips from her face.

“Woo, sorry,” Katt said as she stood up and stuffed some
of the mess back into her purse, “disorganized! Okay, so you said you had a
meeting with Mr. Therrault, when was that?”

“M-meeting?” Mr. Conway said. “No, I said dealing. I said
I had a dealing with Mr. Therrault; as in encounter. A brief dealing.”

“Fine, dealing,” Katt said and sighed as she wrote in her
notebook. “And when was that?”

“Um, when was that?” Mr. Conway said as he stared at the
chandelier hanging in the foyer while he ran his fingers through his sparse
hair. “When was that?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” I said, “It was right after Brandt and
Nellie fucking killed me!”

“Sophia, she can’t hear you,” James said.

“Yes,” Katt said and shook her head, “I am asking you when
you met with Mr. Therrault, Mr. Conway.”

“I can’t really remember,” Mr. Conway said and rubbed his
hands together slowly, “Miss, um...”

“Lawson,” Katt and I both said.

“Uncanny,” James said, “I feel like I’m watching one of
those parrot shows.”

“Shhh,” I said.

“At any rate, I gave that information to the police. Ask
them, Miss Lawson. I’m afraid I need to get back to work,” Mr. Conway said and
turned his back to Katt.

“Wait,” Katt said and she reached out and gripped Mr.
Conway’s arm and swung him back around. “Why, Mr. Conway? Why did you have a
dealing with Mr. Therrault?”

“Well, let’s see,” Mr. Conway said and tapped his chin as
if he was trying to remember something that happened years ago rather than
weeks ago, “noise I believe it was.”

“Noise?” Katt said.

“Yeah noise, because that asshole and his psychotic whore
murdered me,” I said.

“Sophia, she can’t hear you,” James said.

“Yes, noise,” Mr. Conway said.

“Well, what kind of noise?” Katt said as her voice got
louder and shrill. “Television noise? Arguing noise? Fucking noise?”

“Calm down,” I said, “they’ll throw you out.”

“Sophia, she can’t hear you,” James said.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious. I get it!” I said.

“Miss Lawson,” Mr. Conway said and smoothed his blazer, “I
can appreciate the emotional nature of this conversation, but we simply do not
speak that way here. Now, if I recall, there was a bit of a ruckus, nothing
serious. It was their honeymoon, after all.”

“Did you go to the room or was Brandt called out?” Katt
said.

“I went to the room myself. Mr. Therrault was quite
embarrassed and I felt badly that I bothered him,” Mr. Conway said.

“And Sophia...how did she seem to you?” Katt said as she
scribbled in her notebook.

“I didn’t see Mrs. Therrault,” Mr. Conway said and tapped
his chin. “She was sleeping, I believe.”

Katt stopped writing and looked at Mr. Conway. I knew that
would get her attention.

“Sleeping? Mr. Conway, please try to remember, when you
were in the room with Mr. Therrault? Was it still light out or dark?”

“As I said, I don’t remember the exact time, but I am
almost positive it was still light.”

“Mr. Conway,” Katt said and rested her hand on his wrist,
“Sophia never, and I mean never, slept during the day. She barely slept at
night. How do you know Sophia was sleeping?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure, Miss Lawson,” Mr. Conway
said. “The door to the bedroom was closed and Mr. Therrault was dressed in a
robe. It was their honeymoon, after all.”

“I was dead, Katt,” I said into Katt’s ear.

“Sophia,” James said, “she--”

“Don’t say it, okay?” I said.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Okay,” Katt said as she wrote. “So you don’t know if
Sophia was sleeping or dead?”

“Dead?” Mr. Conway said and shook his head. “No, no, no.
Mrs. Therrault certainly was not dead when I was in that room!”

“But, how do you know?” Katt said.

“I just do,” Mr. Conway said and chuckled. “I mean, Mr.
Therrault had a rational conversation with me, Miss Lawson. And he was put
together nicely. Yes, he was in his robe, but as I said--”

“Yeah, I know,” Katt said, “they were on their honeymoon.”

“Precisely,” Mr. Conway said.

“But, can you say in your heart that you know, beyond even
half a shadow of doubt, Sophia was alive at the time you were in their suite
talking to Mr. Therrault?” Katt said and stared into Mr. Conway’s eyes.

Mr. Conway closed his eyes.

“Say no,” I said. “Tell her you weren’t sure. Say no.”

“I can say yes, in all certainty,” Mr. Conway said. “Mr.
Therrault had neither the disposition nor the appearance of a person who just
murdered someone--his wife, no less. Besides, the police have the killer, Miss
Lawson. Bobby Allen murdered your poor friend. Yes, on my eyes, Mr. Therrault
did not murder his wife.”

“May you go blind, Mr. Conway,” I said and hung my head.
“May you go blind.”

“Mr. Conway,” Katt said, “please, could you--”

“Miss Lawson, I really must get back to work. You are
looking for things that are not here. I was at Sophia Therrault’s funeral. That
poor young man was beside himself with grief. He practically had to be carried
out.”

“Yes,” Katt said, “I was there too. Mr. Conway, would it
interest you to know that despite the fact that, according to the
Boston
Globe
, Brandt Therrault told you he had to leave the hotel to go back to
Boston because he had a class at Harvard, he wasn’t enrolled in Harvard? In
fact, he wasn’t even a student at any college in Massachusetts.”

“I knew it,” I said and touched Katt’s arm. “That’s my
girl.”

“That is interesting,” Mr. Conway said. “I am positive he
said he was a law student at Harvard. Did you tell the police this?”

“Yes,” Katt said and bit her bottom lip, “but they weren’t
interested.”

“Well, there you have it then,” Mr. Conway said and tugged
on the flesh under his chin.

“But he lied to you,” Katt said.

“And that means what?” Mr. Conway said and sighed. “Lying
to a hotel manager about being enrolled in college does not mean he is a
murderer. As I said, Miss Lawson, the police have the man who murdered your
friend--Bobby Allen. Now, I must go.”

“Has he ever lied to you, Mr. Conway?” Katt said. “Has
Bobby Allen ever lied to you?”

“Who knows, Miss Lawson? Who knows what is up and what is
down anymore?” Mr. Conway said and looked over Katt’s head at the copper
fountain.

“I do understand,” Katt said and ran her fingers over her
notebook smearing some of the fresh ink across the page. “Mr. Conway, I have
just one more question. Did either Brandt or Sophia Therrault have any visitors
to see them the day they checked into the hotel?”

I turned to look at James.

“She knows,” I said. “She can’t prove it yet, but she
knows.”

“Yes,” James said, “she knows.”

“Visitors? No. And before you ask, I know his for a fact
because the front desk is required to log the presence of all people who come
into the hotel. That includes guests and visitors. Neither of them had any
guests logged.”

“But it is possible, no?” Katt said. “It is possible she
slipped by you or the other employees undetected?”

“No, it is not possible,” Mr. Conway said and narrowed his
eyes at Katt.

“A woman or...” Katt said. “Is it possible someone else
could have been in that room while you were in there, Mr. Conway?”

“There was no one else in that room,” Mr. Conway said and
frowned.

“But how do you know? You say the door to the bedroom was
shut, that Sophia was sleeping. Please, maybe you remember?”

“There were no visitors for the Therraults that day, Miss
Lawson,” Mr. Conway said. “There were not even any visitors for Mrs. Therrault
after Mr. Therrault left.”

“I was already dead,” I said.

“Probably because Sophia was already dead by the time Mr.
Therrault left!” Katt said.

“Calm down, Katt,” I said.

Mr. Conway stared at Katt as if he had more than enough of
her.

“Just think, Mr. Conway,” Katt said. “Is it possible that
you saw a woman that day? A woman, Mr. Conway. She has mousy blond hair,
overweight, uh, crazy looking eyes. This girl doesn’t walk, she lumbers, plods
along as if on a mission. She makes an impression.”

Mr. Conway stared at Katt and something flashed across his
face. Recognition.

“He saw her,” James said.

Katt saw the look too and she reached out over the front
desk and snatched Mr. Conway’s hands in hers. She yanked him toward her and Mr.
Conway’s belly crashed into the desk. Mr. Conway looked down at his hands, now
crushed by Katt’s hands and looked around the room as his lip quivered. Katt
lowered her head and tugged on Mr. Conway’s hands as she stared into his eyes.

“Think, Mr. Conway! Think!” Katt said. “Brandt Therrault
had a lover, this horrid woman I described. Nellie, that’s her name, Nellie
Daniels. The two of them live in Sophia’s home now...together. The same home I
lived in with Sophia.”

“I told the police everything,” Mr. Conway said. “I don’t
know what else--”

“Listen to me, Mr. Conway, I saw it in your eyes. I know
you knew who I meant when I described her,” Katt said. “Do you know how wealthy
the Pearson family is, Mr. Conway? And that the poor man you spoke of, he
inherited Sophia’s fortune? He kicked me out of the house, were you aware?”

“I-I’m confused,” Mr. Conway said and shook his head.

“That’s right,” Katt said. “the day after Sophia’s body
was found he marched right into the penthouse, with that whore in tow, and
threw me out on my ass. No one believes it. No one will listen to me, but I
know the truth. I know you saw Nellie Daniels in this hotel!”

“Okay, now she sounds crazy,” James said.

“She’s just upset,” I said and sighed.

“I know, but she’s losing all credibility. Look at Conway’s
hands. They’re purple for Christ’s sake.”

“You do not know this man, Mr. Conway,” Katt said. “But,
I’ve known all along. Sophia didn’t even listen to me. I begged her not to go.
I was supposed to be her maid of honor, but I begged her not to marry him. You
know, I will kill Brandt Therrault for putting me through this hell for killing
Sophia!”