It was going to be a kick in the face, Eve knew. It was always a kick in the face. “I’m sorry to tell you, but Sarifina is dead.”
“She’s…what? What did you say?”
“You should sit down, Zela.” Taking her arm, Roarke nudged her gently into a chair.
“You said…she’s dead? There was an accident? How…” Those pale gold eyes gleamed with wet and shock.
“She was murdered. I’m sorry. You were friends?”
“Oh, God. Oh, God. When? How? I don’t understand.”
“We’re looking into that, Ms. Wood.” Eve let her gaze drift briefly to Roarke as he walked to a wall panel, and opening it chose a bottle of brandy from the selection of liquors. “Can you tell me if anyone bothered her or seemed unusually interested in her?”
“No. No. I mean, a lot of people were interested in her. She’s the sort of person who interests people. I don’t understand.”
“Did she complain about anyone bothering her, or making her uncomfortable?”
“No.”
“Drink a bit of this.” Roarke pressed a glass of brandy into Zela’s hand.
“Has anyone come in, asking questions about her?”
“Just tonight, a few hours ago, a police detective. He said, he told me that Sari’s sister had reported her missing. And I thought…” Tears spilled now. “I honestly thought Sari’s sister was overreacting. I was a little worried, a little, because I thought she’d gone back to the ex, and he’d talked her into blowing off this job. That was the problem,” Zela continued as she rubbed a tear from her cheek. “He didn’t like her working here because it took up most of her nights.”
Now those damp eyes widened. “Did he hurt her? Oh, my God.”
“Did he strike you as the type who would?”
“No. No, no. A whiner, that’s what I thought. Passive-aggressive, and kind of a jerk. I’d never have believed he’d hurt her. Not like this.”
“We have no reason to believe he has, at this time. Can you give me his name, his address?”
“Yes. All right.”
“Would you still have your security discs from Monday?”
“Yes. Yes, we keep them for a week.”
“I’m going to need those. I’ll take the discs from last Saturday and Sunday as well. On Monday, did she leave alone?”
“I didn’t see her leave. What I mean is, I came in here at about quarter to eight, an
d she was just putting on her coat. I said something like, ‘So you can’t get enough of this place?’ and she laughed. Just wanted to finish up some paperwork. We talked for a few minutes, just shop talk mostly. She said she’d see me Wednesday, and I said…I said, ‘Have a good day off.’ Then she went out of the office, and I sat down to do a quick check on the late reservations. As I assumed, she’d gone straight out. She never mentioned being with anyone.”
“All right. I’d appreciate it if you could get me those discs, and that information on the man she’d been seeing.”
“Yes.” Zela got to her feet. “Is there something I can do? I don’t know what I should do. Her sister? Should I contact her sister?”
“We’ll be taking care of that.”
When there was a knock on the door in the middle of the night, most people knew, in the gut, it wasn’t going to be good news.
When Jaycee York opened her door, Eve could already see the dread. Even as she stared into Eve’s eyes, before a word was spoken, Eve saw grief rise up through that dread.
“Sari. Oh, no. Oh, no.”
“Ms. York, may we come in?”