I called Grandma to let her know the rotting had spread, but she never answered the phone. I planned on rushing up there to check on her and Dayanara right after I saw Patricia’s body and talked to the police detective. Reece had called immediately and asked him to come as soon as he could.
When he’d seen the body and checked out the whole area, Reece would notify the media. The strongest headache of the day hammered against my skull. While the police were happy to keep the first corpse under hush, due to my sizeable donations to their commissioner, two dead bodies within a twenty-four hour period would force them to treat me like any other Dade County citizen. Two bodies couldn’t be ignored. They would have to undergo a serious investigation. And if they explored too deeply, they would probably discover Dayanara.
Four men stood around the garden. A foul scent drifted my way. I risked another inhale, covered my nose, and breathed out of my mouth. Blood. After this week, that coppery odor would be imprinted in my brain forever. I’d been smelling that wretched liquid all day.
Probably sensing the same thing, Elle covered her face with her hands. I hated that she was with me, and pissed that our time was halted to deal with more death. Now what? There was nothing I could explore with her. Another girl had died and if Elle had any sense she would leave. Not to mention the fact that I’d already put on my mental to-do list that Reece would have to book Elle a flight to wherever she wanted to go.
She can’t stay here.
Another guard came my way. “The body is in the center. I made sure to have my men keep a six foot distance and allow no one else here.”
I scanned the area. He’d done an excellent job. The only people out here were the guards, Elle, and myself.
I swallowed down my fear. “Okay. Show me where the body is.”
He guided me through. Elle continued. I stopped. “No. You’re not going.”
“I want to see if it is really Patricia.”
“Her friend confirmed it.”
“When I talked to Patricia, she said she didn’t have any more friends. This could be somebody else.”
“Looking at a dead person is not a fun experience. Trust me.”
“Of course, but I want to see. Whenever I’m really nervous or scared about something I just take it on, learn as much as I can, and eventually my fear is gone.”
“This isn’t a fear you’re going to have to learn to get over. This is some crazy person killing girls for no reason. I want you far away from this.”
“Lucky for me. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“You promised me you would stay behind.”
“I don’t always keep my promises.” She shrugged.
Her nonchalant gesture should have pissed me off or triggered the already fragile control of my temper to shatter, but it was Elle, with that soft skin and orange blossom fragrance, drowning out the stink of death. It was the one thing that gave me peace and allowed my mind to wander off to serene thoughts of her and me far away from this place. So I buckled under her beautiful gaze. “Come on. But if you need to get away or be sick, then tell me so I can help you.”
“Okay. Although I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”
I glanced at her and seized her soft hand. “When I’m around, you shouldn’t have to take care of yourself. I’ll do it.”
“But then who’s going to take care of you?”
“Me.”
“At least that’s what you think, huh?”
“Meaning?”
“It looks like you’re taking care of everybody but yourself.”
“You’ve caught me during a rough week.”
“Sir,” the guard interrupted us. He touched the earpiece in his ear. “I’m receiving a message that Detective White is at the entrance gates and was called by you.”
“That’s true. Have your people let him onto the property and escorted to this area. We’ll wait for the detective before viewing the body.”
“Okay.” He nodded.
It must’ve taken twenty minutes for the investigator to finally appear. Detective White was a short black man who must’ve been barely five feet tall. He wore gray jogging pants with muddy sneakers and appeared as if he’d been disturbed in the middle of a nightly run. Even his bald head seemed wet with sweat.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.” I shook his hand.
“You’re my best client. I’m here when you need me.” He turned to Elle, paused as if waiting for me to introduce her, saw that I wasn’t, and moved on to the location of the body. “Do you know what the victim’s name was?”
“Patricia Jones. Her friend found the body. Patricia was a poet from Toronto, Canada. Hex fell in love with several of her poetry books and invited her to the states. She’d been here for three months where she wrote and published a poetry book that had several of Hex’s illustrations in it. This is all from her friend so you’ll need to verify the information with my brother. She’d been with the group of people that I informed would have to leave tomorrow. The party tonight was a nice way to send them off.”