Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“I’m coming in,” she says, hauling her backpack with her laptop over her shoulder.
I pause. “Alexei’s probably here.”
“I know,” she says, “but I’m not letting you go in there alone.”
My heart warms. “All right.” We march up the front walkway through the big front door, hearing boisterous laughter from the kitchen. I frown. She looks at me and shrugs. We walk through the formal living area, that I’ve left the same as my aunt had decorated it decades ago, into the now modernized kitchen.
All seven of my boarders sit around my oak table eating pancakes with Alexei and Garik. I stop short in the doorway.
“Oh, hi.” Felix looks up. “We hoped you’d get home soon.”
Alexei finishes chewing and sets down his fork. “Yes, we were.”
While Felix sounded thrilled, there’s a darkness to Alexei’s tone. His gaze flicks past me toward Ella. “Miss Rendale.”
She smiles. “How’s it hangin’, Sokolov?”
I think amusement dances in his eyes, but I’m not entirely sure.
He pushes away from the table and crosses around toward us. I take a step back, but Ella remains in place. Keeping his gaze on her, he pulls her backpack off her shoulder.
“Hey.” She tries to grab for it.
He partially turns and yanks out the laptop and disc. “These are mine.”
She pushes him. “You gave that to me, and the disc is Rosalie’s.”
His gaze slams into mine over her head, and I want to take another step back. “I didn’t give you the laptop, and when you found information on the disc to exonerate me, you fucking posted it online. That put both of you in crosshairs. Period. I won’t allow you to purposefully end up in danger.” He says the last directly to me.
Ella reclaims her backpack. “The disc is only partially repaired. I’m not done.”
“Oh, you’re done.” He hands the laptop and disc to Garik before returning to his seat and clasping his fork. “It’s going to cost me more, but I’ll have my computer guy come back for a couple of weeks.” He digs into his pancakes.
I take a deep breath to steady myself, studying the assembled men. “What are you all doing?” My stomach growls.
Ozzy, who as far as I know, worked for an electrical company his whole life, flips another pancake at the stove. He’s the oldest of my boarders, at about ninety, and is also the best cook. He’s long and lean like a string bean, and I worry about him eating enough. “We looked for you all night, so we thought we’d eat and try again. I told everybody you’d be back in time for breakfast, but no one listened to me.”
It’s a tradition with my boarders for us to have a big breakfast together every Saturday. I find it sweet that he thought I wouldn’t miss our meal.
Vehicles screech outside and everybody stills. Garik stands. “What’s going on?”
I wince. I’m not quite sure how to say this, even though Alexei and Hendrix aren’t close, it’ll probably hurt. “Somebody murdered Hendrix Sokolov last night.”
Alexei pushes away from the table, his eyes going dark. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. Ella got the news before anybody else. The media doesn’t have it yet.”
He cocks his head. “You didn’t let your friend Alana know? She could post all about it.”
All right. We kind of deserve that. We did send the footage of Hendrix planting the knife in the pond directly to her, and she posted the video all over social media.
Someone knocks sharply on the door. “Alexei Sokolov, come out now.”
Today he’s dressed in dark gray slacks and a white button-down shirt. “I take it I’m a suspect?”
Ella nods vigorously. “According to the warrant they were putting together, you’re the last known person to be seen with him.”
“Where was he killed?” Garik sputters.
“Right outside of his family home. I guess your family home, Alexei,” she hurriedly bursts out.
“That’s where we dropped him off,” Alexei says grimly. “Time of death?”
Ella shrugs. “I have no idea. I was up working on the other destroyed file from Blythe Fairfax’s home. I figure showing Hendrix planting evidence is one thing, but if we can catch him actually committing the murder, all of this will go away. Well, that was before he died.” She frowned. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“Don’t answer that,” I say instantly, turning into his lawyer.
Amusement dances across his face. “I didn’t kill him.”
It sounds like he’s telling the truth, but he’s also trying to consolidate power as a mob boss, so I’m not entirely sure I believe him.
More pounding echoes on the door. “Open the door. We’re coming in.”
“Just a moment,” I call out. “All right, let’s go.”
He walks calmly around the table, his heat instantly engulfing me. “We have things to discuss, Peaflower.”
“I’m sure we do. There are more important matters to attend to right now,” I say smartly, looking down at my skirt and wrinkled blouse. I don’t have time to change. “How did they know you were here?”