“Very well, thank you.”
“Sign for this?” The deliveryman shoved a clipboard in front of me. A pen was taped to the steel clip.
“Sure.” I signed my name and he tore off a receipt and handed it to me. Then he turned the dolly around and took off for the door.
“Thank you,” I called after him. I heard my front door slam shut and felt momentarily relieved until I realized Minka was still there.
“Cookie?” Jeremy said, holding the plate out.
“Yes.” I shoved half of the cookie into my mouth. “We have milk.”
“Ooh, yummers,” Jeremy said. “I’ll get it.”
“Darling, what’s going on?” Derek leaned close and whispered in my ear, “Where is our houseguest?”
I stood on tiptoe and answered quietly, “On the roof.” I turned and looked around at the confusion. Derek and I gazed at each other, then shrugged and laughed.
“I’ll open some wine,” he said, and I nodded my approval.
“Hey, Brooklyn, aren’t you going to open the box?” Suzie asked as she munched on a cookie.
“Yeah,” Minka snarled as she adjusted her hat. “I’m not leaving until I’ve seen exactly what’s in there.”
“Whoa.” I must have been distracted before, because I was just now getting my first good look at her-and had to shield my eyes.
Words failed me.
Derek stepped forward and held up my heavy-duty Tough Tool box cutters he’d found in my workroom. “Shall we?”
“Yes,” I said. “Would you do the honors, please?”
He knelt down next to the big box and sliced the cardboard top open to reveal another box, this one made of wood.
“Are those the shelves?” Suzie asked. “They look unfinished.”
A highly suspicious Minka stood over one end of the box with her arms folded across her chest, just waiting to point an accusing finger at me. Moronic twit.
“This is so exciting,” Sergio said, fanning himself. “Ooh, Derek, you’re so strong.”
Jeremy licked his lips in agreement.
I giggled at Derek’s momentary look of horror.
He moved around the edges of the wooden crate, using the heavy blade of the cutters to pry the top up. “Help me with this, will you?”
Suzie and I gripped one end while Derek took the other end. Together we lifted off the top and laid it along the side of the crate.
“Well?” I asked, turning around to look at my friends’ reactions.
Jeremy screamed and slid to the floor.
“Holy crap,” Suzie shouted and skittered backward.
Vinnie made some kind of wheezing sound and yanked Suzie back farther. She began chanting something in her native language, then cried out, “Dear goddess, what evil has come into our world?”
I turned and looked. And gasped. Derek grabbed me before I could join Jeremy on the floor, and pressed my head to his chest so tightly I could barely breathe.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” Suzie chanted.
“This isn’t happening,” I muttered, lifting my head to catch my breath.
Minka whipped around, pointed at me, and screamed, “You’re a sick, twisted bitch!” Then she made a gagging sound and ran for the door. I could hear her screaming all the way down the hall.
I braced myself, then turned back to make double sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
But no, it wasn’t an illusion. Lying in the box was Angelica, almost as beautiful as she’d ever been, surrounded by faded, wilting flowers. Her hair was coiffed, her makeup was perfect, and she was very, very dead.
Chapter 20
Minka’s screeching could be heard for blocks around. It brought Max racing down from the roof.
“What the hell’s wrong?” he shouted from across the living room. “Sounds like a screaming hyena out there.”
I whipped around. “Oh, Max,” I cried, and ran to meet him.
“Are you okay, hon?” he asked, rubbing my back. “Was that you screaming?”
I shook my head but couldn’t speak, couldn’t tell him what was wrong, so I just stood there as he rocked me in his arms.
I could see Derek bent over the corpse, doing something. Knowing Derek, he was probably checking for a pulse and telltale signs of her cause of death. A minute later, he circled the room, surveying the people, appraising the situation, focusing on triage.
Finally, he approached Sergio and clutched his shoulder. “Take everyone to your place, would you? And tell them to stay there. I’ll be over in a few minutes to ask some questions.”
Sergio nodded, immediately accepting Derek as the top dog. Slipping his arm through Jeremy’s, Sergio lifted his partner off the floor in one smooth movement. “Come on, sugar. Let’s go get some air.”
Suzie latched onto Jeremy’s other side, then motioned for her partner. “Vinnie, baby, come on.”
“Oh, Brooklyn, I am praying for you,” Vinnie said, then grabbed hold of Suzie’s hand and walked out with the others. I watched them go, wondering if my neighbors would ever speak to me again. And with that thought, my eyes filled with tears.
I know I was a terrible person, but I couldn’t help thinking that even
“It’s okay, Brooklyn,” Max murmured, then nudged me back and bent down to meet my gaze. “Now tell me what happened?”
I looked up at him and realized he had no clue what had just occurred. “Not sure you want to know,” I said, but I grabbed his hand and turned and steered him slowly across the room.
Derek stopped him. “Be prepared for a shock, mate.”
“Over there,” I said, pointing at the box.
“Yeah, okay.” Max frowned, then straightened his shoulders and stalked over to the box. He took one look inside, then shouted an incoherent epithet and jumped back a foot. He began to swear like a sailor, then instantly found religion. “Holy Jesus! Mother of God!”
Finally, he whirled around and grabbed his head with both hands. “Christ! That’s sick. Who would do that?”
That was pretty much the question of the hour.
“Put the cover back on the box, would you?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Max agreed loudly. “Damn. Let’s do that.”
As he and Derek lifted the heavy wooden top, I brushed my hair back off my forehead and tried to catch my breath. I was still shaking, could still feel the residual terror of that first moment when I realized that a dead body had been delivered to my home.
What had I done? Why had someone sent me such a hateful, macabre message?
More important, what had Angelica done? Well, she’d been a bitch, treated a lot of people badly, but had she deserved to be used as an object of horror?
To someone, she obviously had. And I knew that someone was Solomon. That man had a lot to answer for.
Was this all about Max? Or me? Both of us? Who was the message intended for? My head was spinning with questions and no clear answers.
