“I understand.” Dani offered the woman a plastic baggie containing several chocolate chip cookies and waited while Mrs. Carnet selected one. “So once you noticed the food wrappers and such, what did you do?”
“I started to speak to Miss Regina.” Mrs. Carnet shook her head. “To ask if she wanted me to clean up or get her anything, but then I really looked at her. She was flopped on the lounge chair like a rag doll. I called 911 right away. But it was too late. They were never able to revive her.”
“I understand you found a syringe in the driveway. Have the police figured out yet how she died?” Dani asked, wondering if the insulin overdose that the detective mentioned was common knowledge.
“No one has told me anything.” Mrs. Carnet bit angrily into her cookie, chewed, and swallowed, then said, “Everyone just keeps asking me questions. The police, the reporters, the Bournes’ friends. Was Miss Regina or anyone in the house diabetic? Was she depressed? Was there anyone who might want to harm her?”
“What did you tell them?” Dani wasn’t sure how long the older woman would talk to her about Regina, but any little tidbit might lead to a clue that she could follow up on with Spencer or Frannie.
“I told the police no one in the house used insulin and Miss Regina was far from depressed.” Mrs. Carnet ate another cookie, then added, “I didn’t mention that the list of people who didn’t like her was too long to write down. And I certainly didn’t discuss the matter with anyone else.” She crossed her arms. “The Bournes expect confidentiality, and until today, they had my loyalty.”
“But maybe you gave a nice young reporter a little hint,” Dani guessed.
“I might have passed along a few things that I overheard the police talking about, like who was the last to leave the party.” Mrs. Carnet shot Dani a pointed glance. “And the fact that after you saved the place from burning down, Miss Regina was rude to you.”
“Oh.” Dani’s cheeks warmed. “So you know about that.”
“Certainly. Miss Bliss told me all about the incident.”
“It really wasn’t as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be. The fire was small and Regina’s blowup wasn’t that bad. She’d already paid me and I figured that in a few days, she’d get over it and move on to the next big drama in her life.”
“Which she probably would have if someone hadn’t killed her.” Mrs. Carnet reached for the last cookie. “Too bad the murderer didn’t have your patience.”
Chapter 16
When Spencer woke up Thursday morning, his first impulse was to call Dani. His gut urged him to make sure her snooping hadn’t stirred up any hornet nests of vengeful cops or panicky killers. He also wanted to confirm her dickwad of an ex wasn’t harassing her. He grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand, unlocked it, and opened up his contact list.
He’d grabbed Dani’s photo from her Chef-to-Go website and her pretty caramel eyes sparkled at him from the screen. The tiny dent in her cute, little chin tempted him, as did the memory of her lush hips and her heart-shaped ass. What would it feel like to hold her in his arms and taste her soft, soft lips?
As his finger hovered over the picture of her face, Hiram’s words stopped him from tapping the icon. Despite his attraction to her and his mentor’s encouragement, Spencer wasn’t ready for a relationship.
Shoving away the image of Dani sprawled beneath him, Spencer jumped out of bed and headed into the shower. For once, he didn’t mind how long it took the icy water to get hot.
After he was dressed and waiting for the coffee to brew, he texted Ivy to ask how things were going. His niece immediately answered that everything was same old, same old and that she and Dani were prepping the food for a football booster dinner that evening. Dani was excited since it was only her second catering gig and was driving them all crazy with her need for perfection.
Now that he knew Dani and Ivy were safe, Spencer’s stomach settled and he could face the thought of eating breakfast. After quickly polishing off a bowl of cereal, he got into his truck and backed out of the garage. Noticing that the town house association’s overzealous gardener had pruned his azalea bushes to within an inch of their lives, he made a mental note to inform the landscape company that, in the future, he’d trim the shrubs himself. Better a little work on his part than the decimation of the bright-red blossoms.
Puddles from last night’s rain studded the asphalt and Spencer deliberately steered through them. He’d always liked the sound of splashing water. Rolling his window down, Spencer enjoyed the cold front’s cooler temperatures. With the blazing sun, the thermometer would soon rise and he’d be stuck breathing stale, air-conditioned air.
Driving toward his office, he recalled promising to stop by the mansion after his meeting with the police chief. Smiling, Spencer’s mind drifted and he daydreamed about taking Dani in his arms when he saw her. Pressing her soft curves against his hard length and inhaling the spicy yet sweet fragrance that seemed to wrap around her. Was it perfume or her natural scent?
Shit! Spencer slammed on the brakes as an obviously suicidal pedestrian with a huge bullmastiff on a leash darted between two parked cars and directly into the path of his pickup. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Spencer ground his teeth. He had to stop thinking about Little Miss Cupcake. Nothing could come of it and the distraction was annoying. Too bad Dani was so damn adorable.
His plan was to protect Ivy by figuring out who killed Regina Bourne and then step back into his role as the casual acquaintance who checked once a
