April exited the car and stretched her arms over her head. “I’m not waiting down here. It’s dark and Jimmy knows where my parking space is, even if I no longer have a car.”
“Just don’t go charging into your place. Did Kenzie lock up when she left?”
“She doesn’t remember, but I hope not.” She slammed her door and came around to his side. “I don’t have the keys to my place.”
Clay followed April upstairs to her apartment, and then squeezed past her when they reached her door. “Let me.”
He placed his ear against the solid wood, curling his fingers around the door handle. He twisted it and said over his shoulder, “It’s still unlocked.”
“At least I don’t have to break into my own place.”
“You don’t have a manager on-site?”
“No, just a number to call for the management company.” She tipped her head at the door. “Are we going in?”
“Me first.” He eased open the door, his muscles tight, his finger on the trigger of his gun.
The door squeaked softly on its hinges. Clay tilted his head back and sniffed the air. Didn’t smell like blood—or death.
He took a step into the living room, April clinging to the waistband of his jeans, her staccato breathing pulsing behind him. He swiveled his head back and forth, taking in the small room. “How many rooms?”
“This one, the kitchen, one bathroom and two bedrooms.” She nudged his arm. “Down the hall that way.”
Clay crept into the room, his gun at his side while April stayed behind. He poked his head into the kitchen and veered to the left and the short hallway. All three doors stood wide open, and he entered each room and checked the two closets.
He strode back into the living room, making a wide arc with one hand. “Where is all this blood Kenzie saw?”
“Not sure.” From the living room behind the couch, April held her arms out to her sides, several plastic bags clutched in her hands. “But here are the drugs. Looks like crystal meth and weed.”
Clay holstered his gun, shut and locked the front door. “You don’t need anyone seeing you with that stuff.”
April dropped the bags on the console table behind the couch and put her hands on her hips. “I’m a little relieved. I expected the place to be turned over with blood soaking the carpet and packets of drugs.”
Clay peered over the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. “It’s in here, April, the blood.”
She appeared next to him in a flash, her face white, her eyes round. “It—it looks smeared. Do you think Kenzie tried to clean it up?”
“Looks like someone did.” He patted her back. “Stay here.”
He circled around the counter, avoiding the blood spots on the floor. More blood spatters decorated the inside of the sink and droplets had dried on the granite countertop.
“Someone washed up in the sink. Until we question Kenzie, we don’t know if she tried to clean up or if this blood belongs to the assailant. Why did she assume this was Adam’s blood?”
“His phone was here, turned off, and his drugs. Who else would have access to my apartment?”
Clay cleared his throat. “Uh, your fiancé.”
“He never came here.” Two splotches of red splashed her cheeks. “He doesn’t have a key.”
“Trash?” He nudged an elongated drawer with his toe. When she nodded, he pulled it open and tossed the garbage at the top with his fingers. “I don’t see any paper towels or rags in here covered with blood. Do you have a laundry room?”
“Not in here. I can’t imagine Kenzie cleaning up and then taking a bunch of bloody towels to the washing machines downstairs.”
“You need to get her back on the phone and find out exactly what she saw when she came in here. This scene—” he waved his arms around the kitchen “—doesn’t make much sense.”
April took a wide stance in the middle of the room. “After I ran out on the wedding, Adam must’ve gone to Jimmy’s, anyway. Maybe that’s when Jimmy threatened him...and me. Adam picked up my purse with my keys and let himself into my place.”
“That’s your purse?” Clay pointed to a large bag on the coffee table that looked more like a small suitcase.
“That’s the bag I brought with me to Jimmy’s to get ready for the wedding.” April swooped down to grab it and dug inside, a few of the contents falling to the floor in her haste. She twirled a key chain around her finger. “Keys.”
“Car keys?”
“Yeah, but Adam has his own set of keys to my car.”
“What did Adam do next, detective?” Clay crossed his arms and wedged a hip against the couch.
“He dropped off my stuff...”
“And brought his drugs.”
She sucked in her bottom lip. “Maybe he just scored.”
“Nice of him to bring them here.” He held up his hands as she opened her mouth. “I don’t know how we’re going to locate Adam without the help of the police.”
April snapped her fingers and pointed her finger at him. “Detective Espinoza should be contacting Gilbert...or Jesus. Maybe that will make Jimmy and his gang nervous enough that they’ll release Adam.”
“I wouldn’t count on Jimmy getting spooked at this point by a few inquiries into Elena. Do you think Jimmy would take Adam to his house?”
“Maybe. What are you thinking?” April brushed her hands together as if to erase the drugs.
“You can’t go out to Jimmy’s place, but I can—just for a surveillance. I can check things out, and Jimmy won’t even know I’m there.”
“Except—” April skirted the couch, hitching her purse over her shoulder “—Jimmy has security cameras.”
“As you found out, I happen to have a good friend in security and I know how to disable any system. I’m not going in with guns blazing. I’m
