“What the hell?” He looks from Everett and me to where the bodies lie slumped, and he rakes his fingers through his hair. “Did you do this, Baxter? Did you gun down Owen because you couldn’t take a little taunting?”
A crowd quickly gathers, and before Everett can say a word, Ariella takes a few staggering steps forward.
“Everett, did you do this?” Ariella pants. “Did you shoot my husband in cold blood?”
“No,” Everett says it strong and commanding and his voice echoes throughout the vicinity. “I don’t know who’s responsible for this, but it wasn’t me.”
“Of course, he didn’t do it!” a female voice pipes up just as Carlotta crops up next to us. “Sexy wouldn’t kill a woman or a man. He doesn’t even have a gun on him, for Pete’s sake!”
“Do you?” Jen steps forward, her eyes expanding in terror as she looks to her old friend.
Everett looks my way and winces as Ethel plows through both our minds at once.
“Look, I didn’t fire any gun,” Everett says just as a flood of officers takes over the scene, and soon the area is being cordoned off.
Noah pulls both Everett and me to the side, and Detective Ivy Fairbanks, the aforementioned leggy redhead with the hots for Noah, joins us as well.
“What the hell happened?” Noah looks pale as if he could see the writing on the proverbial wall, and it seems to be spelling out more trouble for poor Everett.
Ivy pulls her long dark coat around herself as she glares my way.
“Why are you always at the scene of the crime, Lottie? And isn’t it bad enough Judge Baxter is being accused of moving a body from the morgue, now he’s stepped into another pile of dung no thanks to your morbid bad luck? That is, if you believe in luck.”
I take a sharp breath. “How dare you!”
“Yes.” Noah gives her a wild-eyed look. “How dare you, Ivy. Look, I don’t pretend to know why Lottie keeps running into corpses, but I certainly don’t think she’s in any way responsible, and I don’t think he is either.” He shoots Everett a quizzical look that begs the question.
“No,” Everett says rather adamantly. “I had nothing to do with this. We didn’t even hear a gunshot.”
Ivy shakes her head. “Let’s see your weapon, Everett.”
He quickly produces Ethel and Ivy lands a pair of gloves on before taking it from him. “I’ll take this in and give it to forensics. Once they clear you, I’ll help shout it from the rooftops.”
“Thank you,” Everett says. “I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome.” She flexes a short-lived smile. “Why don’t you do everyone a favor and take you wife home? I’ve got a homicide investigation to deal with. Noah, I’ll keep you updated, but I’m sorry, until you’re cleared from suspension, I’ll have to ask you to steer clear of this case.”
Noah looks as if he’s about to leap from his skin. “It’s a double homicide. These are my friends, Ivy. Nobody knows this crowd like I do.”
“Or me.” Everett is quick to toss his investigative hat into the ring. “I’ll help you with whatever you need, Ivy. You have my number.”
“That I do.” She takes a moment to glower my way. “It goes without saying you’re to stay out of this, Lottie. You have a baby due in a few weeks. Please focus on that instead.” She takes off before I can get a word in.
“How do you like that?” I huff in her wake just as Carlotta and Evie hustle on over.
“Dad!” Evie’s eyes widen with fright. “You didn’t kill the guy, did you?”
“No.” Everett pulls her into a strong embrace. “I would never do that. We just walked out and found them that way.”
“Good.” She pulls back and blows out a breath. “I’ve gotta call my friends. I just saw two freaking dead bodies, and rumor has it my dad is a killer. I knew if I tagged along tonight you guys would not disappoint. This is so freaking cool.” She dashes back into the hotel and Everett groans.
“I’d better go stop her before she revs up more rumor mills than necessary.”
“Good thinking,” I say. “And tell her this is not so freaking cool.”
“That’s for sure.” He takes off and Noah pulls me close.
“Come on, Lot. Let’s get inside ourselves. Once Everett rounds up Evie, we’re taking off. I’ll rub your feet and try to get your mind off things.”
Carlotta slaps her thigh. “Leave it to you, Foxy, to try to slide in under the radar. You know a dead body gets Lot all riled up. I wouldn’t be surprised if you blew two old friends away just to get her in a frisky mood.” She shrugs my way. “What can we say, Lot? He knows your love language is corpses.”
“It is not,” I hiss her way. I’m about to further correct her when I see Slater, Jasmine’s ex, speaking to the woman with the silver hair in a heated manner. They’re both looking back at the bodies intermittently, and she’s nodding frenetically at whatever it is he’s telling her.
“Noah, look,” I whisper and point in their general direction.
“Things look tense,” he whispers.
We watch as Slater stalks off back into the ballroom while Stassi runs into the parking lot and takes off into the night.
A deputy from the sheriff’s department pulls out a bullhorn and shouts for everyone to step back into the hotel while they collect names and numbers.
Noah ushers both Carlotta and me in that direction and Ariella and Jen step in front of us as we head that way.
Jen wraps her arm around her friend’s shoulders.
“Can I call anyone?” she asks the new widow sweetly. “Can I get something for you to drink? Your coat? A chair?”
“No.” Ariella takes a deep breath as she looks from me to Noah. “I’m in shock. I don’t
