Cassie Miles - Snow Blind

“All clear,” he said as returned to where she was standing.

“Good. I’ve had more than enough excitement for one night.” She peeled off her parka and hung it on a peg by the door. In her white sweater and red jeans, she reminded him of a pretty Christmas package waiting to be unwrapped. “Are you hungry?” she asked.

“I had some Chinese.”

“Me, too. I felt guilty eating it and thinking that this might have been the last meal for the black-haired woman.”

In the restaurant kitchen at the hotel, it hadn’t taken long for them to locate the off-the-menu Chinese food. A cooking station had been set up near the rear exit with fried rice, gluten-free noodles and organic stir-fry veggies available to anyone who came by and scooped a serving into a carryout box.

“That was our best clue,” he said.

“How do you figure? None of the kitchen staff remembered who had stopped by and loaded up on free food.”

“And that’s the clue. The killer was nobody remarkable. He was somebody the staff had seen before.”

“And what does that prove?”

“It’s likely this is an inside job.”

“Somebody who works at the hotel?” she asked.

“Or somebody who has been around this week. A workman. A consultant.”

“It’s a long list of possible suspects.”

He’d gathered a lot of information tonight but hadn’t had a chance to put things together or draw conclusions. Tomorrow when he wrote his report, there’d be time enough to figure things out. He followed her to the kitchen, where she opened the door to the fridge and peeked inside.

She looked up at him. “There’s nothing in there but condiments and champagne.”

“Try the freezer,” he said. “Some of these condos stock up on gourmet frozen deliveries when they’re expecting guests.”

“I’m not hungry enough for a full meal.” She moved to the cabinets above the countertops. “Maybe just a cup of tea. Would you like some?”

His boots were pointed toward the exit. He should go home. He’d delivered her safely and done all that could be expected. “I ought to call it a day.”

She held up a little box of herbal tea bags. “I can make you a cup in just a minute.”

“Good night, Sasha.”

“Wait.” With the tea box clutched in both hands like a precious artifact, she took a step toward him. “Please don’t go.”

The pleading tone in her voice stopped him in his tracks. He saw tension reflected in her baby-blue eyes, and the upturned corners of her mouth pulled tight. Until now she’d managed to hold her emotions in check. Not that she lacked passion. Her moods flitted across her face with all the subtlety of a neon billboard. This was different, darker. “What is it?”

Her brave attempt at a smile failed. “I don’t want to be alone. Tea?”

“Sure.” How could he refuse? He shucked off his dark blue uniform jacket and sat on a stool at the kitchen counter. “I hope I didn’t scare you when I did a room-to-room search in here.”

“I’m glad you did.” Looking away from him, she continued as though talking to herself. “I’d told myself that I didn’t have anything to worry about, but I couldn’t help thinking about what it meant to be a witness. That guy could come after me. But I know I’m safe here. All the doors and windows are locked. This is a secure building.”

“It’s okay to be scared.”

Still holding the tea, she rested her elbows on the opposite side of the counter and leaned toward him. “When I’m worried, it helps to talk about it. Do you mind?”

“Starting from the beginning?”

“We don’t have to go that far back,” she said. “I’ve already decided that I’ll never drink champagne again.”

He remembered her flushed cheeks and bright eyes when he first came to the condo. “Were you drunk earlier?”

“No, but I was silly and unprofessional. If I hadn’t had a glass or two—” she winced “—or maybe three, I might not have picked up the binoculars and looked into the hotel. I wouldn’t have seen anything.”

“Is that what you’d want?”

“Not knowing would be easier. If I hadn’t seen the attack, I could have watched TV and gone to bed and had pleasant dreams.” When she looked down at the tea box in her hand, her blond hair fell forward, hiding her expression. “I have no regrets. I’m glad I saw. That man can’t get away with murder.”

He reached across the counter to comfort her. He clasped her hand in his, rubbing the delicate skin of her palm with his thumb. In a casual way, they’d been in physical contact all night as he guided her through the hotel and bumped against her in the elevator. But this touch felt significant.

Her gaze lifted to meet his eyes, and he felt an instant, deep connection to her. At that moment, she became more than a witness. His instinct was to pull her into his arms and cradle her against his chest until her fears went away.

No way could that happen.

She’d blamed the champagne for making her behave in a less-than-professional manner. What was his excuse? He knew better than to get personal with a witness, especially someone who was only passing through Arcadia. Reining in his instincts, he released her hand and sat back on his stool. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I’m not sure when it started,” she said, “but I’ve been having that weird feeling you get when someone is watching. You know how it is? The hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you see things in your peripheral vision.”

“When did the feeling start?”

“Not when we first arrived at the hotel. Not when we were going through the rooms. It was after we saw Reinhardt and I swallowed my tongue.” Her voice broke. “Talk about being in trouble. I’m up to my armpits. I don’t know how I’m going to find the nerve to show up for that meeting tomorrow.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh, but I did. It’s my job to facilitate the discussion and make things easier for the investors. Instead, I created a big fat problem.” A tear slipped over her lower lashes and slid down her cheek. “I’m going to get fired for sure.”

He wanted to wipe away her tears and tell her that everything was going to be all right, but he wasn’t a liar. He was a cop, and the proper procedure for answering a 911 call didn’t include cozying up to the witness.

Circling the counter, he rifled loudly through the cabinets until he located a stainless-steel teakettle, which he filled with water and placed on the burner. When he faced her again, she had regained her composure.

“Okay,” he said, “skip ahead to the time when you felt like you were being watched.”

She thought for a moment. “When we were at the front desk, finding out how the key cards for the hotel rooms worked, I started to take my parka off. I shivered. Then I felt the prickling up and down my arms. It was like a warning. I looked around, but I didn’t notice anybody watching me.”

The front desk was located in the wide-open atrium area where dozens of people came and went. Plus there was a balcony overlooking the marble pond and the statue of the huntress. They could have easily been spotted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt. It seemed like we were making some progress. The key cards were a pretty good clue.”

Using the computerized system, they’d learned that key cards had been made for the suite on the sixth floor. The key had been activated prior to the time when she saw the couple having dinner, indicating that someone could have been in the room. “If the security cameras in the hallway had been operational, we’d have this all wrapped up.”

“Do you think he was planning to kill her from the start?” She bit her lower lip. “That the murder was premeditated?”