“You saw him kill someone?” Ezra’s fists tightened at his side. “Are you sure? I mean, are you sure it was Forester?”
I shook my head. “You know how it is. I don’t see faces, but this is his station. I mean,” I plucked the Crockett wig from the Styrofoam head, “this belongs to him.”
“You couldn’t identify his voice?”
“You’ve heard how good he is at changing the way his voice sounds.” I frowned. “I can’t be sure.”
“Damn it.” Ezra let out a frustrated growl. “I knew there was something bad about that guy.”
I put my hand on his back. “If he killed someone, you’ll get him,” I said.
“Did you get a sense that he had anything to do with the current murder plot?”
I tried to remember everything that was said, but none of it fit with the woman and her lover. I rubbed my temples to ward off a burgeoning headache. “I don’t think so.”
He put his arms around me. “Are you okay? You don’t usually have so many visions in the short span of a few hours.”
“They’ve been intense,” I admitted. “The emotions behind the memories are abnormally heightened.”
“Extreme, huh?” he rubbed my back.
I leaned my forehead against his chest. “Soul-crushing.” My pity party ended when I heard the clickity-clack of heels in the hall. “Someone’s coming,” I hissed.
Ezra nodded and gestured for me to get behind the door. He did a quick search of the room and found a heavy-duty flashlight. He tapped the weighted end against his palm as if to test it, then got in front of me behind the door. He held up the flashlight, ready to defend us if needed.
“It’s probably just one of the actors. Not our would-be killer. Try not to give anyone a concussion.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile. “I’ll try to control myself.”
The clickity-clack got louder. “It has to be the woman playing Ms. Nelson.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The two cheerleaders are wearing rubber-soled sneakers.” I pointed to my low-tops. “I’m pretty sure this is just the male actors’ room, so maybe she won’t come in here.”
Ezra turned to face me. “I guess we’ll have to find something to do while we wait her out then.”
“You’re terrible,” I said without any conviction. The way he gazed down at me with his bright green eyes made my stomach jittery. I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I think your beard is growing on me.”
He gave it a light stroke, a cute smirk tugging at his lips.
The sound of high heels began to fade. I wanted to kiss his kissable lips, but a cooler head prevailed. “We better do what we came here to do before someone else comes along.”
“I’m all for doing what we got to do,” he said quietly. He leaned close and inhaled. A soft chuckle followed. “That’s a lot of hair spray.”
“As long as no one lights a match, we’re safe.” I rose up on my tiptoes and risked a kiss. The light brush of Ezra’s lips, juxtaposed against the rough bristle of his beard, sent a tingle of excitement through me. I knew it wasn’t safe to linger, but everything felt right when he held me in his arms. His fingertips slid over my waist and down my hips.
Ezra nuzzled my neck. “I can’t wait to get this dress off you. The things I plan to do to you…”
“Oh, yeah?” I ran my fingers over the nape of his neck, tickling the small hairs. “Tell me more.”
He raised and lowered his brows and narrowed his gaze on me. “I’d rather show you.”
The return of the clickity-clacking made me inwardly groan. I shook my head. “Save that thought for later,” I whispered. “You should probably turn around just in case you do have to bash someone.”
“Or we could just make out until whoever it is passes by, or we get caught.”
The sound of the sharp heels got louder again. “What is she doing out there?”
Ezra gave a slight head shake. “Maybe she’s going back to the gym.” He looked at his watch. “It’s getting close to the end of the night. They’re probably going to do a final closing act.”
“Makes sense.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “This is just the first night. Maybe the plan for the accidentally on-purpose death is not happening until tomorrow sometime.”
“I hope you’re right.” His gaze softened. “But remember, you’re not responsible if something happens.”
“I know in here.” I pointed to my head. “My heart is another story.”
“It’s a great heart.” He placed his hand over the left side of my chest. “The best.”
I held my breath as the clacking sounds got even louder then stopped abruptly right outside the room. Ezra turned his back to me and raised his guard again.
“Hello,” a woman sang. “Nora. Are you back here?”
I bit back a curse. Daffney Graves. Ugh.
“I saw you come back here,” Daffney said. “I hope I’m not interrupting…uhm, you know, anything important.”
I put my hand over Ezra’s—the one holding the flashlight-turned-weapon. Brain-panning the woman was mighty tempting. Ezra reached across himself with his other hand and patted mine.
“Nora,” she called out.
Unfortunately, she was not going away. I made the executive decision to out us. After all, we’d already been caught in clinches several times during the evening. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch for any of these strangers to believe that Ezra and I liked to love dangerously. I moved to Ezra’s side and took his free hand. He gave me an affirmative nod.
“I’m here,” I said as we skirted the door and walked out into the hallway. Daffney looked both pleased and scandalized.
“I saw you two make your escape from the gym. What are you doing?” she asked.
“Getting a little quiet time,” I answered.
She smirked. “Sure. Quiet time.”
I didn’t like her tone. “We better get back.” I forced a smile. “Don’t want to get sent to the principal’s office for getting caught without a hall pass.”
“Can we talk for a minute?” Daffney’s gaze flicked to Ezra then back to me. “Alone,” she added.
“Uhm…”
Ezra’s grip on my hand tightened. “Can’t right now,” he said abruptly. “We have to go.” He led me out the door away from the Graves sister.
I gave him a questioning look.
“I find her highly suspicious,” he said quickly. “That’s twice now she’s asked to speak to you alone. Made a point about wanting you away from me. That’s not happening.”
“You don’t think…”
“I don’t even care. I’m not risking you,” he said.
We promised to stay in pairs, so I didn’t disagree with him. However, I hadn’t seen Daffney as anything more than a harmless nuisance. Did I need to reevaluate my opinion of my old sorority sister? As we rounded the corner to the hall that led back to the gym, the lights flickered on again.
“What are you two doing back here?” Tim Dean, still sporting his A Flock of Seagulls hairstyle, stood in the center of the hall. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You have your own private room in the guest wing. If you can’t follow the rules of the event, then I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Ezra draped his arm over my shoulders. “It’s hard not to relive a few high school fantasies.” He glanced down at me and winked before turning his gaze back to Tim. “You understand, right?”
Tim’s stern stare eased. “Actually, I do. I had a few hot-for-teacher fantasies in my younger days.” He shook his head. “But I still can’t let you break the rules.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “Out.”
Tim was on my list as a potential victim. I decided to risk getting nosy to find out if he was even a viable candidate. “Hey,” I asked as we headed past Tim. “Are you and the cute blonde cheerleader married?” They’d sounded cozy in the kitchen.
His chin jerked down to his chest. “Yes, actually.” His gaze narrowed at me, but he was smiling. “Just last year.”
“Congratulations,” Ezra told him.
“Oh, how long have you guys been together?”
He paused for a moment, then answered, “A few years, but it took me a little bit to convince her to say yes. Lynn…” He frowned. “She’s special.”
“I’m sure she is.” I looped my arm in Ezra’s. “We’ll get out of your hair.”
“And you’ll stay out of the staff areas?” He made it a question.
“Yep,” I said. “Absolutely.”
A loud pop and a scream brought us all up short. Ezra grabbed Tim by the arm. “Is this part of the mystery?”
“No,” Tim groaned.
“Daffney,” I said. “We left her in the dressing room.” I took off after Ezra, but I wasn’t nearly as fast. He was already in the room before I was barely around the corner. A cloud of white haze billowed from the room.
Tim followed us down the hall.
When we got to the door, Daffney was on the ground, her face bleeding, and glass was everywhere. Ezra was next to her, his fingers touching her neck. “She has a pulse,” he said. “We need to call an ambulance.” When I tried to come in, he held up his hand. There was a burn on it. “Stay back, Nora. There’s glass everywhere, and it has a corrosive agent on it.”
Tim looked grim as he pulled out his phone. “Why was she in here? Why are any of you back here? This isn’t—” He cursed under his breath. “This is not how this weekend was supposed to go.”
“Do you smell that?” The crisp scent of ozone reached me out in the hall. “What is that?”
“I’m sorry,” a woman says. Her face is a blur, as faces always are in my visions, but I can vaguely make out the surroundings. The room is familiar. The furniture is different, but I recognized the windows and the view of the courtyard. This is the math room. Only, it has stations with sinks.
“I should’ve never let it get this far. It’s wrong,” a woman says. “It can cost me everything if we get caught. It has to be over.”
A guy grabs her and tries to pull her into his arms, but she jerks away from him.
“Don’t, Juliet. You know I love you,” he replies. He’s got short dark hair, and he’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but in the dim light, I can’t make out the color. The desperation in his tone sends a pang of pity through me. His voice breaks, “I don’t want to live without you.”
“Romeo,” she says solemnly, “With love’s light wings do I perch these walls,
For stony limits cannot hold love out.” She kisses him. “I want to be with you more than anything. But there’s only one way to make that happen.”
He sounds young, like my godson Marco’s age. His words are full of anguish. “I don’t know if I can do it.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know if I can kill him.”
As I come out of the vision, I couldn’t shake the torment I’d felt just seconds earlier. There’d been such a sense of desperation along with a fear of loss. He wanted to please her, to make her stay, but he was also very afraid. The memory had been like the one I’d had earlier with the Winnie-the-Pooh references, but this one had gone all Shakespearean. Was I watching history repeat itself?
Or had Romeo and Juliet waited decades to put their plan into motion?