Lita tapped on Lesley’s office door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her.
“What is it?”
“Detectives from the sheriff’s office. They’re asking to see you.”
“Detectives? What’s it about?”
“They didn’t say.”
Lesley rose from her desk and followed Lita down the hall. “Detectives?” She crossed to where they waited in the foyer.
“Miss Robinson. I’m Detective Murray. This is Detective Peterson. We’d like to ask you a few questions, ma’am.”
“In regard to?”
“Maria Delgado.”
“I’ll need more information than that if you want me to answer your questions.”
A glance slid between the two detectives. Murray did all the talking. “Miss Delgado’s body was discovered on the grounds of the Challenge Project’s community center early this morning. We understand you’re acquainted with the deceased?”
“She worked for my family several years ago.”
“When’s the last time you saw Miss Delgado?”
Lesley knew better than to answer questions like these without an attorney present. They might be only trying to reconstruct Maria’s movements in the hours preceding her death, or they might be trying to find a suspect they could charge with her murder.
“Detectives, I’ll be happy to help with your investigation, but I’d like my attorney present during the interview. I’m sure you understand. Shall I have him contact you and set up a mutually convenient time?”
They weren’t happy about it, but Murray handed over his card. “Please do. Thank you, Miss Robinson.”
They left and Lesley’s gaze collided with Lita’s. “I have to make some calls.”
The first one should be to Niko, to warn him. She hadn’t asked when Maria’s murder had taken place, but it was sometime last night. She’d spent the better part of it with Niko, which made him her alibi. And her his.
Lesley wouldn’t have resorted to murder to get rid of Maria no matter how much she wanted the woman out of her life. Still, to rule Lesley out as a suspect, to rule Niko out as one if it came to that, the cops would require alibis from both of them.
Lesley’s stomach knotted while she waited for her attorney to pick up his phone. Her public relationship with Niko was well known. Her private relationship with Niko was still secret. She wanted to keep it that way. For now at any rate. When she was with him, she rarely thought beyond “now”. She hadn’t seriously thought about a future with Niko. She couldn’t picture it happening, even though she could see herself with him forever. How would he fit into her life? Her lifestyle? How would she fit into his?
In her social circle there was a word for what she’d been doing with Niko. She didn’t care. Niko was a gentlemen. He was smart and sexy and driven. He’d overcome a lot in his life, and he’d developed character along with his natural charisma. So what if his annual salary was roughly what she spent replenishing her wardrobe each year?
I love him. Lesley could admit it to herself. But could she overlook everything she’d just mentally debated, the same things she’d been debating for months, and still be with Niko? For all time?
“Lesley? Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“John. It’s all right. I’ve got a problem. You remember Maria Delgado?”
“How could I forget?” John Cirillo had handled everything for her regarding Ricky six years ago. He’d kept it all quiet and confidential and smooth.
“She’s been murdered. Detectives Murray and Peterson were just here from the sheriff’s department. They want to interview me.”
“She was killed here? In Willow Bay?”
“Yes. She’s been here for several months, I believe.”
“You’ve had contact with her?”
“Yes.”
“All right. We need to talk first. Then we’ll decide whether to set up an interview. What does your schedule look like for today?”
Lesley let herself into the suite of offices the Robinson Group maintained on Willow Bay’s revitalized Fifth Avenue. On a quiet Sunday the office was deserted, and so, for the most part, was the street outside. It had seemed the best place to meet with Niko. She wouldn’t risk a visit to his house or him coming to hers. Nor would she risk meeting him in a public place. Paranoia had got the better of her since her visit from the detectives this morning. People were framed for murder all the time. Innocent citizens were sent to prison for years.
Her stomach twisted itself into a giant knot as she thought about everything her attorney had told her when he’d called her back. A couple of neighborhood kids had found Maria’s body wrapped in a rug, surrounded by weeds, in the unpaved area beyond the community center’s parking lot. The boys had been cutting across the lot to the convenience store on the next street.
John had set up a meeting in his office with the two detectives for tomorrow morning at ten o’clock. Lesley planned to meet with John at nine to discuss strategy.
The outer door opened and Niko came toward her. Her heartbeat sped up the way it did whenever she was near him. She took in the expression on his face, serious but determined. Capable. Her stomach knotted further. There was a very good chance he was headed for a fall. Her addiction to him could ruin everything he’d been working for.
He stopped a foot from her and made no effort to come closer, either to greet her or embrace her. They studied each other before Lesley turned away, stepping back into the office and taking the chair behind the desk. Niko sauntered in after her, slumped into one of the chairs on the other side and trained his gaze on her face.
Having the desk between them bolstered Lesley’s courage. She licked her dry lips. “We need to get our stories straight.”
“There is no story. There’s only the truth.”
“I know. But the truth will ruin everything you’ve worked for. The truth will…”
“Ruin your reputation?”
“It will ruin your reputation, Niko. The slightest hint that I’ve shown some kind of favoritism toward the Challenge Project because of our personal relationship will not be good for either one of us.”
“You’re my alibi.”
“And you’re mine.”
“Were you hoping I’d lie about us being together?”
Lesley had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. Niko couldn’t see what it would mean to both of them to have their private relationship made public. She could tell by the look in his eyes that she’d hesitated too long to answer. “No.”
“You don’t sound too sure about that.”
She’d seen Niko angry before. Seen his frustration. She could see those same emotions building inside him now.
“I’d never ask you to lie. Especially not to save my reputation. I know you wouldn’t do it to save your own.”
“The truth sometimes has unpleasant consequences,” Niko said. The anger and frustration she’d sensed before were gone. Thoughtfulness had taken their place. “But a lie…that leads to secrets, which usually lead to something worse.” He pinned her with his gaze. Lesley didn’t know if he was referring to his own past, to hers or to this very moment, but it seemed as though he’d just issued her a challenge. He was ready to face the consequences of going public with their relationship. Was she?
“I didn’t kill Maria and neither did you. Maybe our best bet is to figure out who did. Who’s got a grudge against both of us, and a big enough one against Maria that would make it worthwhile to see her dead?” Niko said.
“She’s only been in town for a few months. Who knows what she’s been doing? But the only person I know she’s had contact with and who might wish her harm is Steven.”
“Exactly. Is he capable of it?”
“I hate to say this, but yes. Given the right set of circumstances, I think he could be.”
“He’s ambitious.”
“Yes.”
“Ruthless.”
“Yes.”
“Vindictive.”
“We have no proof. We don’t even know if Maria saw him that night or if he told her who her father was.”
“If he did tell her, I bet he wasn’t subtle about it. Maria was unpredictable. They could have argued. Maybe she came after him.”
“Maybe,” Lesley agreed. She knew firsthand how nasty Steven could be. How far he’d go to protect his own interests. It was all too easy to imagine the scenario Niko had painted. “I agreed to be questioned with my attorney present. I suggest you do the same.”
“I plan to.”
“You have an attorney?”
“Yes.”
Lesley couldn’t hide her surprise. But Niko was a cop. Of course he’d know better than to do an interview without a lawyer present. “Good. I was going to make that nonnegotiable. I don’t want you to lose everything you’ve been working for.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he reminded her as he came around the desk. “Except spend the night with you.” He drew her up and looked into her eyes. “Remember that old song? ‘If being with you is wrong, I don’t want to be right’?”
“I think it’s, ‘if loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right’.”
“Yeah. That’s it. Loving you. Come here.”