A notification popped up on Viv's screen; someone was at her front door. She recognized him immediately. The man who'd greeted everyone at Carmine Nelson's wake. She looked up. Rex was still swimming.
"Be right back. Have to answer the door," she called to him. Since his head was underwater, he most likely couldn't hear.
"Be right there. I'm outside," she told the man waiting out front through the speaker on the doorbell’s camera. Pulling on her bathing suit coverup, she yanked the scrunchy out of her hair and ran her fingers through the wet strands. Then she slid her feet into flip-flops.
The man took a step backward when she opened the door. Today, dressed in faded jeans and a white polo shirt, he looked less formal but just as efficient. Viv wondered if he was still on the job. Maybe when he isn't working as Beverly Nelson's doorman, he runs errands. Could he be her bodyguard? Well-muscled arms hung at his sides.
"Miss Rose," he said. "I have a message for you."
Okay, today he's the errand guy. "How did you know my address?" she asked.
"You're not hard to find." He reached into his pocket and came up with an envelope. The blush color and gold initials embossed in the corner looked like expensive stationery. Not the kind you picked up at the drugstore.
She took it from him, feeling curious and suspicious. Holding it in her hand, she appreciated the weight of the deluxe brand of paper. Her name had been handwritten in cursive on the back of the envelope.
"Why didn't Mrs. Nelson just pick up the phone?"
"She has her own way of doing things," he explained. "I'm just the messenger. But if there isn't anything more, I'll go. She didn't tell me to wait for a response."
As he turned on his heel, Viv called after him. "Are you a friend of Beverly's? I remember seeing you at the door greeting people on the day of the wake."
He turned back. "I'm her employee. Like I said, I have to go now. Have a nice day."
Behind the closed door she used her finger to open the envelope's flap.
"What do you have there?” Rex had finished swimming and stepped inside the house. A towel wrapped around his waist, his chest was bare.
She looked him over with a smile. Okay, not the body of a twenty-year-old but definitely in shape for a man of his age. He must work out. No gut. Some muscle in the shoulders. Nice chest hair. Not too much. He doesn't wax. I like that.
She was tempted to glance further, but when he tugged at his ear, she stopped. I believe I've made Rex Redondo self-conscious. Well good for me.
She waved the envelope in the air. "Carmine's widow sent me a letter. Dropped off by her employee."
Rex whistled. "You must have made quite the impression. Go ahead. Open it."
The seal already broken, Viv removed a note in the same handwriting. She read aloud. "I need help with a delicate situation. This is a matter that requires some discretion. I heard you helped the police solve a murder, so you must be something of a sleuth. Here's my private phone. Call at your earliest convenience." Viv folded the note and put it back in the envelope, a thoughtful look on her face.
Rex let out another low whistle. "So the plot thickens. What's our next move?"
She didn't answer him right away. She wanted time to think, so she headed toward the kitchen as he called after her.
"I'm going home to shower off the chlorine. Be back in twenty minutes."
She answered immediately. "I'll get in touch with Mrs. Nelson. Maybe I'll have something more to report by then." To her surprise he followed her into the kitchen, a concerned expression on his face.
"Right. But please don't make any plans to meet up with her by yourself. I want to go with you. But you can take Sutton if you think a woman would be better. Just to make sure that you're safe."
Viv swallowed hard, feeling a retort on the tip of her tongue. I'm perfectly capable of handling the situation myself. I don't need a companion. To her surprise, she felt angry. She wanted to shout after him and tell him, “If I were a man you'd never act this way!”
But she didn't. Instead she gulped back her opinions and the accompanying frustration and swallowed. She cleared her throat and then spoke, her voice sounding calm and rational.
"I think I can meet with Mrs. Nelson by myself. We've established a connection over the phone. I showed up at her house for her husband's wake, and she wants to talk to me alone.”
And then sarcasm slipped in. "Plus I didn't see a ‘plus one’ on the note. Neither you nor Sutton need to accompany me."
Rex blinked. He didn't argue right away. Maybe he realized he'd overstepped Viv’s boundaries. Maybe the tone of her voice, cool and calm, startled him. Maybe he just didn't know what to do when a woman turned down one of his offers.
"Okay then." His chin dipped to his chest.
Don't you dare, she told him in her head. Do not start to pout. I am not in the mood.
To give him credit, he walked toward the door.
She called after him, "See you tomorrow for our walk." I hope he noticed I didn’t say I’d see him in twenty minutes like he wanted.
When he didn't respond she felt a pang of remorse. But then she recovered.
I do not need him following me everywhere I go, as if he's driving Miss Daisy.