I woke to the sound of food sizzling in the kitchen. From the smell, I deduced it was of the swine variety. Lord Berkeley relaxed in his favorite position next to me: sprawled on his backside with his paws in the air like a dog’s version of sun salutations.
“You’re awake,” Nick said. “How’s the head?”
“I’ll survive.”
He handed me a plate with enough food on it to feed a small country.
“Wow,” I said.
“I figured you might be hungry.”
“What time is it?” I said.
“Half past one.”
“In the afternoon?”
He nodded.
“Tuesday?” I said.
“Wednesday.”
“Wednesday! The chief is going to––”
“Be just fine,” Nick said. “He already called to check in and said not to rush you. He will see you when you feel up to it.”
I set the plate down and attempted to stand, but my legs had something else in mind. Damn drugs.
“I’m fine; I need to talk to him today,” I said.
“Whoa, hang on.”
Nick took hold of me and helped me back to bed. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Oh, come on, I just need a minute and I’ll be fine.”
“Absolutely not. Now eat your food.”
“You can be so stubborn sometimes.”
He pointed his fork at me and said, “I’m not half as stubborn as you.”
I could tell by the impassioned stare-down he gave me that unless he left, my day would be spent in solitary. I clutched my plate, and at the same time, Lord Berkeley conducted a taste test on my side of bacon.
“Boo, no!” I said.
He ducked his head under the covers.
“Parker is dangerous. I’m worried about the other women. There’s no telling what he might do.”
“If he has any sense at all, he’ll lay low a while.”
“What if he doesn’t? What if he hits someone else? What if he goes after Audrey? What if he disappears and we can’t find him? What if––”
“Okay, okay.”
Nick let out an exasperated sigh. “Tell you what, I’ll call the chief and see if he can come over.”
“Here?”
“Take it or leave it. You’re in no condition to go out. I don’t care how tenacious you think you are; today you’re confined to this bed.”
Nick didn’t bother waiting for my answer. Lord Berkeley remained halfway beneath the covers with his bottom up in the air and his tail wagging.
“It’s okay Boo,” I said. “I’m not mad, you can come out.”
He poked his head out but averted eye contact with me. I patted him on the head, and he nuzzled up against my leg. He made his peace and returned to business as usual. If only life was that simple for everyone.
My cell phone rang. It was Vicki.
“I heard what happened,” she said. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“I guess one of your friends found you,” she said. “Talk about good timing. Is what Audrey said true––someone murdered Charlotte? It’s hard to believe; I can’t comprehend who would do such a thing.”
“It looks that way.”
“Do you suspect Parker?” she said. “Because Audrey is certain he did it.”
“It’s hard to say for sure.”
There was an awkward pause that was just long enough for her to gear up for another round of questions.
“Thanks for calling, but I need to go,” I said.
“Listen, I don’t want to keep you. The reason I called is because Audrey mentioned you still wanted to track down Charlotte’s assistant, Bridget.”
“No one can find her.”
“She showed up here today,” she said. “I thought she left town, but then I walked into the office and––”
“She’s back at work?”
“Well, no, not exactly. She just came in to get some personal items she’d left behind.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“I wasn’t able to before she hurried out of here. One of the other gals in the office said she got a job somewhere else.”
“How do I contact her?”
“You don’t. I tried to get her new number or her address, and she wouldn’t give it to me. When Jack found out she’d stopped by, he told his secretary to send her into his office, but she up and left before he got the chance.”
Nick walked in and raised his eyebrow when he saw the phone glued to my ear. I signaled to him with one finger in the air. He patted his leg a few times with his hand, and Lord Berkeley hopped off the bed and scampered along after him.
“You sound disappointed,” I said to Vicki.
“I thought Bridget would at least say hi while she was here. She may not have been my personal assistant, but Charlotte let me borrow her now and then. I thought we were friends.”
The way she said the word borrow made her regard for Bridget seem like she was nothing more than a cheap pair of scissors. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Bridget was running from something—or someone—and I needed to find out why.