Page 28 of Kissing Flynn

I mull that over while we finish eating, then as people start to file out, I jump out of my chair and move in close to Danica as we exit the dining room. She smells like sandalwood and peonies. It’s not the right scent. Max must’ve been right, and that look of relief was a ploy.

I head out to the veranda where Max is waiting, her eyes trained on the bright reflection of the moon on the surface of the inky water. She looks over at me when I move in beside her, and I shake my head.

“It’s not Danica. The scent wasn’t right.”

Max thinks for a moment, then cocks her head. “Maybe Bethany was lying. Maybe she did it.”

“Or she’s covering for her boss,” I toss out as another theory.

“You really think Barnard is the killer?”

I shrug. “We can’t rule him out. We just need to figure out how to find the truth.”

Max looks back out at the ocean and goes still for a second. She breathes deep, then freezes. Before I can ask her what’s wrong, she grabs my hand and tugs me along behind her, heading back to the dining room.

Releasing her grip on my hand, Max goes straight to the wall of windows. Lifting one black-out blind after another, she peeks behind them until she stops and takes another deep breath.

“Come here, Flynn,” she says, waving me over as she lifts the blind up and points to the slightly cracked window. “What do you smell?”

I bend over, put my nose in front of the opening, and breathe deep. Then I straighten and look at her with wide eyes. “The ocean and flowers.”

She nods. “It wasn’t perfume Bethany smelled.”

“And we’re back to square one,” I say on a sigh.

The murderer could actually be Danica. Or anyone else, for that matter.

I hear a quiet sigh behind us, and we both turn toward the sound. The “body” is still on the floor where we left him.

“Does he have to lay here all night?” I ask Max, and the body grunts.

Max chuckles, saying, “Come on. Let’s search the room again for evidence.”

It only takes us a moment to find a trail of blood drops leading from the body toward the swinging doors that lead to the kitchen. Max and I share a look of excitement before we follow the trail. Pushing the doors open, we find the server sitting on a stool, her face buried in her hands as she sobs theatrically.

Max rushes over to place a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

The server jerks upright, her expression damn-near accusatory as she shouts, “A coworker was just murdered right in front of me!”

“I’m sorry,” Max says, rubbing small circles on Bethany’s back before rolling her eyes in my direction.

Yeah. I agree. This is a bit overkill.

Bethany starts wringing her hands in her lap, and the movement catches my eye. I almost choke when I see something red beneath the fingernails of her right hand. I close my eyes for a moment, recalling the scene earlier, and I don’t remember her touching the victim.

There’s only one reason she’d have “blood” under her fingernails.

My eyes pop back open, and I study her nails for a second before my gaze moves up to the cuff of her white sleeve. Small spots of red pepper the material, and holy shit. I’m right.

She did it.

I meet Max’s eyes, then move my gaze aggressively down to the server’s hand. Max catches my meaning and glances down, her own eyes going wide and round before they snap back up to meet mine.

“Okay, well, we hope you feel better,” I say to the murderer while telling Max with my eyes that it’s time to leave.

Max nods, pats the woman on the shoulder, and follows me out of the kitchen. I take her hand and drag her from the dining room, and she barely manages to stifle her delighted laughter as she chases me up the stairs. When we reach the top, I drop her hand when I spot Lars coming down the hall on our left. I veer right toward our rooms, and Max follows without acknowledging the man.

We don’t speak, trying to appear calm––and maybe even a little dejected––as we unlock our doors and head into our own rooms. As soon as I lock my door behind me, I head for the still-open connecting doors. Max arrives there at the same time as me, a wide, happy grin on her face.

---