Page 1 of Witness To Murder
CHAPTER ONE
Chicago
Saturday, August 9
Chicago Chop House
La Salle Drive, 11:30 p.m.
Leah Gerard had waited, seated at an elegantly set table in a barely lit, well-appointed dining room, for more than thirty minutes.
Many things could be done in half an hour. She could have a leisurely lunch in that same amount of time. Or she might read a couple of chapters in her current favorite book. For that matter, she could vacuum her entire apartment or have her biannual dental cleaning.
But she was doing none of those. Leah had waited thirty-three minutes, now, for her date to finish up his business meeting. And it was nearly midnight. This was not the way a first date should go.
She rolled her eyes. Honestly, if her best friend hadn’t been on her back for weeks now about Leah jump-starting her social life, she would not have bothered with this date thing. Who had time for a social life when her final semester of graduate school started in just over a week? She needed every minute that she wasn’t working to get a head start on the required reading. This was, admittedly, something she should have started weeks ago, but she’d taken every extra shift at work possible to build up her savings.
Between her share of rent and food, she barely scraped by. Once the semester began, she would be forced to drop back to part-time at the library. Until then, every paid hour counted. As much as she wanted to maintain her grade point average, she also wanted to eat and have a roof over her head.
She braced her elbows on the table, rested her chin in her hands and sighed. What the heck was she even doing here?
“Good question,” she muttered with mounting disgust—mostly at herself.
The dining room part of the restaurant was barely lit because the place was no longer open. The Chop House had closed at ten. Cleanup had been done, and the staff had departed. Raymond, her date, had promised he would be ready to go at eleven. He’d asked Leah to meet him here so they could go straight to a nearby after-dark art exhibit that was supposedly all the rage. The gallery was only a few blocks away from the restaurant and the opening began at midnight, so they would have time for a drink before things got started.
Leah checked the time on her phone and shook her head. That would not be happening at this point. Oh well. Raymond Douglas was supposed to be a real catch. She’d met him only once and he had seemed very nice. He was certainly handsome. And he was a rising star in the culinary world. In fact, he owned 10 percent of this exclusive downtown restaurant, as well as a few others. He’d met with the other investors right here tonight and stayed after closing to work out a number of issues with management. Except, apparently, things had not gone well, or surely he would have been finished by now.
With another quick check of her cell phone, she confirmed that he had not sent a text to explain why he was running behind or how much longer he would be. She’d done exactly as he’d said she should—she’d arrived at eleven. The last of the staff had been leaving, and no one had questioned her coming in as theyhurriedly departed. She assumed Raymond had informed them that he was expecting a guest. Either that, or the crew had been too tired or so happy to be off work—maybe both—that they just hadn’t noticed her at all.
Leah checked the time once more: 11:40. This was inching toward ridiculous. As patient as she wanted to be, the last of that patience was swiftly running out. Five more minutes, she decided. She could give him that much time. Isla Morris, her roommate and best friend, had reminded her that Raymond was no one to blow off. Leah had googled him. She had a feeling he was more playboy than she was interested in. Frankly, she was stunned he’d called her. The one night they had run into each other was when Isla and two of their friends had taken Leah to their favorite dance club for her birthday just two weeks ago. Isla had told Leah that she had worked at the Chop House through her undergraduate premed years, which was how she’d gotten to know the guy. After the chance encounter on Leah’s birthday, Raymond had called Isla and asked for Leah’s contact information. And here she was.
So far the night wasn’t exactly social media post worthy. Not that she posted that often. She was too busy, and frankly, she just wasn’t that into online social stuff.
Next year, she told herself, life would be different. She would be finished with school, would find a great job and life would start to shape itself into a good, financially secure future.
Leah occupied herself with surveying the dimly lit dining room. Most of the lights were out, but the room wasn’t completely dark. There was just enough light to give anyone who walked by on the sidewalk a glimpse of high-class dining. The tables were all dressed in fresh white linens. Crystal and silver flanked elegant white plates. All was set for lunch tomorrow. Stylish, modern chandeliers hung from the towering ceiling like icicles. Sleek black marble floors were the perfect backdrop toall the white and silver. The floor-to-ceiling windows framed the vast room like a stage for passersby to admire. It was all very chic.
Enough waiting. Leah scooted her chair back and stood. With a big breath, she walked across the room, weaving through the sea of tables. A thump startled her to a stop. Was that a door? Was he leaving the office finally? Should she go back to the table?
Another thump…then a series of dings like hanging stainless steel pots swaying together.
Leah moved closer to the swinging door that led into the kitchen area. The echo of footsteps had her expecting Raymond to walk through the door before she reached it.
But he didn’t.
What was he doing in there?
She stepped closer to the door, stood on tiptoes to see through the octagon-shaped window that allowed for viewing comings and goings. Her gaze first settled on the rows of pots and pans hanging from overhead hooks. A long stainless steel table that gleamed from its recent cleaning sat beneath them. Then…
She froze.
Blond hair…black suit jacket… Leah blinked. Raymond lay supine on the floor. The stainless steel table blocked her view of the lower half of his body. But his upper half was right there in full view. Blue shirt…darker blue tie. Her gaze settled on his face. His eyes were open. Blood made a path down his forehead.
The air stopped flowing into her lungs.
Leah blinked again to give her brain a moment to make sense of or refute what her eyes saw. Her lips parted, and a scream swelled in her throat.
Then he moved.
