She knew he was asking if her concern warranted him joining her. She thought about it a minute, then answered: Yes, come.
She stood outside another ten minutes, then went down to Trini’s car. Luckily, she was dressed in jeans as she knelt on the pavement near the front passenger wheel well and ran her hand around inside. She failed to find the magnetic box, so she moved to the rear wheel and reached forward, searching blindly. She was about to give up when her fingers connected with something. She struggled a bit trying to break the magnetic grip, but suddenly it broke free.
Feeling like a sneak thief, she curled her fingers around the tiny box and ran back to Trini’s front door. Her fingers were shaking as she slid open the tiny metal door to reveal two keys: one to Trini’s car, the other to her apartment. Andi plucked the apartment key out and shut the metal receptacle again, pocketing it for the moment. She checked the time on her phone. Luke still had ten minutes.
Maoffybe she was borrowing trouble. Influenced by her own problems. The Carreras or Scott Quade would have no reason to hurt Trini. Yes, she’d gotten in Brian or Blake’s face at Lacey’s, but from both Trini and Jarrett’s accounts, it hadn’t been that serious of a confrontation.
Just do it. Open the damned door!
Apprehension skidded down her spine.
Setting her jaw, she threaded the key in the lock, aware that her pulse was escalating. With a click, the door unlocked and she slowly pushed it open.
Trini was sitting up, slumped over on the couch, her eyes open, her tongue out. She seemed to be staring at Andi, her expression frozen in a look of horror, her clothes ripped and hanging off her.
One look and Andi knew her friend was dead.
A wave of heat swept over her, followed by icy cold. She drew in a huge gasp of air, squeezed her eyes closed, and screamed for all she was worth.
PART III
ENDGAME
Chapter Eighteen
Have to get my mind back on the game. Forget the female detectives. Forget Tracy and her sour attitude. Go back to Trinidad Finch . . . just thinking of her puts a smile on my face. All of them will be running around, trying to make sense of her death. Have you figured it out yet, little bird? Let me give you a hint: It’s all about misdirection. Do you see that my moves are merely smoke and mirrors? No, you’re too afraid. Too confused. You’re frightened that I’ll find you and crush you, and I will. Just not yet. I’ve got more gambits planned . . . just wait....
*
Luke heard the terrified scream as he was locking his truck.
His heart froze. Andi!
He whirled from the numbered spot he’d poached, the one next to her car and took off at a dead run. His hair stood up on end, every one of his muscles tightened. Why the hell hadn’t he brought his damned gun? Heart pounding, he reached the stairs and took the steps two at a time. “Andi!” he yelled, heading straight for the open door.
Jesus God, he hoped she was okay and kicked himself for not staying closer to her. “Andi!”
Through the door he plunged.
Andi was standing in the center of the room, her back to him, her arms out for balance, but weaving on her feet like she was about to topple. He grabbed her and she shrieked again.
“It’s Luke,” he said. “Luke. I’m sorry. It’s Luke.”
She turned in his arms, her eyes stretched wide. “She’s dead . . . I think Trini’s dead. Oh God . . . no.”
Holding her close, he gazed past her to the small woman slumped on the couch.
“She’s dead?” she asked, trembling, but the tone of her voice convinced him that she already knew what was so patently obvious. One look at the body and he was fairly certain Andi was right. The woman slumped on the overstuffed cushions was staring fixedly ahead, her skin and lips the ashy gray of death. He suspected Trini had been dead for a number of hours. That meant her death had probably happened the day before, or possibly earlier, but there was no scent of rot yet, so sooner rather than later. She was slumped sideways and there was a bit of purple-colored foil next to her left hand. “Yes, I think so.” He double-checked, releasing Andi for a second to bend over Trini and touch the cool flesh of her neck. No sign of a pulse.
“Oh God . . . oh God . . . my God . . .” Andi, quivering from head to toe, was staring at her friend.
Luke steered her back toward the door. “Let’s go outside and I’ll call nine-one-one.”
He managed to get them both outside the door and realized several people were in the parking lot, looking up at them. “Somebody screamed,” one of them, a man in his thirties wearing a Blazers cap, said.
“Yeah, it’s all right,” Luke assured him. He didn’t need any lookie loos at this juncture. He reached into his pocket with one hand for his phone, holding Andi close, her face pressed to his chest with the other.
“Y’sure?” an older man wearing a baseball cap asked. “Sounded like holy terror. Gave me the willies.”
Luke didn’t respond, just turned his back on them and placed the call.