AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luke turned to leave but couldn’t without knowing Honey was fine. When he scanned the emptying garden, he recognized Melanie sitting alone. She had her elbow on one of the tables, and her head resting on her fist. “You sleeping here?” he teased.
She came to with a jolt, her eyelids jerking open. “Sorry. I must have dozed off. I’m waiting for Honey. She was going to the office to help the others gather the rest of the supplies.”
His stomach quelled. “When was that?”
Mel looked at her watch. “Shit, she’s been gone for at least twenty minutes.” Standing, she looked around and saw that the place had cleared out. “The other caterers have left. She should have been back by now.” Her voice suddenly took on a worried tone. “I’ll go look for her.”
“No. You stay here and relax. Matt and Bony will be coming for these last few instruments and here’s their phones. Tell them I’ve gone to check on our girl. Be right back.”
Nerves throbbing, he slowed down at the office door and listened. Dale’s message said someone had been shot. Goddamn, it couldn’t have been her. Hadn’t he seen her after the time of the message? Christ, he wasn’t sure. Whispers of worry infiltrated his brain, starting a gut reaction. Fuck… he wished he had his weapon.
A security guard approached. “You want something?”
“Just checking on one of the catering staff. She came this way.”
Before the nosy inquisitor could stop him, he knocked.
As if she’d been waiting, Lori Jackson opened the door, quickly stepped into the hall, and closed it behind her. “Sorry, sweetheart. Something’s come up. I won’t be having company tonight. But I’ll call you, baby. Yes I will.” She purred her words, but her icy eyes told a different story. As she turned to go back inside the room, Luke’s arm blocked the threshold. “I’m actually looking for one of the waitresses. Her friend is waiting to drive her home. She was sure Honey had come this way.”
“Nope. Tell your friend she must have left with someone else. Party’s over now. And I’m exhausted. I want everyone out.” She shoved at his arm and in seconds the bodyguard stepped forward, forcing Luke to back off.
Lori Jackson sent her employee a look that needed no instructions. With an attitude serious as death, he slid his jacket back to show his weapon.
“Take her rejection like a man, bro and fuck off. Don’t make trouble.”
Luke hesitated. No way Honey would have left without Mel. She had to still be in the house. Christ, if they shot one person, there’s no telling what they might do to her. But why chance it? She was just a waitress. It made no sense.
He backed away. “Okay.” He lifted his hands in surrender. “I’ll check the kitchen.” He strode past the bandstand and went over to Mel. “They said she wasn’t there. Go now and stop at the gatehouse for your phone. Text me if Honey picked hers up. I’ll stick around in case she needs a ride home.”
“You’ll look after her?”
“Don’t worry. Just let me know if her phone is still there.”
While he waited, Luke did go through the kitchen asking the tired cleaners if they’d seen Honey in the last half an hour and was told no. Then he searched the restrooms designated for the employees and again came up empty.
When Matt approached to say they were heading out, he waved him off. “Good. I’m right behind you.” Instead, when he got to his truck, he checked the burner phone and called Dale. “Hey man, Honey’s missing. You said you heard a shot. What happened?”
“Lori had more than a few men in the office with her, arguing about the five a.m. shipment. Seems her boys didn’t have the agreed-on amount of cash promised.” Dale’s voice hardened. “By the way, thanks for those images. We also recognized the Chinese dude on the recording by his accent. He appears to be one of the leaders of the trade here in the US. According to the dispute, he turned up tonight expecting to be paid.”
“Never saw anyone fitting his description at the party.”
“No. In the conversation we heard he’d just arrived with the shipment. It came with him on his private plane from Mexico.”
“Chrissakes. Must have paid off someone there to turn a blind eye. At the airport here too. So what happened then?”
“The shit hit the fan. Lori took offense to her man not having the cash ready and shot him. From what we could hear, she went to the safe in the office and handed over the missing funds and the deal was back on the table.”
“When did the recording stop?”
“You say you hid the mic in her picture? Far as we can tell, she got so pissed off at having to shoot her man, she picked it up and threw it at the wall. We didn’t hear anything after that.”
Luke heard a notification on his regular phone and found a message from Mel.
Honey picked up her cell. The guard said she left in one of the catering trucks. No problem. See you soon.
Still having misgivings, he headed out of the gate and stopped to ask questions of the guard posted there. “I understand Honey Bolder picked up her phone and left earlier with one of the catering vans. Is that right?”
“Gorgeous blonde? Wearing a server outfit? Yeah, man. From what I could see, she was with her restaurant buddies. They were planning to drop off the gear and go for a late coffee.”
