Page 18 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

“This won’t take much time. As I said, it’s only a couple of follow up questions for you.”

“Whatever I can do to help,” I said. Going for a casual sort of vibe, I walked across the room and leaned a hip against my desk.

“Lorna had me pull her store’s rear door security camera footage a few days ago,” he said.

“Oh?” I asked, hopeful that he had learned something.

“There’s video showing Dex going up your exterior stairs earlier this week, around seven pm.”

“I wasn’t aware Lorna’s security camera covered the stairs to my apartment.” Hell’s bells, I thought, studying his face. He knows.

“According to the footage,” he continued, “Dex arrived at about the same time the pizza delivery guy dropped off food to your apartment.”

“That’s correct.” I nodded. “I’ve already told you, Mr. Ellington...Dex, Taylor, Toni and my cousin Circe all came over for pizza that night.”

He smiled and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I found it interesting, Ms. Weaver, that while the rest of your guests left around a quarter to nine, Dex doesn’t appear on the security footage again until around five o’clock the following morning.”

I blew out a long breath. “Is that when he left?”

“Yes. There’s a time stamp.”

“Show me, please,” I asked.

Silently, Nash turned his cell phone around to allow me to view the time stamped footage.

First there was Circe, Toni and Taylor, all leaving together; and then I watched as he fast forwarded the black and white video of Dex coming down the bottom half of my metal staircase the next morning and walking around the side of the building and out of frame.

For several seconds it was silent before he asked, “Ms. Weaver, why did you lie about when Dex left?”

“I didn’t lie,” I said, doing my best to stay calm. “What I said was that he ‘left a bit later than everyone else.’”

Nash closed up the video on his phone and gave me a steady look. “How long have you and Dex been a couple?”

“We’re not,” I said. “A couple.”

“Okay, let me rephrase. How long have you and Dex been sleeping together?”

I flinched.

“Did something happen that night between you and Dex?” His voice was compassionate. “Did he hurt you?”

“No!” I said immediately. “It was consensual. He did not physically hurt me.”

“How long have you two been involved?”

“Aw, fuck it,” I said and blew out a long breath. “There’s really no easy way to do this, is there?”

“Talk to me,” he said. “I won’t judge. Tell me what you know. Anything might help me figure out where he’s gone.”

“The truth is, Mr. Ellington, I had been attracted to Dex for a while...and after everyone left that night, he made it clear that he was interested too. And so...I...I mean, we...” Catching myself stammering, I stopped and squared my shoulders.

“It’s okay,” Nash said. “Go on.”

“Dex ended up staying the night. I didn’t mention it to anyone because, well, it had just happened, and it was humiliating to wake up alone after spending the night with a new lover—” I stopped as my voice had gone up.

“I see.” The PI surprised me by reaching out and giving my shoulder a consoling pat. “And he didn’t text you or leave any sort of message?”

“I found a note on my kitchen table,” I admitted. “It said: Gotta go. Something came up, and I’m sorry.” I forced myself to take a deep breath, hoping to calm down. “At first I thought maybe there had been a problem at the bookstore and he’d gone to repair it...Which makes me sound pretty stupid and naïve, doesn’t it?”