Chapter 332

I was listening to the police talk to Victor. They were saying things like, “He was shot point blank with a nine millimeter,” and “Do you own a handgun, Mr. Klein?”

“Yes, I do,” Victor replied. “It’s locked in a special hidden safe in my bedroom.”

“What is it?” a cop asked.

“It’s a nine millimeter,” Victor admitted. “But I haven't fired it since the last time I visited a range months ago.”

“We will need to borrow it for tests,” another cop said.

This couldn’t be happening. Did they think Victor shot the buzz-cut guy?

One cop studied his notes. “And Mr. Klein, you admit you were looking for the dead man, a Mr. Phillip Harter?”

“Yes, I hired a friend of mine who’s a Private Investigator to find him,” Victor explained. “Phil Harter was following Daisy and me while we were on vacation. I wanted to know who hired him.”

“And now he’s dead outside your apartment,” another cop said and rolled his eyes.

It did look bad, and it was about to get worse.

“Miss Wilson, you found the body, right?”

“I was coming home from the store and saw the car with the driver slumped over the steering wheel and called Victor,” I replied. “I recognized the car as the one buzz cut …I mean, Phil Harter jumped into when we saw him following us in New Ripon.”

The police swabbed our hands, looking for gunshot residue. Then they took the clothes Victor was wearing and his gun and said they would talk to us soon before they left.

After putting away the groceries, I sat beside Victor on the couch with the cold pizza on the coffee table between us.

I took a slice and handed it to Victor. “Eat, darling. Everything will be okay.”

“It's unbelievable that the cops suspect me of murder,” he said and bit into the slice of pizza.

“They must rule you out before following other evidence,” I reasoned. “You didn’t do it. So they will rule you out.”

“Did Jayden know Phil Harter?” I took a slice and took a bite. It was cold but still tasty.

“Jayden told me Phil is a small-time investigator who lost his PI license,” he still does under-the-table jobs, primarily for criminals. It’s not a good sign that he was following us.”

“Him being murdered outside the apartment is even worse,” I mumbled. “Why would someone break him out of prison and then kill him?”

“Because they didn’t want him to talk,” Victor said. “Whoever hired him is trying to stay under the radar until they accomplish their goal.”

“We should both be careful again,” I said with a sigh. Living my life while looking over my shoulder all the time was getting old.

I ate pizza in silence while Victor studied something on his phone. After a few minutes, he laid the phone on the table and kissed my cheek.

“Your article is incredible, sweetheart,” he said. “I bet I’ll be changing those laws soon.”

“You read my article!” I gushed. “Thank you, Victor. Your opinion means a lot to me.”

He kissed me. “Daisy, where are you going to be tomorrow?”

“There’s a photo shoot at Alex’s,” I told him.

He nodded. “Good. Try not to be alone until I know more about Phil Harter’s murder. And text me your location.”

“Sure,” I agreed. Maybe I could help find out who killed Phil Harter. There was no way Victor killed that man.

We went to the bedroom and snuggled in bed with the television on. I used the remote to turn it off when I knew Victor was asleep.

The next thing I knew, it was morning, and Victor was in the shower.

I got up and looked through my clothes for something to wear for the photo shoot. Nervousness was setting it. I hated all this attention.

“Relax and try to enjoy it,” I told myself. “It’s for a good cause.”

I look my best in green and maroon. So I pulled two dresses from my closet and put them in a suitcase.

Victor came out of the bathroom looking and smelling clean and sexy.

“Whatcha packin’ for, sweetheart?” he asked. “Are you going on another trip without me?”

I rolled my eyes. “A photographer is meeting me at Alex’s at ten for my first photo shoot. I don’t know what to wear, so I’m taking several choices.”

“Good idea,” he said as he dressed in a three thousand dollar suit. As the leader, he had to look the part at The Association.

I watched him dress and wished he was taking the suit off.

“You’re going to look beautiful, Daisy,” Victor assured me. He put his tie around his neck.

“Let me.” I tied the tie in a Windsor knot and brushed imaginary lint from his lapels. “You look magnificent, darling.”

He kissed me, and we collected our things before going down to the garage.

“Have a good day,” I called as I climbed behind the wheel of my car.

He blew me a kiss and backed the Lamborghini out of the garage. I followed and used the remote to close the door.

I soon arrived at Alex’s. After a quick cup of coffee with him and Cassidy, I rushed upstairs to my room. Jennifer was waiting for me there.

She had me shower and wash my hair before performing her magic with my hair and makeup.

We decided on a burgundy off-the-shoulder day dress that had a thigh slit in the calf-length skirt.

Some plain gold jewelry completed the look, and I was waiting in the foyer when the photographer arrived.

His name was Xander. He carried an expensive digital camera like it was a part of himself.

Xander took photos of me in the foyer, coming down the stairs, in the ballroom, and the rose garden.

He promised to have the photos sent to the newspaper that day and left before noon.

Feeling a little down, I went looking for Alex. I found him in his study

“You look gorgeous, Daisy,” he said.

“You do,” Cassidy agreed.

“I’m so proud of you,” Alex told me. “You tackle any task and exceed all expectations.”

They invited me to eat lunch with them, and I accepted. It was a pleasant meal. I was delighted to learn they were taking a real trip together soon.

“I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise around the world,” Alex said. “Cassidy took a sabbatical from teaching because we will be gone for months.”

“That’s great,” I said. “Have fun.”

“I would appreciate it if you and Victor spent time here while we are gone,” Alex said.

“Sure,” I agreed. “We would be glad to house sit.” I loved the mansion, but I had been giving Alex and Cassidy space to enjoy each other in private.

I returned to the apartment after lunch and was surprised by an email from Cory Booth, my editor. My bio and pics were live on their website and social media.

I followed the link he provided. The sight of my image and life story made me cringe and giggle.

The four photos Xander took made me look pretty and glamorous, and my bio made me sound like a courageous do-gooder. But it felt weird to be treated like a celebrity.

The story was the star, not me.

My phone rang, startling me out of my thoughts. I was happy to see it was Amy.

“Hey there, star reporter,” she teased. “I was scrolling through my social media, and your face was on my phone screen.”

“It’s so embarrassing,” I said. “I wish they would have let the story speak for itself.”

“No way, you look fantastic,” Any gushed. “I sometimes forget how beautiful you are. And your bio is great.”

Amy meant what she said, but I was blushing at her words.

“I didn’t want any of it or the attention,” I explained. “But the story is important, and the publisher thinks it will get more people to read it.”

“I think it will,” Amy agreed. “People like to know who writers and authors are these days. Social media makes it easier to communicate with them than ever before.”

“Let’s hope all this attention on me helps get the article more attention,” I said.

Amy snapped her gum. “I can’t wait to read it tomorrow. I’m getting a couple of copies of the newspaper. You can sign one for me and one for Dad.”

“I will,” I assured her. “Talk to you later.”

I just hung up with Amy when Heather called. She had seen my photos and bio online too. Much of my afternoon was the same

All the attention made me more nervous about the article coming out the following day.

I couldn’t believe all this was happening. I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep that night.