Shame on Him (Fool Me Once #3)(7)

I should really be more concerned about the ramifications of what we’re doing right now. I shouldn’t be standing here while my friend breaks into a crime scene. At least one problem would be solved—my parents would finally know what I’ve been doing when they have to bail me out of jail.

“First rule of thumb if you’re going to make it in this business, Lorelei: always carry a paper clip and a torsion wrench in your back pocket and stop being such a candy ass,” Kennedy explains as she carefully sticks the tools into the lock with the precision of a surgeon performing open-heart surgery.

“I thought the first rule of thumb was to stick it to the man?” Paige says with a laugh.

“What the hell are we going to do if the alarm goes off?” I whisper, glancing behind us nervously.

“The alarm isn’t going to go off because Ted told me they had it disabled for the next few days so detectives can come and go whenever they please,” Kennedy says, her eyes never leaving the door as she fiddles with the lock.

A few seconds later, I hear a loud click.

“Got it!” Kennedy cheers.

She pulls another tool out of her back pocket, this time a Swiss Army knife, and slices through the police tape stretched across the door. She stands up, pushes open the door, and we follow her into the dark house.

“I’ll replace that when we leave. Keep your flashlights low to the ground. We don’t want anyone driving by to see the light bouncing around through the windows,” Kennedy warns.

We all turn on our flashlights and aim them at the ground.

“You’re sure the guard at the front gate won’t tell anyone we were here?” I ask her nervously as we step into the foyer.

“Positive. I went to high school with the guy and a few months ago his ex-wife had me confront him about wearing her underwear and heels. I told him I would send out a mass e-mail to everyone he knows,” Kennedy tells us.

“Oh, my God, that was the guy who pranced around his kitchen in fishnets and stilettos?” Paige asks in shock as I close the door behind us.

Kennedy nods as she shines her flashlight from left to right. “That’s him. The ex came home early from work to see him doing the entire final dance sequence from Dirty Dancing.”

Paige and I stand behind Kennedy while she looks around and decides which direction to head.

“This place is really creepy. Someone died here,” Paige complains quietly as we inch slowly through the foyer and toward the library.

Even though it’s dark and Kennedy has her back to us, I can tell she’s rolling her eyes. “Oh, stop being such a baby. It’s not like his body is still in here.”

“You can’t tell me this doesn’t freak you out a little bit. You just stepped over the exact spot where his body was. That’s just gross,” Paige says with a shiver as we all walk around the bloodstain on the cream carpet.

Kennedy ignores her and makes her way over to the giant oak desk on the far side of the room. “I’ll start with this room. Lorelei, you check the rest of the first floor. This dude has a house the size of a small country. He could have ten offices in a house this large, but instead, he uses the library right on the ground floor. Obviously he’s weird. Paige, you can start going room to room upstairs and see if you can find any other file cabinets or some place where Richard would keep paperwork. He’s got to have a safe in this house—see if you guys can find that too.”

“Why the hell do I have to be the one to wander through the upstairs by myself?”

Paige stands by the doorway with her arms wrapped around herself.

“There is nothing to be afraid of. It’s just an empty house. Suck it up and get to work,” Kennedy tells her. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll come across the ex’s closet. She moved out a while ago, but I heard the officers talking the other day when we were here that she left some things behind.”

Even with just the faint beams of our flashlights I can see Paige’s eyes light up with excitement.

“If you need me, I’ll be upstairs.”

She turns and races out of the room and a few seconds later I hear her feet pounding up the stairs quickly.

For the next twenty minutes, I stroll from room to room downstairs, not finding anything of any interest. I make my way back to the library and see that Kennedy has pulled out all the files from the desk and is reading through them.

“I can’t believe Paige was creeped out coming in this house,” Kennedy says with a laugh when she sees me walk in. “She is the biggest puss—SON OF A FUCKING BITCH, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”

The uncharacteristic girly scream from Kennedy has me racing over to her. I watch as she jumps up on the chair behind the desk, whipping her hand with the flashlight back and forth under the desk.

“Something touched my leg! SOMETHING TOUCHED MY FUCKING LEG!” she screams.

Aiming my flashlight under the desk, I walk slowly around it until I’m right next to Kennedy’s chair.

“I don’t see anything. Are you sure you didn’t just bump up against the desk?” I ask as I crouch down to get a better look.

“I didn’t bump against the Goddamn desk! Something reached out and smacked my ankle,” she argues angrily.

I try to hide my amusement at how upset Kennedy is right now.

“What were you saying to Paige a few seconds ago?” I ask as I continue my way around the massive desk. “Stop being such a baby?”