Shortcake*

Chapter 31: Suspects

*Copyright: Stephanie Myrick, 2023. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*

Cleo nodded and let out a heavy sigh. "The only thing I have to put Nico down as a suspect is he's protective and can be violent when enraged. You're right about the timing with my parents; it doesn't add up." She grinned slightly. "Didn't think I'd see you defending him."

"Look, I'm not a fan, but the evidence isn't there. We'd have to know his whereabouts for the month between the installation and when the pipe on the hot water tank let go and fell off. There's a lot of planning involved in that." Link shrugged and then tilted his head from side to side. "That being said, it's such a convoluted way to kill someone. If it was a loan shark, they would want their money and are more likely to maim than kill. Plus, they would want people to know what happens when you default on your loans to them. Someone wanted them dead and didn't want it traced back to them."

"Which comes back to having a motive." Cleo fell quiet for a minute. "I was out of my parents' life for so long, I have no idea who would want them dead."

"That's Dexheart's problem to figure out." Link reached out and stroked her cheek gently. "But to get back to Nico, I think you're right. Besides his obvious mistake in not telling you about Anthony, I don't think he has anything to do with any of this."

Cleo held his hand against his cheek. "Thank you." She leaned over and kissed him. "I need to work out my feelings for that, but I believe he didn't want to hurt me. Everything he's done since we became close has been with my best interests in mind."

Link cupped her cheeks and kissed her again, his tongue tracing her lower lip so she would let him in. Kissing her had quickly become one of his favourite things to do. He kissed her slowly, dragging it out until they were both breathing heavier and pulled back, resting his forehead on hers. "Sorry, I got carried away." He smiled.

"Yeah. Not complaining." Cleo breathed. "You're really good at that."

Link let out a low laugh. "Shortcake, you'll never have to worry or wonder about me being attracted to you; you drive me absolutely wild."

Cleo's cheeks turned red, and she grinned." "Really?"

"If you have to question that, you haven't been paying attention." He kissed her again, then turned his attention back to the suspect list reluctantly. "What about Frankie? What happened between him and Nico?"

Cleo wrote his name down. "According to Nico, Frankie thought he was always right and argued with him a lot, which I can honestly say I never really saw. I will say Frankie was kind of passive-aggressive with Nico in front of me. Like he would roll his eyes, pout, sigh dramatically or give the silent treatment if he felt slighted at all, but they never actually fought in front of me. Nico has always been pretty private about his relationships and felt problems needed to be worked out behind closed doors, not in public and not by bringing other people in to take sides."

"The final straw though was Frankie refused to accept he's lactose intolerant and ordered a large cheese pizza with extra cheese while high, ate the whole thing, then spent hours on the toilet with the door open crying in pain and apparently stinking out the entire apartment."

Link made a disgusted face. "Right. Well, Nico was justified in ending things. Would Frankie want to get back at him?"

"No idea. He did let him sublet the apartment." Cleo pointed out. "But he was also at the premiere with another man, took the job in England and left super quickly which makes me think there was more going on there than any of us knew."

"True." Link nodded.

"And he doesn't have anything against me and wanted us to get together in the beginning. He's been Team Link from the start." Cleo grinned. "I think their relationship was coming to its natural end and neither one of them knew how to end things so they kept annoying one another so the other would end things."

Link nodded and was quiet for a second. "So, I guess next would be Jerrica. I can definitely see her doing this. The fact that it looked like we were serious and flaunting our relationship would have driven her crazy. But if it's true that she met a guy and he treats her well, maybe me being with you let her move on and she moved to be with him to be happy." Link ran his hand through his hair, unsure of what to think. "I don't know Cleo, it's all too much of a coincidence that this is all happening now. Things are just too... perfect. I think we need to go back to the beginning and figure out who sent the pictures of Gabriella and me to the media. That's what started it all."

"So we have to get in touch with the article's writer." Cleo nodded and pulled out her phone, looking up the article. Link watched her, smiling softly. She was incredible. She hadn't judged him for his past and indiscretions and gave him a chance. "Her name is Alexis Debois. Do you want me to send her a message requesting a meeting?"

"Yeah. tell her we'll give her an exclusive interview about everything that's been going on if she agrees to hold off on reporting that we reached out." Link said after another moment's thought. "We also have to discuss the possibility that Haven, Annette or Will might have something to do with this."

"What do you mean?" Cleo looked up from the email she was writing, shock clear on her face.

"Think about it. They're the ones who know everything about our plans and schedule. Even if they don't have anything to do with it, there could be a leak in one of their offices or an email was hacked." Link explained calmly. "Really, I'm talking about Annette and Haven. I genuinely don't think Will has anything to do with it. He's been my closest friend for years."

"His wife, Danielle, was the costume designer on my first movie, and she helped me navigate the ins and outs of the industry and took me under her wing. I don't think either of them has anything to do with it. Haven..." Cleo trailed off with uncertainty.

"Yeah, I feel the same about Annette." Link understood her hesitation immediately. "If this had any chance to garner some kind of emotional response to get me movie roles, she would be all for it."

"Haven is a great manager, but I've also seen what happens to her clients when they fail to get roles. Three chances and she cuts you off ruthlessly." Cleo admitted. "She terrified me at first until we became friends, but she's very blunt about things, told me not to expect to ever get leading roles, I will always play the best friend, I don't have the look people want in their leading ladies, etc. Now she says she told me that so I wouldn't get my hopes up, but she always knew I would become huge."

"She was pretty protective when we met and laid down the rules for the fake relationship." Link pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's more about protecting my career and image than my feelings." Cleo jumped as her phone vibrated in her hand and looked down. "It's Nico." Link watched the relief wash over her face as she answered. "Nico! How are you?"

*Copyright: Stephanie Myrick, 2023. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*