Sedona Law 5 by Dave Daren (romantic novels in english .TXT) 📕

It faced away from the door, and watched a tree, not the door.

It must have been moved.

Chapter 10

“Check out this camera angle,” I told Vicki as she walked in. “It looks like it was moved.”

“What do you mean?” she asked as she peered at the screen.

“Why would they set up the camera to watch the tree, and not the door?” I questioned. “Someone had to have moved it.”

“Huh.” She furrowed her brow. “Did you go through the backlogs?”

I shook my head. “I don’t have the backlog. Leila only gave me the file for that day.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s an interesting twist.”

“No,” I disagreed, “I don’t think she’s involved.”

“Well,” Vicki said, “I’ve got a meeting with Allison now.”

“Allison?” I repeated.

“Allison Pierce,” she reminded me. “She played Gretchen … ”

“Oh, right,” I remembered. “I should go with you on that one.”

“Sure,” she shrugged, “it will be good to have a double perspective.”

“Poor AJ.” I glanced back at the conference room.

“Nah,” Vicki said. “She’s writing Horace’s play.”

“Does she have an angle yet?” I asked.

“I think she’s going for humor,” she replied with a smile. “Farce. She said she’s in a rush, and it’s easy to hide bad writing behind farce.

I laughed. “I never thought of it that way. Make sense. If you’re going for bad, no one can fault you for sucking.”

“Exactly,” Vicki chuckled. “What is it with us and writers this month?”

“I know,” I said as I grabbed my bag, and we headed out to my car. “I just sat through Leila interviewing a rock band and talking about writing about their philosophy of art.”

“I love her,” Vicki sighed.

“Leila won’t stay in this town long,” I told her, “not with that kind of talent and ambition.”

“What are you talking about?” Vicki asked as we got in the car. “You stayed.”

I laughed as I pulled out of the parking lot.

“But I had to leave to come back,” I pointed out, “and I came back a different person. There’s only so much room to grow in a small town.”

“Hmm,” she said. “John Mellencamp would disagree with you.”

“John Mellencamp lives in a multi-million dollar condo in Soho,” I snorted.

She laughed, and the GPS to Allison’s house took us around the back of our own undeveloped land.

“I made another appointment with an architect,” Vicki said after some time. “I don’t know, he’s alright.”

“I was thinking we could use The Count,” I replied evenly. “I’m into the bathroom on the roof.”

“It would definitely make us eccentric,” she chuckled. “Seriously, though. I’m exhausted looking for architects. I don’t think we’ll ever find anyone who really ‘wows’ us up front. We might have to just get someone from L.A. to do it.”

“I don’t know,” I sighed, “I’d prefer a local if that was at all possible.”

Suddenly, the GPS announced our arrival at Allison’s home. It was a red stucco house, much like Jerry’s. We made our way up the drive to the front door and knocked several times.

“She knew you were coming, right?” I clarified.

“Yeah,” Vicki replied.. “She said she was home and she would love to talk to us about it. She was quite open on the phone.”

I knocked again, this time louder, and there was still no answer.

“Call her?” I suggested.

Vicki pulled out her phone and called.

“Voicemail,” she said after a moment.

I raised an eyebrow. “We’ve been stood up.”

“That’s so odd,” she mused with a frown. “She was so--”

We turned to walk away when we heard the locks click. We turned, and the door opened.

There, Allison stood, or rather staggered.

“Hi, guys!” she slurred with a sloppy grin. “Come on in! It’s so good to see you. I just love you guys so much. You are soooooooooo great what you’re doing for Jerry. Come in, come in.”

I raised an eyebrow at Vicki. A drunk witness. This should be fun.

Allison ushered us into the house. It was an airy place, with generous windows, and green leafy plants and ferns as a buffer to the Arizona sun.

“What kind of plants are these?” I asked as I fingered a tall fern.

“Those?” Allison cocked her head sideways, stared vacantly at the plant, and then played with her hair. “Those are the plants, the green ones.”

Then she laughed hysterically and almost fell over. One of the plants toppled, and I grabbed it before it spilled.

“Why don’t you sit down, Allison?” Vicki suggested as she pulled a kitchen chair out, and the other woman obediently sat. “I’ll make us some coffee. Sound good?”

“Coffee,” Allison repeated as she nodded vigorously, and then she clutched her head. “Yep. Yep. Coffee is good.”

Vicki busied herself in the kitchen and quickly found the coffee supplies.

I looked around. This place was a bit more high end than I would expect from a twenty year old aspiring actress. The kitchen was large and roomy, with a granite island and sparkling new appliances. The rest of the house had an open feel, with modern white furniture and cozy sitting spaces.

“How many people live here?” I asked.

“Lots and lots.” Allison gestured wildly with her hands. “Three. Yeah, I think three.”

“Three people live here?” I repeated.

She laughed. “Nope, we all live here, goofy.”

I cleared my throat and eyed Vicki. I was trying to convey to her that we should leave. This was clearly a lost cause.

Vicki subtly shook her head, turned to Allison, and handed her a coffee mug. “Here. Now, why don’t you drink a bit and then we can talk.”

Allison drank a sip of coffee.

“You know what we should do,” Allison suddenly blurted out, and she slammed the table for emphasis. “We should go skinny dipping in the pool.”

“Uh,” Vicki chuckled dryly, “I