Bylines & Skylines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 9) (6 page)

“Yeah. I do.”

“I love you, too,” I said, grabbing his chin. “Now … hurry up. I want to do it in the captain’s chair, too.”

“Someone is feeling ambitious.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” I said, giggling as Eliot grabbed me around the waist. “I’m the boss, after all. I have to do it in the captain’s chair.”

“Okay, Trouble. I’m not setting my phaser on stun, though.”

“I can totally get behind that!”

“
Y
ou have to get dressed
.”

Eliot’s gravelly voice penetrated my hazy mind, reminding me we weren’t home and falling asleep in the hammock wasn’t an option. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten,” Eliot replied. “We should get dressed and head home before someone stumbles across us. I would hate for it to make the rounds that I was caught naked in a hut with my girlfriend when I’m supposed to be running security.”

“I would love it if this story got out,” I countered, smiling when I felt his nose rub against my cheek. He was in a particularly lovey-dovey mood. “I would look like the queen of the geeks.”

“You’re already the queen of the geeks,” Eliot said, tickling my ribs. “You don’t need to pad your street cred. I’ll worship you regardless.”

“Oh, that was cute,” I said, shifting carefully so I could look at him without tipping us out of the hammock. “Thank you.”

Eliot arched an eyebrow. “I think that’s the first time I’ve been thanked for sex. I must’ve been masterful.”

I couldn’t stop myself from snorting. “That’s not what I was thanking you for, but that was nice, too. I was thanking you for all of this … letting me see it early, getting me the special passes. You didn’t have to do any of it.”

“Avery, we’re going to be living together relatively soon,” Eliot said, his expression serious. “I love you. When you love someone, you do things for them. That’s how the world works.”

“What have I done for you?” The question slipped out before I gave much thought to the intelligence associated with getting into a serious discussion this late at night.

“What do you mean?” Eliot asked, confused. “I’m pretty sure you just did something marvelous for me.”

“Not that,” I said, pinching his side. “What else? It seems as if you do everything for me and I do very little for you.”

“That’s not true,” Eliot said. “You’re actually sweet when you want to be … and when you think no one is looking. I happen to be happy with who you are.”

“But I don’t do enough good things for you,” I said, my stomach twisting when I realized the full scope of the truth behind the words. “You always come through for me, yet you never ask anything of me. That’s not fair.”

“Oh, geez,” Eliot muttered, tugging a restless hand through his hair as he stared at me. “Leave it to you to pick a philosophical argument when we’re technically breaking the law and naked in the middle of a comic book convention.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do.”

“Avery, you’re not normal and I’m fine with that,” Eliot said, grabbing my shirt from the floor and handing it to me. “I know how you feel and I don’t want to change you. I fell in love with you because you’re different. We’re fine.”

I found my bra hooked to the top of the hammock and extricated it before slipping it on. I still wasn’t convinced. “I’m going to do something for you, though. I think you deserve it.”

“Oh, really? What?”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’ll cook you a romantic dinner.”

“You don’t cook.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t cook,” I said. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to cook for you.”

“See, the way you say that, it sounds like a threat,” Eliot said, rolling off the hammock and grabbing my hands to make sure I didn’t flip over the other side. He held me steady until I found my footing, going so far as to hold my arm so I didn’t fall while I slipped back into my Capri pants. “If you want to cook me dinner, though, I think that might be fun.”

“Great. I have a
Star Wars
cookbook.”

Eliot made a face. “What does that even entail?”

“Wookie cookies.”

“I had to ask,” Eliot muttered, scanning the hut to make sure we’d gathered all of our belongings. “You have your bra and underwear, right? I don’t want some pimply-faced kid sniffing any of your undergarments.”

I made a face. “That’s gross.”

“You’re telling me,” Eliot teased, slipping his arm around my waist as he pushed me through the door. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some food. Let’s pick up a pizza on the way home. I worked up an appetite.”

“I think you just liked doing it here as much as I did,” I said. “I … what’s that?” Something caught my attention from the corner of my eye and I pointed to the far end of the room.

“What’s what?” Eliot asked, narrowing his eyes as he stared in the direction I pointed. “That’s part of the village. There’s a little fake fire pit over there.”

“There’s also a person.”

“No, there’s not.”

“Yes, there is.” I pointed again. I could clearly make out the outline of someone hanging over a fake fire pit despite the fact that Eliot dimmed the lights as low as possible before we went into the hut. He didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to us, so the room was full of shadows and it wasn’t easy to make out the specifics belonging to the figure. “I think whoever is here is doing what we did.”

“You think someone is having sex over there?” Eliot was dubious, but he looked annoyed at the possibility. “I thought I was the only pervert stupid enough to try something like that. You’re right, though. That does look like someone is trying to hide.”

“Let’s leave them alone and get that pizza you mentioned.”

Eliot shook his head. “Now that you’ve pointed it out, I have to look.”

“That pretty much figures,” I muttered, falling into step with him. “If it’s someone doing something gross … like sharing their internal Force with their hand or something … are you going to beat them up?”

“Ugh. Now I’ll never shake that picture from my head,” Eliot said, pushing me behind him as we approached. He was on alert, especially given the fact that the interloper should’ve easily heard us by now yet hadn’t moved.

“Maybe that’s just a prop,” I said, my palms unnaturally sweaty. “Maybe they moved it here without telling you.”

“Maybe,” Eliot conceded. “Or maybe it’s something else.” He released my hand and dug in his pocket until he found his cell phone. He pressed a button to turn it into a flashlight and then aimed it at the display. He sucked in a breath when the light flashed on a woman’s face. She wasn’t a prop … and she clearly wasn’t alive. Her face was battered and caked with crusted blood, and if I had to guess, she’d been there for several hours at least. “Oh, crap.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?”

Eliot nodded as he pressed his hand to the back of my head. “We have to call the police. In fact, since it’s the college, we have to call Jake. He’s putting out the manpower for security on this.”

“Does that mean he’s technically your boss?” It didn’t occur to me how Eliot got the job until now.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Eliot said, staring at his phone screen. “Stay close to me while I make this call and then we’ll move to the front of the room so we don’t contaminate the crime scene.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t touch anything,” Eliot warned, picking Jake’s name from his contact list and then pressing the phone to his ear. “Come here. I want you close in case someone is still hanging around.” Eliot tugged me to him, his eyes alert.

“You know Jake is going to be really ticked off about this, right?”

Eliot nodded. “I’m really ticked off, too. Just … hang on. Here we go. Jake? It’s Eliot. I’ve got some bad news.”

J
AKE
arrived ten minutes later
. He was in a fancy suit, his face shaved, and he wasn’t alone. His girlfriend Cara trailed behind him, as did a familiar face from earlier in the day and another woman.

“It’s the guy with the aching … .”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Eliot warned, shaking his head. “This is serious and I can’t be thinking about that when I have to show Jake a dead body.”

“I’ll think about it for you.”

“Oh, and you were worried you never did anything for me,” Eliot deadpanned, tapping the spot between my eyebrows before focusing on Jake. “I’m sorry to ruin your night.”

“We were almost done anyway,” Jake replied, his gaze busy as it bounced between us. “I’m sorry I had to bring company, but we all drove together. I called a crime tech team. They should be here in ten minutes.”

“Why are you so dressed up?” I asked, earning an annoyed look from Eliot as I studied Jake. “You shaved and smell good, too.”

“Don’t sniff him,” Eliot chided. “That’s weird.”

“That’s definitely weird.” Cara forced a smile for my benefit. We didn’t have the easiest of relationships. She wanted me out of Jake’s life. He refused. They were at something of an impasse and I didn’t want to get involved. Okay, I wanted to get involved a little. If I could make her cry once or twice, that might even be fun.

“We were at a benefit at the art center,” Jake answered. “Avery, you remember Richard Aiken, right?”

I nodded.

“This is his wife Cathy,” Jake said. “They were at the benefit with us. This is Eliot Kane. He’s running our computer security at the comic book convention … and he’s Avery’s boyfriend.”

“I prefer boytoy.” Do you know how most people think before they talk? I’m incapable of that. I also babble when uncomfortable.

Eliot rolled his eyes as he tugged me closer to his side. “Ignore her. She’s overwhelmed with geekiness.”

“What is she even doing here?” Jake asked.

“I love it when people talk about me as if I’m not standing right in front of them,” I grumbled.

Jake ignored me and remained fixed on Eliot. “Seriously. I thought you were working.”

“I had one systems check to run and I brought her so she could look around,” Eliot replied. It was only then that I realized he might be in real trouble. “She didn’t touch anything. She just got a kick out of seeing it all. I actually mentioned this at lunch at the diner.”

“I guess I forgot … or was only half listening because I have other things on my mind,” Jake muttered, rubbing his chin. “I guess I do kind of remember you bringing that up. I didn’t realize what it would entail, though.”

“But was she supposed to be here?” Cara pressed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jake answered. “This is Avery’s version of Disney World. There’s no way he could keep it from her. I knew that going in when I asked him to provide the cameras.”

Cara refused to back down. “But if she’s not supposed to be here … .”

“Oh, let it go,” Jake snapped. Things clearly weren’t going well between the two of them on the romantic front. Jake was more tense than a food critic at a fast food restaurant. “You’re just saying it because it’s Avery, and I’m tired of listening to it. She’s not hurting you, so … back off.”

“Whatever,” Cara said, crossing her arms over her chest and flashing me a dark glare.

Eliot and I exchange a quick “that’s not good” look and then focused on Jake.

“We were leaving when Avery thought someone else was here,” Eliot supplied. “It was dark in the other room and I didn’t see what she was talking about right away. Then she pointed and I really looked and … it’s a dead woman.”

“You’re sure she’s dead?”

Eliot nodded. “She’s battered and her eyes are open. She’s dead. That’s why I didn’t risk touching her. It was obvious.”

Jake grimaced. “I was afraid you were going to say that,” he said. “Show me.”

Jake and Eliot flanked me as we walked back toward the room housing the ewok village. Cara tried to keep up but couldn’t quite manage it with her heels, and Jake showed no interest in slowing.

Jake’s eyes were busy scanning the set. “You brought her here to see this? She probably freaked out and wanted to blow up the Death Star.”

Eliot smirked. “She was so excited she offered to cook me dinner.”

Jake snorted. “Wow. It’s like a
Star Wars
miracle.”

“I’m not letting you ruin my happy week,” I sniffed, slipping my hand into Eliot’s as we closed in on the body. He gave me an odd look but didn’t pull away. “I’m an excellent cook.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t,” Jake said, shaking his head as his eyes fell on the wooden spit. “Everyone else stay back.”

“Oh, my … is she tied to that fire pit thing?” Cathy Aiken looked horrified by the scene. Dick and Cara were more stoic.

“She’s definitely dead,” Jake said as he glanced around. “Were you guys just checking out the village when you found her? That means she had to be delivered before you got here, right? There’s no chance someone slipped by you, is there?”

“Um … .” Eliot pressed his lips together and shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable.

“What time did you get here?” Jake prodded.

“Around eight,” Eliot answered.

“And you were out in the open the entire time, right?”

“Um … .”

“Oh, geez,” I muttered, rolling my neck until it cracked. “The body was probably here when we got here, but there’s a slight chance someone could’ve carried it in without us noticing.”

“Avery.” Eliot scorched me with a warning look.

“He’s going to find out,” I shot back. “You’re not going to lie to him and I won’t either. So … .”

“Oh, man.” Jake pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I just know I’m going to hate this.”

“You’re totally going to hate it,” I agreed.

“Tell me.”

I opened my mouth to do just that but Eliot cut me off. “Let me handle this,” he said. “She wanted to see inside of the hut.” He inclined his head in the direction of the corner tree hut. “We were in there for a good hour and a half.”

“Doing what?” Aiken asked, genuinely curious.

Eliot glanced at me for help. “Um … .”

“We were saving the galaxy from the Sith,” I answered, earning an exaggerated eye roll from Jake and a snarky huff from Cara. “A couple of times.”

“I’m going to throw up,” Jake muttered. “I … did you have to tell me that? We just had this discussion over lunch.”

“Did you really have lunch together? I thought Eliot was making that up.” Cara was beyond annoyed.

“Hey, I didn’t want to tell you at all,” Eliot said. “If you bring a crime scene team in here, though, you’re going to find our DNA all over that hammock.”

“And the
Star Trek
captain’s chair in the other room,” I said, pointing for emphasis. “Oh, and the miniature Hagrid’s hut over there.”