Page 21 of Deadly Sins: Lust
“Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“I rang Nick’s mobile, and he’s not picking up. I need to speak with him.”
“Ehh ... he’s not available right now.”
“Do you know when he will be?”
I was surprised she hadn’t heard about his arrest. I leaned toward the phone. “Victoria, it’s Sloane. We don’t know when we’ll see Nick again.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“He got into an argument with a man he thought might have something to do with Marissa’s death, and he was arrested. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard.”
“I worked through the night. I haven’t spoken to anyone yet.”
“Did you find anything?” Maddie asked.
“There have been some developments, yes.”
“If there’s anything you can tell us, it would really help.”
There was a long pause. Too long.
“Victoria, you still there?” Maddie asked.
“I’m thinking,” she said. “It’s just ... I should probably talk to the police first.”
“I understand,” I said. “We’re not getting anywhere on our end, and with Nick locked up, we’d appreciate any help we could get.”
After another silent stretch, she said, “Why don’t the two of you come over? I need to show you something.”
CHAPTER 16
Victoria was at her desk talking on the phone when we arrived, her face grim, eyes worn. She glanced at us and lifted a finger, indicating she needed a moment, and then she continued arguing with the person on the other end of the line. She attempted to speak in a lowered tone, but her loud, commanding voice carried into the other room, allowing us to hear fragments of the conversation. She was bickering about an experiment she’d done, saying it was relevant and should be taken seriously. Whomever she was speaking to didn’t seem to agree.
She let out an enervated, “Fine, I understand,” and ended the call.
Grabbing a Red Bull off her desk, she cracked it open, guzzling the entire can. Then she waved us back inside.
“Everything all right?” Maddie asked.
“This case ... it’s just ... not what I’m used to dealing with.”
“Are you not getting any help from the police?”
She shook her head. “They’re great. Believe me. I know I seem frustrated, but everyone cares about getting it right. We just need to be certain before we move forward. I need to run more tests, which I’m doing, but I’m exhausted and grumpy, and there isn’t enough of me to go around.”
“What can we do to help?”
“The answer I should give you is ‘nothing,’ but I don’t see the harm in telling you what I’ve discovered so far. Just so we’re clear, if anyone asks, the conversation we’re about to have never happened. Understand?”
We nodded in unison.
“My findings so far raise enough suspicion to continue on with testing,” Victoria said, “but there’s no clear proof. Not yet.”
“Are you saying there’s a possibility that Marissa’s death was not an accident?” Maddie asked.
“At first, I thought Nick was just upset and that he was dealing with his grief by assuming what happened was someone else’s fault.”