So, as it turns out, people actually buy groceries at 8am. Who knew? Haha. Anyway, here is the latest chapter of our wonderful Anna's story. For the record, I do not own the lyrics at the opening of the chapter. They're from a song called "Cab" by the awesome band Train. And the hotel? Yeah, completelyfictional! In this chapter, we will find out quite a lot of things, so sit back, relax, and enjoy! And don't forget to leave me comments! Thank you everyone!

Chapter Eight: Only Cab on the Road

New York snow this time of year

There's nothing more beautiful to me

Except for you

Making my way uptown and down

Seeing familiar places and faces

In my pile of coffee grounds

The days are better, the nights are still so lonely…

I sat close to my apartment window and tuned up the volume on my radio as I looked outside to the icy streets of the city. The song seemed to fit the mood of the month completely. For the last few weeks there had been snowfall every night. I took a sip of my hot chocolate and pulled my blanket up to my neck. New York was beautiful during the winter, the days of January breaking no higher than 60 degrees each day. I couldn't help feeling a twinge of homesickness though. Granted, I had lived in The Big Apple for about six years, but sometimes I missed the nights of sitting out under the humid Miami sunset. My thoughts were disturbed by a knock on my apartment door. I glanced at the clock, puzzled. Who was visiting me at 10:20 at night?

I answered the door to find Elsie standing there, holding a plate of freshly baked banana nut muffins, and a glass filled with what appeared to be Ocean Spray cranberry juice.

"Why, hello there Miss Price!" she greeted in her bubbly voice. "May I offer you a muffin?"

I laughed and ushered her in. Elsie Scott was my best friend in New York City. Heck, she was probably the best friend that I had ever had in my entire life. She was the kind of woman who would giver her arm, leg, and probably spleen just so that you would be happy. It didn't hurt that she loved to bake too, so I was always greeted by the nicest packages when I got home from work.

"What's in the glass?" I asked her curiously. She giggled. I swear, sometimes she acted just as giddy as a little kid in a candy store.

"It's something one of my co-workers told me to try. Ocean Spray and vodka," she replied, handing me the glass. "Try some! It's really good!" I looked at her, bemused.

"How much have you had to drink tonight Elsie?" I asked with a smile. She rolled her eyes at me, and set down her plate of muffins.

"I guess I'm just excited for you. I mean, it's not every day that your best friend turns 24. And has the best birthday ever planned by her best friend," Elsie said with a grin. I looked at her curiously.

"Best birthday ever?" I asked, confused. Elsie and I had planned a girl's weekend after my birthday on the 26th to her house out in the country side of New York. Her parents we apparently very wealthy and prominent people here in New York, but they owned a house out in the country and were letting us and two of our other friends crash there for the weekend.

Elsie could barely contain her enthusiasm and motioned for me to sit down on the couch next to her. "Okay, so you know how you always wanted to have something exciting to do on your birthday to make up for all those lame parties you had as a teenager?" she asked with eyes sparkling.

I nodded. "Yeah. You, Abbey, Charlene and I were going to hang out in the country for my birthday. I mean, a road trip to the country sounds exciting…"

"But not as exciting as what I just planned for you!" Elsie said with a little squeal. "Guess what it is! Come on, guess!"

I laughed and feigned deep thought. "Hmm, Elsie, did you plan a trip for me to LA to meet Elijah Wood?" I asked with a smile. Elsie rolled her eyes.

"I'm good, but I don't work miracles," she stated. I threw my pillow at her face. "Hey now!" she scolded with mock hurt. "Do you want to know, or not?"

"Shoot," I said simply. Elsie looked as if she were about to burst at the seams.

"Alright, well, do you remember how I told you that my extended family is very wealthy?" she asked. I nodded. Apparently, Elsie came from a long line of very successful entrepreneurs. Her uncle in California owned a recording studio, her grandmother had started a clothing line years ago, which today blossomed into a fortune for her. Needless to say, Elsie's family was pretty well off.

"Okay, well, my Uncle David and his wife Eileen are opening a new hotel called The Harmony Suites, about a half an hour or so from here. It's not going to be opened for another month, since some of the suites on the top floor need to be finished, but he has agreed to something," Elsie replied, about ready to bounce off of the couch, "He's letting us use the hotel on the 26th for your birthday party!"

My eyes widened. "You mean, I am going to be in a 4-star, high-class hotel for my birthday?" This was way better than a trip to the country.

"And that's not the best part," Elsie said with a knowing grin.

"What else is there?" I asked, puzzled.

"We are going to be having a, well, kind of themed party."

"A themed party?" I echoed, even more puzzled.

"Yes, well, I organized it all this week, and you can hand the invitations out tomorrow. You are going to be having, quite ironic if I do say so myself, a masked murder mystery dinner party!" she exclaimed with glee.

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding me?"

"Nope," Elsie replied with a satisfied smile. I couldn't stop grinning.

"You are probably the best person in the entire universe right now," I said with a squeal, tacking her with a hug. She laughed and shook her head, then proceeded to tell me about the details.

"The way I planned it, we have just enough people to do this thing right. I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of inviting and arranging the teams myself," she said, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket. I shook my head. Elsie knew my friends, so I trusted her judgment.

"This is how it works: we will have a dinner in the Crystal Ballroom, and then proceed to hand out starting clues to the teams. Each team gets a clue to direct them to their next one, so on and so forth in order to solve the mystery of my untimely death…"

"Whoa, wait a second. How come I don't get to die?" I whined.

"Because if you die, you won't get to play the game! And since I already know all of the clues, it's only fair that I be the one to die," Elsie said, before she continued. "Anyway, the teams, or rather, pairs, are arranged as follows: you and Flack…"

"Oh, you didn't…"

"Yeah, well, I figured that maybe you'd be able to find something to talk about outside of work," she said with a helpless smile. I rolled my eyes. My lunch date with Flack had been nice, granted, but all we had really talked about was the case we were both working at the time.

"…Mac and Stella," Elsie continued, reading off her list. "Didn't you say that you thought there was something fishy with them lately?"

I nodded and recalled our brief conversation a few weeks prior.

"Hey! Mac, Stella, wait up…I need to talk to you both for a second," I said, rushing down the hallway to meet them. They both looked up.

"Yes?" Mac asked.

"What do you think of office relationships?" I asked, directing my question to Mac. He looked oddly uncomfortable and turned to Stella for a moment.

After hesitation, Stella asked: "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, if I feel the need to play matchmaker, would you disapprove?" I asked, pondering the whole Danny/Lindsay situation. Mac faltered.

"Uh, I suppose that would depend on if it interfered with their work."

"Oh, okay," I said with a smile and a wave, before entering the elevator. "Thanks!"

I saw them talking in hushed whispers as the door closed, and couldn't help but think that maybe there was something going on…

"Yeah," I admitted to Elsie. "There is something funny there."

"Perfect then," she said with glee. "Next up we have Danny and Lindsay…"

"Oh, that one should be fun. But at least they're back on speaking terms."

"Poor Lindsay," Elsie said with a slight shake of her head, "I can't believe she dated a jerk like that," she added nastily. As it turns out, Lindsay's boyfriend was more of a flirt than Danny could ever be—and he ended up cheating on her. Elsie ended up coming over to my apartment and consoling Lindsay with me the night of the break-up. Danny must have known that something had happened, because the next day he had whispered to her: "Anyone ya want me to beat up for ya, Montana?" Although she was still in a pretty somber mood, Danny had made her laugh. Things were almost back to normal between the two of them.

"Who else do we have set up?" I asked. Elsie rattled off the rest of the short guest list: Hawkes was set up with Hammerback ("They'll have fun chasing clues," I replied with a chuckle) and Charlene and Abbey were going to be the final pair.

"This is going to be one heck of a party," I stated with a smile.

"You've got it kid," Elsie replied with a wink.