Six foot tall

Came without a warning, so I had to shoot him dead

He won't come around here anymore

Come around here?

I don't think so

Wake Up Call, Maroon 5

Z

We descended the stairs at the very end of breakfast time the next morning, clutching each other's arms and giggling. I was hoping it was enough to fool Mrs. Ross. I wasn't sure Mr. Ross would be there, but I was hoping he would be. I was ready to get out of here. Trying to rinse off in the tub this morning while Brian was dutifully staring at the wall was about the most awkward moment of my life. I'd also woken up sprawled completely on top of him at least twice which was definitely crossing the coworker line.

"Just do as I say, Maria!" Floated up the stairs in a deep male voice. We shared a quick look.

My heart jumped into my throat as I heard a bang. Brian's arm was out from around me in an instant as he jogged down the stairs. I took off after him, trying to stop him before he could blow our cover. Fortunately, he stopped just out of their sight to listen. All we heard was quiet crying. We cautiously walked down the stairs.

"Oh! There you are. I'll have Katie start breakfast." Maria Ross called as soon as she saw us.

"We weren't sure we were going to wake up in time for breakfast. We were up kind of late." The blush popped right back on my face and Brian grinned. Maria would probably misread that, but I knew he was making fun of me.

There was no misreading her. She looked like she was about to cry, but she had buried it under a bright smile. Bennett was nowhere to be seen, but there was a coffee mug that smelled strongly of alcohol on the table.

"Let me get Katie." She vanished through the door that apparently led to the kitchen.

Brian and I shared a quick look. This had to be our guy.

Z

"Did you get anything?" I asked Brian when he met me back at the gazebo. I had my feet propped up and a glass of wine in one hand and book in the other.

"Not a damn thing that we can use."

It had been three days. We'd buddied up to the housekeeper and the maintenance man who we were sure were hiding something. I'd tried to befriend Mrs. Ross. Brian had worked on Mr. Ross. None of it was giving us anything solid.

We were both damn sure about Bennett Ross though. He was charming and handsome every time we spoke to him, but it was clear his wife and the staff was afraid of him. When he looked me in the eye, alarm bells went off in my head. Brian hated every second of being alone with him, but he kept meeting him for drinks and cigars after I had 'gone to sleep'.

Brian did get him to admit that some of the local cops worked for him. He had apparently bought an LA detective a retirement house out here as well. That could be our way in, but it didn't leave us with enough for a warrant to bring in forensics.

"Let's go back to the room and regroup then." He nodded and gestured for me to lead the way.

I would have thoroughly enjoyed this place if there hadn't been the overhanging presence of a murderer. The garden was buzzing with bees on the summer flowers and the wine and sunshine were amazing. I had downed two glasses of wine buried in a thriller novel while Brian had called home to Penning and had loved every single sip of it. I also loved the food, but I was less excited about dinner tonight because the owners were going to be dining with us.

The air condition was cool when we went inside the building, but all of the curtains were pulled open, filling the lobby with warm sunshine. I knew I should go up to the room with Brian, but I had a strong urge to sit in my favorite chair and finish my book.

"You go ahead and get your bath. I think I'm going to stretch out and read." Brian's eyebrows went up as I pointed out my favorite chair.

"You sure." He asked.

"Yeah." I waved him off. Lurking in the lobby could only help us spot something new and I was going crazy staring at the dozens of crime scene pictures and the police reports.

"Alright. I'll see you at dinner." He kissed me on the lips before he went up the stairs.

I settled in, preparing for a long afternoon of looking and not seeing anything, but before I could even open my book, I heard the kitchen door open.

"Trouble in paradise?" Bennett's deep voice filled the room.

"Of course not. I figured I'd read a little while he took his nap." I waved my novel at him.

Bennett was tall and handsome, with perfect, thick blonde hair, and perfect white teeth. He reminded me of a politician. He was so perfect it was manufactured. There was something unsettling after the amount of perfection. After seeing the empty alcohol glasses at breakfast and occasionally hearing him yell at his wife and staff all weekend, I knew the perfect was fake.

"Want some wine? Crime novels are always better with some wine." He winked at me and I forced myself to smile back.

"I think I'm going to have my wine at dinner tonight. I can't wait to see what your chef is serving this time."

"Lamb." He clarified.

"Lamb. That sounds amazing." His smile seemed a little stretched as he nodded.

"Yeah, it will be. I was just about to go get the wine from the wine cellar. It needs to be something special since this is your last night with us."

"I didn't know this place had a wine cellar," I commented.

"It's the length of the house. It's always completely stocked. Would you like to see it?" He gestured to a tiny door I had been curious about since day one.

So the house had a wine cellar. Not one law enforcement agent had set foot in the wine cellar. That was the perfect place to beat a woman senseless and then shoot her and not get caught. Rip the shower curtain from the shower, wrap her up, carry her down, and go back to committing the crime. There'd be very little blood evidence upstairs and he could talk daddy dearest into renovating the upstairs. It would get rid of any evidence in the room and throw off the cops. He could just bleach the floor of the cellar and no one would know because no one knew about it but the people on the payroll.

"I'd love to." I dropped my book and stood up eagerly. He smiled at me as he unlocked the door with one of the keys of his completely filled up keyring.

I had my gun in a holster strapped to my belly if I needed it. I was praying I didn't need it. Brian was right upstairs and I was smart. Bennett might be bigger than me, but he couldn't fight both of us with guns. He also had no reason to suspect us; Brian and I were selling this whole newlywed couple show we were putting on. It was going to be awkward when we went back to the office, but it was working.

"Ladies first." He gestured to the tiny, ancient little wooden door.

"My shoes are so high I get a little unsteady." I pointed to the heeled sandals I had bought in the consignment shop on my way to meet Marcus. "Will you go first in case I fall?"

My phone started ringing in the pocket of my shorts, but I put my hand over it to silence the buzzing. Penning could wait for an update. Hopefully, I'd have something to give him after this.

"Of course." He walked down the narrow, tight little stairs ahead of me.

Gingerly, I picked my way in after him.

Z

It was pitch black when I woke up. My ears were ringing and it felt like I was spinning on a carnival ride. My face scrunched in pain and I realized my hair was glued to my forehead with hot sticky blood.

How could this have happened? I made him walk first so I wouldn't turn my back on him. I couldn't remember how I ended up on the floor, but everything hurt so badly I was willing to bet money that he threw me down the stairs like a ragdoll and I cracked my head on the stone floor.

My phone started to buzz about the time I heard footsteps overhead.

Of course, that wasn't Penning. It was Brian trying to call me.

"Maria, see if you can stall him." I heard him barking orders into his phone.

I forced my eyes open.

There was a light on and it hurt, but I pushed through. He was standing next to a wall of wine bottles. There was one lone, naked bulb hanging from wire overhead. I was outside of its light, so I knew I had to use that to my advantage.

"I don't care what you think! Just make something up." He flipped his phone closed.

Shit. My window of time was closing.

He reached over outside of my line of sight and grabbed a rope.

Shit. I was about to be strangled.

I shoved my hand in my top and started fumbling to get my gun out of its holster. I had it almost all the way out when he turned around and saw me awake and moving.

Fear is always described as icy. I'd always hated that cliche, but when I looked into his eyes I felt it. It felt like ice water spreading through my veins freezing me solid.

He frowned as he stared at me. Then Brian's footsteps started pacing again and it was like it broke him from his trance. With an angry sigh, he wrapped the rope around his hands and lunged for me. If he had taken a second longer to stare at me, he would have noticed the gun. Instead, he had no clue what was coming.

I flipped the gun out of my shirt, flicked off the safety, and fired in one surprisingly smooth motion. The first bullet shattered wine bottles in the wall behind him, but the second hit him square in the chest. His weight landed on top of me, crushing all of the air out of my lungs.

Then I realized I was screaming and that's why there wasn't any air in my lungs.

The ice was replaced by heat, all-encompassing wet heat that soaked into me like a tidal wave. It washed onto my chest, down my stomach, pooling between my breasts and in the hollow of my throat.

Blood. All of that was blood.

"Brian!" I screamed over and over and over. The footsteps above me went frantic and a pounding started at the door above me, which was locked.

There was a splintering sound and more footsteps, and then all of a sudden the weight was gone.

"Anna! Anna! Are you okay?" I could see his face, in clear detail out of a fog. His bright blue eyes were worried.

The sound of sirens started in the distance. I tried to look up the stairs.

"Anna!" Brian grabbed my face and made me look at him.

"I shot somebody," I muttered. "I'm going to be fired."