Page 43 of She Doesn't Have a Clue
“That’s what I was trying to find out,” Juliette said. “People don’t make up false identities unless they’re trying to hide something from their past.”
Kate thought again of Serena’s tirade against Kennedy last night, and her cryptic comment about midnight. What was she hiding from her past, and could it have anything to do with Kennedy’s present predicament?Plus, Kate realized as Juliette counted off all the reasons that she wasn’t the one to poison Kennedy that her nails were painted a soft mauve. The nails in the picture were purple, and Kate didn’t figure she could have changed her nail colors that quickly. Which meant someone else had been holding the champagne glass last night. Could it have been Serena?
“Where is Serena’s room?” Kate asked.
“Why?” Juliette asked suspiciously. “Don’t go fucking things up for me, Harriet.”
“She was a spy,” Kate pointed out.
“And so were you, apparently.” Juliette huffed. “Fine, just don’t rat me out when you get caught or I’ll make sure there’s hell to pay. She’s on the second floor, east corridor, fourth door down. You don’t know me and we didn’t have this conversation.”
“But you knowme!” Jake called after her as she wound her way through the crowd. He looked to Kate, frowning in worry. “What are you planning now?”
“Nothing to concern you,” Kate said primly. “You wouldn’t approve anyway.”
“Kate,” Jake said, in a warning tone. But she was already slipping out of the breakfast room, headed for the second floor. “Don’t do anything stupid… er than you already have!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kate’s steps were muffled by the thick carpet of the grand staircase as she climbed to the second floor, doing her best to follow Juliette’s directions. Which wasn’t easy in a house like Hempstead Manor, even sober. When she got to the door in question and tugged at the handle, it held firm. It was locked, which she should have expected given Juliette’s need to pick the lock last night. Still, she’d done her fair share of research on lockpicking for the Loretta books, and if Juliette could get it open, she should be able to as well.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked directly behind her.
“Jesus Christ at a church bazaar!” Kate said, spinning around and pressing a hand over her heart.
“What are you doing, Kate?” Jake prompted again, his crossed arms making beautifully defined lines along his forearms and biceps that Kate absolutely refused to acknowledge, despite being unable to look anywhere else.
“I told you, nothing to concern you,” Kate said, trying her best to look casual.
Jake took another step closer, his gaze narrowing as he closed the space between them until they were standing chest to chest. Kate tiltedher head to meet his gaze, taking a deeper breath than her lungs needed so she could catch the faint scent of sea salt that always lingered on him. He’d been so mad at her earlier, and some of that heat still radiated off him, singeing her skin. When he leaned forward, lowering his voice so that it was more vibration than sound, it rumbled through her like a peal of thunder.
“You’re going to snoop in Serena’s room. Don’t try to deny it. You’re a terrible liar.”
“And what’s it to you if I do?” Kate huffed. “You heard Juliette. Serena has a fake identity, she was ranting about KennedypoisoningSpencer and Simon against her, and she made some cryptic comment about something happening at midnight. Which is when I found Kennedy’s body! If she’s our poisoner, maybe I’ll find the missing champagne glass stashed in her room.”
He let out a little sigh, his breath bright and citrusy from the mimosa. “You’re going to get caught.”
“What do you care? I thought I was a complete waste of your time.”
Jake gave her a look. “That’s not what I said.”
“That’s what I remember hearing.”
Jake grunted in frustration, running a hand through his wavy hair and somehow making it even wavier and sexier than before, which felt like a personal attack to Kate just then. “Then I’m going with you.”
“What? Why?”
“Because the last time I left you to your own devices, you got caught with a dead body!”
“In my defense, she’s not actually dead,” Kate said.
Jake gave a soft groan of annoyance. “That’s not the defense you think it is.”
Kate crossed her arms, needing Jake to understand without really understanding herself why. “I found Kennedy’s necklace stuffed into the lining of my suitcase earlier today, which was exactly how the killer got caught in Loretta book three.”
Jake’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You have Kennedy’s necklace?”
“Not anymore,” Kate said, shaking her head. “I snuck into her roomand put it with her wedding dress. But someone is trying to make itlooklike I tried to kill Kennedy.”