Eve’s nose crinkled as she thought about it. “Well, he probably could have shot Jodie without anyone seeing, since he was sitting right across the table from her, but I don’t see why he would.”

  “What if he wasn’t aiming for her? Jodie was between him and the door. What if he was aiming at Fern and missed? Maybe he had one too many drinks, or Jodie shifted unexpectedly to get a better look at Tiana and Levi.”

  That idea hadn’t occurred to Eve, but now that she looked at the angles of the room and how Benny’s seat lined up with the door, she wondered if Aidan was on to something. For the past week, she had been trying to piece together the murder under the assumption that Jodie was the target. What if she was wrong?

  She needed to look at all of the possibilities, not just the ones that seemed obvious to her. She remembered Lucas’s statement about the patio door and stood up briefly under the pretense of stretching to look over the heads of the other diners at it. It was currently closed, but if it had been cracked open like it was on the night of the murder, someone standing just outside of it would have had a clear shot to Jodie’s table as well.

  Provided they were tall.

  “I’m surprised your friend didn’t see anything,” Aidan said as she sat back down.

  “Which friend?”

  “Lucas.” He turned, looking over his shoulder at the light switch at the back of the room. “He would have had a perfect view of the whole room, and he would have been looking right past Jodie if he was watching Tiana and Levi.”

  “I think everyone was just really distracted,” she said. “I don’t know why he’d lie about it. Even if he did see movement out of the corner of his eye, he probably dismissed it without even thinking about it. It’s not like anyone was expecting something like this to happen.”

  She hadn’t asked Lucas yet about why he had directed everyone to look at Levi and Tiana even though they hadn’t discussed it, but at least it helped explain why the restaurant was so focused on the couple. It was just bad luck that it gave the killer the perfect chance to strike.

  Even though they didn’t discover anything that blew the case wide open, Eve had a great time that evening. As much as she hated to admit it, hanging out with Aidan and talking about the mystery was fun. It was a guilty feeling, and it didn’t negate how much Jodie’s death weighed on her. She just liked spending time with him.

  This was the first time she had actually eaten at Stone Table, and the salmon florentine she had ordered was wonderful. The mousse they got for dessert was to die for. If it wasn’t for how much the bill they got at the end of the night was, she would have wanted to eat here all the time. Aidan offered to pay, but since she was the one who dragged him out here to help with her extremely amateur investigation, she insisted on covering it.

  “At least let me pay the next time we go out to eat together,” he said after finally giving up, exasperated.

  “Sure,” she said as she scribbled her signature on the receipt. “I’ll let you get my coffee for me Monday morning, how’s that.”

  “That’s definitely not enough,” he said. “But it’s a good place to start. So, what do you think about Jodie? I hate that the person who shot her is still out there. Do you think we’re missing something?”

  Distracted from the conversation about who owed who what, Eve bit her lip. “I just don’t know what to think. I’m hoping I’ll be able to learn more about her at that fundraiser tomorrow.”

  “Fundraiser?”

  She told him about the event at Joy Property Management. “Do you want to come with me? It’s open to the public, and the more people the better, since they’re running a raffle. I figure at the very least, we’ll be donating to a good cause, so it won’t be a waste of time either way.”

  “I’d love to come,” he said. “What time should I pick you up?”

  Eve’s lips insisted on tugging up in a persistent smile as they made the arrangements. She missed Tiana’s constant presence dearly, but maybe there was something to be said for being forced to branch out a little. She was glad for the chance to get to know Aidan better. Maybe later this week they could spend some time together that wasn’t related to a murder. That would be even nicer.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  As nice of an evening as she’d had with Aidan, she started feeling guilty after he dropped her off at home and she got ready for bed. There, curled up on the couch with Willow lying at her feet and Atlas chewing on one of his toys on the rug, she admitted to herself that despite her worry for her friend, she was beginning to get a little irritated at her too.

  She didn’t need or expect Tiana to spend every waking second with her, but she was hurt that her friend had essentially ghosted her this past week, only seeing her at work and evading seeing her or even talking to her outside of it. She wished Tiana would just tell her what was wrong.

  The more empathetic part of her hated feeling that way. Tiana had gone through something horrible, and she didn’t owe Eve an explanation for why she wasn’t being as social as usual.

  And yet … was she really doing the right thing by leaving Tiana alone, especially now that Levi was out of town again?

  Eve didn’t know what the right answer was. She didn’t even know if there was one. All she knew was that she didn’t like feeling as if she was replacing Tiana with Aidan after just a few days of her friend needing some space. She hadn’t even told Tiana about their sort-of-but-not-really-a-date yet.

  Deciding to remedy that, she picked up her phone and dialed her friend’s number. Tiana sounded exhausted when she answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey,” Eve said. “Do you have time to talk? I can call back tomorrow if you’re too tired.”

  “No, what’s up? Did something happen?”

  “Well, I just got back from dinner with Aidan at Stone Table.”

  “Whoa, back up,” Tiana said, sounding more like her usual self. “He took you out? To Stone Table? For your first date?”

  “I’m the one who invited him, and it wasn’t really a date…”

  She told her friend about her idea to go scope out the restaurant to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important in the chaos of last weekend, but tried not to dwell on that too much, and focused instead on how much fun she’d had with him.

  “We’re going to this fundraiser memorial event thing at Joy Property Management tomorrow,” she said when she had finished going over the evening in close detail. “They’re doing a raffle to help pay for Jodie’s funeral expenses.”

  “Wait, you’re going to Joy Property Management?”

  “Yeah.” She frowned. “Why?”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to keep poking and prodding at this case, Eve,” her friend said, her tone serious. “I wish you hadn’t gone back to Stone Table either, but at least it sounds like that was mostly a date.”

  “I’m not doing anything that would draw the killer’s attention to me. Dinner with a friend and going to a raffle to donate to a woman who literally died right in front of me are both perfectly normal things to do.”

  “This person has a gun and already killed someone. They aren’t exactly logical or reasonable! You have no idea what they’ll do to you if they think you’re getting close to figuring out who they are.”

  “I already told Jodie’s coworkers I’d be at the event. It would be weirder not to go at this point. I’ll be fine, Tiana. Aidan’s going with me, remember?”

  “Look, Eve, I like Aidan for you. You know that. I think he’s sweet, and he obviously likes you, and he seems like a good person. But honestly, he’s a little naive. He’s got no clue about what sort of danger you could be in. Don’t forget how small Granite is. You and your dogs are starting to become well known. People know you, even if you have no idea who they are. They know you’ve worked with law enforcement before. You’re going to be in more danger than you think. Please, Eve, just let this go. Find a way to donate online or send a check if you need to, but figure out something else to do with Aidan tomorrow.”

  Eve bit her lip. Hearing how worried Tiana was about her made her feel like a horrible person, especially since she knew she wasn’t going to change her mind. After all, she still held the hope that her friend would begin to feel better once the killer was caught and Jodie’s case was closed. This conversation had made it obvious just how worried she was about the whole thing.

  “I’m going, Tiana, but I promise I’ll be careful. And I’ll let Aidan know we need to keep our eyes peeled for anyone who seems to recognize me.”

  “Eve…”

  “I need to do this. If I don’t learn anything new, I’ll drop it. I promise.”

  Her friend was silent for long enough that Eve pulled the phone away from her ear to check that the call hadn’t been dropped. Finally, Tiana let out a long sigh.

  “In that case, mind if I tag along? Someone has to keep you safe, crazy girl.”

  Eve smiled. “Of course you can come. I’ll let Aidan know.”

  Maybe Tiana was beginning to recover after all.

  Aidan picked her up Sunday afternoon. She had invited Tiana to carpool with them, but her friend wanted to meet her there instead. Considering the teasing lilt in her voice when she said so, Eve suspected she didn’t want to play the third wheel to her and Aidan.

  Joy Property Management was only a few minutes away from her house—everything in Granite was only a few minutes away from her house, which would have cut down on her fuel expenses if she didn’t have to drive all the way to Marquette just to buy avocados. The little general store in town sold dry and frozen goods, but its produce section was limited to a bin of apples, bananas, and oranges that were all past their prime and some bagged salads in the tiny, refrigerated section.

  Tiana’s car was already there. She was waiting in it; she hadn’t gone in yet, and when she saw Eve and Aidan getting out of their vehicle, she came over in a rush.

  “It looks kind of busy,” her friend said. “Maybe we should come back later. We could grab lunch or some coffee. My treat!”

  “We don’t need to stay long,” Eve said. “I just want to buy some raffle tickets and see who’s here.”

  It was busy—the parking lot was on the verge of overflowing, and there was a sizeable crowd that seemed to flow between the building and the tents laid out with food that were set up on the grass. There was a folding table laden with pictures of Jodie and flowers set up by the door. Despite that, the event felt more like a festival than a memorial, and the feeling was off-putting.

  A desperate look flashed through her friend’s eyes, and for a second, Eve hesitated, but the expression vanished as soon as it had come.

  “Then let’s go find the tickets,” she said, determined. “Lucas is somewhere inside, I think.”

  “Lucas is here?” Eve asked.

  Tiana’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah. I figured you invited him, too.”

  “No. I don’t think I said anything about this to him.” She racked her mind, trying to remember if she had mentioned it in one of her text messages or not. “He probably heard about it somewhere else, or maybe he had to stop in at Joy Property Management for some reason and saw the sign. They managed his old apartment.”

  “Well, whatever. If he’s not expecting to see you here, we don’t have to track him down. That will make this even faster.”

  “Do you want to grab some food after buying the tickets?” Aidan asked as they started walking toward the building.

  “Why don’t we go to Superior Slices?” Tiana asked. “They’ve added so many new menu options since the restaurant changed hands.”

  “But the food here is free,” Aidan said, shooting a look at the tables under the tents. “You can’t beat free.”

  “Oh, look, there’s Lucas.” Tiana waved at him, clearly latching onto the distraction. Eve wanted to ask her why she was being so weird, but she doubted her friend would give her a straight answer, not so publicly.

  Lucas was just exiting the building when he spotted them. He waved and trotted over to join them.

  “Hey. I didn’t expect to see you three here.”

  “We wanted to donate to Jodie’s funeral expenses,” Eve said. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  He sighed. “Stone Table leases its building from Joy Property Management. My boss wanted someone to come to the raffle and make a donation in the restaurant’s name, and I drew the short straw. I’m starting to feel really bad about the whole thing, actually. Seeing all of this reminded me she’s not just the lady who refused to return my security deposit.”

  Eve frowned, barely registering his explanation as her mind caught on his first sentence. Stone Table was leasing their building from the property management company that Jodie worked at? That felt important, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.

  “Jodie was a sweetheart,” Tiana gasped, offended. “Well, she was a stickler for rules. But she was a good person. I’m sure she had a good reason for denying your security deposit’s refund.”

  “She didn’t,” Lucas said shortly. “I took pictures of the apartment when I moved in and when I left. It was my first place. The pictures were Michael’s idea.”

  The mention of his brother’s name silenced all of them. Tiana swallowed whatever argument she had for Jodie’s defense, and Lucas grimaced.

  “I’d better get going,” he said as the silence stretched on. “I’ll see you around.”

  He raised his hand in a half-wave as he walked away. Eve felt bad about the entire exchange, but she couldn’t blame Tiana for how it had gone any more than she could blame Lucas. Neither of them was in the wrong, especially not since Lucas had admitted he realized Jodie was more than just one bad interaction.

  Before she could say anything to try to lighten the mood, a young woman approached. It only took Eve a second to recognize her—Mariah, the secretary she had spoken to the last time she was here at Joy Property Management.

  “Excuse, me,” she said. She looked nervous. “I couldn’t help but overhear—”

  “It’s all your fault!”

  The shout caught them all off guard. Eve turned just in time to see a dark-haired man looming in front of her before he grabbed her by the shoulder, his fingers digging into her skin hard enough that she suspected they would leave bruises. She recognized him by his slicked back hair.

  Benny. And he looked livid.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Hey, let go of her!”

  Tiana was the one who shouted, but she and Aidan moved simultaneously, Tiana grabbing Eve’s other arm and pulling her back while Aidan shoved Benny away.

  “What were you thinking, man?” Aidan snapped, sounding both shocked and angry. “You can’t just grab a woman like that.”

  “She wrecked my life.” Benny moved toward her again, his lips pulled back in something like a snarl, only to stop when Aidan put a hand on his chest. “She got me fired! The police took my gun!”

  “Oh, crap.”

  The words slipped out of Eve’s lips as she realized what he was talking about. Wednesday, at Superior Slices. He had shown her the pistol tucked into his waistband and said he wanted to “get” his ex before she got him.

  She had been disturbed enough to report it to the sheriff, but on top of everything else that was going on, she had all but forgotten about it afterward. It seemed Sheriff Larson hadn’t, however. She must have decided to pursue the call. Michigan’s red flag laws let the police confiscate firearms if the owner was determined to be a threat to himself or others.

  “Yeah, you know what you did, don’t you?” he said aggressively.

  “I don’t know how I could have made you lose your job,” she said.

  “That sheriff made me late to work, and I was already on probation.” He swore, but thankfully didn’t lunge toward her again.

  The situation was possibly the most uncomfortable one Eve had ever been in. She didn’t want to apologize, because she still didn’t think she had done anything wrong, but she didn’t want to say as much because Benny was clearly on the verge of violence.

  Then Mariah spoke up, her voice high-pitched with confusion and worry. “Hey, I know you, don’t I? You’re that guy Jodie was seeing. She showed the whole office pictures of you. She was really excited for your date on Saturday.”

  Benny faltered. Eve could practically see the gears in his mind spinning as he tried to adjust to the drastic change in subject. His expression softened slightly as he turned his gaze from Eve to Mariah.

  “Yeah? I didn’t know she was looking forward to it so much.”

  Tiana tugged Eve back a step further and said something in her ear, probably asking if she was okay, but Eve didn’t hear her. Her mind was spinning as she finally made the connection that had been so elusive.

  The gate to the patio had been locked, but was it possible the killer had locked it behind them when they left? The only people who were likely to have keys were the restaurant employees … and the owners of the building.

  Joy Property Management owned the building Stone Table was in.

  Jodie had been talking about her date while she was at work. Any of her coworkers would have known exactly where she was going to be and when.

  There was an undeniable link between all of these things, but Eve still couldn’t figure out who, or why. What did she even know about Jodie? That she kept Lucas’s security deposit from being returned? That she had been on a date with a man who was already in a relationship? That she was a stickler for rules? All that told her was that she probably hadn’t known Benny was two-timing Fern.

  “Mariah?” she said, interrupting Tiana as she told Benny to back off and leave her be. “Did Jodie have any … issues with any of her coworkers?”

  Mariah blinked at her. “Huh? Oh … that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Something I overheard. Your friend, he mentioned something about his security deposit, didn’t he?”

  “Lucas? Yeah. What does that have to do with anything.”