“Still? I thought you two traveled together.”
Dayton faked a smile, one that sent a searing ache through his cheeks. “We did. She’s newly out of town.”
“If she’s out of town,” she took a half step back, “how’d you get in here?”
Panic engulfed him, smothering him like a weighted blanket with each passing breath. A recently awakened impulsivity burned beneath his palms. Blood boiling, veins buzzing. Had Kenna told her roommate that he was involved in a homicide investigation before jumping on a bus to Los Angeles? Responding evenly demanded every ounce of his will.
“She made me a copy of her key.”
Liza pinned her arms across her stomach. “Look, our super doesn’t allow copies and after what Kenna told me I seriously doubt she’d bend the rule and have one made for you.”
“What did she say?”
“The abridged version? She’s terrified of you.”
Dayton almost laughed. He didn’t think Kenna was terrified of him. She was terrified of what she didn’t understand. All that he’d refused to help her understand.
Liza’s commanding voice broke his reverie.
“I don’t know how you weaseled your way in here, but you need to make yourself scarce before I call the police.”
24
AUDREY
The sun blazed in the blue sky, warming the people milling about Westwood. It was the kind of weather that would’ve been categorized as unseasonable for late fall in Oregon. Kenna lingered by the main entrance of the UCLA campus. Audrey had agreed to meet under the condition that it was somewhere public.
From the sidewalk, she recoiled at the traffic, the stench of exhaust, the near constant fragments of passing conversation. In all her life, she’d never set foot in a city as large and imposing as Los Angeles. She tried to ease her trepidation by booking a hotel a couple of blocks from campus.
A tall, curvaceous woman with the familiar pixie cut rounded the corner. Kenna formed a peace sign which she signed in return; their agreed upon signal to identify one another.
Audrey appeared tired but it didn’t lessen her beauty. Faint freckles speckled her nose and cheeks. Fine wrinkles radiated from the outer corners of her eyes, a testament to someone who’d spent their life laughing, smiling. It was hard to believe she may have done any of it with a man as austere as Dayton.
“You’re younger than I expected.” Audrey shook her head slightly. “Let’s walk.”
Kenna fell into step beside her. A man being pulled on a skateboard by an eager golden retriever sailed past them. Trees sprouted from man-made pockets of dirt in the sidewalk; mother nature fighting for each and every breath amid the cracked asphalt and L.A. smog. That sense of suffocation was all around. No wonder Dayton had felt at home there.
“I guess I don’t understand why you came all the way down here to talk to me.”
She couldn’t fault Audrey for highlighting the absurdity of the situation. Traveling almost a thousand miles to interrogate someone else’s past hookup didn’t fall into the category of socially acceptable behavior.
“I needed to get out of town anyway. And I was hoping you might be able to give me some answers.”
“Answers?” She drew out the word.
Her voice had a raspy, seductive quality and it was easy to see why Dayton had once been enamored with her.
“He told me that you were a one-night stand.” Kenna didn’t speak his name. There was no need to. “But recently, his sister made a vague comment that led me to believe there’s more to the story.” She produced a listless sigh. “In my experience, he doesn’t do well with confrontation, so I thought I’d try my luck and reach out to you.”
“You must really mean something to him if he didn’t want you to know about me.” Her sunny features went stoney but she brightened in an instant upon spotting a nearby storefront with a red awning. “Do you like cookies?”
Kenna eyed the bakery. “Who isn’t?”
Pulling on the door of the shop, she turned to her and whispered conspiratorially, “Sugar will soften the blow.”
The decadent smell, along with Audrey’s warning, nearly knocked her off her feet. A sinful mixture of butter, sugar, chocolate, and nuts. Every variety of cookie one could imagine and then some filled a wide glass case. Off to the side, there was a smaller selection of ice creams.
Audrey handled the ordering. Two chocolate chip mint sandwiches, whatever that was, and two waters. Kenna pleaded to cover the cost, as Audrey was doing her a favor in agreeing to the meeting, but she declined the offer.