I wiped the last bit of watermelon juice on my pants before entering our room at the resort. A man dressed in a black suit pushed a wheeled cart through the halls. We exchanged salutes as I unlocked the door, doing my best to appear normal. Not like a woman who just spent the last two hours stabbing a watermelon with her best friend. Some island activities were best kept secret.

"Did you have fun with your bestie?" Broadrick asked as I closed the door behind me.

NB jumped off the bed, and I gave him a good scratch behind his ear. Did he rat me out about my afternoon activities? "How did you know where I was?"

"Tony texted me that you were on the way home." Broadrick grinned. Normally, his know-it-all smile kind of turned me on, but right then, it had something more behind it. I didn't like not knowing.

"I don't like how much you two talk." I kicked off my shoes, stacking them nicely in the pile beside the door. Rather than strewn across the dark blue carpet, someone had stacked our shoe collection up in a nice pile. Since the dog didn't have thumbs, I had to believe Broadrick had been cleaning. "He's my best friend."

"He's my employee," he said, meeting my narrowed eyed scowl with an even bigger grin. Definitely didn't like that.

He'd made the bed, so I perched on the end of it to not mess up the comforter. "Friendship is more important than money."

"That it is." Broadrick laughed. "But really, you shouldn't leave NB here by himself. He gets lonely."

"He seems to have survived," I said as he ran over and sniffed my shoes.

"It's basically abandonment." Broadrick scooped him up and gave him a kiss on his face. "How did stabbing pumpkins with Tony go?"

"It was watermelons and... sticky." I wiped my hands on my shorts again, still feeling some of the stickiness between my fingers. "And..."

"What?" he asked as I got lost in thought. Broadrick lowered NB, who ran for me.

The little dog jumped to find a spot on the bed, and I grabbed him before he lunged right off the side. "Well, the knitting needle went into the watermelon super easy."

Easier than I ever expected. The pointy end practically slid in once you added a little force.

"That's interesting," he said.

"Yeah, and," I continued, "if you think about it, once you get it close to an actual head, the ear will almost line the direct hit up for you."

Tony offered to see how easily a needle slid into the ear without killing me, but I wasn't ready for the risk. One slip of his hand and I'd be on the sidewalk dead.

Broadrick ran his hand over his chin, bringing my attention to the stubble lining it. My word, how did I have such a hot boyfriend? It's too bad we couldn't make money just by parading him around the beach and letting people stare at him for cash.

"What are you thinking?" he asked with narrowed eyes in my direction.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing." He rubbed his chin again, and I almost drooled. "Either way, I'm not sure how technical stabbing a watermelon is for a murder investigation."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure it's that far off."

Regardless of our methods, it might be easier to die from a knitting needle in the ear than I originally thought. I still didn't think Melissa accidentally fell on it while in a client's closet. Not even I had that kind of imagination. Also, the odds of wildly stabbing someone and getting it on their ear had to be slim.

"You'll just have to keep gathering clues. Have you been back inside our new condo to search for things of interest?"

I sucked in a breath and quit breathing. What did he just say? "That sounds like you're suggesting I break and enter, which is directly against one of Dalton's rules for life on the island."

His comment immediately put me on guard, but also caused my heart to hum. Sometimes the man just got me. Also, so cute of him to not just assume I had already been inside.

"You really haven't broken in yet?" he asked.

Okay, so maybe he was making assumptions.

I stuck my hand on my hip, which was hard to do while sitting on a bed. "No."

And that was not a lie. I didn't break in. My attempt at entry was unsuccessful, but Barbie walked me through it legally. That didn't count as a B and E in any jurisdiction.

"What about Larken's place?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes further until they almost hurt. "Why do you think I'm suspecting Larken of anything?"

Also, who even told him I was on the case? As far as Broadrick knew, I wanted a new career. Which I still did... eventually. There were parts of putting the pieces together I missed: the clues, the mystery, the satisfaction of putting someone behind bars, as long as it wasn't a family member.

"It just seems like a good private investigator would have her high on their list."

I stared at him. Was there more he wasn't telling me? You never knew with these SEAL guys. "I'm not a private eye anymore. We've discussed this. Does she have a place on the island?"

"You don't know?" Broadrick asked, sounding honestly shocked.

He had a point. I should know that. Man, I was slipping.

Still, his comment annoyed me. I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not a PI."

"Well, I guess not, because normally you'd have already tracked her down and know her schedule by now."

Another eye roll. "That doesn't sound like me at all."

Get it together, brain. We must do better.

If I wanted to solve this case, I'd have to get back on the horse fully and give Melissa's murder my full attention.

NB paced in front of the door and sat down, his ass half on one of Broadrick's boots. "Let's take NB for a walk and maybe we'll see her building."

"I'm sure if she lived on the island she'd probably be in a building on the west side." Broadrick smiled.

"Yeah? What floor you think a fancy-smacy realtor lives on?"

He grabbed NB's leash, which sent the dog into a tizzy of circles in front of him. "Larken seems like she'd demand a place on the sixth floor. Probably the fifth condo or something like that."

I scooted off the bed and slipped my shoes on. "Interesting. That seems like a place she'd fit in."

"It's all conjecture, of course." Broadrick opened the door for us.

I closed it once our group was out. "Oh, of course."

Without conversation, we turned in the correct direction outside of the resort. Broadrick walked slowly, giving NB time to sniff on the local flora. Before long, he'd stopped in front of the far west building.

"You'll have to go alone from here," Broadrick said, staring at the city lights from the mainland.

I nodded. "Wouldn't want the breadwinner to get fired."

He snorted.

The sun wasn't close to setting yet, but I didn't want to wait and come back later in the evening. Sneaking around on an island seemed like a harder task than getting away with it in Pelican Bay. Plus, I didn't pack any black clothing. With the sun blasting away in the sky, I stalled in front of the building.

"What's taking so long?" Broadrick yelled from his spot about ten feet from me.

I jerked my head in his direction and frowned. "Nothing."

Shit. I needed an excuse for wandering around the building. What reason did I have?

Wait. Sometimes I was a dumbass. Larken was my realtor. I'd just stopped by to ask about paperwork. That totally made sense. Then she'd invite me inside and we'd have a chat while I looked around-I mean, admired her decor. And if she wasn't home, I was screwed because I hadn't packed my lock pick set either. I'd really planned on hanging up the PI towel when we moved to the island, so none of those things seemed important. I just wanted to run away as quickly as possible.

With a plan in place, I marched toward the building's door like I belonged there. So much of getting away with shit was just appearing official. I reached for the door handle and jerked it toward me.

Nothing.

"What?" I asked under my breath.

A faint snicker came from Broadrick's direction. "Vonnie, it has a keycard entrance."

Damn it. I'd been so worried about my confidence I missed the little black box to the left of the door. I shook my head at Broadrick in disgust. How did he expect me to get in without a keycard?

I walk-of-shamed my way back to him, ready for a fight. "Why didn't you know about this?"

"Oh. I did. They were the first building we switched over. How did you not know?"

"Really, dude?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

He stared at me, tipping his head to the side. "You really haven't been paying attention and tracking all this?"

The question sounded sincere, so I dropped my argument... for now. "No, I'm not a PI anymore. Remember? Was this some kind of test or something?"

Hadn't he listened to anything I'd said in the last few weeks? I'd fully emersed myself in barbie's soap drama.

"How are you going to get in?" he asked, staring at the building and then me.