43. Ryder

The "modelling gig on a boat," the sleaziness, the face, it all fit. Ryder agreed with Dan's assessment: fuck. Knox also concurred, or at least his heart rate did. The beeping from the monitor sped up as his pulse went from seventy to ninety in the blink of an eye.

Why? Because if Aiden had hired Luna, had paid her for influencer work, then he would have been following her on social media. Which meant there was a better-than-average chance that he'd seen the post with Caro on Instagram or TikTok.

Had their second-place suspect jumped into first?

"What?" Luna asked him. "Why do you look so horrified?"

"Because that's Aiden Kingsley."

"Huh?"

"Dan isn't looking at a dating site. She's working. And the man on the screen is Caro's ex-boyfriend."

"Really? Gross. She has super bad taste."

Dan snorted as Ryder face-palmed. Usually, he found it cute when Luna blurted out whatever was in that pretty head of hers, but not at this particular moment. She needed to learn that sometimes, it was wise to think before she spoke.

"Get her out of here," Knox growled.

"Moon, we should go back to the hotel."

"Why? We haven't finished our coffee. Not that it's good coffee, but the hotel coffee is horrible too, so we might as well drink this."

Knox looked ready to throttle her. Ryder took her hand and tried to lead her toward the door, but Luna dug her heels in.

"Why is everyone acting so weird?"

Dan shook her head, and her expression said, "How can she be so stupid?" But Luna wasn't stupid. No, she was hella smart, but Ryder had come to understand that she'd never experienced regular human relationships. Never had real friends. She'd gone from the cutthroat world of pageants to showbiz, where folks would be nice to your face and then stab you in the back. Her mom used her as an ATM, and even Jubilee, who was meant to be her best friend, had her own agenda. Who did that leave? Kory? No surprise that Luna had developed prickles.

"Sweetie, you just insulted Caro in front of someone who cares about her," Dan said. "Plus you insulted Knox as well because she chose to date him."

Luna bit her lip as she realised. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean bad taste now, only back then."

At least she was getting better at apologising.

"And before today," Dan continued, "we thought there was an outside chance that Aiden Kingsley watched your bikini-on-the-Strip show, but if you have a connection to him, then the likelihood that he saw the clip of Caro just ratcheted right up."

Now the little bit of colour Luna had left drained out of her face. During the time on Valentine Cay, she'd gotten paler as everyone else had gone darker, thanks to her fake tan wearing off and the sunblock she slathered on religiously every morning.

"I thought she was exaggerating," Luna whispered. "She complained about everything I said and everything I did, so I figured that was just one more screw-up for the list."

"We all did." Dan ignored Knox's glare. "But as information comes in, more and more dots connect to Aiden."

"What about the poachers? Stacey?"

"Personally, I still think they're the culprits, but Aiden's in a close second place. Tell me everything you can remember about him. You said the photoshoot was four or five years ago?"

"Look on my Insta. The pictures will be on there."

Why hadn't Providence picked this up? Ryder didn't use the program himself—that was the domain of the investigators and the research teams—but if Luna had modelled for AquaLux, wouldn't she have tagged the company?

Dan was scrolling. "You have a lot of pictures on yachts."

"That's because people will pay more to see me in a bikini than in a dress."

"Unless the dress is made from cotton candy?"

"I used to love cotton candy. Mom hardly ever used to let me have it because she said it would ruin my teeth and my figure. I was eating bits off that dress all night, but after what happened at the Glitz Awards…" Luna shuddered. "Even the smell of it makes me sick now."

Knox was still watching her, but a little of the animosity faded from his eyes, and Ryder understood that Knox was starting to see the real Luna. The vulnerability she kept hidden from the world.

"Huh," Dan said. "I always figured that was a publicity stunt."

"Maybe it was for the creep who threw the water, but it wasn't for me."

She sounded so fucking sad, and Ryder wished they were still on Valentine Cay. It had been a sanctuary in more ways than one.

"Okay, I've gone back four years. Can you remember anything else about the job?"

"There was a huge hot tub. I hate pools and hot tubs and even regular tubs, but Mom said I was just being a coward and there was a contract. So I had to get in it. Oh!" A pause, and her face scrunched into a grimace. "Tamsin Treska was there, and she kicked me under the water. The bruise went purple and my make-up artist hated me."

"The two of you don't get along?"

"Not since I beat her into first runner-up position at Miss Nevada Teen Radiance. Then her singing career fizzled out, and I hit number one on the Billboard chart, and she hated me even more."

"I think I have it." Dan turned the laptop again, and there was Luna in a hot-pink bikini, laughing as she tossed a volleyball to a pretty brunette with obviously fake breasts. "You were hawking the hot tubs and not the yachts?"

"Maybe? I don't remember. There was another guy there with the sleaze, and Tamsin hooked up with him—like, on the boat—and she was bragging about it afterward. Who does that? Sleeps with a freaking stranger?"

Ryder nodded toward Dan, and this time, Luna turned red.

"Oh."

"Not anymore," Dan said. "I'm very happily not-quite-married now."

"Ethan still hasn't popped the question?" Knox asked, and Ryder was glad for the subject change.

"No, but he's bought the ring, so things are moving in the right direction."

"How do you know he bought the ring?"

"Please. I'm a private investigator." When Knox fixed her with a look, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. I was in Ethan's office, and his assistant was getting lunch, so I figured I'd be helpful and answer the phone. The jeweller said the ring was ready, and I asked if he meant the engagement ring, and he said ‘yes.' I'm assuming it's for me. If it's not, nobody will ever find the body."

"At least you don't know what it looks like. That part will still be a surprise."

Dan put her head in her hands. "Platinum band, three-carat marquise-cut diamond in the centre, half-carat tapered baguette-cut ruby on each side."

"Dare I even ask?"

"Well, I couldn't exactly tell Ethan that the jeweller called, could I? So I borrowed his assistant's computer to send an email, and while I was doing that, I might have run a tiny search on his inbox. I just couldn't help it." She gasped and pressed both hands to her cheeks. "Does this work for shocked?"

"You should cry," Luna said. "One time, a guy offered me two hundred bucks to hold up a banner on stage asking his girlfriend to marry him, and she cried loads."

"You charged for a proposal?"

"No, I did it for free, but Mom was mad that I turned down the cash."

"Your mom is a real lowlife."

Luna just looked at the floor. Dan was right, and she'd said what Ryder had been dancing around for the past three weeks. Amethyst Puckett was a grade-A, first-class bitch.

"Here we go…" Dan went on. "The yacht was called Bestia. Same yacht appeared on a cached version of the AquaLux website for sale five years ago. So, Aiden owned the yacht, and some other schmuck installed the hot tub on the upper deck. Five years ago… Aiden was dating Caro then. He's a double sleaze."

Another shudder from Luna, and fuck it, Ryder slid an arm around her waist. She tucked herself against his side as if that was where she belonged. Knox said nothing, and Dan merely raised an eyebrow. Before she could ask any questions, her phone pinged. Ryder knew from her expression that it wasn't good news, and so did Knox.

"What happened?" he asked. "Is there any news?"

"Another body just washed up. Fernandez called Emmy, and she's on her way to meet him."

Knox closed his eyes and muttered something softly, a prayer or a curse, Ryder couldn't tell.

"Is it…?"

"They don't know, not yet. All we can do is wait."