Free Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 03 - Insatiable by Emily Kimelman Page B

plotting Alejandro’s murder. That way Mulberry was still on my side. “I don’t know,” I said.
    She turned away, looking out the window. “I think he did,” she said.

RICH AND EASY

    The stewardess, whose name tag read Nicole, handed me a Bloody Mary without even asking. Darcy left nothing to chance. “I need to make a phone call,” I said.
    Nicole nodded and gestured toward a handset at the front of the plane.
    “Who are you calling?” Ana Maria asked me.
    “An old friend,” I said, getting up.
    I took a long sip of my Bloody Mary before picking up the phone. I needed to call Mulberry. I didn’t know if I could trust him, but I at least owed him the opportunity to explain. Additionally, it felt safe to call from a plane. Try tracing this one, ha.
    “Mulberry, it’s Sydney.”
    “Jesus, what’s going on?” he sounded worried.
    “I was going to ask you the same.”
    “Where are you?”
    “I need some questions answered first.”
    “What?” He was remaining calm and I tried to do the same.
    “What were Blane and I supposed to do?”
    “Bring the girl home.” I paused, it sounded rehearsed. Or was that my imagination?
    “What about Alejandro?”
    “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
    “What?”
    “Blane says you killed him,” he whispered, as if saying it out loud made it true.
    “Jesus,” I said.
    “What happened?”
    I looked over at Ana Maria. She was sipping her Coke and looking at the clouds outside the window. “Blane killed Alejandro,” I said.
    “Where are you?”
    “I can’t trust you, Mulberry.”
    “Sydney, why? I believe you.”
    I laughed. “A lot of good that does me.”
    He sighed. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about all of this.”
    “I’m getting sick of you apologizing.”
    “Then let me make it up to you. Let me help.”
    I chewed on the straw that came with my drink. “I’ll think about it,” I said, and then hung up before he got the chance to respond.
    None of this made any sense. I didn’t know what side Mulberry was on or why there were suddenly sides. A couple of days ago my life made sense. I laughed at that thought because it was so stupid. My life never made sense.
    “What’s going on?” Ana Maria asked.
    I chewed on my straw some more. “Blane is saying that I killed Alejandro.”
    Her eyebrows pushed together in conference over her dark eyes. “I don’t understand.”
    “Me either,” I admitted.
    She sipped her Coke looking over the edge of her glass at me with wide eyes. I picked up a newspaper and tried to read it but my mind was too full. I could risk trusting Mulberry which might work out, but with Bobby Maxim involved I needed to be very careful. Of course, it was possible that both Mulberry and Maxim were out of the loop. Maybe, as I hoped, Blane and Pedro had their own thing going on. It wouldn’t be the first time Bobby misjudged the maniacal nature of one of his associates.
    I glanced over at Ana Maria again. She was picking at a hang nail, looking almost bored. Blue sat next to me and leaned his weight against my side. It felt good. I slung an arm over his shoulder and looked over at him. “Here we go again, boy,” I said, kissing the crown of his head.
    When we landed “to refuel,” Nicole asked if we wanted to stretch our legs. We stepped out onto the tarmac into a hot night. The wind was up and clouds moved across the sky quickly. It looked like rain was on its way.
    “There is a lovely view of the ocean just on the other side of that fence,” Nicole told me. “The gate is rarely locked,” she said, pointing to a nearby exit. “Town is not far from here. There is a hotel not even a mile down the road if you can believe it. You could walk or catch a cab. If you weren’t headed to Jamaica, that is.”
    “Thanks,” I said, with a smile.
    “What is going on?” Ana Maria asked as we headed for the gate. “I thought we were going to Jamaica.”
    “Not really,” I said, as I pushed open the gate. It let