The Lady Who Sang High: A Reed Ferguson Mystery (A Private Investigator Mystery Series - Crime Suspense Thriller Book 7) by Renee Pawlish

cleared. I reached a hand to my head. A bump was already forming above my ear, but it didn’t seem too serious. It’d be tender tomorrow. I was lucky my assailant had bad aim. Or couldn’t see well in the darkness. “I think I’ll be okay.”
    She scrutinized me. “Your cheek looks a little swollen.”
    “I’ll ice it later.”
    “What happened?”
    “I heard voices in the warehouse. When I investigated, someone doused the lights, hit me and searched me.”
    “They robbed you? In here?” She was incredulous.
    I thought for a second. “I don’t know if I was robbed.” I felt for my wallet. Still there. I reached into my front pockets. The change I had was there as well, and my keys.
    “Keys,” I said slowly.
    She gazed at me, then it dawned on her. “They took the shed key.”
    I nodded. “It’s gone.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     
    Jodie stared at me, chagrined.
    “Who was it?”
    “I don’t know. There were two of them. I think they went out the back.” I explained about seeing the shadowy light near the back door.
    “You didn’t see who left?”
    “It was dark.” I grimaced. “I’m not even sure I actually saw the door open.”
    “You took a blow to the head. It wouldn’t be unusual if you were a bit confused after the fact.”
    “They knew I had the key.”
    “Yeah?” Her tone said she was trying to follow my thinking.
    “So I did hear someone upstairs,” I said. “They heard us in Jude’s office and knew we had the key.”
    “Who was it? Everyone was gone and I locked the front door.”
    “Who has keys to the building?”
    “Jude, Wes, Heath, Carlo, Ivy and me.”
    “So practically everybody.”
    “No, Bill, Pete and some other part-timers don’t have one.”
    I sighed. “Okay. All but a few of Blue Light’s employees have keys to the building. Or someone could’ve broken in.”
    I stood up and tested my balance. Not too bad, a throb that would soon become a hammering headache, but not much else. “Let’s check the back.”
    She followed me past a half dozen plants that I’d toppled over.
    “We’ve got to take care of these,” she said.
    “It can wait.”
    She put her hands on her hips. “Are you kidding? Do you know how much money that is?”
    “All right.” I held up a hand in surrender. “Let me look around and then we’ll take care of them.”
    “No! They need to be taken care of right now or –”
    I glared at her and she shut her mouth. We went to the back door and I opened it, wary of who might be outside. She was behind me, breathing in short, anxious gasps.
    “Is anyone there?” she whispered.
    I shook my head. “Stay here.”
    I stepped into the alley and she held open the door. The sun had set, and dark shadows enveloped me. I glanced around but saw no one.
    “Is there a flashlight handy?”
    “Not here,” she said. “Up in the front.”
    I let my eyes rove around, looking for anything that might give me a clue to whom I’d seen. Nothing.
    “Whoever it was, they’re gone,” she said.
    “Unless they’re still in the building.”
    “I thought you said they left.” Her voice shook.
    “I thought they did. But what if I was wrong. Then…” I didn’t finish the sentence. “Was the alarm set?”
    “No. Usually the last one out sets it.”
    “That would be us.”
    She nodded.
    “Let’s check inside,” I said.
    I took one final look around, then came back inside. I examined the lock and door carefully. It didn’t look like either had been tampered with. Satisfied that I’d discovered nothing, I shut the door tightly and Jodie locked it, and then we canvassed the entire building twice. Unless someone was playing dodge with us, we were the only two there. We ended up where we’d started, in the back of the warehouse.
    “Can we please take care of them now?” she asked, waving at the distressed plants.
    “Yes,” I said, drawing out the word.
    We spent a half hour getting the plants set upright and the dirt back inside the pots. Then she