The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 19

"Delle?" 

I ignored the voice as I moved down the hall, treating its repeated attempt to gain my attention as proof of insanity that would finally make me look crazy if I responded, instead of my boss trying to reach out to me through the earpiece I wore. 

"How long are you going to ignore me, Delle?" the voice asked again. 

I had fallen asleep in my clothes, waking up in the middle of the night to check the video footage down in the editing room, only to crawl back to bed at five in the morning, getting little more sleep. Michale had been quiet, the following day, matching my silence as he dressed me in something far closer to what I would have normally chosen for myself. 

"Okay, since you refuse to acknowledge my presence, I guess I'll have to do all the talking," the voice said with a hint of frustration. 

I walked down the stairs, sporting a pair of dark jeans that were ripped at the knees, and hugged my hips well. It was honestly creepy how well Allie knew my measurements. The green sweater I wore scooped low across my collarbone, showcasing my shoulders. My hair had been pulled into a long side braid. Overall, I looked like a combination of a cozy girl spending a winter day inside and someone ready to head out on a horse ride... or Cozy Riding Vibes. Something Michale had coined. 

"I already have a meeting set up to talk to Bianca. We only have eight more people on the show to vet. Ace and the other contestants still on the show—"

"Six," I corrected talking for the first time. "It isn't Jess, the Professional Social Media User, or Anna Santos, the Professional Traveler. I checked their deceit levels last night. They aren't hiding anything. And haven't had any spikes of concern either." 

I smiled to myself, pleased that I had discovered a way to check contestants lying trackers and search for any spikes since their arrivals. Jess and Anna were clean. "As for the most likely suspects..." I paused as I walked into the kitchen and plucked up an apple, poured myself a cup of coffee, and walked out into the garden, double-checking that my microphone was off. There were no external microphones around. The tiny spy cameras didn't have external microphones. 

I settled down on a cement bench that faced a trickling fountain. "Prism's deceit levels are all over the place. It's very messy..." I took a bite of the apple, holding it up in front of my face to make sure no camera could see my mouth as I continued. I didn't want the cameras to think I was talking to myself. "But she is a dramatic person so it could just be her being... well her." 

I took a sip of the coffee, keeping the cup close to my face to hide my mouth as I continued. "Emily Grace had a few questionable spikes too..." But most of them seemed to be rooted in jealousy and rage, directed towards me which is fair. I did steel Ace away and make out with him when she was trying to talk to him. 

I pushed away the thought of Ace's lips against mine and continued thinking out loud. "Mary Grace, Sage, and Shay Smith are three that I can't quite get a read on. I'm hoping to do that today while Ace is off on a one-on-one date with..." I swallowed a gulp of scalding coffee, hoping to get her name out easier. "Prism," I said with far more venom than necessary. 

I shouldn't have been irritated that Prism was the first one to get a one-on-one date with Ace. She doesn't matter. Her relationship with Ace doesn't matter. She is just getting in the way of me getting a good read on Ace. Them being alone together doesn't matter. 

I really needed to get my irritation with her existence under control. With how things were going I was half tempted to pin the murder on Prism, which was unfair no matter how many times the image of her looking completely startled as she was dragged to jail made me smile.