Page 2 of Everyone’s a Liar

“We all lie, sweetie.” Marcel pressed a hand against his chest. “Even us saints.”

“You?” Livia snorted. “A saint?”

“Just ask my momma.” Marcel batted his lashes.

Livia managed a weak smile before abruptly turning to pace toward the large front windows. “I’ll agree you’re more saintlike than any other person in my life.”

“Okay, Livia, spill the tea.” Marcel easily sensed her coiled tension. “What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

Livia stared blindly at the sun-drenched parkway that rimmed Lake Pontchartrain. It was almost summer and tourist season was in full swing, filling the streets with happy sightseers.

“You remember I gave Jacob a key to my house last Friday,” she demanded, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Yes, you were hoping for a candlelit dinner after a hard day at the office, right?”

“That’s what Jacob wanted. Or at least, that’s what he told me.” Her stomach twisted into a knot of betrayal. “It felt a little soon for me, we’d only been dating a month, but he pointed out that I hate to go out to a noisy restaurant after working all day, and if he could get into the house before I got home, he could have dinner waiting and we could enjoy a nice, peaceful evening together.” Livia’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “How was I supposed to resist? I hate cooking, I hate restaurants, but I love a good meal and a glass of wine after a long day.”

“Let me guess. There was no candlelight and no dinner?”

“No nothing.” Livia rubbed the goose bumps suddenly coating her bare arms. This morning she’d chosen a sleeveless white silk shirt to match with her black pencil skirt. Summer in Louisiana wasn’t for the faint of heart. It was already suffocatingly hot.

“I haven’t seen him since the night I gave him the key,” she admitted in grim tones. “He texted me to say he was too busy to get together this weekend and that it would probably be next Friday before he’d have time to meet up.”

“Putting you off for an entire week?” Marcel clicked his tongue. “Not a good sign.”

Livia sighed. Of course it wasn’t a good sign. And if she’d taken one moment to question why the man who claimed to be falling in love with her was suddenly MIA, she might have realized something was up. Instead, she’d blissfully gone about her business without a care in the world.

“I didn’t think about it until my nosy neighbor—”

“Which nosy neighbor? Betty or Lester or Eva?” Marcel interrupted.

“Betty.” She tried to keep the impatience from her tone. It was a legitimate question. Livia lived in a quiet suburb where people-watching was the favorite hobby of her neighbors. The primary culprit was Betty Stonewell, who lived next door. Livia found her poking and prying into other people’s private lives annoying, but she kept her mouth shut. In Betty’s mind, she was simply being a good neighbor. “She stopped me after I got home last night. She was gushing about my decision to invite ‘that nice young gentleman’ to move in and suggested it was time he made an honest woman of me.”

“Honest woman of you?” Marcel laughed. “She did not say that.”

“It was implied,” Livia conceded, slowly turning back to meet her companion’s curious gaze. “Anyway, I told her that Jacob hadn’t moved into my house and asked her why she thought he was living there. She looked confused and said she’d seen him coming and going during the last couple of days.”

Marcel folded his arms on the desk and leaned forward. “He was at your house when you weren’t there?”

“That’s what she said.”

“Maybe she made a mistake. You said she’s elderly.”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Livia had gone into her house and tried to dismiss Betty’s intrusive probing. The woman had always seemed in her right mind, but who knew? She was getting older. It would be understandable if she was getting confused. “But it bothered me. There was no reason for Jacob to be at the house during the day, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been someone else sneaking around the neighborhood. Thieves sometimes creep around an area a few days before they decide where they want to break in.” She sucked in a deep breath. “So, I decided to check my security videos.”

“And?”

“And they were blank.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that possible? A glitch?”

“Definitely not. They were deliberately erased.”

Marcel released a low whistle. “The thief?”