“Exhausted.” Otis took the soda and thanked her. “It’s been a hell of a few days.” He drank greedily. “Between the car repairs and the vacation, I’m flat broke.” He made air quotes over the word “vacation.” “The whole thing was a bust. Plus, now you’re looking at me with voodoo eyes!”

Marge took out a notebook. “Why do you say that?”

“Because Adrianna called me and not Garth. If I would’ve known she was going to die, I would’ve…well, I don’t know what I would’ve done. It’s just creepy. Talking to her and then…you know…it’s creepy.”

Marge nodded.

“I mean, like what happened? She was fine when I spoke to her…I mean like she was pissed off royally, but…like it’s so weird.”

“What do you do for a living, Aaron?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. How do you earn money?”

“I’m a GC.”

“General contractor? Like you build houses?”

“Mostly I’m a framing foreman for bigger companies.”

“Okay.” Was it a coincidence that Adrianna was found in a construction sight? Not that Otis could have done it himself if he was miles away. “How’d you meet Garth?”

“We went to school together. I’ve known him since seventh grade.”

“What can you tell me about him?”

“He’s a good guy…a little vain, but hey, why not?”

“You two are pretty tight?”

“We’re good friends. Good enough for me to be shocked if—” He stopped himself.

Marge said, “Has he contacted you since he took off?”

“No.” A beat. “I’m nervous about that. Where would he go if he didn’t go home?”

“That’s what we’re wondering. We’ve checked the airline manifests. He deplaned at Burbank airport, but we lost track of him after that. He’s your friend. If he wanted to hide out, where do you think he’d go?”

“I don’t know.” He flexed a bicep. His bracelets expanded then contracted. “His family is here. Have you tried them?”

“First thing. His mom thought he was still with you.”

“It looks bad for him…to suddenly disappear.”

“Or it could be something bad happened to him. I’d like to find him to make sure he’s all right.”

Otis’s eyes widened. “You think he’s…dead?”

“Don’t know, Aaron. We know Adrianna was murdered. It would grieve me to think that Garth met with the same fate.”

“Wow.” He scratched his swirling-colored arm. “That’s really weird. I was thinking like…you know…”

“No, I don’t know. Tell me.”

“That you thought Garth was like a suspect. Although I don’t know how he’d do anything. By the time he left Reno, he wouldn’t have enough time.”

Marge didn’t argue. Garth had enough time, but it would have been tight. She said, “Tell me about Garth’s reaction when you told him about Adrianna’s phone call.”