“Neesa told me. I tricked her into coming over here earlier today.” Drue held up the bleached strand of hair closest to her face. “She was supposed to be dyeing my hair blond, because she’s studying to be a hairdresser. Thank God, she won’t get that chance. After she had a lot of vodka and a lot of prosecco, she told me everything, but what she didn’t know was that there was a detective in the other room.”

“Wait. So this Neesa person confessed? You’ve got me confused.”

“Yeah, but of course, she claims Byars threatened to kill her if she didn’t help. After he’d killed Jaz, he called her on the walkie-talkie all the housekeepers carry and told her to come to the room. When she got there, he made her help clean it up. He’d already put Jaz’s body in the rolling laundry cart.”

“Ohhh,” Ben said slowly. “But that doesn’t make sense. The hotel security cameras showed Jazmin later that night. Working the late shift.”

Drue managed a smug smile. “Wasn’t Jazmin. It was Neesa. Wearing Jazmin’s hat and keeping her head down.”

“You said something on the phone about Zee being involved?” he prompted.

“Yeah. Zee, he saw the same videos as me. But he never…” She yawned.

“Have you told Brice about any of this?” he asked.

“Hmm?” Her eyelids felt like lead and she was feeling light-headed and nauseous.

“Does Brice know about any of this?” Ben repeated.

“Not yet. Zee’s his friend…”

She managed, with difficulty, to stand up. She stumbled slightly as she headed toward her bedroom.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked, scrambling to his feet and following behind.

“Sleep,” she mumbled. “I gotta sleep. Call me later. Okay? Bye.”

“Yeah, I’ll give you a call,” Ben said. “Sweet dreams.”

Drue heard the front door closing just about the time her stomach began to cramp. She staggered to the bathroom and retched violently.

She was still clinging to the commode, five minutes later, when she heard the front door open and footsteps going down the hall, rapidly, toward the kitchen. She opened her mouth to cry out but she was too weak and too sick. A moment later, she heard the door close again. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breaths were coming in shallow gasps.

Come back, Ben, she whimpered silently.

What was happening to her? She was cold. So very cold. Her hands felt like ice.

At some point, she either passed out or fell asleep. When she came to, she had no concept of time. Her face was pressed against the cold tile of the bathroom floor. Something was very wrong. She had to get to the phone, had to call for help.