Sweet Little Lies by Bianca Sloane

I’ve got someone watching her, and I’m working on tracking her cell phone.”
    “Make sure they stay on her. If Kelly Ross is going to anyone, she’s going to Shelia Stevens. She could lead us right to her.”
    They continued in silence, pulling up to the motel moments later. They made their way to the front, where a pretty young girl was standing at the front desk, typing on a computer. Hanson flashed his badge at the girl.
    “Can I help you?” she asked.
    “Are you Julia Martinez?” Didi asked.
    The girl shook her head. “No, she’s in the back. Hang on, and I’ll get her.”
    The girl disappeared into a back room and, within seconds, Julia Martinez walked out.
    “May I help you?”
    “Detective Martin. This is my partner, Detective Hanson. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
    “Sure.” Julia gestured to two pink and blue plaid couches in the lobby. The trio sat down, Hanson and Didi on one couch, Julia facing them on another.
    “You said Kelly Ross stayed here last night. How do you know it was her?” Didi asked.
    “Well, I didn’t realize it was her at first. I mean, I thought she looked familiar, but then I was reading the paper on the El on my way to work today and saw her picture.”
    “What time did she check in?” Hanson asked.
    Julia screwed up her face in concentration. “Um, maybe about five-forty-five? Ten to? I know because I got off work at six, and she was the last person to check in on my shift.”
    Hanson licked his lips and leaned closer. “How was she acting?”
    “Um…she seemed dazed. She was very nice though. She made a point of looking at my nametag and calling me by name and saying thank you, which let me tell you, in this place? Not a lot of people do that. Gave me a really nice tip. Although, she had some blood on her shirt and hands. She said she’d dropped a glass and cut herself.”
    Hanson and Didi stole a quick look at each other. Julia Martinez was oblivious as she continued her story, wrapped up in her brush with celebrity.
    “It’s funny because I use her products. I used to have really bad acne, but I started using her stuff and bam! My skin cleared up in two weeks after ten years.”
    Didi and Hanson looked at each other again.
    “We need to see the room where she stayed,” Didi said.
    “Oh, sure. I’ll show you. Wait here a second.”
    Julia bopped over to the front desk to get the key for what had been Kelly Monroe’s room. Didi leaned over to Hanson, dropping her voice. “Perky little thing, isn’t she?”
    “Yeah, well, I’m glad that perky little thing was paying attention and called us.”
    Julia walked back over to the detectives and motioned for them to follow her. They took the elevator up to room four-twelve.
    “Damn it,” he mumbled as he looked around. Clean as a whistle.
    “You didn’t tell us the room had already been cleaned,” Didi said.
    Julia bit her lip. “Sorry, I forgot.”
    “How did she pay?” Didi asked.
    “Oh, uh, cash.” Julia cocked her head to one side. “She said because she only needed the room for one night, she wanted to pay cash.”
    “Any calls made from the room?” Didi asked.
    “Um, probably not. She kind of made a big deal about how she wouldn’t use the phone in the room, because she had a cell phone. I can check the records though just to be sure.”
    Hanson was walking around the room trying to see if perhaps Kelly Ross had left something behind that housekeeping had missed. Nothing. Fuck.
    “Who cleaned this room?” he asked.
    Julia frowned. “Our housekeeping staff,” she responded.
    “I want to talk to the person who cleaned it.”
    “Um, okay. I’ll check the log of who had this floor.”
    “Can we find out now about those phone calls while we’re at it?” Didi asked.
    “Oh, yeah, sure, we can get all that information from downstairs.”
    Julia came back up and reported that Kelly had made no calls. She then located the maid who had cleaned the room, and Hanson and Didi