Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Heat

“You reminding me won’t stop me from giving you my opinion.”

“So what happened to Leo?” Chase asked, giving Odelia a wink.

Gran shrugged. “How should I know? They’ve forbidden him from the house—kicked him out on his ear. The poor man is probably lying in a gutter somewhere, wondering what he did wrong.” She wagged an admonishing finger. “You can’t stop true love. You can beat us—you can arrest us—you can send us to the electric chair for all I care, but nothing will keep Leo and me apart. We’re like Romeo and Juliet. Though Leo told me he’s not going to try and climb to my balcony on account of his arthritis. That and he just had a hip replacement.”

“Leo Wetland is married, Mom,” Chief Alec said with a sigh.

“His wife is in a retirement home so that doesn’t count,” Gran said stubbornly. “She’s no good to him all drugged up and bedridden and all.”

“I just don’t think it’s very nice of him to run around with you while his wife is laid up is all,” said Uncle Alec, throwing down his napkin.

“The man has needs,” Gran insisted. “And so do I.”

“So find yourself a decent man,” Mom insisted. “Not this… weasel.”

Gran narrowed her eyes into slits. “Who are you calling a weasel?”

“Leo! He should be by his wife’s side—her aid and support.”

“You know how hard it is for a girl to find a decent guy at my age?” Gran asked, changing tack. “There’s so few good men out there.”

“So? That doesn’t mean you have to steal other people’s husbands.”

Gran threw up her hands. “If you’re all going to gang up on me I’ve got nothing more to say. I’m out of here.” At this, she got up, her chin in the air. Then she caught sight of Mom’s apple pie and promptly sat down again. “Maybe after dessert.”

“Don’t you have any other suspects apart from this chef?” Dad asked.

The Chief leaned back, his hands on his belly. “Well, there’s Skad’s assistant. Stacie Roebuck. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet, but she told one of my officers that she was in her hotel room all night. I don’t think it’ll be hard to verify that she was. Those rooms all have key cards, and the data is accessible to hotel security, complete with date and time stamp, so…”

“I heard she was pretty bullied by Niklaus,” said Chase.

“Yes, she was,” the Chief confirmed. “First line of fire and all that.”

“She could have done it out of revenge,” said Dad.

“Let’s talk to her first thing tomorrow,” said Uncle Alec. “In the meantime…” He eyed that apple pie longingly. “What’s for dessert, Marge?”

Mom smiled. “Maybe you should skip dessert for once?”

There was a howl of protest, and it was obvious Uncle Alec wasn’t about to go on a diet anytime soon.

“Wait,” said Dad, getting up. “Before you bring out the pie, there’s something I wanted to get off my chest.”

They all looked at Dad, who was holding up his glass of wine. “Being here with you all warms my heart. And you know I appreciate you for joining my beautiful wife and me around the dinner table each and every night. But this isn’t like any other night. In fact this is a very special night.”

His eyes flickered with delight as Mom clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Tex. You didn’t…”

“I sure did. Today, thirty years ago, I met the most wonderful woman in the world.”

“Who was she?” Alec quipped.

“She’s sitting right here,” said Tex. “It took me another five years to wear down her resistance and get her to say yes to me.”

“We were too young, Tex,” Mom said.

“You’re still too young,” Gran grumbled.

“And when finally she agreed to be my wife, she made me the happiest man in the world.” He held up his glass in a salute. “Here’s to you, Marge. I love you.”

“I love you, Tex,” Mom said, and then they all raised their glasses, and drank to the couple.

To Odelia’s surprise, Dad got out a bulky package next, and placed it next to Mom’s plate. “Just a small token of my appreciation for all that you do for our family on a daily basis,” he said, taking a seat again.

“Oh, Tex,” she said, a little flustered. “You shouldn’t have.”

Odelia saw that the packaging indicated the store was Ziv Riding’s. So when Mom parted the paper and picked out a blouse, she wasn’t surprised.

“Hey, isn’t that the store where Leo bought me my sweater?” Gran asked.

“It is,” Odelia said, suddenly getting a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Can I take a look, Mom?” she asked.

“It’s beautiful, Tex,” Mom gushed. “Thank you so much.”

Odelia took the blouse and checked the wash care label.

“What are you looking for, honey?” Tex asked with a laugh. “It’s the genuine article, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“I know it’s the genuine article, Dad,” she said, her grandmother looking on excitedly. “Just that…” She poked at the label, trying to see if something was hidden inside. And then she saw it. She dug her finger in and removed a small piece of paper, ripping it from the seam that had held it inside the label.

“What’s that?” asked her dad, his smile disappearing.

She placed it on the table, and they all leaned in to see. The label said, ‘HELP US! WE PRISONERS HERE!’

Chapter 15

The next morning, Dooley and I decided to go out and do some more sleuthing. We both felt that with all that was going on, we’d neglected our sacred duty to Odelia to do all we could to help her solve this celebrity chef’s murder. The drama with Diego and Brutus had momentarily distracted us, but no more!

Unfortunately the drama hadn’t abated. Harriet and Diego had eloped. They hadn’t been home all night, and Dooley was starting to worry. I didn’t, since I knew that Harriet could take care of herself. Besides, I hadn’t forgotten how she kept hounding me to be BFFs with Brutus, and now suddenly she’d completely lost interest in the cat herself.

Well, two could play that game. I’d lost interest in her. Frankly, I felt betrayed. Harriet knew how we felt about Diego. In the rare moment we’d had her all to ourselves, we’d made it perfectly clear. And still she decided to run with the cat. Well, as far as I was concerned, she was on her own.

“Let’s go, Brutus,” I said, after chomping down a final piece of kibble.

We’d taken the big cat under our wing. After much debate, we figured we couldn’t simply let him hang around the house and be miserable. Better to get him out and about, helping the investigation along. I was sure it would do him a world of good. Besides, I hadn’t lied. There were plenty of other female felines in the world. Maybe one would catch Brutus’s eye and he’d forget all about that treacherous Harriet.

“Do I have to?” Brutus asked morosely.

“Yes, you do,” I said. “No use moping. You need to move past this.”

“But what if Harriet comes home, looking for me? I won’t be here.”

“She won’t come home looking for you,” I said. And when Dooley gave me the angry look again, I added, “Better to get the truth out there, buddy. Harriet won’t be home anytime soon. So you better forget all about her and that Diego.”

At the sound of his rival’s name, a dark look came over Brutus’s face. Yeah, I know it’s hard to see with a black cat like Brutus, but trust me. The dark look came. It was there. “I never want to hear that name again,” he said with a low growl.

“Sure. Let’s just call him… Ivan, shall we?”

“Why Ivan?” asked Dooley, curiously.

“Why not? It’s a name.”

“Let’s call him He Who Cannot Be Named,” Brutus suggested.