Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat Takes The Cake

“I think it means that North was stalking Byrd’s wife or girlfriend. Byrd wants him to stop, but North has some kind of pictures that Byrd doesn’t want anyone to see.”

So no, the e-mail shorthand was not a puzzle to Tanner, Chase thought. “And North knows something about Byrd being somewhere that he shouldn’t have been. I mean North knew that.”

“Right. He’s not threatening anyone now, is he? Byrd, I mean.”

“They were threatening each other,” Chase said. “I wonder if this was a stalemate. I don’t remember hearing about any incriminating photos of Dickie. What’s the date of this exchange?”

Tanner scrolled up. “Two weeks ago.”

“Oh, recently. So this is fresh stuff. The police need to know about this.”

Tanner blanched and his fingers stilled. “No, you can’t do that. You can’t tell them I hacked in here.”

Chase nodded slowly. “Yes, I see that.” But she had the knowledge. She should be able to find another way to get the information to the police. After all, she had seen Byrd kissing that woman. Maybe North had pictures of those two. And maybe Byrd spent some time with that woman when he was supposed to be somewhere else. Like at home. How would she go about ferreting out this stuff?

“Thanks, Tanner. This is a big help.”

He got up and stretched. He’d been sitting for over two hours straight and even his young body must have felt stiff. “No problem. Let me know if you need anything else like this. It’s fun stuff.”

“Can I get you something to drink? To eat?”

He glanced at the time in the corner of the computer monitor. “No, I better go. I’m late.”

After he left, she checked whether any pages were open that referenced material she would rather he didn’t see. There didn’t seem to be, but how easy would it be for Tanner to cover his tracks? He sure knew his way around a computer. Chase wondered if Mike Ramos had known about all of Tanner’s talents when he recommended him.

She had a little session with Quincy, giving him his Kitty Patty and a Go Go Ball, then headed for the salesroom through the kitchen.

“Julie called,” Anna said. She was up to her elbows in powdered sugar, sprinkling it with flair over a new batch of Hula Bars. It must have been the wintry feel to the weather that was selling the pineapple-coconut concoctions like hotcakes. They tasted like summer. Anna had been baking them all morning to replenish the supply. “She’s bringing lunch.”

“She’s not working today?”

“She said something about having to be in the neighborhood. I’ll bet that’s her now.”

They both heard the back door open and Julie appeared a moment later, laden with Mexican takeout bags.

“Mmm,” Chase said, sniffing the tangy aroma of the flavored meat. “Tacos or burritos?”

“Some of each,” Julie said, depositing the bags on the center island counter. “I got some for Mallory, too. Inger’s not working today, right? That’s what Grandma said.” Julie sounded fine, but there was worry in her eyes. Her face was tight.

“She had a doctor’s appointment this morning,” Chase said. “She’s coming in later this afternoon.”

“Good,” Julie said. “I would have picked up something a bit more bland if I’d thought she would be here.”

“She’s all done with morning sickness, but she still doesn’t like to be around spicy food,” Anna said. “That’s understandable.”

Chase remembered what a picky eater Inger had been when she’d stayed in her apartment after her parents kicked her out.

“Anna said you had to be in the area,” Chase said, picking up a soft taco and biting off the end. “Mm. Love these.” The cheese melted on her tongue, mitigating the spicy beef a tad.

“I’m going to visit Hilda Bjorn again about my pro bono case, right after we eat. It’s been crazy at work.”

“Oh good,” Chase said. “I’d sure like to know what’s going on with that. Is a pro bono case confidential?”

“Well, yes. But if I find anything criminal is going on, I’ll turn it over to the DA’s office.”

“Will you know that just from talking to her?” Anna asked.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But I can contact some of my former colleagues there and they can dig if I think they need to.”

“It has to be criminal, doesn’t it?” Chase said, reaching for another taco. “Offering such a ridiculously low price?”

“They’re taking advantage of an old woman.” Anna didn’t consider herself old, of course.

“They’re not the only ones,” Julie said. “You’d be amazed at how many seniors get swindled over the phone and the Internet.”

“My cousin,” Anna said, “gave out her credit card number and her bank account information to someone who called offering her life insurance. She never saw the insurance, or the five thousand dollars the crook took out of her bank account.”

“That’s awful,” Julie said. “Did she tell someone?”

“Yes. She lives in Oregon and the authorities have all the information. I don’t think they caught anyone, but the bank says they’ll make good on the money. She has no idea how long that will take.”

Julie stuffed her burrito wrapper into the now empty bag and rinsed her fingers at the sink. “I’d better get going.”

“I wish I could come and hear what Ms. Bjorn says.” Chase was picking up the tidbits that had dropped from her tacos.

Julie gave her a stern look. “You know you can’t do that.”

She did know. Julie had broken so many rules for her, though, that she sometimes lost sight of the boundaries. However, Chase thought she could probably find out the gist of their conversation from the horse’s mouth—Hilda Bjorn. Or maybe even from Professor Fear. He was so good about taking care of his neighbor. And, if the rumors were true, he would soon receive a similar offer on his house.

“See you later.” Julie smiled as she swept out the back door.

Chase gathered up the last of the debris. “I’ll go get Mallory to eat her lunch.”

“Let me take a turn up front,” Anna said. “I haven’t worked the floor today. I don’t think there’s any kitchen work that needs doing. I may make another batch later.”

“You don’t need to practice for the Batter Battle?”

“Tonight I will. Bill is going to come here to talk about his suit for the wedding and I’ll work on my technique.”

Chase decided to catch up on paperwork in the office. The phone on the desk rang before she sat down. She didn’t recognize the number. “Yes?”

“Hey, Eddie here. You free for lunch tomorrow?”

Her heart raced at the thought of Eddie Heath. She wished it wouldn’t, but it did just the same. “Hi, Eddie. I’m not sure. I usually work here all day.”

“You wanna check?”

She didn’t want to go to his health bar, she was sure about that. But she needed to talk to someone who knew these people. He knew the principal and Dickie Byrd, of course, and Ron North. But she hadn’t found anyone who knew Langton Hail, the funny little guy who wore vests. Maybe she would have lunch with him and pick his brain. “I’ll call you back in a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll be waiting here.”

She wondered where “here” was. She checked on the kitchen. Mallory was wolfing down a burrito and said she would be ready to return to work in a couple of minutes. When she poked her head through the doors into the salesroom, Anna was neatening the shelves.

“Not busy?” Chase asked.

“No, not since the six customers who were here when I came out.”

Chase returned to her office and sat in her chair, petted Quincy, and pondered whether she should have lunch again with the delectable Eddie Heath, who was a certifiable health nut and who was not Michael Ramos.