“Wouldn’t miss it. You know how news travels.”
“In this town, like wildfire.” The thought brought another shiver. What in the hell was this asshole up to? “I’m so sorry, Roxie.”
“It’s alright. However, whenever you have the time to paint a few more, I’ll take everything you can get.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I held a smile until I walked out, scanning the street and half expecting to see some guy standing like a statue watching me. There wasn’t.
Just as I made it to my car, I called Darlene. “Hey, girl.” It was time I took the bull by the horns.
“Hey, you. You’re not calling to cancel tonight. Right? Like everybody in town is coming. A real hero celebration.”
“I think even Viper is looking forward to it. That’s not why I’m calling. Did you find anything about the lighter yet?”
“Well, what the guy at the bar told you was true. Now, I mentioned the discovery to my father and he did seem interested, taking it to check for fingerprints.”
“Was he interested in the stalker?”
Now she laughed. “My father is a pragmatist, girlfriend. He was silent.”
As I figured. I rolled my eyes. Like that was going to work. “What about Sam?”
She sighed. “Well, you aren’t going to believe this, but Sam is on vacation. I stopped by myself just last night to have a nice, long chat with him. The female bartender was eager to provide me with the news. But I do have Sam’s full name, which my father now has. Not that he was keen on my sleuthing abilities.”
“Just like Viper. What is it about men?”
“Do you want me to tell you?” Darlene huffed.
“Uh, no. Did your father say anything else?”
“No, but he couldn’t given the active investigation. Now, I’m doing some crosschecks on cases from around the timeframe, but unless a death is involved, I might not find anything. The best bet is to talk to the fire marshal, Jane Province. She doubles as the forensic inspector and she has the memory of an elephant.”
“Maybe I’ll try and talk to her.”
“I am not telling you to call her. Why not mention it to that handsome man of yours?”
As soon as I shifted and the material of my shorts rubbed across my butt, I was reminded of how he’d handled that conversation. Not that I had any real discomfort left, but the memory of the spanking was ripe and raw.
And I would get him back one day.
“I did and I’ve heard nothing since.”
Darlene sighed. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
“There’s something else. My paintings are being taken, and were stolen from Holden’s pet store.”
“What?”
“Ask your dad about what happened. There’s an active investigation on Holden’s, although the officer wasn’t taking the disappearance of a few paintings very seriously. Supposedly, there was camera footage sent so I hope his detectives take the time to watch it.” A little white lie, but maybe their keen eyes would see something I couldn’t.
“That is… weird, but I’ll figure out a way of telling my dad.”
“We’re missing something, a connection with my parents. The university. The sporting goods store.”
“Just try not to think about it. I’ll mention what happened at the pet store to the chief, but you know how my dad is.” Her tone was full of ire.
I climbed into my car. “Yes, I do.”
“Maybe I’ll have something by tonight.”
