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“Oh, I know,” Weenie yips. “Bella was forever looking for someone to do her dirty work—and by dirty work, I think she meant her legal career. She loathed her time in the courthouse.”
There’s a thought.
“Maybe Bella wanted some help with her cases?” I present Weenie’s theory to Danya by way of a question.
She shakes her head. “Bella quit cold turkey. She said she hated to lose. Although, I can’t recall her losing but one case. Anyway, whatever animosity lay between Bella and Crane, it was all in good fun. It just may not have looked that way since neither of them was overtly friendly. That’s why I liked Marlena so much. She was very friendly. She really balanced us out, as does your mother.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
A waitress comes by and lands a heaping helping of nachos to the center of the table and Teeny Weenie barks up a joyous storm.
“The mother-chip has landed!” The cute little pooch does a belly flop right into the center of the orange goop and a wave of the sticky stuff splatters all over us.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Danya laughs as she jumps out of her seat and holds her hands out to reveal a spray of nacho cheese glowing like stars on her blue dress. “Please tell your mother I had to leave abruptly. I’ll see you at the Party in Paradise,” she calls out as she takes off.
I glance back at the stage, only to see each of the men getting their bottoms swatted by a stripper commandeering a riding crop and shake my head at Noah for not cutting his losses long before this.
I sure hope his need to remain on stage has more to do with his competitive relationship with his brother rather than the fact Noah likes a good swat to the behind.
I’m about to text Everett and tell him he’s missing quite the show when I spot Jed Silver standing near the bar—sans Sam or my sister.
This is my chance.
I scamper over as quick as my feet will carry me.
“Do you have any leads?” I cut right to the chase as I land next to him.
The complacent smile slips from his face and his expression hardens to stone.
In this low lighting, I can see why Sam and Meg are so anxious to be his plus one. He’s handsome in a mean sort of way. Very mean.
“Whoever it is has moved on.” He shrugs as if he were indifferent. “I’m hearing rumors of major drops being done as far out as Starry Falls. At this rate, we’ll never catch them.”
I choke on the thought. “Yes, we will. You might be a quitter, but I’m not. I’ll reopen Rizzo’s asap if I have to try to lure them back that way.”
And by Rizzo’s, I mean the casino in the back.
“It won’t work. They never return after a bust. But don’t worry, I’m keeping my eyes open. I’m not giving up either.”
I shake my head at him. “I will never give up.”
The raucous music comes to a conclusion and the men step down from the stage after a thorough humiliation.
Cormack all but tackles Noah and forces him to slow dance with her while Suze snaps more pictures—undoubtedly for the baby book.
Noah swears this farce will come to an end once Cormack has her baby next month. He’s not big on upsetting a woman with child—and I happen to side with him on that. I suppose we’ll see just how strong Cormack’s grip on him really is once she pops out her little queen. Cormack has been using this baby as an excuse to get away with murder.
But whoever killed Bella Hall and Marlena Mills won’t be getting away with murder.
I may not have proven to be very good at catching a drug dealer, but I’m darn good at catching a killer.
And come that trouble in paradise disaster this Sunday—I’m going to do just that.
NOAH
“Evie,” I call out as I enter the rolling green lawn of the athletic field right here at Honey Hollow High.
“Uncle Noah,” she shouts with a look of sheer joy on her beautiful face, but I’m positive that joy has less to do with me than it does with the fact she’s wearing a maroon gown with a mortar board flopping on her head.
