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“What?” That had not been a part of the deal. Murdoch in her house, while she slept. While shedreamed, probably of him. On a night she was feeling more alone than she had in a long, long time. A night when her heart still raced at how close she had come to losing Pen.
She’d be dragging him into her bed and doing something she definitely shouldn’t within an hour.
Talk about a terrifying thought.
“You honestly think I am leaving youalonethe night your baby sister was almost abducted, with you having a billionaire bubby? You are cray-cray, Zoey Sofia. Cray-cray. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“I have a spare bedroom.” She was just too tired to argue. And…she didn’t want to be alone. Just not tonight. How close she had come to losing her sister…No. She didn’t want to be alone tonight. “It still has Pen’s bed in it. You can sleep there. But…you will behave yourself. Or I’ll sic my older brothers on you.”
“That is kind of scary. I’ve seen those three giants you call big bubbies, after all. But…it’s a deal.”
* * *
He wasthe one place he had always wanted to be.
And he’d promised to be a good boy, damn it. Murdoch stepped into her house—and promptly tripped over that damned cat. “Peach, we are going to have to talk.”
“He gets in somehow. I still haven’t figured out how. I think he waits until I leave, and shimmies down the chimney.”
“You don’t have a chimney, babe.”
“Then the cat has a key. This cat is the mystery Pen and I have never been able to solve. Well, one of them. I have copies of everything with my birth family here. But…”
“You want to focus on who would have or could have done this tonight.” He wasn’t stupid. She had that Warrior Woman look in her eyes.
“I don’t know how I can’t. I can’t just sit back and wait for Major Crimes to come up with something. I’m a cop, Murdoch. I investigate.”
She was a cop—for now. But she would probably be one at heart for always. “Let’s be honest. It’s not the cop in you that’s riled up right now. It’s the mom.”
“Is that so surprising?”
“Not for someone that knows you. My favorite times to watch you—before, of course—was when you were being Pen’s mom. Made me less afraid of you, dear. Far less afraid. So, what do we know so far?”
“Follow me. I have the perfect spot we can work in.” She headed toward the back of her little bungalow.
“This place has a third bedroom?”
“No, not really. Technically, without a closet, this isn’t a bedroom. I’ve always just used it as a home office.” She shot him a look. “I didn’t always trust my partner not to mess with my toys at first.”
“I probably would have. You always got so snotty when I did that. I loved moving your stuff around—so you’d flash those eyes at me. I lived for those days. You are going to miss me most of all, you know.”
She pushed open the door. “I painted the wall with whiteboard paint. It makes it easier. I should still have some markers somewhere. I haven’t packed everything yet. I left things out for tomorrow’s court appearance, for one thing.”
“Well, then. Let’s get started.”
Twenty minutes later, Murdoch stepped back with frustration. They had a redheaded man with blue eyes, and a Garrity Exterminator van. That was it. “We may have to consider that the guys who did this were hired. Didn’t the FBI crack that abduction for ransom ring that was stretching from LA to Oregon and down to Mexico last year?”
“Shortly after I was shot,” she said. “But just because they were arrested, doesn’t mean someone else didn’t get the same idea. Plus, Luc, and Marc, have made plenty of enemies here. People who don’t want another handful of factories ‘sullying the landscape.’ They could have tried to take Pen in retaliation?”
“How well known as his sister are you and Pen now?”
“Not well known, but far more than I want to think about. Since the shooting. Except what has been in theSnotty Garlic. But anyone with a basic skill in using the internet could have stumbled onto something. Ariella is a known sibling of Luc. And my name has been linked with hers a few times. As the sister-in-law of the governor, for one thing. Anyone finding a photo of her and one of me—and there have even been some of the two us together—it wouldn’t be a hard leap. And if they foundme,it would be far too simple to learn about Pen.”
“True. And we may need to accept another truth. Until we can get out there tomorrow and look for the van—you may have to just let Major Crimes take this.”
“Just sit back and wait.”
“Exactly. Until we get more to go on. I’ve still got two weeks here in Garrity. I’m going to find that van. And the people responsible.”
