Purrfect Heat

Chapter 19

Odelia crossed the lobby to the door, lost in thought. That’s why she didn’t notice Chase until she bumped into him and almost went down. He placed two steadying hands on her shoulders. “Hold your horses, honey. Are you all right?”

The impact had done much to make her aware of the hardness of his chest and the power of his hands. The man was made of solid rock! “Um, yes, I’m fine,” she said, a little flustered. She made an effort to control her beating heart as she stepped away from him. “I wasn’t looking.”

“That’s what I figured,” he said with a hint of a smile. “I’m here to interview another suspect. You?”

“Same thing,” she said. “I just had a chat with Stacie Roebuck.”

“The assistant? What did she have to say?”

“She was alone the night her boss died. Holed up in her room.”

“No alibi, huh?”

“Nope. None, whatsoever. Though I don’t think she did it. You should see her, Chase. She’s this sweet, slim woman.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Incapable of shoving a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound male into an oven?”

“I don’t think she could have done it. And not just physically. She might have disliked her boss—”

“He seemed to have had that effect on a lot of people.”

“—but she respected him for what he’d achieved.”

“All right,” he said. “And I respect your judgment.” He hesitated. “Why don’t you join me?”

“Interviewing a suspect? But I’m not a cop.”

“You’re practically deputized,” he said. “And it’s not like we haven’t done it before.”

That was true enough. They’d interviewed other suspects before. She hadn’t lied to Stacie. Uncle Alec had given her a consultant status some time back, when he realized she could be a boon to his investigations. That still didn’t mean she could sit in on interrogations at the precinct. She could, however, tag along when a detective like Chase talked to witnesses and interviewed suspects. Like Rick Castle shadowing Kate Beckett.

“So who are you interviewing?” she asked as she fell into step beside him.

“There’s this guy who was one of Niklaus Skad’s main competitors. He’s a former chef who now has a cooking show on NBC. It was scheduled to go head to head with Kitchen Disasters and to everyone’s surprise managed to get more viewers than anyone thought.”