Purrfect Secret

Chapter 13

“So what do you think, Chase?” asked Chief Alec, speaking from Chase’s phone.

“No, what do you think, Chief?” asked Chase.

He could see Tracy Sting behind the Chief and an amazing view of the mountains the couple were currently hiking through. They were lucky they had reception.

“Yeah, we asked you first, Uncle Alec,” said Odelia. She waved at Tracy, who smiled and waved back. A striking redhead with trim, athletic physique, she was a can-do woman who looked even more can-do with her sunglasses, hiking jacket and hiking boots.

Even Alec looked ready to tackle those mountains—and enjoy a nice crackling fire once they got back to their lodge or cabin. The rotund chief looked like he’d lost some weight, and his bushy brows suddenly looked a lot less bushy, as if he’d—gasp!—trimmed them. Everything to impress his date. In fact Alec looked years younger—a marked effect.

“Look, I don’t have all the details, all right?” the Chief was saying. “Just what you told me. As far as I know Dickerson had a ton of files in that safe of his. In fact he was famous for having dirt on pretty much everyone who was someone and he kept it in that safe.”

“The safe was empty,” said Odelia.

“Not completely empty,” said Chase. “There was one file and one picture.”

“Yeah, a picture of a rose,” said Odelia. “Ring any bells?”

“None,” said Chief Alec. “But maybe you can start by looking at the usual suspects.”

“Which are?” said Chase.

Alec frowned. “Um… Dickerson was rumored to be a close friend of the President but they’d recently fallen out over something. No idea what. You’d have to ask him.”

“The President as in the President?” asked Odelia.

“Yup. So if I were you I’d start there. And then there’s the professional aspect.”

“Like a mob hit,” said Odelia.

“Dickerson got in bad with Yasir Bellinowski.”

“The Russian mobster?” said Chase.

“Alleged,” said Alec. “At least that’s what I heard. So I would pay him a visit. Maybe there was something in that vault Bellinowski wanted so bad he was prepared to kill for it.”

“It does have mafia written all over it,” Odelia agreed. “With the duck poop and all.”

“You need to follow up about that theft at the Potbelly farm. Whoever stole that tractor and that tanker is your guy. Catch him, and catch the person who ordered the hit.”

“Good luck!” Tracy said, moving into view again and giving them a wave.

“Thanks,” said Odelia. “We’ll need it.”

“Oh, no, you won’t. You guys are the best damn sleuths I’ve ever had,” said Chief Alec with a grin. “And the fact that I only have to pay one of you makes it even better.”

“Ha ha,” said Chase. “Very funny.”

“Take good care of my uncle for me, Tracy,” said Odelia. “He’s the only one I’ve got.”

“Oh, I’ll take very good care of him,” Tracy assured her. “In fact I already am.”

“She is,” said the Chief with a happy grin, his face rotund and his cheeks flushed.

“I don’t think I want to know,” said Odelia with a laugh.

And on the image of the Chief and Tracy kissing, the connection cut out.

“They look happy,” said Chase.

“They look more than happy,” said Odelia. “They look like they’re in love.”

Chase had placed an arm around her waist. “You mean they look like us?”

“Something like that.”

He kissed her deeply, and she almost dropped her phone, which he took as a good sign. Looked like he still had it. But then he wrenched his mind back to the investigation. They were holed up in the police station, where they’d decided to consult with the Chief and get his input. Now, though, they needed to follow up on his instructions and go and talk to the President. Gulp.

“Do you think the President will even talk to us?” asked Odelia, whose mind had landed on the same topic.

“I hope so. He was a close friend of Dickerson’s.”

“Until they fell out over something.”

“We need to find out what that something was.”

“Yes, we do.”

They were seated side by side at the Chief’s desk, so close together they were cheek to jowl. And since he was in the vicinity, Chase closed his lips on hers and for the next five minutes or so Dick Dickerson, the President and any possible mob connections between the tabloid mogul and this Yasir Bellinowski were the farthest thing from his mind.

But then a knock at the door surprised them and when the door swung open and Dolores appeared, they both looked up with flushed cheeks and a guilty grin on their faces.

“All right,” said the policewoman with an eyeroll. “Guess I can come back later.”

And then she walked out and bought them another ten minutes or so, which was all they needed.