“Whoa!” I giggle like a schoolgirl. “You almost jumped into my pizza.” I quickly land my plate on the coffee table and pull the purring little princess close. “Oh, you are adorable. I just love your little ears and your little nose and that cute little face of yours.”
Pixie whips me with her pink tail as she rubs her face against my arm.
I look over at Shep. “Do you think Opal will kill us?”
“No.” He narrows his brows at the thought. “I’ve fed half of her cats, and they’ve stayed around my place for days at a time before. She doesn’t mind. She’s just glad they’re happy. Opal might be tough, but she’s no killer.”
“Speaking of killers. Somebody took down your friend. How is the investigation going? Have you spoken with Nora again?” A part of me is curious if he’s going to take her up on her offer and take the position at the homicide division.
“No, I haven’t.” Shep’s thick, dark hair catches the light, and it looks glossy and soft and my fingers are begging to run through it. Shep’s features are just chiseled enough to give him high cheekbones, but mostly they’re hidden under that dark scruff peppered over his face. He’s a man’s man. In no way is he a pretty boy, but those perpetual bedroom eyes might just qualify him as both. “But since Craig was my friend, I thought I’d look into a few things.”
Shep mentioned a few weeks back that although he’s not at the homicide division, he does have his PI license. I’m sure it could come in handy if he needed to speak with the right person.
“Tell me what you got,” I say, giving Pixie a pat between the ears. I’ve never had a cat before, but now that I’ve been exposed to their furry wonder, I don’t think I could ever live a day without one. Good thing I’ve got Opal to fill my supply.
He reaches over and gives Pixie a gentle scratch over her back.
“I spoke with Craig’s brother Derick. He’s in Iowa,” he says. “He mentioned Craig had recently run into some financial trouble. He was over-investing—took out a bad loan and wanted out.”
“Okay, so maybe the guys he took the loan from did this.”
“I don’t know. I thought about it, too. But Derick said something along the lines of the investment in question having dark underpinnings. He said those were Craig’s exact words and that he wanted to get out from under it.”
“Interesting.” I kiss one of Pixie’s tiny ears. “I know he was in business with Oliver,” I say. “Oliver said that he and Craig were at odds about how the business was run. Oliver could have lost his temper and shot him.”
“Could have.” Shep leans back into the sofa. “He was in business with James, too.”
“The maple farm,” I muse. “You know, I just so happened to bump into James Palmer today at the salon over in Maple Grove.”
Shep gives a long blink.
“Bowie,” he says it low with a touch of frustration in his tone. “What were you doing in a salon out in Maple Grove?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was electrocuting my eyelashes so I could look good for my fiancé?”
“No.” He squints over at my lashes. “But I do believe that’s a byproduct of the real reason you were there.”
“You really are a good detective.” I take a moment to snuggle with Pixie. “Anyway, James was getting his chest waxed. He says the sheriff’s department is putting out a calendar, and if you play your employment cards right, you could be Mr. July.” I bite down on a smile. “No clothes, a well-positioned flag. I can see it now. You’d incite quite the riot as the women of Starry Falls all clamor for an issue.”
“I’m not inciting a riot. No to the calendar. Go on.”
I make a face. “I told him I heard Oliver and Craig were fighting over a woman.”
“You heard that?” His eyes widen a notch.
“From Kadie. Anyway, James said that wasn’t the case at all. He said Craig was trying to talk another friend out of seeing some woman. He said it wasn’t right. So I got to thinking. Why wouldn’t it be right? And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense this woman is married.” I motion over to him as if expecting him to finish my train of thought, but he’s right back to glowering. “Shep, I think the woman is Kadie.”
“What?” He inches back as if I caught him off guard. “Kadie Beaumont?”
“Kadie Ryan.” I nod. “I spoke to her husband this afternoon and he said—”
“Bowie.” His voice hits its lower register, and judging by those bulging eyes of his, he’s not too thrilled with me. “Why are you investigating this case?”
“I’m not investigating this case. I was simply out that way. Tilly wanted to see a few hot construction workers, and I happened to know where to find them.”
“You’re endangering Tilly, too?”
“There’s safety in numbers. What did they teach you in school?”
“Bowie, a killer doesn’t care what you learned in school. Right now, they think they’ve gotten away with murder and they want to keep it that way. If they figure out you’re onto them, you could have a target on your back.”
“I’ve already got a couple of targets on my back, what’s another? Besides, I had the man’s blood on my hands, or my dress as it were. I just want to clear my name. And despite my connections to the mob, I happen to appreciate the finer points of the law. I want to bring the killer to justice.”
“Nora doesn’t really think you did this. You don’t have to prove your innocence. I’m vouching for you.”
“But I’m a suspect.”
“And you never rule out a suspect in an active homicide investigation.” Shep closes his eyes a moment too long. “Okay, what did
