Yikes… Now I had to do everything in my power to make sure he never found out. That meant I couldn’t call him out on his swearing. But it was a small price to pay, and, since it was in his head, I guess it didn’t count anyway.
Savannah’s taste in pizza didn’t include the toppings Josh liked, so he had to jump in and make sure it didn’t all go her way. For once, I didn’t mind their bickering, since it took his attention away from me. We settled on the supreme pizza without the olives, even though I liked them. We invited Chloe to stay, but she had to go, so Josh and Coco walked her home.
Half an hour later, Chris and Josh both got home right after the pizza arrived. While we ate, we had a lively discussion about Coco and joining the search-and-rescue team. Chris thought it was too much for me to take on, but, if Josh was interested, he could hardly say no. I told them I’d give Lance a call in a few days, once things had settled down with my workload.
The kids disappeared after dinner, giving Chris and me some time alone. Since I’d been so wrapped up in my work, I asked Chris how his day had gone before telling him about mine. It was nice to hear about a few of his cases, and how the new intern was working out. At least we didn’t have to worry about someone spying on him anymore.
“So what about you? Make any progress on your cases?”
“Yeah. It was kind of crazy today.” I filled Chris in on Willow and what happened when she’d hypnotized Sophie. “So now we’re hoping that they can track down the three suspects from the hotel. Once they do, they’ll bring them in for questioning, and I’m planning to be there. That way I’ll know which one did it and solve the case. I’m ready for Willow to be done working with Dimples, and I hope she never comes back.”
“So let me get this straight. Willow used hypnosis and it worked, but you stopped her because Brock showed up?”
“Hmm… yeah. When you say it like that, it sounds a little nuts, but yes… that’s what happened. Brock wasn’t too happy.”
“So… it looks like Willow has some psychic ability after all.”
Why did he have to zero in on that part? What about Brock? That seemed way more interesting. Still, I had to admit there was something to Willow’s psychic abilities when he put it that way. “Yeah, and she does astrology and tarot card readings for people. I guess she even has clients. Which reminds me…”
I told Chris about the link between Willow’s client, Carolyn, and Mack’s involvement in finding Carolyn’s missing granddaughter. “I doubt it has anything to do with his murder, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to talk to her. I know they exchanged numbers, so maybe they spoke again? If they did, Carolyn might know something that could help.”
“Maybe. It’s also possible they exchanged numbers because one of them was interested in the other on a romantic level. You never know.”
I shrugged. “I guess that’s a possibility, but it doesn’t seem likely.”
“Wouldn’t they be close to the same age?” He thought he was onto something, and I wasn’t giving him enough credit.
I shook my head. “All right… you might have a point. I’m planning on talking to her tomorrow, so I should be able to figure it out pretty fast. If they spoke to each other between the time Ava was found and Mack’s death, she might know something that will help. It’s worth a shot anyway.”
He nodded, thinking that I had my hands full with both of these cases. It was a good thing Manetto didn’t have a lot going on. Well… except for asking me to be his successor. Now that was a doozy. But at least I didn’t have to get mixed up in anything like New York, with the local mob and all the drugs. That had been a nightmare.
Crap. How was I going to tell him that I had to leave soon to help Uncle Joey with a drug problem? There was no good way to say it, so I might as well just tell him and get it over with, especially since I needed to leave in about ten minutes.
“About that…” I smiled sweetly to soften the blow. “I have to help Uncle Joey tonight, but it shouldn’t be dangerous.”
After the initial shock, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. It shouldn’t be dangerous was something I always said when it turned out to be dangerous. Didn’t I know that? “What’s going on?”
“It’s just a little meeting at the health-and-nutrition store. I thought I told you about that.”
He couldn’t remember. Had I? “When was this?”
“The other day. I’m sure I told you.” At Chris’s raised brows, I shrugged, knowing full well I hadn’t told him a thing. “It’s not a big deal, I just have to listen in on a drug exchange and find out if the buyer thinks that Uncle Joey’s still in the business. You know he’s not in the drug business anymore, right? So Uncle Joey just wants to make sure he doesn’t get caught for something he didn’t do.”
Chris thought that I was putting it mildly so he wouldn’t worry. But, knowing me, I was right in the middle of a dangerous situation… and, of course, there was a lot more to the story than I’d said… probably on purpose.
“Hey… I’m sure it won’t be dangerous… and… just so you know, I’ve said that before when it wasn’t, and things worked out just fine. Give me a little credit here.”
He shook his head. “I guess so.” It always
