Page 14 of Whispers of Redemption

Cassie crossed to the woman and squatted down beside her. “Don’t worry, Olga. I promise you, I won’t rest until I figure out what happened. I’ll get it back for you.”

“Thank you, Cassandra, darling,” Olga said, placing a paint-stained hand against Cassie’s cheek.

Officer Riley cleared his throat and Cassie looked over at him. His face was flushed, and his golden eyes shot sparks in her direction. Then he returned his attention to Olga. “Ms. Kozlovsky, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on our investigation.” He flicked a pointed glance at Cassie. “And if you think of anything else, here’s our card.” He held out a simple black-and-white business card, and Zack took it from him.

“You should probably have one, too,” Officer Garcia said, handing a card to Cassie. “In case you think of anything else.”

Once they were all back in the car, Officer Garcia started the engine and Officer Riley turned in his seat to face Cassie. “Ms. Sherwin—”

“Can you please stop calling me that,” Cassie interrupted him. “You make me sound like I’m a hundred years old.”

“Ms. Sher-win,” he said again, clipping each syllable, “it was extremely inappropriate of you to make those promises to Ms. Kozlovsky. You are not the one investigating this case. Officer Garcia and I will handle this.”

Cassie felt heat boil up from her center, and she clenched her fists, pressing them against her thighs. “Look,” she said, lifting her chin and meeting his eyes, “this happened on my watch. Olga is my client. And I care what happens. Besides,” she added, “it’s a free country, and you can’t stop me.”

Officer Riley stared at her. He opened his mouth. Then shut it, and turned to face forward. But a moment later, he turned back again. His dark gaze snapped with a power that surprised her. She felt pinned to her seat as she met his eyes, and he enunciated his next words carefully. “Ms. Sherwin, if you obstruct our investigation in any way, we will stop you by whatever means necessary.”

She narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything. They rode in silence for another moment before Cassie decided to change her tack. Keeping her tone casual, she said, “So, out of curiosity then, what’s your next step going to be?”

This time, Officer Riley didn’t turn in his seat. “That’s our concern, not yours.”

Officer Garcia sighed deeply as he drove. “Wade, will you relax, man. She’s just upset. It’s understandable.” He looked in the rearview mirror and caught Cassie’s eyes. “We’ll probably start by interviewing people along the route the thief drove and looking at street camera footage to see if we can find out any more about him or the vehicle he was driving.”

Cassie nodded, thoughtful.

“Now, where can we take you?” Officer Garcia asked.

Relaxing back against the seat, Cassie folded her arms across her chest. “To the place where I work, Priority Courier Services on Main Street in town.”

CHAPTER 5

The next morning, daylight poured through the two rectangular skylights over Cassie’s bed, hitting her eyes. She blinked them open, then squinted against the brightness, stretching languidly. She picked up her cell phone from the small table beside her bed and was shocked to see that it was nearly eleven o’clock. Angel was still sleeping peacefully beside her.

Cassie kicked her way out of the tangle of covers. Angel, seeing that her new mistress was up, woke quickly and jumped off the bed. She stretched too, forming a fluffy downward dog yoga pose.

Still in her pajamas, Cassie took the dog out to go to the bathroom, then brought her back inside and hopped in the shower. Afterward, she threw on a pair of jeans and a tank top, enjoying the break from wearing her uniform polo shirt and baseball cap.

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