Page 23 of Whispers of Redemption

“Admit it,” she added, “you wouldn’t be nearly as far in your investigation if it wasn’t for me.”

“That may be true,” he said. “But as I said before, it’s not appropriate for you to be involved in this case. Hugo and I will take it from here. Have a nice day.” And he let the door close in her face.

When Wade and Hugo eventually exited the building, Cassie was waiting.

Ugh. The woman was relentless. Could he arrest her for unnecessary butting in?

“What did they say? Did anyone see anything?” Cassie asked as she and Angel fell into step beside them.

“Unfortunately, no,” Hugo said.

“Hmmm...” she mused, walking with them toward their patrol car. “So, I’m guessing this was clearly premeditated then. I mean, the thief took the time to steal a vehicle and then return it. No ordinary car thief would do that.”

“Really? Are you speaking from personal experience?” Wade shot her a suspicious look.

Cassie ignored his comment and continued. “And this place is so close to PCS.” She waved her hand in the direction of the courier service that was only a block up the road. “That made it easy for him to follow me to Olga’s.” The reality of her last statement appeared to strike her. She stopped walking and shivered.

Wade noticed, and regardless of how annoying she’d been up to that moment, the expression on her face gave him a strong urge to wrap a protective arm around her.

He turned to face her then. Her rich, auburn hair glowed like flame in the sunlight, her teeth gnawed unconsciously at her full lower lip. He realized he was staring at it and cleared his throat, pulling himself up straight. “Listen, Cassie,” he said, his voice more gentle than it had been, “I understand how important this is to you, and we promise to keep you posted on our progress. But you need to go home now.”

She met his eyes and held them. And rather than making her usual argument, she nodded slowly. “All right,” she said quietly. She turned to walk back toward her own car, Angel trotting alongside. She was a few paces away when, without stopping, she called back over her shoulder, “At least for now.”

Wade watched Cassie and Angel climb into an older model green Mustang, start the engine, and pull out onto the road. He watched until she was out of sight. Then he sighed and turned to get into the passenger side of the patrol car.

However, Hugo was not behind the wheel. Instead, he appeared to be posing against the side of the car and grinning wide. His right hand held his cell phone, extended to arm’s length, slightly above his head.

“What are you doing?”

“Ani gave me an assignment to send her a photo message today,” Hugo said, trying not to move his lips. “I’m doing it through this app she told me to download.”

Wade smacked a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. He had Cassie acting like a cop, and Hugo acting like a teenager. His entire orderly world felt like it was unraveling. “You know what, dude,” Wade said, coming around to the driver’s side, “I think I’m gonna drive for the rest of our shift. You don’t seem like yourself today.”

CHAPTER 8

A little before noon on Saturday, Cassie pulled up to the front of Ani’s foster home. Before she could get out of her car though, Ani was already jogging up the front walk toward her. She hopped into the passenger seat, buckled her seat belt, and propped her flip-flopped feet up on the dashboard, ankles crossed. Angel jumped comfortably onto her lap.

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