Page 68 of Whispers of Redemption

She was out of her car in seconds. But Brett had already leaped from his and was racing off down a side street, cutting through yards and jumping over fences parkour style. She ran after him, but he was faster. To her frustration, he disappeared into the growing dusk.

“Cassie!” she heard Wade shouting for her.

Lungs burning, she jogged slowly back to the two cars which were now blocking traffic.

Wade was still holding onto Angel, who was trying desperately to lick his face, while he directed cars past the scene.

“I’m so...mad....I lost him,” Cassie gasped, grabbing at the stitch in her side.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wade said. “We’ll get him. And at least now we’ve got the painting.”

“Right!” Cassie walked over to look into the back of the car, then grinned over at him. “I can’t wait to tell Olga!”

“That’s great, but remember it’s evidence. So, first, we need to take it to the police station.”

CHAPTER 27

“Yup,” Cassie said into her now fully charged cell phone. “You can rest easy now, Olga, we’ve got it.” She was silent for a moment while Olga spoke. Then she said, “Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to give you any details yet.” She rolled her eyes at Wade, who nodded vigorously. They were inside the police station where he sat at his desk, fingers flying over a computer keyboard.

After she hung up with Olga, Cassie plopped down into a chair across from Wade while he finished typing up his report. As he worked, her eyes roved over him in appreciation. What that man could do to an ordinary T-shirt and pair of jeans was criminal. His toffee curls were still windblown from their earlier hike, and when he glanced up at her from his computer screen, his golden eyes ignited a flame inside her. Then he smiled at her, and she smiled back, marveling at how much it transformed his normally oh-so-serious face.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, but when will you be done?” she whined. “Angel and I want to go celebrate our win.”

The little dog lay curled up on the chair beside Cassie, but she lifted her head at the sound of her name.

“You wanna celebrate, don’t ya’ pooch,” Cassie said, scratching behind Angel’s ears and making her little tail bounce against the seat of the chair.

“Not much longer,” he said, and refocused back on the computer screen. “I just want to get it finished while it’s all still fresh in my head.” Even though he was technically off duty, Wade had insisted on staying at the station and writing his report immediately. Since they were there between shifts, and it was after normal work hours, the office was nearly empty. Aside from the shift commander, the only other person that Cassie saw was the police chief working late in his office.

“I’m so proud of us.” She kicked back in her chair and propped her feet up on his desk, until a look from him made her drop them back to the floor again. “What are we going to do about Brett, though?”

He was silent for several minutes as he typed. Finally, he said, “I’m confident we’ll find him. I put out a BOLO for our department as well as to all the surrounding cities.”

“A BOLO?”

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