Page 27 of Covert Chaos

"Felicia."

"Felicia?" Hattie looked over. "Chef Felicia?" She looked pained. "Dammit."

"Why Chef Felicia?" I asked. "Why would she care about you?"

"She thinks I stole her boyfriend when we were younger. And her job. And her business." Hattie shrugged. "I was always better than her, but I thought she was over that."

Well, there was our motive for tagging Hattie. I knelt in front of Emmeline. "Where is Rachel? Where does Chef Felicia have her?"

"In the trunk of her car at the Ugly Man."

I grinned. "That's easy." I pulled out my phone and called Devlin.

"Where the hell are you?"

"At my marina. We have a couple people here you need to meet, but first, please rescue a girl named Rachel who is locked in the trunk of Chef Felicia's car. The raspberry on Chef Felicia's shirt is probably a match for Beckwith's. I have a witness here who says she killed both of them."

"Bert helped," Emmeline said. "They did it together."

"We apparently have her murder buddy here with us."

Devlin swore under his breath. "I'll call you back."

"Send help. When you have time."

He hung up on me, and I smiled at Emmeline. "She'll be safe in a minute."

Emmeline sank down onto the floor, and tears started tumbling. She hugged her knees to her chest, and Hattie hurried over and sat down next to her, pulling her into her arms.

My throat tightened when I saw Hattie hugging her. Big, tough Hattie who was all sass and recklessness was holding onto Emmeline like the younger woman was still the sixteen-year-old girl who was lost and scared.

Emmeline leaned into her, holding her arm.

Lucy cleared her throat. "Mia. A little help here?"

I turned around, and saw that King Tut was sprawled on Bert's face, suffocating him with his big belly, his claws digging into his head. The growl emanated from King Tut was terrifying. "Don't kill him, sweetie. You'll have to go to kitty prison."

My cat didn't make eye contact with me, but his claws didn’t draw blood, so I hoped he was listening.

Bert was still bent over, but Lucy had managed to get his hands zip-tied behind him.

Beau and I helped, and we quickly got him secured and tied to the post in the middle of the café. Once he was secure, I carefully and quietly detached King Tut from his face, and then stepped back.

Bert looked at me. "I saved you from the cops. You owe me a favor."

"I definitely don't."

"Let me go. I'll disappear."

I sat down in front of him, just out of reach. "Why did you kill them?"

"I didn't kill anyone. I grow flowers for homeless kids."

I raised my brows. "No one will believe that."

Bert looked at me. "One favor. You owe me."

I watched Hattie and Emmeline get up and walk outside to sit on the deck. Lucy and Beau stayed with me. "What's the favor?"

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