Page 54 of Building What's Meant to Be

“Have you spoken with his secretary?” Bo asks.

“I am his secretary. He didn’t tell me anything and I have access to everything, guys. All his emails, files, all of it. That’s why I quote-unquote sold out. I sensed he was going to make a big move so I had to get as close as possible.”

“But you didn’t find anything,” Buck says astutely.

“Nothing other than Twinky.”

“Explain what’s unusual about getting a letter from Gannon Barnes, going to Atlanta, and having a cat?” Nash asks.

“Taken separately, nothing is especially strange about those three pieces of information. No offense to Louella Belle, but her brother’s contact is a red flag though they were friends, I guess. The trip to Atlanta was personal, not mayoral. As for the cat—”

We all look at the tan and white, long-haired Persian cat with a rhinestone studded collar.

“Yeah, okay. Weird that Stoll would suddenly adopt a cat,” Nash says.

“I think he stole her from someone and is holding her hostage.”

The guys burst into knee-slapping stitches of laughter. I’ll have to run it by Harrison because it doesn’t sound odd to me at all. Then again, I’ve never had to ask for help to solve a case. That’s why I’m a maverick, a lone wolf. I can usually do this on my own. If anything is strange, that’s it.

“What if someone in his family couldn’t take care of her anymore and he did a good deed by adopting her?” Buck asks, uncharacteristically giving Gatlin the benefit of the doubt.

“Then why did he leave abruptly with her in a cage in the garage?”

“Perhaps he meant to come right back,” Taylor says.

“But he didn’t. And that’s where the trail runs cold. He vanished without a trace. Unless...unless he was kidnapped.”

“Or he ran away with a mistress,” Taylor suggests.

We all squint at him.

“To do that he would’ve had to have been married. Was Stoll married?” Buck asks as if shocked someone would exchange vows with such a vile man.

“Not that I know of.” But their questions stir my mind like silt at the bottom of a river. I close my laptop and hold up a key. “Guys, I present to you an all-access pass to the mayor’s office.”

“Does this mean we can trash the place?” Nash asks.

I shake my head. “No, this is a federal investigation and what I’m offering you is very illegal, but I’m asking you to take a look, see if I missed something. And please leave everything exactly as you found it.”

“Where are you going?” Bo asks.

“Community service at Bubba’s,” I say from the doorway and for a ride on my motorcycle, which is where I do my best thinking.

Taylor shakes his head and exhales a breath of disbelief. “Just how deep undercover are you?”

Deep and about to get deeper because I can’t stop thinking about Tinsley.

“Don’t tell me Bubba is in on it too,” Buck says.

“No. Definitely not. I just want to help the guy out. But if anyone at the town hall asks, you’re there to surprise Stoll with an office makeover, a special edition of Designed to Last.”

Bo snaps his fingers. “Good plan.”

“Oh, and not a word of this to anyone. Not about the case, me, or any of it. Promise?” I ask, giving them all a hard stare.

I pray they’re not the kinds of guys who tell their wives everything because if so, I’m going to have two angry sisters toanswer to and I’d rather tell them myself than face the music—which will consist of the low bass tones of Mae’s simmering rage and the raucous cacophony of Bess’s hysterics.

I hurry downstairs because I don’t want to be late for Bubba...or Tinsley.

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