Page 39 of The Rainbow Recipe
She’d really rather see Rhonda’s aura as she spoke, but life was seldom simple.
“Miss Tart, you won’t remember me, but we’ve met. I’d like to see your shop prosper. I have some information that might help. It would probably be better if we’re not seen together, however. If you’ll be there a while longer, I’ll send a messenger.”
Rhonda wasn’t swift on the uptake. By the time her What’s and Who’s sputtered a complete question, Evie hung up. With a happy smile, she drove over to Iddy’s vet clinic. If Roark thought she should be careful, she could really get into cloak and dagger.
Entering through the back door, she found her cousin in the kennel training the mayor’s greyhounds. “Do you still have the German shepherd?”
“Trixie? Yes, she’s a sweetie.” With her long black hair and sharp features, Iddy looked more like a classic witch than any of them. She glanced up in curiosity. “You need a guard dog?”
“No, a smart one.” Evie removed the list of suspicious Italian bank deposits from her tote and enclosed it an envelope from Iddy’s desk. She scribbled Rhonda’s name on it. “I need this delivered to La Bella Gente.”
“This won’t get Trixie poisoned?” Iddy asked warily, accepting the envelope.
“Rewarded, more likely. I just want a messenger who can’t be questioned. You’ve established a connection with Trixie, haven’t you?”
Iddy read animal minds, and sometimes, they read hers. Evie didn’t know how it worked, but Iddy’s animal clients were the best trained in the state. Possibly the world but that was hard to prove.
“Having her deliver an envelope to a specific address is a challenge, but if you walk her past the shop... ”
Evie shook her head. “I can’t enter her doggie mind. The target knows me, and it’s best if they make no connection to our family. I’ll man the desk here while you walk Trixie over and set her loose out of sight. Let Trix enter when someone opens the shop door.”
It took a little more persuasion but Iddy finally caved. While her cousin was gone, Evie used the burner app Reuben had installed on her phone to text Jane the Lawless Blogger Bigot.
ask donna tart about anonymous deposits in la bella accounts. did kk uncover stepbrothers unsavory sex life?
Mean, Evie, very, very mean. But someone knew about those deposits. She had no way of reaching out to Nick Gladwell—the man who had carried the limoncello bottle. Vincent wasn’t in the country. That left Matt and Rhonda. Well, the male models maybe, but who knew where they were. Security guards didn’t access bank accounts anyway.
Setting Rhonda—an ambitious stockholder and Vincent’s lover—against Vincent’s son, ought to roil a few waters. Evie hoped a clue or two might bubble to the top.
Twenty: Pris
Italy
Pris put togethersub sandwiches with freshly made baguettes for the plumber, whose feet stuck out from under the kitchen sink. His partner was upstairs replacing ancient fixtures.
Dante was reading a bedtime story to the twins in the library. After she tucked them in upstairs, it would still be early. If she had a flashlight...
But dammit, she really needed Dante in that cave. He could find out more touching old stones than she could reading Leo’s murky mind. Well, maybe it took both of them.
She hated this. She simply wanted to cook. She didn’t want to deal with troubled farmers and overbearing archeologists. She didn’t want responsibility for kids.
She did, however, want to find out who killed KK.
Evie’s text about the anonymous bank account burned in her pocket. She should tell Dante. In a way, this was his battle too.
And Evie’s text about the Italian shell company provided a stronger link between Lucia’s farm and La Bella Gente and thus to KK’s killer. Sort of. Maybe. She was no sleuth. She’d never even read a Nancy Drew.
With shiny new faucets, working commodes and showers, and a warning to clean out the septic tank, the plumbing duo packed up the bag of dinners she and Emma had prepared. She didn’t want them underfoot if the job was done.
She tucked the twins into bed, turned on the baby monitor, and hurried back to the library.
Dante was deep in a video conference. Dang.
Fine then, she’d risk arrest and drive over to this address Evie had sent to see if it was a dirt lot or an actual business. If she used the house wi-fi for directions, she wouldn’t need GPS. She was an excellent driver. Reading road signs might be tricky...
It felt good to do something instead of sitting around, helpless. She ran up to her room and worked out that the address for the shell company was only ten miles away—shades of fraud, Batman! If Leo was behind this, he didn’t go far out of his way to set up a front.
She downloaded the directions to her phone, made sure it was charged, and headed downstairs. Investigate had been what she’d come over to do, after all. Dante owed her nothing.
