Page 33 of Secret Weapon

“You should have—” Nico started, but I cut him off with a glare.

“What was the boyfriend’s name?If he made threats, we should pass his details over to the police.”

“I don’t know if there were threats, exactly…”

“Ottie was scared enough to stay inside, and now she’s in the hospital, so I’d say it’s a fair assumption, wouldn’t you?”

“I j-j-just don’t understand why she went out, not after she swore she wouldn’t.”

“Could the dog have escaped?”

“Maybe, I guess?But Gidget was real good at staying inside when she was told to.”

“I’ll have my security team question the staff,” Nico said.“We have a perimeter wall.Unless the dog ran along the beach, it can’t just have disappeared, and the lifeguard would have radioed in if he saw it go past.”

“Which leaves three options—either Ottie took the dog with her, or somebody stole it, or the lifeguard was having an off day.”

Nico was already shaking his head.“My staff don’t fall asleep on the job, and if a thief had walked out with the dog, one of the team would have noticed.”

“What if the thief put the mutt in a bag?Do you have cameras here?”

“Of course.”

“Can you check them?”

“I’ll get somebody onto that.”

“And presumably, the cameras would also have picked up Ottie if she left with the dog?”

“Unless she used the staff entrance.The camera over that gate is awaiting a replacement.”

Typical.“When did it fail?”

“The day before yesterday.”

How convenient.

So when it came to Ottie’s assault, we might not only be looking for a psychotic lunatic, we might be looking for anorganisedpsychotic lunatic.Although when I said “we,” I did of course mean Deputy Mendez and his colleagues because Hallie and I were on vacation and therefore not about to start a full-scale manhunt.We were just asking a few questions to satisfy our curiosity, that was all.

“And how did it fail?Physical damage?An electrical fault?”

“I believe there was a problem with the lens, but wait a moment… Why so many questions?Are you a cop?”

“You think I act like a cop?”

“Yes?”

Ouch.

“I’m definitely not a cop.For one, I actually get things done.Hallie here is training as a private investigator, and I’m her boss.”Which suggested I was also a PI without being an outright lie.I wasn’t a PI.Licencing agencies demanded pesky things like fingerprints and background checks, and I wasn’t fond of that kind of scrutiny.“Technically, we’re off duty today, but old habits die hard.”

“I see.So you’ll be passing anything you find to the sheriff’s department?”

“Absolutely.Just trying to speed things along.As I’m sure you understand, the first forty-eight hours is the most crucial time period in any investigation, and detectives seem thin on the ground around here.I’m sure Deputy Mendez will ask you for the camera footage when he gets back from the hospital, so all we’re doing is short-cutting that process.And nobody wants a small dog running loose on its own after dark.I hear there are cougars around.”

“I saw the camera,” Leona volunteered.“The glass was broken.”

“Which begs the question of who broke it.What’s the name of Ottie’s ex?Does he live around here?”

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