My mind drifted a moment to Jones and Associates. I was the first women they hired. I’d been flattered to be offered an apprenticeship there. Flattered and proud as hell. I really had thought I had a future there. Had worked my ass off. But I never got the real cases. Never got the juicy things, no matter how hard I worked. At the end of the day, I was never more than the office girl. As much success as I’d had since the Case of the Flashing Fashion Queen, the way I was treated at Jones and Associates still stung.
Someday, I’d sting back.
The ice clinked in the glass as I raised it to take a drink. A long one.
“But that didn’t stop you right? The fact that the field was dominated by men? That didn’t stop you from jumping in feet first.”
“Truthfully? It did stop me for a while. It’d be nice to say I went after my dreams right away, but life doesn’t always work that way. I second-guessed myself. Questioned whether or not I had what it took. Questioned whether it was worth it. Sometimes there’s a detour or two along the way in life.”
“Did your parents support your decision?”
I was leaning back in the chair at this time. Not leaning back with feet up on the table kind of thing. But leaning back comfortably. Noel crossed his arms and leaned back himself.
“Dad had passed on by this time—”
“I’m sorry.”
I waved him off with … well, a wave. Damned if I wasn’t warding off a teary-eyed moment of my own.
“Mother was fully supportive. Hell, half of what I learned … half of what I know … I probably picked up from her.”
“Was she a fingerprint expert?” Noel joked.
“No,” I chuckled. “Actually mother had an unusual career path herself.” I told Noel about Mother’s time on the road, about her being a magician’s assistant. Told him everything I’d told Dylan, except I didn’t make him think she was a stripper.
Dylan.
Wouldn’t have even thought of saying something like that to Noel. Kidding around like that with Noel.
“Your mother must have been a hoot to grow up with?”
“All of Peach’s and my friends liked her. Our birthday parties were the best. Oh, and when we got Mother in on a game of hide and seek — hell, more like when she got us in on a game — well, she always won. Hands down. Our yard wasn’t all that big. Not all that complicated. Peaches and I could never figure it out how she’d always manage to run back to the front step and yell ‘home free’ before we found her. A master of the disappearing — that was Mom.”
I was smiling as I reflected. As zany as she could and did get sometimes, it had been fun growing up with Katt Dodd for a mother. Even with Dad so sick, she’d made life fun.
That thought served to propel me back to saving her ass, as I’d come to Florida to do. “So about this case,” I began. “I’m thinking that Harriet Appleton has a gigantic stick—”
“From the sounds of it, your mother knows a lot of tricks.” The tone of Noel’s voice had noticeably changed as he interrupted. “A lot about pulling rabbits out of hats and flowers out of pockets. What about jewels from safes? Rings from jewelry boxes? What about breaking and entering?”
What the fuck? “Wait a minute. What I said was—”
“What you said was most of what you learned you learned from her. PI skills. I’m assuming you meant surveillance of empty properties, getting into and out of places other people couldn’t necessarily get into. And of course anyone who knew what to look for on a trail wouldn’t be likely to leave one behind now, would they?”
Okay, now I was pissed.
“Listen!” I snapped. “What I said, you slow-witted prick, was that Katt Dodd had been a great mother. That’s it!”
“A great mother with the skills needed to commit numerous thefts at the Wildoh and get away with them. One clever enough to, certainly. And one with the means. Hell, one with the means to commit murder and get away with it too, maybe?”
To add insult to insult (and injury if he didn’t watch himself, for I was that close to giving him a thorough ass-kicking right there) he was dialing his cell phone as he talked to me.
The fucker!
He’d used me. He’d lulled me the flowers and the candy and the aw shucks ma’am crap, and then he’d used me to set up my own mother.
Shit shit shit! The puppy dog eyes, sad tales of lost friendship. He’d totally played me. When I was supposed to be playing him!
“Smith!” he barked into the cell. “Deputy Almond here. Go ahead on the Katt Dodd arrest. The daughter confirmed her expertise. Yes, send a couple squad cars over there right now. Marked. I want sirens and lights. Let them know we’re coming. Consider her a flight risk. I want that woman in handcuffs. I’ll meet you at the station.”
He clicked the cell shut and pocketed it neatly. And he stared across the table at me.
“That’s all you got, Deputy? The praise of a first-born daughter?”
“How stupid do you think I am, Ms. Dodd?”
“Very.”
“That was a rhetorical question.”
“Rhetorical? Don’t say words you can’t—”
“Can’t what? Spell?”
“Can’t shove up your ass!” For emphasis I slammed my fist on the table.
He stood. “There was another theft this morning. Roger Cassidy had a diamond broach lifted. One he had bought for her granddaughter’s Christening next month in Miami. He discovered it missing this morning, right after the gathering at the Wildoh.”
“Ha! And that makes my mother the prime suspect? Simply because something’s gone missing? Wow, great detective work there.”
Noel smiled — damn him. “One of our officers found your mother’s watch at the crime scene. That makes her the prime suspect.”
Few things in this world shut me up.
That shut me up.
Deputy Almond rose. With a nod and a half wave, he signaled the waiter. From all appearances, he was already on the way to our table, but pushed the dessert cart all the faster when Almond signaled. “Yes, sir?”
“Put everything on my tab, will you, Joey? Oh, and coffee and dessert for the lady, and whatever else she wants. Or maybe she prefers another drink? She looks like she could use one, don’t you think, Joey?”
Joey was smart enough not to answer that question. “As you wish, Deputy. Anything the lady wants,” he dutifully answered.
Almond slapped him on the back before he turned to me again. “Thank you for the evening Ms. Dodd. It’s been … well, interesting. And educational.”
It took every bit of restraint I had not to get up and kick the shit out of Deputy Noel Almond right then and there. But my tingling toes were pretty determined to kick my own butt as well. He’d played me perfectly. Mirrored my posture as we’d talked. Nudging me more and more to talk about myself. Earning my trust. Chocolates and roses. Flattery (grrrrrrrrrrrr, that one stung the most).
But I’d fallen for it.
Yep, we both needed a good boot in the ass.
“There was no Isabella, was there?”
“Of course there was an Isabella. What kind of man do you take me for?”
“Swine variety.”
He feigned a hurt look. “I had a goldfish named Isabella when I was nine. Only lived a week though before it died. I flushed it down the toilet. Three times. Damn thing kept swimming back up!” Almond smirked. “Now I must be off.”