“Well said,” I said, putting my paws together for an impromptu applause.
“And I’m going to do it right now!” Brutus said.
“No time like the present,” I agreed.
“I’m going to bulldoze that crappy cat into the ground!”
“I love the sentiment,” I said with genuine admiration.
And Brutus stalked off.“Watch me going!” he shouted.
“I’m watching you going and I’m inspired!” I shouted back.
Both Dooley and I watched Brutus storm down the hotel steps, into the lobby and out that treacherous revolving door.
“Max!” cried Dooley the moment the big brute was out of earshot. “What have you done?!”
I smiled.“I’ve handled two problems in one stroke of genius, Dooley. I’ve turned an enemy into an ally, and I’ve rid ourselves of this annoying Diego. Don’t congratulate me now. You can do that when all this is over.”
“I’m not going to congratulate you! Brutus was down, and now you’ve gone and boosted him all up again!”
“I know, right. Isn’t it great?”
“No, it’s not! He’s going to kick Diego out of the house.”
“Which is what we want, remember?”
“And then he’s going to turn on us!”
I gave this some thought.“No, he’s not. He’s our friend now.”
“Brutus is nobody’s friend! A cat like that can’t be friends with anybody. He’s like Niklaus Skad. Stepping on people and putting them down makes him feel good. Once he’s done stepping on Diego who do you think he’s going to step on next?”
“Um, nobody? Because he’ll be happy that Diego’s gone and he’s got Harriet back and he’s going to be grateful to his new best friends. Us!”
“No, he’s not! He’s going to keep putting cats down. He’s going to kick us out next!”
“No way. We’re his friends. We stood by his side when he was down and out.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Max. He’s going to feel embarrassed because we saw him when he was down. He’s going to want to take revenge. He’s going to come down harder on us than on anyone else.” He closed his eyes. “This is the end. You just created a monster and set him loose on us.”
“I don’t think you’re right, Dooley,” I said, though I had to admit he made a very convincing argument. It was true that bullies like Brutus hate to look weak. And we’d seen him at his weakest. At his lowest. We’d even seen him—gasp!—cry. Now that he was strong again—and boosted by the victory over Diego—he just might become fully insufferable. And vindictive.
“We watched him weep, Max. He’s never going to forgive us.”
“Let’s just wait and see,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine. Tonight we’ll all be sitting on the couch. Odelia, you, me, Brutus and Harriet, watching a great movie, and having a laugh about all of this. All friends together, right?”
He merely shook his head.
“Right? Dooley?”
He stared at me with accusing eyes.“What have you done, Max?”
Chapter 19
Odelia crossed the lobby to the door, lost in thought. That’s why she didn’t notice Chase until she bumped into him and almost went down. He placed two steadying hands on her shoulders. “Hold your horses, honey. Are you all right?”
The impact had done much to make her aware of the hardness of his chest and the power of his hands. The man was made of solid rock!“Um, yes, I’m fine,” she said, a little flustered. She made an effort to control her beating heart as she stepped away from him. “I wasn’t looking.”
“That’s what I figured,” he said with a hint of a smile. “I’m here to interview another suspect. You?”
“Same thing,” she said. “I just had a chat with Stacie Roebuck.”
“The assistant? What did she have to say?”
“She was alone the night her boss died. Holed up in her room.”
“No alibi, huh?”
“Nope. None, whatsoever. Though I don’t think she did it. You should see her, Chase. She’s this sweet, slim woman.”
He cocked an eyebrow.“Incapable of shoving a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound male into an oven?”
“I don’t think she could have done it. And not just physically. She might have disliked her boss—”
“He seemed to have had that effect on a lot of people.”
“—but she respected him for what he’d achieved.”
“All right,” he said. “And I respect your judgment.” He hesitated. “Why don’t you join me?”
“Interviewing a suspect? But I’m not a cop.”
“You’re practically deputized,” he said. “And it’s not like we haven’t done it before.”
That was true enough. They’d interviewed other suspects before. She hadn’t lied to Stacie. Uncle Alec had given her a consultant status some time back, when he realized she could be a boon to his investigations. That still didn’t mean she could sit in on interrogations at the precinct. She could, however, tag along when a detective like Chase talked to witnesses and interviewed suspects. Like Rick Castle shadowing Kate Beckett.
“So who are you interviewing?” she asked as she fell into step beside him.
“There’s this guy who was one of Niklaus Skad’s main competitors. He’s a former chef who now has a cooking show on NBC. It was scheduled to go head to head withKitchen Disasters and to everyone’s surprise managed to get more viewers than anyone thought.”
Chapter 20
“Ooh! I think I know him. Konrad Daines, right?Chopped Liver?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. You know your cooking shows, Odelia.”
“I always hope to pick something up.”
“I have to confess I’d never heard of the guy. Or Niklaus Skad, for that matter. But then I’m not much of a cook.”
“Me neither,” she confessed. “I just figure that maybe by watching a lot of cooking shows I’ll become a master chef.”
“You mean by osmosis?”
“Yep. That’s exactly what I mean. Silly, huh?”
“Nah. It’s like guys watching football. They just sit there with their beer bellies, totally out of shape, and somehow figure that if they watch enough games some of that athleticism just might rub off on them. Human nature, I guess.”
“Or laziness.”
He grinned.“Or that.”
They walked back to the main staircase, and she noticed Max, Dooley and Brutus had vanished. Probably on the case, just like she and Chase were.“You watch a lot of football?”
He laughed.“What are you saying? That I’m a couch potato?”
She glanced him up and down.“No, you’re definitely not a couch potato.”
“Thanks. I try to stay in shape. Not football, mind you, but I do hit the gym on a semi-regular basis.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
“Why don’t you join me? I could use a spotter.”
Her eyebrows shot up.“Me? And you? Gym buddies?”
“Why not? It’s a lot more fun when it’s not just you and the treadmill.”
“I don’t know…” She pictured Chase hanging over her while she desperately tried to push up a huge barbell, veins standing out on her neck, breaking into a sweat. Not exactly the way she wanted to look in front of him. It was true that she needed to get in shape, though. Desperately so, in fact. And he definitely looked like a guy who knew his way around a gym.
“They’ve got separate dressing rooms if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Oh, I know they do. It’s just…”
“You don’t want me to see you in your gym clothes, huh? Is that it?”
“No! Of course not.” Well, yes. She didn’t want him to see her flabby midsection. Or her flabby tush. Or her flabby anything.
As if he could read her mind, he gave her a once-over.“I think you’re in pretty great shape, actually. You probably don’t even need to go to the gym.”
“Oh, trust me, I do,” she said. Then, before she could change her mind, added, “Fine. I’ll be your gym buddy. But if you make one comment about my butt…”
“I might make a compliment about your butt,” he said with a smirk.