Page 45

She sighed. “Everything about this case has been turned on its head.”

“Well, hell.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Andy’s cousin, Edward, dropped by their table and winked at Monica. “I brought your SUV here so when you’re ready to leave, you’ll have your own transportation, Andy.”

“Great.” Andy told Monica, “You briefly met my cousin Edward at the police department.”

“Right, so good to see you again.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Thanks so much for bringing my SUV by.”

“We knew you needed your wheels to get around.” Then Edward told Monica, “We hear you’ll be with us for a while. If you need a place to rest up, you can always visit with my mate, Robyn, and me.”

“I’m good. I pulled Andy’s arm, and he agreed to put me up.”

Edward laughed. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat. Come for dinner at our home when you feel more up to it.”

“That would be lovely.” Things were looking up after all Andy and Monica had been through together. Though she really needed to lie down.

When they finally finished dinner, she and Andy drove to Pierre’s house to check on him. She couldn’t help feeling anxious about his welfare if he wasn’t truly involved in all this business.

Monica sighed. "So I need to tell you how I know Pierre Johnson."

"I wondered about that."

"Yeah, I met him in Anchorage when he lived there. He came into the shop where I was having coffee and doing my usual—checking Facebook and other places concerning cases I was working."

Andy smiled. "I've done the same thing."

"There's a wealth of information out there just waiting to be found. So this gentleman hovers over my table, and I look up. He was carrying a tray with a coffee and a scone and asked if the seat across from me was taken. The coffee shop was always busy, and I didn't mind if he sat there.”

“It wasn’t more than a meeting by chance?”

“Spoken by a true investigator. He was so smiley and nice that I teased him, saying it would cost him if he wanted to sit there. He said he would do anything for me so that he could sit there. I took his scone, and he laughed and went and got another.”

“Hmm, sounds like a smart move on his part.”

“We dated a couple of dozen times before he moved to White Bear. I'd just ditched the bear I was seeing before I met Pierre, and so it was fun going out with a human for a change. I had no intention of having a serious relationship with him. But I think he wanted something more serious than I would give him.”

“Because he isn’t a bear.”

“And more. I never had a deeper physical connection than I have had with you. I don’t know, but I think he really was torn about leaving me behind. Still, it seemed like something else was forcing him to move on. I kept telling myself he was tired of me saying no to dates because of my long hours on the job."

"Ahh. So, exactly how did you get involved in this case?"

"I had been working on a kidnapping case in Sea Lion Cove, where a neighbor had snatched a ten-year-old girl off the street near her home. I found her—great sense of smell, you know, and freed her from her kidnapper. I decided to drive through White Bear to get gas when I got the call from Pierre saying his girlfriend had been kidnapped."

"So he knew you were in the area?"

"Yes, he’d seen me on the news already. But he said he wanted me to secretly handle it because the kidnapper warned him that he wasn't supposed to alert law enforcement or Denny would kill Helen. So I agreed. However, I did tell my boss about it. He couldn't put any more agents on the job at the time. I was supposed to keep in touch, but you know how that went."

"Yeah, we had no way to contact anyone, so seeing Pierre is more personal." Andy charged his phone in his SUV as he drove her to his place.

"I guess you could say that."