14

Monica tried calling Pierre’s number back. “There’s no answer.”

“What do you think about his claims?” Based on what others said and Pierre’s reactions, Andy wasn't sure if Pierre was a victim of the crime or a willing participant.

Monica ran her hands through her silky, long hair, and he wanted to do that. Every move she made was sexy.

“He was non-committal about his girlfriend duping him out of money. I didn’t have time to ask him how he got the money together so fast. What if heisa crook and had it hidden in a safe in his home or somewhere else that he could easily access? And he had mistakenly shared this information with Helen?” she asked.

“That’s a good possibility. That has certainly happened in numerous cases—normally involving theft, not a kidnapping scheme though.”

She sat down on the sofa. “True. That’s an awful lot of work to steal some money. This leads me back to the idea that he was in on it and hoped it would appear he had nothing to do with it.”

He joined her on the sofa, and she leaned against him.

“This is nice.” She sighed, and her body warmed him.

He took in her vanilla-scented fragrance and kissed her cheek. “I agree.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they just cuddled. “How is your back?”

“Feeling much better. The nap helped.” She kissed his chest. “What did you learn about Denny’s grandparents’ cabin neighbors?”

“I couldn’t reach them.”

“Well, darn. I need to make a call.” She selected her boss’s number from the menu. “Sir, O’Connell here. I just spoke with Pierre.” She explained what she had asked him and his responses. “Andy recorded the conversation.”

“We need to have him working for us.”

She smiled. “We need to interview Pierre to see if he was involved. Can we track his phone? He’s still using it.”

“I’ll have someone get on it right away.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m glad he’s alive and talking to you. Maybe you can still get to the bottom of this,” her boss said.

“I sure hope so.”

Then they ended the call.

“That was a good idea.” Andy pressed a kiss against her forehead. He breathed in the fragrance of the vanilla shampoo she had used on her hair and inhaled her essence.

“Yeah, I just wish we’d been tracking it before this. Maybe we would know where he was.” She slipped her arms around him and kissed his cheek, her lips warm against his skin.

He met her mouth with his and kissed her deeply. “I was thinking that if he were behind some of this, he wouldn’t have kept his phone, knowing the police could track him.”

“Hmm, yeah, you’re right. Maybe he is a good guy.”

“Or he’s just not good at being a bad guy.” Andy got a call and saw it was from Craig. “Hey, are you still grounded?”

“Yeah. I’m going to get a pizza for the missus and me. Do you want me to pick one up for the two of you while I’m out? That will give you more time to recuperate.”

Now that sounded good. “Let me ask Monica. Craig wants to know if we want a pizza for lunch. He’ll get one for us while he’s picking up one for him and his mate.”

“Double cheese, bell peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.”

“Did you hear that, Craig?”

“Yeah, I’ll drop it by in about half an hour.”