Page 11 of Bobbing for Bodies
“Yes, exactly.” She takes a deep breath, relaxing somewhat for the first time since I set foot in here.
“Did Chuck give Hunter the loan he needed?”
She shrugs as if she weren’t certain of it. “Not that I know of. And if he were going to do it, well, it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?”
There’s a note of anger in her tone, and it can’t be denied. I’ve never seen Micheline so all over the place with her emotions. Not that the occasion doesn’t call for it, but something is definitely off. First of all, she was upset before Hunter was brutally gunned down. I suppose a rocky relationship can do that to you, but still. So odd.
My brief wedding engagement comes to mind, and I quickly push it away. Curt and all of the grief he caused can stay in New York forever as far as I’m concerned.
“Hunter sounded pretty desperate,” I whisper mostly to myself. “Hey, Micheline? What do you think made him so desperate for money?” I lean in, ear tipped her way in the event she feels an innate need to fill it with words—hopefully, the right ones.
Her features harden a moment as she looks right at me.
“I guess”—her mouth opens and closes as she quickly scoops up a stack of files over her desk—“I really need to get back to work.” She hops out of her seat. “Thank you for the cookies, Lottie.”
There’s that. She takes off down the hall, and I hightail it out the door and into the icy autumn air just as Chuck Popov is about to climb into his truck.
“Excuse me, Chuck?”
He does a double take my way and lifts a bushy gray brow.
“You wouldn’t have happened to have any dealings with Hunter Fisher, did you?”
A garble of unintelligible sounds emit from his mouth as he climbs into his truck shaking his head. The engine fires up in a moment as the truck expels a plume of smoke and drives off down the street.
And there he goes.
“Looks like I’m two for two.”
“Two for two?” a female voice calls out behind me, and I turn to find freakishly tall, redheaded Collette Jenner standing before me on what appear to be stilts, i.e., expensive red-bottomed stilettos. She’s donned one of those power pantsuits she’s prone to wear in a deep shade of burnt orange. Collette works at some fancy PR firm in Ashford, and I’m guessing she’s through for the day. Lucky me.
She leans in with her nose twitching. “I bet you’re two for two as in one man too many. I don’t know who you think you are all of a sudden collecting boyfriends like they were playing cards, but stay away from mine.” She sneers before speeding off in the opposite direction.
“And who would that be?” I call after her. I couldn’t help it. Everett has told me countless times they are and will remain exes. Okay, so he may not have included the bit about remaining so, but he emphatically implied it.
“You know who he is, Lottie Lemon!” She turns around with fury in her eyes. “I’m warning you. Stay away.”
I watch as she hops into her shiny black sports car and zooms off without so much as turning the ignition. Everything has always fallen into place for Collette—the looks, the cars, the careers, and the men.
Three out of four ain’t bad.
She can’t have Mr. Sexy. And not because he’s mine.
It’s because he doesn’t want her.
I find myself standing in front of the window to Noah’s office and touch my hand against the glass.
And I wonder if Noah wants me.
One thing is for certain—Micheline Roycroft knows exactly why Hunter was so desperate for money.
And I’m going to make sure I know exactly why, too.
Chapter 6
The first few days at the bakery have been more than hectic. Usually when I finish up for the evening, I head straight home to Lainey’s where I happily crash on the bed in the guest room and Pancake is happy to crash right along with me. He’s made it no secret how much he’s missed me these past few crazy weeks. But I plan on making it up to him soon with a trip to Just for Pets. For the last few months, each time I head over to stock up on his Fancy Beast pet food, I’ve brought him along. I always bring along his carrier, too, in the event a large dog decides it’s hungry forpancakes. But so far, the need hasn’t arisen, and Pancake seems to be more than content to peruse all the goodies. I’ll admit to purchasing him a few new toys each time we’re there. But I did manage to resist the cute cat costumes they have on display. When I presented the idea to him, along with an adorable little tutu, he shot me with death rays. I’m pretty sure he knew where that was going.
Noah and I have been hit-and-miss all week partially because I’m so busy with the bakery, but he too has been so very busy with all of his new cases, it makes me wonder if the best of what we were to have is already in the past. I would never want him to slow down because of me. I totally get not having time to do all the fun things. Hopefully, it’s just a passing phase. A part of me was hoping he’d at least ask me on a date, but on this mundane Friday night, I’ve decided to take myself out.