Page 24 of Take The Risk

​Putting my hands on my hips, I gave her my best “boss” voice. “I told you to wait at the bottom of the stairs for the hard hat.” I went over the events for her. “Instead of waiting, you put yourself at risk and left. You also put Harold in a position where he was responsible for your safety but had no way of ensuring it.”

​Of all the things I said, that last part seemed to get her. Her head swung to Harold, a look of horror on her face.

​“Harold, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that to you. I—sometimes I get a one-track mind and everything else fades away,” she confessed.

​Harold gave me a panicked look, not used to such sincerity. Especially from a client. Usually, even the nice ones didn’t care much about the position they put us in. Their home was their home, and they’d not be told what to do.

​“It’s okay, ma—I mean, Phoebe,” he finished when her eyes narrowed. “I just didn’t want you gettin’ hurt. Especially seeing as you were so nice to bring us those delicious muffins.”

​I didn’t get a muffin, I thought suddenly. Well, that was just great.

​Phoebe’s face warmed at the compliment.

​“Yo.” Wade announced his arrival, lumbering down the stairs. “What’s up?”

​Harold gave him a quick rundown of what he’d found, Phoebe adding in what she noticed, making certain to be clear she hadn’t even known this room existed and hadn’t touched anything to maintain the crime scene.

​After Wade checked things out, I knew we were in for a delay and cursed.

​“House has to be cleared, Ty.” Wade pulled his phone off his hip, already dialing his chief. “Get the boys out and tell them to just leave the tools where they are. Keep’em on the yard, though.”

​Just when I thought I was making progress, the house had to spit out a new problem. Again.

​“All right. Let’s go.” Harold and I turned to go when I stopped. “Phoebe? You need to come with us.”

​Wade’s brow furrowed as he told the Chief what was going on, his eyes on Phoebe.

​“Phoebe,” I called again, this time annoyed. This was serious and she needed to get her butt out of here. “Wade said we need to get outside.”

​“I’ll round up the guys,” Harold offered, heading upstairs.

​Instead of answering, she stepped forward, entering the room again, completely ignoring Wade’s bark for her to not go in there.

​“For God’s sake, we need to leave.” Why wasn’t she listening? Unless she was staying on purpose? Was she hoping we’d leave first and then she could maybe grab the drugs? Were they hers and she was just a really good actress?

​No. Hell, no, my gut roared. I’d never needed to know someone long to get a sense of them, and Phoebe Lebonaire had no idea those drugs were here.

​Head upturned, she moved closer to whatever it was that caught her attention. Her hands were clasped behind her back.

​“Chief is on his way. It’s time to leave, Phoebe.” Wade used his most authoritative cop voice and, like me, got nothing back.

​She went up on her toes in the low-heeled black boots she wore, still keeping her hands clasped tightly behind her back.

​“Phoebe,” Wade barked.

Just as he did, she said softly, “I think there’s a camera there.”

Chapter 10

​I stood against the counter, watching the Chief of Police finish his questioning of Phoebe. Wade sat with them, making his own notes. Mom was putting the coffee she’d brought into cups, having shown up when the gossip reached her at the café.

​“Well, it looks like we have everything we need,” the Chief said, snapping his notepad closed. “There were two sets of prints on the drugs, but our evidence tech already confirmed neither of them is yours. Our investigation will continue, and we may need to come back out to Winterbourne Manor, but for now, I think we’re good.”

​“I knew that,” Phoebe replied tongue in cheek. “But it’s still nice to have the official all-clear.”

​Wade studied Phoebe where she sat at Louise’s kitchen table. She’d just finished signing her official statement. As I watched her, I saw her fingers do that rolling thing I’d noticed she did, only this time she was rolling the pen the Chief had given her back and forth almost reflexively.

​Other times when she did it, she seemed anxious. Right now, she seemed perfectly calm, which was crazy given a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of cocaine was found in her house along with two surveillance cameras.