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“Not that you don’t have a healthy ego.”
“Oh, I have an extremely healthy ego. In fact, I have a ginormous ego, but I’m also really practical and not so arrogant that I’m not going to accept help when it’ll make things go faster and smoother.”
She grinned at him. “Fine. Where do we start?”
CHAPTER 9
JESSICA
Feeling much better about where she stood with Thorn as far as Thompson’s murder went, Jessica had the cop take her and Thorn back to her place to get her SUV. Upon hearing her enter the yard, Tracer, her beloved basset hound, came barreling out the dog door that had been incorporated into the back door.
Sudie followed close behind him, laughing. “He said you were back here, but I didn’t believe him. He always knows where his mama is.”
“Detective Thorn Wilder, this is my friend and housekeeper, Sudie. Sudie, meet Thorn.”
“Are you the one investigating what happened up at DeeDee’s place?”
“I am.”
“And you think Jessica had something to do with it? I wish Tracer was trained to attack; I’d have him bite you,” said Sudie.
“Not to worry,” said Jessica to Thorn. “The most Tracer would do is beat you to death with his tail or knock you down and drown you in drooly kisses. Other than that, he is completely harmless.”
“But that boy can track anything. If you need something followed, you get Jessica to lend you Tracer. He found a lost little girl last year. Everybody was so worried for her. By the time they caught up to him, he was bouncing and barking with her, and she was giggling away.”
“You trained your dog to track?” he said, kneeling down to offer his hand to Tracer to let him sniff it before giving him a tummy rub when the dog flipped over onto his back.
“It’s not hard with a basset. Their noses are the best in the business. They’re especially good at finding kids because they’re so non-threatening.”
Thorn stood up. “Are you saying that if we found some kind of scent item, we could use him to track something?”
“Not only that, you don’t have to have a scent item per se. If we let him sniff around that footprint, he’d probably be able to track where it went.”
“Good to know.”
“Sudie, the roadster is still up at DeeDee’s. Forensics is going over it. We’re going to take the Range Rover.”
“Before I leave Badger’s Drift, I want a ride in that roadster. As I recall from your website, it’s a 1953 Ferrari 250 MM.”
“You’ve been on my website?”
“I told you, I’ve become a fan—no wait, you don’t call us fans. You call us readers. I like that.”
She shrugged. “I think it better exemplifies my relationship with those who read my books.” Tracer jumped up, bracing his short front legs against her thighs, wagging his tail like some kind of demented grandfather clock’s pendulum on speed. “Mommy loves you. Go help Sudie bake cookies.”
“Dog or human?” Sudie called from the back porch, smiling.
“Human. Make a lot and take them up to DeeDee for her guests and all the law enforcement types working up there. Thorn says we’re going to go visit Thompson’s widow.”
“She’s bound to make out better as a widow than she would as a divorcee,” said Sudie. “And I’ll get on those cookies, right away.”
“Thanks, Sudie. I’m not sure what the plan is, but I’ll check in with you later.”
She led Thorn to the enormous, detached garage. It had room for at least four vehicles if not more if they were creatively parked.
“This is nice,” he said with admiration.
“I added it to the property. At first the neighbors tried to oppose it, but once they saw the design and location, they were fine. In fact, several of them followed suit. The contractor says they refer to it as the ‘Jessica.’”
