Shades of Murder (The Mac Faraday Mysteries) (17 page)

“Without ever getting the chip?” Archie asked.

As if to remind them of his presence, Gnarly barked.

Looking over at Gnarly, who was sitting on the stairs, Joshua said, “It’s been all over the news about the painting turning up again. Maybe the buyer tried to collect it tonight, but didn’t count on your dog being so ...”

“Brave.” Archie jabbed Mac in the ribs before he could use another word. “Bad guys never stand a chance when Gnarly’s on the case.”

Chapter Nine

“Mac, you’re not going to believe what the clerk just told me.” Jeff Ingles, the Spencer Inn’s manager, rushed across the lobby to meet Mac when he stepped into the lobby.

After dropping Archie and Gnarly off at the entrance, Mac had parked his car and went inside to find the manager in the middle of fit. “After the day I’ve had,” Mac replied, “I’ll believe anything.”

When Mac didn’t stop, the manager fell into step beside him. “Were you aware that the guests you instructed us to place in a corner suite have a skunk with them?”

His voice rose from a dignified low tone to a high-pitched gasp. “Is that Gnarly?” The sight of the German Shepherd at Archie’s side made Jeff forget all about the black and white creature in Cameron Gates’s arms.

Cameron and Joshua had been content to stay in the pet-friendly roadside hotel in which they had checked-in with Irving on the way into Spencer. However, Mac’s offer of a corner suite at the Inn, as his guests, was too good to pass up.

It was a perfect turn of events.

Joshua had offered to let his cousin Tad, who was taking care of Admiral, cat-sit so that they could spend a couple of nights at the Spencer Inn. As much as she wanted to spend a couple of nights alone with her lover in crime, Cameron refused. Irving would never agree to her going out of town without him.

Joshua gave up any hope of cementing their new relationship in the lap of the Spencer Inn’s romantic paradise—until Archie sensed love in the air and whispered into Mac’s ear.

With the house wrecked after the burglar’s encounter with Gnarly, Mac thought it best for him, Archie, and Gnarly to check into his private suit on the top floor at the Inn. Bogie and David had taken the painting and disk into evidence at the police headquarters. Meanwhile, Harry Bush was calling for local federal officers to ensure nothing happened to the disk.

While their owners were taking care of business, Gnarly and Irving were having a loud debate about who ruled. Dogs or Cats? Judging by his whines and yelps, Gnarly was losing.

“Mac, have you forgotten what happened last time?” Jeff pleaded with him. “You promised me. And now you have friends checking in with a skunk? What do you think we’re running here? A zoo?”

“That’s not a skunk,” Mac said. “It’s a cat. And, we couldn’t leave Gnarly home alone.”

“Sure,” Jeff said, “But there’s a very nice kennel —”

From where she was collecting the key cards for the suite, Archie shot a glance over her shoulder at the manager. Her eyebrows disappeared up into her bangs. Gnarly lowered his head like a bull preparing to charge a fighter.

Mac said, “Jeff, I assure you, I would never have brought Gnarly back to the Inn if I didn’t have a very good reason for doing so.”

“And what reason is that?”

“Because I said so.” Archie led Gnarly to the elevator to take them up to penthouse.

“That’s a good reason.” Jeff turned on his heels to hurry back to his office.

Cameron laid her hand on Mac’s arm. “Thank you for allowing Irving to stay here. I promise he won’t be any trouble.”

“No problem.” Mac scratched Irving behind the ears.

Joshua offered. “Would you like to meet for a drink and do some more brainstorming? Now that the FBI has intercepted the data that the Ramsays stole, I can tell you right now that solving their murders aren’t even on their radar.”

“I know that,” Mac said. “Have you and Cameron had dinner yet?” By the expressions on their faces, Mac saw that they’d been so wrapped up in the case that they’d forgotten about eating.

Like minds think—and don’t eat—alike.

“I need to take Irving upstairs.” Cameron gave Joshua a quick kiss on the lips before boarding the elevator to go upstairs to their room. “I’ll meet you down here as soon as I freshen up.”

The relief on Joshua’s face when she left perplexed Mac. “Is she—”

“I have no idea,” Joshua said. “I could use a drink. What about you?”

Mac gestured for him to follow him into the restaurant. “The bar is always open.”

On the way across the lobby, Joshua asked, “Do you believe it’s possible for men our age to fall in love at first sight?”

“Yep,” Mac said. “It happened to me.”

“My grandmother used to tell me that there was no such thing as love at first sight,” Joshua said, “only lust.”

Mac stopped with his hand on the door leading into the restaurant. “Are you married?”

“No.”

“Is she?”

“No.”

“Is she a killer, drug dealer, terrorist, or lush?”

“She doesn’t smoke, drink, or do drugs,” Joshua said. “But she does have a borderline addiction to junk food, which I have, too.”

“What’s your problem?”

“Her cat’s crazy.”

“I’m not the guy to talk to about that,” Mac replied. “You met Gnarly.” He squinted at him. “What’s your real problem?”

“I have five kids that I’m going to have to explain my new friend to.”

Mac looked him up and down. “Are your kids at home?”

“Only one.”

“Then they’re out on their own, living their own lives,” Mac said. “Why can’t you?”

Joshua nodded his head. “You’re right.”

“Of course, I am. I’m Mickey Forsythe. I’m never wrong.” Mac led him inside.

Across the restaurant, Mac spied Neal Hathaway at a corner table filled with what appeared to be his people. Executive assistant Susan Dulin sat on his left side. Daughter-in-law Rachel was on his right with Scott Hathaway next to her.

Seeming to mentally block everyone out, Rachel was texting on her cell phone.

The Kaplans had seats on the other side of the table. Unhappy with the attention that her husband was paying to Susan Dulin, Nancy kept talking into Peyton’s ear in a low voice. The harder he tried to ignore her, the more determined she was to capture his attention.

There was one empty chair next to Susan Dulin.

“Speak of the devil.” Mac said while they followed the host to the owner’s private table on the other side of the restaurant.

“I wonder which one of them leaked the discovery of Ilysa Ramsay’s painting to the media?” Mac asked him after they were seated. He pointed out each member of Hathaway’s party.

“Why do you think the leak was one of them? It could have been someone who worked for you.”

“No one from the police department would have leaked it. Other than David, Bogie, and their crew; Archie and I were the only other ones who knew.” Mac gestured in the direction of the table. “That only leaves Neal Hathaway and his entourage. One of them leaked it to the media, and I’m curious about why.”

“Why are we always so suspicious?” Joshua craned his neck to see across the restaurant.

“That’s what makes us such good cops.”

Peyton Kaplan broke away from the crowd to saunter into the lounge.

Nancy paused in monitoring her husband’s attention to greet a slender man with dark hair who came hurrying in from the Inn’s lobby. His suit looked disheveled. When he got to the table, Nancy rose to greet him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Who’s that?” Joshua asked.

“I have no idea. He’s new.” Mac nodded a thank you to the server for filling their water glasses. “What do you drink?” he asked Joshua.

“Scotch on the rocks.” When he saw Cameron come in with Archie, he murmured to the server. “Make it a double.”

“I think the man is nervous,” Mac said in a low voice.

“I have reason to be.” Joshua turned and flashed a smile up at Cameron when she and Archie arrived at their table. “How’s Irving?”

“He scared a couple in the hall to death,” Cameron said.

Joshua was nodding his head. “Irving gets screamed at alot.”

Cameron smiled at him. “You didn’t scream at him.”

“Not on the outside.” He smiled at her. “On the inside, I screamed like a little girl.”

Uttering a loud noise of disgust, Rachel slammed her phone down on the tabletop. “Son of a bitch.”

“Lower your voice,” Scott ordered her.

Ignoring him, she shrieked, “That bastard just—”

“What bastard?” he asked her.

“What do you care?” Shrugging, she texted away on the phone.

“If I were you, I’d toss that thing into the lake,” Neal said to his son.

“I do care,” Scott told her in a gentle tone. “Who texted what to you?”

Those at Mac’s table were craning their necks for the answer when David startled them by asking, “Is this a private party?”

Before Mac could answer, the host ordered two more chairs to be brought to their table for the newcomers. “Is the painting and chip safe?”

“That Harry dude isn’t taking chances,” Bogie said. “Before we left, the feds were setting up shop for until Bush gets a court order to take the chip into custody and transport it to Washington. We got four of our guys and two feds, not to mention Kenny and Harry. The chief and I had to leave, because in that small police department there wasn’t any more room to sit down.”

Joshua predicted, “They’ll have their court order before morning.”

“Which is fine with me,” David said after ordering his drink. “This is my jurisdiction and, as long as it’s here, it’s going to be safe. Once the feds take it away, and it’s no longer my responsibility, then I’ll sleep better—which is why we’re here.”

Bogie said, “The chief and I aren’t sleeping until we catch this guy. We assumed you’d all be in the same boat. So, as long as Mac’s buying, let’s get some chow and figure out who our killer is.”

Cameron cocked her head in the direction of Neal Hathaway’s table. “The killer has to be sitting over there. Give us a rundown of the players.”

Mac asked, “The guy in the suit just came in. I don’t know him.”

The server arrived with a tray filled with drinks. While she was serving the drinks around the table, Mac asked about the man in the suit at the Hathaway table. “Oh, when he’s in town, he’s a regular here. His name is George Scales. Mr. Hathaway’s attorney.”

“Scales?” Joshua asked.

“Does he by any chance drive a black Jag?” Cameron asked the server.

Picking up her empty tray, she shrugged. “You can check at the front desk. They’ll know.”

Joshua told them, “That black Jag leaving the airport hangar after Bixby was killed had personalized plates. They read SCALES.”

“Sounds like you need to have a discussion with Hathaway’s attorney,” David said.

“Ilysa put Scales in the painting,” Mac said. “He looks different.”

Archie nodded her head in agreement. “Because he had a facelift and nose job.”

“Really? How can you tell?” Bogie asked.

Cameron agreed with Archie. “That is not the nose God gave him. It’s a nice nose, but it doesn’t go with his face. Yet again, boys and girls, we have a perfect example of God knowing what’s best to put on your face. Instead of spending whatever Mr. Scales had to have paid for that thing, he should have stuck with what God gave him for free.”

“Maybe he had to change his appearance because he didn’t want to be recognized,” Joshua suggested. “Maybe his picture ended up out there someplace he didn’t want it to be.”

“Like a famous painting,” David said.

“Well,” Mac said, “Hathaway called his attorney this morning about the shakedown. He and Kaplan were supposed to take care of it.”

Archie said, “Scales could have set up a meeting with your boss at the hangar, and then someone killed her before he got there.”

“Why are you protecting your rich friend?” Cameron asked.

“He’s not my rich friend,” Archie said. “You’ve never met Neal Hathaway. I have. He’s a caring, compassionate man. When he finds out what Ilysa was doing, he’ll be devastated. He really did love her.”

In a soft voice, David agreed. “Yes, he did. Her murder broke him.” He took a sip of his drink.

Mac said, “When you’re out there on the streets like Cameron and I have been, you meet so many of the rich and powerful, who are so arrogant about proving that they’re different from the rest of us, that you start to believe it—and not in a good way.” He looked over at Cameron. “It can create preconceived notions about all of them.”

Cameron held up her hands in surrender. “Okay. I’ll open my mind. Convince me Hathaway didn’t do it.” She turned to Bogie. “Tell me about your murder. Who are the players, and where was each of them at the time the second Ilysa Ramsay was murdered?”

They paused to glance across the room when Rachel erupted with another shriek at something she had read on her cell phone. Her dismay made for entertainment while each of them placed their dinner orders with the server. Afterwards, Bogie gave them a run down.

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