Myra hugged Charlotte. “You were not being a fool. You went to a doctor whom you thought you could trust. And then, when you were feeling a bit off, you reached out to us. That was a very wise move. And let me remind you, you stopped taking those pills when you were not feeling right. So, you are far from a fool.”

Everyone murmured in agreement. Annie stooped down to wrap her arms around Charlotte and Myra.

Fergus interjected, “While we are on the subject, can you bring the pill bottles down here? I want to see if there are any legal markings on them.”

Wiping the tears, Charlotte nodded and looked up. “So what do we do now?”

In unison, Annie and Myra exclaimed, “We thought you’d never ask!”

High fives and hoots, then the dogs. Yes, there were some big surprises coming for a trio of good-for-nothing scoundrels. The game was afoot.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Aspen

Avery Snowden peered out the motel window. The mountains were spectacular, topped with the last of the winter snow and beautiful aspen trees. He wasn’t much of a snow or winter guy, but he could certainly appreciate the natural beauty of the area. He checked the digital clock on his laptop. It was 6:00 A.M. He sent the photo Eileen had taken of the mysterious guy to Charles to see if he had a police record. Charles had many ways to get that sort of information. The photo was a clean shot of the kid’s face. Yes, Eileen was very good at her job.

The laptop pinged, indicating that a big file was being downloaded. It was the blueprints of Steinwood’s house and office. The buildings were only five minutes apart by car. He had rented a car and an SUV and would switch between the two. He didn’t want one vehicle to be seen too many times in the same place. The night before, he had parked the first rental a block from the motel. He had then taken a cab to another rental agency and had used the same alias, Walter Harrison, to rent the SUV that he had used to register at the motel. The first car had been rented to Harry Walters. It was his own way of keeping track of what names he was using, at what time, and at what place. So far it had worked for him.