11

Cady squinted at the bedside clock. Seven o’clock! She’d slept in, something she rarely did. She hadn’t been able to fall asleep until well after three o’clock, worrying about the morning edition of the Indigo Sentinel. She bolted out of bed, grabbed for her robe, and literally galloped down the steps to the kitchen.

They were waiting for her, Lola, Mandy, and Anthony, their eyes sparkling with excitement. In the middle of the table was the morning paper. “Honey, you photograph better than a model,” Lola gushed. “This is priceless, just priceless.”

“I imagine that Indigo Valley’s new police chief is cringing a bit this morning. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they don’t call a special town meeting to discuss his…behavior,” Mandy said, stifling her laughter.

“Darling girl, you will be the topic of everyone’s breakfast conversation. Eggs or pancakes?” Anthony asked.

“Toast and coffee. Oh myyyy Godddd,” Cady yelped when she stared down at her likeness in the morning paper. “It’s in color!” she shrieked.

“So it is,” her grandmother responded as she brought her coffee cup to her lips. “The article is extremely interesting, too. It mentions the trespassing ticket that you paid, and it also mentions our…our little visit to the pond and, of course, my offer to buy the property. Mr. King is portrayed as a greedy mogul. I didn’t know we had any moguls in Indigo Valley,” Lola sniffed.

“The best part is that young man, Larry Denville, is going to reopen the newspaper’s file on the old case and do some investigating. Now that everyone is all grown-up, he’s going to do what he does best, ask questions. We told him what we suspected and how we went to the pond for a reenactment. If you had come down to dinner, you wouldn’t have to read about what we all discussed. Is your headache better, dear?” Mandy asked with concern in her voice.

Her eyes were wild when she looked around at the Big Three. “It was gone when I woke up, but it’s back now,” Cady all but snarled. “I don’t know if I can handle this.”

Lola waved her hand airily. “Of course you can handle it. Just pretend you’re acting in a movie like I do. If you go with make-believe, you can handle anything. Trust me. I’ll have the pancakes, Anthony.”

Her eyes going wilder by the minute, Cady looked from one to the other. There was no way in hell she was going to read the article in the paper. No way at all. “Did Boomer call?”

The trio shook their heads in unison.

“Then that means I have to go to the police station. I have to make last night come out right. I thought about it all night long. I even dreamed about it. It was both our faults, and we both reacted. At least I did.”

“Make sure you dress for the occasion,” Anthony quipped.

“Shut up, Anthony,” Cady barked, her eye on the color photo staring up at her.