Rose’s mother glanced back and forcefully grinned at her, then commiserated Bellamy with a pat on the shoulder. Rose watched, still breathless, as her mom spoke into Bellamy’s ear before grabbing her hand bag. And just like that, Rose felt like an outsider in her own family. It was hard to explain. They’d been hush-hush about their liaison before, but now it was as though they’d thrown the gauntlet at her feet, taunting her with secrecy. If it was a tease before, it was an outright challenge now. A challenge for her to uncover the truth. If she could keep her hormones in check long enough.

Time to make a few calls.

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

So much for the calls. Eddie Dobkin, her boss at Dobkin & Searle Investigations, was incommunicado and would be for the remainder of the afternoon. “Someone else has filed a lawsuit against us,” his secretary, Helen, explained. “Can you believe that? That’s two in two weeks. He’s called Mr. Searle back from Toronto, and they’re both lawyering up in a hurry. If I were you, Rosie, I’d leave it ‘till tomorrow, unless it’s an emergency. You know what Eddie’s like when he’s up against it.”

She sure did. Prickly was the kindest word she could think of to describe him when things weren’t going his way. “Gotcha. Is Marty there?”

“No. He skipped out quick as soon as he saw Mr. Searle arrive.”

“Nicky?”

“Her too.”

“Jesus. What about Alex?”

“He’s, ah, out on assignment, I think. Hasn’t logged in since…let me see…” A sequence of rapid key strokes later, “It’s been a couple of days, at least. Must be deep cover.”

Rose sighed, waved back to her mom who was signaling that they were ready to leave the café. “Okay, thanks, Helen.”

“It’s not an emergency, then? ’Cause if it is, you know, I can always go get—”

“No, that’s okay. It’s nothing I can’t handle. No point getting your head bitten off by Unsteady Eddie. I’ll figure something out.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Positive.”

“Stay safe, Rosie.”

“Later.”

Her final call before returning to her mom was to Marty Brigman directly. It went straight to voicemail, so she decided to leave him a message. None of the associate investigators at Dobkin & Searle particularly liked her—they thought she was too brash and way too sarcastic, which was mostly true—but Marty at least tolerated her more than the others did (except maybe Eddie Dobkin, who found her snark amusing when he wasn’t bouncing off the walls).