Page 90 of Big Bad Wolfe

“Yeah, surprisingly well. This is strong stuff.”

“I use it when Casey spills, or A-Aragorn … sometimes he throws-up h-hairballs …” Her voice faltered.

“Speaking of the hairball …” Mia entered carrying the big white cat, who appeared hale and hearty as he shot Zane a dirty look. Mia set Aragorn in Jillian’s lap. “I found him snoozing on Casey’s bed.”

“Oh!” Jillian gathered the cat to her, buried her face in his neck and started to cry again. “He’s fine! You’re just fine, my sweet boy.”

“He is,” Mia assured her. “Listen, how about if I make us some soothing herbal tea?”

Jillian nodded, still cuddling the cat. “Sounds good.”

Mia caught Zane’s eye, nodded at the kitchen.

He followed her in. “What’s up?”

“I came over this morning to deliver some news, but I don’t want to dump it on Jillian now.” She frowned. “Congressman Reynolds sent Richard and Brooke’s lawyer a glowing and strongly-worded personal letter of recommendation stating that they should be given full custody.”

“What thefuck?”

“My reaction exactly. Apparently Dick and Wade are pretty tight. Serve on the same fundraising committees, pillars of the community, blah, blah.”

He ground his teeth. “Wonder if he discovered we’re poking around in his playtime with Deb and this is his way of retaliating?”

“Maybe. Zane, the Congressman’s influence could totally tip this case in favor of the Stuarts. And I wouldn’t put it past Richard or Reynolds to arrange to have the hearing in front of a judge who’s in their pockets.”

“I figured Reynolds wasn’t the one harassing Jillian, but now I’m not so sure.” He glanced into the living room where Jillian had calmed and was cuddling the cat. “Come with me.”

Upstairs in his bedroom, he booted up his laptop. Mia leaned over his shoulder as he accessed the security program for the system he and Dallas had installed in Jillian’s house.

He loaded the feed from the front security camera. “Let’s see who left us a ‘present’ this morning.”

Mia leaned forward as they watched the person set the package on the doorstep and walk away. “Isn’t that one of the boys from the play?”

He tensed. “Yeah.”

“Farley, right?”

He snarled at the screen. “Nailed,you pervy little bastard.” He turned to Mia. “Can you stay with Jillian for a while? I don’t want to leave her alone.”

“For a short while. I know I promised to watch Casey today while she was prepping for the gala tomorrow night, but I need to get back to Portland and meet with Richard and Brooke’s lawyer and try to figure out his angle. And have Dallas help me find out everything we can about Reynolds’ involvement in the custody case.”

He shoved to his feet. “I won’t be long.”

* * *

Zane arrived back at Jillian’s house and parked in the driveway in the perfect mood to rip somebody a new one.

He’d been careful to cross all his t’s, dot every i. He’d shown Officer Ray the security camera feed, then had the cop read Farley his rights and haul him in for official questioning. The locals had extended professional courtesy to Zane and let him sit in on the interrogation.

The furious, scared kid had insisted he found the package on the Center’s doorstop and hadn’t wanted it to be ruined or stolen, so he’d personally delivered it to the house.

A check of the Hope Center’s security camera feed revealed a fifteen minute recording gap that showed only snow, then the package sitting there for over an hour before Farley arrived and took it, just as he claimed.

That “glitch in the Matrix” was no coincidence, and it stunk to high heaven. And had Zane believing Farley. The kid didn’t have the professional chops to circumventthemost top-of-the line security system. Not likely that gangbangers did either.

Which brought Zane circling back to either Dr. Dick and/or his buddy the Congressman.

He sat in the car dialing down his anger and frustration.

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