Page 36 of A Whisker in the Night

It looks as if you’re not only growing a baby, you’re growing a spine.She winks my way with the internal dig.

“Very funny,” I mutter.

Camila has long since realized that I can read minds. You see, Leo Granger actually bothered to steal this beast from under Jasper’s nose, once upon a time. It ended their friendship for a while, but thankfully they’re back on track and thankfully Leo dropped Camila.

But while they were together, he confessed to her about his gift—or his curse as it were. And well, I’ve echoed Camila’s thoughts back to her one too many times in an effort to mess with her and she quickly did the mind-reading math. Although I’ve never admitted to being able to do as much, so there’s that.

“Ladies”—Mom interrupts our verbal sparring—“as entertaining as this is, I’m sorry, but we need to see Jasper immediately.”

“He’s in his office.” Camila swoons for a minute, and as if that’s not bad enough, she somehow makes those words sound as if she were reading them straight out of a steamy romance novel. “Though he’s very busy.” She takes a moment to glower at me. “Very, very busy.”

She saysbusylike it’s a euphemism for something far more interesting, and inappropriate—and ironically nothing at all like my name.

“I’m sure he’ll make time for his wife.” I smile sweetly. “You remember what those are, right? Wives? The person a husband is devoted to. I happen to be Jasper’s in case you need reminding.”

The baby gives an enthusiastic kick. Even my unborn child appreciates a good zinger.

Ooh, claws out!Fish clearly approves, too.

Though Camila’s claws are probably acrylic,Jellybean adds.Come to think of it, she reminds me a bit of Verity.

Me too, Jellybean. Me too.

Time to clue Jasper in on that very same thing.

Chapter 23

We hardly knock before entering Jasper’s office, which looks exactly like what you’d expect from a homicide detective’s workspace—case files stacked in organized chaos across his desk, a half-empty box of donuts, and enough coffee cups to suggest he’s single-handedly keeping the local café in business.

These coffee cups weren’t garnered from the coffee drip stationed in the lunch room either. I bet Camila has been doing some serious coffee runs in order to seduce him. After all, she learned long ago her womanly wiles weren’t nearly enough.

Jasper jumps up so fast that he nearly knocks over one of those infamous coffee cups as he pulls me into his arms.

“What’s happening?” he pants. “Is it the baby? Is everything okay? Is something wrong? Did you catch the killer?”

“Not yet,” I tease as he quickly lands a kiss on my forehead. “And everything is fine.” I pat my belly reassuringly. “Well, mostly fine.”

“Mostly?” His brows hike with concern. “What does mostly mean?”

“It means someone cleaned out my bank account,” Georgie wails, collapsing into a chair with enough drama to qualify fora Daytime Emmy. Heck, after what she’s been through, she deserves it. This drama is real.

Here we go.Fish settles in for the show.Though I have to say, this might actually be worth missing my afternoon nap.

Jasper’s expression shifts from concerned husband to that of a focused detective. “Tell me everything.”

“Well”—Georgie plucks out her phone and hands it to him—“I got this text from the bank about suspicious activity, and when I checked my balance, everything was gone! Poof! Just like my dignity after that bee incident.”

Mom ticks her head to the side. “I’m shocked the chocolate incident that preceded it didn’t ding your dignity. Or the five thousand incidents that preceded that.”

“Just you keep picking on me, Red,” Georgie growls at my mother. “And I’ll show you another good time yet.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Mom snorts.

Jasper works quickly and is already on the phone with the bank. His face grows increasingly serious as he listens.

“The money was transferred to MW Enterprises in the Maldives?” He scribbles something on a notepad before hanging up. “We’ll need to get the FBI involved. Georgie, can you think of anything unusual that happened to you lately? Any strange emails or calls?”

“Let’s see…” Georgie thinks hard, which involves a lot of ceiling-staring and lip-pursing. “There was that Nigerian prince who needed help with his inheritance...”

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