Page 30 of Bait and Switch
Casey looked up from the cat and caught Gabriel watching him. The glimmer of a smile crossed his lips, and he shrugged.
“I like animals. They like me.”
“I can see that. Are we going to deal with this now? Is there a veterinarian close by?”
“Not one that’s open late, but we can take her in the morning. I have a friend who’ll take a look at her.”
“Ah, so.” Gabe waved at the dining table. “Do you still want to know what I found out today?”
The cat, filthy as it was, looked like a tabby of some kind. Possibly it was orange. Its greenish eyes peeked over the towel, shooting Gabe a dangerous and skeptical look.
“Yes, I want to know what you learned.” Casey perched with the cat on the edge of the bench seat. “And I still want some of that ice cream.”
TWELVE
Casey
Tuesday night
Maybe it wasa mix of the long day, the iffy rescue, and the confrontation with Rizzi when he and Greta had stopped in to report what Carlos had told them before losing consciousness, but Casey was in an odd humor.
Twitchy. Too aware.
He toyed with the idea that it was the presence of Charming Fucker on what Casey considered his dock—even if they were currently aboard theTicket. It was a shock to realize he was glad that Gabriel had stopped him and offered ice cream.
They didn’t know yet if Carlos would survive his injuries. Only time and good medical care would tell. When they’d gotten him loaded up, he’d been slipping in and out of unconsciousness, always a bad sign, and he hadn’t spoken again.
The cat squirmed his arms. “You want to get down now? Alright.” He glanced at Gabe, who shrugged. Casey knew that Bowie wouldn’t do anything; his best dog was nothing if notwell-behaved. Giving the cat one last squeeze and a final wipe with the now filthy towel, Casey set it down on the floor. It immediately began to explore the cabin while keeping to the perimeter of the room.
“Don’t clam up on me now, Karne. I’m not used to you being quiet.”
Gabe had retrieved the ice cream and was busy splitting it between a cereal bowl and a coffee mug.
“I do have more than one spoon, don’t worry,” he said, setting the bowl in front of Casey and taking the mug for himself before passing him a spoon from the dish drainer.
“Anyway, the wild news is that Vale wasn’t Peter’s name. He was a Stevens, and he grew up here on Heartstone. His father was the county prosecutor you talked about the other day.”
Casey blinked comically, a spoonful of ice cream halfway to his mouth.
“What?” he said, jamming the sweet dessert into his mouth and letting the chill of it against his teeth ground him.
“Peter’s last name was, in fact, Stevens,” Karne repeated. “At least, that’s the name he was born with.”
Casey swallowed and then popped another spoonful of frozen deliciousness into his mouth, giving himself time to process what Gabriel was telling him. After swallowing that bite, he scooped more into his mouth, managing not to make a single inappropriate sound. He was pretty sure that having Jewel Creamery ice cream in stock single-handedly kept Norskland General Store in business over the slow months.
“You’re not kidding around, are you?” he finally managed to say.
Karne shook his head. “Nope. Not kidding, not even joking.”
A megawatt smile had Casey blinking. Could a frozen dairy product be an aphrodisiac?
“Good ice cream, huh?” Karne said with an added eyebrow waggle.
Casey forced his thoughts back on track. The right track. Not only was Charming Fucker’s ex originally from Heartstone, but the ex was also related to the man who’d ultimately been responsible for his brother going to prison. Was, in fact, the asshole’s son. Sure, Rizzi had supplied the so-calledevidence, but the Honorable John Stevens was the one who’d manipulated it to lock up Mickie.
“The fuck.”
“Yeah, mind-blowing, huh? Do you think you knew him? Peter, I mean. If he was from here originally, then maybe he didn’t show up here the other day because of me.”
