Page 57 (2/2)
written by Heather Wells
To give credit where it’s due, Detective Canavan see Cooper’s request to protect h he doesn’t hold it high enough for anyone outside the car to notice--and asks suspiciously, "You know any of those mutts on your front stoop, Wells?"
"I know all of them," I reply in a tired voice "Unfortunately"
"What do you mean by ‘unfortunately’?" Canavan asks "Should I shoot the there hat appears to be a gigantic wedding present between theht s easier forterm, it’ll probably cause a lot of headaches, especially for you, since they don’t look all that threatening Of course, it depends on what’s in the box"
"What about the big guy?"
Leaning against the doorfrae blacka black knit watch cap and a blue Yankees jacket, despite the fact that it’s close to eighty degrees outside At his feet is a duffel bag large enough to hold a young child He’s assiduously avoiding eye contact with Cooper’s sisters, sitting a few steps below hiin Hal," I say "He’s one of Cooper’s friends I have no idea what he’s doing there, but please don’t shoot hi for Cooper"
"Did you say Virgin Hal?" Turner asks, the word "virgin" having roused hiuy who looks like a linebacker is a virgin?"
"Apparently," I say "But please forget I mentioned it It’s some kind of private joke I’ve asked Cooper not to call him that, but the name’s stuck, somehow Can you unlock the door now? Whatever fresh hell this is that awaits o deal with it"
Canavan lowers his old-school Snize the uns, but this is what coator) and presses a button on his console, releasing the lock onmy keen powers of observation," Detective Canavan reuessing that your boy Cartwright sent his pal Virgin Hal over to keep an eye on you until he’s able to get ho up ers on the car handle, "is a ridiculous and sexist statement Cooper isn’t like that He knows I can take care of myself Hal’s probably here to fix the Wi-Fi It’s been on the blink lately"
This is an outright lie But I can’t tell the detectives the real reason I suspect that Hal is on the front stoop, since it will only alarm them, and probably cause them to want to come into the house This would be a disaster since there’s no telling what level of contraband Cooper has holed up in there While my fiancé swore to uphold the lahen he passed the state private investigator exaot his license, at times he’s been known to bend it a little Okay, eek," I explain "I bet Cooper called hiest lie I’ve told yet
"A six-foot-eight, three-hundred-pound tech geek," Canavan says drily "Who happens to show up the day we found you being harassed by a billionaire oil sheikh’s son, who I consider a suspect in ayou say"