Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf #1) - Terry Spear Page 0,11
to get on with your life. You didn’t think of her every minute of the day. You were glad to have time away from her so you could breathe.” He pointed a slice of pizza at Josh. “We have two new she-wolves who have joined the pack down at Leidolf and Cassie’s ranch. I keep telling you we need to make time to see them.”
“What about Miss Cerise?” Josh asked, surprised Maverick would mention seeing the other ladies when Brooke lived even closer by.
“Sure, but she already turned me down for dinner, so there might not be anything there. I was definitely my charming self. You certainly didn’t interest her—you annoyed her the whole time you were there.”
Josh finished his second slice of pizza. “She’s a suspect until I learn otherwise. Man, does this pizza hit the spot.” He knew his brother was right about Joy, but he didn’t want to get involved with another woman anytime soon. He was glad his brother didn’t mention how, because of Joy’s impulsiveness, Josh had been shot three times. He’d heard it enough for a lifetime.
“Thanks. We haven’t had a pizza in a while, so I thought it was about time. So you checked our security videos and didn’t find anything suspicious?”
“About that. The video was looped.” Josh pulled loose another piece of pizza.
“Ah, hell. I didn’t notice when I checked it out. Someone took the time to cover their tracks then. Someone who works for us?” Maverick shook his head before Josh answered him. “Everyone who works here is a wolf, and why would they do it?”
“It was an unknown wolf—and maybe a human male—who did it.”
“I smelled the scents too.” Maverick took another swig of beer. “It can’t be Brooke. This was someone who knew what they were doing and probably had an accomplice or two.”
“She could have.”
“If you don’t look for the real culprit, you might not find who did this. Then what? We have the same problem again? We need to know when—”
“Sometime last night between two and three.”
“Who and why.”
“She made a lot of money off sales today, all because Jingles was drawing the crowds to her shop. She had the best motive in the world. And she had possession of the stolen property.” Because of those two things, she would remain Josh’s number one suspect.
“Ahh, I see now.”
“What?” Josh pulled off another slice of pizza.
“If she continues to be your one and only suspect, you can keep seeing her under the guise that this is just police business.”
Josh gave a sarcastic laugh. “Since when do I get interested in dating suspects?”
“I’d say right about now.”
“She just moved here. Is it someone she knows? Or someone who came with her? She didn’t tell me if she lived alone or not. What do we know about her? Nothing. I need to question her further about who she knows in the area.”
“She’s not involved.”
“You don’t know how devious women can be. In the business I’m in, I’m used to it.”
“You’re wrong in this case, Brother.” Maverick finished his last slice of pizza. “That’s okay. I’ll keep pursuing her then. Just don’t mess up my chances with her by badgering her.”
Josh had every intention of learning if she had any part in this or not.
* * *
Brooke went outside and was about to lock her gate before she did anything else when she noticed it had a bright, shiny new latch. She couldn’t imagine anyone replacing it. Except for Maverick taking Jingles to have potty breaks outside, he’d been inside with her the whole time.
Had Mr. Detective done it? She couldn’t even envision that.
She didn’t want to have any more trouble just because she didn’t lock her gate again. As much as she hated to admit it, the detective was right about someone being able to come in and steal her wolf statues. She sure didn’t want that. At least the gate shut properly now, and it was locked.
She went back inside her shop and began cleaning the kitchen, washing the chocolate pot, the slow cooker she’d used to make the wassail, and the serving dishes. Once that was done, she brought out the boxes of gift items her great-aunt had purchased, figuring that was the fastest way to fill the shelves. Due to their wolf’s enhanced longevity and their slow aging process, Ivy had accumulated lots of stuff that might not have been that valuable when she had purchased it but could be now.