hope you get that resolved soon. If you need my help, just let me know. I had another call come in about the time the DEA agents stormed the shop, so I couldn’t get there and help out or meet Brooke Cerise, but I checked later with Ethan, and he said you’re already laying claim to the she-wolf.”
Josh shook his head. “I was there questioning her further about the reindeer calf when the boxes were delivered from Colombia.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that story before. We can catch up later, man.”
“Sure.” Josh headed out to his car and called Brooke on Bluetooth.
“Did you learn who calf-napped Jingles so you can take me off your suspect list?” Brooke asked.
“Still working on it. Since I have to be in your area”—checking out more security videos, sure, but Josh had it in mind to have lunch with her—“what do you want me to bring you for lunch?” He assumed anything he brought her would be infinitely more satisfying than a granola bar.
“Do you think bribing me with food will convince me to confess all about the reindeer calf?”
He smiled at her tenacity. “What do you want?”
“Chicken marsala.”
He headed toward the restaurant he had in mind that made the perfect chicken marsala. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Soon he arrived at the antique shop with the meals in a sack, hoping he could talk to Brooke about where he was at in the reindeer case, but she was busy taking care of customers, trying to find something one of the customers was looking for. He hadn’t considered that part of the equation. She motioned to him to take the food into the kitchen. “Go ahead and eat.”
That certainly wasn’t the plan he had in mind. He really wanted to eat with and talk to her. Had she seen the black pickup truck parked in front of her garden gate before? Was there a reason the truck stopped at her place in particular?
He set the food out on the kitchen table, and Brooke hurried into the kitchen as the shop door closed. Then she smiled, and her smile stirred his loins. Hell. He was thinking about a kiss.
“I might have more customers anytime now.”
“Take a seat and enjoy your meal then.”
She grabbed a cup of water for each of them and sat down to eat. “Hmm. This smells so good. Thanks.”
“I imagine it’ll also be your dinner.”
“Of course. Thanks for bringing me lunch and dinner today. What I want to know is, what will you bring me tomorrow?”
Josh chuckled. He hadn’t expected that. He’d ended up getting the chicken marsala for himself, too, and started to cut into the chicken and mushrooms topped with cheese and wine sauce. “About the Jingles case…”
Brooke made a long-suffering sigh and scooped up some of her mashed potatoes covered in gravy. “I am still a suspect.” She ate the mashed potatoes and pointed her fork at him. “You remember what I said about my rights.”
He smiled and explained what he had learned.
She was about to spear a piece of chicken with her fork when he told her she had closed the gate to her courtyard that night. She pointed her empty fork at him again. “See? I told you the gate was closed!”
“It was. You were right.”
“So?”
“I need to speak to the owner of the pickup to learn where he was when the truck was parked in front of your place and around the time the reindeer calf was stolen.” Josh showed her the video of the truck. “Have you ever seen that truck before?”
“Are you kidding? As many black pickups as there are? No. I don’t make it a habit of watching out the shop windows for black pickup trucks.”
“Did you hear anything that night? A truck door slamming? Your gate opening?”
She sighed and began working on her meal again.
He supposed he should leave off with all the questions so she could eat before anyone else entered her shop.
“No,” he said for her.
“I. Was. Sleeping. I think I already gave you my statement, Detective Wilding.”
“Right, but I thought you might have forgotten something or heard something and just dismissed it as nothing important.”
“Like a reindeer being dropped off in my courtyard.”
“Uh, right.”
“I’m not a heavy sleeper normally, but I must have been really tired and sound asleep about that time.”
Maverick called Josh, who wondered what his brother needed now. “Yeah, Brother?” He put it on speakerphone.
“I’ve got to get more feed in town for the reindeer. Did you