Red Hot by Dana Dratch

Red Hot by Dana Dratch

Author:Dana Dratch [Dratch, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-03-16T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 37

Lucy spent the first few minutes of our return trying to jump into Gabby’s arms. Or lap.

“My little girl’s all grown up now,” Gabby said. And I swear she was tearing up.

“That’s what Nick calls her, ‘the little dog,’” I said. “But the vet says she’ll probably top out at forty-five or fifty pounds.”

“She looks good,” Gabby said, giving Lucy a double-handed, double-ear scratch.

“She plays in the yard, gets lots of walks around the neighborhood, and has a regular circle of doggie friends she visits,” I said. “They even put in an agility course at our dog park.”

Lucy being Lucy, she’d adopted an à la carte approach to that one. Some of the agility stations she’d hit twice, some she skipped entirely. But she loved the place.

Even after half an hour of dedicated Lucy time, including a quick “break” on the front lawn of Oceanside, the pup remained steadfastly glued to Gabby’s side.

As my sister buzzed around the kitchen throwing pasta into a pot and chopping vegetables, Gabby and I sat at the white marble breakfast bar watching the show.

“Your kitchen is like something out of one of those fancy TV home makeover thingies,” Gabby said, looking around in wonder.

Annie smiled. “Thank you! Whoever designed these places did an amazing job—everything you need and all in just the right spot.”

“So how come you’re here in Miami?” Gabby asked me, reaching down to stroke Lucy. “Are you on vacation too?”

“Kind of,” I said. “That was part of it. Also, there was something weird going on with the condo board election here at Oceanside. And Annie wanted a second opinion.”

“So what’s weird about it?”

While Annie minced garlic, I filled in Gabby about why I’d first come to town—and what we’d discovered this morning.

“You mean she staged the whole thing?” Gabby asked, eyes wide.

I hoped we weren’t giving her any ideas.

“Lock, stock, and fake competition,” I said.

“That’s awful.”

“Exactly what I said,” my sister added. “But the worst part is that she hung poor Dennis and Geoffrey out to dry.”

“Yeah, and neither of them would do too well in prison,” I said.

“Why would they go to jail?” Gabby asked. “Your friend Leslie is the one who faked an election. And they can’t exactly arrest her.”

“It’s not the fake election,” I explained. “It’s why she faked it. Apparently, Leslie had taken over managing the association’s money. The other two just signed off on whatever she gave them. But she wasn’t paying the bills, and now the association account has about fourteen bucks in it.”

“Shoot, sugar, are you sure no one pushed her down that elevator shaft?”

She had a point. But the police were treating Leslie’s death as an accident, and who was I to quibble?

“The problem is, we have to find the money,” Annie said. “If Leslie hasn’t already spent it.”

Gabby’s face took on a crafty expression I knew all too well.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, I’m no expert, but it sounds like what you all need is a little reconnaissance mission.”



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