Finally, Charlie lifted his eyes to Noah’s and seemed to read his plea to have Hailey to himself. It was theirdate nightafter all—the first of what Noah hoped would be many.
Charlie slammed the sketchpad closed. “I’ve got all I need. Thank you, ladies, for your input. I’ll put together something solid that we can review. How about we adjourn for now?”
The girls clapped in agreement, and Noah mouthed a “thank you” to his brother. Charlie winked in return before gathering his stuff, grasping Amy’s arm, and herding her out of the bar.
After they’d left, Noah locked the door and plucked out a bottle, two glasses, and motioned for Hailey to head upstairs. Chance fell in behind.
The dog ignored his fluffy bed and curled up on the kitchen rug—of course he did—while they plopped onto the couch. Noah poured them each a measure of Don Julio 70 Añejo. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion.”
She raised her glass to his. “And what special occasion is this?”
“You, here. You, happy and making big plans. You, in that sweater.”You out of that sweater. He clinked his glass against hers.Take that, Deputy O’Brien.“So before we got interrupted, you were going to tell me what you needed from Shane. What was this about a bag of dead mice?”
Blue eyes drilled into his. “You were set up, Noah, and I’m trying to prove it.”
In the middle of a sip, he nearly choked on the tequila. “I’m listening,” he rasped, the liquor hot on his vocal chords.
“It starts with Bruno Keating. He wanted to buy this building, and he couldn’t.”
“Well, he’s giving it his damnedest again. Thirty cents on the dollar.”
“That’s preposterous! And why doesn’t it surprise me?”
“Glad you agree, surfer girl.” He toasted her again.
“Well, it bolsters my theory. He’s pulled all kinds of stunts to slow you up or close you down, but he hasn’t been successful. So far.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Because it is. Consider this.” Calculations seemed to stream behind her eyes. “He’s proved himself capable of undermining you to get what he wants, and he wants the Miners Tavern. Badly. It’s gotten to the point where it’s verging on an obsession with him. If you were shut down, if your business were interrupted and you couldn’t generate revenue, you’d likely default and go under. Then he could swoop in and pick up the property from the bank for cheap.”
It’s not just the bank, though.But Keating didn’t know that.
“Now, knowing what we know about Miami Vice Thor—”
“Who?”
She flapped an impatient hand. “Never mind. We know the man is ruthless, which means he’s capable of planting mice and bribing an inspector to do a surprise visitorbribing said inspector to plant the damning evidence himself, although I was with Cliff when he pulled those carcasses out, so I’m going with theory number one.” She ran through a description of Keating’s and Meissner’s odd behavior during the most recent inspection at Dell’s, including their private tête-à-têtes.
Noah’s mouth dropped open. A memory lit up his brain like a stadium light. He smoothed a hand over his beard. “Right before the inspection, there was a morning when I took Chance out for a walk before anyone else was here, and I locked the door behind me. IknowI did. When we came back in, he beelined for the pantry and nearly broke my arm to get there. He was after something under the shelves, and he stuffed his noseexactlywhere Meissner found those mice. I couldn’t pull him away.”
Hailey watched intently as he flopped against the back of the couch, memories streaming through his mind. “Dixie was here by then, and she said something about the back door being unlocked, which made no sense to me at the time. Jesus, that’s what he was so interested in! The mice were already there because someone came through that door and planted them! And I got sidetracked and never took a look at what had him so riled up. Everything fits.”
Hailey slapped a palm against her thigh. “It also explains why we found no droppings or nesting material. Someone planted dead mice, and I bet it was either Keating or one of his minions. But he made one big mistake.”
Excitement began building in Noah’s gut. “What’s that?”
A gleam lit Hailey’s eyes, and her mouth twitched with a smile. “He didn’t use the right rodents. I’m positive they weren’t deer mice, but I can’t prove it with the actual mice because the evidence isgone. I called someone in the department who’s still speaking to me, and she checked.Gone.I was picking Shane’s brain to find out if it was worth trying to find the evidence using law enforcement channels. You heard him, though. That won’t work.”
Noah nodded, numb.
Hailey ran on. “Whoever did the planting got domestic mice from somewhere, probably a pet store or a breeder who raises them as a food source for snakes and lizards. Someone who’s not paying attention or who isn’t familiar or who’s downrightstupidwouldn’t know the difference.”
The wheels in Noah’s brain spun. “Why would he buy the wrong mice when all he has to do is trap them around here? It’s not like we have a shortage.”
“Because he’s impatient and mean and arrogant.”
“If the evidence is gone, how do we prove it?”
