Part 19 (1/2)

”Of course she does,” Betty answered. ”Cookie, I've got to use the little girls' room. You two still gonna be here when I get back?”

”I'm not the one who keeps vanis.h.i.+ng.”

”And you're not the one I want waiting for me. I'll be right back, sugar buns.” Betty blew her newest crush a kiss. She floated toward the port-a-potties, giggling.

MacAvoy blanched. ”Are you two related?”

”No,” I said with a laugh. ”Let's just say she adopted me. So, why do you want to know if I'm marrying Grey?”

”It's none of my business.”

I raised my brow. ”Agreed. But that didn't stop you from asking. Look, I can read people pretty well. You think you know something, so get it off your chest. If you haven't put two and two together yet, I'm rather direct. I may not like what you have to say, but I'd rather hear the truth than a lie.”

He tucked his notebook inside his jacket. ”Do you trust him?”

”With my life,” I replied with conviction.

He nodded a couple of times. ”Remember what I said about Hagan, that if you get in his way he'll do whatever it takes to get rid of you?”

”Yes.”

He pushed back his blazer and shoved his hands in his pockets. On a heavy sigh he said, ”I've seen your fiance and Hagan confiding in each other on more than one occasion. Whatever it is they're talking about is very secretive. Don't let Hagan's suave persona suck you in. He's a skilled gamesman. Whatever house of cards Hagan has conned him into, your fiance is undoubtedly in over his head.”

His concern took me aback. I blew my bangs out of my eyes and searched for a way to explain Grey without explaining Grey. ”Um, I appreciate your concern. But you don't need to worry about Grey. He's been known to outfox a schemer or two.”

He gave me a half shrug, obviously unconvinced. ”Suit yourself. But when you're bailing that guy out of jail, just remember I tried to warn you.”

A half smile tugged on corner of my mouth. Most likely it would be the other way around-Grey would have to bail me out of jail.

MacAvoy strutted off to secure his own one-on-one with Malone. My smile slipped, and I sighed heavyhearted. Grey wasn't at the race because of me. He was on a case. Possibly one that involved Hagan Stone and an illegal gambling ring. My heart sank.

When had he started to keep secrets again?

Chapter Twenty-One.

”YOU RAN OFF ALL the men, Cookie.” Betty sauntered up next to me. She'd reapplied her lip gloss and had drawn on cherry red eyebrows. Maybe one day she'd divulge why she preferred lipstick to an eyebrow pencil.

I pushed away the feelings of betrayal and anger toward Grey, and focused on what Malone had asked me to do.

I smoothed my hair back from my face and forced myself to grin at Betty. ”We have an errand to run for Malone. He wants us to find Zippy.”

She rubbed her hands together. ”Well, we can't let Detective Hottie down. Let's go.”

I wrapped my arm around her and gave her a quick hug. ”First, let's get you a corn dog. You can eat it while we walk.”

We followed the smell of fried calories toward the corn dog truck, aptly named The Dog House. The side of the truck was designed to resemble a popular comic strip's dog house. We'd lucked out; the wait was short. As we stood in line, my stomach growled. I know, I'd just eaten a meatball sandwich. In my defense, Grey had only brought me half a hoagie.

Since we were already there, I bought a corn dog for myself too. I slathered mine with mustard. Betty dribbled two lines of ketchup on her fried masterpiece.

We polished off our dogs as we headed to the racetrack by way of cutting through the vendor area. Betty insisted we check on our booth, which we'd left unattended for far too long. I couldn't deny she had a good idea.

No surprise, there wasn't a single customer at our booth. Quinn, the owner of the Wag and Treats bakery, had pitched a vendor tent across from ours. She said she'd been watching our merchandise in our absence. I thanked her profusely with a promise to make it up to her.

Betty found a note Darby had taped to the display of dog treats, an invitation to watch the races with her at the starting gate. Betty jumped on the offer, ready to leave immediately. I quickly reminded her we needed to find Zippy first and take him to Daniel.

Truth be told, I'd been relying on Luis to catch Zippy, and once he had, that he'd maintain possession of the dog until someone came for him. A rather brazen a.s.sumption on my part, but if you knew Luis, my supposition wasn't that inconceivable.

We found Luis within minutes. He and Barney anxiously paced in the waiting area with other racers and owners. The racetrack and waiting pen were the only areas where dogs were allowed off their leashes, and the dogs were taking full advantage of the situation.

I didn't see Zippy. Darn. I might have overestimated Luis and his ability to catch a champion wiener racer. Besides Barney, there were two smooth-haired doxies, one black and white, the other one red. Then there was my personal favorite, a long-haired chocolate-and-tan dappled beauty. She was adorable and very friendly. She raced up to Betty and me as we squeezed through the gate.

”Hi, Luis.” I bent down to greet the congenial pup. ”And who are you, cutie pie?”

”Hi, Mel. Betty,” Luis greeted from the far side of the fenced-in area.

”That's Chloe,” her owner, a tall, warrior-princess looking woman answered. She smoothed her sleek ponytail. ”Careful, she likes to nip.”

Hearing her name, Chloe eagerly nosed my hand demanding my attention. I rubbed the pooch's deep chest. ”She's a sweetie.”

Betty stepped to the side and called Barney over. She loved him up. Nose to nose, she whispered doggie-sweet-nothings. In return, he licked her cheek repeatedly. Had her purse not been full of money, I'm sure she'd have pulled out a handful of Bowser treats for all the dogs.

I straightened and carefully backed away from the dogs that ran circles around my feet. ”Did you catch Zippy, Luis?”

”Sure did.” I caught a flicker of pride in his dark eyes. ”Took him to the veterinarian tent. I thought he should be checked out. You know, in case he was injured in the fight.”

I smiled. ”You're a good man.”

He looked down, but not before I glimpsed the pink tint spreading across his cheeks. He cleared his throat. ”Who won the fight?”

Betty snorted. ”Detective Hottie broke up the brawl. Before he showed up, I'd call Gia the winner, hands down.”

Luis nodded thoughtfully. ”I could see that.”

”What time is the race supposed to start?” Betty stood and patted her handbag.

I narrowed my eyes and nodded at her purse, silently communicating she needed to cease the betting references. She shrugged as if she had no idea what I meant.

”The first heat has been postponed. Again. At this rate, we'll never run that last race,” Luis muttered.

Affable Luis was actually a little pessimistic. I wasn't sure why that realization tickled me, but it did.

”Trust me, the show will go on.” I patted him on the back.

”Yeah, what else could go wrong?” Betty said.