Page 177 of The Fourth Option
“A lot of them.”
“Such as?”
“For starters, Bates investigating this personally, not telling us about the BOLO.”
“And the dog. That’s not the granddaughter’s.”
“Yeah, Nikon? Really?”
“Chris Walker was here, and he has that Eagle. They’re protecting him.”
“Also, there’s more on Bates.”
“You mean acting like he didn’t know who Belle was. He would have read his subordinate’s report on the Connor Staub investigation last month.”
J.J. folded her arms. “Bates has the case file on Connor Staub right now. According to the NOPD records custodian, he signed it out last week.”
They walked together to Stanton’s Tahoe. He turned to her. “Keep digging into Ms. Mirabelle Travois. Run the plates on that Beamer.”
“Will do,” J.J. replied.
“Something else has been nagging me,” Jarrett said. “The incident report on Dorado. Did it mention anything about Charlie Babineaux’s boat?”
“Nothing in the report. I didn’t get the title registry until a few hours later.”
“Forty-six-foot Viking sport fisher, right?”
“Yes.”
“And it hasn’t been found?”
“Not yet. I have alerts out for it now.”
Stanton exhaled sharply.
“Keep me posted.”
“Sure will. What now?” J.J. asked.
“That call I got was the DA’s office. Icy’s requested a meeting.”
From the kitchen window, Belle and Gloria watched the agents hover near the Tahoe that was parallel parked across the street.
“They know we were lying,” Belle said, her face pale, all the more emphasized by her dark mascara.
“Yes, I believe so. What did the vet say about Paladin?”
“She used the term ‘lethargy’ and is going to run a series of tests. They are going to call me later today when I can pick him up.”
Gloria collected the dishes from the table and swept scone crumbs into her cupped hand. “Well. Maybe you should talk to the FBI about Chris? We have their cards.”
“Not a chance. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that you can’t trust any law enforcement in this town.”
The tap hissed as Gloria rinsed a plate. “That might not be fair,” she started, but then paused when she realized Belle was no longer in the kitchen.
She killed the tap and followed the footsteps into the hallway. She found Belle in her room, throwing clothes into a bag.
“Where are you going?”
