"I left it in my car for safekeeping."

Anderson rubbed a finger over his temple. "The car that's parked in your public lot in front of your building?"

I nodded. "It's very safe, plus my car has one of those fancy alarms." I hadn't set it, but it had one available. It was cold outside so it didn't risk more melting in my office. Really, I was looking out for the evidence. I did him a favor.

He reached his hand out. "Give me your keys."

Um. "They're on my desk at my office."

Anderson's eye twitched. That couldn't be a good sign. They were such pretty hazel eyes. "The office you left unlocked when I arrested you?"

"Ummm. Yeah." Again, not my fault. I hadn't planned on being arrested.

"Where in your car is the chocolate cherry?" he asked between his teeth.

"The glove box." The safest place in a safe place.

Anderson signed again. "I'm going to collect my evidence. It better be there, or we're going to have a problem."

"It's there," I said, standing up and walking behind him out of the room. "I'll grab it for you."

Anderson wheeled around and held out a hand, stopping my forward movement. "No, I'm going to get the evidence. You can find your own way home."

"What?" I sputtered. He was going to make me walk in January?

"You heard me," Anderson said and then walked out of the interrogation room, leaving me behind.

I followed a few seconds later and kept going as no one stopped me, but by that time Anderson was nowhere to be found. How dare he leave me here?

Officer Bradley sat at his desk in front of the public doors and I stopped beside it with a smile, trying to look innocent. "Anderson forgot to get me a ride home. Can you drop me at my office, Bradley?"

He shook his head. "No can do, Vonnie. I'm the only one on duty right now."

"Seriously?" We had a small ass police force, but only Anderson and one other officer working was low for this time of day. They'd added staff over the years, so where were they? "Fine."

I pushed through the big double doors of the precinct, making sure they were both thrown open with the force of my movements, and an icy blast of air hit me as I took the first step outside into the frozen evening. The sun had set while I talked with Anderson and the temperatures were plummeting.

The cold and snow were the worst. What the hell did I think, considering Canada as an escape plan? I'd never make it. No, I was stuck here.

But I had to make sure my parents didn't find out about my trip with Anderson. I'd never hear the end of it if Pearl got to them first.

I needed to call my mother and have a casual conversation about nothing important, so she had firsthand knowledge I wasn't in jail. When faced with being outed by the phone tree, it was best to jump ahead of the train and get your denial in early.

"Vonnie!" Katy's voice called from the far edge of the parking lot.

She slammed the door to a bright red Tesla or something. A fancy expensive car that made me drool every time I saw it, even if I knew nothing about it. I could never let Rachel hear I'd looked at another car with lust.

"What's up?" I asked as we met halfway.

She pulled a white envelope from her thick pink coat and waved it at me. "I brought money for your bail."

I shrugged. "Thanks, but no bail. It was a misunderstanding."

I hated technically lying to Katy, but I didn't want her to see Anderson arrest me on one of my first jobs without her help. Katy spent two years training me on ways of dealing with the officials in Pelican Bay while I'd been in college, and I didn't want to fail. Plus, I'd handled the situation, so it's not like anything bad happened.

No problems or fuckups to see here. Keep on walking.

"That's good. My cousin is on a power trip right now. It's like Anderson forgets he doesn't run this town. The power is going to his head, I swear."

I nodded, not sure I agreed with her, but definitely not willing to admit he had me stealing evidence on tape. "Yeah, men."

Katy's gaze circled me, and then she leaned to the side to glance behind me. "Where's my box?"

"Katy," I huffed. "I didn't bring the box to the police station. What if they looked in it?"

Her eyes widened. "Good thinking. That would not be good."

What the fuck did she have in this box? Shit. She was going to get me arrested for real.

"Right. The box is safe and sound."

Mostly.

Probably.

"I don't see Rachel in the lot. Do you need a ride someplace?" she asked, already turning back to her car.

"No, thanks." I walked with her a few steps until turning toward the sidewalk. "I need to do some thinking so I'd rather walk."

"You sure? It's freaking freezing tonight." She popped open the driver's door of the beautiful red car. I'd miss getting to ride in it again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll catch up with you tomorrow."

"Okay, babe. See you at the bakery."

I waited for her to drive out of the parking lot and gave her a wave before turning against the wind and starting toward my office. Before Anderson ripped me away from my desk, I'd planned to sit around and think for a few hours. I needed to make a list and consider all the options for my current cases.

The walk home would be cold, but it would give me that chance to think. There were no bands practicing on the sidewalk tonight. I made it a block, contemplating why Jalinda thought her husband had turned into a cheater. Did she have something on him that she hadn't shared with me?

I stopped at a corner waiting for a car to turn, but rather than pull away, the driver's side window rolled down, and Mrs. Coogs tipped her head into the cold. "Have you found Brent yet?"

Did she see a dog in my hands? "Not yet, Mrs. Coogs, but I made up flyers and plan to get them out tonight. There's also a massive online hunt going. I have half the town with eyes peeled for him."

She smiled, but sadness seeped from it. "I'm so worried about him, but I know with your connections, he's got to find his way home."

"I promise I'll find him."

PI 101: Never promise to solve a case.

Sometime I swore I sucked at the job, but how could I not reaffirm her I'd find Brent? She looked so sad. A dog couldn't be that hard. I'd find him, eventually.

Mrs. Coogs rolled up her window after another promise I'd find Brent and left me to continue my walk without even an offer for a ride.

I'd say no, but an ask would have been nice.

I walked with my head low, letting the smell of salty sea water try to calm my frayed nerves. If things continued on the way they were, I'd go down in history as the worst PI ever.

I had a missing dog, an unsupervised secret box, and a dead person all waiting to be checked off my to-do list.

I sucked.

Super sucked.

The worst.

My office came into view and I stepped over the sidewalk to cut through the parking lot when a truck horn blasted on the road next to me. I lifted my head into the deep brown eyes of Antonio Franco. He sat feet higher than me in a huge tricked-out truck. The tires alone came up to my waist. Wow, if it got any bigger, he could enter a monster truck rally.

"Compensating?" I asked, tipping an eyebrow high.

Antonio laughed. "No, I needed something this big to carry around my monster balls."

Ewww. I crinkled my face. "TMI, dude."

"You need a ride, princess?"

For a second, I considered it. I wanted to learn why Pelican Bay had a bounty hunter in our midst when everyone knew Ridge Jefferson had a lockdown on the criminal element. He brought in more offenders than Anderson and the entire police force.

A ride with Antonio might provide useful information, but I was tired and needed to think about the cases I was already not solving at the moment. He'd have to wait. I needed a list of upcoming suspects. I'd add the investigation of the police force and Antonio Franco to my list.

"No, but thanks. I'm already here," I said, pointing at my office building.

He jerked his chin in that annoying way men had of acknowledging without actually saying anything. "Okay, see you around, Tabitha."

Shit.

He'd rolled up his window and pulled away from the curb before I could correct him. I'd definitely have to fix the name problem. I couldn't have him going around town talking about Tabitha, the local PI. Ridge would kill me for involving his wife.

Damn it. Now I needed a third list. Current cases to solve, future cases to investigate, and a general to-do list. I needed a nap.

With one last breath of frosty air, I opened the main door to the office and out spilled a violent, blood-curdling scream shattering the silence of the night.