“Right.” Elizabeth was glad her friend would feel that way too.
They worked in silence for a while, then Sheri said, “I hope that I won’t be too big of a nuisance staying with you two.”
“No, you’re not.” Elizabeth wondered if Sheri somehow sensed how anxious she was to have time alone with David. Another thought had just occurred to her though: Maybe it was Sheri who wanted the alone time.
“We haven’t been too…um, noisy, have we?”
“No.” Sheri blushed. “It’s just that you’re getting to really know David, and here I am in the middle of it. Maybe I should stay with one of the other families. In fact, I might hop from one to the other so I can get to know them better.”
Elizabeth didn’t think Sheri would really be happy with doing that. “Only if you really want to and you’re not just saying that for my sake or something. You’re my friend, and we did this together.”
“No, I forced this on you.” Sheri sighed. “You two need the time alone to get to know each other. I just don’t want to come between you. The two of you need to be mated.” Sheri held up her finger as she began listening to voice messages, and Elizabeth took the opportunity to empty Cameron’s office of to-be-filed paperwork.
“So what did the messages say?” she asked when she came out.
Sheri said, “We had some requests for investigations on new hires at one of the hospitals. I’ll log them in on the computer and send a note telling them we’re on it. I wonder how long it will be before—”
The door to the agency opened, and Elizabeth hoped it was one of the guys, finally getting control of his shifting, but instead a woman walked in, and they suspected she was a potential client. Great. They hadn’t had any training in how to handle a client who walked in the door when no PIs were available.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth Alpine, an administrative officer for the agency. How may I help you?”
“I need to hire an investigator to look into my business partner’s finances. I’m certain he has been stealing money from the firm, but I need evidence before I can get the police involved. I’m Mitzi Moore, and the firm was my husband’s. When he died, his partner tried to buy me out. I’ve been suspicious of him for a while. My husband knew him as a childhood friend and trusted him completely, so I couldn’t do anything about it back then, but now I have to make sure he has not been robbing the firm blind. We’re a printing company and print documents, books, flyers, whatever needs to be printed all over the country. My grandfather actually started the business, and my father ran it until I married my husband, and he took it over. Then he brought in this friend, who became his partner. Anyway, the shares were split between the two of them, well, until my husband died. Now I own half the company. I would buy him out, but I want to know if he has swindled the company first. His name is Edgar Cooper. Can you take the case?”
Elizabeth blinked. That was…a lot of information all at once. She wasn’t even sure Ms. Moore took a breath. She cleared her throat and said, “All of our investigators are out on jobs right now, but as soon as one of them gets in, we’ll tell him about your situation, and he’ll call you and let you know what he needs.”
“You can’t call one now and just let him know? I need to either have you check into it or go to another PI office.”
Sheri spoke up. “Let me text them.” Her fingers were already flying over her phone. “One of them will let you know soon.”
“I’ll wait.” Ms. Moore took a seat on the chair in the reception area.
Great. Elizabeth and Sheri exchanged glances with each other as the woman took out her phone and began texting someone.
Then the door opened again. Elizabeth and Sheri turned as one to see if it was one of the PIs, but it was another potential client. Sheri smiled at the man and took him into an office, explaining as she went who she was and that the investigators were all out on jobs. “So, how may I help you?”
A few minutes later, after a conversation too low for Elizabeth—and more importantly, Ms. Moore—to hear, the man nodded, took the business card Sheri offered to him, and said he looked forward to hearing from an investigator soon.
Just as he was about to leave the office building, Elizabeth heard Owen and Gavin talking to each other as they came inside.
The man stepped up, interrupting them. “Your administrative officer, Sheri, said one of you would call me about this job, but if you’re here now and I can talk to you about it…”
Owen shook his hand. “Come into my office, and thanks, Sheri.”
Then Gavin said, “You must be Ms. Moore?” and gestured to her to follow him to his office. Guess he’d gotten Sheri’s text.
Sheri joined Elizabeth and said, “Man, I wish I was already a PI and could work the cases for them.”
“I was thinking the same thing. At least we’re enrolled in the classes now so we can get a start on it.”
Chapter 14
Back in Yellowknife, when Bentley and Hans went to see Kintail at his home, he knew the news wasn’t good. Though he knew what it was already. Elizabeth had managed to leave the pack, and no one had stopped her.
“Where the hell is Sheri?” Kintail asked. “You were supposed to bring her here.”
Bentley looked at Hans as if he were the one who was supposed to know because Hans was Sheri’s brother. But the thing of it was, Bentley was Sheri’s boyfriend, so he ought to damn well know where she was!
“She’s not home,” Hans said, sounding irritated.
Kintail narrowed his eyes. “Where is she, then?”
“I don’t know. Mom and Dad don’t know. We used lockpicks to get into Elizabeth and her grandmother’s house. Her suitcases are gone, all her clothes are gone, the fridge was empty, her grandmother’s clothes were gone. There was no indication where she went. Oh, and her car was in the garage.”
“And Sheri’s car?” Kintail asked.
“No idea,” Hans said.
“No?” Now that surprised Kintail. He thought they would find her car there along with Elizabeth’s, while the women, presumably, took off in the car of the mystery woman from dinner.
Hans shrugged.
Kintail frowned. “Did you check Sheri’s room to see if her things were at your parents’ home?”
“Uh”—Hans glanced at Bentley—“no.”
“Go now, and call me with what you learn.” Incompetents.
“We’ll do that.” Hans turned to leave, with Bentley following behind him, arguing like children.