Zeph Undercover Read Online Free Page B

tie to a P. O. box that forwards to Blanton’s Builders here in Stone’s Crossing.”
    After a mutinous moment, she said thoughtfully, “A building scam. And Blanton’s is the only builder/contractor in town. But you know Derek’s in an institution—”
    “For the criminally insane. Yeah. Trying to kill people tends to get you in places like that. If he hadn’t kidnapped Hannah, he might still be free.” Zeph’s blood pressure just about red-lined every time he remembered Luke talking about Blanton’s crazed, wild eyes, the shaking hand holding a gun to Hannah’s head. Easy, man. It wasn’t Allie, it wasn’t Allie. “It may be wishful thinking, but I think he started this.”
    “But he can’t be running it now. Don’t they monitor his mail and visitors?”
    “He doesn’t have any visitors. I checked. And not much mail. Just reports about his estate. So somebody on the outside is using his company to run the fraud. Someone who has access to the money.” Like her father, maybe.
    Allie went white and Zeph fought to keep his expression bland. Inside, he’d come to full alert. What was that about? Could she possibly think he didn’t know her father had been appointed to monitor the company’s finances? “I want to know who worked for him, who his friends were, and who’s running the company now.”
    “His foreman. Santos Rodriguez, he runs things. But Santos isn’t—”
    “No one ever thinks people they know are guilty.”
    “I was going to say,” she straightened and her mouth tightened, “that he’s not the type to run a big con. I don’t think. He’s not—he’s just not a slippery person. Not like Derek.”
    Damn. Rodriguez was his number one suspect. “So noted.”
    “Hmm. What are you going to do to solve this?”
    “I’m going to hang out and talk to people. Very low key.” And possibly do a little snooping that you don’t know about. Whatever it takes. “Remember, I’m not a detective. Or at least, I’m on vacation.”
    “Hang out. And question people.”
    “Nothing so confrontational. Just a bit of idle gossip here and there. If I had to question people, it would be a lot harder. So your help is essential.” He reached across the desk and put his hand over hers. “And much appreciated.”
    “I guess I can handle that.” Her pulse fluttered under his thumb, and she snatched her hand back. “It’s not like you’ll be ordering me around.”
    Heaven deliver him from amateurs. “Make no mistake, Allie,” he said, leveling a serious look at her. “I’m in charge of this investigation and I’m not putting you in danger. If I give an order, I expect you to follow it.”
    She snapped a salute. “Yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir.”
    “Don’t be a smart ass. Sometimes the bad guys play rough, and I don’t want you getting hurt.” Like he’d been. The recently-healed bullet wound in his leg throbbed at the memory.
    “Right. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do some work. Some things can’t be pretense.” She rose and stalked out of the room.
    He gave her a few minutes to cool down before he followed. She stood in front of a medium-sized cage in one of the two rows that lined the last room at the back of the house, holding the door open while she peered inside.
    “What—?” he began, and stepped back when he saw the limp pile of fur inside.
    “Mrs. Bartelett’s cat. She’s due to wake up from surgery soon.” Allie closed the cage and busied herself running a mop over the floor.
    He jumped aside to keep his shoes dry. “Tell me about Rodriguez.”
    “I’m sure you know more about him than I do.”
    “Possibly.” He crossed his arms.
    “All right.” Her shoulders slumped and her voice dropped to an almost-whisper. “He’s running things at the company now. I guess he hasn’t changed things much. He sends money to his mother in Mexico. He goes to church. He doesn’t get into trouble. But I don’t really know him.”
    “Too bad.”
    “Come on.