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“You know what?” said Fluffy. “I like you guys. For a bunch of cats you’re all right.”

Cats and dogs? Living together in peace and harmony. Who knew?!

Chapter 16

In spite of the fact that she was bone tired, Odelia hadn’t slept well. She’d been tossing and turning and kept dreaming of nocturnal intruders out to get her. So when she suddenly awoke, thinking it was still the middle of the night, she was surprised to find the sun hoisting itself cheerfully across the horizon and announcing a brand-new day.

It didn’t feel like morning to her, though, and then she realized that her biological clock was still on New York time, where it was the middle of the night right now.

Chase was zonked out next to her, sleeping the sleep of the innocent, and of her four cats there was no trace.

She rubbed her eyes and glanced around at her surroundings. She was starting to realize this was a crazy mission, and maybe they’d been rash to accept it. It could literally take weeks before they figured out who was behind these attacks on Tessa, or maybe never. And all the while she was out here in London while she could have written a ton of articles for theHampton Cove Gazette.

She’d promised her editor a killer article from the London trenches, and the prospect of a couple of juicy stories about British royalty had smoothed over any objections Dan had. Still, she couldn’t afford to stay away for too long, and she already felt she was imposing on Tessa’s and Dante’s hospitality simply by being here and sleeping under their roof.

She got up and padded barefoot to the window. Right outside, a burly security guard stood sentinel. She was pleasantly surprised. With this level of security the would-be assassin surely would think twice before trying again.

Yawning, she opened the door and walked into the living room. She was gratified to find four cats and a dog sleeping soundly on the couch. She smiled as she studied them for a moment, then went back into her room, got out her phone and returned to snap a shot of the sleeping pets. They looked so peaceful. At least the fear she had about dragging them all the way out here had been unfounded: clearly they were neither traumatized nor unhappy.

It was then that she heard voices. She decided to have a closer listen, as the voices were rising in pitch and volume. An argument was clearly brewing.

“I told you, Tessa. I can make a perfectly acceptable smoothie. In fact I wrote the book on smoothies.”

“I know you did, Carolyn, But it’s just something I like to do myself, so please don’t take this as a comment on your work, but—”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. If you won’t let me make you breakfast, lunch and dinner what did you hire me for?”

Odelia walked in to see a red-faced woman with gray hair standing, fists planted on wide hips, trying to stare Tessa down. Tessa wasn’t having it, though. She was standing her ground.

“Look, I’ve been making my own smoothies all my life,” she said, “and I’m not about to stop now just because we happen to have a wonderful cook. No offense, but if I choose to make a smoothie in my own kitchen, I’m perfectly entitled to, am I right?”

The cook, who’d noticed Odelia, shook her head disgustedly, then removed her apron, threw it on top of the kitchen counter and walked out. Obviously she wasn’t happy with Tessa’s smoothie-making prowess.

Tessa gave Odelia an overwrought look and Odelia returned the look with a‘What are you gonna do?’ gesture. She decided to have a little chat with the cook. Strike the iron while it was hot, so to speak.

“Hey, Carolyn,” she said, following the cook into the living room. “I’m sorry but I happened to overhear you and Tessa just now.”

“You heard? Oh, good,” said the woman, shaking her head. “Of all the overbearing…”

“You don’t appreciate it when people set foot in your kitchen, is that it?” asked Odelia, who’d never had a cook before, and had no idea how the whole cook-employer dynamic worked.

“It’s not that. She can make all the smoothies she wants. It’s just that whatever I do, it never seems to be good enough. I made them a perfectly fine smoothie yesterday. Dante drank it and said it was the best smoothie he’d ever tasted. Tessa? She pulled a face. And then started grilling me on what I put into it. I wrote the book on smoothies! Literally. It was a bestseller. I’ve worked for some of the most demanding employers imaginable but she,” she said, pointing a quivering finger in the direction of the kitchen, “takes the cake.”

“Tough employer, huh?” said Odelia sympathetically.

“She’s impossible to please! Always some point of criticism. I’ve had it up to here,” she said, indicating her nose. “And you know what? I quit. That’s right. I quit right now!” She seemed to have just come to this conclusion. “So you tell the Duchess that she’s lost her cook and good riddance!”

And with these words, she walked out before Odelia could ask her about the poisoned tea, which had been her intention in the first place.