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“Better let her cool off a little first,” I said. “Obviously she didn’t like it when you said there’s no chance in hell she’ll ever win this competition.”

“That’s not what I said and you know it!”

“No, but it’s what you meant, and it’s certainly what Fifi understood.”

Harriet looked thoughtful.“She said she doesn’t need our help. But how can she possibly enter the competition if Kurt doesn’t sign her up? Or Odelia?”

“I don’t know,” I said. Then again, we all know Fifi as a resourceful canine. If she wanted to enter the competition, there was no doubt in my mind she would.

CHAPTER 5

[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]

Odelia had just given Grace a bath when her phone chimed its cheerful tune.

“Can you pick that up, Chase!” she bellowed. “My hands are wet!”

Chase, who’d been busy in their home gym—a euphemism for the spare bedroom where he’d stored some of his fitness equipment—came hurrying up and grabbed his wife’s phone. Checking the display, he said, “It’s your boss. Should I pick up or let it go to answerphone?”

Odelia didn’t hesitate. “Pick up. Maybe it’s important.”

Dan only phoned when it was urgent. Otherwise he respected her privacy too much to bother her on a day off.

“Hello, Dan,” Chase boomed into the phone with his sonorous voice. He listened for a moment, then clapped eyes on Odelia before replying, “How important is this assignment, Dan? On a scale of one to ten, for instance.”

“Oh, let me have it,” said Odelia, who’d dried her hands. “Yes, Dan? What’s this about an important assignment?”

“Do you remember when billionaire businessman Edward Dexter came to town?” asked the senior editor.

“Sure. I interviewed him for the paper.”

“Yes, you did. And asked him some very pertinent questions, if I remember correctly. Questions he didn’t like very much.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t happy with me,” she said, remembering the incident well. She’d still managed to earn the man’s respect, in spite of her harsh line of questioning, or perhaps because of it. No doubt very few reporters had ever grilled him to such an extent. “So what about him?”

“He’s in town, and he wants to talk to you.”

“Me? But why?”

“No idea. All I know is that he called me out of the blue, and asked if I could arrange an interview with my star reporter as soon as possible.”

“Well, sure,” she said. “Did he say what he wanted to talk to me about?”

“Nope. Tight-lipped as ever. Just that he wants to meet you at your earliest convenience.”

She glanced down at Grace, who was giving her a gummy smile.“I could see him tomorrow, I guess.”

“He wants to see you in one hour, in the bar of the Star Hotel. And he said to come alone.”

Odelia cast a quick look at her husband, who was floating a rubber duck in front of Grace and getting himself pretty soaked in the process.“I guess that would work. Though I wonder what he wants from me.”

“If we’re lucky, another exclusive interview,” said Dan, and she could almost hear him salivating at the prospect. “How are you fixed for a babysitter?”

“I’ve got the best babysitter in the world right here,” she said, and received a grin from Chase in return.

Once she’d hung up, she told her husband about the interview.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” asked Chase with a touch of concern. “You know what these billionaires are like. They think they own everything and everyone. And if I remember correctly, this guy took quite a shine to you last time you met.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “We’re meeting in a public place, so if he tries anything funny, I’ll kick him in the shin and then I’ll scream the place down.”

“Okay, but whatever he says, don’t go up to his room.”

“Of course not,” said Odelia, smiling at his concern. “I might take Max and Dooley, though.”

“Didn’t he say to come alone?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he was talking about my cats.”

“Brats!” said Grace as she reached for the rubber duck, which her dad had held out of reach while he was talking to Odelia.

“Mommy is going out,” Chase explained as he handed Grace the treasured yellow object, which she immediately put into her mouth and started gnawing on with non-existent teeth. “Yes, she’s a high-powered reporter, your mommy is. And a very important billionaire wants to talk to her about his billionaire business.”

Odelia checked her face in the mirror. She looked terrible. If she was to meet Ed Dexter in less than an hour, and look presentable, she had to get a move on!

CHAPTER 6

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Odelia had an assignment for us, and even though justly I could have refused, considering how cavalier she was being with our food supply, I decided not to let the liberties her daughter took with the contents of our bowls put the kibosh on a working relationship that went back years, and had always proved mutually beneficial.

So while Harriet and Brutus got busy prepping Rufus for his big show, and Fifi was off flying solo, Dooley and I hopped into our human’s aged pickup for her meeting with the billionaire who’d summoned her on such short notice, dragging her away from her maternal duties.