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“I know that,” she said, trying to inject a modicum of solemnity into her demeanor. Her radiant smile gave her away, though. So far Dan’s attempts to land her an exclusive sit-down had been a bust. Now she would get some face time with the star after all. Though instead of asking him about his love life she’d have to confine herself to threats made against his life.

She didn’t care. She was going to meet her biggest idol—yay! She just hoped she’d be able to restrain herself, and not go all fangirl on him. Though she was sure Chase’s presence would keep her feet on the ground and prevent her from making a complete fool of herself.

“I’m heading back to the station,” Alec announced. “Not much more we can do here.”

Odelia decided to tag along. If she was going to get to the bottom of this she needed to stick to Chase and her uncle like glue. The funny thing was, they usually let her. Even though she was a reporter she had great instincts as a snoop, and had helped them out on more than one case.

“You know?” said Chase as they walked back to their respective vehicles. “Your status as an official Bedieber just might come in handy. You know an awful lot about the guy, huh?”

“Ask me anything,” she said.

“How does a kid who sounds like a sickly goat become a global pop sensation?” asked Alec.

“Ask me anything not insulting,” she amended.

“Why don’t you join us on the investigation?” Chase suggested. “I have a feeling this might prove a tough one to break, and if Dieber meets a true groupie like you, he just might be more accommodating to our line of questioning. Open up, if you know what I mean.”

She frowned, not knowing whether to be insulted or complimented.“For your information, I’m not a groupie. I’m just a very big fan. I think he’s extremely talented.”

“Exactly. The guy obviously has a gigantic ego—all those big stars do—and if I take you along to stroke it…” He spread his arms. “Done deal, babe.”

She shook her head as she hopped into her pickup.“You know what? If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were jealous, Kingsley.”

“Jealous! What’s there to be jealous about?”

“His success? His mega-fortune? His millions of fans?”

He made a throwaway gesture with his hand as he, too, climbed into his pickup.“I’m not jealous. Of that knucklehead? Puh-lease.”

She shared a quick smile with her uncle, who was shaking his head at their war of words.“Kids—do try to get along, will you? We’ve got a murder to solve, and a killer to catch. Preferably before he kills Odelia’s personal hero.”

His words startled her. And as she started up her car, she realized he was right.

Someone was trying to kill Charlie Dieber. And if they didn’t catch this guy before he succeeded, those millions of Bediebers—not to mention Mom—would be devastated.

Chapter 5

Odelia slipped her pickup into a free parking spot in front of the police station and climbed out, slamming the door shut. A big chunk of rust dropped down. She ignored it. When you drive a car as aged as hers, this kind of thing was to be expected.

Inside the station house she was greeted by sheer pandemonium. Usually not much happened in Hampton Cove—from time to time a flurry of activity would keep its police force engaged, but pretty soon things would return to normal. Now, however, the town’s finest were locked into a feverish attempt to nail the perp who’d taken a shot at Dieber and missed.

Officers moved in and out of offices and interview rooms, and everywhere she looked teens and preteens occupied the space otherwise reserved for the town drunks, hard-partying weekend tourists and the elderly, complaining about those same hard-partying weekend tourists and those selfsame drunks using their mailboxes to relieve themselves.

She walked through to her uncle’s office at the end of a long corridor and gave the doorjamb a knock on her way in. The big guy was looking more than a little unnerved, the few hairs on his head that had survived attrition in disarray and his facial expression frazzled.

“You gotta help us out here, honey,” he told her, rifling through his desk.

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Chase is heading into interview room number one to talk to one of the witnesses. Can you give him a hand? We need to get through all of them but we don’t want to keep them too long either, or else their moms and dads will get all worked up and give us hell.”

“How many have you got?”

“Heck if I know. Dozens, probably. That Dieber kid sure knows how to attract a crowd.”

“Yeah, for a singer who can’t sing he sure is popular, isn’t he?” she said with a grin.

He leveled a comical look at her from beneath bushy brows, then continued rifling through his desk.

“What are you looking for?”

“My glasses!” he cried, throwing up his hands. “I know I left them in here somewhere before I got called out to the radio station and now I can’t find the damned things! How the hell am I supposed to organize a bunch of interviews if I can’t even read my own notes?!”