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And as she watched him walk away, she realized what she’d done. The only two people in town he’d entrusted with his secret were her father and her uncle. In Chase’s mind one of them must have betrayed his confidence. How else could she have known? And now he would confront either or both of these men, and would probably never trust them again. She’d really done it this time. Maybe he’d even resign and leave Hampton Cove because of her. Chase Kingsley was obviously a proud man, and might simply walk away.

“Chase!” she called out, and hurried after him. “Chase! Come back!”

She caught up with him just as he reached his car, a pickup like hers, but more dilapidated. He whirled around.“What?” he asked, his jaw working.

“I, um…” She didn’t know what to say for a moment. How could she explain that she got all of her information from her cat? That was simply ludicrous. But how else could she have known? In his mind her father had broken his trust, or her uncle. She needed to tell him the truth, no matter howimprobable it might sound. Or… “I’ll tell you where I heard the story.”

“I know. All over town,” he gritted out.

“No! No, I’m the only one that knows. And… and Beah.”

He stared at her, his face inscrutable, and folded his massive arms across his chest, leaning against the truck. He wasn’t giving her an inch. “Go on.”

“I… I worked for theNew York Post for six months, as an intern, right after I finished college. I didn’t like it out there, though, and pretty quickly returned to Hampton Cove, where Dan had always promised me a spot on his paper. He was getting on in years, and couldn’t do it all by himself anymore. The work maybe wasn’t as exciting as working for one of the big papers, but it was good enough for me. But while I was interning at thePost I became really close to another intern. Beah Heaves and I became friends, and even after I returned here we kept in touch. We, um, we exchange information. When she needs help on a story about the Hamptons, or I need something on New York, we help each other out.”

“So?” he grunted, his eyes remaining steadily on hers.

“Well, I called her this morning, asking about you, and she told me the story about the harassment, and…” She hesitated, licking her lips. “She also told me that a crazy rumor had done the rounds that you were set up. That the harassment charge was simply a way to make you go away.”

His frown deepened.“If this reporter friend of yours knew about this, why didn’t she pursue the story? Why was this never printed in thePost?”

She lifted an ineffectual hand.“Isn’t it obvious? Because nobody believed the rumors. They figured you started them yourself, to get off the hook.”

He shifted, giving her a slight nod.“And what do you believe?”

She cast around helplessly. To be honest, she hadn’t made up her mind.

She didn’t have to, for his jaw worked when he growled, “I see.”

And then he abruptly turned and yanked open the door of his car and slid behind the wheel. When he turned back to her, his face was a mask of determination.“Just make sure that when you print your story you make sure to get a quote from the commissioner this time. Get him on record.”

“Why?” she asked, surprised.

“Because the scumbag has never come out openly and accused me of a crime.” He gave her a grim-faced look. “Just ask him the question straight to his face, and see how he responds. I’m sure a big-shot reporter like yourself will have no trouble recognizing a blatant lie when you see it.”

With these words, he started up the truck and the engine roared to life. Before she had a chance to respond, he was racing away, wheels spinning and leaving her in a cloud of dust and wondering what she’d gotten herself into.

For some reason, she was starting to believe that Chase Kingsley just might be telling the truth after all, which meant she’d been wrong all along.

Chapter 15

Dooley and I rode in the back in silence for a while, as Odelia seemed to ponder Chase’s words. She now had two cases on her plate: a nasty murder case, and the mystery of the new policeman, and seemed adamant to solve them both. Dooley had stretched himself out on the backseat and was already snoring softly, while I was gazing at the back of Odelia’s head, wondering what else we could do for her. It was obvious the recent meeting with Chase hadn’t gone well, and judging from her silence it had made a great impact.

I wondered why this was. Why would some idiot cop cause her so much distress? She’d gone toe-to-toe with other people before—these things happen when you’re a tough-as-nails reporter—and she’d shrugged off those incidents in a heartbeat. This time the confrontation had left an indelible impression, and I thought I knew why this was. The same reason Harriet had fallen so unexpectedly for Brutus: this new cop was an alpha male. The kind of male human that made a powerful impact on the female of the species.