The girl looked up and, upon seeing no child, opened her mouth to question Eamon when Cerberus jumped up in excitement, politely resting his paws on the counter so that she could look him in the eyes.
“Ohhhh…” the girl laughed. “Cute kid. Does he like peanuts?”
“What dog doesn’t?” Bel answered.
“I’ll throw some on for him.” The teen took the cash and generous tip from Eamon and then fulfilled their order. “Hereyou go, buddy,” she crooned as she offered the tap dancing pitbull his sweet treat. “Good boy.” She patted him on the head, and Bel realized Cerberus probably played a large part in Eamon’s mystery. People weren’t looking at him when he borrowed her dog.
“Thanks so much.” Bel smiled at the girl before taking a generous lick of her coffee ice cream, but an all-too-familiar voice, accompanied by a girlish giggle, cut her enjoyment short.
“Oh my god.” Bel grabbed Eamon and dragged him to the rear of the crowd so that Erik Prince and his pretty companion didn’t spot them. “Does he ever quit?”
“The girl is only offering her condolences for Ondine’s disappearance,” Eamon said, his hearing picking up the words hers couldn’t.
“With a giggle like that? She’s gunning for missing girlfriend number three, and him?” She shoved an irate finger at Erik Prince. “Always with the young girls. Leave the babies alone.”
“Now he’s thanking her for her sympathy and excessively complimenting her for caring.”
“You mean flirting?”
“Is it public knowledge that he’s a person of interest in your investigation?” Eamon asked. “Teenagers can be dumb, but publicly flirting with a murder suspect?”
“I’m getting ice cream with the inspiration for Dracula. I’m not much smarter.”
“You are because if Erik is guilty, his M.O. is to kill his dates. I, on the other hand, would slaughter everyone else to save mine.” He leaned forward and kissed her scars and then finally put the vanilla half-scoop with peanuts on the sidewalk for the anxious Cerberus.
“What if you helped me with this case?” Bel asked.
“I already have.” He quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Not like that.” She nodded at where Erik was making a fool of himself with the college student whose revealing top was three sizes too small for her. “I can’t shake the feeling that the Princes are involved, but we can’t get a warrant to investigate them fully. I can’t uncover evidence without one, but you could?”
“You want me to break the law and find dirt on them?”
“You’ve never had any qualms about getting your hands dirty before.”
“But my involvement could do more harm than good,” he said. “You won’t have any legal grounds to use what I find.”
“We’re smart,” Bel said. “We could figure it out.”
“I have no doubt, but is that really what you want? Performing above the law to save your life is one thing. This is different. You’ll have to account for my involvement legally in the chain of custody. How will you explain how you found the evidence?”
“I don’t know.” She clenched her eyes at the brain freeze.
“I would do anything for you. You know that. Just make sure you’re willing to go down that route. Griffin doesn’t mind my shoving my nose in here and there when he can label it a consultation, but he wouldn’t overlook this. I’d have to cross a lot of legal lines.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have asked. I just hate that they’re getting away with it… that they might be preparing to get away with it again.” She gestured to the flirting girl saying her goodbyes to Erik.
“Let’s exhaust all legal avenues first.” Eamon threw out Cerberus’ long empty cup, and then, taking Bel’s hand, led them down the charming main street. “You seem pretty convinced the aquarium is involved, and the killer had some embalming experience. What about the animal caretakers? Fish and mammals die in aquariums. Some are donated to science, someare disposed of, and some are turned into skeletons for exhibits. I’m sure that the handlers deal with plenty of dead animals.”
“That’s a great idea.” Bel slid her hand out of his, opting to link their arms together so she could eat. “I hadn’t considered that our killer’s knowledge of body preservation might have come from fish.”
“Hey.”Bel knocked on Griffin’s office door first thing the next morning. “Where’s Olivia?”
“Mrs. Hubbard called,” he answered.
“What is it this time?” She leaned against the doorframe with a smirk.
“I don’t know,” Griffin shook his head. “She wanted company?”
