“Oh hell yeah, my favorite!”Matthew cheers, already reaching for a cookie.
“Ugh, I don’t get how Fenella sticks to her diet and skips all this gooey sweetness,” Jessy sighs before taking a bite anyway.
“I’m good with just a bite.”I bite a small piece when Laird offers his to me.
“Wow.You’re really gonna eat those cookies while I’m freezing out here?”Golden’s voice cuts through from the laptop, clearly annoyed.
“Well, duh, you’re not here,” Jessy says, rolling his eyes and taking another bite.
The doorbell rings.
“I’m outside.Open the door,” Golden says.
28
A Billion Dollar
Laird
The esteemed Malcolm Golden is sitting on the sofa across from me.His hand doesn’t stop shoving cookies into his mouth.Is he not afraid of diabetes?The man looks like he hasn’t eaten in a week.
“How about I cook spaghetti for you, sir?”Sharon Baxter blushes, offering the suggestion with a smile.
“I want some too!”Matthew raises his hand.
“You’ve just had dinner.Stop raiding the food in this house,” I say, giving his arm a light smack.
“Uh, I don’t mean to be rude, but I love all her cooking.I wonder why I haven’t visited more often,” Jessy giggles.
“Don’t tell me you all have been living here like parasites for a week,” Golden scoffs.
“Watch your mouth, sir!We’re not living here for free!”Matthew exclaims, pointing at his face.
“Yeah.We help wash the dishes, clean the house, help with charity events, and go grocery shopping,” Jessy adds, frowning as he defends their efforts.Clearly, he knows it’s still not enough to be considered mutually beneficial.
“You’re incredibly shameless,” Golden growls, glaring at us with sharp eyes.
“It’s okay, sir.I’m glad they’re comfortable staying here.After all, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a house this lively,” Sharon laughs, her cheeks rosy.
“They’d better be out of this house once we capture Peter.”
“It’s not up to you to decide that,” I snap, my eyebrows shooting up.
The room falls silent.The old man now stares at me with the same piercing gaze, his eyes glittering in the firelight.
“You also don’t have the right to forbid me from givingadvice,” Golden says.
“Everyone is welcome in this house, okay?No one’s banned,” Fenella waves her arms between us.“We should focus on tonight’s topic.”
“She’s right,” Golden says, finally relenting.
“Fine,” I agree.“Tell us what you’ve found from your investigation.”
“I’d better work on my spaghetti now,” Sharon chuckles and disappears into the kitchen.
Golden’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t drag it out.He pulls several sheets of documents from his bag and hands them to me.Fenella, Matthew, Jessy, and I gather around and read all the FBI notes.
“As you read, thanks to the suspicious card transaction, we caught the culprit.And because of the bank report and search warrants, we were able to trace the account for a week,” Golden explains, walking us through the investigation timeline.
