Robert narrowed his eyes at her. “No. You’re acting out of line, Madden. It’s not your concern so drop it.” He left Sylvie standing in the middle of the hallway stunned at his reaction.
Acting out of line for asking a simple question?
“Let’s roll, girl,” Carla said behind her.
“Carla—”
“I said, let’s roll.” Her partner grabbed her arm and they walked briskly out to the car.
“This stinks,” Sylvie said under her breath.
“Not arguing that, Cookie.” They headed out to the parking lot, and to a busy but uneventful shift full of the usual—traffic stops, fireworks mistaken for gunfire, shoplifting, noise complaints—from those same fireworks. In between, they discussed Carla’s trip and Robert’s behavior. They had parked behind a restaurant and grabbed coffees to go. Now while they waited for their next call, Carla filled Sylvie in on her vacation.
“It was great, but I got so tired of how my one brother cooks fish. And how he brags about how he cooks fish. I was ready to come back.”
“Fish is off the menu for a while. Got it,” Sylvie said.
Carla’s expression turned serious. “So, Robert. Was he like this the whole time I was gone?”
“Again, not that I noticed, but I was training with Chewie. What else do you see that’s different?”
“Robert’s never been the warmest cuddle bear, but he was looking at the room like, I don’t know—”
“Like we were all in a lineup,” Sylvie finished for her.
“Yeah, that.”
Should I tell her my dad’s suspicions?She didn’t want to hide anything from her partner, but George had asked her to keep it to herself. “You agree that it’s weird about supporting the festival this year?”
“It’s different.” Carla sipped her coffee. “And he totally treated you like your hair was on fire and he didn’t want any sparks jumping to his chrome dome.” Carla eyed Sylvie. “Whatcha thinkin’, Cookie?”
“That it’s odd how Robert’s been talking about the budget to the point that he told George earlier this year that he’d need to find help elsewhere, so he contacted Watchdog. Or rather, Arden contacted him just in time. Sort of mutual. Then, out of nowhere, Robert decides he’s going to assign extra security.”
Carla nodded.
“What?”
She pursed her lips. “I know you like taking classes there.”
“Yeah?”
She shifted in her seat. “Well, they came in suddenly, don’cha think? And, in a tiny community of what? Two-thousand people? Why isn’t Watchdog in Denver?”
“Their bodyguards go to Denver all the time when celebs are in town. The guy who founded it fell in love with Arden and her ranch is on the hill. Land’s cheaper here—”
Carla shot her a look full of ‘Are you kidding me?’ which made Sylvie stop. “What? Okay, maybe the land did cost a fortune. Why doyouthink they’re here?”
Carla shrugged. “Just, I think there’s more to them than bodyguards and doggies.”
“They’re all former military from what I can tell.” Sylvie blew on her coffee then replaced the lid before taking a sip.
“So are a lot of bodyguards. But…are we sure they’re ‘former’ military? I mean, they pretty much bought the whole friggin’ mountain and all the houses on it. That’s more than what former military pays.”
“Still don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Just that I think they’re connected to something bigger that’s bankrolling them.” She scratched her nose.
“Bigger like what?”
