Sylvie rolled her eyes and looked at Carla, who was able to perfectly hear Glass thanks to his shouting.
“I want my own cop, all right? maybe someone who isn’t starstruck.”
“Starstruck?”
“By Rachael Collins. They set this up, I’m telling you.”
“You’re a witness to the crime, so I suggest you stay on the scene and talk to the officers who are there.”
That brought on a fresh wave of swearing.
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Glass. We’ll be in touch.” She disconnected and handed the phone back to the salesman. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice filled with sincerity.
He shrugged. “It’s a living, and it feeds my family again, thank God.”
Sylvie quirked up an eyebrow. “What do you mean again?”
Oh, you know, we had a slump there for a couple of years with the economy, but we’re back to selling cars again.”
She nodded and turned to Carla. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, let’s.”
They shook hands with the salesman and left, headed for Lyons.
“We touching base with George?” Carla asked.
“Absolutely. He must be tearing his hair out right about now. Watchdog, too.”
“Right, you said one of them is married to Rachael?”
“Yup. Not only is one of them married to Rachael, but another one is apparently dating Brianna now.”
Carla’s eyes widened. “And they almost got hit by a car off Glass’s lot? That’s weird, Cookie.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
* * *
Back at her desk later,Sylvie chewed on her thumbnail out of frustration as she stared at her computer screen. She and Carla had pulled into the Lyons’ police substation right after a black Watchdog SUV pulled out and sped down the road back the way they’d come. If a vehicle could appear angry, that one sure did.
“Well, George is going to be in a good mood,” she griped to Carla.
And she was right; her dad was especially growly after talking to Kyle, Jake, Brock, and Wolf. He groused as he filled Sylvie and Carla in on the details. The contestants, judges, and instructors from the workshop had decided to walk to Riversong for lunch. Brianna and Rachael were trailing behind the main group, talking, when the car came around the corner and swerved to hit them. Brianna pulled Rachael out of the way just in time, and the car sped on up into the foothills. While Brock and Jake insisted that Glass was targeting the women with the vehicle, George was not convinced and had told them so.
“We know how chaotic it gets this time of year,” he told Sylvie and Carla. “I’m just not buying that Glass attempted a hit and run on a competitor—and on one of the judges. First, that would be tremendously stupid, and second, the man’s a bully, which in my experience makes him a coward. Like I said, he may be an ass, but he’s not stupid. Why would he use one of his own cars, and how would he know that Brianna and Rachael would be walking together right then?”
“Crime of opportunity?” Sylvie asked.
George shook his head. “The car had been stolen before the group even set out for lunch. It’s a weird coincidence, I’ll give you that, but it’s just a coincidence.” He rubbed his temples. “I don’t want everyone focusing on the wrong things is all.”
“Wrong things?” Carla asked.
“We’ve got real criminals around that we have to worry about, not some punk-ass like Jerold Glass.” He looked back and forth between Sylvie and Carla. “Look, I need to take the two of you into my confidence.”
They both sat up straighter.
“I’m asking you to be my eyes and ears outside of Lyons. In the Boulder department.”
