Free Two Guys Detective Agency by Stephanie Bond Page A

home.”
    “Where?”
    “Louisville.”
    “Where’s that?”
    “About an hour’s drive in that direction.” She waved vaguely in the air.
    “Louisville Cardinals,” Jarrod added with a boo and a hiss.
    Octavia nodded to his shirt. “You’re a UK fan, I see.”
    He puffed up. “Yeah. I’m gonna play basketball for them someday.”
    “I was a UK cheerleader.”
    His eyes widened. “No kidding? Cool.”
    “Where are your pom poms?” Maggie asked suspiciously.
    “At my home,” Octavia returned.
    “Can I have them?”
    “You’re not supposed to ask for things,” Jarrod chided.
    “It’s okay,” Octavia said. “If you don’t ask, you never know. But no, you can’t have my pom poms.
    They’re mine .”
    Maggie seemed unfazed. “Did you lose your husband?”
    Touché . “No. He just...went on vacation.”
    “Without you?” Jarrod asked.
    She frowned. “Don’t you two have to finish getting ready for school?”
    “Can you fix our lunches?” Maggie asked.
    Octavia wiped the milk from her mouth with her hand. “That depends — what do you want?”
    “Marshmallows!”
    “I can do that.” She looked at Jarrod. “How about you?”
    He grinned. “Oreos.”
    “Coming right up.” She dislodged Max and pushed to her feet, retrieved two paper bags from the stack
    on the counter, then stuffed them full with the treats she found on the top shelf. This parenting thing wasn’t
    so hard.
    Jarrod looked out the window. “Here comes Mrs. Boyd, Maggie. Get your backpack.”
    The kids scrambled, then ran for the front door, grabbing their lunch bags on the way. Octavia followed
    them to the door, then walked out on the stoop, conceding she probably should know who her niece and
    nephew left with. A heavy, stiff-looking woman she recognized as one of the people she’d herded out of
    Linda’s house gaped up at her, then marched closer.
    “Don’t you think you’re dressed rather inappropriately to be outside?”
    Octavia looked down at the unfamiliar T-shirt sporting a smiley face and realized her La Perla
    underwear was on display. “Nice to see you, too, um — ?”
    “Nan Boyd. I escort the neighborhood kids to the bus stop. But I must say, I think it’s too soon for
    Jarrod and Maggie to go back to school after what they’ve been through.”
    “Well,” Octavia said sweetly, “thank goodness it’s none of your ding dang business.” She waved to the
    kidlets, then went back into the house and slammed the door.
    Now officially in a sour mood, she picked up the cordless phone and dialed Richard’s cell phone,
    thinking if he didn’t recognize the number, he might answer.
    He didn’t.
    So she called their house.
    “Habersham residence,” their maid Carla said.
    Octavia frowned — she wasn’t as certain as Richard that Carla hadn’t stolen her watch. “Carla, it’s Mrs.
    Habersham. Is my husband there, by chance?”
    “Mr. Habersham? I thought he was with you in Lexington, ma’am.”
    “He...um, was. But a business matter came up and he had to leave. I thought I might catch him at
    home.”
    “No, ma’am. I haven’t seen him. And the master bed wasn’t slept in last night.”
    Octavia’s stomach tightened. “Oh...well, he must have pulled an all-nighter at the office, or been called
    out of town. When you see him, will you please ask him to call me on my cell phone?”
    “Of course, ma’am. Um...ma’am, when I got here this morning, there was a letter taped to the front
    door.”
    Octavia’s pulse picked up — had Richard left a note? “What kind of letter?”
    “The envelope says it’s from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.”
    She exhaled. “It’s probably about one of Mr. Habersham’s cases. Just leave it on his desk.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Oh, and one more thing. The check you gave me this week...the bank wouldn’t cash it.”
    Octavia swallowed a curse and forced false cheer into her voice. “Mr. Habersham moved some of our
    bank accounts and forgot to tell