Free Birthdays Can Be Deadly by Cindy Bell Page B

trust,” Eddy said gravely. “I want to know the truth. If you can't trust me with it, then we don't have any business doing this.”
    “Don't say that, Eddy,” Samantha said with a frown. “It's not that I don't trust you. It's not like that. It's just that she asked that I respect her privacy.”
    “I'm going to find out either way,” Eddy pointed out. “Either I ask you who she is, or I ask her.”
    “You wouldn't do that, would you?” Samantha asked apprehensively. “I wasn't supposed to tell anyone who she is.”
    “I would, and I will,” he replied sternly. “She talks to me like she knows me. I need to know who she is.”
    “She spoke to you?” Samantha asked.
    “Yes, she did,” he replied and narrowed his eyes. “Now, out with it.”
    “Samantha, we're your friends,” Walt said in a gentler tone. “You can tell us the truth.”
    Samantha took a shaky breath. “All right,” she finally conceded. “But you both have to promise not to tell anyone else. Especially you, Eddy,” she said and looked directly into his eyes.
    “Tell us,” Eddy said without agreeing.
    “Jo, the woman that lives here in Sage Gardens, is Joanne Baylor, the same woman who…”
    “The cat burglar?” Eddy asked with disbelief.
    “The what?” Walt stammered out.
    “Yes, the cat burglar,” Samantha finally admitted and felt as if a big burden had been lifted off her shoulders, only to be replaced by the dread of Jo finding out that she had told her secret.
    “This is absolutely ridiculous,” Eddy growled. “How could you even associate with that woman, Samantha? How does she have your phone number?”
    “Listen, she offered to help, and what better way to catch a thief, than to use a thief?” Samantha explained quickly.
    “No, don't you even try it,” Eddy warned her. “There is no explanation for this, and you know it.  She's a dangerous criminal who will say and do anything to get what she wants.”
    “She's done her time, Eddy,” Samantha pointed out, though she didn't fully believe it herself. “She was released early for good behavior. She offered to help because she wants to turn her life around.”
    “I'll believe that when pigs fly,” Eddy snapped and shook his head. “Walt, are you buying any of this?”
    “I don't know,” Walt replied with a slight frown. “She has a point about a thief catching a thief. Hopefully Jo will be able to help.”
    “I can't even conceive of what the two of you are thinking,” Eddy said sharply. Then he stormed out of Walt's villa.
    “Eddy, wait!” Samantha called out and started to follow after him. Walt grasped her arm gently and held her back.
    “Let him go,” he advised. “He needs a little time to cool off.”
    Samantha frowned and looked down at the floor. She knew that she was the reason that Eddy was so upset. Even with everything that was going on, she didn't want Eddy to be angry with her. She wondered if he might be right, that she had made the wrong choice by allowing Jo to be involved.
     
    ***
     
    Eddy did his best to calm down. There was little that bothered him more than a criminal who was given back their freedom before they had served all of their sentence. He didn't really believe that people could change. The idea that an infamous cat burglar had been living in the same community as him, had even spoken to him, without him realizing made it very difficult for him. Had he really gotten so rusty that a criminal could flaunt herself right under his nose?
    He didn't want to be at his villa if one of them came looking for him, so he walked down towards the lake. His mind was still churning over the case as well. Jo was a distraction, but he needed to focus on what mattered. If Mike was responsible for his father's death then he needed to suffer severe consequence for it. The only thing that bothered him was how obvious it seemed.
    “I thought I might find you out here,” Samantha said quietly as she stepped up behind him. Eddy tensed,