Free Never Steal a Cockatiel (Leigh Koslow Mystery Series Book 9) by Edie Claire Page B

questioning by the state police. Mason may have nothing to do with this guy’s disappearance, but they did know each other, which makes the whole business pretty damned messy. And potentially dangerous. Can you convince him to call me?”
    “I don’t know,” Leigh replied. Although Mason had gotten used to Maura’s presence at family functions, his cop-avoidance instincts were still firmly ingrained. “I’ll try.” A heaviness arose in her middle that she knew she would not easily be rid of. Mason was definitely acting weird. Mason suddenly had money. If after all this time on the straight and narrow the man had fallen back onto the wrong side of the law, it would break his daughter’s heart. And Leigh’s.
    Maura rose.
    “Wait,” Leigh said, getting up herself. Did the police think that Mason had helped Kyle escape the law somehow? If so, they were wrong. She was certain that Mason hadn’t known Kyle would leave when he did. Mason had clearly been put out about the timing of his cat-care duties and hadn’t expected the bird at all. But she couldn’t explain that to Maura without breaking her promise to Mason to keep quiet about the pets.
    What a mess.
    She decided not to elaborate, at least not now. It would be better if she could convince Mason to talk to Maura himself.
    The policewoman stood looking at Leigh expectantly. Oh, right. Leigh had been about to say something. She said something else instead. “Have you heard anything about the petnapping rumors? Skippy Titus certainly seems to believe them.”
    Maura grimaced. “A lot of people do. The locals PDs are aware of what’s being said. But no one’s filed a complaint, so they’ve got nothing to go on.”
    Leigh exhaled. “I see.”
    With her mind full of thoughts, none of them pleasant, she accompanied Maura to collect the baby and then walked the policewoman back out to her car. No sooner were the mother and son down the street and out of sight than Leigh pulled out her phone and tried again to reach Mason.
    Her call went straight to voice mail. Leigh left a second message, then walked back into the house with a sinking heart.
    What the hell was the man up to? When he’d said Kyle had “people after him,” Leigh hadn’t thought he meant the law. She’d been thinking more along the lines of creditors. But why would Mason even bring up the ruse about a pawnbrokers’ convention? Could he be running from the law himself?
    Leigh stubbornly dismissed the notion. When he’d awoken her before dawn, he hadn’t seemed like a man who was sweating over a pursuit by the police or anyone else. He had seemed like a man who was anxious to go somewhere, but was being frustrated by an unexpected nuisance: a.k.a., a neighbor’s pets. Once Leigh had said she would take care of the animals, Mason had acted downright chipper.
    So where was he going?
    She returned to her parents’ living room to find her mother staring at her with arms crossed and reading glasses removed. “Now,” Frances said crisply. “You can tell me what that was all about. What kind of trouble are you in this time?”
    “I’m not in any trouble!” Leigh protested, knowing it was pointless. Never mind that she really wasn’t in any trouble. This time. She had given the same answer too many times before when it was… perhaps slightly less applicable.
    “Oh, patoot!” Frances retorted.
    Leigh sighed. Where was the kindly granny who’d been making goofy faces at little Eddie just minutes ago? “I’m not in any trouble, Mom,” she repeated. Then inspiration struck. “It’s just that there’s something pet-related going on in Avalon and Ben Avon.” She explained about the petnapping rumors and Skippy’s overzealous defense of her parrots. “But Maura says the police can’t really do anything until an actual crime victim comes to them,” she finished.
    “I see,” Frances said thoughtfully. With one brisk motion, she replaced her reading glasses. “Well, we’ve got work to