Free Death of a Hot Chick by Norma Huss Page A

cake earlier.” She
watched me take a bite. “Good, right?”
    “ Always. And you know it.” I savored
the first bite, then took another. Almost as good as her cherry
cheesecake. Sleep could wait.
    Kaye sipped cocoa, stared at the walls like
she was waiting for something. I took another bite. Kaye smiled.
She was definitely waiting for the perfect moment to spring
whatever surprise was coming. “Yummy,” I said. Kaye nodded and
watched with that everlasting smile while I finished the final
crumb.
    She leaned forward and placed one finger on
the table. “Something is hidden on this boat, and you and I will
find it tonight.”
    Had she been secretly following me all
afternoon, listening in as I talked to Slim? “Like I said, it’s
late.”
    “ Tomorrow is Sunday, a day of
rest.”
    I put my dishes into the sink,
stretched, and yawned for good measure. “So, tomorrow is an
excellent day to find hidden stuff. It’s dark now, and the lighting
in Snapdragon is not the best.
Haven’t you noticed that?”
    Kaye placed her mug in the sink, then,
instead of gathering up her thermos, she sat down. “I copied the
names on the title before we took it to the bank. The former owner
was named Chester Foltz.”
    “ Uh-huh.”
    “ I never heard of him before, but his
address was included.”
    Since Kaye intended to talk, I said, “Maybe
that’s who she saw.”
    “ Who who saw? Not that I’m an owl, or anything. I
guess you mean the ‘who’ Nicole planned to borrow thirty dollars
from. Right?”
    “ Um, sure.”
    “ Okay, out with it. What else were you
going to say?”
    Sisters could be a drag. They knew too much
about one’s moods, about, oh, about every darn thing.
    “ Okay, come on,” Kaye almost sang. “No
secrets.”
    I’d really meant Lizzie when she saw my
intruder, but I went with Nicole. “I’ve never seen ghosts
before.”
    Kaye stared, mouth open. But not for long.
“Don’t tell me. Your latest imaginary creature is Nicole?”
    “ I’m not sure.”
    “ You’re not sure it’s
Nicole?”
    “ It’s Nicole all right. I’m not sure
she’s imaginary.”
    “ I don’t think I believe in
ghosts.”
    But she had always accepted the imaginary
creatures of my childhood? “Okay.”
    Kaye ignored the whole subject of the spirit
world and jumped to her most recent favorite subject—my mental
health. Which, when I stopped to think of it, wasn’t much of a
switch from me seeing ghosts. “Now, I know you refused to see a
counselor, but such an action isn’t a sign of weakness. Professor
Reynolds isn’t certified, but she is a sympathetic ear.”
    “ Hey, she doesn’t want to hear about
my problems. If you don’t mention your professor, I’ll shut up
about ghosts. Deal?”
    Kaye tucked her lower lip in, breathed
heavily for a few moments, then said, “Just think about it. That’s
all I ask.”
    “ Deal?”
    “ Yes. Deal.” Kaye flashed her hand
over her face, changing the frown to a smile. “Now, I did come with
an ulterior motive. We need to search right now. Something is
hidden on this boat. Anything we find could be of immense value in
solving Nicole’s murder.”
    “ I’ve searched. You’ve searched. We’ve
both searched. See the piles in the V-berth?”
    “ Then we’ll go through them again.
Fresh eyes, you know.”
    Was it possible we could find some clue to
Nicole’s murder? “Okay. Half an hour.”
    Kaye nodded. We started going through piles.
Kaye, caught up in the mindless task, muttered. “Risky actions. But
she was independent. Didn’t worry about consequences.”
    “ Who?” I asked. “Are you talking about
Nicole?”
    “ Nothing.” Kaye shook her head. But a
few minutes later she told herself, in the lowest of tones, “That
loan. She must have known he couldn’t pay it back. ‘Like taking
candy from a baby,’ she’d said.”
    Was Kaye starting to change her mind about
Nicole? I could understand completely. Nicole could tell people
pink was green, and they’d