Free Where's Hansel and Gretel's Gingerbread House?: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #2 by Sara M. Barton Page A

Gabby.”
    “And criminal,” I added. “I think you’re the
skunk at the Frist and Company picnic, Nettie. You’re too ethical.
You see too much. That’s why Kevin Frist didn’t want you near the
showcase unit. You studied those blueprints. You would have
recognized things weren’t where they should be.”
    Maybe that’s what Joe Fortuna noticed before
he made a quick exit. Maybe he wanted the information on the
concrete bids because he knew the concrete hadn’t been poured or
the building properly fortified. Had Kevin Frist defrauded his
investors, jacking up the costs of Phase Two, bribing building
inspectors to pass the shoddy construction on Phase One, all while
pocketing the profits and the kickbacks?
    “How was 1423 financed? Loans?”
    “No, Mr. Frist sold the controlling shares of
the company to Blue Ridge Investments last year. He only owns a
third of the company. The venture capital investment firm took on
the debt, betting on the success of 1423.”
    “When are the condos going to be sold?” I
wondered.
    “Oh, most are already under contract. A lot
of buyers are using them for investment purposes, and once the
whole development is finished, many of them will sell their
individual units for a hefty profit.”
    “Unless the development goes belly up when
the shoddy construction is revealed.”
    “Gabby! How can you think I would work for a
company like that! I would never condone anything like that.
Never!’
    “Which is why you’re a target.”
    “That’s crazy!”
    “Maybe. Maybe not. But I think I know now why
that gingerbread house disappeared. And I think I know who stole
it.”
    “You do?” She looked at me in wonder.
“Who?”
    “Someone who cares about you. Someone who was
protecting you.”
    “Mr. Frist?”
    “Hardly. The guy’s a creep, Annette. His
brother, Kyle, disappeared and he made a fortune off the insurance
money. Now his condo development is owned by investors who are
being defrauded. Kevin Frist is hardly your champion. He’s a
mobbed-up creep.”
     

Chapter Nine --
     
    “That’s not nice. You shouldn’t talk about my
boss that way, Gabby.” I could see Little Miss Sunshine was
disappointed in my cynical mindset, as far as her boss was
concerned. “He was very good to me when Paul was ill. He let me
take a lot of time off with pay.”
    “Did he? And never expected anything in
return?”
    “No. As long as I kept up with the filings,
the permits, and the rest of the paperwork, he didn’t care if I
worked from home, from the construction site, or from the
office.”
    “Listen, Nettie. I’ve got to go see Rufus and
get this mess straightened out. Just tell me one thing. Did Joe
know I was a deputy sheriff?”
    “Sure. We often talked about you. I told him
all about you and Sam, how you saved the Klarsfeld family from
those terrorists.”
    “What about your boss? Does Kevin Frist know
about me?”
    “Oh, heavens no! I don’t discuss that sort of
thing with Mr. Frist. He doesn’t have time for that. He’s a very
busy man.”
    “Okay. I’ll be back later. You can reach me
on my cell if you need me.”
    “The old one or the new one?”
    “The old. By the way,” I said as I got up,
“you missed your calling. You’re a genius with gingerbread.”
    “Thanks. You should see the architectural
models I made for Mr. Frist. They’re even more amazing in
cardboard.”
    “You make his models?” I was surprised by
that bit of news.
    “Sure. I used to do all the models for Harvey
Construction when I worked there. When Mr. Frist found out, he
asked me to do the same for his company.”
    That explained why Annette was such an
attractive target. No wonder the FBI was all over this.
    Rufus was in his office when I got to the
Latimer Falls Sheriff’s Department. After Marge buzzed him, she
told me to go right in.
    “Brief me,” he demanded, sitting behind his
massive desk. He waved me into a chair opposite and waited. I
obliged, filling him in on all the