Sheila had tried using tact to shut her up, to no avail. Teresa wanted money, and, now knowing who was really implicated, was ready to blackmail Sheila to get what she wanted. Sheila had to shut Teresa up or get in big trouble with Vince, who would have been sent to prison if he was caught for the original heist.
Tact hadn’t worked. Neither had threats.
Murder, via the cyanide Vince provided, had.
Of course Chris, by then involved with the real jeweled collars, suspected what had happened.
In fact, one of the reasons Sheila wound up confessing was because she didn’t want Chris to get off free for all he’d done by testifying against her.
She’d pay. She knew that. But she wanted him to, as well.
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Antonio finished. Our meals had been served, and my bacon cheeseburger now tasted even better than it would have before.
Brooke had ordered a salad. It looked good, too, but I’d decided to splurge. “You do get yourself into some interesting situations, Lauren,” she said, taking a bite.
“Not by choice,” I responded, meeting Matt’s gaze. His expression looked amused, at least, and not angry. Which was right. I had kept him informed about what I was up to this time. In fact, I’d kept him so informed that he’d helped to save my life.
Our conversation remained on the bling and the murder and the arrests for a while, and then segued into a discussion about the teacup dogs.
And what had happened with the young conspirators who’d hoped to make a fortune from them.
“They’re all handled now,” I assured my friends. “And the dogs will find great new homes soon, I’m sure. The HotPets Bling ads are continuing, and so, according to Dante, is the manufacture of the collars with faux jewels. The rollout in Vegas will start in a week, and it’ll be followed soon nationally. That means more people will want little dogs, even though other shelters are getting into the act and perhaps even having teacup-sized dogs brought here from other locations. I’ve already started contacting some of the shelters in Vegas to warn them.”
We finished eventually. Brooke and Antonio said they were hurrying back to HotRescues for the night and would let EverySecurity know they were there.
Matt and I headed for his car, since he’d driven us here.
“You okay with going home?” he asked me.
“Sure. It’s free of the crime scene guys and their stuff, and the memories of Sheila’s confrontation are watered down a lot with all that’s happened since.” I looked up at him, straight into his gorgeous, sexy, toast-colored eyes. “Besides, I’m going to have some really special company tonight, aren’t I?”
He grinned. “Count on it.”
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