“It’s nice to be back to normal.” I smiled as my friends and coworkers fought over who would enter Tail Waggin’ first.
“Define normal, Trinity Ashford.” Shar glared at Heather. “Respect your elders.”
Heather rolled her eyes and stepped back, letting the other woman enter first. “You aren’t that old.”
After what had happened to us a few weeks ago, I thought the two would stop their squabbling. But, like I said, we were back to normal.
A few minutes after my friends entered, Brad, my boyfriend and the most handsome, sweetest man in the state, carried in four coffees. “Good morning, ladies.” He kissed me and handed me my frozen mocha drink.
“Now I can start my day.”
“See you after work.” Another kiss and he rushed out the door, no doubt excited that tonight was the grand opening of the finally completed theater.
We’d dated for months, but it wasn’t until I emerged victorious after running for my life through the dark woods that we actually said the words, ‘I love you’ out loud to each other. Since then, things seemed more intimate, more real between us.
“Knock that goofy grin off your face.” Shar grinned. “Don’t you have some animals arriving soon for boarding?”
“Daycare.” I jumped up.
My two cats, Sharkbait and Trashcan, took off like missiles from their seats on the counter, up the stairs to my apartment. Sheba, my one-year-old mastiff, raised her ears and looked at me as if waiting for me to tell her to go after them. I motioned for her to stay and rushed to the back to make sure I had a clean kennel for the dog and cat.
I hadn’t taken care of this client’s pets before and wanted to make sure everything was perfect so she’d bring her business back. A quick spray of the hose and we were ready for our new guests.
“Why pay for a cat to be at a pet daycare?” Heather shook her head. “If it’s just for the day, the cat would be fine at home.”
“Maybe it’s the woman’s—” I glanced at my ledger, “—Mrs. Wells’ baby.”
David Johnson, our local delivery guy, pushed a dolly piled with boxes into the store. “Ladies.” Once upon a time, his dark eyes had landed on me, but now they stayed focused on Heather. I didn’t mind. Her divorce from her jailbird, car-stealing husband would be finalized soon, and she’d be free to hang out with a nice guy.
“Put them by the counter.” Heather’s face reddened, and she ducked her head. “Thank you.”
David’s smile faded as he stacked the boxes.
“Don’t worry,” I said, softly. “Ask her out in a month when she’s a free woman.”
Her husband had been in prison for over six months, so as far as I was concerned, that was long enough for my friend to be alone with her now three-year-old son. They both needed a good man in their lives. Brad had helped with repairs, but my man wasn’t there to have meaningful conversations or help with Robbie or whatever husbands helped with.
David’s smile returned, teeth flashing against his ebony skin. “I’ll do that. Have a good day, ladies.”
“If I were only younger.” Shar fanned her face with her hand.
“I thought you were after McIlroy?” That’s the impression everyone had since we’d met him during our first adventurous mystery.
“That man is as blind as one of those creatures who live deep in a watery cave.” She cut viciously into one of the boxes. “Ugh. I cut through a bag of dog food.” She stormed out of the front area, returning a few seconds later with a plastic carton and started scooping up kibble.
“Settle down. Our client is here.” I hurried to open the door for the woman with one hand holding the leash of a hyper corgi, and the other holding a crate with a very unhappy cat inside.
“Thank you. Honey is a handful and Prince is, well, a diva.” Mrs. Wells approached the counter and set the carrier on the floor, the fluorescent lights glittering off the rings on her fingers. “Between the two of them, they can’t be trusted not to tear up a place, and I have a hundred and one things to do today. I’ll return for them before you close. Oh, and please keep the two of them together. They’re inseparable.”
She left before I could make that promise. I took the leash and crate, doing my best not to stumble and fall as Honey ran in and around my legs, entangling me. “You little rascal.” I did a hop, skip, and jump routine all the way to the kennels.
I eyed the opening at the top. Prince would have no trouble scaling the fence and getting out. “Sorry, you two. It’s into the enclosed kennels for you.” I chose the largest one and put them both inside, promising to give them exercise time in a bit.
The dog barked, the cat howled, and soon every other daycare pet joined in until the racket made my teeth hurt. Times like this made me grateful I’d taken Sheba to obedience school. Once, she’d been as much trouble as these two.
Shar glanced through the glass window of the grooming station as I passed, eyes wide, hand holding the water sprayer paused over a soaked poodle. I shrugged and continued to the front.
“What in the world is going on back there?” Heather asked.
“Pandemonium.” I sat behind the counter and cupped my hands around my head.
“It won’t look good for business if someone comes in. When Robbie is riled up, I give him a snack.”
“Good idea.” I grabbed our best-selling pet treats and returned to the kennels, giving each and every single animal a treat. They all calmed down except for Honey and Prince. No wonder their human wanted them out of her hair for a day.
An hour later, I put the troublesome twosome on leashes and took them to the grassy area we used for exercise. The other animals with us that day were allowed to roam free. These two I didn’t trust. Prince hated the leash as evidenced by the twisting, turning, and folding of his body.
“I’m sorry, buddy, but I can’t have you getting loose. You’d be like a tiny Godzilla in this town.”
I kept checking my watch throughout the day. Hope reared its head every time the bell over the door jingled. Hours passed with no sign of Mrs. Wells.
“If those two were here every day, I’d definitely take my grooming on wheels.” Shar referred to the van that had belonged to the deceased Sarah Turner.
“The police released the van to us months ago. Why haven’t you?” I glanced up from staring at account ledgers.
“You need me here. Today proves that.” She opened the door to the kennels and yelled for Honey to stop barking. It didn’t work.
“That was a big help, thanks.” I laughed and returned to books that were hard to decipher with so much noise. Maybe I should let the troublesome twosome wander around the store area. I’d try almost anything to get them to settle down.
“Makes you appreciate child daycares, doesn’t it?” Heather shuddered.
I decided to leave the two in their kennels.
When five o’clock rolled around with no sign of Mrs. Wells, I called her. No answer. I sent Shar and Heather home and hung around until Brad showed up at five-thirty.
“What do you want to do?” He asked, grimacing at the noise coming from the cat carrier. “That dog is going to hang itself if she doesn’t sit.”
Sure enough, Honey had tangled herself around the playpen. “We could drive to Mrs. Wells’ house and drop them off.”
“All right, but let’s take your car. Sheba is fine to ride in the Mercedes but not that little scamp.”
“Sheba will stay here.” I took her upstairs to the apartment, fed her and the cats, then rejoined Brad. “I feel terrible about this, but I’m going to let Mrs. Wells know that I can’t watch her pets again. Not until they learn to behave at least a little bit.”
“Don’t feel bad. I don’t know how you made it through the day.” He picked up the dog, leaving me to take the cat. Honey settled right down. “I guess she just wants to be held.”
I sighed and locked the door behind us. Maybe I could find someone to cuddle the animals like volunteers do at a hospital nursery.
I set the carrier in the backseat and, since Honey liked Brad, left her to him and climbed into the driver’s seat. “She doesn’t live far.” I put the address I’d memorized into the GPS. Ritzy area.
Fifteen minutes later, I drove around one of the largest fountains I’d ever seen in someone’s yard and parked in front of a plantation-style house flanked by magnolia trees. I’d always envisioned myself someday living in such a place or in one of those country homes with a wraparound porch. Maybe I’d decide by the time I got married.
I followed Brad to the porch. He stopped so suddenly I ran into him, smashing my nose on his back. “What’s wrong?”
“The door is open.”
I peered around him to see the door ajar a couple of inches. “Mrs. Wells?” When no answer came, I pushed the door open further. “Hello?”
Brad put Honey down. “Lead the way, girl.”
The dog wagged her tail and turned left, leading us to the kitchen and her food dish. A one-track mind, this one. I turned around and headed for the sweeping staircase. “Mrs. Wells?” The hair on my arms stood at attention. I’d had the same reaction when I’d found Brad’s father murdered in his bed.
Hoping I overreacted, I climbed the stairs with heavier footsteps than normal so I didn’t startle the woman if she was home. I opened two carved double doors and stepped into a ransacked room. Armoire doors hung open. Blankets were wadded on the thick carpeted floor. I headed for the door on my left. An empty jewelry box mocked me from the dresser.
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and entered the bathroom. “Brad?”
Mrs. Wells lay on the marble floor, a silk scarf around her neck. I reached under the scarf, feeling a fine gold chain tangled in the fabric and felt for a pulse. The chill of her skin answered the question. “I found her. Guess what? She’s Dead.”
- Publisher : Winged Publications
- Publication date : March 7, 2021
- Language : English
- Print length : 234 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1952661641
- ISBN-13 : 978-1952661648