Purrfect Roast: A Dragon Cozy Mystery

by Verena DeLuca

  "I mean . . ." I transmitted slowly, contemplating my next words carefully. "You're not wrong. I can't fathom having another person live in my house, requiring me to consult them before making choices, taking up my me time. I always thought I was being selfish because I love it being just me. But they say, love finds a way. Can't say I know for sure what the next sixty years will hold for me."

  I giggled at my joke but attempted to cover it with a cough—I did not want to make light of a serious conversation. How did Skylar feel about all of this?

  "What they say is irrelevant," Shadow transmitted. "Not every human is after those things, and that is perfectly acceptable. Dragons capitalize off those who are content in being a table for one. But if by chance, the initial probe was wrong, there are nuclear options."

  What in the tea did that mean?

  "Nuclear options?" I transmitted.

  "He's being overdramatic," Azure transmitted with an eye roll. "It's not like your lonely. In essence, we're soul mates."

  "True, but sounds like something I should have known ahead of time," I transmitted in my sternest voice possible.

  "Give it a year," Azure transmitted with a chuckle. "You'll realize there was no sacrifice to be made on your part. Dragons just happen to be able to read you better than you can read yourself."

  "Think of it more as something you've been destined for from birth," Shadow transmitted. "You would not have been chosen for this path if Azure had not seen life goals within your soul that aligned with being a protector."

  The more I pondered the more I realized my own self-discovery journey was thanks to Tona's guidance. She never suggested how I should live, rather that I needed to learn to be true to my personal desires. She must not have chosen me for dragon protector until she knew where I stood regarding lifelong plans. Thinking back to our many conversations regarding happiness and self-acceptance, they were much clearer with this added information. Had I not been destined for this life she would not have chosen me as Azure's protector. The idea of living without him already left a deep sadness in my chest.

  "That makes sense," I transmitted. "I mean, guys are great eye candy and all, but like kids, I prefer to send them home at the end of the play date."

  Azure and Shadow both chuckled, and transmitted in unison, "Exactly."

  "Jinx," Azure transmitted.

  Hearing him transmit it instantly after their transmission made me giggle and warmed my heart. Never would I have guessed he would pick up on jinxing.

  "What?" Shadow transmitted.

  "Nothing," Azure transmitted, grumbling something about me and malarkey in barely audible growls.

  Causing me to giggle harder.

  "If that doesn't prove how well we're bonding nothing will," I transmitted.

  Azure transmitted an eye roll, and it took everything in me to keep my laughter under control.

  "Aww," Aubrey said. "They look so cute curled up."

  I gave a small yelp, her voice startled me. I had not noticed them walking up. Glad for the distraction, I stood and stretched.

  "Yeah," I said. "They had a big lunch."

  "Totally," Skylar said. "I feel like I'm going to pop. I ate way too much."

  "Me too," I laughed. "I have enough motivation to head upstairs and take a nap, and that's about it."

  "Oh look," Aubrey said, looking at the cops. "They're interviewing people. Should we sneak over to hear what they say?"

  "No way," I said. "Probably best that we stay back. Don't want them looking closely at us."

  I looked at Skylar, hoping she would pick up on what I was trying to say. She winked in agreement.

  I did not want cops looking into tribe drama too deeply. Would they believe we knew so much about each other because of having the cat show in common? I doubted it. But at this point, I was positive that a protector was guilty. Whoever stole the trophies was a real idiot and ruined the weekend for the rest of us.

  "When do you think they'll question us?" Aubrey asked.

  "If," Skylar said.

  "What?"

  "If they question us," Skylar said. "They totally could find the thief before our turn."

  We broke out in laughter. If we had learned anything this year, it was that cops did not solve cases with the ease shown on tv. There were no snazzy detectives coming to piece the clues together. It really was up to us to solve it. Hopefully, the other tribes were doing the same, trying to figure it out before the cops started digging into our personal affairs.

  "Of course, it all begins to fall apart my first year," I laughed. "But I think we'll solve it before they get to us."

  "Totally!" Skylar put her hand out for us to do a group high-five, like we were some sort of sports team.

  Aubrey and I chuckled, and put our hands in. "To solving this case!"

  A few of the other ladies at the tables near us looked over, but I just picked up my coffee cup and ignored the glances.

  "We should probably leave before we draw more attention to ourselves," I suggested.

  "Where to next?" Skylar asked.

  "Pool?" Aubrey asked. "We could sit down in the sun while we think."

  "Sounds great to me," I said. "I'm close to frozen. You'd think we were in the artic with what they have the AC set on."

  "You're not alone," Skylar laughed. "I know two kitties who are going to love laying in the sun."

  I pick Azure up and he rolled into my arms. The option to be carried to the pool, rather than walk, was worth the cuddles he would have to endure along the way. Shadow, on the other hand, looked eager to be held by Skylar.

  "Why don't you like to snuggle like Shadow?" I transmitted.

  He attempted to twist his body until I helped him prop himself up so his front paws were on my shoulder and he could look behind me. I snuggled into his fur as he groaned in disagreement with the affection. While it was a groan in my mind, he audibly meowed the softest noise of disagreement.

  "Have you seen me?" Azure transmitted. "This fur isn't all for show, you know. Cuddling creates a heat box I'm not willing to deal with, unless necessary."

  "Oh right," I transmitted. "And eating too much means it's vital to your survival to cuddle. Got it. I will be over feeding you from now on."

  "As if you wouldn't jump at the offer to be carried."

  "Touché," I transmitted.

  Food comas counteracted the coffee, prevented my quick witty retorts.

  Note to self: don't overeat when I have to be on top of my game.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Sunday, May 17th, 12:45 PM

  The sunbathed concrete of the pool area felt great as it burned off the AC that clung to me chilling my bones. The warmth was like a blanket wrapping me up in its comfy embrace. I was a Texas girl through and through—give me a warm sun, over chilly rain, any day. Or worse snow! How anyone managed to survive in the snows up north, I would never understand.

  While Skylar and I had not taken full advantage of the hotel pool, the weekend weather had been pleasant. Cool nights and warm days, with low humidity, made May the perfect vacation month if one was planning a trip to central Texas.

  After a few minutes outside, Azure jumped out of my arms—no doubt because our body heat conspired against him. I instinctively brushed the black fur off my shirt and realized mid-stroke there was no fur because it was a glamour, not a real cat. Seeing all these cats for the weekend was going to my head.

  "Hey," Aubrey whispered. "Aren't those the ladies from the ballroom who were playing cards?"

  I scanned the tables around the pool, not pausing on any person in particular. A few people were reading poolside, while others enjoyed the sun. But she was correct, the only large group of women in the area was tribe Cyrillic from San Antonio. They seemed to be in peak vacation mode, sprawled across the furthest corner of the rectangular pool area. The perfect opportunity to learn something about them and their morning whereabouts.

  "Careful," Azure transmitted. "Veronica is known for having an explosive
personality."

  "What should we do?" Skylar asked.

  "How explosive?" I transmitted. "Is she going to become violent?"

  "Hard to say," Azure transmitted. "I've just been hearing stories, through the transmissions with the tribes."

  I took a sip of coffee, and the girls followed suit. Did us standing here chatting seem suspicious, or was I just being paranoid?

  "Anyone who doesn't care about the missing trophies seems awfully suspicious to me," Aubrey said. "I think we should figure out why they were so relaxed during the lock-in."

  "Totally," Skylar said. "How they weren't concerned in the slightest, I don't get."

  "Agreed," I said. "Since I have yet to see the group that was missing from the ballroom, these ladies are second on my list of most likely suspects."

  "Oh yeah, almost forgot about those ladies that didn't attend the awards," Aubrey said, crossing her arms, and putting her fingers on her chin. "Hope they didn't slip out of the hotel."

  "If the purpose of stealing the trophies was to stick it to the cat show," Skylar said. "The culprit would totally be sticking around to watch the fallout."

  "Good point," Aubrey said.

  Time to take charge.

  I walked straight to the open table next to where four of them sat. I knew walking to the opposite side of the pool from the doors stood out as strange—especially as I passed a vacant table—but I crossed my fingers that my bat pin would give the girls pause before making an issue of it. If Veronica wanted to blow a fuse, let it be at me and not Aubrey or Skylar.

  Two of their ladies were in the pool, they were floating with one hand on the pool side right in front of two members laying on the pool chairs tanning, and the other four sat at one of the two tables. While they were not waving a flag that said they were all together, their body posturing made it clear they were friends. As Aubrey and I headed toward the open table, Skylar dropped off from us to lay down on one of the chairs, with Shadow happy as a kitten curled up on the warm concrete.

  "What a totally insane day!" Skylar said loud enough for everyone to hear as she plopped into the chair. "Who would have thought missing trophies would cause all this drama."

  I let the statement hang in the air to see if anyone would respond. When Aubrey stayed quiet beside me, I figured she was doing the same. We did not have to wait long as Veronica lowered her sunglasses and gave me a once over.

  "I assume she is speaking to you?" Veronica asked.

  "Not sure," I said and took the seat closest to her. "She is Skylar, this is Aubrey, and I'm Hailey from Marble Falls."

  "It was to the room," Skylar said, clearly annoyed that Veronica did not address her.

  "Pleasure," she said in a tone that made it clear it was anything but.

  "It has been a day, that's for sure," one of the ladies next to Skylar said, "but at least it means we get more time to soak up this sun."

  "True story," Aubrey said, taking a seat that was not under the umbrella shade of the table.

  "Have you been pondering who could have done this? We're trying to get to the bottom of this so we can go about our day. Our plans did not include sitting around this hotel all day."

  The lady next to Veronica laughed but cut it short when Veronica gave her a stern look.

  "We don't care who did it," Veronica said.

  "Really?" I sipped my coffee to avoid her "stop talking to me" gaze.

  "Only as far as we might want to thank them for doing it." She spoke as if it was ridiculous, she had to explain.

  "Why would you want to thank them?" Aubrey asked, leaning closer to the table.

  "For real," I said. "I just want to go home."

  "Not all of us are here because we want to be," she said, looking at me to emphasize that she couldn't say more. "But I'm not going to begrudge anyone that gives me a few more hours poolside."

  "That stinks," Aubrey said. "Hanging out here today has really changed my perspective on those that participate."

  "How so?" Veronica said, posturing as if Aubrey was about to say something highly offensive.

  Aubrey did not notice the threat. "We've talked to so many ladies that don't care about the show at all. Just seems like a weird way to take a vacation."

  One of the ladies in the lounge chairs laughed—probably thinking, "if only Aubrey knew the half of it". I concurred, had it not been a requirement to attend, I would not be here either.

  "Once something becomes a tradition, it's hard to break," a lady sitting next to Veronica said.

  "This is only my first year, so I'm still learning the ropes," I said. "Not what I expected at all."

  "At least your first time here will be memorable," another girl at the table said.

  "No kidding," I said. "Had I known it was going to be an episode out of daytime tv, I would not have been so hesitant to come."

  "I didn't even know cats had breeds before today," Aubrey said.

  Everyone laughed, and it felt like the tension between us all eased, but just a smidge.

  "All I know is that it wasn't any of us," Skylar said.

  The woman next to her began to laugh and said, "Yeah, it wasn't us either. We can all vouch for one another because we were at the restaurant for breakfast together."

  "Oh yeah," Skylar chimed in. "That's totally right! I remember seeing you guys a few tables over from us."

  I loved Skylar, but I wished she recalled that before now. It would have saved me from having to confront a fellow tribe leader.

  A woman at the table said, "If it's anyone, it was probably Sue."

  All of their tribe laughed or made comments of agreement, while we stayed quiet. I really did not get the impression it was her from our lunch chat.

  With all the ladies being in swimwear, I had no way of knowing who any of them were other than Veronica. All their name tags sat in a pile on their table. It was starting to drive me a little crazy that she did not introduce her tribe after I did. Maybe it was her signal for us to go away. Too bad I did not care if we made her annoyed. This level of gossip was the exact reason I wanted to sit here.

  "Sue is the Avoiuli tribe leader," Azure transmitted. "From before lunch."

  "No way," I transmitted and mentally rolled my eyes. "Give me a smidge of credit. I wasn't that out of it."

  "Could have fooled me," he transmitted.

  "Austin, right?" I asked, aloud.

  "Yeah," one of them chimed.

  "What's the deal with her?" I asked. "She was giving Nathan a piece of her mind this morning."

  "Yeah, she was," Skylar said. "Totally thought she was going to hit him."

  "She's about as holier-than-thou as they come." Veronica took a sip of her drink.

  I raised my eyebrows and took a sip of my own coffee, not wanting to pry, but there had to be more to this story. If other tribes also thought she was a wreck, maybe it could really have been her. Not that I could think of a single thing she would gain from stealing the trophies.

  "She has been so salty about not winning first in anything," one of the girls at the table said. "This is like her tenth competition, and she has never taken first. I overheard the judges, and it isn't looking good for them this year either."

  I played with my cup, thinking over their words as they continued to speak. Sue made it sound like Tona and her were neck and neck each year. If that was a lie, then maybe she really could have taken them. The complexity of the case grew by a mountain with each tribe.

  One thing was becoming clear through our conversations, no one could be trusted. Everyone seemed to have a motive.

  Veronica laughed and said, "Serves her right. She thinks she is so much better than the rest of us, just because she is from the Austin t—group."

  She stopped talking when she realized she was about to discuss the tribes.

  "I just ran into her at lunch," I said. "She ranted about the missing trophies for like thirty minutes."

  The San Antonio women all said various forms of, "Oooo, girl. She didn't
."

  "I see you know all about her then." I laughed, and Veronica's body language shifted from hostile to relaxed. Apparently, trash talking Sue was an instant in with her.

  "All I know is if this keeps dragging on, I'm going to demand that the show comp our rooms," Veronica said. "I'm beyond done sitting around waiting."

  The other women laughed.

  Aubrey pulled out her phone to take a photo of Veronica's cat as he came over from the cat pile. Cats and sun went together like coffee and ice cream. In looking over at the pile, I realized both Shadow and Azure had joined the ranks. Guess dragons were not as stand offish as women.

  "He's so pretty. Such cute chunky cheeks," Aubrey said as she snapped a photo. "What's his breed?"

  "He's a British Shorthair," Veronica said, rubbing his cheeks with her French manicured nails.

  "Sweet," Aubrey said, logging the breed in her phone. "I'm going to show my kids all the various breeds."

  "Cute, do you own a cat?" Veronica asked.

  "Nope, no pets for us," Aubrey said. "Unless you count two kids."

  The ladies laughed. "No thanks to that mess," one of the girls said from the lounge chairs and received a high-five from the girl next to her.

  "Yes, thank you for populating the world, so we don't have to," a girl at the table chimed in.

  Aubrey blushed, so I changed the subject before the conversation could go any further.

  "You want to put your feet in the water?" I asked.

  "I don't know if I'll be able to get my jeans rolled up enough." Aubrey laughed. "What about you Skylar?"

  "Totally," she said, and swung her legs over the chair to unstrap her sandals. Unlike Aubrey and I, she favored sun dresses and had her feet soaking before we made it up from the table.

  As I went to stand, Veronica stopped me and waited for Aubrey to reach Skylar before speaking. I sat back down, as the three girls beside her left the table to join their tribe mates in the pool.

  So, this was going to be that sort of conversation.