by Molly Fitz
“Oh, good,” Bethany said, clasping her hands together as she strode toward us both with a smile. “You’ve met Peter.”
“Peter?” I asked with a frown as the new guy stuck his hand out toward me in greeting. Looking at him straight on now, I saw he wore his dress shirt open with a t-shirt underneath that read Awake? Yes. Ready to do things? Ha, ha, ha! Charming.
The disturbing top half was paired with wrinkly cargo khakis on bottom. Fulton and Thompson never would have let this fly in their days. Yeah, I knew the firm was mostly better off without them, but, still couldn’t we at least try to look like professionals here?
“You’re Angie, right?” Peter asked, grabbing one of the muffins that hadn’t touched the floor and shoving it into his mouth with wide eyes. “Mmm,” he said pointing at it. “So good.”
I disliked this guy more and more by the moment, but Bethany seemed so excited to introduce us that I forced a smile and shook his hand despite my better judgement.
“Peter’s our new intern,” she explained. “He’s going to help you manage your workload.”
“I don’t need help managing my workload,” I shot back, recoiling from Peter’s grasp when he wouldn’t let my hand go after the normal, polite period of time for a greeting.
Bethany frowned. “Not exactly true. It’s been harder for all of us since you switched to part-time, but it’s okay, because Peter is the perfect person to step in and smooth things out.”
Yeah, me going part-time was the problem and not the revolving door of partners we’d seen so far this year. “What exactly are his qualifications?” I asked, regarding him coldly.
Peter popped the remains of that precious blueberry muffin into his mouth and mumbled, “I’m her cousin, and I work for minimum wage.”
Bethany shot him a dirty look, finally showing me that he bugged her, too. That at least made me feel a little better about all this. “Really, Peter. You need to stop being so liberal about sharing your salary.”
“Sorry,” he muttered with a shrug that suggested he really couldn’t care less about it.
Why was he here? I may not be the best paralegal in the world, but I was miles better than this guy. He probably didn’t even have his degree. This was all wrong. I couldn’t quite say why exactly, only that I hated everything about this Peter guy.
“Wait,” I said, realizing something. “Your name is Peter Peters? You sound like a super hero.”
“Or a super villain,” he countered with another shrug and a strange new smile.
“Anyway,” Bethany said, glancing at her feet to make sure no errant muffin crumbs had attached themselves to her shiny patent pumps. “This is Peter’s first day, which is why I asked him to come in a bit early. Can you help get him set up? Show him the ropes?”
“What kind of ropes?” I demanded. I didn’t normally start my work day by playing babysitter to some annoying nepotistic hire.
No, right now, I was supposed to be in Bethany’s office while she safely brewed me a cup of delicious, life-saving coffee. There was no way I’d touch another coffee maker as long as I lived, but I still enjoyed the extra jolt it gave me when someone else was willing to brave the brew master.
“Just the stuff you normally do,” Bethany answered with a dismissive gesture, already turning to take her leave. “If either of you need me, I’ll be in my office. I have client meetings most of the morning, but should be free around lunch time.”
“Okay, bye,” I said, turning to my new charge, resigned that I would have pretty much the worst work half-day ever.
He smiled after his cousin. “Too-da-loo!” he called, waggling his fingers, then turned to me. “Okay, so I’m ready to learn how to be you when I grow up,” he announced.
He did not just say that!
Well, so much for turning in my notice. There was no way I could leave the firm with this bumbling oaf of a paralegal. If only we could cue a makeover montage in real life. I’d choose one of my favorite upbeat 80’s pop jams, spend a few minutes reforming him, then call it done and move on. Real life never worked fast enough.
“Let’s go set up your email,” I said with a sigh, leading him back to my desk that we now seemed to be expected to share.
“Cool, cool. And when do I get my company-issued iPhone?” He bobbed his head, following after me like a lost little duckling.
“What? Why would we give you an iPhone?”
“Uh, hello. FaceTime.” He twisted his hands and formed a rectangle about the size of a smart phone then looked at me through the gap.
And just like that, he went from simply irritating to downright terrifying. FaceTime was the same app I used to call my cat from work. Our senior partner, Charles, had found out when he was still brand new to the firm and bribed me to help him defend a client. Was it just a coincidence that this Peter Peters had alluded to it now?
Or did he know something that could get us both into very big trouble?
Oh, I did not like this. I did not like it one bit.
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What’s After That?
What’s even worse than having a snarky talking tabby as your best friend?
When he inexplicably goes missing…
Octo-Cat is gone, and all the evidence suggests that he was taken on purpose. With the growing number of people the two of us have put behind bars, it’s no surprise that someone’s out for revenge.
But how will I ever manage to solve this particular crime without the help of my partner?
The only other person who might be able to help me just relocated to Georgia. But I’m desperate enough to try anything, including exposing my secret to the whole of Blueberry Bay. Anything to bring him home safe.
Oh, Octo-Cat. Where have you gone?
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ABOUT MOLLY FITZ
While USA Today bestselling author Molly Fitz can't technically talk to animals, she and her doggie best friend, Sky Princess, have deep and very animated conversations as they navigate their days. Add to that, five more dogs, a snarky feline, comedian husband, and diva daughter, and you can pretty much imagine how life looks at the Casa de Fitz.
Molly lives in a house on a high hill in the Michigan woods and occasionally ventures out for good food, great coffee, or to meet new animal friends.
Writing her quirky, cozy animal mysteries is pretty much a dream come true, but sometimes she also sometimes goes by the name Melissa Storm (also a USA Today bestselling author, yay!) and writes a very different kind of story.
Learn more, grab the free app, or sign up for her newsletter at www.MollyMysteries.com!
MORE FROM MOLLY
If you’re ready to dive right in to more Pet Whisperer P.I., then you can even order the next books right now by clicking below:
Kitty Confidential
Terrier Transgressions
Dog-Eared Delinquent
The Cat Caper
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