A Grave Peril

by Wendy Roberts

  Wookie looked at me with sad why-did-you-have-to-bring-home-a-cat eyes. I made coffee, even though my nerves were already jangling. While the coffeemaker sputtered and spat I filled the animals’ food and water dishes. I was just pouring coffee into my mug and sending up a silent prayer that someone new wasn’t pounding on Garrett’s face when a knock sounded at my door. I jumped so high, I sloshed hot coffee all over myself and the floor.

  Cursing vividly, I went to the door and opened it only to have the alarm screech because I’d neglected to deactivate it first. Preston squished his face and covered his ears as I punched in the code. Both Wookie and Fluffy had taken off to their various beds for protection.

  “Sorry,” Preston said. “I know it’s early, but I saw the lights come on and knew you were up, and I just wanted to bring you these.” He thrust into my hands a dinner plate holding two large pieces of cake covered in plastic wrap. I took the plate and looked at him questioningly.

  “My birthday was yesterday and Phil used your eggs to make my cake, so...” He shrugged. “He told me this was better than just returning your eggs.”

  “Oh.” I looked down at the cake and then back up to him, trying to replace the annoyed look on my face with one that was more appreciative. “Tell Phil thanks and happy birthday.”

  “Was that my doing too?” He pointed to my coffee-soaked shirt.

  “No worries,” I said hastily, becoming aware that the oversized tee I wore to bed only covered my ass by about two inches.

  I started to close the door, but he stopped it with his hand and quickly added, “By the way, the new fence posts will go in today.”

  “Great,” I added unenthusiastically. When he continued to hold the door open and just stare at me sheepishly I realized there was more. “You want money, right? Garrett said something about splitting the cost. Is that it?”

  He looked relieved. “Yes, well, it doesn’t have to be right away, of course. I mean I’ve already paid the workers the first draw and then the balance is due once they’re done but, you know, whenever you get around to it is fine.”

  But he acted like whenever we got around to it meant right now so I got him to tell me the amount and I wrote down his information, so I could send him an etransfer.

  “You’ll have it in a few minutes,” I promised.

  Preston finally left, and I dropped the plate of cake onto the counter and went straight to my laptop and sent him the money. It was probably in his inbox before he even opened the door of his house. I didn’t want to give him any excuse to come over again. The alarm company called to make sure everything was okay and I gave them the password to assure them I was just one of the hundreds of idiots they probably dealt with who set off their own alarms.

  Wookie had snarfed his food, drunk enough water that his muzzle was still dripping, and was now standing looking expectantly at the back door wanting out.

  “Ugh.” I frowned. “Sorry, boy, still no fence so we’ll go for a walk, okay?”

  Of course that was okay. At the mere mention of the W word, Wookie bounded to the side door where his leash hung from a hook. I put on some jeans and runners, pocketed my cell, and hesitated. What if Garrett called the house while I was out? I mean, he almost always called my cell but the other day, when using someone else’s phone to call, he’d called the landline for some reason.

  I pinched my eyes shut and drew in a deep breath. “He’s fine. He’ll call my cell if I don’t answer this line.” I hated that he was putting me on edge like this for no reason. At least I hoped it was without cause.

  I zipped up my windbreaker and snapped the leash onto Wookie’s collar. When we stepped outside I locked the door behind me and took off at a dead run. I was driven by the need to get Wookie’s pee break and exercise over with, so I could hurry back home and be next to the phone. Only when you’re in a big hurry do you notice that your dog absolutely must pee on every single corner and blade of grass. He refused to move from one street to the next without a significant amount of sniffing and dribbling.

  On our way back my phone rang in my pocket and I nearly dropped it in my haste to look at the screen only to see that it was Tracey.

  “Can I call you back?” I said by way of a greeting. “I’m just out walking Wookie.”

  “Sure,” she replied.

  I hit the disconnect button and checked my texts to see if somehow a message had come in from Garrett without my noticing or a notification sound from an unknown number that could be him. Zilch. My stomach soured with nervousness as Wookie and I jogged the last block home.

  Back inside, I kicked off my shoes and ran to check the home phone. No messages there either and no missed calls.

  “You’re acting like a crazy person.” I drilled my fingers through my hair. “And you’re talking to yourself so that proves it.”

  I set about cleaning up the earlier spilled coffee and that led to a need to wipe the counters and that dominoed into a cleaning of all the cupboards inside and out. My tiny single-wide trailer might not have been so pretty, but it was definitely an easier space to keep clean. After an hour my phone pinged a message from Tracey asking if I was back from my walk. I’d completely forgotten to call her back.

  “Sorry,” I told her when she answered. “I had a bit of a coffee mess I needed to get to.”

  “No problem. Hey, I know that you’re just starting to get back into your dowsing thing and you said you were only going to go super slow and take easy cases because of your mental health and all that...”

  “Yeah? But?” I prompted.

  “Well, I have this friend. That guy I’m seeing...”

  “He has a body he needs found?”

  “Yeah, it just came up last night. His brother has been missing for a while.”

  I rolled my eyes so hard I gave myself an immediate headache. “Tracey.” I fought to keep my voice even because I was already annoyed. “C’mon...don’t tell me you volunteered me to find the remains for some guy just so you could get screwed?”

  “I take offense to that,” she said evenly.

  “Well...” I exhaled. “Sorry. I’m stressed.”

  “If you must know, we’ve already been to bed and it was afterward that this came up so...”

  Great. My dowsing abilities were a post-coital discussion. That made me feel a ton better.

  “Obviously, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Seriously,” she insisted. “I made him zero promises. It just sounded like exactly your speed right now.”

  “Oh really.” I rubbed the crease between my eyebrows with the tip of my finger. “What exactly is my speed?”

  “A simple case really. His brother, who had an intellectual disability, wandered away from their home when he was little. Their farm area had flooded during the spring runoff, and he was presumed drowned in the creek that backs onto their property. Water levels were high that spring but even after the water receded the only things ever recovered were his favorite book bag that he took with him everywhere and one shoe. His body never turned up. Anyway, Craig was mentioning how it would mean a lot to his mother if she could have something to bury, even though it’s been a dozen years.”

  Damn. That was kind of my speed now. She was right. But I needed to be home for Garrett. “Look...”

  “You’re right,” Tracey blurted. “It’s a lot to ask. I never told him you’d do it. Swear to God.”

  “I don’t know...” I started giving excuses about housework and Wookie and Fluffy fighting and wanting to stick around home.

  “Something’s wrong,” Tracey sounded worried. “I can hear it in your voice.”

  “I just haven’t heard from Garrett. He always texts or calls me when he’s working. It’s really unlike him.”

  “I’m coming over.”

  “No. You don’t have to.”

  “Give me fifteen minutes. Actual
ly, make it half an hour because I need to shower.”

  Ninety minutes later she showed up. I was convinced she’d changed her mind about coming at all and I was okay with that because I was too busy making mental notes detailing all the reasons why Garrett might not have called yet. The number one reason on that list was because he was dead, so I began a new list of plausible and nonfatal reasons he hadn’t called, and that list was making me feel a lot better.

  Wookie barked, which meant that I had to lock the dog in my bedroom because otherwise Tracey wouldn’t come inside. Eventually, if Wookie remained calm and not jumpy and Tracey remained centered and not anxious, we could try a reunion in the living room. Tracey showed up carrying fancy coffees and a box of cupcakes.

  “I wasn’t aware we were having a party.” I peeked inside the bakery box at four chocolate cupcakes with towering icing in pale pastel shades.

  “You’re stressed and that calls for caffeine and sugar.”

  “There’s already chocolate cake from the neighbors that I haven’t touched.” I pointed to the plate on the kitchen counter.

  Tracey kicked off her flats and thrust into my hands some kind of espresso-based coffee with whipped cream and caramel drizzle.

  “I’m almost positive that the last thing I need is caffeine and sugar but thanks.” I took a sip and nodded. “Delicious but I probably won’t sleep for a week.”

  “That’s good, then you’ll be wide awake and ready to read Garrett the riot act when he calls.”

  “True.” I walked over to the sofa and slumped down. “It’s this damn case he’s on. That’s why he hasn’t called. It’s personal so he’s not thinking of anything else.”

  “Personal? How is that?” Tracey put the bakery box on the coffee table and sat in the chair next to the sofa. She adjusted the brace on her knee with a wince while waiting for me to answer.

  “I can’t talk about it.”

  “Really?” She snagged a cupcake with pale pink icing and handed it to me, then chose a light blue one for herself. “Like, who am I going to tell?”

  “Anyone? Everyone?” I took a small bite of the cupcake which, for the record, tasted not nearly as satisfying as a glass of wine would at that moment.

  “I’m insulted. We’re besties. Anything you tell me goes in the vault.”

  “We’re not teenagers, Tracey.” I rubbed the back of my neck and felt the tight ligaments that held my stress. Dr. Chen said I needed to be open to a deeper friendship with Tracey. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, it was just that I didn’t know how. All my relationships had been abusive except for mine with Garrett. It was hard to trust. “Garrett hasn’t even told me what’s really going on except his brother-in-law, Sid, is involved with some company that’s connected to some bad shit and Garrett, of course, feels an obligation to help him.”

  “I didn’t know he was close to her family.”

  “He isn’t.” I took another nibble of the cupcake and then put it down on the table. “But Garrett’s a loyal guy and he feels he owes it to...you know.”

  “His dead wife.”

  “Faith.” I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Her.”

  “I can see why you’re upset.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that.” Well it wasn’t just that. “He always contacts me at night when he’s away. The other night I didn’t hear from him because his phone got damaged, but he ended up borrowing a phone and calling me on the landline.”

  “Landline? What are we, in the nineteen-sixties?”

  “The point is, when he’s overnight he calls or texts. The other day he came home with his face all busted up because of some altercation to do with this case so, you know, I’m worried.”

  “Have you tried—”

  “Calling him? Yeah, that’s the other part. His phone got lost or damaged the night his face took a pounding. Yesterday he replaced the phone and the number and said he’d text me, so I’d have his new contact number but...” I shrugged and blew out a breath.

  “Are you thinking you should call the cops? File a missing person’s report?”

  I shook my head and suddenly felt silly. “He packed a bag. He flat-out told me he didn’t know how long he’d be gone.” I blew out a breath, remembering how angry he got when he thought I was trying to guilt him into staying. “You know what? He’s fine. He’s busy on a case and he told me he didn’t know how long he’d be gone so it’s crazy that I’m acting all bent out of shape just because he didn’t call me the same day he left.” Even though he always called. Always. I picked up my too-sweet coffee, took a swig and watched as Fluffy jumped into Tracey’s lap and began purring.

  “You’re the only one that damn cat likes,” I pointed out. “He hates me.”

  “He doesn’t hate you.” She stroked the cat from head to tail and he arched his back in pleasure. “He just misses his mom.”

  “Yeah, well, his mom was my mother too.” I didn’t want to get into that other, sordid story. “You know what, screw it, tell me again about your boyfriend’s missing brother. I need the distraction.”

  “Not my boyfriend, just... Craig.”

  “You’re sleeping with him.”

  “Trust me, there is zero sleeping involved.”

  I snorted at that.

  “But I do kinda like him. He’s a nice guy. It would be great if you could help him out.”

  Tracey turned in the chair to face me. She excitedly began to ramble, repeating what she’d told me earlier about Craig’s brother going missing during the spring runoff flood and never finding the body. I asked her to find out the exact address of the property where it happened and the date. She fired off texts to Craig, and while we waited for a reply I told her I was getting Wookie out of the bedroom. Immediately, Tracey pulled her feet up on the coffee table as if Wookie was a little ankle biter instead of a hundred thirty-pound Rotty who could easily jump on the sofa and devour her if he had the inkling.

  She became very still as Wookie bounded into the room.

  “Go to your bed,” I instructed.

  Wookie glanced over at Tracey and growled.

  “He wants to rip me apart,” she whispered, visibly shaking and pale.

  “No. He wants to rip the cat apart. He’d like to lick all the icing off your face though,” I said, trying not to smile at her discomfort.

  Wookie crawled into his bed across the room and dropped his head onto his paws to look at us with sad, pleading eyes.

  “He’s jealous of the cat?” Tracey asked, her voice still low and quiet.

  “Yeah, they pretty much hate each other.” I took my coffee cup, dumped the remaining whipped cream and coffee mixture into the sink, rinsed it and dropped it into the recycle bin. “For the record, Wookie’s the one who’s taking a beating. The cat is kicking his butt.”

  “We don’t believe that for a second, do we?” she said in a baby voice as she stroked Fluffy. The cat’s purrs intensified, probably just to annoy Wookie.

  “You’ve come a long way,” I said. “When we first met, you wouldn’t come inside at all because I had a dog. Now you’re sitting in the same room with him.”

  “Yeah.” Although she was stroking the cat, her eyes never left Wookie. She’d come a long way, but she still didn’t trust him.

  “You know he’s never bit anyone. Ever.”

  “You’ve said that a hundred times. I just don’t wanna be the first.”

  There was no arguing with that. Her phone chimed, and she tore her eyes away from Wookie to read the message. “Craig is really excited. I’ve got all the information about their farm and the location of the creek. His mom is out of town visiting his aunt, but we can walk on the property all we want.”

  She read me the details of the location and I frowned.

  “That’s like a three-hour drive from here. Add in a few hours over there and another three
hours back...” I chewed my lower lip.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll have your phone with you the entire time, so Garrett will be able to reach you.”

  When I continued to hesitate she added, “You can’t just sit around here making yourself crazy with worry when he’s probably so nose-to-the-grindstone he’s completely forgotten about calling.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “And if he knew you sat around all day by the phone waiting for him that would make him feel bad.”

  I nodded, then got to my feet and clapped my hands. “I’m not going to sit around waiting for him to call me when he’s probably tied up with work.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  I packed my backpack with water bottles and granola bars. A small squeak directed my attention back at Tracey. Wookie had gotten up from his bed and had walked over to her. She was frozen in terror.

  “It’s okay. He’s only jealous of Fluffy,” I said. The cat was still in her lap and was now looking at the dog with annoyance. “You’d make Wookie feel a lot better if you’d pat his head.”

  “He’d feel better because he’d bite my hand off,” Tracey said, her voice trembling.

  “I can guarantee that’s not going to happen.”

  I was about to call Wookie away from her when Fluffy hissed and swatted the dog’s nose. Wookie yelped and skedaddled over to me for protection.

  “Aw-w-w, poor baby.” I rubbed Wookie’s head and he ran off to drink from his water bowl.

  “I can’t believe Fluffy is such a badass.” Tracey giggled.

  “Evil. You’re sitting there worried about Wookie while you’re petting the real one who’d rip your face off.” I waggled a finger at Tracey. “Plus, even when Fluffy sliced his nose just now, you notice Wookie did not retaliate. That dog is a friggin’ saint.”

  Tracey didn’t reply but she was watching Wookie with a lot less fear.

  “Okay, I’m just going to take him out before we go.” I snapped a leash on Wookie’s collar. “The guys out back are building a new fence, so I can’t just set him free or—”