Dog Collar Chaos

by Adrienne Giordano

“If we want to get Ro out, need evidence to support her case. The victim’s workplace is a good jumping off point. Besides, Buzzy has—had—five billion assistants. We’ll start with Reece and see where that takes us. She might give up some gossip on Buzzy. Someone was mad enough to kill her, and Reece was the most senior assistant. If anyone knows anything, it’ll be her. Besides, we still need models for the fashion show. We’re doing double duty here.”

  “This fashion show is a pain in the ass.”

  “You’re telling me. I didn’t appreciate how much Ro did for me before this. Anyway, just roll with it. Reece thinks we’re here to show her models.”

  Coitus took two steps toward Brie. Lucie pointed at him. “Sit, Coitus.”

  When he didn’t move, Joey rolled his eyes. “Sit, Coitus. You horny bastard.”

  Coitus planted his butt. Why did it always work when Joey said it? Totally irritating.

  The elevator door whooshed open, and Lucie led the charge down the long corridor to Buzzy’s office. Six of her assistants worked in the bullpen just outside it. Shouting distance, Buzzy had once joked.

  Reece stepped into the hallway. She wore a navy dress and tights with a pair of fun clunky boots. Edgy, yet professional. A look Lucie always admired, but could never pull off.

  Reece waved. “Good morning.”

  “Hi, Reece.” Without a free hand, Lucie jerked her head to Joey. “I don’t think you’ve met my brother, Joey. And this is, Brie and Boots and, um…”

  Lord, she didn’t even want to say it.

  “Coitus,” Joey added. “The name sucks, but you get used to it.”

  Reece burst out laughing. “Coitus? That’s…unbelievable.”

  And that’s when Coitus sniffed the air, mounted Reece’s calf, and went to work.

  “Coitus,” Lucie said. “No. Off!”

  Joey grabbed hold of the dog, gently pulling him from Reece’s leg. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’ve nicknamed him Super Perv,” Lucie said. “But he’s cute. He’d be a great fit for the skiwear segment of the show.”

  Unperturbed, Reece gave Coitus a tickle under his chin. “You’re a naughty boy, Coitus.”

  She stood tall and motioned them to the board room in the corner. “Let’s take them to the conference room. One of the staff members wants us to look at her poodle also. Buzzy used her in some of the Foo-Foo ads, so she’d probably be a good addition.”

  Poodle. Lucie thought back to samples of Foo-Foo commercials she’d compiled while deciding on whether or not to partner with Buzzy. “Is that the one with the pink bows in her hair?”

  “Yes. That’s her.”

  “Oh, she’s a cutie.”

  Kandi, another of Buzzy’s assistants who’d been helping with the fashion show, stepped out of an office carrying a box that tipped precariously.

  “Hey, Lucie. How are you?”

  “I’m good, Kandi. That looks heavy.”

  She boosted the box only to have it wobble. Joey shoved Coitus’ leash at Lucie and grabbed the box. Aw, such a gentleman. This was the Joey she loved.

  In a burst of action, Coitus lunged forward, tugging so hard he knocked Lucie—the lightweight—off balance. Oooff! What the heck?

  Momentum carried her, her body tipping forward. Rather than faceplant on top of Boots and Brie and get dragged, she let go of the leash, catching herself on the doorframe before she crushed the dogs.

  Coitus shot off to the end of the hallway, his fifty-five pounds in a full charge. And then Lucie saw why.

  At the end of the hallway stood the adorable poodle, her curly hair all pinned up in pink bows. She wore a pink sweater with a fur collar that easily could have been one of Ro’s designs. All this dog needed was some pink lipstick.

  Coitus. Ohmygod.

  “No, Coitus. Coitus!”

  Joey spun back, set the box on the closest desk, and hauled butt just as Lucie shoved the leashes at Kandi.

  But…too late. Coitus got there first and, at twice the size of the poodle, leaped, tackling the poor baby and, yep…hump, hump, humped away as the poodle barked and made a weird noise.

  Wait. Was that…moaning? Ew.

  Doggie porn just got added to the audio porn library.

  The poodle’s owner, a middle-aged woman with dark hair pulled into a severe bun stepped in, shoving Coitus away with one hand and scooping the poodle up with the other. “Pig!”

  She cuddled the poodle against her, murmuring something Lucie couldn’t hear.

  Lucie skidded to a stop, only to be plowed into by her mountain of a brother. She tumbled forward. The woman hopped clear as Lucie slammed into one of the padded cubicle walls, bounced off, and landed flat on her rear on the floor. “Ow.”

  Her sit bones took the brunt of it and pain ricocheted down her legs. Damned, Coitus. Boots and Brie jumped on top of her, leaping up and licking her chin, and the dual doggie bath made the pain in Lucie’s rear disappear.

  The violated poodle’s owner poked her finger. “That dog is disgusting.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Lucie set Boots and Brie on the floor, held the leashes in one hand and levered up. “Bad, Coitus!”

  Coitus had apparently not reached the promised land. If he couldn’t have the poodle, the owner would have to do. He wrapped his front paws around the woman’s pant leg and shot off a rapid humping while Lucie stood paralyzed in horror.

  “Off,” Joey said, using his alpha voice.

  The dog hopped off—literally—and stood at attention, his gaze on Joey, who bent low and grabbed the leash.

  The woman held onto her beloved poodle, stroking her head and murmuring. The poodle though, didn’t seem all that freaked. No shivering, no look of rampant terror. In fact, if Lucie were to guess, she’d think that poodle didn’t mind the action.

  “I am so sorry,” Lucie said to the woman.

  “That dog needs to be fixed.”

  “He is fixed,” Joey added. “He’s just horny.”

  Reece hustled up behind Lucie. “This is nuts. Let’s get the dogs into the conference room before one of the VPs comes out screaming.”

  Once confined to the conference room, a large space that fit at least twenty, they let the dogs roam free. Reece shook her head and laughed. “Wow. That was a scene. I think the poodle liked it. With an owner like Flora, who could blame her? She never lets that dog have any fun.”

  Lucie snorted. “I really am sorry.”

  “It’s all right. Crazier things have happened here.”

  Really? What exactly did that mean? “Well, that’s good to know, but I can’t imagine it would be worse than that.”

  “Please. You should have been here the day—” Reece caught herself.

  Damn it. “The day what?”

  She glanced up at the corner of the room, and Lucie tracked her gaze to a video camera mounted high on the wall.

  “Um, nothing,” Reece said. “Nothing.”

  Clearly, she didn’t want to speak in front of the camera. Was someone listening as well as watching?

  “Anyway,” Reece said, “we’re thinking these three dogs for the fashion show? And the poodle, yes?”

  “I think Boots, Brie, and the poodle. Coitus will have to sit this one out. He can’t be trusted.”

  At the end of the table, Joey squatted and gave Coitus a pat on the back. “So harsh. These women don’t understand, buddy.”

  “Hush up down there. Don’t even start.”

  At that, Reece smiled. “You two are funny.”

  That was one word for it. “You should see him and Ro together. They’re dating.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that.” She met Joey’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. About Ro.”

  Joey shrugged. “She didn’t do it. We’ll get her out.”

  Speaking of which… “Reece, I don’t want to put you in a tough spot, but there’s no way Ro could have done this. You spent a ton of time with Buzzy, can you think of anything that might clear Ro? Please, we can’t let an innocent woman go to
prison.”

  The room fell silent, all the thick, stifling tension drowning out any sound. Reece’s gaze went to the camera then flicked back to Lucie. She checked her watch.

  “You know, I just remembered another meeting. We’ll have to cut this short. I’ll walk you out.”

  What? After that impassioned plea, she wouldn’t give up any info?

  Come on!

  Joey collected the dogs and handed Boots and Brie off to Lucie while Reece manned the door. As Lucie approached, Reece met her stare, their eyes holding for a long second. What the message in those eyes was, Lucie couldn’t tell.

  “We know the way out,” Lucie said.

  “No. I’ll walk you down.”

  Huh. Now this was interesting.

  On the elevator, Reece hit L, waited for the doors to close and turned to Lucie. “I couldn’t talk in the conference room. I think they record our conversations.”

  “Is that even legal?”

  Reece shrugged. “No idea.” She shifted to Joey. “I really am sorry about Ro. I like her. I’ll try to help, but I can’t talk here. I won’t risk them overhearing. Who knows what they do with all those recordings.”

  Yes! Maybe this visit hadn’t been a complete bust. “Rizzos,” Lucie said. “Can you meet us there?”

  Lauren checked her watch. “I have a meeting at ten. How about 11:30?”

  Chapter Eight

  Lucie and Joey walked into the downtown location of Rizzo's Italian Beef at 11:10. She'd wanted to show up early to beat the lunch crowd and grab a table along the wall. Away from the activity.

  Wasn't every day she talked murder with someone.

  At this point, Lucie should start a memoir on the stream of oddball occurrences in her life. A girl couldn't make this nonsense up.

  Joey detoured to the kitchen to visit with the employees and, well, create his normal brand of upheaval. Lucie plopped down at a corner table to check messages. Without Ro to manage the office, she'd put Mom on duty while Lauren covered the day's pooch walks. Not for the first time, Lucie missed the early days when she was the sole employee of Coco Barknell. Back then it had simply been Lucie's Dog Walking. It all started with Otis. Then, with Ro’s help, they’d expanded Lucie’s hobby of making fancy jewel studded collars to a bonafide business. One that now provided an entire line of doggie coats and collars to a major department store. Not to mention the online retail sales and the handful of boutiques that sold their wares.

  All because Ro had the gumption and style to aid Lucie's launch of Coco Barknell.

  And now she sat in a cell. I have to get her out.

  "Hi, Lucie."

  Lucie glanced up and found Reece standing beside her. She wore a black knee-length coat and a red scarf with giant creepy clown faces all over it. Alrighty, then.

  Before sitting, Reece scanned the restaurant as if expecting an ambush of some sort.

  Lucie held one hand out. "Joey is in the kitchen talking to some friends. Would you like something to eat?"

  "No. I'm good thanks. I need to get back to the office soon."

  Reece unbuttoned her coat but didn’t remove it. Obviously in a hurry.

  "Sorry to bug you, but thanks for coming out."

  "No problem. I feel horrible for Roseanne.”

  “Me too. There’s no way she did this. I’ve known her my entire life—she doesn’t have it in her.”

  “I believe you. I'm just not sure what I can tell you. Buzzy made me sign a non-disclosure agreement."

  Now that was interesting. "I see. Well, I don't want to get you in legal trouble. How about I just ask some questions and you tell me if you can't answer?"

  "Sure. That works."

  Being a type A personality, Lucie had prepared a list and memorized it. "As you’re aware, there are some issues concerning Foo-Foo selling our designs. I’m curious if there are other products where something similar has happened.”

  “Sorry. I can’t comment on that.”

  Okay. This might be a bigger challenge than expected. She’d have to figure it out though. Get at least a small lead on who might be mad enough at Buzzy to kill her. How to get there though?

  Reece tapped her fingers on the table. “I can comment on things that have been reported on in the news media. That’s already out there.”

  Aha. Lucie held a finger in triumph. “Excellent. Let’s go with that. Buzzy was a public person. I’m sure she had plenty of nutjobs contacting her. Has there been anything in the news lately that she’d been concerned about?”

  Reece twisted her lips one way, then the other. Uh-oh. Lucie must not have asked the right question. “What about the people who work for her? Any reports or rumors about that?”

  “Um, if you check the entertainment news outlets, you might find a rumor that she wanted to fire her agent."

  Lucie snatched her phone from her purse and searched for Buzzy’s agent’s name. A full page of links popped up. Ooooh-wee, there’d apparently been some scuttlebutt about the agent’s business practices.

  Reece sat forward, peeked over both shoulders, and Lucie contained an eye roll. This wasn't a top-secret briefing for heaven's sake.

  "It wasn't Buzzy," Reece said.

  "I'm sorry?"

  "Buzzy liked her agent. It was Lorraine who didn't like him."

  Given Lorraine’s protective tendencies, that made sense. In the initial meeting with Buzzy, Lorraine had sat in, peppering Lucie and Ro with questions. Considering the lot Lucie came from, nothing about it struck her as odd. The questions were low-key, politically correct versions of Joey's touch-my-sister-and-I'll-kick-your-ass.

  Still, if Lorraine had issues with the agent, Lucie assumed there were reasons. "Why didn’t she like him?"

  "As you’ll see when you do the research, she thought he was stealing from Buzzy."

  Stealing. Well, well, well. "I see."

  Reece nodded. "Things like taking a bigger cut of deals than he was supposed to or floating some of her money as a—" she made air quotes, "—loan."

  Money. Always the problem.

  Ideas popped into Lucie’s mind. All the ways a relationship could shatter when money was involved. "Did they fire him?"

  "No. Buzzy loved him."

  "She trusted him even after he stole from her?"

  Reece waggled her hand. "Gray area. There was no real proof he stole. For the deals he made, the money came through his agency. He'd take his percentage and send Buzzy the balance."

  "So how was he stealing? I'm sure the paper trail showed how much she should have made."

  "It did. The issue was in the…timing…of when he sent the money. That’s really all I can say."

  Given her finance background, Lucie understood. "He held on to the money, earned interest on it, and then cut her a check.”

  If true, that could have been a lot of money. Buzzy’s net worth had been a reported $550 million.

  "Hello, ladies."

  Oh, boy.

  At the sound of her father's voice, Lucie glanced up. When did he ever step into the restaurant he owned?

  The entire city knew the place was a front—one that failed to keep him out of prison—so he could show legitimate income.

  He stood next to the table in black slacks with a crease so sharp it could have beheaded someone and a white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. Since getting out of prison, he'd gained ten pounds. The weight had filled out his angular face, and he'd let his hair grow a tad longer so he could comb it straight back and have it stay in place. The old Joe. The dapper, media darling Joe. Notoriety, charm, and the olive-skinned good looks that made movie stars legends.

  He was a legend all right.

  Across from her, Reece's eyes got big. Lucie couldn't blame her. How often did one come face to face with the most notorious Chicago mob boss since Al Capone?

  "Dad, this is Reece."

  "Nice to meet you. I got some food on the way."

  "Um," Reece said, "I need to get back to work. Thank you th
ough."

  "Eh. You'll take it to go then."

  Reece stood, her fingers automatically going to her coat buttons. She made quick work of the job and rewrapped the creepy clown scarf around her neck.

  Joey approached the table carrying two trays loaded with sandwiches and fries. Before the tray even hit the table, Lucie inhaled the aroma of roasted beef and herbs. Add the fresh fried potatoes and...maybe she could eat. Honestly, who did her father think would consume all this? Joey ate like a dinosaur, but he and Tim combined couldn’t handle that much food.

  They loaded Reece up with bags of food and she scooted before Lucie could ask any follow-up questions. Thanks, Dad.

  Never one to let an opportunity pass, Dad commandeered Reece’s seat. Joey plunked down next to him.

  "You two eat." Dad looked at Lucie. "Especially you. Put a little meat on those bones."

  "Dad!"

  "What? It wouldn't hurt you to eat a little more. At least now you don't look like we starve you. Moving back home put weight on you."

  Beside her, Joey snorted and Dad gave him a winning smile.

  "Hey, Joe," a man called as he strode by with his tray of food.

  "Oh, hey," Dad said. "Good to see you. Thanks for coming in."

  Dad's fan club. All it took was one person to kick off a chorus of hellos.

  And it begins...

  Lucie unwrapped a sandwich—no sense letting it go to waste—and popped a fry into her mouth. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

  "I followed you."

  Mid-chew, Lucie gulped her food down. "You followed us?"

  "Yeah. When your mother said she was working at your office, I wanted to know what you were doing."

  Seriously, she needed to move out of Villa Rizzo. "I'm trying to get Ro out of jail."

  "Tim know about this?"

  "I'm not talking about Tim."

  "He doesn't know. Better that way."

  Only a mob boss would think keeping secrets about a murder investigation was a good thing.

  "The broad that just left, who is she?" Dad's mouth dipped. "She needs a nicer scarf. I mean, clowns?"

  Again Joey let out a laugh. These two.

  Lucie munched another fry. "She works for Buzzy Sneider's company. She said there was drama between Buzzy's sister and agent. I'll call Buzzy’s sister and see if I can set up a meeting. I'll tell her in light of the tragedy, I'd like to see if we can resolve this issue about the designs Buzzy stole. God rest her soul."