Foxes and Fatal Attraction: Mystery (Madigan Amos Zoo Mysteries Book 9)

by Ruby Loren

  She nodded enthusiastically but then stopped. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to worry! I’m too scared to. I’m so sorry for lying, I just… I don’t know how to bring it up. He might hate me forever! I really did mean to tell him when you told me to, I promise, but he’s so busy with work some days we don’t even really get to talk. And he just has such a lot on his mind…”

  Sometimes I thought Tiff’s kindness to other people was in fact her greatest weakness. “You can’t go on like this. I know you. It’s making you miserable. You love him and I think he loves you, too. But whatever happens, it will be okay, I promise,” I said, repeating what I’d already told her but somehow knowing she needed to hear it again.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, looking down at the tower of whipped cream and honeycomb sprinkles that had just been placed in front of her. It was never too hot for a hot chocolate. “I should never have lied.” She looked up and smiled hopefully at me.

  I felt something twinge inside of me. A little voice whispered that I had some owning up to do, too, didn’t I? At first, I’d thought that telling Tiff would put her in an awkward position, but with the truths that I’d recently discovered, I knew that concealing it from Tiff any longer would be a mistake. “What would you say if hypothetically, one of my employees is not who they appear to be?”

  Tiff looked confused. “Is this some kind of riddle? I’d say your creepy crawly keeper is so creepy that if she turned out to be a bug wearing a human suit, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  I blinked, realising that wasn’t too far beyond the realms of possibility when it came to Gabby.

  “Hypothetically, Joe Harvey may not be who you think he is,” I said, curious as to whether she’d be able to guess the truth without me spelling it out for her.

  She looked blank and shook her head. “He seemed nice to me.”

  I thought about it. Tiff had definitely met my literary agent on one occasion, and he’d always been visible on the press tours I’d done, which I knew she’d also watched to be a supportive friend.

  I leant closer, looking around to make sure we weren’t being over heard. “He helped make an author what she is today,” I said, using the same cryptic way of spelling it out ‘Joe’ had for me.

  Tiff’s mouth dropped open. “Jordan?! He’s not the same man!”

  I mimed pulling my face around and putting in contact lenses.

  Tiff shook her head and looked bemused. “If it’s true, then why the heck is he back here?”

  “That is a very good question,” I said, before I told her everything that Joe had told me.

  I knew it would be enough to take her mind off not telling Alex her secret… but not necessarily in a good way.

  7

  Hot Property

  Madi! You’re not going to believe what Lucky is doing…”

  I blinked my eyes blearily when I woke up to that ominous phrase. Auryn’s voice had come from the hallway. I got out of bed and galumphed my way over to the window, which overlooked the house’s extensive garden.

  “I think they’re playing,” Auryn said as I arrived and put my glasses on before blinking the blur away. Lucky was on the lawn. His black and white form showed up against the freshly mown grass that Auryn and I had recently decided we were going to take better care of. He wasn’t alone. As I watched, a dark orange shape detached itself from the shrubs at the side of the garden and circled round him. Lucky spotted the movement in an instant and went bounding over. For a second, my heart skipped a beat, as I wondered if I was watching a killing run, but I realised his tail was bolt upright - a sign that he was having fun. Right before he made contact with the visitor, he flung himself off in the other direction, initiating a glorious game of chase.

  “There’s another one,” I said when the second fox ran out from the bushes on the other side of the garden, right next to the stable summerhouse Auryn had decided to place on the wreckage of where the house’s original stables had once stood.

  He nodded. “It’s hard to tell from this distance, but I’d say that judging by their size, they’re this year’s fox cubs. I don’t see their parents around, but after the zoo’s intruder I did some research and at this time of year they’re nearly the size of the adults. Those cubs are probably the last surviving two from the litter.”

  “Survival of the fittest,” I commented.

  Auryn nodded. “That’s the way the wild works.”

  I took a moment to admire it for what it was - brutal, harsh, but also beautiful. It was the uncensored truth about life that could be found as close as just beyond your doorstep, if we only took the time to look.

  “They’ll have left the den already but are likely still sticking with their parents - whom I can only assume are keeping more sensible hours now that their kits are grown.”

  “Lucky looks like he’s having a great time,” I commented, watching my cat pounce on one of the foxes and then go rolling over and over. There was a great yipping, but a moment later the bowled over fox was back up and wagging its tail in an eerily dog-like manner.

  “They make terrible pets,” Auryn said in a low tone, knowing what I was thinking.

  “Oh, I know that!” I said. It was tough enough keeping fennecs happy and interested in captivity, and they weren’t nearly as large as our native red foxes. “But they just look so sweet! Out in the wild, of course.” A dark thought crossed my mind. “I don’t know how anyone could want to hunt them down in such a cruel way.” I looked seriously at Auryn. “Don’t you dare invite any of your friends who hunt over here!”

  He raised his hands in mock defence. “None of them are really my friends. You know that,” he said, and there was something bitter in his voice. I decided to change the subject, although not in an entirely happy direction.

  “I’m meeting with Joe later today. He thinks he knows something about a huge animal smuggling operation that involves a lot of the zoos in this country. He’s already told me a fair bit, but he wants to meet somewhere that isn’t the zoo in order to discuss new things he thinks he’s found out.” I winced when I saw Auryn’s face. I’d known that what I’d just said wouldn't exactly sound good.

  “Where is this place that isn’t the zoo that you’re meeting? I hope I don’t have to tell you this, but it sounds remarkably like some kind of trap. He could even be wanting to use you as leverage.”

  “We’re going for lunch,” I confessed. “I picked the place. It’s the cafe in town.” I managed a small smile. “You can send the search parties out if I haven’t texted you by three.”

  Auryn didn’t smile back. “Be careful,” he warned, knowing that I would never turn down an opportunity to help animals, no matter how dangerous.

  “I love you,” I told him, feeling it all over again in a sudden rush, as I fully appreciated how much this man understood me and loved me for it.

  “I love you too,” he said back with a happier look on his face.

  I took a step closer, raising my eyebrows at him. His smile got wider.

  There was a crash from downstairs.

  We both looked back in the direction of the bedroom, but Rameses was still snoring on the bed - dead to the world.

  “Some guard dog he makes,” Auryn muttered.

  Together, we crept down the stairs, listening for further noises.

  There was the definite sound of something skittering over the tiles. I pulled a face at Auryn and then we both peered round into the kitchen.

  Lucky sat on the kitchen table, where he definitely wasn’t allowed to be. But for once, I was distracted from his flagrant flouting of the rules. That was largely because there was a fox in the kitchen.

  Auryn and I both pulled our heads back.

  “What should we do? We can’t startle it! It could panic and run through the house,” I said, finding myself at a loss. I was fast beginning to realise that on the topic of wild animals, I was all at sea.

  “We could make a little bit of noise in the next room. That might startle
it a little, but it should go back out through the cat flap,” Auryn suggested.

  I was mid-way through nodding my agreement when he looked back down the hallway and said ‘oh’.

  I followed his gaze and discovered that Lucky had extended his house invitation to both foxes. The other nearly grown kit was sitting on the front door mat, looking at us with its head tilted to one side and a quizzical expression on its face.

  “We must have walked right past!” I observed, wondering at the animal’s unusual behaviour. “We’re blocking its escape route. We could go into the dining room?”

  Auryn shook his head. “The fox has already seen us. I think it may be best to just stay still and watch. And hope that we don’t have to replace and deep clean too many things at the end of this.” He looked at me and smiled a little smile. “You never know, your view may change on whether they’re wonderful animals or vermin come clean up time!”

  “Don’t say that,” I said with a light frown, looking back at the wild animal at the end of the hallway. Its amber eyes watched us with what I felt sure was intelligence. Then, as I held my breath, it trotted down the hallway past us, back into the kitchen, with only a single glance our way.

  “Remarkable,” I breathed, wondering how they’d become so confident. “Maybe it’s because they’ve never seen a human before?”

  Auryn shook his head. “That would make them instinctively afraid. It’s in their instincts to be afraid of us.”

  “And for good reason!” I cut in.

  Auryn nodded. “Judging by their behaviour, I’d say we have a kindly neighbour to thank for their blasé attitude, and perhaps even their intrusion. Someone is probably feeding them.”

  I wrinkled my nose a little at the musky smell that stayed in the wake of the fox that had walked past. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant. It just smelt of animal. But it certainly wasn’t something you really wanted spread around the house.

  “They can’t help that,” Auryn informed me. “Even their paws have scent glands in them.”

  “Look at you! You really are quite the authority,” I teased.

  “It’s amazing what a Google search reveals,” he joked back. “It’s strange…” he said, trailing off.

  “What is?”

  “We can smell the foxes pretty easily, right? And they’ve only been in the house for a few minutes. Supposedly, the fox that has been visiting the zoo has been back several times, and yet… I haven’t smelt anything like this.”

  “Surely they’d mark their scent if they thought the zoo was in their territory?”

  Auryn nodded. “Especially with all of the other animals around. Actually, that reminds me of an idea I had to put off the intruder. You’ll be pleased to know it’s probably quite unlikely that your zoo will ever have a fox problem.”

  “Oh?” I said, wondering what he was talking about.

  “I’ve been doing some research and I’ve read that a great natural deterrent for foxes is actually uh… big cat urine. Tiger in particular is supposed to do the trick. The theory is, the fox comes along and realises a bigger, badder hunter is on the scene and leaves in a hurry. It was a really interesting article.”

  “Oh yeah? Did the article also divulge how you persuade the tiger to aim for a bottle?”

  “Funnily enough, they didn’t mention that part. I suppose that anything they’ve marked will do the job, too. It’s worth a try, isn’t it? It’s better than the alternative.”

  “Definitely,” I wholeheartedly agreed.

  “The trip wires were set yesterday and they were tripped at around five o’clock in the morning. I’ll try the tiger trick tonight if I can come over to The Lucky Zoo. Then we’ll have to see.”

  “Fingers crossed,” I said with a smile. “The only thing foolish enough to not be deterred by tiger urine would have to be human.”

  Auryn inclined his head. “In which case, I probably shouldn’t ask my shooting buddy to take on the intruder, lest we want the police involved.”

  There was the sound of frenzied yipping and skittering claws on tiles as the playing continued.

  Auryn shook his head like the father of unruly children and then walked boldly into the kitchen.

  “All right! Play time is over. It’s time for you all to take it outside,” he said, marching casually round the playing foxes and cat and opening the kitchen door.

  The foxes and cat stopped their game and looked expectantly at him. He pointed out of the door. They all watched his finger, questioningly.

  “Lucky… out!” I told my cat, knowing that it was a command he knew all too well. He heard it every time he brought in something dead, half-dead, or worryingly alive.

  With the scowling look of a teenager, he slunk out of the door. The two foxes followed after him. A moment later they were back to chasing all over the lawn.

  “Crises averted. I think we may need to invest in one of those microchip cat flaps,” Auryn said, watching them thoughtfully.

  “It might be an idea. You never know what Lucky will invite into the house next!” Sometimes I questioned the wisdom of having introduced him to such a variety of animals at both of our zoos. It meant he was a largely well-rounded cat - if you overlooked his natural instincts for killing small, fluffy things - but it clearly also meant he was more likely to befriend an animal like a fox instead of chasing it off.

  “At least they’re having fun,” I said.

  “Speaking of fun, or rather, a lack of, The Lords of the Downs contacted me and let me know that Harry’s funeral date has been fixed for this Friday.”

  I nodded. If the last get-together was anything to go by, this meeting would not put the ‘fun’ in funeral.

  The Lemon Tree cafe in Gigglesfield was busy when Joe and I arrived for our lunchtime meeting. Joe attempted to offer to treat me to lunch, but I sternly reminded him that, as my employee, I would be the one treating him - lest he wished to ignite any improper suspicions. I knew that Joe knew as well as I did that nothing stayed secret for long in our little town and its surrounding villages. If he were seen to be taking me out on a date, it would reach the entire town’s ears before you could say ‘Jack Robinson’.

  The smile when I insisted on this arrangement further confirmed my opinion of Joe’s awareness of that fact. He should know by now not to mess with me in that way.

  “What news do you have?” I asked when our food came - poached egg and avocado on some beautiful homemade bread.

  “There’s going to be a shipment coming in locally this week on Wednesday. It will be arriving at Newhaven,” he said in a low voice.

  I frowned. “That’s not exactly a major port, is it?” I was thinking about ferry crossings. Newhaven to Dieppe had never seemed as popular to me. The ferry operators tended to change every five minutes.

  “It’s major enough for a coverup, but yes - perhaps not so big that the people responsible can’t afford to pay their bills, so to speak.”

  I shook my head. I still found it incredibly hard to believe that an illegal shipment of animals was able to slip past UK customs without so much of a whimper of a rumour.

  “It’s all about who you know,” Joe said, following my train of thought. “You wouldn’t even be able to imagine what goes on…”

  For once I found that I didn’t want to ask any further questions.

  “So, I can go to the police with this?” I looked around when I said the ‘p’ word, wondering if I’d said it a little too loudly.

  I recognised a few regular visitors to the zoo, my postwoman, and the local minister, who’d all come in for a spot of lunch. The oddest couple in the room was Felicity Farley and Josh, the receptionist from Herriot’s Houses. As I watched, Felicity reached out and grabbed for his arm. He pulled back and turned away, looking exceedingly upset. At first, I’d had the strange thought that the pair could have been carrying on while Harry ‘carried on’, but I didn’t think it looked like a romantic encounter. On the contrary, Josh appeared to be distressed.

&n
bsp; “Not the police,” Joe said. “Obviously, they’ve been compromised. It’s how the shipments get through unscathed. Again, you wouldn’t be able to imagine how high up…”

  “I get the picture,” I said, perhaps a little snappily. Josh had just stood up and walked hastily towards the loo, looking like he might be about to burst into tears at any second.

  “You’ll need to involve some of your other friends. I’m sure they’d jump at the chance to uncover something that could well turn into a very big catch.”

  I turned back to Joe, suspicious all of a sudden. “Is this your idea of a distraction from your own operations?”

  “Would you believe me if I said I wanted to give something back?”

  “No.”

  Joe spread his hands. “All right. It might be a partial distraction. They only have so much manpower. If there’s a nice ripe cherry dangled in front of them, I think they’ll dedicate a lot of their powers towards it. It’ll be good for everyone, I promise. Save the animals!” He punched the air lightly with his fist.

  I shot him a scathing look.

  “I also swear upon my life that it isn’t a trap,” he said, needlessly dramatic.

  “Give me a second.” I stood up and walked off towards the toilets where Josh hadn’t yet reappeared.

  I hesitated outside of the closed door of the men’s bathroom. It took me a moment to realise that the sounds of someone sniffing didn’t come from there. I carefully opened the door at the end of the corridor and found myself in a cleaning supplies cupboard. Josh was standing with his back to me, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

  He turned around in surprise when he saw me. For a moment, he looked terrified.

  “It’s you. Sorry,” he said - although I had no idea what he was apologising for.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, even though it was obvious that he wasn’t.

  He nodded but then shook his head a moment later. “Felicity is giving me a hard time, that’s all. It’s just brought back how terrible what happened to Harry was. She thinks I know who did it because I popped into Farley and Sons on the night that he was killed. I left some papers behind, and she figured out that I’d been there after hours. I was just dropping some of the key-sharing paperwork off, honestly! We have to cooperate with one another in a town this size.”