That told me who they were.
I moved away from the crowd, whose members from the studio mostly looked bewildered—and curious. I didn’t want them to know what was going on.
“These two men,” Nina whispered to me when we stood near the cat house entry. “They showed me their IDs. They’re from EverySecurity and said they saw something on the monitor they were watching that required a visit.”
I nodded. “They’re right, but Antonio’s in charge, not them.”
Together, we approached where Brooke spoke with the two guys. They, too, had distanced themselves from the crowd. “Thanks for coming, gentlemen,” I said, “but as I’m sure Brooke has told you we have things under control, thanks to the presence of an LAPD detective.”
“But no one—” one of the suits began.
“I’m Lauren Vancouver, head administrator of HotRescues. If you’d like to wait in my office till we see how things go here, that will be fine.”
In fact, I told them I’d walk them there. I’d already suggested that Antonio take Jerry upstairs to the security apartment.
First, though, I looked around at our Sheba’s Story visitors. “Excuse us, gang,” I said. “I’ll be back with you in a few minutes, but for now our volunteers will take you to see anything else at HotRescues that you think may be helpful for the rest of the filming. Okay?” I didn’t wait to find out if it was okay but started walking the EverySecurity guys toward the front of my shelter.
Once we were out of earshot, I learned from them that they had indeed been watching the monitors in real time, as directed by Brooke. Though that gesture Jerry made when he broke in here had been kept secret from the Sheba’s Story crew and the media, our security company personnel were well aware of it.
They also knew that our security director Brooke had a direct in with the cops.
“So you see,” I said as we reached the ground floor of the main building, “I’m not sure what you can do right now to help. But I’ll make sure Antonio knows that you stand ready to do whatever the police need from you.”
The two men looked irritated, but they apparently knew when they weren’t wanted.
“All right,” said the older one with the least amount of gray hair. “But you’ll let Mr. DeFrancisco know that EverySecurity was here?”
“Sure,” I said. I met Nina’s eye. She had followed us in here. “Please show these gentlemen out.”
“Of course.” She inserted herself between them. “You know, you’re welcome back here anytime. We appreciate your monitoring HotRescues so well these days.” That was a dig about the old days when they had screwed up. “And anytime you or any of your friends or family are interested in adopting a dog or cat, please come and meet some of the best available pets around.”
With that, she opened the door. With a last glower, both men left.
“Thanks,” I told her.
“Is Dante going to be okay with this?” she asked, looking worried.
“Sure,” I said. “His instructions were that I should be sure Antonio knew what I wanted to try by inviting the Sheba’s Story gang, so he could either be here or send other cops. Antonio is questioning Jerry even as we speak.” I filled Nina in on Jerry’s telling gesture. “Both Brooke and Antonio, and the EverySecurity folks, saw it on their security camera monitors. Having EverySecurity involved was another of Dante’s requests. I’m sure they’ll follow up to make sure that Dante is happy with their reaction.”
“Okay. Did Dante say anything else?”
“Only that I had to be careful.” I didn’t mention that I was supposed to keep myself surrounded by other people. She was with me now. I’d make sure I didn’t put myself in harm’s way, but how could I now, with our suspect being interrogated by the police?
“You will be careful, won’t you, Lauren?” Nina stood straight, clutching the side of the welcome desk with one hand as if supporting herself in case my answer was negative.
But it was positive. “Of course I will. I’m always careful.”
I stopped in my office to get Zoey as I passed by. Her company would be more gratifying than any of the visitors’. I liked Grant well enough and definitely valued his protective attitude about animals. I hadn’t developed much of an opinion about Mick Paramus, and I wasn’t wild about R. G. I thought Cowan a bit too chilly to be the best animal trainer. And I was a lot less fond now of Winna and her assistant handlers. That probably wasn’t fair. They weren’t all responsible for what one of their number did.
Rather than joining them all outside again, I decided to do a little eavesdropping. Fortunately, Zoey was a quiet dog unless there was something for her to bark about. She and I both entered the downstairs security office in the center building. Upstairs was Brooke’s apartment, and I heard voices coming from there.
I quickly led Zoey into the security room, hoping that the insulation was bad enough to let me hear what was being said. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
For a moment, I pondered trying to sneak unobtrusively upstairs. First, I had an urge to view once more what had given rise to my mixed feelings of vindication and anger against Jerry.
His stupid gesture.
Stupid in more ways than one. It looked nerdy and dumb. He’d also used it twice in condemning circumstances.
On impulse, I sat at the desk and clicked on the monitor, then scrolled back through the camera footage until I found it—Jerry standing beside Elena, right outside Fletcher’s kennel, apparently engrossed in a discussion.
Jerry looked flummoxed—enough that a nervous gesture like the one he’d made hadn’t been out of line.
Elena, who usually appeared airy and excited to me, looked emotional, although I couldn’t read what emotion it was. Anger? She seemed to be sidling up close to Jerry. He’d move back, and she’d do it again.
And then that gesture.
I’d watched this before, of course. Seen it in person while outside.
Then, my eyes had been on Jerry. But this time…I looked at Elena. There was just a touch of a smile on her face that immediately evaporated. Like the emotion of their conversation, I wasn’t really able to read it.
But it looked a lot like triumph to me before it disappeared.
Suddenly, I had another thought. A wonderment.
All the animal handlers must spend a lot of time together ensuring that the animals were walked, fed, and watered as much as needed. They might get to know each other well—especially those who seemed to have an additional relationship of some kind. They could learn each other’s pleasures and boiling points.
And gestures.
I sat very still for a moment. From upstairs, I heard Antonio’s voice raised and a squeal that could have been Jerry crying.
Where was Brooke? Probably right outside the room, since she couldn’t be present if this was an official police interrogation.
I wished I could hear them.
I wished I could call to tell Antonio to slip in a few additional questions that had just popped into my mind.
But I couldn’t.
There was one thing I could do, though.
“Come on, Zoey.” I snapped on the leash I’d stuffed into my pocket. Then I led her out of the building and around toward the back loop, which would take us to where our visitors were still being shown around.
Only, on our way there, most of those visitors, and the volunteers acting as tour guides, slipped by on their way back toward the HotRescues exit.
“Thanks,” called R. G. Mick Paramus saluted his appreciation. With them were Cowan and Grant and Winna and her crew.
But not all of them.
I almost started to panic. I counted all of our volunteers, too, and Pete Engersol. There was someone I didn’t see, though.
Elena.
I thought of Dante’s instructions that I wasn’t to do anything alone. Well, I wasn’t alone. Zoey was with me.
Besides, even if I was right, Elena wouldn’t do anything here and now. It would be too obvious. And she loved animals. She
wouldn’t harm any…would she?
I hurried to the back area. Okay, I wasn’t really being stupid. I made a quick call to Brooke, told her there might be something wrong and asked her to join me.
As I hung up, my phone vibrated again. Matt.
“Can’t talk now,” I said. “I think I was wrong. I think it may be one of the other animal handlers, and she’s here right now.”
“I’m here at HotRescues, too,” he said. “Where are you? Wait for me, and I’ll come with you.”
“I’m in our new area but I don’t see her. Come on back.”
“Wait!”
But I’d hung up.
I didn’t see Elena. But I heard a whole lot of noisy yaps from the building containing our smaller dogs.
Zoey and I quickly ducked inside.
“Oh, hi, Lauren,” said the sweet, enthusiastic voice I expected to hear. “This has been such a great visit. I know it’s time to leave, but I’m waiting for Jerry. I guess he’s gone to the rest room. I can’t find him. Which may be a good thing, since there were a couple of little dogs here that I wanted to see again.”
Elena stood in front of one of the kennels that contained two small dogs, Pint-Size and Tiny, both Pomeranian mixes who’d been here for a while.
“They are cute, aren’t they?” I approached, keeping Zoey at heel. “Are you interested in adopting?”
“I’m thinking about one of the Sheba poodles, but these are so sweet.” So was she, all adorable in her Solario Studios T-shirt contrasting beautifully with her soft brown hair, her green eyes glowing as she smiled widely at me. So cute. So pretty.
So vile.
“Yes, they are,” I agreed. “But you know,” I went on conversationally, “I’m intending to take in the Sheba dogs once the filming is over. We do pretty thorough background checks and are very selective in our adoption process. We like actresses, of course, but people who put on an act to hurt our animals, or who try to frame other people for their crimes—well, I really don’t consider them appropriate new moms for our dogs.”
“What do you mean?” Her face still glowed with her smile, but that glow had turned more fiery. Her tone was less cheerful, too.
“Well, I suspect you’re very much aware of the nervous gestures of your friends like Jerry. That you might even study them to use if you ever get acting roles—or to protect yourself. It’s you who was our trespasser here at HotRescues, isn’t it, Elena?”
Before I realized what she was doing, she had yanked a leash from her own pocket and swirled it around my throat.
As I gagged, she said, “If that’s true, just what do you think you’re going to do about it, Lauren?”
She pulled the leash tighter.
Chapter 30
I screamed. Or at least I tried to. It came out as a croak, since Elena tightened the leash even more.
I turned slightly, wanting to face her fully but unable to move very far. Even so, I could see that she looked furious. Evil. Triumphant. And I was even more determined to survive so I could kick her right in her nasty face.
My mind raced even as I feared I was losing consciousness. The small dogs yipped and barked around us, but much louder and more sinister was the loud rumble in my brain. Instead of coming up with a solution, I remembered Matt’s order to wait for him, along with Dante’s prior instructions. I was supposed to be careful. I wasn’t supposed to be alone.
Then I remembered again, even as Elena screamed and toppled over, dragging me with her. I wasn’t alone.
That rumble had been my dear Zoey, growling. She had leaped on Elena.
That distraction, as she fell over with Zoey still making that loud snarling noise and standing on her chest, was enough for me to tear the leash from around my neck, gagging but alive.
Just as the door crashed open.
I expected Matt, but got a three-fer instead: Matt, plus Antonio and Brooke.
Matt looked furious. At me, for not listening to him? Or, more logically, at Elena for attacking me?
I couldn’t ask him. I had to help gently guide Zoey away from the woman she’d attacked to save me. I sat on the floor, hugging her and praising her in my cracked voice, coughing nearly between every word.
Antonio took control.
“What’s Antonio doing here?” I asked Brooke as she knelt on the floor near me, or at least I tried to ask that before my next round of coughing. “Thought…he was…with Jerry,” I finished.
“We’re convinced that Elena used him,” she said quietly as Antonio read Elena her rights. “He told us that he made that gesture when he was nervous, and the few times he’d made it lately was when Elena had been with him, goading him about how he’d never be more than an assistant animal handler, and how she was going to be a famous film star someday, that kind of thing.”
“Today?” I managed to croak out.
“Yeah, she was going through that scenario right here at HotRescues, pointing out some of Jerry’s permanent ‘fans,’ the dogs, since he’d never be anything better. He’d argued with her, then started to cave in to her goading—and made that gesture.”
I recalled that Elena was with us the first time I had seen him hold his head that way, too. “Who was disguised…and broke in…at HotRescues?” I asked.
“Elena,” Brooke said with a decisive nod, as Matt bent down and put his arms around me. At first, he had stayed in front of the door. I assumed he was acting as Antonio’s backup in case Elena tried to run.
“Are you okay, Lauren?”
I tried nodding, which just made me cough again. I looked away, even as I felt somewhat comforted by Matt’s holding me close. When the coughing subsided, I tucked my head against his firm chest, still catching my breath.
When I felt a little better, I sighed.
“Can you stand?”
Without answering Matt, I began to pull my legs up under me. He helped me to rise.
Where I got a really great view of Antonio pushing Elena, her wrists handcuffed behind her back, out the door of the small dog building.
I wanted to clap and cheer.
Instead, I again leaned against Matt. Zoey stood on her hind legs, her front paws on my side. I reached down and patted her soft, furry head. “Good girl,” I said.
Matt insisted on taking me to the nearest hospital’s emergency room. I was sore but alive. That was what the doctor who examined me confirmed.
Matt was really quiet while all this was going on. Was it because I couldn’t easily talk back?
I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t feel well enough to ask him.
I did, however, insist on his taking me back to HotRescues rather than going home. He stayed with me there, sweet man that he is, and I mostly hung out in the welcome area with Zoey, sort of holding court with our staff and volunteers, assuring them that I was fine before they all left for the day. And, yes, I acknowledged, this wasn’t the first time I’d been attacked at HotRescues, but I certainly hoped it was the last.
Maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t talk well, though. I couldn’t really answer their questions about Elena.
I was surprised at first to see that Carlie was at HotRescues when we returned. So was her film crew. I only recalled then that she had gotten my okay to film our Doberman Miracle that day for her Fittest Pet show because he had survived Parvo.
“Oh, Lauren.” She raced up to me as I entered our welcome area. She was dressed for filming in her white veterinary jacket over black slacks, her blond hair styled immaculately around her face. Her expression was concerned, her violet eyes wide. “Are you okay? Nina told me what happened.”
“Are you all right, Lauren?” Nina echoed. She had just appeared in the kitchen door.
“It’s late. You should be out of here by now.” I directed those words to Nina. My voice was getting stronger, though it still rasped. “And, yes, I’m fine.”
Matt stood behind me, and I heard a noise from back there that sounded almost like a disgusted snort. When I turned, though, his express
ion was bland.
I figured I’d imagined it—although he still hadn’t said much to me.
“You can go home now,” I told Nina.
Carlie took me aside. “I think we’ll come back sometime later this week to film Miracle. Too much going on now, and it’s getting late. But you’re sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling both warmed by her caring and exasperated that she was asking again. “I’m fine.”
“Then tell me—is that Elena the person who killed Hans? Am I no longer a suspect now?”
I laughed despite my growing annoyance. “I don’t know, not yet. All I can feel fairly confident of at the moment is that Elena’s the one who broke into HotRescues.”
“Okay. Fill me in when you know more.” She left with her crew a few minutes later.
“Are you ready to go home yet?” Matt asked when we were alone in the office. Nina had left, too.
“Maybe. Let me talk to Brooke.”
I assumed our security director was back checking on our residents again. Before I had a chance to call her, she appeared in the welcome room from the hallway leading to the kennel area.
“Antonio contacted me,” she said. “He’s booked Elena. I asked him a bunch of questions, and he figures we’ll all want to hear the answers—at least what he knows so far. We’re to meet him for a quick dinner.”
We gathered around a small table with a checkered tablecloth in a family restaurant not far from the Devonshire station. Matt and I had taken Zoey home first.
Antonio arrived shortly after the rest of us. He still wore his casual outfit. He looked tired, but his smile was huge as he kissed Brooke and greeted Matt and me.
We all ordered quickly, then looked toward Antonio. “We don’t have all the answers yet,” he said, “but here’s where things stand.”
Elena was now being questioned by the detectives assigned to investigate the murder of Hans Marford. “A public defender is on the way to represent her. She isn’t talking much now, but she did tell me a bit before the others got there. She knew how to get Jerry nervous enough to make that strange gesture. She didn’t exactly admit to having broken into HotRescues but she didn’t deny it strongly either.”
Oodles of Poodles (A PET RESCUE MYSTERY) Page 21
