Like a show dog’s, the training was ingrained.
What I made sure he didn’t see were the holes my divorce had put in my confidence. But you know what? Those had also made me stronger and wiser. I was no longer a greenhorn on the guy circuit.
I would not be fooled again.
I said hello to Chuck, the owner, ordered a drink, and sat down to wait for Kendall. The Sandpiper has to be the best people-watching spot in town. Kendall had said seven o’clock and it was ten minutes ’til. I wouldn’t have long to wait.
By seven-thirty, I’d sipped at my drink for as long as I could. The place was beginning to fill up with after dinner drinkers and a young crowd of partiers. I’d been hit on twice by guys a good ten years younger than me. It was sort of flattering but it also sort of gave me the creeps. Guess I’d never make it as a cougar, huh?
I checked my watch again. I would give him fifteen more minutes and then I was out of there.
At eight o’clock I bailed. As I opened the door and stepped into the warm Laguna evening, my eyes adjusted from the darkness of the bar to the outside light. I’d parked my car across PCH and up a little ways on Brooks. There’d been few open spots. The fast food restaurant across the street was busy.
I inhaled in the dual smells of fried food and fresh sea air.
Gosh, I was getting to be an old fogey at thirty. I had a moment’s pause when I noticed someone waiting in the shadows. I reached in my purse for my cell phone and my mace, just in case.
As the shadow stepped forward, I was surprised to see it was Detective Malone.
My heart went back to its regular rhythm. Sort of. I scrambled for something to say to cover my surprise. “Well, well. The elusive detective who can’t return phone calls puts in an in-person appearance. To what do I owe the honor?”
Okay, maybe that came out snarkier than I intended. Malone had that effect on me.
“A regular hangout for you?” He ignored my question but looked me over from head to toe, as if the analysis might tell him what I was up to.
“I was meeting someone.”
“Stood you up?” He was in black, as usual, which was part of the reason I hadn’t spotted him at first.
“Hmm. Guess so.” I didn’t think I’d share who’d stood me up. I was pretty certain Malone wouldn’t be happy to hear I’d scheduled a meeting with Kendall to talk about Kevin Blackstone.
He fell into step with me. “Let’s take a walk.”
“Official business, Detective?”
“No, I’m off duty.”
“Okay, where would you like to walk?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
We crossed PCH and walked north. The highway buzzed with evening traffic. Local workers done for the day, residents in fancy sedans and sports cars, teens driving the strip looking to see and be seen.
“Caro, I know you think you’re helping Diana with all the questions you’re asking, but what I really need is for you to leave this alone.”
“Detective—” I began.
“Judd,” he corrected. “I’m off-duty remember.”
“Judd, you arrested my friend. My friend who wouldn’t hurt anyone, who didn’t kill Kevin Blackstone, and who is right now sitting in the LBPD jail.”
“I know you’re just trying to help, Caro. But please back off before you or someone else gets hurt.” His tone seemed to hold genuine concern.
“I’ve found out some stuff,” I said. “Stuff you should know about.”
He sighed. “So what makes you think you know anything I don’t?”
I’ll admit, that gave me pause. For about half a second. “The fact that Diana’s still in your jail.”
“It’s not technically mine.”
“You know what I mean. Have you had a chance to look at Kevin’s notebook?”
“That’s police business.”
“Fine. What about the dogs? And Spike, the Green House employee who was bitten by Kevin’s dogs? The same guy who gave his real name as Hans Gruber.”
Malone almost smiled, which made me think a little better of him. At least he knew his Bruce Willis movies.
“Did you know he’s missing? And that another Green House worker was killed recently?”
“Would you believe me if I said yes?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’d like to. But with Diana still under arrest, I’m not buying it.”
He laughed then, and I was annoyed to discover that he had a nice laugh.
“I was sure you wouldn’t.” There wasn’t any ire in his words. “Seriously, Caro. Leave it alone. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He was back to that quiet concern. Since I didn’t know what else to say, I just walked. We continued our leisurely stroll past shops and restaurants. Gina’s Pizza was packed. The outside stools were filled with people and pizza. The Italian spices assailed my nose and I realized I’d missed dinner. Malone touched my back as I stepped into the crosswalk and I felt a shiver of awareness in my midsection.
Of course, it might have been hunger.
“Oh, and Caro . . . ” His tone was still even and friendly.
“Yes?” I glanced up at his face.
“We had a report of an attractive red-headed shoplifter at the Bow Wow Boutique this afternoon.” He studied my face, clearly looking for a reaction.
“Really? How awful.” I fought back a self-satisfied smile.
Did that mean Malone thought I was attractive?
We went another half-block.
“Was any merchandise stolen?” I hoped my voice was full of innocence.
“Don’t push it, Caro. I’ve about had enough of you and your cousin and this ridiculous battle over a family trophy.” His tone held warning.
I thought it best to leave that comment alone. I have fabulous restraint at times.
“I might just lock you both up,” he continued.
Oft times my restraint is short-lived. I stopped in my tracks so he had to look at me. “With Diana?”
He had the decency to look contrite. A little.
Judd and I moved to the side to let a crowd of people pass and then turned back south toward Brooks where my car was parked.
The silence between us was as thick as the damp night air.
Judd Malone was a mystery. Quiet, a man of few words. Strong, intense, focused.
Good qualities in a detective. Good qualities in a man.
The wind picked up and rattled the palm trees. It looked like a storm was rolling in. I raised my face to the wind and let it toss my hair.
Malone caught my gaze and raised a brow in question.
“I love a good storm,” I explained.
We looked at each other for a couple of beats, and then began moving again.
Almost under his breath he said, “I would have guessed that about you.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
At first I thought it was the sheen of raindrops on the pavement beside my car, and then I realized it was the glint of broken glass.
My driver’s side window had been smashed.
“Any idea what they were after?” Malone abruptly morphed into total cop mode. He walked all the way around the car and peered in the broken window without touching anything. He pulled out his cell phone and called in the incident.
“You don’t think it was just random vandalism?” A girl could hope.
“Probably not.” He nodded toward the other cars parked along the same stretch. None of the others had been touched. “I’m not kidding when I tell you it’s dangerous to keep poking around in this.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out. “It could be someone thinks I still have Kevin’s notebook. Or someone who thinks I have something that belonged to Kevin.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well. His brother was asking me if Kevin had given me anything to keep.”
Malone shot me another irritated look. “When was this?”
“Yesterday.”
“Why were you even talking t
o Kevin’s brother?”
I explained about Kevin’s dogs and how J.T. had wanted to know more about his brother’s last hour. Malone glared at me the whole time.
“I think I convinced J.T. that Diana didn’t kill Kevin,” I finished.
Malone stuck his thumb between his eyes and squeezed his eyes shut like he was in pain.
Well, you know what they say. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Also, detective, there are a couple of other things I think you should know.”
Given the look on his face, I think at that juncture, Malone would’ve liked to just shoot me on the spot.
Thank goodness for me, his steely control prevailed.
I filled him in on my conversation with Kendall. And that it had been Kendall I was meeting at the Sandpiper. And what I suspected about Mandy and Kevin having an affair.
He was plenty mad by the time I was done confessing to all my “meddling.”
I think that was the term Malone favored. Or it might have been “interfering.” I believe I heard both.
Two uniformed officers arrived and took down the information they needed for a police report. They advised me that my insurance would need a copy of the report and instructed me how to obtain one.
Malone was no less angry by the time the LBPD squad car pulled away. Nevertheless, fine law enforcement professional that he was, he helped me brush enough of the shattered glass off my seat that I could drive home.
The wind continued to whip the bushes and trees as I drove through the streets to my neighborhood. Malone followed in his car.
I hit the garage door opener and pulled in. Malone stopped in front of the house. I flipped on the garage light and waved to let him know I was safely inside.
The storm finally broke as Malone pulled away.
The next morning I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d dreamt I was being chased by giraffes, roared at by a leather-wearing lion, and charmed by a brown-eyed fox who kept beckoning me into the woods. All this while trying to open a cage to release a beautiful Macaw.
No dream therapy was necessary to interpret my night terrors. My head. Yeah, it’s a jungle in there.
Thank heavens, I didn’t need to hurry to the office. I made some coffee and retrieved my phone messages while still in my pajamas.
One of the messages was from Leland, the overworked landscape manager I’d talked to yesterday. I hoped he had some new information about Spike.
I called him back and could hear a mower in the background so he must have been on-site somewhere.
“Just a minute, let me get where I can hear you.”
“Okay,” I answered, but I’m not sure he could even hear that.
“Hello? Are ya there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” I stirred some cream into my coffee.
“I wanted to call and tell you about the young guy you were asking me about.”
“Have you heard from him?”
“Not exactly. Wait just a minute.” I could hear him chew out one of his workers who was apparently trimming too close to a fountain and throwing grass clippings in the water.”
“Hello?”
“Yes, I’m still here.”
“Here’s the deal. I got a call from the police, and the guy was killed in a hit and run accident up in Newport Beach.”
“Really?” Whoa.
I was, to use Ollie’s word, gobsmacked. “How did they know to contact you?”
“I guess my contact information on the back of a Green House card was the only thing he had in his pockets. Strange, huh?”
“Very.” My mind buzzed with the possibilities. This couldn’t be a coincidence. No way, no how.
“Well, that’s all then. Got to get back to it. Just thought you’d want to know since you were lookin’ for him.”
“Thanks very much for calling me.” I pushed the button to end the call.
Now what? It was possible my earlier theory had been right. The guy had been a hoodlum, and had taken the landscaping job hoping to gain access to the luxury homes in the gated communities served by Green House.
Maybe when his encounter with Kevin had gone badly, he’d taken off.
I suppose it was possible Spike getting run over was an accident, but with Malone’s repeated warnings about me getting hurt, I doubted it.
I wondered if Malone knew Spike was dead. Just to make sure, I was going to call him. Not that I would gloat over being right about Spike as a strong suspect, but I needed to know if his death would get Diana freed. I dressed for the day in my Marine Room tank top and tan Michael Kors cargo shorts, then called Malone’s number.
This daily call to Malone had become a regular thing. I might have to add Homicide to my speed dial.
I got his answering service. Again. So I called the police department, and Gidget told me Diana was still a guest.
That made me both annoyed and gobsmacked.
I’d dropped my car off to have the window fixed and they gave me a loaner. The new model Audi was fun to drive, but I missed my car. I stopped at the office for a few minutes, and then went by the animal shelter to check on Zeus and Tommy Boy and the depressed Labrador I’d examined a few days ago. One of the volunteers had found a great foster family who was willing to take her in. They were going take her to the care center to visit her former owner.
There was also another dog who’d just come in that Don had called me about.
If a person can’t take care of their pet, bringing them to the shelter is the best solution. But many people were either embarrassed or ashamed and just dropped them off out front without coming in, most times after hours.
That’s not a good idea for a lot of reasons. The shelter’s on a busy road for one thing, and the hills are full of non-domesticated wildlife for another.
Last night someone had dropped off a bad-tempered Maltese. A cute dog. It was hard to say if she’d been dropped off because she was a terror, or if the behavior Trixie, (the name they’d given her at the shelter) was exhibiting was because of fear and the instability of being abandoned.
That’s what I was there to determine.
Because Trixie’s aggression seemed to be directed at people not other dogs, I recommended some sessions spent in social time with the other animals. Dogs truly are pack animals and sometimes it helps.
Still, you want to keep an eye on a small mean-tempered dog you’ve added to the mix. Much like a bully tossed onto a playground, a grumpy dog messes with everybody’s feeling of safety.
After I’d spent a little time working with the Lab and checked in again on Trixie, I stopped by to see Zeus and Tommy Boy. They were in the exercise pen but were side-by-side as usual. They were brothers in arms, and again I really hoped they wouldn’t be separated.
Don was busy supervising the cage-cleaning volunteers, but stopped to chat for a little while.
“How are they doing?” I asked.
“Really great.” He smiled. I could tell he’d become attached to the pair.
“What a good boy.” I patted Zeus’s head and, using both hands, scratched his big furry neck. “Someone’s going to be so lucky to have you for a friend.”
“You, too, buddy.” I’d turned to do the same neck massage for Tommy Boy when I noticed something sticky on my hand. “What the heck is that?”
I lifted my hand to look at it and realized the sticky substance was blood.
“Don, come here.” I called him over. “Something’s wrong with Zeus.”
Tommy Boy came over and began licking the area on Zeus’s neck where I’d encountered the blood.
I pushed him away and knelt on the floor to examine the wound. Sure enough, there was a section of his neck where the flesh was raw and exposed. The fur around it was wet with blood.
Don leaned in for a look. “What the heck?”
“My thoughts exactly.” I reached over and pulled Tommy Boy to me so I could take look at his neck also.
“Well, would you look at this?” He had a matching wound, no
t as bad, but it posed a potential for infection. Zeus leaned in and tried to lick Tommy Boy’s neck.
“Don’t, hon, you’ll make it worse.” I redirected Zeus.
“Come here, boy.” Don took hold of the dog’s collar.
“Do you think someone could have hurt them, or something could have fallen on them?”
“I don’t see how.” Don shook his head.
“Me neither.” I couldn’t imagine what had happened.
“We’ll look around for any rough nails or torn sections of fence.”
“In the meantime, we’d better have Dr. Daniel take a look at these. I’d hate to see something like this get infected.”
“I agree,” Don said.
There was no point in bandaging the wound because the dogs wouldn’t leave a bandage in place, but we could clean and disinfect the area.
I went to get the pet first aid kit, and Don went to call Dr. Daniel.
Even though Malone had been pretty darn clear about what he thought of my investigative activities, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. Since I’d told Mandy she had a day to let her husband know about her and Kevin, I thought it only fair to let her know the police now had that information. I headed to the Beenerman’s.
Andy had not been home very often when I’d been at the Beenerman’s working with Nietzsche, so I was surprised when he answered the door.
“Come in.” He smiled in greeting but seemed distracted.
I stepped in and looked around for the dog. “How’s Nietzsche doing?”
“From what Mandy has said, I think he’s doing better.”
“Has Mandy talked to you about Kevin?” If she had, perhaps I’d just talk to the two of them together.
“What?” His cell phone rang out a rock tune, and he pulled it from the pocket of his golf shorts.
It looked like Mandy hadn’t had that talk with Andy.
“Sorry, I’ve got to take this.” He stepped into the next room.
“Caro, we need to talk.” Mandy appeared out of nowhere. She sported her requisite spandex but she looked as wiped out as I felt.
Desperate Housedogs Page 17
