by Ruby Loren
Foxes and Fatal Attraction
Madigan Amos Zoo Mysteries
Ruby Loren
Copyright © 2018 by Ruby Loren
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
British Author
Books in the Series
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Prologue
1. The Horrors of House Hunting
2. Fowl Play
3. The Terrible Truth
4. Doom and Gloom
5. Foxes and Falsehoods
6. Liar, Liar
7. Hot Property
8. The Missing Links
9. One Door Down From Death
10. Weddings and Wagers
11. Man of Mystery
12. When Birds Attack
13. Open Season
14. Violence and Vacuums
15. Congratulating a Killer
16. To Catch a Killer
17. Happily Ever After
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Books in the Series
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Also by Ruby Loren
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Please note, this book is written in British English and contains British spellings.
Books in the Series
Penguins and Mortal Peril
The Silence of the Snakes
Murder is a Monkey’s Game
Lions and the Living Dead
The Peacock’s Poison
A Memory for Murder
Whales and a Watery Grave
Chameleons and a Corpse
Foxes and Fatal Attraction
Monday’s Murderer
Prequel: Parrots and Payback
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Prologue
One month ago, a man I’d never expected to see again had walked back into my life.
I’d told him he was crazy. I’d warned him that I’d feel obliged to report him to the authorities. I’d asked him to leave.
Somehow, he’d still left the interview with the job.
I’d like to be able to blame the abysmal standard of the other candidates, but I knew that my own curiosity was responsible. When my ex-literary agent - who was currently one of MI5’s most wanted — had walked back into my life, I’d wanted to know why. Jordan Barnes had very deliberately kept that information from me until I’d relented and given him the role.
On paper, he wasn’t actually a bad choice. I knew for a fact that he had plenty of experience in facilitating business transactions and promoting quirky and creative products. My own comic’s meteoric rise to fame had been, in large part, down to him. If he weren’t a wanted money-laundering criminal, I probably wouldn’t have hesitated to sign him up. Instead, I found myself caught between a rock and a hard place.
Jordan, now going by the name Joe Harvey, had assured me no one would be able to tell who he really was. If I needed any more persuading of that, hadn’t I been fooled until he’d heavily hinted who he really was? He’d followed that up by claiming he was done with all of the illegal stuff. He wanted to settle down in the country with a sensible job, and he’d thought of me and my zoo first.
I’d known better than to believe a word of it, but that had been when he’d made his main play. He’d claimed I wouldn’t regret employing him. There’d been something serious about the way he’d said it - something that implied that if I said no, I could even find myself in mortal peril. If anyone else had tried that tack, I might have considered it a thinly veiled threat and kicked them out right there and then. But I had a history with Jordan. I knew he’d had some feelings for me that had gone beyond our business arrangement. I still believed that was what had made him risk sending me the dissolved comic book contract, even when British Intelligence had been hot on his tail. And I also believed that he was responsible for arguing that Mulberry Tree Publishing should keep publishing my book - even after I’d gained enough fame to put their fake company far too close to the public eye. In a way, I owed him.
But it was my cursed curiosity that made me give him the job. And boy, would I live to regret it.
1
The Horrors of House Hunting
It was mid-August and hot enough to make wearing the giant mascot costume of a cat a genuine health risk. I would have argued that wearing the stupid furry thing on any day was a real risk to the health of your street-cred, but somehow I’d still ended up being the one dressed in the costume.
It was all due to an expensive error.
After months of badgering, Auryn had finally persuaded me that a Monday’s Menagerie themed double-zoo event would be just the ticket for bringing in new visitors to The Lucky Zoo and bumping up both of our profits in an otherwise fairly standard summer.
The summer was generally a strong time for zoos. Children were off school, and nice weather meant our visitor figures took a flying leap, but there was always the winter to worry about. I wasn’t foolish enough to sit back and enjoy the good times when I knew there would be tougher times ahead. So, when Auryn had suggested the idea for the hundredth time, I’d finally relented. The date had been set and tickets had been sold for the event, which starred my very own comic book.
There were a couple of other reasons why I’d finally agreed to toot my own horn a little bit. The first was that my publisher was breathing down my neck about the second book, which was supposed to be due out before Christmas. Buzz was starting to die down about the first comic, and although my webcomic was still going strong, my publisher wanted the fresh sales a new release would bring. While there was still a lot of work to do in order to complete the next book, I was hopeful that this special event would work as appeasement.
The second reason was that I wanted my newest employee to prove his worth. Joe Harvey (as I was now doomed to calling my old literary agent Jordan Barnes) was my brand new head of marketing and PR. The job was a big ask for one person, and if he was even half as successful as his short-lived predecessor had been, I’d be happy. This event was the perfect way for him to show he could deliver tangible sales.
With a month to run his campaign, he’d managed to personally sell over a thousand tickets. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Part of me wondered how exactly he’d achieved it - especially considering his shady past - but I’d decided that I was going to let him do as he wanted, whilst keeping a very close eye. When he was lulled into a false sense of security I believed Joe would show his true colours. It was true what they said about keeping your enemies closer. Joe claimed to be a friend, but I thought time would reveal the truth, one way or the other.
I raised a fake-fur-and-padding clad arm and waved halfheartedly at a bunch of kids who were meandering past the lion enclosure. Inside of the Lucky the cat costume, I was drenched in sweat and close to hallucinating about how good an ice cold milkshake would be right now. Even worse, I knew that such a milkshake was currently only a few miles down the road at my newly-opened restaurant ‘The Wild Spot’.
The renovation and reopening of the restaurant by the side of Avery Zoo was all due to a bet I’d made with my fiancé, Auryn. When I’d expressed interest at taking on the restaurant, he’d suggested a wager: if The Lucky Zoo paid off its purchase cost, he would win. If my restaurant paid back its renovation cost, I would win.
So far, m
y restaurant had experienced a great start. The menu my new chef, Connie Breeze, had compiled was wonderful and had very definitely been inspired by my own tastes. Too often I felt that restaurants put their hearts into the main courses, but neglected the dessert offerings. The Wild Spot would be far more likely to be accused of the opposite offence - and I was very okay with that. It was everything I’d dreamt it would be, right down to the Hippos-in-mud hot chocolate, which was my very own signature creation. Real milk and dark chocolate went in to the sinfully good hot chocolate, which was then lightly spiced with cinnamon, before being topped with hippo-shaped marshmallows and a huge dollop of whipped cream. A flake sticking out of the side was the finishing touch - and that was just one of the hot chocolates on a menu dedicated to decadent drinks!
Word had spread about The Wild Spot’s creative sweet offerings (although, the savouries weren’t short of appreciation either) and people had come to visit. And then - most importantly - they’d come back. All in all, I’d begun to feel very confident about my chances of winning the bet, as the restaurant had already started to turn a small profit. With winter on the way and hot chocolate season - as I liked to call it - starting for real, I was full of hope.
But Auryn was a bad loser. The Lucky Zoo had been pulling its weight all summer long and had even started to garner interest and respect from some of the most reputable animal organisations in the country. The eco-zoo concept was making waves and, incredibly pleasingly, the natural behaviour encouraging enclosure designs had been praised. Things were looking promising financially, but I’d definitely felt I’d had the edge with the smaller initial outlay on the restaurant and its quick success. That was why I strongly suspected Auryn had decided he needed to do something to edge out a victory, and it was the reason I was currently close to expiring in a sweltering fur-suit.
The expensive mistake that had condemned me to this dreadful fate had come about due to a mix-up in digits. One of my taller zookeepers, Graham, who was in charge of the primates at The Lucky Zoo, and also helped out with the smaller mammals, had agreed to wear the giant costume Auryn had proposed as part of the attractions of the weekend-long event. Unfortunately, a typo in his measurements had turned his height from 194cm into 149cm. Standing at five-foot-nothing, my height was the closest to the delivered costume. After leaving the costume with one of Tiff’s shop team members, who was an experienced seamstress, it was delivered back fitting me, but apparently could not be stretched out any further. And that was how I found myself, the creator of the comic and the character suit I was wearing, prancing around on the hottest day of the year in a fluff and foam sweatbox.
“You’ve got the parade with the other characters in ten minutes!” Emma, one of my other zookeepers, called to me. She laid a hand on my arm and led me through the crowds towards the ‘backstage’ area where the other characters were waiting. I nodded at one of the comic’s Devious Ducks and the Positive Penguin next to him.
“Hi Madi!” A grinning Poppy said to me. Poppy was the new head of reception at Avery Zoo. I still wasn’t entirely thrilled by the over-familiar manner in which she liked to talk to my fiancé, Auryn, but I’d learned better than to be jealous. It felt strange seeing Poppy dressed up as Ellen, the fictional zookeeper who starred in my Monday’s Menagerie comics. To be honest, this whole day was turning out to be pretty surreal.
“You look great,” I told her by way of greeting, hoping my voice didn’t give away any of the misgivings I had about her. It was the first time that day I’d been grateful that my face was covered, so I didn’t have to work too hard to be convincing.
Creepy crawly keeper, Gabby, walked back into the staff-only area of the zoo carrying the boa constrictor she’d been showing our visitors. It was our cue to begin the parade.
I took a deep breath and summoned my very last reserves of strength - any that hadn’t been wiped away by perspiration. Then I put on my most unimpressed expression, safe in the knowledge that no one could see it. I walked out, waving to the crowd who’d gathered to watch. I was the first out and soon discovered that the crowd control I’d requested for the parade was rather lacking. Two children immediately ducked the barrier and ran up to me. Before I knew it, one of them had stomped on my toe and laughed. Fortunately, my real feet were a long way back from the furry toes of Lucky the cat, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to swat the boy with my giant paw. Predictably, the parents of these two children weren’t paying a blind bit of notice, but I could guarantee that if one of the little loves were to trip or hurt themselves in any way, Human Resources would be hearing all about it…
Instead of retaliating, I ignored them, continuing to walk along the designated parade walk with the two children playing tug of war with Lucky’s furry tail. I had a feeling that my real feline friend would have a few choice meows to say about that if he were here to witness what was happening to his comic book counterpart!
I raised my gaze and happened to see a flash of bright blonde as Auryn threw his head back with laughter. If I’d needed anymore help to discover the subject of his great mirth, the outstretched finger pointed directly at me gave a clear answer. I made a secret pact to murder him later. It was hard to see the funny side when you were encased in fake fur and foam.
Two more children slipped the barrier, but I could tell that this pair weren’t trouble. The boy and the girl both had notebooks and pens and were holding them out to me eagerly, so I could give them ‘Lucky The Cat’s’ signature. I wondered what they would think if they knew that the actual creator of the comic was the one wearing the beloved character costume.
They’d probably be more excited about Lucky The Cat.
I was midway through signing the second book when I heard the girl shout ‘hey!’. With my limited slot of vision I had to turn in order to see one of the troublemakers dance backwards with her autograph in his hand. I’d been able to tolerate their bad behaviour when it had been directed at me, but I absolutely would not tolerate bullying.
“Give that back right now!” I shouted in an effort to make myself heard through the layers of foam. I knew it was breaking character, as Lucky only thought aloud in the comics and never spoke, but a combination of the heat and the injustice I’d just witnessed made it so I wasn't willing to put up with any more nonsense.
“Or what?” the young lout said with a sneer. I narrowed my eyes through the little letterbox of vision, weighing up my newest bane. I thought he was into his teens, and therefore surely knew better than to be a bully. Well, he’s about to learn the hard way, I thought.
Then I fell on him.
I was certain that the ostentatious trip wouldn’t fool anyone watching the incident, but I definitely experienced a moment of satisfaction when the teenager was faced with a toppling cat. The autograph book slid across the ground and a man picked it up. I rolled over onto my side and found myself looking into the ice blue eyes of Joe Harvey. He handed the book back to the girl who’d wanted Lucky’s signature and then went over to the boy I’d knocked over.
“What an unlucky accident,” he said, loudly enough that everyone could hear. It didn’t escape my notice that no one in the audience seemed particularly horrified by what had happened. All of a sudden I felt a pang of sympathy and regret. This teen and his brother had behaved badly for sure, but I didn’t believe they’d turned out that way all by themselves.
My hypothesis was proved correct when the parents (who’d so far ignored everything that their brood had been doing) stormed up and demanded to speak to the manager. Whilst they were shouting, Joe and the brother of the girl who'd lost her book helped me back up onto my feet from my bug-on-its-back position.
The volume level rose higher and higher. Joe put forward an argument that would have convinced anyone in possession of even the slightest amount of reason that their complaint was ridiculous, but they talked right over him. I saw Auryn start to push through the crowd out of the corner of my eye, but I’d had enough. This was my zoo, and I didn’t tolerate
bullying of any kind - no matter how old the bullies were.
“Please come with me and we can discuss this matter in private,” I said in an effort to retain the semblance of politeness.
“Absolutely not! I’m not talking to some lackey wearing a stuffed animal costume. I want to speak to the person in charge.” The father was red from a startling mixture of sunburn, rage, and a long time spent overindulging in alcohol. The poor kids had never stood a chance.
I gave up and removed the costume’s head, passing it across to Joe, who looked from it to me in mock horror, as if I’d decapitated the character. I shot him a stern sideways look. Now was not the time for joking around.
“I am the person in charge. Madigan Amos. I own the zoo,” I told them.
An audible gasp went through the crowd. I was scheduled to give a speech at the end of the day, but my absence had evidently been conspicuous.
“You’re the comic book writer?” The way the man looked me up and down let me know what he thought about that and about me. I silently sighed, wondering why on earth he’d brought his family here today. He surely couldn’t be a fan…
“I’m afraid your child stole something from another child. I was trying to get it back when I tripped. I think there’s no harm done.” The teen had sat down rather hard, but he certainly hadn’t been injured. For the most part, he’d actually landed on me.
