Hop 'Til You Drop

by J. M. Griffin

  “I don’t think he’s the rabbit, or the killer, but he’s hiding something. I don’t know what, but something. You could check with Denton Clarke. He might shed some light on Rob and what he’s been up to.”

  “That occurred to me as well. Thanks for coming in, Juliette.”

  “If I remember any details from the day we found Della, I’ll let you know.”

  “Before you go, did you speak with the volunteers during the event?”

  “We had some downtime that I used to bring up Della’s death. Rob’s attitude wasn’t much different than how he reacted to your questions. When I mentioned having found Della’s body, he smirked and made a rude comment. That’s when I asked if he found her unfortunate demise funny. He said no, but that she was no great loss. The kids and parents started to return, which ended any opportunity to find out more.”

  “Keep your ears open. You never know where you’ll hear a tidbit or two that will lead to clues we’ve overlooked.” Jack rubbed his eyes, tucked the file folder under his arm, and escorted Bun and me to my car.

  As we left the station’s parking lot, Bun sat up straight in the passenger’s seat.

  “We should have mentioned Felicia Brandt. She has an attitude the size of Texas. I bet she knows a lot more than she lets on. Being bossy and such means she likes to be in charge all the time. I thought you two would come to blows today.”

  “For a moment there, so did I. Good golly, I’m tired. We’ve had a busy day.”

  Our arrival at the farm was perfect timing. I wanted to check on Petra and entered the barn before heading to the house. Petra was in full labor when I reached her hutch. I called Jess to tell her. She said she was on her way and would meet me in the barn.

  Uninterested in the goings-on, Bun went straight to his room. I stared after him as he hopped through the breezeway, relieved to not have him underfoot during the delivery of Petra’s kits.

  Jess arrived and flipped on all the inside light switches. The motion-sensor lights outside illuminated the yard. Jess stood at Petra’s hutch and took stock of the situation. As Petra’s breath came quicker than usual, she nestled in a pile of hay lined with bits of fur she’d pulled from her coat. She had no difficulties as the kits arrived. We stood by, watched the delivery, and wondered how many kits Petra would bring into the world. One after another, eight tiny babies were born. Seeing there weren’t any problems, we left after the last baby was clean and packed in with the others. All were alive and well with Petra in full mother mode.

  We went into the house, poured glasses of wine, and toasted the births of the sweet little bunnies. After we’d gabbed about them, Jess asked how my afternoon had ended. She and Molly left the grounds before I did.

  I attempted to explain the remainder of the day, but when I mentioned Felicia and her attitude, Jessica interrupted me. “That woman needs a serious attitude adjustment. She was barely civil to the egg hunters, their parents, and the staff. I could have gladly wrung her neck a couple of times.”

  “Really?”

  “She started in on how miserable Della was, that she barked orders like a drill sergeant, and then harped about having been overlooked for Della’s position after the woman was found dead. She insisted she had the experience needed to run your part of the operation, though she never mentioned you by name.”

  “What else did she have to say? Anything of use to Sheriff Carver?”

  She paused a moment and then snapped her fingers. “Felicia and that guy—um, what’s his name? I can’t remember it—they had a whispered disagreement. I couldn’t hear what was said, but when Felicia raised her voice, he shushed her and drew her down the path a ways. I don’t think they argued about the event, though. Felicia had her back to me but kept glancing over her shoulder at me. It was odd.”

  “Anything else?”

  “He was tall but not taller than Felicia. She’s quite the Amazon, if you ask me. Maybe that’s why she’s so pushy. She seems more aggressive if she’s standing above you, right?”

  “True, but get back to the man.”

  “Uh, okay.” Jess squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated. I grinned and then stopped when her eyes popped open again.

  “It was Frank something-or-other. She had called him by name when he came along the trail.”

  “Frank Poland. Hmm, I was thinking more like Rob Brayton, but he doesn’t appear to care for her at all. Interesting. I’ll let Jack know; he can figure them out. You should get going. I know I’m exhausted, so you must be, too.”

  “You didn’t finish telling me about your visit to the police station.”

  I rolled my eyes, encapsulated the story, and asked if Molly had ever mentioned Rob or any of the others.

  “Not to me, but you should ask her about them. She’s probably in classes with a few of them. I’ll bet gossip spreads fast on that campus.”

  “Great idea. I’ll check her schedule and when she comes to work, I’ll broach the subject. Thanks, Jess.”

  Together, we looked in on Petra and the newborns. Finding all well and quiet, I did a head count, found all eight kits asleep with their mother, who kept an eye on us.

  Chapter 9

  I tried to sleep later than usual, but Bun would have none of that and stood in the doorway of my bedroom yammering on about extreme hunger and his ultimate starvation. Neither of those subjects applied to him, but I let him ramble for a few minutes until I couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “There are two things that will never happen while all you rabbits live here. First, you’ll never go hungry. And second, you’ll never starve. Are we clear on that?” I remarked from where I sat with my legs dangling off the edge of my bed, scratching my head, and ruffling my wild mass of hair that needed a trim as badly as I needed a manicure.

  Jessica, Molly, and I seriously needed a girls’ spa day. One where we could relax, have fun, and enjoy some pampering. I’d mention it when we had a chance to talk. In the meantime, chores awaited my attention.

  After I’d dressed in work clothes, fed Bun, and slugged down a quick cup of coffee, I went into the barn. My first stop was Petra’s cage. The kits and their mother were fine. I counted heads and found all eight of them had snuggled into Petra’s long fur coat. The rest of the rabbits had awakened and I didn’t waste time in getting their food ready. Once I’d fed them, I emptied, washed, and refilled their water containers. With fewer rabbits than I’d had last year, the workload took less time than usual. Emptying the final fecal tray into the hopper, I sanitized it, and was on my way to return it to Walkabout Willy’s hutch, when Jessica arrived.

  I glanced over my shoulder when she entered the barn. “What are you doing here, it’s Sunday.”

  “I have stuff to do in the clinic, but I wanted to see Petra and her little ones.”

  “They had a good night and all was quiet.” I continued down the aisle as Jess visited Petra.

  With the rabbits set for a while, I organized the play area for them. While the rabbits would get their exercise, I could clean the hutches, replace the hay they needed, and look for damages. Rabbits, like dogs, aren’t particular about what they chew. I strive to keep that in mind, and look over the hutches and wire portions of each cage daily.

  Jess, finished admiring and cooing at the kits, said she’d give me a hand. There was only one cage needing repair. Walkabout Willy had been at it again. His was usually the one I had to fix.

  “He sure is determined to be free, isn’t he?” Jessica shook her head and petted the critter as she removed him from the play area to put him in the indoor rabbit run.

  “Willy is always up to mischief. It’s a wonder we haven’t lost him to a wild animal. He wanders away as often as he can.” I rubbed his fur, then stepped back as Jess let him take off through the run and then come back. I rushed to open the trapdoor to the outside portion of the run.

  Jess watched him go and chuckled. “He certainly is fast.”

  Bun had joined us and said, “Huh, he’s not as fast
as I am.”

  I looked at Jess. “Do you think he’s as quick as Bun?”

  “Mm, I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Bun in action. I’m usually in the clinic when he exercises.”

  “Well, let’s see, shall we?”

  I scooped Bun off the floor, then put him into the run.

  Bun sniffed. “I don’t feel like running right now.”

  “Why isn’t he moving? He usually runs through quickly, doesn’t he?”

  “He’ll do the course later, in his own time, I guess. I want to see if Molly left me a note in the shop. She’s amazing.” I reopened the door of the run and Bun hopped out without a word.

  We’d entered the room to find it neat and clean. I walked to the counter and looked for a message, but found none. A car stopped in front of the shop. We greeted Molly as she came in.

  In unison, Jess and I said, “Hey, there.”

  “Great to see you,” I remarked. “Unexpected, but still great. What brings you by?”

  “I wanted to see if you have any news on Della’s death. Is it murder?”

  “Nothing new that I know of. When I last saw the sheriff, he was still awaiting the coroner’s report. Why do you ask?”

  “I heard some gossip at the hop. Two guys from the college were talking about Della. One said she’d been murdered and the other one said he didn’t think so. As men do, they went back and forth about who was right, then changed the subject that included some college students who had volunteered.”

  “Did you hear anything good?” I asked.

  “It seems three of the people at your station were doing community service due to misbehaving on campus. They were about to be expelled for their actions when Denton intervened on their behalf. He recommended they work at the hop and help clean up afterward as a community service.”

  “The dean agreed to that? If their behavior was bad enough for expulsion, why didn’t he call the police?”

  With a shrug, Molly said, “Dean Jasper considers ugly publicity equal to the plague. He’ll do anything to avoid it. He took Denton’s recommendation and gave the kids a choice between working at the event or leaving school permanently.”

  I nodded. “Amazing as that is to me, I understand the dean’s reasoning. Do you know who the students were?”

  “Out of the three, I know two of them. Frank Poland and Felicia. No one mentioned the third one’s name. If you’d like, I can ask around.”

  Jess and I looked at each other and Jess said, “That might put you in an uncomfortable position. Is there another way to find out?”

  Before Molly could answer, I said, “I agree with Jess. Don’t take chances, no matter how much you want to help. If anything ever happened to you, we’d never forgive ourselves.”

  “Wow, you like me that much, huh?”

  We both smiled and spoke at the same time, again. I gave Jess a glance and nod to speak first.

  “We do; you’re an important part of our businesses. We value your friendship. It would never do if you were harmed in any way.”

  “Before you three become too sappy, why doesn’t she just ask this Denton fella?”

  “You might ask Denton,” I remarked.

  “I don’t think he’ll tell me—privacy concerns and all that—but Dean Jasper’s secretary has that information, I’m sure of it. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about what goes on, good or bad. I often handle her duties while she’s on lunch break. Her office is always covered during the day.”

  “Have I mentioned how bright Molly is? She’s one in a million.”

  I ignored Bun and agreed to Molly covering while the secretary was at lunch. “Be careful.”

  Her eyes lit up as she nodded vigorously. “I won’t act foolishly, I promise.”

  We talked about her classes until she snapped her fingers and said, “Oh, gosh. I’m supposed to ask if you two would be willing to lecture to Denton’s marketing class. The semester is starting to wind down, and he wants the class informed of responsibilities as a business owner and how you two market your businesses. He thinks that could help prepare his peeps for life after graduation.”

  “Why us?” Jess wanted to know.

  “Because you’re both successful and well respected in Windermere and beyond. Some students want to be entrepreneurs but aren’t quite sure how to deal with the everyday life of operating a business. Come on, say you’ll do it. Please?”

  I asked, “How long do we have to prepare for this?”

  “A couple of weeks, I think. If you agree to speak to the class, Denton will call with the particulars.”

  Jess said nothing, though I could tell by her expression that she was giving it serious consideration. I figured if I could handle a slew of kids and rabbits at birthday parties, then taking on this onetime opportunity would be easy.

  “Okay, have Denton call me,” I said. “Jess and I will work out a program to give the wannabe entrepreneurs something to consider. Right, Jess?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Great. Thanks. I’ll let Denton know.”

  Molly started to leave, then she said, “I’ll be in touch as soon as I get the name of that third student. Sheriff Carver might find use for the information. I’m sitting in for Cora Stanley’s lunch break tomorrow.”

  After she’d gone, I turned to Jess and said, “I hope she’s careful.”

  “Me, too. You realize we couldn’t have talked Molly out of sneaking through Cora’s paperwork, don’t you?”

  “I do. She’s a daring one, for sure.”

  “Maybe, like you, she needs excitement in her life. Let’s face it, Molly goes to college, has to study, and works here. There’s not much time left for anything else.”

  “We have both been down that road, haven’t we?”

  “Yeah, speaking of roads, I have to be at my mother’s house in fifteen minutes. Gotta go, see you tomorrow,” she said as she hightailed it out the door.

  Alone with Bun, I busied myself by visiting Petra and her little ones. Adorable as they were, I couldn’t spend the rest of the day with them. It was time to deal with Bun’s anger over putting him in the run due to his bragging. I opened the run door and picked Willy up, then returned him to his hutch.

  In the house, I found Bun sitting on the scatter rug in front of the sink. I stared down at him, but he refused to acknowledge me.

  Squatting in front of him, I said, “I know you’re upset with me, but you bragged about something that wasn’t true. It doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t faster than Willy. You’re special in your own right.”

  “I might not be faster, but I’m very quick,” Bun remarked in a snooty tone.

  I smoothed his ears and the top of his head. “Why, yes, you are. And, thank goodness for that.”

  “You sound impressed by it.”

  “Of course, I am. Your speed has saved us both time and again.”

  “I know, and you needn’t worry about Molly. She’s quite capable of spying for us.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Molly is smart. Have a little faith in her.”

  “She’s quite brilliant. I know we need assistance with our investigation. I only want everyone concerned to be safe. Instead of worrying, let’s take a walk, shall we?”

  “I thought you’d never ask. I’ll hop down the driveway with you and then ride in the sling, okay? After so much exercise on Saturday, I found I enjoyed myself.”

  More like he’d become lazier and I got all the exercise. I didn’t mind, but the whole being faster issue just might have caused his change in attitude. I wondered how long it would last and agreed with Bun. “If you insist, then come on.”

  We strolled the long driveway, taking all the time Bun needed whenever he got sidetracked by something. When we reached the road, he was more than ready to snuggle inside the sling with just his head and ears protruding.

  “Who do you think would dislike Della enough to kill her?”

  “I’m not sure. We have no sol
id leads, just idle gossip so far, which makes it hard to point the finger at anyone specific. Jack is trying to keep an open mind over Della’s death, but he’s certainly acting like it’s a murder, isn’t he?”

  “He is. I was surprised when he let Rob leave the station before answering his questions. I guess that lawyer wasn’t about to let Rob say anything. Not that he would; he’s got tight lips, that one.”

  “He acted the same way when we were at the hop. My mother would have said he’d zipped his lips.” I chuckled over the memory.

  “Your mother is a funny human.”

  “Sometimes, she is.”

  Halfway to Lake Plantain, a car drew up next to us. I looked over when the passenger-side window lowered.

  “You wouldn’t be following us, would you?”

  Adam smirked. “Not this time, not yet, anyway. I’m on patrol and thought I’d offer you a ride. You’re going to the lake?”

  “We are. Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather walk.”

  “If you say so. It might start to rain before you return home, though, so be ready to sprint.”

  With a smile, I watched him pull ahead and disappear around the bend. As an officer, Adam was good at his job. As a regular person, I had no idea what he was like, but he had good manners, which said a lot for his upbringing.

  “I think Adam is sweet on you. What do you think?”

  “Don’t be silly. He’s being polite. Besides, I’m not in the market for romance. I’m too busy for that. On top of that, you’re the only male I have eyes for.” I rubbed the top of Bun’s noggin and picked up my pace. Adam was right, from the look of the dark clouds moving in, Bun and I could get soaked before too long.

  At the lake, the wind picked up speed as it blew in off the water. “I think Adam was right. Those storm clouds are getting pretty dark and threatening.”

  He’d no sooner said it than thunder rolled and lightning pierced the sky. The first few raindrops hit us while I made tracks for the lodge, which wasn’t far from us. I broke into a full-on run when rain, mixed with hailstones, pelted us.

  Soaked to the skin by the time I reached the wide porch of the huge, empty building, hailstones fell from my hair when I shook it. Some of them were the size of a pencil eraser. I knelt to free Bun from the sling and then sat with my back against the wall of the building to wait out the storm.