“I think, boys, that we may have a clue here. A clue about how or why this happens.”
“Huh?” I was lost.
“I mean, why you have the dreams you do, and don’t have dreams constantly, about any old thing.”
“Oh.”
“I had wondered about that,” Don said. “Like, why he wasn’t dreaming every night, about dogs doing everyday, normal things.”
“I think,” Miss Nancy turned to him and they started discussing me like I wasn’t sitting right there, “and I’m no expert, mind. But I think it has something to do with an animal’s heightened sense of danger.”
“Instinct?”
“Yes, that’s right. I think that when Jake starts having these dreams, he’s picking up on a... a consciousness that’s broadcasting this sense.”
“Like a distress signal.”
“Exactly. They can’t talk. They can’t warn anyone that something bad is going to happen. Even if they could talk, they might not even realize what it is they’re feeling. They just have a feeling.”
“Like, they’re picking up on things they’ve heard or seen, without realizing they’ve heard or seen them. Or they’re attuned to their human’s fears.”
“Like Jennifer and Buttercup,” I broke in.
“Jennifer and Buttercup?” Miss Nancy asked.
“When Petreski and Perez were questioning Jennifer Katz, I could sense Buttercup getting agitated, but if you were just looking at Jennifer you would think she was calm. She was hiding her emotions from us, but she couldn’t hide them from her dog.”
Miss Nancy looked back up at the ceiling, and Don and I sipped our tea.
“So what do we know?” Miss Nancy raised her head and looked back and forth between us.
“Well...” I tried to follow her logic. “We know that somewhere nearby, there’s a lady with a little dog named Ruby. And this lady is, I don’t know, in danger? Or just upset?”
“She’s afraid.”
“Yes!” Miss Nancy turned to smile at Don. I stuck my tongue out at him, the show-off. “She’s afraid of someone or something.”
“But how does this help, though? I don’t know who she is, or where she is. And if I did, should I warn her? And about what? What would I say? ‘Excuse me, miss, but I had a bad dream about your dog. Were you by any chance crying in your bathtub the other night?’ She’d think I was insane, or a stalker, or a peeping Tom.”
“The message board.”
I turned to Don. “What about it?”
“I’ll post something on the neighborhood message board. I’ll just say I need to get in touch with the owner of Ruby, and see what kind of response I get. Maybe someone will know who she is.”
“That’s very practical, Don.” Miss Nancy beamed and patted his hand. I rolled my eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes, Jake. Don’s idea is a good one. If you can find this lady, maybe you can help her.”
She was right, of course. We finished our tea and got ready to take Miss Nancy to the market and the botanica. Don wanted to go to the bakery, too. I thought that was an excellent idea, because our storm supplies were woefully lacking in pastries.
The Rains Move In
“You have to call Petreski, you know,” Don told me as we climbed the stairs to my apartment.
“Why?” Not that I minded, but I figured I could call him when I wanted to, not when Don told me.
“You had a dream. He should probably know.”
“But nobody was killed.”
“As far as you know.”
“Morbid.”
“You said it yourself. The dreams seem to wind up with bad things happening.”
“Okay, fine.”
Don’s window unit wasn’t due to be replaced until the next day, so he was still camping out at my place. I stayed on the landing to make the call while Don went inside. The landing window was at the front of the building and I could see the live oak where Raymond lived. I leaned on the windowsill and looked for him in the branches while I called Petreski.
He picked up almost immediately. “Hello?”
“I had a dream.” So much for the pleasantries.
“Oh?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave. “Was I in it?”
“Not that kind of dream.”
“Oh. Oh. One of those dreams.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It just shook me up a little. It’s been a while.”
“What about... what happened?”
I told him about the dream, about Ruby and the lady in the bathtub.
“But no one was hurt?” He asked when I had finished.
“Not as far as I could tell. But when I had these dreams before... it started before anyone was... you know...”
“Yeah. Okay. You know what I’m going to say next, though, right?”
“Yes. Stay out of it, be careful, all that stuff.”
“I mean it, Jake. If you have another dream, let me know, but don’t go looking for trouble.”
“I’ll try. But I think Don’s already online, doing his thing.”
“Oh, geez. Okay, but keep it online.”
“Okay.”
“Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“I really am sorry about last night. How’s Friday for you?”
“It’s... Friday is fine. Is it okay with Perez?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” I sighed. “I mean, I don’t think she likes me. Or at least, I don’t think she likes me dating you.”
“It’s not that. I’ll deal with Perez, okay? You think about what you want to do on Friday. I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Okay. Oh – and I need to remember to talk to you about Don.”
“What about him?”
“It can wait, I just need to tell you so I’ll remember.”
“Um, okay. I’ll see you Friday. And stay out of trouble.”
❧
I was right. By the time I got inside, Don had already posted a message on the neighborhood site, trying to track down Ruby’s owner. With nothing else to go on, I turned my attention to studying.
At long last, to my advisor’s delight (or was it relief?), I had declared a major: Psychology. Don asked if that was because I was crazy. Oh, he’s a laugh riot. But now I had some catch-up to do to get my major-specific prerequisites out of the way, and that meant summer classes.
“Where are you going?” I asked when I looked up to see Don putting on his bike helmet.
“Library. Got anything to go back?”
I shook my head. “You need to get a car, man.”
“Not in the budget. You know that.”
“Maybe my dad can hook you up with something old and cheap.”
“I’ll get a car when I can afford one. Or maybe a scooter. But car, insurance, gas? I can’t afford all that right now. I do okay with the bus, my bike, and Uber.”
I didn’t push it. My dad owned several car dealerships, and people were always trying to trade in old cars my dad had no use for. He’d be happy to help Don get into one of those cars, and he’d get it checked out to make sure it was safe and reliable, but Don had his pride and he wouldn’t want my dad going to the trouble.
“Okay. Well, be careful out there.”
Don left, Bridger found a sunny spot to stretch out in, and I got back to my books.
❧
By the time Don got back from the library the sunny spot was gone, swallowed up by dark clouds that had moved in from the south. Don made it inside just as the first drops fell, and we sat on the sofa and watched as the rain started coming down in earnest.
Bridger had disappeared under the bed at the first crack of thunder. The weather forecast wasn’t predicting flooding at this point, but I’d seen it turn before.
“Good thing we got supplies,” Don said.
“Yeah. We probably won’t need them, though.” I went to the kitchen to boil some water and rummaged in the bakery sack for a marranito.
“What are you doing in there?”
“M’k’ng tea,” I mumbled around a mouthful of spice cookie.
“Are you into the pastries already?”
“Mno,” I lied.
“Geez, you’re like a little kid.” He came into the kitchen and looked inside the bag. “You’re gonna get fat, all the junk you eat.”
“I am not!” I looked down at my belly. “I’m not fat!”
“I didn’t say you are fat. I said you will get fat if you don’t stop eating so much junk.”
I looked back down at my belly, and tried to pinch my waist. No fat there. Don obviously didn’t know what he was talking about.
❧
That night I lay in bed listening to the rain on the roof. I wondered what Boo – Petreski – was doing. He wouldn’t come over in this weather. I wondered how Raymond was faring. I had no idea what squirrels did when it rained. Did Raymond have a safe place to weather a storm if it came to that?
I picked up my e-reader and thumbed through my library for something to read. One of my favorite authors had a new book out, and it looked like just the thing to take my mind off what was going on. The main character was involved with a merman – I guess that was the newest thing in paranormal romance. I wondered for a moment whether mer-people were a real thing. Petreski admitted he didn’t know for sure about werewolves, but he turned into a freaking Cat, so shifters did exist, no matter what Don said. I stuck my tongue out in the direction of the sofa, but Don was asleep and didn’t see.
I checked the weather app on my phone. Rain all night, but not heavy. The A/C guys were supposed to come in the morning, and I didn’t want anything to keep them from replacing our window units. Having Don sleeping on my sofa was seriously cramping my style – what little style I had.
I woke around midnight from a dream where I was being pursued by a merman. He was only after me, though, because he was a chubby-chaser and I had a nice layer of padding on me. I was relieved to discover I still had a 30-inch waist, and blamed Don for that horrible dream.
When I drifted off again, Ruby was waiting for me. I was in the same house as before, in the kitchen, and could hear a woman’s voice. I followed the sound to an open bedroom door. I could feel my tail wagging as I approached the bed where my human sat, a phone pressed to her ear.
“No, I swear,” she said. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and I recognized her – the blonde in the short skirt and high heels from the other night.
“I haven’t told anyone, but if you’d just –” the person on the other end of the line must have cut her off.
“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want anything from you, just –”
Her lip trembled and she wiped at her eyes with her free hand.
“No. I haven’t done anything. I don’t know what I want to do yet. Hello? Hello?”
She took the phone from her ear and looked at it. “Seriously? Asshole.” She threw the phone down on the bed and turned to look at me. “Looks like we’re on our own, Ruby.”
Sheltering in Place
“Then what?” Don asked as he poured water into the coffeemaker.
“I don’t know. I woke up.”
“And you’re sure you’ve seen her before?”
“Yeah – at the bar the other night. I remember her because when she came in her date reminded me of Petreski. Dark hair, and carried himself like a cop.”
“So, we know she’s blonde, has a dog named Ruby, and dates – or had a date with – a maybe-cop.”
“Not much to go on.”
I cracked the window to put some sunflower seeds out for Raymond. The rain had stopped for the time being, but there was more expected. I hoped the A/C guys came before it started again.
By the time Raymond showed up to eat his seeds, the coffee was ready and the A/C service van had rolled to a stop in front of the building.
“Thank God,” Don muttered.
“You can say that again.”
“Not that I don’t love you, man, you know that.”
“Yeah, I know. And it’s not that I mind you and Bridger staying here, but...”
“We just need to get back to normal.”
“Whatever the hell that is.” I went downstairs to let the A/C guys in.
❧
“No, Mom, we’re fine. I swear. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be that bad,” I told her when I called her that afternoon.
“You know we worry. I remember Ike... I’m just so glad you boys were here when that hit.”
“Yeah, but that was different.”
“Oh, your father wants me to ask you about the new A/C units.”
“The guys just left. They wound up replacing all the units upstairs, one down, and servicing the rest. Don’s back over at his place.”
“Are they nice? They work okay?”
“They’re great.” I walked over to the window unit and fiddled with the vents. “A lot quieter, and they’ve even got heat strips. Tell Dad thanks for us, okay?”
“I will. You’re sure you don’t want to head over here for a couple of days?”
I thought about it for a few seconds. I wondered whether I’d still have dreams about Ruby if I was all the way in Austin. That was tempting, but it also felt like I’d be dodging a responsibility if I left Houston now.
“Nah, we’ll stay. Thanks, Mom. Try not to worry, okay?”
“I’ll do my best. Love you, sweetheart.”
“You too, Mom. Give my love to Dad.”
I ended the call and crossed to one of the front windows. The rain had started coming down again, and water was flowing down the sides of the street. It was moving fast, and I could see it spilling freely into the storm sewer at the corner, so I wasn’t worried yet.
I still had my phone in my hand, so I texted Petreski. “Had another dream. Call when u can for details.”
“Will come over later tell me then ok?”
“OK”
❧
The rain had eased off into a drizzle by the time Boo showed up around eight, but he still looked like a drowned rat when I opened the door. His bright green eyes seemed larger than usual with his long black fur plastered to his skull. I stepped aside so he could trot past me.
“You’re dripping water everywhere!” I fussed, and he turned to glare at me before disappearing into the bathroom.
“I thought cats were supposed to be tidy!” I grumbled, looking at the trail of water on my hardwood floor.
“It’s a damn good thing you’re cute,” Petreski called out from the bathroom, right before a rag sailed through the air in my direction.
“You think I’m cute?” I asked, the wet floor forgotten for a moment.
There was no answer, so I glanced at the rag to make sure it was a cleaning rag and not a wash rag. It was, so I started wiping up the drops of water on the floor.
“Thank God I got that right.”
“Huh?” I looked up to see Petreski leaning against the bathroom doorframe, rubbing his hair with a towel. He had changed into a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts he kept in my bathroom closet.
“The rag. I grabbed it from the right pile.”
“I am not OCD.”
He pushed off from the doorframe and leaned down to kiss me. “I didn’t say you were. And I like that you’re organized. And I really like that you never run out of beer?”
I rolled my eyes. “Get me one, too.”
I hung the rag on the side of the bathtub to dry, because mildewed rags are no joke, and followed my boyfriend into the tiny kitchen.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, taking the beer he handed me.
“Always.”
I was about to suggest ordering a pizza, but remembered what Don had said earlier about my eating habits. Of course Don was full of it, but it couldn’t hurt to mix things up a bit.
“I could, uh...” I tried to remember what was in the refrigerator, “I could make something.”
Petreski looked at me like I’d
started speaking in tongues.
“What? I can cook.”
“I know, but you usually don’t.”
“Don said maybe I should be more careful about what I eat.” I rubbed a hand over my midsection and shrugged.
“You look fine. Don doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“That’s what I said!”
“Order us a pizza, Slim, and while we wait you can tell me about your dream.”
❧
“So, what are your initial impressions?” Petreski asked when I’d finished describing my latest dream.
“My impressions? You’re the detective.”
“Yeah, but you were ‘there’. What struck you?”
I scratched at the label on my bottle while I thought about it. “She’s in some kind of trouble, and she feels like she’s got no one to help her.”
“Hmm.”
The downstairs door buzzed, and I got up, grabbing my wallet from the bookshelf on my way out. I felt sorry for the driver, having to go out in the rain, so I tipped him a little extra. It was worth it not to cook.
“Any brilliant insights while I was gone?” I asked, putting the box on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen for plates and beers.
“No.”
I sat down next to him, and reached over, rubbing at the spot between his eyebrows with my thumb. He leaned into my touch, just like a cat, and I smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“You get a little line between your eyebrows when you can’t figure something out.”
He smiled at that, and leaned in to kiss me.
“What was that for?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Because I wanted to. Isn’t that a good enough reason?”
“I suppose.” I disguised my grin by taking a drink of my beer.
“What about Don?” Petreski asked, opening the pizza box.
“He can take care of his own dinner. Besides, he’d just give me shit about ordering pizza again.”
“No. I mean why did you need to talk to me about Don?”
“Oh, that. Does Hastings still suck at his job?”
Not a Mermaid Page 2
