One Bark And Stormy Prom Night (Happy Tails Dog Walking Mysteries Book 3)

by Stella St. Claire

  “Sure. All the seniors know each other. Tanya was on the Homecoming court.” There was an edge to the girl’s voice.

  “You two seem to have a love of animals in common,” Olivia commented gently. “You’re lucky. You both found the perfect jobs in town.”

  “Tanya does not love animals,” Sarah Beth spat instantly. “Why are you here?”

  Bingo. “I’m here to talk to Dr. Roberts about something. I’d like to know if anyone has come in recently with poisoned dogs.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “Why would you want to know that? Did someone’s dog die?” Her lower lip trembled, and Olivia thought the girl might cry.

  “I don’t know. That’s what I’m here to find out. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  Sarah Beth opened her mouth, but the door behind the desk opened, and Dr. Roberts walked out. She was a short and stocky woman, strong enough to handle even the biggest dogs, but she also had a kind, sweet face. Her hair was graying at the roots, and she wore large, thick glasses with a chain that hung around her neck. Olivia knew the woman was happiest when she had an animal in her arms.

  “Olivia! You’re just in time. I’m about to start my house-call rounds. Why don’t you come on back, and we’ll talk.”

  “Sure.” Straightening, Olivia smiled at Sarah Beth. “I’ll be back, okay?” She prayed that if the girl knew something, she wouldn’t run.

  Dr. Roberts led her back down a maze of hallways. Olivia could hear the sounds of dogs barking, kenneled after surgery, and the faint cries of a few unhappy cats. “Apparently we had a busy night last night. Nothing too terrible, though,” the vet said as she pushed the door to her office open.

  There was so much paperwork on her desk that it was spilling over. Olivia could see samples of dog medications, and leashes and harnesses were strewn about. She suspected that Dr. Roberts was much better at examining the pets than she was filling out the information on them.

  “I actually have a strange question,” Olivia said, coming to a stop by the desk. “I was wondering if anyone had come in with poison scares.”

  “Oh, sure,” Dr. Roberts said. “A few ingested wild mushrooms, and one calico got into her mother’s sleeping pills. Has something happened to Fender or Goodwin?”

  Olivia shook her head. She knew that Dr. Roberts wasn’t allowed to give out personal information about per patients, so she had to be careful about what she asked. “I don’t mean accidental poisonings. I mean deliberate ones. Like—maybe—their dog food was laced.”

  The vet fixed her shrewd eyes on Olivia. “Why would you be asking me a question like that?”

  It was hard to be subtle. “I know you’ve heard about Kimberly’s death. There was a rumor going around that maybe a few of her bags of dog food contained poison.”

  Dr. Roberts snorted. “Deedee Espouse was in here claiming the same thing, two weeks ago, and I’m going to tell you exactly what I told her. She’s an idiot. I personally tested Kimberly’s dog food myself, and there is nothing wrong with it. Her factory is one hundred percent up to code, and there is no way that her food is poisoning anyone.”

  It was nice to hear someone backing Kimberly. “That’s not what I mean. Deedee misunderstood something that she heard, but there may be some basis of truth in the rumor. I’m wondering if you’ve had any complaints or evidence that someone tampered with the dog food to poison specific people?”

  The vet looked at her for a long minute. “I can’t give you specifics, Olivia. You know that. But I can tell you that there has been no evidence of poisoning.”

  “It’s okay, Dr. Roberts.” Sarah Beth’s soft voice spoke up from the doorway. “You can tell her. I brought my Lab in here a few weeks ago, Dennis—I was afraid that he was being poisoned. Dr. Roberts looked him over and said that he was fine.” She bit her lower lip and studied the floor. “Has something happened?”

  Olivia’s heart went out to the girl. She was obviously carrying a huge weight on her shoulders. “You were the anonymous student who turned Tanya in, weren’t you?”

  Sarah Beth burst into tears. “I broke up with my ex-boyfriend over Christmas, and he wanted revenge. He paid Tanya to change the grades for several of my tests. I would have failed English if the teacher hadn’t caught it and corrected it.”

  “You found out that it was Tanya?”

  “I overheard her talking in the bathroom and making another deal with a student. When I confronted her with it, she threatened to poison the Good Eats bag that my parents get from you. I was so terrified that I brought Dennis in to get checked, and I used my own money to buy some replacement dog food. Then I wrote the note to the vice principal. I didn’t want someone to get hurt, though! Did she poison someone else’s food?”

  “No, sweetheart. As far as I know, Tanya hasn’t hurt any pets at all.” Olivia looked at Dr. Roberts for confirmation, and the vet nodded in agreement.

  “There have been no cases of deliberate poisoning, my dear. You can rest easy.”

  “Sarah Beth, you did the right thing by turning Tanya in. You know that, right?”

  The girl wiped her tears and nodded. “If a dog didn’t die, then why are you here?”

  Olivia couldn’t very well tell her that she suspected Tanya had murdered Kimberly. That would be all over the school before lunch. “I heard that Tanya might be running a side business and using her job at my office to threaten people. I just wanted to make sure that it hadn’t come to anything.”

  “Will she be punished?” the teenager sniffed.

  “She’s not going to hurt anyone. I promise.”

  Mollified, Sarah Beth went back to her office, and Olivia turned back to Dr. Roberts. The woman looked sad, but cleared her throat and asked in little more than a whisper, “Do you think that she killed Kimberly?”

  “I wish I didn’t,” Olivia muttered. Now she had a witness to Tanya’s extracurricular activities. What was she going to do now?

  Andrew stared at the paperwork that the real estate agent had brought over. All he had to do was sign the paperwork and write the check, and he’d be giving away something else that he’d shared with Olivia.

  The papers had been sitting on his desk ever since he’d blurted out to Olivia that he was going to pay the ridiculous fee. They mocked him as he worked, so he took the papers home, and as he had been glancing over them for the hundredth time, Olivia had texted and asked him for a favor. So he’d packed them back up in his briefcase, and he was staring at them now.

  “I don’t think they’re going to just magically disappear,” Brett said dryly as he walked in. He tossed a piece of crumpled-up paper in the air and cheered loudly as it landed in the wastebasket, and then he eased his long frame into the chair across from the desk and stretched out his legs.

  Andrew glanced at the trash. “What was that?”

  “An example of what you should do to those papers,” Brett suggested. Andrew lifted an eyebrow at his friend, and Brett shrugged. “I didn’t read them, but it’s obvious what they are. You keep staring at them with nothing but horror and frustration on your face—and it’s too early to do performance reviews.”

  “I told Olivia that I’d pay the fee,” Andrew admitted as he laid the papers down and pushed them away. “I don’t even know why I said it, except that I was angry and frustrated. I got involved in the investigation so I could spend some time with her—which was ridiculous since all I’ve done is ask her to stay out of dangerous situations. I was just so disgusted with myself, and it came out—and the look on her face will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.”

  “That look is because she loves you,” Brett said quietly. “But you’re so wrapped up in the idea that you’re forcing her to do something against her will that you can’t see it.”

  Andrew growled. “I liked you better before you were dating Jackie. You weren’t so full of advice.”

  “Good advice,” Brett corrected with a grin. “And I’m not dating Jackie. We’re ju
st going on dates. There’s a difference.”

  “The only difference is that, one, you’re lying, but the other, you’ve admitted that you’ve got it bad for a hundred-pound redheaded bookseller who could tear you to pieces with one look,” Andrew said and laughed. “And I should know because I stopped by to talk to her and Janelle yesterday, and I can now finally say with certainty that those women could bury a body and merrily bake cookies afterward.”

  His friend grimaced, but before he could say anything, Cora, Andrew’s secretary, stuck her head in. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Andrew, but billing says one of their computers is down.” Her voice was timid—which was odd since Cora wasn’t a timid person, but then, Andrew hadn’t been easy to be around, lately.

  He gave Cora a gentle smile. “I’m pretty sure it’s the new girl down there. She thinks she’s a whiz at computers, but she keeps making things worse. Tell them that Bobby will come check on it after lunch.” Bobby had a way of making people feel at ease, and maybe he could convince the girl to quit messing with the computer and just input data like she’d been hired to do.

  Cora nodded and slowly shut the door behind her. Andrew’s gaze settled back on his friend. “I didn’t go to them to get advice on how to win Olivia back—don’t even start on that. I went because Nick seems to think that investigating this case on her own will do Olivia some good, and I’m afraid that it’s going to get her in trouble. I wanted the girls to keep an eye on things and let me know if anything gets out of hand.”

  Brett snorted. “You asked Jackie to keep Olivia out of trouble? Jackie is trouble.”

  Which, no doubt, explained Brett’s interest. “Well, as it turns out, I’m going to Happy Tails as soon as work is over to look at Olivia’s computer. For some reason, she thinks that it’s connected with the case, so I’ll be able to determine for myself if she’s in over her head.”

  “You going to tell her that you signed the papers?” Brett asked with a nod at the forms on the desk.

  “I haven’t signed them, yet.”

  “True, but you’ll only be a couple of streets down from the real estate agency, and you can drop them off then. Kill two birds with one stone.”

  A cold sensation gripped Andrew’s chest as he stared at his friend. “What is with you? First you tell me to toss them, and then you let me know how convenient it would be if I turned them in today.”

  If Brett sensed that Andrew was upset, he didn’t let on. Instead, he just grinned. “I’m just slowly tearing through all those excuses that you have in your head for not signing them until you finally realize the truth. Maybe then you’ll find whatever it is that you’re looking for.” He glanced at the clock and stretched as he stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to look at Dana’s computer before I go tonight.”

  Andrew cleared his throat and sent his friend a warning look. Dana was the pretty receptionist in the Human Resources office who’d turned down Brett’s advances countless times. “I don’t care how you phrase it, the fact is that you’re with Jackie, and while you’re with Jackie, you’re not with anyone else. Got it?”

  “Relax. The truth is that Dana has asked me out. Apparently, all it takes to get her interest is to start dating someone else. I’ve been deflecting her advances, but it would seem that I need to explain things in person.” He grimaced as he put a hand on his chest. “I hate whatever is happening to me.”

  “Welcome to monogamy.” Andrew laughed at Brett’s look of disgust. “Things are pretty slow, so you can go home after that. You want to meet for dinner at End Game when I finish up at Olivia’s?”

  “Maybe,” Brett hedged. “I was hoping I could have dinner with Jackie tonight.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he shook his head. “I’m pathetic. Completely pathetic. Still, text me later.”

  It was strange to see his womanizing friend so head-over-heels for a woman, but it was a sort of vengeance for all the times that Brett had teased Andrew about his feelings for Olivia.

  The first couple of times she’d tried breaking up with him, Brett had celebrated with a beer. He couldn’t understand why Andrew would put so much work into a relationship with a woman who didn’t seem to want one, but Brett didn’t understand how Olivia worked.

  She simply didn’t trust relationships, so he’d been patient. So patient while she worked through her issues.

  Except that she’d stopped working through her issues and had started to just let him take the lead, instead. That’s when he should have realized that there was a problem, but he’d kept thinking that it would sort itself out.

  Finally, when he couldn’t stand looking at the papers anymore, he stuffed them into his briefcase. With a small smile, he realized how Olivia must have felt when she kept avoiding signing the papers for the brownstone. She didn’t like the commitment.

  Apparently, neither did he. At least, not when it came to this.

  He’d see her this afternoon, and then he’d make a decision.

  It seemed to him as if Janelle had been lying in wait for him when he entered the bakery. As her eyes zeroed in on him, he realized that it probably would have been easier if he’d used the back private entrance, but he’d wanted a cup of coffee before he went upstairs. There was a line waiting at the counter, but she ignored them all and made a beeline for him.

  “I was invited,” he said quickly, raising his hands in mock surrender. “And I was just going to get a cup of coffee before I went upstairs.”

  “If you weren’t invited, you wouldn’t even have gotten through those doors,” she said darkly.

  Andrew swallowed hard.

  Janelle used to be his biggest fan, but apparently, the sisterly bond trumped everything. She continued in a low growl, “I’m here to let you know that if I find her crying when you leave, I’ll make sure that no one in this town ever sells you coffee again. Do you understand me?”

  It probably wouldn’t be the right time to remind her that he didn’t actually need to come to Lexingburg to get his coffee, so he just nodded.

  She seemed satisfied and pointed a flour-dusted finger at him. “Good. I’m still angry about that stunt you pulled in the photographers’ studio. Of all the idiotic things! People all over town think you’re back together, and it’s killing her to tell them otherwise. Wait right here, and I’ll get you a coffee.”

  It suddenly seemed like a bad idea to drink the coffee from this particular place, but Janelle didn’t give him a chance to protest as she hurried off to pour it for him. When she returned with a steaming cup and handed to him, she waited expectantly.

  “You want me to drink it now?” he asked carefully. “It’s hot.”

  A slow smile spread across her face. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Take a sip so that I know it’s made just the way that you like it.”

  Ah, crap. Praying that she wouldn’t stoop so low as to do something to his coffee, Andrew blew on it carefully and took a hesitant sip.

  Black and bitter. She’d apparently saved the cheap stuff for him.

  “Perfect,” he managed, and she snorted and stormed back to the line. Knowing that she was still watching, he clutched at the terrible cup of coffee and carried it all the way up to Happy Tails.

  The door was open, and Olivia was on the floor in the middle of tug-of-war with Goodwin. He was so struck by the sight of her that he completely forgot about the coffee. She was dressed in her normal active get-up, but there was a strange white substance caked in her hair and dotted along her shoulders. He was fascinated as his eyes trailed down the smooth column of her neck, and more than anything, he wanted to kiss her.

  Goodwin let out a sharp bark and the mood was broken as she whirled around. Embarrassment dotted her cheeks, and she stood. “I thought that you were going to be another hour,” she said breathlessly.

  “I got off work early,” he murmured. He didn’t want to tell her that it was because he couldn’t stop thinking of her. “What exactly is in your hair?”

  “Plaster,” she admitted as s
he tugged at her ponytail. “It turns out that it’s not as easy as it looks. Or maybe I’m just not as handy as I thought I was. I actually have to buy some more. I can’t prime it for painting until the screw holes and the tape are smooth, and I think it’s going to take a few more coats of plaster before it’s smooth.”

  Andrew tried not to smile. He didn’t want to tell her that she wasn’t handy at all. Whenever she tried to fix something around the house, he had to go behind her and fix it again without telling her. “I’m sure you’ll get it.” He’d ask Janelle if she wanted him and Brett to work on it tonight or tomorrow night and smooth some things out.

  “So, long story short, I’m hoping you can tell me what Tanya has been doing on my computer. I’ve noticed her typing a lot, and I just assumed that she was working on homework, but I’ve recently discovered that she might actually be hacking into the school’s system and changing grades for students.”

  “Your assistant? I thought you told me that she was a slow learner when it came to computers.” He crossed the office to the grooming station and promptly poured the coffee down the sink. Olivia cocked her head.

  “Was that Janelle’s coffee?”

  “It was,” he said carefully. “I think she might be trying something new.”

  Olivia chuckled. “I’m sorry. I can go down and get you a new cup if you want.”

  “As it turns out, I’m not as tired as I thought,” he said with a smile as he sat down at her desk. He liked it when they could talk without things getting all awkward. “So Tanya is a computer hacker?”

  “More than that. She might have been the reason that Kimberly was killed. She might actually be the killer.”

  Andrew jerked his head up and stared at her. Olivia didn’t seriously think that a slight eighteen-year-old was capable of murdering someone, did she? “Care to elaborate?”

  As Olivia leaned against the desk, she quickly filled him in on the threats that Tanya had apparently been making when she delivered Rich Eats to Olivia’s customers. “Deedee must have overheard and gotten things twisted around. I think she really thinks that Rich Eats is poisonous. What if someone else overheard and attacked Kimberly because of it? Or what if Kimberly found out that Tanya was spreading these rumors and called her out on it, only to have Tanya kill her?”