by Edie Claire
“Fine,” Leigh conceded. Then she remembered Gil’s reporting to her that Allison and Matt had been arguing all day. “Matt didn’t want to believe that Kirsten was involved, I bet,” she theorized. “He also wouldn’t want to admit that he’d inadvertently leaked critical information to the petnapper. Allison would have a field day with that.”
Maura grinned. “I believe the youths had words, yes.”
Leigh shook her head. “But she convinced him to try a sting?”
“She did,” Maura confirmed. “Matt texted Kirsten that the security system at the clinic had broken down, and that your Dad was upset because it couldn’t be fixed until Saturday morning. Matt also told her that Lenna was freaking out because her bunny was down there, and she was afraid it wasn’t safe.”
“Why would a pet rabbit be in the clinic over a Friday night?”
Maura shrugged. “Who knows? Who cares? The point is, Matt told Kirsten it was there. He also bragged to Kirsten that if the petnapper did steal it, it would be a real windfall, because Lenna’s dad was super rich and would pay anything to get his baby girl’s precious bunny back, and Randall couldn’t report it because once word got out that a pet had been stolen from the clinic, he’d be ruined.”
Leigh blew out a breath. “My God, that’s brilliant. Far out, but brilliant.”
“Well, they bought it,” Maura declared. “Not only that, but they decided — like the teenagers they are — that such a ridiculous risk was actually worth it. With the community banding together and sharing information, the next pet they targeted was almost certain to be their last. But I think the easy money had gone to both of their heads. The bait Allison dangled was just too perfect to resist. Harmless bunny. No security. Rich Daddy. Strong motive for silence. Shawn probably figured he’d do just this one last job, and then he could go out a winner.”
Maura shrugged. “And if not, well, the sting would give the Avalon PD a little something different to do on a Friday night. We had a guy watching the drop-off point for Zeus’s ransom too, just in case. But of course nothing happened there.” Maura smiled. “Because your brilliant daughter was right all along.”
Leigh smiled sadly. “She is brilliant, isn’t she? I just wish she wasn’t so secretive.”
“You know,” Maura suggested tentatively, “she would have talked to you, if you’d talked to her.” She rose from the steps and offered Leigh a hand. “Just saying.”
Leigh took the hand and got up. She looked over her shoulder, then sighed and dusted the wood shavings off her butt. “I’m only trying to keep Allison safe,” she defended. “It’s my job as her mother. She may be smart, but she also has a natural inclination to get herself into trouble.”
Maura smirked. “Yes, Frances.”
Chapter 27
“So the security system’s back on now and everything’s buttoned up,” Maura assured Randall, whose green complexion and mussed hair belied his attempts to feign normalcy. At his request, Maura had followed Leigh back to West View to explain the evening’s events in person. But the best the veterinarian could manage when the detective arrived was to prop himself up in bed, and even then, his eyes occasionally lost their focus and drifted toward the powder room.
Maura’s summary had been succinct.
“Well, I suppose that’s the last of the teenage volunteers,” Frances announced bitterly. “Really!”
Randall started to shake his head, but stopped. “We’ve had a hundred kids through the clinic, Frances,” he said instead, closing his eyes. “This was just a fluke.”
Frances’s lips pursed. “We’ll discuss it later.”
Randall sank down in his pillows, obviously spent. Maura hastened a polite exit, and Leigh walked her out to the street.
Maura got into her car. “I’d better get a move on. There’s a little man at my house that probably has the big man at my house at the end of his rope about now.”
Leigh chuckled. Lieutenant Gerry Frank was one proud papa. Maura’s college-age stepkids were thoroughly enamored of their little half-brother as well.
“I should get home to Allison,” Leigh admitted. “She’s bound to be anxious to know what happened. Unless she’s already found out?”
Maura grinned. “She’s sent me a couple of texts, yes. But I told her she’d have to ask you.”
Leigh smiled. “Thanks.”
Maura started up her car and began to pull out, but had to wait for a van to pass by. A van which then pulled to the curb by Lydie’s house.
“Looks like you’re on, Koslow!” Maura laughed as she pulled away. “Enjoy!”
“Thanks,” Leigh repeated. They had both recognized the van as Cara’s. They both also knew that Allison was very likely to be inside it.
Leigh’s daughter popped out of the back seat and sprung onto the sidewalk, looking after Maura’s departing car with obvious disappointment. Lenna and Matt followed and their parents emerged from the front.
“What happened?” Allison begged her mother. Barely a pace behind, Matt stared at Leigh with equal intensity.
“Um…” Leigh began uncertainly, studying Cara and Lenna. She was relieved to see that both of the sicklings looked back to normal. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“Come inside!” Lydie called pleasantly from her front porch. “You too, Leigh and Allison, if you’d like.”
Leigh was beginning to get the idea that delivering Allison was not the March family’s primary goal.
“Mom asked us all to come over,” Cara explained in a whisper, her eyes burning with an equal mix of excitement and worry. “I think she has some kind of announcement. Please stay, if you can.”
Leigh looked at her daughter. “Ethan’s sick,” Allison offered, answering the unspoken question. “Dad’s with him. He told me it was fine to get out of the house for a while.”
Leigh’s shoulders slumped. Poor Ethan. Another one down. And an exhausted Warren left alone with him! They were all doomed now.
“Come on, Leigh,” Cara urged. “You can explain what’s happened to all of us.”
Leigh nodded in agreement, and a few minutes later they were all assembled comfortably in Lydie’s small living room. The windows were open, assuring that assistance for Randall and Frances was only a shout away, but without an extra person constantly in the house, the Koslows could at last return to some measure of peace and privacy.
“Yes, please do explain things, dear,” Lydie suggested amiably, even as she kept glancing toward the street out the front windows. Leigh couldn’t help but notice that the new twinkle in her aunt’s eye, so obvious earlier in the afternoon, seemed even brighter now. Still, the flush in Lydie’s cheeks and her slightly hurried speech betrayed anxiety.
Leigh started her tale with the discovery of Zeus under the rhododendron, filling in the blanks for Gil and Cara as needed. She made sure to give Allison all the credit she was due, with the exception of whatever methods the girl had used to get her besotted cousin to see reason. Sensitive to Matt’s potential embarrassment, Leigh painted the sting as more of a mutual effort, and she was gratified to see that Allison made no contradiction. Accidentally aiding and abetting the enemy was one thing; being both used and cuckolded by your first significant crush was a whole other level of humiliation.
“How could Shawn not suspect somebody was in the clinic already?” Allison asked astutely when Leigh completed her rundown. “You must have had the lights on when you were wandering around upstairs.”
“I did,” Leigh answered. “But Maura said they parked his car in a parking lot off the Boulevard, over the hill. They climbed up through the woods and couldn’t even see the clinic till they got there. Kirsten was supposed to stay back until Shawn came out with the rabbit, but one of the policemen spotted her and took her into custody before she could warn him.”
“So how did the guy who got murdered get hold of the cockatiel in the first place?” Matt asked. “Did he have anything to do with the petnappings?”
“Probably
not,” Leigh admitted. “Kyle was Shawn’s cousin; most likely he agreed to keep Opie for a few days without having any idea what was going on. Shawn lives in the basement of his parents’ house in Bellevue, and the police are guessing he was able to keep most of the animals there, but the birds would have been too loud. They’re not sure yet who Shawn planned to con into watching Zeus, but the cockatoo wouldn’t have been there for long in any event. Once Kirsten told Shawn that Olan had called the police, Maura thinks he probably released the bird on the edge of the hollow between Avalon and Bellevue. Probably hoped it would stay in the trees and not be found for a while. If ever.”
“The whole idea is just horrible,” Cara said with chagrin. “The bird could have died.”
“Kirsten does really like animals,” Allison admitted begrudgingly. “I don’t think they ever intended to hurt any of them, physically, no matter what the ransom notes said. They’re just both kind of stupid.”
“Kirsten’s a ditz,” Mathias said dismissively, not looking a bit sheepish. “Anyone can see that!”
“Sounds like it,” his father agreed cluelessly.
Leigh and Allison exchanged a glance.
Men!
A knock sounded on the front door, making nearly everyone jump. Only Lydie seemed unsurprised as she smiled and walked over to open it.
“Grandpa!” Lenna squealed, jumping up to wrap her arms around her grandfather’s waist. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
Mason hugged his granddaughter back. “Well, I didn’t either until a little while ago.” He cast a questioning glance at Lydie, but she kept her eyes averted.
“Hi, honey,” Mason said to Cara, leaning down to give his daughter a kiss on the cheek. He smiled warmly at Leigh and Allison, then turned to the men of the family. “Hey, Matt. Gil.”
They acknowledged his presence with friendly nods. “You missed all the excitement, Grandpa,” Matt proclaimed. “Allison and I helped the Avalon PD with a sting operation. They caught the petnapper!”
“Really?” Mason returned. “Who was it?”
“Kyle’s cousin Shawn,” Leigh answered. “Eighteen. Skinny. Short. Long brown hair. You ever see him?”
Mason shook his head slowly. “Doesn’t sound familiar. Not too many visitors came to Kyle’s place. But I know he has a big family.” He looked at Leigh hopefully. “So does this clear the boy’s name?”
Leigh smiled. Mason really did care about the unfortunate, poker-playing geek, no matter what grief he’d caused his ex-con friend with the police. “I believe it will,” she answered.
“Grandpa!” Lenna begged, still clinging. “Did you talk to Kyle’s parents yet?”
He looked down at her adoringly. “I did, darlin’. And they said they’d be forever grateful if you’d keep Peep with you and love her as your own.”
Lenna squealed again, literally kicking up her heels. “Really, Grandpa? Oh, Dad, can I? Can I?”
Gil looked helplessly at Cara. She smirked back at him. “Don’t even try the allergy thing. That cat was in the house three days before you heard her, and only then did the sniffles start. Face it. You’re busted.”
Gil frowned. “Dander accumulates over time, you know.”
“You can take shots, Daddy!” Lenna informed gleefully. “Mom said so!”
Gil shot a withering look at Cara, but she only laughed. “I thought the prospect of shots might be just as effective as not knowing the cat was there. Same concept, really.”
“Are you saying it’s all in my head?” Gil accused.
Leigh’s eyes rolled. Gil was an intelligent man, objectively, but being devoid of a sense of humor did keep a person a beat behind.
“Come on, Dad,” Mathias said impatiently. “We all know you’re going to let her keep it. Can we just get the screaming over with already?”
Gil sighed. “All right, Lenna. You can keep the cat.”
They all kept their ears covered for a full ten seconds. When Lenna finished expressing herself, she made a rush at the door. “Can we go home now so I can tell her we’re her new forever home? Please? Please? Please?”
“Wait a second, sweetheart,” Lydie interjected. “I haven’t… told you what I need to tell you yet.”
The intent tone of her voice made all eyes turn immediately in her direction. Even Lenna calmed herself and drifted back into the center of the room.
“What is it, Mom?” Cara asked tenderly, shooting a glance at Leigh. “We’re all family, here. You know you can tell us anything.”
Leigh watched the strong emotions flickering in Cara’s eyes, and noted that the predominant one was angst. Cara wanted her mother to come clean about her mysterious social life, but it was out of character for Lydie to choose to do so in a public forum.
Lydie cleared her throat. “Well, I… I know this is all a bit awkward, but I thought maybe explaining it all at once would be best. And… well… it would make it harder for me to chicken out, too.”
Leigh cast a surreptitious glance at Mason. He was trying to smother a sigh.
“There’s something that I’ve been… well, hiding from all of you,” Lydie admitted, her obvious discomfort with the topic making everyone else squirm along with her. “I figured it was my business, and it was at first, but now it needs to needs to be everybody’s business, so I have to say what I have to say.”
Leigh winced. Her aunt had never been one to make speeches. She didn’t even like to talk much. Growing up with Frances attached at the hip, it had never been necessary.
“You see,” Lydie pressed on, balling her hands into and out of fists as she talked. Her face and neck were beet red. “I’ve led you to believe that… Well, I always just thought it would be best if… You know, under the circumstances, with the children being so young…”
“We’re not so young any more, Grandma,” Mathias pointed out.
“I know that,” Lydie assured. Now she was wringing her hands and shuffling her feet besides. “I just don’t know how you’ll take it, and I don’t want you to think less of me. But you shouldn’t, because that would mean… and there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Not anymore. It’s just that’s it’s been so long… and I’m afraid you’ll all be… well…”
“Lydie!” Mason said firmly. “Please. You’re making this way too difficult for yourself.”
She looked at him helplessly.
He exhaled and closed the distance between them. “Cara, kids,” he proclaimed, looking at his progeny. “It’s like this.”
He reached out an arm, wrapped it around Lydie’s waist, and pulled her to him. She gulped slightly with surprise, but made no resistance as he put both arms around her, leaned down, and kissed her.
The collective breath in the room seemed to stop as the kiss went on. And on.
And on.
“There,” Mason said finally, releasing Lydie just enough for both of them to face the crowd again. “Any questions?”
Cara stood up. Her face glowed as red as her mother’s. “This week,” she whispered raggedly. “Where—”
“Cruising in the Bahamas!” Mason said with enthusiasm. “And it was divine, thank you.”
The kids were all staring at the couple, their eyes wide with amazement. Lydie met their gazes and took a breath. “We’re getting married,” she said quietly. “Again.”
“Oh,” Cara breathed, her shock finally giving way to the joy Leigh knew was exploding inside her. “Oh!” She stumbled forward and practically threw herself at her parents, enveloping them in an exuberant three-way hug. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Yay! Me, too!” Lenna and Matt declared, coming forward to make it a group hug. Allison and Gil both hung back a moment, though each was smiling from ear to ear, and when finally the huddle broke up a bit they each came forward with their own congratulations. As Lydie’s anxiety turned to relief, she began to tear up, and within seconds there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
“You scoundrel,” Cara chastised her father, hugging him tightly. �
�How could you possibly manage it? Do you have any idea how hard I’ve tried to catch—”
Mason laughed. “Oh, yeah. You’ve come damn close, too.”
Cara’s blue-green eyes widened. “That one time, when Aunt Frances and Uncle Randall were out of town and I came over and—”
Mason’s eyes twinkled devilishly. “Yeah, that was me.”
Cara smacked him playfully on the shoulders. “You’re terrible!”
The landline rang. Leigh had a creeping sense of premonition and looked out the window toward her parents’ house. Their lights were all still on, but she saw no one standing at the windows. She gestured to Lydie and went to pick up the phone herself.
“Dublin residence,” she said formally, hoping she was wrong.
“Leigh Eleanor,” Frances scolded, “What in the devil is going on over there? We can hear hooting and hollering and everything else but can’t understand a word. What’s happened?”
“Hang on, Mom,” Leigh replied without enthusiasm, lowering the phone. Lydie was watching her, and Leigh cringed to see her aunt’s glow of happiness begin to dampen. What should I say? Leigh mouthed.
Lydie stood still a moment, looking fraught. Then Mason stepped over and clasped his arm firmly about her shoulders. “You want me to come with you?” he offered.
“No!” Lydie said reflexively. But as she leaned into her fiance and looked up at his face, she quickly reconsidered. “I mean, yes. Yes, I do.” She straightened and looked around the room. “In fact, I want all of you there. Let’s walk over and do this right now.”
“Are you sure?” Mason asked, even as his face showed his delight.
Lydie nodded and smiled at him. “Completely sure.” She turned to her niece. “Leigh, tell her we’re coming over.”
“Will do,” Leigh agreed.
Three minutes later the crowd walked out of Lydie’s front door, crossed the short distance to the Koslow’s front porch, and reassembled just beyond its steps. Frances had insisted on speaking with everyone outside so as not to disturb Randall, and Leigh had helped her hobble out onto the porch and settle into a patio chair.
