Now You See Him

by Stella Cameron

  A cool current encased Ellie. “Is she good?” she managed to ask. “She’s been a megaseller for years.” Creepy books unsettled Ellie, and although she’d intended to read Elliot since the macabre connection had been pointed out, she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  “I like her stuff,” Esther from the dime store said. “We decided to do the one about Mardis Gras first since—” She blushed. “Well, on account of it being kind of like what happened to you.”

  “Esther,” Min said through pursed lips. “It didn’t happen to Ellie, it happened to the victim and Ellie happened to see somethin’ similar in N’Orleans.”

  “That’s what I meant,” Esther said in a small voice. “I’m sorry you’re goin’ through a bad time, Ellie. We thought just maybe if we read the books we could help figure things out and get that killer back behind bars.”

  Oh, great. Ellie could imagine what Guy and Spike—and Joe—would have to say about that. “You’re very kind,” she said, and backed away, drawing Wazoo with her.

  “They don’t mean no harm,” Wazoo whispered.

  “No. It’s just that too many people know too much.” She put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder and looked directly into her eyes. “L’Oiseau de Nuit—”

  “She uses the whole name,” Wazoo interrupted. “That don’t sound good.”

  “Be serious. Please, you are my friend and I trust you. I’d like to be able to keep on feeling I can tell you what’s on my mind, but you can’t repeat it to other folks.”

  “Ellie,” Wazoo said, holding their steady gaze, “what you say to me stays with me. If I’ve let on too much in the past, I was wrong and I am reformed.”

  “Thank you.”

  She wondered if Joe was in his office. Looking in and saying hi would help her mood. Nope. He didn’t need her popping in when he had work to do.

  “You’re wrong, Min,” a voice behind her said. “Just because the murderer’s face is painted in the book doesn’t mean it was painted when that poor Stephanie Gray died.”

  Ellie shook her head. Maybe she should be grateful to have people around and talking all the time. It might make it more difficult for someone to get at her—if they really were trying to.

  The murderer’s face is painted. On that terrible day the crowd ebbed and flowed but Ellie had scarcely been aware of them. Masks, wigs, painted faces. An oval, a face turned up toward her. Blue and gold. She turned away, hurried to the far side of a bookcase and clung to the edge of a shelf.

  A face, half blue, half gold—she hadn’t remembered until now. Light eyes. The room moved around her. She must be in control.

  Tonight she’d start reading Sonja Elliot.

  Paul’s cell phone rang and a cryptic conversation followed. “I need to run an errand,” he called out. “I’ll leave my laptop here.” He strode out of the shop.

  Ellie watched him hop on his maroon Vespa and ride away. Scooters might have come back into fashion but the wheels would always look too small to her.

  She opened the door to the back vestibule. “Daisy? Zipper? Come on down here.” With an ear cocked, she waited.

  A sharp snicking sound had Ellie staring at the radio. If it had decided to go on the fritz it was so old she couldn’t complain.

  With her sad-looking cell phone in her teeth and her head down, Daisy plodded into the shop, passed Ellie and went straight to Wazoo.

  “Nice,” Ellie said. “Who buys the food around here?” She followed the shepherd and crouched to pet her.

  Snick.

  “That radio’s giving up the ghost, I think,” she told Wazoo. A woman with itchy nerve endings didn’t need more irritation. Ellie turned off the music and went back to Daisy. “She doesn’t seem herself, Wazoo. She’s not running around like she usually does and she doesn’t eat properly.”

  Wazoo nuzzled her cheek against the top of Daisy’s head and Ellie sat back on her heels.

  Snick.

  Ellie looked up quickly. No radio on this time. Jim Wade worked over some papers. The man who needed lots of space continued to read his newspaper and eat what remained of his muffaletta without looking. Now and again he paused to stuff fallen pieces of salami or cheese back inside the olive-oil-soaked bread.

  Darn it all, anyway, she’d swear the sound must be electrical. Since she’d taken over Hungry Eyes she’d been aware that the wiring would eventually have to be replaced, but she hadn’t expected it this soon.

  “Ellie,” Wazoo said quietly. “Daisy’s in trouble.”

  “How do you know?” Ellie’s tummy squinched tight.

  “She told me.”

  “Not now, Wazoo, please. This isn’t a good time to play around.”

  “You smell her mouth, you.”

  Ellie wrinkled her nose but did as she was told. Immediately, she backed off. “She’s too young to have tooth decay.”

  “I don’t think that’s what it is.” Wazoo’s big dark eyes were shadowed with worry. “She need one of them vets.”

  “I’ll take her. She goes way out to Dr. Weston in Loreauville. He’s the one I use. The breeder recommended him and he’s the best.” Ellie caught sight of Zipper creeping toward them with her belly on the floor. “Now what?”

  The cat reached Daisy and instead of taking her usual flying leap on top of her buddy, Zipper licked Daisy’s face.

  Ellie’s stomach took another turn.

  Wazoo ran her hands over Daisy. “She hot. Big fever, I think.”

  “Something wrong with your dog?” Jim Wade asked. “Anything I can do to help?”

  “I don’t think so, thanks, anyway. Wazoo, it could take too long to get to Loreauville. I’m going to call Reb to see if she’ll tell me what I should do. I’ll take her over there. Folks,” she cried, “I’ve got to step out but Wazoo’s here to take care of you.”

  Joe ran all the way from the square to Conch Street and Reb Girard’s consulting rooms. He arrived neck and neck with Paul Nelson, who looked as worried as Joe felt.

  “Jim Wade told me about the shepherd,” Paul said. “I’d been gone from Hungry Eyes half an hour so I don’t know what happened in that time.”

  “Wazoo called me,” Joe said, annoyed that Paul would take it upon himself to come to Ellie’s aid. “I can take it from here.”

  Paul nodded slowly. “I’d like to know the dog’s okay,” he said. “I know how much she means to Ellie.”

  A to-the-point chat with cagey Cyrus was in order. Joe hadn’t been satisfied with the vague and angry comments about his failure to find out what was going on in Jilly’s love life. For a man who showed every sign of being infatuated with Jilly, Paul seemed a little too interested in Ellie. Could be that’s what Cyrus had meant, that Paul Nelson had a roving eye.

  “Is that okay?” Paul said, sounding sarcastic.

  “That’s not my call to make,” Joe said stiffly, and led the way along the little pathway and up steps to the pretty old house where Reb had grown up with her doctor father and where she’d continued to live as well as work after he died. Then Marc Girard came sweeping back into town and carried her off to his home at Clouds End, but she wouldn’t give up her practice.

  Joe rang the bell and walked in, as everyone did.

  The waiting room was empty except for Ellie, who stood there with Daisy lying at her feet. The dog looked fine to Joe. Ellie didn’t and he barely stopped himself from hugging her. She wouldn’t want to think he saw her as weak.

  “How’s this girl doing?” he asked, and patted Ellie’s shoulder.

  “I wish Reb was through with her patient,” Ellie said. She held Daisy’s cell phone and showed it to Joe. “She never lets me touch this. Now she can’t keep it in her mouth and she doesn’t care.”

  Paul knelt by the dog and stroked her. “She’s burning up,” he said.

  “I know.” Ellie didn’t look grateful to be reminded. A sudden rush of tears filled her eyes. “I don’t care what’s wrong with her, I won’t have her put down. I’ll do anything t
o save her.”

  “She’s just got a bug, Ellie,” Joe said.

  Paul shook his head slightly. “I hope you’re right There’s too much that isn’t acceptable in this town and nothing gets satisfactorily dealt with. We’ll be lucky if we don’t lose more than a dog some day soon. The women aren’t safe.” His face turned red. “If the law can’t look after our women, what good are they?”

  Joe grabbed his sleeve and stood toe to toe. “If you’ve got criticism or complaints, lodge them in the right place. But you’d better have ideas to back ‘em up with.”

  Paul tried to push him away.

  “Sorry!” Reb hurried from her consulting room with Ozaire Dupre behind her. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Make sure you fill that prescription. And take the pills with plenty of water. I’ll be checking up, remember.” Fortunately she didn’t notice the strung-out atmosphere in the waiting room.

  “Daylight robbery, that’s what those pills are,” Ozaire said. His shaved head glistened and pretty much sat directly on top of his thick shoulders. “I come in here so she can say I ain’t got nothin’ wrong and what happens? Out I go a poorer man just because…well, enough said about that.”

  “Daisy’s sick, Ozaire,” Ellie said. “I was afraid to drive to Dr. Weston in case something happened on the way.”

  Reb already knelt beside Daisy and began checking her over.

  “Can’t be nothin’ wrong,” Ozaire said. “Strong as a horse, that one.”

  “Up you get,” Reb said gently. “See if she’ll stand, Ellie. I need to get her where I can see better.”

  When Daisy wouldn’t move, Joe lifted the big animal. “Where do you want her?” he asked. Paul slid his hands under her rear and shared the weight.

  They followed instructions and placed her on top of the several large waterproof pads Reb took into a sitting room and spread over a table. She turned on the reading lamp and palpated every inch of Daisy who then refused to have her mouth opened. “Watch her,” Reb said, and disappeared from the room.

  Ozaire looked significantly at his bound left hand. “All part of it,” he said, without going on to say what “it” was. “I been out searchin’ with one of them teams, y’know. If that Penn is out there he’s invisible.” They heard Reb returning and Ozaire slipped away, passing her in the doorway.

  “Take those pills,” she called after him. She carried a phone pressed to an ear. In the other hand she held a kidney dish draped with a blue paper sheet. “Yes,” she said abruptly. “Thank you. I just wanted to be sure of the dosages. Yes, I’ll let you know.”

  “That was Dr. Weston,” she said, turning the phone off. “First I’m giving Daisy a tranquilizer to help her relax.”

  Hardly had Reb prepared and given the shot than Daisy slumped and didn’t attempt to resist when Reb opened her mouth wide. “Hold this,” she told Ellie, who made sure Daisy’s bottom jaw stayed where Reb needed it.

  Reb shone a brilliant little steel flashlight inside the large mouth.

  “Is it tooth decay?” Ellie asked. “An abscess, maybe?”

  Joe moved closer. “Her teeth look great to me. I hope she never decides I’m a threat to you.”

  Their eyes met and Ellie blushed. He noticed she avoided looking at Paul.

  “You’ve got the diagnosis at least partially right,” Reb said. She took up an instrument and reached into the roof of Daisy’s mouth. For far too long she worked, carefully pulling something free. She redirected the light and her efforts on the other side of the upper jaw. “Abscessed both sides,” she said, working to pull out the instrument.

  “Oh, my God,” Ellie said. “Joe, look.”

  He did look and saw that Reb held a piece of wire bent like a small croquet hoop with about a quarter of an inch hooked upward on either side. “This was no accident,” Reb said. “Someone managed to quiet her down—could have used a number of things to do that—and they rammed this up into her mouth with the hooks driven in between her teeth and into her gums. It’s too bad she’s so brave. If she’d let you know how much pain she was in we’d have been on it faster.”

  White-faced, with sweat along her hairline, Ellie shook her head again and again. “Why would anyone do such a thing?”

  Reb prepared another shot. “Antibiotics,” she said, and looked up sharply. “Is she up to date on all her shots?”

  “Yes,” Ellie told her.

  Bending over Daisy again she said, “She’ll have to be carefully handled. Start praying the infection hasn’t gone too far. She’s dehydrated. I suggest you keep her comfortable and get her to Loreauville. Dr. Weston can give her IV fluids and watch her till she’s stabilized. I’ll call and say you’re coming.”

  “Penn did it to get at you,” Paul told Ellie, and Joe would have liked to punch the man. “He’s telling you he can get at you, even at your guard dog. You’re vulnerable, that’s what he’s saying. That and he wants the dog to die so she never gets in his way again.”

  21

  Joe drove straight past Hungry Eyes and in front of his own place, to the alley behind the buildings. Ellie saw him glance at the Sheriff’s vehicle parked outside the shop, narrow his eyes, then look ahead as if he hadn’t noticed the car.

  Ellie watched until she couldn’t see it anymore.

  Joe parked his Jeep and turned off the engine.

  “This has been a helluva day for you,” Joe said. “It’s too late for Spike to be dropping in for coffee.”

  “I know. He’s going to ask questions about what happened to Daisy.” She turned to him. “There’s nothing for me to say, is there? Nothing helpful. All I know is what he already knows.”

  Joe tipped his head against the rest.

  “You think he’s come about something else, don’t you?” She thought so, too, but didn’t want to be right.

  “Possibly. I’m sorry the vet had to keep Daisy, but at least he seems optimistic.”

  “I’m grateful for that,” she said. “But you’re trying to avoid giving me a straight answer.”

  “Y’know what I hope for, Ellie? I hope this is pretty much over so we can get on with our lives.”

  She leaned forward and braced her hands on her knees, then gave his upper arm a pat. “You’re the best, but you need a break from me, Joe. I’m sure Wazoo’s over there bending Spike’s ear. She keeps offering to stay with me. Tonight I’ll let her do it.” She opened the door.

  Joe leaned across to pull it shut with a shuddering crash. “Listen to me.” He took her by the shoulders and brought his face close to hers. “Do you think what I feel for you is nothin’ more than some sort of duty?”

  “You’ve spent hours helping with Daisy. You sleep on that couch every night—and it’s too short for you—and what do I do for you? Nothing. I’m not a taker, Joe, never have been.” She looked directly at him.

  “Don’t say that again, y’hear?” he said through his teeth. “You keep tellin’ me how strong you are then—”

  “No I don’t. How stupid would that be when you’ve seen how nervous I’ve been. Joe—” she tipped her head defiantly “—you were with me when I passed out from fear. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be embarrassed by taking advantage of someone all the time.”

  Ellie knew her mistake before she’d closed her mouth. Faintly she heard rain start to hit the windows but she couldn’t look away from Joe. Anger and hurt muddled his expression.

  At last he said, “Am I someone you take advantage of all the time?”

  She swallowed.

  “Am I?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “Do you think that because you’re not putting out for me you’re not giving anything back for the time I spend with you?”

  “No.” She shuddered at his crudeness. He was angry enough to shock her with the kind of comment he never made.

  He closed his eyes and his grip softened. “I’d be a liar if I said I don’t think about making love to you—a lot—but I’m not an animal. I can wait until you’
re ready and you come to it yourself.”

  “Joe, I’m sorry I’ve made you mad.”

  “Don’t say anythin’ else right now. And don’t try to send me away unless I give you a reason. One good reason would be that you plain don’t want me around anymore.”

  He didn’t try to stop her from kissing the corner of his mouth lightly. “Having you around is the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said, and shifted out of range when he made a move to kiss her back. “I…we’ve got to get in there.”

  Even though they ran, they had still managed to get wet on the way from the Jeep, through the yard, to the back door.

  A glance into the lighted shop had showed it was empty and Joe ran upstairs behind Ellie. She hardly reached the top when Zipper sprang from the shadows and clung on to her with extended claws.

  “You okay?” he asked, but Ellie only nodded as she stroked the cat fiercely. He added, “I’m beginnin’ to believe all this stuff about some animals havin’ human feelings.”

  “Who told you that?” Ellie asked. “Don’t answer. Wazoo did and she’s right.”

  They went into the flat and found Wazoo sitting on the floor in front of Deputy Lori. Very pregnant, she sat in the armchair with her feet up on a little stool Joe would bet Wazoo found for her. She held a mug of what looked like warm milk. He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

  Lori looked around for a place to set her mug. “‘Evenin’,” she said, shifting her feet to the floor. “Wazoo’s been coddlin’ me.”

  “Don’t get up,” Ellie told her. “Shouldn’t you be at home by now?”

  Lori shook her head and the tow-colored tail at her nape flipped back and forth. “I’m on duty and feelin’ fine. I came to ask you a few questions, Ellie. If that’s okay.”

  “Well.” Wazoo slapped her knees and got up. “I’d better get back to Rosebank.”

  Joe had to ask, “Would you like me to drive you home?”

  Wazoo shook her head. “I’ve got my van but you nice to ask. Y’all look after your woman. She the best and she not so safe.”

  “I’m fine.” Ellie cast her eyes upward. “You’ll see, this is all so much nonsense and someone’s going to be in trouble for all the tricks they’ve pulled around here. Daisy’s going to be all right, but I’m still not letting whoever did it to her get off free.”