Dead Man's Hand

by Lorraine Bartlett

  Finally, she called Moonbeam.

  “Hey, Katie. What’s up?”

  “I was just wondering what ingredients were in that tea you gave me yesterday.”

  “You won’t tell my competition now, will you?” Moonbeam asked and giggled.

  What competition?

  “Uh, no.”

  “First up, mint, and a lot of dried herbs from my garden.”

  “Such as?” Katie asked.

  “A sprig of lavender, nasturtium leaf, chives, thyme, tarragon, and lemongrass.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Oh!” She laughed again. “And, of course, hibiscus.”

  Katie let out a breath. “That’s what I thought.” She explained about her unplanned trip to the ER the night before.

  “Oh, I’m so very sorry,” Moonbeam said, sounding stricken. “I should have given you an ingredients list when I gave you the tea. I use it whenever I’m feeling stressed, and it helps me so much. I didn’t even think about—”

  “I know you didn’t,” Katie interrupted. “It was simply one of those things. Now I know to stay away from anything that contains that flower.”

  “While I have you on the phone,” Moonbeam said, “there is something else I need to tell you.”

  A feeling of dread crept up Katie’s spine. “What’s that?”

  “I dreamed last night that you were in a mansion,” she began.

  “Oh.” Katie expelled a breath of relief. “That doesn’t seem so bad.”

  “But it was—you were being pursued by Jamie Siefert’s killer.”

  Katie was still pondering the significance of Moonbeam’s dream when Luther Stapleton returned her call.

  “Hello, Ms. Bonner. I’m guessing either you or your friend have questions about our wedding packages.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Stapleton, but that’s not why I called you.” She decided in for a penny, in for a pound. “I’m calling to ask you about Connor Davis.”

  Sharply inhaling, Stapleton asked, “Who told you I was acquainted with Connor Davis?”

  “I met Connor very recently—at a poker game, as a matter of fact.” This is where the seed of the idea Katie had upon awakening that morning began to sprout. “Connor seemed sad—like there was something…or someone…missing in his life. Upon learning that the two of you had dated, I thought you sounded like a perfectly matched couple. A conservatory administrator and the owner of a flourishing flower shop bonding over their mutual adoration of plants is utterly romantic.”

  Mr. Stapleton scoffed. “Connor’s shop could hardly be called flourishing. Floundering is more like it. I wish I had all the money I gave that man to sink into his business. Although now I suspect he didn’t put a dime of it into it at all. I believe he squandered all of it gambling.”

  “Oh, my goodness. That’s horrible,” Katie said. “I had no idea.”

  “No one ever does. Connor is charismatic and able to make people believe whatever he wants them to think. If Connor put you up to calling me on his behalf, you’ve wasted your time, Ms. Bonner.” He sighed. “It took me long enough, but I finally saw Connor for who he truly is—a manipulative user.”

  “I assure you, Mr. Stapleton, Connor didn’t ask me to contact you. He doesn’t even know I’m talking with you. It’s just that the man struck me as being so sad and—” She broke off. “I’m terribly sorry for calling. I’ve made a dreadful mistake.”

  “That’s all right.”

  Katie could tell from the tone of Stapleton’s voice that it was definitely not all right.

  “I won’t take any more of your time,” she said, “but I do want you to know that I passed the conservatory’s wedding information along to my friend Rose, who will likely be getting married soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  They ended their conversation, and Katie was satisfied that she got the information she wanted. Connor had an excellent reason for partnering with Jamie to cheat at poker; either his business really was suffering, or he’d merely used that excuse to induce his partner into giving him money.

  As an attorney, Seth had connections all around the area. Could he find out if Connor’s business was, in fact, struggling financially? Katie dialed his office number and was surprised that she was able to reach him right away.

  “Hi, Katie,” he said. “I heard about your allergy scare last night. Is everything all right now?”

  “Yes. I’m feeling much better.”

  “You’re not calling to start civil proceedings against Moonbeam Carruthers, are you?” he teased.

  “Of course not. She can’t help that I had a reaction with hibiscus. I didn’t even know it myself.” She took a deep breath. “But you’re aren’t going to be happy about why I am calling you.”

  “What’s wrong?” The light tone had been immediately replaced by a serious timbre.

  “I think I know who Jamie’s partner was on the night he won the money at the poker club downtown,” she said.

  “You’re telling me you believe Jamie cheated.”

  “Uh, no.” She chose her words carefully. “Not definitively. He might have cheated because he was so desperate to give you—”

  “Cut the crap and give it to me straight,” he interrupted.

  Katie blew out a breath. “Okay. I believe that if Jamie did, in fact, cheat, then he likely did so with Connor Davis,” Katie said.

  “Connor Davis? He was at the funeral.”

  “He was. Anyway, Connor has a flower shop—I visited it the other day. Until recently he was dating a man named Luther Stapleton, who said he put up a lot of money for Connor’s failing business. Mr. Stapleton later learned that Connor was a gambler and suspects he frittered away the cash meant to go into the business.”

  “And you’re telling me this because—?”

  “Because, as an attorney, I was hoping you could ask around to see if the flower shop’s financial affairs are messed up,” Katie said. “If it’s doing well, then maybe Connor wasn’t Jamie’s partner—if Jamie did, in fact, have one. If it’s tanking….” She let the sentence hang.

  “Do you think Connor Davis killed Jamie?” Seth asked.

  “I doubt it. If he and Jamie worked together to strengthen Jamie’s chances of winning—” She was proud of herself for finding a way not to avoid using the word cheating. “—then he’d have wanted Jamie to stick around and pay him his share, right?”

  “I suppose. Still, if this man was working with Jamie on something I knew nothing about, I’ll want some answers from him.”

  “So will I,” Katie said.

  The pieces of this puzzle were starting to fit together, but it felt like the resolution was still elusive.

  Someone was responsible for Jamie Siefert’s death, and if it wasn’t Connor Davis … who else could it possibly be?

  Chapter 36

  No sooner had Katie hung up the phone than Rose rushed into her office without knocking. “Come quickly! We have a situation!”

  Katie groaned. “Now what?”

  Not taking time to answer, Rose darted into the vendors’ lounge and out the back door onto the south parking lot. Katie followed Rose to where Vance was lumbering toward them carrying a large cardboard carton—a carton that seemed to be moving…and Katie heard whimpering.

  “What’s in there?” Katie asked Rose.

  Before Rose could tell her, Vance said, “Open the door, please. It’s cold out here. We need to get them inside.”

  “Them?” Katie’s eyes flew from Vance to Rose and back to Vance. “What are they, and how many are there?”

  She’d barely gotten the question out before a fluffy head with adorable brown eyes poked out over the top of the box. Both Vance and Rose ignored Katie’s questions as Rose hurried to hold open the door so Vance could take the box of what were obviously puppies inside. Katie followed them into the vendors’ lounge where Vance placed the box onto the floor.

  Not again, Katie thought. It seemed like every few weeks someone drove up and
dumped a litter of kittens or puppies—sometimes leaving the moms, but usually just the helpless babies.

  “I suppose as far as emergencies go, it could have been worse,” Katie mused. “Where did you find them this time?”

  “By the abandoned warehouse,” Vance said.

  “But now what?” Rose asked.

  Katie shrugged. “I’ll call the animal shelter and see if they’ll take them—”

  “No!” Rose interrupted her. “We can’t do that! They’re so small and helpless.”

  Katie sighed. “Right. And the animal shelter will be able to do much more for them than we can. That’s what they’re there for, after all.”

  “Katie has a valid point, Rose,” Vance said.

  Rose refused to budge. “No. I don’t want these sweet babies to go to any old homes. I want to know they’re going to people who are responsible pet owners who’ll take care of them.” She picked up one of the puppies and nestled it beneath her chin. “Don’t just stand there, you two. Give somebody some love.”

  In the two years Katie had known Rose, she’d never spoken about her love of animals, so her fervent pleas were totally unexpected.

  Vance was the first to cave. He plucked a puppy out of the box and laughed when it licked his chin. “Rose is right. I’d also like to know these puppies will be placed in loving hands.”

  “Fine.” Katie looked into the box of cute, roly-poly, tail-wagging balls of fluff. She bent and picked one up, smiling at the grunting sounds it made. It was white with brown-and-black markings. They looked like mutts—adorable, but mutts just the same. “How old do you think they are?”

  “They look to be about eight to ten weeks old to me,” Vance said. Was he experienced enough to know or was he taking a good guess?

  Apparently feeling as though holding one wasn’t enough, Rose bent and picked up another of the two remaining puppies in the box. Separated from all its siblings now, the loner began to cry.

  “Ah, now, we can’t have that.” Vance picked up the remaining pup.

  Katie felt certain someone was about to get peed on, but she didn’t say so. She heard bickering female voices approaching; but before she could turn to see who was there, the voices went from grumbling to squealing with delight.

  Sasha and Sadie Davenport rushed over to the group.

  “Oh, my gosh! They’re so sweet!” Sadie gushed.

  Rose handed her one of the puppies. “They’re precious.”

  “Here, Sasha,” Vance said. “We can’t leave you out.”

  Sasha eagerly took the pup Vance held out to her. “Where did they come from?”

  “Vance found them abandoned outside the warehouse out back,” Rose said.

  “You know, they could belong to someone,” Katie said. “Maybe their owner simply left them there for a little while to—” She stopped speaking when everyone else gave her an oh, come on look.

  “Can we have one?” Sadie asked excitedly.

  “That’s up to your dad,” Katie said. “Plus, I want to take them to a veterinarian and have them checked out first before anyone commits to taking them.”

  “We’ll go ask him right now,” Sasha said.

  “Wait.” Katie’s voice stopped the girls in their tracks. “Why aren’t you two in school?”

  “It’s a teacher conference day,” Sadie said, rolling her eyes as though that knowledge should have been self-evident. “We were bored over at Dad’s shop. Besides, Christmas is coming and this is the best place to shop on the Square.”

  Katie wasn’t above relishing the feeling of pride that enveloped her.

  As the girls still carried puppies, Katie called, “Bring them back as soon as you can. I’m going to call the vet up on Main Street to see if they can work them in.”

  Sasha grinned at her sister. “We’ll go with you and help.”

  Katie said nothing. She realized that if she refused to allow the girls to accompany her to a vet’s office—provided they could see the puppies that day—she’d only be acting peevish and self-sabotaging. How could she keep her mind on driving if she had to worry about five wriggling puppies in her backseat? Of course, she wasn’t sure five puppies and two teenage girls would be much better.

  “I want one of those pups,” Rose said. “I’ll help you pay the vet’s bill.”

  “I wouldn’t mind having one, either,” Vance said. “I’ll call Janie and see what she and VJ would think about my bringing home one of these critters. It’s been almost two years since we lost our beagle, Babycakes. We’re due.”

  Rose tittered. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot I’m part of a couple now. I should probably run the idea of having a dog past Walter as well, since we’ve been discussing our future together.”

  Katie inwardly balked at Rose feeling the need to run anything by a man she’d only known for a few weeks, but she held her tongue. She returned the puppy she was holding to the box. “I need to make that call.”

  Vance and Rose reluctantly returned their puppies to the box as well. While the three fluff-balls were looking up at them, Katie snapped a photo using the phone on her camera. She sent the photo to Seth. After all, he’d indicated an interest in adopting.…

  As an afterthought, she sent the photo to Nick, as well. These weren’t children, per se, but a puppy was still a little bundle of joy. Maybe he and Don would decide to adopt one as well.

  Sitting at a table near the box, Katie started by calling Mason and Della’s vet. Unfortunately, they were booked solid, so she did an internet search for veterinarians nearby, and after a couple of calls, found one who had a cancellation in nearby Greece and who would see the puppies if Katie could bring them right away. Katie said she’d be there as soon as possible.

  She was getting ready to text Ray to have him send the girls back with the puppies when Nick burst through the door.

  “Ahhhhh! Let me see! Let me see!” Picking up one dog wasn’t enough for Nick Ferrell. Oh, no. He had to sit on the floor by the box and pull them all out onto his lap.

  Katie laughed and snapped a photo to send to Don. Nick looked like an ecstatic child sitting there with the three canines crawling all over him.

  “I want them all!” Nick cried.

  “Well, you’re going to have to fight Rose and Vance—and maybe the Davenport girls,” Katie said.

  “Who’s going to fight us?” Sadie asked as she and Sasha returned with their puppies.

  “There are more?” Nick held out his arms. “Add them to the pile!”

  “No!” Sasha said. “This one is ours! Or, at least, one of them is. Daddy said we can only have one.”

  “But he did say we can maybe foster them until they find homes,” Sadie added.

  “I also sent the photo to Seth,” Katie told Nick. “So, here’s hoping he might want one, too.”

  “Well, I suppose I can get by with one,” Nick said. “That is if Seth doesn’t want one of them.”

  “You guys will have to work everything out among yourselves.” Katie began putting the puppies back in the box. “I have to take these wild things to the vet to have them checked out.”

  “Do you need me to go and help you?” Nick asked.

  “No,” Sasha said with authority. “Sadie and I are going.” The girl was already feeling proprietary about the puppies.

  “Great.” Nick grinned. “I’m going home and sweet-talk Don. I want a full report on the little angels when you get back.”

  Katie grabbed her jacket and purse before enlisting help to carry the box of puppies to her car. Sasha and Sadie volunteered to sit in the backseat with the dogs. Katie felt she should’ve probably rechecked with Ray before leaving the Square with his girls, but they’d said they had his permission, and she didn’t want to appear to be undermining them—or seeking an excuse to speak with their father, either.

  When they arrived at the vet’s office, Katie staggered under the weight of the box and Sasha opened the door.

  Counting fluffy heads to make sure no one had esc
aped the box and was still in the car, Katie announced to the receptionist, “I’m Katie Bonner. I called about the puppies we found.”

  “Yes, Ms. Bonner.” The woman got up from behind the desk. “Right this way.”

  As Katie turned, she saw Gina Solero sitting in the waiting room with her standard black poodle. “Gina…”

  Giving her a tight smile that didn’t make it to her eyes, Gina said, “Katie. It’s so nice to see you again.”

  Chapter 37

  On the drive back to Victoria Square, Sadie and Sasha continued to ooh and aah over the puppies while Katie silently pondered Gina’s reaction to seeing her at the vet. The woman had not only expressed any surprise at seeing Katie burst into her veterinarian’s office, but she hadn’t seemed fazed at Katie’s announcement of her name.

  Who’d told Gina the truth? Jimmy? Phyllis? Connor? Ted, the card dealer? Or had Gina known all along, just as Phyllis had?

  Katie had gone into the exam room and hadn’t seen Gina when she came back out. She’d been relieved. What could she possibly have said to Gina that might’ve explained her ruse or made things all right between the two of them?

  She became aware of the girls speaking to her from the backseat. “I’m sorry—what was that?” she asked, glancing up at the rearview mirror.

  Giving an exaggerated eye roll at Katie’s lack of attention, Sasha said, “I asked if we could stop at a pet store. The puppies need food and stuff.”

  “Yeah,” Sadie said. “You can tell the poor little things are starving.”

  “Of course.” The puppies didn’t look malnourished to Katie, nor did they to the vet they’d seen only minutes ago. But the girls were right—they did need food.

  At the pet shop, the girls protested that the puppies not only needed food, but they also needed toys—one for each puppy, duh—collars, treats, and beds. Katie managed to convince them that one big box with a blanket on the bottom would be enough for now.

  “After all, they need to stay close to each other for a while,” she said.