Paws For Death

by Susan Union

  “Bring him inside.” Andrew nodded. “Long as he doesn’t make a mess.”

  Shane wasn’t in the habit of making messes. Hopefully this afternoon wouldn’t be the exception. Randi went through the door, pulling her reluctant dog behind her. Unfamiliar closed-in spaces made him nervous.

  Celery green carpet ran the length of the motorhome, from the matching velour captain’s chairs to the bedroom in the rear.

  Randi always wanted to have a camper to tour the highways, writing articles about horses on her laptop. The Mounties in Canada, mustangs in the Southwest, the hunter-jumper circuit in Florida—whichever way the wind blew. Her, Shane, her old Gibson guitar, and an endless supply of Negra Modelo and limes in the fridge. The ultimate freedom.

  “Pull that door closed behind you, dear,” Valerie said, the second before it banged into Randi’s heels.

  Still in their matching crisp red, white and blue shirts, Valerie and Andrew sat like everything hurt.

  “Care for a drink?” Valerie’s drawl made it hard to tell if she was drunk or southern. Perhaps she was both. “Help yourself.” She motioned toward the countertop and the rows of liquor bottles lining the back.

  Randi noted the time: Three-twenty. “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

  “I usually make margaritas about now…” Valerie trailed off. “Gina likes—liked, that is—hers on the rocks. With salt. She was here every morning for coffee and every afternoon for happy hour.”

  White wine sat on the table and margarita glasses cluttered the sink. Andrew filled a tumbler with ice and some sort of clear liquid. A pack of Camels lay next to the window.

  Shane tugged at the leash, nose buried beneath the driver’s chair, sniffing like he’d just found the Holy Grail. Randi pulled him away and put him in a down-stay on the platform between the two front chairs. His shepherd half would obey without question. The husky in him would analyze the situation to see if he could come up with an alternative that would better suit his needs. Fifty-fifty chance he’d do as he was told. She gave him her most loving warning glare.

  Andrew tossed Shane a biscuit, which he caught like a seal at Sea World. “Nice looking dog.” Andrew slid toward the window and patted the cushion beside him. “Have a seat.”

  Andrew was a big man and didn’t leave much room, but she was too tired to stand or argue. She slid in beside him, facing her mother and Valerie in the opposite booth.

  Andrew stared out the window, twirling the pack of Camels with blunt fingertips. His close-cropped hair made it hard to discern the blond from the grey, but from the mild wear and tear on his face, Randi guessed he was in his fifties. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Andrew nodded. “Thanks.”

  “Were you and Gina close?”

  “Of course. She was my sister.”

  Valerie slugged her wine. “Not blood related.”

  “What difference does that make?” Andrew scowled. “What Valerie means, is I was adopted.” He jerked his neck to the side, resulting in a loud crack.

  “Tell the girl the story, Andrew.”

  “She didn’t ask.”

  “Tell her anyway.”

  Andrew removed a cigarette but didn’t light up. “My parents weren’t able to conceive, so they took me in at six weeks. Five years later we left L.A. and moved to Oklahoma City. Gina was born ten months after we unpacked. My mother said it was all the fertilizer in the air. End of story.” He shot Valerie a look, daring her to contradict him.

  Nobody spoke until her mother nudged her foot under the table. “How’s the filly, hon? Luke told us why you left without saying goodbye.”

  “She’s okay, thank goodness.” She felt uncomfortable talking about the horse. The filly was alive and Gina wasn’t, but the three of them stared expectantly. “I finally calmed down the owner. The cuts weren’t life threatening, but there was enough blood inside the trailer to make it look like her horse had been attacked by Freddy Kruger.”

  Valerie’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, dear.”

  “It’s okay. The horse will be stiff for a while and have some bad memories, but hopefully that’ll be it. I showed the woman how to wrap her legs to protect them next time and gave her some Ace for the ride home.”

  Valerie cocked her head. “Ace?”

  “Acepromazine.” Andrew gulped his drink. “Tranquilizers.”

  Valerie leaned over the table. “Wouldn’t that make the horse fall down in the trailer?”

  “I gave her a small dose. Kind of like stopping by the airport bar for a quick one before getting on the plane, and I followed them home to make sure there were no more mishaps. That’s what took so long. The owner didn’t want me to go till the filly was tucked into her stall.” The image of the horse stabled safe and sound triggered a thought. “Where’s Zoom?”

  Valerie’s eyes narrowed. “Last I saw, Steve Copeland had him.”

  Her mother spluttered, coughing up wine. “Sorry. Wrong pipe.”

  “Who’s Steve Copeland?”

  Her mother dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Another competitor.”

  “And your sometime dog trainer,” Valerie added.

  “Is that true, Mom?”

  “Well…uh…yeah.”

  “I remember now. The other guy going for the spot on the team. Why does he have Gina’s dog?”

  Andrew took another long pull of his drink. “The prick looked like he’d just bagged an elephant when he found out he’d won by default. And he thinks he’s just going to waltz in and take my sister’s dog?” Andrew’s lip got stuck on his teeth for a second. “Over my dead body.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Valerie cleared her throat. “Copeland and Gina both wanted the remaining spot on the U.S. team more than anything. A crowning jewel in their cap. Today’s results were going to speak for themselves.” She pushed her empty glass to the edge of the table. “Lee Ann, would you mind?”

  Her mother leaned across the aisle to grab the wine from the counter. The hum of the refrigerator was punctuated by the clink of wineglasses and a fat pop as the stopper came out of the bottle.

  The sun flashed through the window. Randi shifted in her seat to avoid the glare. Why were they sitting on their butts, drinking in the middle of the afternoon? Seemed like they should be out asking questions. “Let’s go look for Zoom.” Better than being lumps and doing nothing, she wanted to say. “When I saw him in the arena, afterward, he was clearly upset. He needs his family.” Whoever that was.

  Her mother shook her head and helped herself to another slug of wine. “I’m not ready. Give me a few more minutes.”

  Randi swallowed her irritation and turned to Valerie. “Was Gina in good health? I mean, as far as you all knew?”

  “Well, sure. We’ve been traveling with her for what, Andrew? Six months now?” She didn’t wait for his response. “Since Christmas. That’s when we decided it’d be okay to leave our son, Dusty, in charge of the business.”

  Andrew coughed. “You couldn’t stop Gina from running around with that dog. If she wasn’t competing, she was practicing obstacles or reading training books.” He cracked his knuckles and stared at the ceiling. “Know what I’m thinking?”

  Valerie raised her glass. Her teeth clanked the rim. She set it down without taking a drink. “You’re thinking Mel had something to do with this.”

  A breeze brought the smell of diesel and grilling meat through the window.

  “Who’s Mel?”

  “Tell them, Andrew.”

  “All right.” His eyebrows formed sharp peaks. “Hold your horses before you jump all over my case.”

  Valerie frowned but sat back.

  “There’s a girl. Her name is Mel.”

  Valerie leaned forward. “Gina had recently called it off, keep in mind.”

  Her mother squared her shoulders. “Called what off?”

  “Their relationship.” Valerie put a hand on her mother’s arm. “Don’t feel bad you didn’t know. Most peop
le didn’t.”

  Her mother burped, soft, close-mouthed. “Good Lord, I feel so stupid.”

  Randi propped a fist beneath her chin. Another woman? One story she’d never heard Gina tell. “What happened?”

  “We’re not really sure, but Mel was crazy upset when Gina broke up with her. She’s younger. Has one of those eyebrow piercings.” Valerie pinched the flesh above her eye to demonstrate.

  Andrew swirled his ice cubes with his finger. “Gina was normal before she came along.” He glowered into his glass.

  “It’s a shame.” Valerie clucked. “The ordeal created a huge custody problem.”

  “They had a kid?” Lee Ann squeaked, eyes wide.

  Valerie smiled. “They had Zoom, but you can’t divide a dog like a bank account, can you? I know people who split time with a pet, you know, a week on, a week off, like you do with kids, but in this case, Gina ended up with sole custody of Zoom. Court order.”

  “As it should be,” Andrew said.

  “Where’s Mel now?”

  “Up the coast, not far, right Andrew? House-sitting while her sister’s in Europe.”

  “Can we talk to her?”

  Andrew stiffened. “What for? The woman’s a witch.” He pushed his shoulder into Randi like he wanted to get up. She leaned her hands against the table in preparation to stand when the window exploded. Glass shattered and wine flew in all directions. A rock skidded across the table, bounced off a cabinet and ricocheted down the hall, rolling to a stop at the foot of Andrew and Valerie’s bed.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jojo sat on her mother’s lap in the passenger seat, as perky as ever. “Poor thing’s traumatized. Did you see her jump when that rock flew through the window?”

  Randi stuck the key in the ignition. “We all jumped.”

  “Yeah, but it whizzed right past Jojo’s head. Another inch or two and she’d have been a goner. What a mess. All that glass. Wine everywhere.” Her mother cupped her hand and filled her palm with bottled water. The majority of it trickled through her fingers and onto the floor mats. Jojo licked the remnants.

  “I don’t think the rock was meant for Jojo, Mom. Probably kids goofing off, daring each other to do stupid things.”

  “The only children I saw today have four legs and a tendency to drool.” Her mother rolled the window down and buckled up but left Jojo on her lap. Ironically, the horror of the day’s events seemed to have loosened her rules on the whole doggie seat belt harness contraption. “Andrew said when he ran outside he saw somebody, a woman he thinks, duck between the neighboring motorhomes. He almost caught up, but he or she got away.”

  “The mysterious Mel?”

  “Could be. I think we need to find out more about her, don’t you?”

  Randi fired up the truck. “What for?”

  “Turns out I didn’t know Gina as well as I thought I did. Bisexual? That’s a hard pill to swallow. She’s gone. I can’t just ask her, but I’ve gotta know, hon. I want to feel what it was like to live in her shoes right up until the moment she died.”

  Seemed like an odd thing to desire, but if her best friend, Kira, collapsed and died with no warning, Randi would embark on the same journey. “Here’s something else you might find interesting. While you and Valerie were cleaning up the mess and Andrew was outside, I checked out the so-called rock.”

  “And?”

  “It was actually a chunk of rose quartz.”

  “So?” her mother asked.

  “I had a friend in high school who collected the stuff. She thought it had magical powers.”

  “Did it?”

  “Maybe. She married a rich doctor. Lives in Aspen now.”

  “No guarantees, Miranda. Remember that. Those who marry for money—”

  “Usually end up earning it,” Randi finished the saying she must have heard a hundred times in her youth. “The point is, a piece of rose quartz that big isn’t something you’d likely find just lying around.”

  ****

  Hot air blasted from the dashboard. The truck had been sitting long enough to soak up all the afternoon sun. Her mother snapped the vents closed. “Let’s go home. My Xanax is in my suitcase.”

  “Not yet. I’ve got an idea.” Randi made a U-turn.

  “Where’re you going?”

  “To find this Copeland guy. I think we should bring Zoom home with us.”

  Her mother stared out the window and didn’t respond.

  Randi let the truck roll along at a snail’s pace. Her mother was acting strange, but who could blame her? Gina had just dropped dead, for no apparent reason. “I was wondering—if Gina didn’t bunk with Andrew and Valerie, where’d she and Zoom stay?”

  Lee Ann didn’t shift her gaze from the window. “On a mattress in the bed of Gina’s truck. It has a camper shell on it.”

  “Really? What about potty stops?”

  “I don’t know, honey.”

  “She couldn’t afford a hotel? There’re plenty of them around that take dogs.”

  Lee Ann shrugged. “Gina must have liked it that way. She didn’t have to worry about money.”

  “Why not? Her parents?”

  “Yes, though I’m sure she would’ve given the money up in a nanosecond if she thought it would bring them back.” She sat up straight. “Hold it. That’s Steve’s car.”

  Near the end of the line of cars, the sun glinted off a Lincoln Navigator’s pristine black paint, shiny chrome rims and a Texas plate that read, GOBLAST. Randi pulled in next to it and leaned up against the steering wheel to get a better look. “Nice ride. Flashy. Can’t see through the tinted front windows though. That’ll get you a ticket here in California.”

  She jumped out and cupped her face to the Navigator’s glass. Nothing but a gym bag and some paper grocery sacks inside. Stuff anyone might have, but a creeping feeling was making her too curious about Steve Copeland to leave him alone. She spun on her heels. “Everybody out of the truck. The guy’s got to be here somewhere.”

  “Honey, I really want to go home.”

  “Mom, think of it this way, if something happened to you, I would never let Jojo be hauled away by a stranger. I’d make sure she was safe and taken care of. Isn’t that what you’d want?”

  Her mother squeezed Jojo tight to her chest. “I’m just saying, Andrew might have better luck than we would.”

  “What it is about this Copeland character? Every time someone mentions his name, you get all squirrely.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. He just makes me uncomfortable.”

  “Uncomfortable how?”

  “I can’t explain.”

  “Maybe you should get a new dog trainer.”

  Lee Ann shook her head. “No way. Steve’s the best.”

  “I give up then. You coming with me to look for Zoom?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  ****

  Truck locked, dogs leashed, Shane forged ahead, ears perked, tail wagging, much more eager than he’d been this morning. Perhaps he was getting used to having a papillon for a sidekick.

  People and dogs scrambled every which way. Gina might have been a major celebrity among canine enthusiasts, but the atmosphere of the fairgrounds said nothing about her sudden demise. Life went on and so did the competition.

  Randi trailed her mother past booths on either side of them, selling every type of dog paraphernalia known to man. “I assume you’re keeping an eye out for Copeland since you’re the one who knows what he looks like.”

  Her mother hung a left, zigzagging along an ice plant-covered embankment sloping toward the uncovered rings south of the grandstand arena. Halfway down the dirt switchbacks, she slowed and wrapped her arms around her waist. Her shoulders twitched and tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “You okay, Mom?”

  “No. I’m not. Every time I look at the grandstand, I see those people covering Gina up and hauling her away. I can’t believe I’ll never hear her voice again, never be able to laugh and share stories wit
h her. I didn’t even get to say hello this morning. She had no idea I’d come to see her.”

  Before the divorce, the burden of cheering her mother up had always fallen on Randi, what with her father jumping into the bottle every time her mother was sad. Old habits died hard.

  “Remember when Gina used to pick me up from high school? She’d pull up to the curb and lay on that horn of hers that sounded like a horse whinny, with all my friends watching. I know she wasn’t trying to embarrass me, but it made me want to crawl under a rock.”

  Her mother dug through her purse, removed a tissue, wiped her tears and blew her nose. “How about the time she put a pie on top of her car in the grocery store parking lot, forgot about it and drove away. When she saw it airborne in the rearview mirror, she stopped her car, picked the pie up off the pavement and served it to her guests that night with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.”

  “And the time she made bread and left the loaf on the counter to rise? Her wiener dog ate it, and when Gina came home he had a full-on balloon belly. She had to take him to the vet for emergency surgery.”

  Her mother smiled and squared her shoulders. Mission cheer-up accomplished. “Check out the agility ring in front of us. There’s a class going on. Maybe Steve and Blast are entered.”

  At the grass arena, a golden retriever slalomed through the weave poles, while in an adjacent ring a sheltie pranced across the suspended bridge of the dog-walk. The dogs were beautiful and cute, respectively, but the performances were nothing like the show Zoom and Gina had put on. Not even close.

  “See him?”

  Her mother shielded her eyes. “No.”

  “You sure?”

  “He’s fairly obvious.”

  “Okay. Now what?”

  A lanky woman with dark freckles covering her arms and face, holding a liver-spotted Dalmatian at the end of her leash, stopped at a nearby spigot and pulled out a portable dog bowl.

  Randi made her way over. “Excuse me. Do you know where we can find Steve Copeland?”

  “Haven’t seen him.” Without making eye contact, the woman cranked on the faucet. A couple of teaspoons of liquid dribbled out then quit. “Crap.” She straightened, propping a hand on her hip. “Do you know where I can find some water? Dotty’s thirsty.”