He snorted. Refusing to let go of Esmerelda, he licked her underside with big broad strokes. Johanna stood up and padded over to the pair. “Rocky, I mean it. Let her go!”
Johanna had to use all of her might to lift Rocky’s front paws, and the minute she did, Esmerelda escaped his clutches and ran directly for the Christmas tree, scampering up its branches.
“Essy, no!” Johanna and Whitley screamed in unison, though no one could hear Whitley’s voice but Johanna.
Rocky leapt over Henry and Lex’s heads and onto the coffee table, and then in one more leap he was flying towards the Christmas tree.
“No, Rocky!” Johanna felt the words come out of her mouth in slow motion as she tried to stop him from hitting the tree with his clumsy paws, but it was too late.
As he lunged, his paws caught hold of the branches and tugged them down, and in one fell swoop, the tree was on its side with a blistering thud.
Johanna hugged her sister tightly. “Tell everyone again how sorry I am,” she begged.
“They know it’s not your fault, JoJo. I don’t understand why you’re running off,” said Melissa.
Johanna couldn’t tell her sister the truth. That as naughty as he’d been, Johanna was thankful that Rocky had created the diversion that he had. It had given her the perfect reason to make a hasty exit. “I’m just so embarrassed,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She was embarrassed about Rocky’s behavior, but she was also glad to be leaving. She was tired of answering questions about her social life. “I’ll see you all on Christmas.”
“I’m picking you up, right?”
“I don’t know, Mook. If Maureen’s going to be riding with you, there might not be room for Rocky and me in your van.”
“We can make room!” said Melissa. “I’ll strap a kid to the roof.” She smiled as she leaned against the door frame.
“As much as that sounds like fun for Lex and Henry, I think I’ll have to insist that they stay in the car,” said Johanna with a forced chuckle. “I think I’ll just get there on my own. I’ll take a cab or something.”
“That’s gonna cost you a bundle,” argued Melissa. “Just ride with us.”
“We can talk about it later,” said Johanna. She leaned over to scoop Esmerelda up from the front step and hoisted her back up on her shoulder. “Listen, Mook, I gotta get the kids home. I think their bad behavior is an indication of just how tired they are. You’ve got kids, you understand how that goes.”
Melissa lifted her brows and sighed. “Yeah, I get it.”
Johanna stepped down the concrete front steps towards the curb, where a cab was waiting for her.
“You should have just let me have Kevin drive you home.”
Johanna waved a hand at her. “Nah, a cab’s fine.”
“Hey,” shouted Melissa, pulling the door shut behind her. “I know that Dad dating again is kind of a big shock to you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I probably should have, but I felt like it wasn’t my place.”
Johanna swallowed hard. “It would have been nice to know sooner,” was all she could manage to spit out.
“I know.”
Johanna began to walk away.
“He was really depressed, you know,” Melissa called out.
Johanna turned around. “What?”
“Dad. He was really depressed before he met Mo.”
“He didn’t seem depressed to me.”
“You don’t visit as often as I do. You didn’t see it,” said Melissa. “He wasn’t dating because he knew you weren’t ready.”
Johanna put a hand to her chest. “Because of me?”
Melissa nodded. “It would be good for him to see you happy.”
“I am happy,” whispered Johanna. It was a mostly true statement.
“Then bring Mitchell to Uncle Jack’s.”
“Mook, I—”
“He won’t commit to her until he knows you’re in a good place. He’s sixty-three, JoJo. He runs around this big old house alone. Don’t you want him to get remarried and be happy again?”
“Well, yeah, I mean, someday…”
“Mo’s a great gal. You’d like her if you gave her a chance. Dad would be lucky to get to spend the rest of his life with her, and we’d be lucky to have her for a stepmom.”
“I’m sure she’s lovely…”
“Don’t mess this up for him, okay?”
“Mess it up?”
“All I’m saying is, it would help everyone a lot if you brought the guy.”
“But…”
Melissa rushed down off the stoop and threw her arms around her sister. “I love you, JoJo.”
Johanna squeezed her eyes shut as she hugged Melissa tightly. “I love you too, Mook.”
13
Esmerelda lay on her side on the hardwood floor of Johanna’s apartment. A solid stream of sunlight poured in from the window, warming her as she bathed herself while everyone else slept.
Things had changed for Esmerelda when she’d become a cat. She was no longer able to wear makeup, and she didn’t get to curl her hair or wear pretty clothes anymore. All she got was a body full of thick grey hair that knotted and clumped if it wasn’t taken care of properly. She’d quickly learned that fact after her first few days on a dirt road in her new body. But after observing some wrong-side-of-the-track street cats, she’d learned how to groom herself in the way that felines did.
Bathing wasn’t a task Esmerelda enjoyed. In fact, she found it downright humiliating and disgusting that she had to lick her own body in order to clean it, but she had no choice. Up until recently, there had been no one else willing to do it. And now that she lived in close quarters with someone who was willing to lick her—frequently, in fact—she discovered that that wasn’t any better. The live-in slobber guru had the worst breath she’d ever smelled. It was a combination of rotten garbage and bacon bits and made her fur smell like that of a long-deceased dead animal. It nauseated her to have to clean herself up after Rocky had had his way with her, but she couldn’t very well be known as the “stinky cat.” Whitley would never let her live that down.
The oversized bucket of slime himself slept soundly in his king-sized doggy bed less than twelve feet away from Esmerelda. Well, as soundly as he could. Rocky had a snoring problem that, while utterly annoying and sleep-disruptive, was like Esmerelda’s alarm system. When the snoring stopped, she was on high alert. And since the snoring had ceased almost a half hour ago, she kept a watchful eye on him as she worked to clean herself, knowing full well that the minute he awoke, she’d have to go into hiding again to escape his unwelcome morning greeting.
“Good morning, Essy,” said Whitley from the sofa. “What time is it?”
“Like I know?” hissed Esmerelda from the floor, shooting a glance towards Rocky. “Be quiet. You’ll wake the beast.”
“Has Hanna come out of her room yet?”
“No.” Esmerelda stopped licking and sat upright. She preferred to do her bathing in private. It was rather uncomfortable and embarrassing to be caught licking her nether regions when her sister, or anyone else for that matter, was watching. “She came out and made a bowl of ramen noodles after you fell asleep last night, but she walked it right back into her room and shut the door. She didn’t even talk to what’s-his-name over there.”
Whitley sat up and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “I’m worried about her, Es. It’s been over twenty-four hours. I don’t think it’s healthy for her to lock herself away like that, is it?”
Esmerelda rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. All I know is that we need to get this mystery solved so we can move on to the next dress and get me out of this fur blanket.”
“Essy, it’s our job to help Hanna. We can’t just abandon her. She’s giving us a place to stay. You should be more grateful.”
“I’d be more grateful if she bought me something good to eat and kept her mutt away from me.”
“Maybe she’d do that if you were a littl
e bit nicer.”
“Good morning, girls,” sang Johanna as she threw open her bedroom door. She peered out the window at the sun, which had already defrosted the cityscape below. “Looks like it’s going to be a nice day!”
“Hanna!” exclaimed Whitley, “You’re up! Are you alright?”
Johanna smiled at her. “Of course I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Whitley cast a glance over at Esmerelda. She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. Because you stayed in your room all day yesterday? And because you lied and told your dad you had a boyfriend, and now he wants you to bring your nonexistent boyfriend over on Christmas Day to meet your whole family? And because you had a fiancé and he died? And because Essy and Rocky knocked over your family’s Christmas tree? And because your dad’s dating again, and he and your sister didn’t tell you?”
Johanna stared at Whitley.
“Smooth, Whit. Smooth,” snarked Esmerelda from the floor.
Whitley put a hand to her mouth. “Oops.”
Johanna padded towards the kitchen to pull a coffee mug from the cupboard. “It’s okay, Whit. I’ve had time to think about everything, and I’m alright.”
“You are?”
Johanna nodded her head as she put her cup underneath her one-cup coffeemaker, inserted a flavor pod, and punched a button on the machine. “Yes. I am. I came to a realization this morning.”
“A realization? What realization?” asked Whitley.
“I decided that things in my life took a turn for the worse when I met you two.”
“Thanks?” said Whitley uncomfortably.
Esmerelda let out a little chuckle.
“I don’t know that I mean that in a bad way, per se. I mean, Whit, you’re a sweet girl. Es, you’re a salty girl. Together you’re fine. Whatever, right? But the point is, from that point in time forward, my life sort of went into a tailspin. So, what I’ve decided is, we need to get this mystery solved so I can get the two of you out of my life and move on. I have a book that needs to be written by the end of the month or I won’t make my deadline. I’m setting a goal. I want this mystery solved by Christmas.”
“But that’s in a week!” breathed Whitley.
Johanna gave a perfunctory nod. “Yup! We’re going to have this mystery solved by Christmas. I’ve been pretty laid-back about it up until now, but from this point forward, we’re going balls to the wall.”
Whitley’s eyes widened. “Balls to the wall?”
“Yup. Starting today!” She scratched her head. “First, I’m going to go shower, then I’ll take Rocky out for his morning walk.”
“Wait, you’re going to shower today?” asked Whitley. “But you just showered yesterday.”
“I can’t shower every day?”
“Well, it’s just that we were under the impression that…” Whitley’s words trailed off.
Esmerelda looked at her with a snicker bubbling up inside her chest. “It’s just that we thought you were a gross human being who only showered in odd months.”
“Essy!”
“What?! It’s essentially what you were thinking!”
Whitley grimaced, but bit her lip.
“Oh, I’m not that bad. Yes, I’m a bit lax with my desire to shower, but that’s only because I never go anywhere or do anything. I used to shower every day when I actually left my apartment on a regular basis.”
“When was that?” asked Whitley.
“Oh, you know. There was a time. When James and I were dating, I took showers every day. And when I was in college. So anyway, I was thinking today, after my walk with Rocky, we should start interviewing some of Felicia’s family. You know, get a little intel, see what we can find out.”
Esmerelda glanced over at Rocky, who had heard his name. His ears perked up and he yawned. She prepared herself to move to higher ground.
“I think we should start with her fiancé. When people are killed, it’s always the spouse or the fiancé that did it, right?” said Whitley.
Johanna smiled at her. “My thought exactly!” She pulled her cup of coffee from the machine and gave it a stir.
“How about you and your newfound attitude hit me with a little milk before you go shower?” asked Esmerelda, who had leapt up on top of the kitchen table.
Johanna pulled open the fridge and extracted the carton. She poured Esmerelda a small saucer of milk and put it on the table. She glanced at the time on the clock above her table. “Oh gosh, I slept in longer than I realized. I better get moving. Nature’s gonna be calling Rocky soon.”
“We’re all going with you to the fiancé’s, right?” asked Esmerelda, lifting her head from the saucer to look at Johanna.
Johanna tipped her head sideways. “I’m sorry, Es, but no. Whit and I will go. Felicia’s fiancé is an engineer. They aren’t going to allow pets in an engineering office.”
Esmerelda knitted the whiskers over her eyes together. “You can’t be serious. You know how he treats me! I don’t want to be left alone with him!”
“I’ll put you in the bedroom while we’re gone, then.”
“I don’t want to be stuck in there all day, that’s not fair! Put him in the bedroom!”
Johanna looked at Rocky, who had just gotten out of bed to stand by her side. She scratched his ears. “He can’t be trapped in my bedroom all day either. He’ll freak out and eat all my stuff.”
“So I have to get locked in there? What am I supposed to do all day?”
Johanna shrugged. “Fine, I’ll put you in the hall, and you can find somewhere else to hang out all day.”
“But there’s no food in the hall!” Esmerelda protested. It was also cold in the hall. And scary, with weird people everywhere and random dogs and bad smells. Esmerelda screwed her face into a pout. “Fine. I’ll stay in your room.”
Johanna nodded with a smile. “Great! I’ll go get ready, then!”
Despite Whitley’s incessant chatter, Johanna was in her head as the duo walked from her apartment in Kip’s Bay to Mitchell Connelly’s engineering office in Midtown. Thinking ahead, Johanna had called Mr. Connelly’s office and verified with his assistant that he was in. Once she’d scheduled the appointment to see him, she’d felt her stomach do an immediate flip. She was going to have to talk to the almost-widower and figure out a way to explain to him that she was trying to solve Felicia Marshall’s murder. The thought was nauseating at best, and her first instinct had been to retreat, run, find someone else for the job. But as she’d told Whitley and Esmerelda that morning, the mystery needed to be solved in order for her to get her life back together. She and Rocky needed the solitude of an empty apartment again and for things to get back to normal so she could go back to hiding herself away from the world in peace and quiet.
“So, what are you going to say?” Whitley asked Johanna as she pulled open the tall building’s heavy glass doors.
Johanna didn’t know. She’d been running possibilities through her mind the entire way, but she had yet to settle on anything. “I don’t know. I guess honesty is the best policy. I’ll just tell him I’m researching his late fiancée’s murder, and I have a few questions for him.”
Whitley’s face grew serious as she stepped onto the elevator between Johanna and a broad-shouldered white-haired man in a dark suit. “You have to be careful. You don’t know anything about this guy.”
“I know, I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”
The man turned to look at Johanna curiously. “Excuse me?”
Johanna felt her cheeks heat up. “Oh, I was just talking to myself.”
The man turned his back to her without saying another word.
“And don’t talk to me in front of him. He’ll think you’re crazy,” whispered Whitley.
Johanna inhaled a deep breath as she stared at her distorted reflection in the elevator doors. Her heart felt like it was going to pound a hole through her chest. Talking to strangers already gave her anxiety, but this was different. This was more than just social anxiety. Witho
ut setting eyes on him, she could already feel this man’s pain, and she was scared she’d lose it. Deep breath, JoJo. You can do this. You’re a professional. You’ve got this. Her little internal pep talk did little to quell the queasiness in her stomach.
The elevator doors slid open with a ding. Johanna felt lightheaded as she stepped onto the eleventh floor with Whitley by her side. As they turned, the doors behind them closed, and when they did, Johanna paused briefly to collect herself. She inhaled a deep lungful of air and then exhaled it in little rapid bursts, like a pregnant woman in labor.
“Are you going to be alright? You don’t look so good.”
“I’ll be okay,” puffed Johanna, her hands shaking by her sides.
The glass doors to the engineering office loomed ahead at the end of a long hallway lined by waist-high wainscoting and a patterned designer rug. Johanna’s mouth went dry. They were really here. She turned around to retreat back into the elevator.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?”
“Home. I can’t do this. This is crazy. This poor man. He lost the woman he loved. He doesn’t want us dredging up old memories.” Johanna wrung out her hands.
“You don’t think he would want to know the truth behind Felicia’s murder?”
“What truth? We don’t know anything other than the truth he already knows.”
Johanna glanced over her shoulder at the engineering offices. Through the glass door, she could see a heavyset young man with a man bun flipping through a magazine at the desk. Their eyes met momentarily. Johanna turned her back to him. “I can’t do this.”
“You can do this. There is a mystical force at work here, Hanna. It wants us to figure out what really happened to Felicia Marshall. It’s drawing us to this man. You can’t quit now.”
“What am I supposed to say to him?”
Whitley took Johanna’s hands in hers. “Honesty is the best policy, remember?”
Johanna let out a breath and nodded. “Right.”
Together they turned and walked to the end of the hallway. Johanna pulled the door open and let Whitley go in first. The man at the counter looked up from his magazine. “Hello. Do you have an appointment?”
Snow Cold Case_A Mystic Snow Globe Romantic Mystery Page 10
