Must Love Wieners

by Griffin, Casey

  Slipping his cell phone out of his pocket, Aiden turned the screen on and faced the light toward the ground. The gravel beneath their feet shone like it was littered with diamonds. It took a second for Piper’s eyes to adjust to the light. She kicked a glittering piece and realized what they were seeing: broken glass.

  Aiden raised the light to Piper’s passenger window, which sported a gaping hole. But that wasn’t all. Spray-painted in white across the entire side of her poppy red “classic” car was the word Floozy.

  “Laura.” She clenched her teeth. “Who even says ‘floozy’ anymore?”

  “Maybe she got bored of the usual.”

  Reaching past Aiden, Piper wrenched open the door and saw more glass spread over the interior, the console, the floor, the seat. It felt surreal, like they’d gotten the wrong car. This couldn’t possibly be hers. But it was.

  “Can I see your phone?”

  With a shaking hand, she reached back over her shoulder. Aiden passed his phone to her and she aimed the light around the cramped interior. She had a lot of crap in there, bits and pieces of telegram costumes, textbooks, evidence of her Starbucks obsession. But none of it had been touched. Her purse was still lying behind the driver’s seat. Except … she checked her console again.

  “Did she take anything?” Aiden asked.

  “Yeah. I grabbed my mail on the way out of my apartment this morning. There was a letter—” She caught herself before she said any more. It had in fact been a notice from her cable company, saying if she didn’t pay her bill they’d turn it off. “Err, yeah. Just junk mail.”

  His face turned grim. “It would have had your address on it.”

  “But Laura already knows where I live. She would have no reason to take my mail.”

  The phone’s light cast deep shadows on both of them. It made Aiden’s jaw seem sharper as it clenched. “Then obviously the arsonist’s not done playing with us.”

  Piper froze in her search. She’d assumed it was Laura because of the less than original message. But what if it was worse? Maybe she wasn’t the only one who stopped by.

  She recalled Inspector Samuels’s words from the night before. He’ll go to any lengths to get you out of this neighborhood.

  Swearing, she slammed the car door, watching the rest of her window disintegrate to the ground. She may have come face-to-face with the arsonist the night before. Had fought for her life and for her precious guests. But this was something different. This felt a little too close to home.

  “It looks like it just got personal.”

  26

  Hounded

  The little ball of fur lolled sleepily in Piper’s hand. She chuckled at the fur on his belly and around his chest. In order to stitch the little hamster up, she’d shaved the fur—butchered, more like it. Now he reminded her of A Flock of Seagulls.

  She finished dabbing the last of the ointment over the stitched wound on Theodore Copenhagen II. “There we go, Teddy. That’s much better now, isn’t it?”

  He turned his glazed hamster eyes on her, looking a little doped up. You think this is bad? You should see the other guy.

  The other guy being a particularly playful Siamese who didn’t know his own strength. “Now don’t get into any more fights.”

  I can take him. Bring it on! He raised a tiny, clawed fist, but the effort sent him rolling onto his back, fat furry body sprawling out in Piper’s palm.

  She laughed. Dr. Fullerton, the primary vet at the veterinary hospital, was bent over her notebook on the stainless-steel table. She glanced up from her notes, looking over her glasses. “So? What’s the prognosis?”

  “Oh, he’s still got some fight left in him.”

  “Good.” She smiled, signing her name and closing his file. “Thanks for coming in today. I know it wasn’t your normal scheduled shift.”

  “No problem.” Sure, she had a million other things to worry about, but since she’d now completed the required clinical hours, it meant this was her last day.

  “Could you bring our patient back to his owner?” Dr. Fullerton asked.

  “Sure thing.”

  “I think it’s break time.” She glanced at the clock on the treatment room wall. It said 7:00 p.m. Slipping off her lab coat, she hung it over the back of a chair. “Your shift’s just about done. I’ll meet you in the back?”

  “You bet.”

  Piper grabbed Teddy’s painkillers from the cabinet and headed up to the reception area. “Watch out for Mr. Whiskers,” she said to him.

  There was only one person left in the waiting room. She was sitting with her back to Piper.

  “Here’s Teddy!” Piper called out.

  The woman turned around at the sound of her voice. Piper saw her face and she backed up until she hit the wall.

  “Laura.”

  Piper wondered if the SFAAC activist had come to taunt her some more. But then she saw the small cage on the seat next to her and realized she was Teddy’s owner.

  “What are you doing here?” Piper asked.

  Laura’s mouth had fallen open. It snapped shut and she scowled across the room. “For my injured pet, obviously.” She took a step forward. “Now give him to me.”

  But Piper cradled the hamster protectively. Crazy scenarios ran through her mind. Considering everything that had happened recently, nothing was far-fetched. “Why did you choose this hospital?”

  Laura folded her arms. “I live close by.”

  Piper’s nostrils flared with anger. “Are you sure about that? Or did you use him as some sick excuse to come harass me at work?”

  “I would never hurt my own pet!” Her eyes filled with rage. “I love animals.”

  “But you hate me more.”

  She twisted a wild curl of hair around her finger. “True.”

  Well, at least they agreed on one thing. Their mutual hatred.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” Piper said. “You were behind the attacks on the center.” She wasn’t sure if that was true or why she thought Laura would simply confess, but she was tired of waiting around for the cops to figure it out. Or someone to get killed. One of the two. “You had something to do with it, didn’t you?”

  Laura snorted. “Are you serious? I was out of town. Besides, I’m an animal rights activist, stupid.”

  Piper wasn’t sure if it was the truth. However, as much as Laura hated her, the motivation didn’t make sense. And it couldn’t possibly be that easy. But still, she didn’t exactly deny her hatred for Piper. Who knew how far she was willing to go?

  Laura held out a hand. “Now give me my hamster.”

  Piper looked at the sleeping lump in her hands. As much as she despised Laura, the crazy girl did love animals. It wasn’t like Piper could refuse to hand back a beloved pet. Frowning, Piper crossed the room and turned the recovering patient over, along with his medication.

  She watched the two of them leave, feeling no more closer to the truth than before. She tried to shake it off, storing the conversation away to tell the cops later.

  Piper sighed. Teddy was her last official patient as a student. Now all that was left was her graduation commencement the next weekend and her licensing exam right after that. Eight years. It was so surreal. She never thought this day would come. And now it was here.

  She wanted to high-five or fist-bump someone, but when she turned to the reception desk it seemed everyone had already cleared out for dinner. Well, that was certainly anticlimactic, she thought as she opened the door to the break room.

  “Surprise!”

  Piper jumped as the whole room erupted into happy cheers. She was passed around the room from hug to hug. Streamers and balloons clung to every chair and cabinet in the staff kitchen, and a giant banner draped across the wall said: Congratulations.

  “What’s all this?” she asked Dr. Fullerton.

  “A thank-you, for all the hard work you’ve done here for the last several weeks.” She yanked her in for a hug. “As far as I’m concerned, the second you hav
e your license, you’re hired.”

  Piper pulled away and stared at her in shock. “Really? Are you serious?”

  “Absolutely. That’s if you want the job.”

  She threw herself back into her arms. “Yes. That would be amazing. Thank you!”

  “Welcome to the team.”

  “Okay, okay,” said the receptionist, Terri. “We all love each other. Now to the important part.” She waved a giant knife around. “Cake!”

  “Well, we’d best dig in,” Dr. Fullerton said. “I think Terri might begin a murder spree if she doesn’t get her sugar fix soon.”

  Piper certainly didn’t need any more of that in her life at the moment. She gave Terri the nod and the receptionist began dishing out Black Forest cake to everyone.

  “So when do we get to meet this handsome new beau of yours?” Dr. Fullerton asked.

  “Today, actually,” Piper said. “He’s giving me a ride home. My car is temporarily indisposed.” She thought it best not to go into detail about her messed-up life to her future employer and coworkers.

  “Well, you’ll have to bring him in and introduce us.”

  Piper grinned like a lovesick idiot at the thought of introducing Aiden. She was just about to dig into her piece of cake when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked the display. It said: Inspector Samuels.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said to Dr. Fullerton. “I’ve got to get this.” She ducked out of the noisy room before hitting the accept button.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Piper Summers?”

  “Inspector Samuels.”

  “Is this a good time?”

  “Yeah. I have a moment.” A roar of laughter erupted from the break room, so she shut the door and walked to the other side of the empty waiting room. “What’s going on?”

  “I wanted to let you know that I checked into that customer of yours. Barney Miller. Turns out his prints were all over your car last night.”

  “So he trashed my car? Are you sure it couldn’t have been Laura from SFAAC? The spray-paint job is definitely her handiwork.”

  “Well, he claims he happened to be driving by and saw someone messing with your car. Supposedly, he went to check it out.”

  Feeling a chill slither through her, she wrapped the lab coat around her. “What was Barney doing there in the first place?”

  “That’s what we asked him. And that’s when he lawyered up.” She could hear the annoyance in the inspector’s voice. “Since your car was parked around the back of the building, it was hit in between the officers’ routine walk-arounds. Barney must have been watching nearby until they were clear. I suspect he’s been keeping a close eye on you for a while now.”

  “You think he’s been stalking me?”

  “Well, his car was spotted roaming through the neighborhood around the rescue center the night of the fire. And he was spotted in the area over the next couple of days by our surveillance guys. It wasn’t until we went to have a little chat with him that we saw the car and started putting the pieces together.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “We’re still investigating as to whether he was involved with any of the other incidents.”

  Bracing herself against the windowsill, she stared sightlessly out to the street. She thought back to Friday night, to her tussle. The arsonist was a male. That much was clear at the time. She tried to picture Barney as her attacker, the height, the build. It was possible, but she couldn’t be sure. Not a hundred percent. Could it have been him that night? But he’d practically left her for dead. Sure, he was a pervert, but was he capable of murder? And if so, had he been the one who tried to cream her with a car in the alley?

  “And here I always thought he was harmless,” she said. Sure, she and Sam’s receptionist, Lindsey, had their text message precaution when Piper went to Barney’s house, but she never thought he was truly capable of anything violent. How many times had she gone to that psychopath’s house all alone?

  “You can never be too careful,” the inspector said. “Do you have someplace safe to stay for the next while?”

  She bit her lip, wondering if she would have to ask someone for a place to crash. Addison or Zoe maybe. Was it too soon to ask Aiden? She didn’t want to be the one to push their relationship beyond its limits. To push it too far too soon.

  “Yeah, I do,” she lied. Then she frowned. “Why do you ask? Should I be worried? Isn’t Barney in custody?”

  “Unfortunately, no. But don’t worry. We’re working on tracking him down. We’ve got our units on alert. We’ll have enough evidence to hold him once he’s here.”

  “That’s good.” Piper suddenly remembered her surprise visitor. She told Inspector Samuels about Laura showing up and what she said—not that it helped much since she didn’t really give a whole lot of information.

  He grew quiet and she got the impression there wasn’t much more to say at the moment. It gave her a lot to think about, but despite this new information, she didn’t feel as relieved as she thought she would. There was no way to know if Barney was behind everything or if she had others to worry about.

  “Well, unless there’s anything else you’d like to know, Miss Summers, that’s about all I had to tell you. I’ll keep you informed if anything new arises in the case. Just be careful for now.”

  “I will.” She came back to reality and looked around her. Really looked around. That’s when she noticed something strange, something oddly familiar, like she’d seen it a thousand times but never took note. And she’d been staring right at it for the last five minutes.

  “Miss Summers? Are you still there?”

  “What kind of car?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “What kind of car does Barney drive?”

  “A Buick.”

  “Is it a Buick LeSabre? Roughly nineties? Like a light, metallicy blue?”

  “Yes,” he replied hesitantly.

  “With damage to the front end like someone had crashed into it in an alley?” Her date with Aiden flashed through her mind. The mystery car chasing them, the Buick, her leaping onto it. Had Barney been parked there watching her and Aiden? Following her? Had he still been in the car as she was nearly run over?

  Inspector Samuels was quiet for a moment. “How did you know all that?”

  Raising her phone to the window, she took a snapshot of the view outside and sent it to Inspector Samuels. She heard a chime on the other end, indicating he’d received it.

  “Because I’m looking at it right now,” she said.

  “Where are you?”

  She rattled off the address, and all she heard was mumbles as he spoke to someone on the other end. After a moment, he came back. “Stay where you are, Miss Summers. We’ve got someone on the way. I’ll stay on the line with you until they get there. Avoid confrontation with him.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” She ran to the double front doors to dead-bolt them. Heart pounding, she reached out, but before she could snap it home a dark shadow passed outside, behind the frosted glass. The handle squeaked and the door cracked open.

  She cried out in fright and shoved her body against the door, battling the weight on the other side of it. But he was stronger than her. The same desperate fear she felt the night of the fire rushed through her veins, knowing he was stronger than her but also knowing her life depended on fighting him off.

  Another wave of cheers and laughter filtered into the reception area from the staff room. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but then she heard the voice on the other side of the door.

  “What’s going on? Piper, is that you?”

  It was Aiden. With a sob of relief, she wrenched open the door and dragged him in. When he was safely inside, she flicked the dead bolt closed. She’d barely had time to turn toward him before his arms were around her, crushing her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Inspector Samuels’s voice blasted through her phone. “Hello? Piper? Answe
r me. Are you there? What’s happened? The police are on their way.”

  She shoved the phone back to her ear. “I’m still here,” she said. “I’m okay. I’m safe.” She tilted her head to Aiden. A fearsome concern creased his handsome features, his strong arms locked around her like a protective cage, and she knew it was true.

  “I’m safe.”

  But when she glanced out the front window again, the Buick was gone.

  27

  Barking Mad

  The light turned green. Aiden’s foot dropped until metal hit metal. The Jaguar’s engine screamed between gear changes as he accelerated, whipping in and out of traffic.

  Piper had never seen him so mad. There was no sign of that calm, rational CEO demeanor. She recalled his reaction at the hospital after she filled him in on the new suspect number one. If the cops hadn’t arrived to chase down Barney Miller when they had, she thought Aiden might have done it himself—and in a less legal manner. But Barney was long gone.

  The wheels chirped on the pavement as Aiden took the next turn. “I wish you would have told me about this guy sooner,” he said.

  It had been hours since it happened, but she was still shaken by the incident. Her response came out a little sharper than she intended. “Why? What would you have done?”

  His jaw clenched and she thought better about the direction she wanted to take the conversation in. He was concerned, that was all.

  “Look,” she said less defensively. “I thought he was harmless.” Then she remembered the text message system she had prepared with Lindsey. “Mostly.”

  His hand wrapped around the gearshift and tightened until his knuckles turned white. “It’s disgusting. Ordering you every week like you’re some kind of stripper for hire.”

  Lately it had been more than once a week, but she didn’t think that would help his mood, either. “I quit Barney’s gigs a couple weeks ago. Besides, I’m used to it. People treat me that way all the time. Why do you think Sam wants us in such revealing costumes? He makes more money that way. Because it works.”

  He made a sound in the back of his throat, clearly repulsed.

  As he slammed the shifter into another gear, she laid a comforting hand over his. “It worked on you, didn’t it?”