Good Friends: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Cozy Dog Mysteries Book 5)

by Mary Hiker

Tonya hesitated for a minute then asked, “You know, Deputy Don seems like a level headed guy… and good looking too.”

  I put my hands on my hips and gave her the ‘oh no, you just didn’t’ look. “I don’t think about him that way.” I chuckled, then headed for the door.

  Don was my friend and a co-volunteer on the search and rescue team, It wouldn’t be good to even think about crossing that line.

  “Well, if you’re not interested in him, will you poke around and see if he might be interested in me?” Tonya’s green eyes were full of hope.

  She obviously didn’t realize that most guys in the county had a crush on her.

  “I’ll give it a try,” I said, surprised at the sudden irritation that made me cringe as I walked out the door.

  Chapter 5

  Bluegrass music filled the air as the local band played while Chevy and I strolled into the festival. The smell of burgers cooking on a grill reminded me I hadn’t eaten lunch and made my stomach growl. My dog pulled on his leash, attempting to drag me to meet and greet every person that got within ten feet. If Chevy had been born human, he would’ve made a great politician.

  Several folks without much flexibility danced in front of the stage and many more sat in folding chairs enjoying the music under the shade of expansive maple trees. Tonya and Gunner were busy leading a kids’ pet parade around the edge of the property as parents watched and clapped for the children as they walked by.

  Food and game booths were jammed next to each other in a long lane and kiddie rides entertained the young ones. The newly renovated east pasture held a slew of new trucks on display straight from Big Diesel’s car dealership. But the center of attention for most of the male population in attendance was definitely the classic car show.

  I stood taking in the scene and watched a toddler wobble by holding an ice cream cone in one hand and grabbing his mom’s shorts with the other. He was in awe of Chevy and pointed to my dog’s furry face with his melting treat.

  “Mama! Dog!”

  Chevy wrongly assumed the treat held in front of his face was meant for him and devoured the ice cream cone in one swift gulp. He licked his chops with happy satisfaction and the kid stood open-mouthed as his mother tried to keep from laughing.

  Red faced, I quickly apologized for my glutton of a dog and offered to buy the kid a new cone to keep the peace. Chevy followed me over to the ice cream truck and I reached into my back pocket to pay, but came up with nothing. Funny, I could’ve sworn I’d stuffed about fifty bucks in there as I walked into the campground. I checked my other pockets. They were empty too.

  Must’ve fallen out, I thought.

  My face flushed as I turned to tell the mother the bad news…no cash for ice cream, when a man’s muscular arm reached up to the window with a five dollar bill and paid for me.

  I turned and saw my deputy friend. “Thanks Don. I think I dropped my money.”

  “No problem.” He handed the fresh cone to the toddler as I kept a firm grip on Chevy’s leash.

  “How’s the investigation going?”

  “The deceased had a long rap sheet, including break-ins and lived over two hundred miles away in Raleigh.” Don wiped ice cream drips off his hand. “We’re just waiting on confirmation that the bullet matches Mr. Medlock’s gun.”

  We strolled over to the classic car show and found the crowd of folks buzzing about a huge cash prize for the competition. Entrants rushed about putting last minute touches on their classics, shining the chrome and wiping down the spotless interiors.

  A small crowd gathered around a giant wooden sign that towered over the entrance to the classic car competition area. Excited chatter from the crowd centered around two things. First: this car show was being run under a unique set of rules that fit the engagement party atmosphere. Second: there was a cash prize of ten thousand dollars.

  The sign stated the simplified rules as such:

  1. Miss Lilly is Judge.

  2. There is One Criteria for the Prize: Best Display Showing Your Love of Cars.

  That was it.

  Sounds like a rule that Miss Lilly would embrace, I thought. She was all about love and joy.

  Don and I walked amongst the refurbished cars and he stared intently at the sleek engines while I focused on keeping Chevy a safe distance from the vehicles. If there’s one thing Chevy likes more than eating ice cream, it’s riding in the car.

  An intercom crackled with the announcement that Big Diesel and Miss Lilly were on their way and judging would begin in a couple minutes. Tonya hustled over after finishing the pet parade and was getting in position to help at the car competition.

  As she walked past, she glanced at Don and gave me a wink. I got distracted and loosened my grip on Chevy’s leash, just as Leonard Cates opened the door to his cherry red muscle car. He had a cloth in his hand ready to wipe down the dash one last time.

  Chevy heard the car door open, pulled away from me, bounded into Leonard’s car and stuck his head out the window. He looked out at the crowd and let out a gleeful bark. Leonard gasped and sputtered while Chevy bobbed his head and pranced in the shiny red seat.

  I was mortified and hoped my dog hadn’t just cost him the prize.

  Leonard furiously tried to lure Chevy out of his car with no luck, spun around to me and shook his finger.

  “Avery, get your darn dog out of my car!” Leonard growled as the veins near his temples bulged. “I’m trying to win ten thousand dollars here.”

  I moved toward the car, but was stopped in my tracks when Big Diesel and Miss Lily walked up hand-in-hand to judge the classics. I felt my face get hot as my dog planted himself firmly in Leonard’s car.

  Leonard shot me a death stare as Chevy stuck his head out the window with a happy face and gave a ‘Let’s go!’ bark as he waited for a ride.

  Big Diesel shook his head and tried to hide a grin. “You’re gonna have a time getting all that dog fur outta your car, Leonard.”

  The crowd and other car entrants nodded and snickered as they gathered around Big Diesel and Miss Lilly.

  Leonard glared at me. “I know.”

  “Ohhhhh my goodness,” a sweet southern female voice broke the tension.

  Miss Lilly clutched her chest and ran to the window of Leonard’s car, her big engagement ring sparkling in the sunlight. “And who are you?” she asked and cradled Chevy’s face between her hands.

  My dog responded with a kiss on Miss Lilly’s cheek.

  The southern belle sighed, turned to Big Diesel and proclaimed, “My love, I do not need to go any further. There is no one in this entire world that loves riding in a car as much as this sweet dog.”

  Big Diesel chuckled, put his arm around her waist, leaned over and gave her a big smooch on the lips.

  Miss Lilly reached for the over-sized blue winner’s ribbon from Big Diesel’s hand and placed it on Leonard’s entry stand. “I just love the look of joy on a dog’s face when they ride in a car.”

  Rumblings and whispers rose into a crescendo from the crowd of classic car enthusiasts. I pushed through the crowd, opened Leonard’s car door and Chevy bounded out. This time, I wrapped his leash around my wrist a couple times to avert any more disasters.

  Big Diesel made a big show of it as he stepped up to a makeshift podium and pulled the ten thousand dollar check from his shirt pocket.

  He adjusted his bib-overalls, tapped on the portable microphone and bellowed. “Boys, I warned you this wasn’t a regular car show!”

  The crowd hooted and hollered.

  “My precious Lilly has chosen a winner based on the love of cars.” Big Diesel took out a pen and put Leonard’s name on the check. “Isn’t loving cars a great thing?”

  The spectators whistled and cheered.

  “That was some great creativity, Leonard,” Big Diesel said as the men shook hands and Miss Lilly joined in posing for pictures for the local newspaper.

  After the photo-op was complete and the lovebirds started to work the crowd, Leona
rd came over and patted Chevy on the head. “Thanks, Buddy.”

  The new classic car champ gave me a big smile and a hug to let me know all was forgiven and I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I wouldn’t be getting any auto cleaning bills in the mail.

  As several excited car enthusiasts converged on Leonard with congratulations, I realized I’d lost track of my friend, Don. I glanced around and found him leaning against the side of the podium talking on his cell phone.

  “Yes, I’m sure Mr. Medlock used his hunting rifle.” He spoke into his phone and held his hand to his head “Are you sure…?”

  Don hung up, shook his head and frowned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “This death investigation has taken a nose dive,” Don said, the frown spreading further across his forehead. “The deceased now has a name, D. Leonardo. He had Mel Medlock’s gold watch in his pocket, but the sixty thousand dollars missing from Mel’s safe is nowhere to be found.”

  “Maybe he dropped it after Mel shot him.”

  Don’s shoulders lifted with tension and his brows furrowed even deeper.

  “That’s not all.” Don looked out over the noisy crowd. “Mel Medlock didn’t kill the intruder. The death bullet was shot at close range from a handgun – a nine millimeter.”

  Chapter 6

  I let Chevy off leash as we approached the Campground office and he romped ahead of us to find his buddy, Gunner. Don’s deputy vehicle was parked in the office lot and I’d walked him back to the car, figuring Tonya would be in the general area. As promised, I’d try to give her the opportunity to meet Don on a more casual basis.

  Tonya sat on the front steps of the porch, looking through a box of lost-and-found valuables at the request of an elderly man. “Sorry sir, there’s no wallet here… just some jewelry and sunglasses.”

  The old man’s shoulders slumped as he held his wife’s fragile hand and nodded.

  “If you want to leave your name and number, I’ll call you if someone turns it in.” Tonya pulled out a pen and paper, writing down the information.

  Don pulled out a couple of twenty-dollar bills and quietly handed it to the old man. “Enjoy the day with your lovely wife.”

  The elderly couple graciously accepted his offer and slowly shuffled hand in hand back to the fair.

  “Don, you’re going to go broke today giving all your money away,” I joked.

  Tonya smiled at him with silent admiration.

  Chevy and Gunner tore around the side of the building in a playful game of chase. I looked past them as they sped down a small hill on the dirt road behind the office and saw Jacob leaning on the side of the maintenance building, tossing a ball in the air as he called the dogs over. The four-legged friends raced over and engaged in a game of fetch with the businessman.

  “Looks like Jacob’s finally taking a break,” Tonya said as she watched the dogs compete for his attention. “The man’s been down there working non-stop for twenty-four hours straight over-seeing all the activities. By the looks of it, I’d say they’ve been making a ton of truck deals.”

  Big Diesel sure knew how to turn an engagement celebration into a money-making opportunity.

  “I’ll go get Chevy.” I said, attempting to leave Don and Tonya alone for a couple minutes.

  “Don’t even bother. Jacob’s not allowing anyone near the maintenance area except his own staff.” Tonya shook her head. “Not even me.”

  “Okay,” I said, half relieved. Tonya just blew her chance to be alone with Don and I was now off the hook.

  “Do you two want to come in for a glass of lemonade?” She asked and turned toward the door. “I know I’m sure thirsty.”

  Well, maybe I wasn’t off the hook just yet. The two of us followed Tonya into her office and she closed the door, locking it behind her.

  “Let me just get these valuables back in the safe, first.”

  Don and I glanced at each other as she walked behind her desk and opened a small door in the wall. An ancient looking safe with a huge dial was hidden behind the door, and Tonya bent over and rolled the combination lock between her fingers until the vault popped open.

  As she placed the box of lost-and-found jewelry on the top shelf, a pile of fifty-dollar bills tumbled out onto the floor. The lower part of the safe was overflowing with cash.

  “I’ve been shopping for a bigger safe, but they’re so expensive these days…” Tonya mumbled as she stuffed the money back in the safe, causing another handful of bills to fall out.

  “Geez, they’re not selling trucks for cash out there, are they?” Don asked and eyed the money scattered on the floor.

  “Heck no, this is just from the fair operations. Big Diesel owns all the food and game booths out there,” Tonya said as she attempted to straighten the stacks of cash inside. “This was the safest place around here to store money for the weekend.”

  I sensed Don’s body shift slightly and glanced over in time to catch him intently watching Tonya from behind as she closed the safe’s door.

  Maybe he does like her, I thought.

  That is, until something shiny caught my eye and I realized what he was really looking at – a nine-millimeter handgun that sat on the top shelf in Tonya’s safe.

  “I’ll see you ladies later,” Don said, his body tensed. “I’ve got work to do.”

  Chapter 7

  I got up extra early Monday morning to help Tonya cleanup around the campground before I started my own work-week later in the day, giving Chevy a chance to romp around with Gunner and burn off some extra energy. That wasn’t the only reason though. I was eager to find out how the new dog park would progress after the weekend’s profits.

  By the time I arrived at eight a.m. the food and game vendors were already long gone, and all that remained of their presence were several garbage barrels overflowing with trash. Well, that and the smell of fried foods that still hung in the morning air.

  The guys from Big Diesel’s car dealership were busy removing the trucks off the back pasture and returning them to the car lot, a job that would probably take half the day.

  I bounded into the campground lodge to congratulate Tonya and stopped in mid stride when I saw her leaning against the door-frame of her office holding her stomach. It looked as though she was barely able to stand up.

  I gathered my wits about me and rushed over, wrapped her arm around my shoulder and helped sit her down in the desk chair. “Tonya, what’s wrong?”

  Jacob burst through the office door before she had a chance to answer. He looked like he just stepped out of a men’s clothing catalogue, as usual.

  “Excuse us for a minute, Avery.” Jacob said and pulled out a money bag. “I need to get the deposit over to the bank as soon as it opens. Big Diesel wants me to report our profits by noon...”

  I was struck at how put together he looked even at this early hour. Not a hair out of place and not a wrinkle in his khakis or light blue polo shirt.

  Tonya’s heavy sobs interrupted my thoughts and tears poured down her cheeks.

  “Tonya?” I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

  She slowly spun the leather chair around, lifted her arm, and pointed at the open office safe. As Jacob and I stared inside, Tonya collapsed further into the soft chair, unable to speak.

  The safe was empty, except for the gun.

  “They even took the ‘lost-and-found’ jewelry,” she whispered.

  Jacob’s eyes grew cold and held out his empty money bag. “Where’s Big Diesel’s money?”

  “I don’t know,” Tonya said, her lips trembling. “I opened the safe this morning and it was empty.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” His face turned an ugly shade of red. “You guaranteed me you were the only one with the combination.”

  I instinctively took a step in front of Tonya’s chair to put a barrier between the two.

  “Don’t try to play with me,” Jacob hissed and pounded his fist on her desk. “You WILL have every penny of Big Di
esel’s money when I come back here at eleven o’clock – or you’ll be going straight to jail.”

  He threw the money bag to the floor and stormed out of the office, slamming the door on the way out.

  I ran to the window and watched Jacob stomp back down the hill to the maintenance building and his makeshift headquarters. My hand trembled as I pulled out my phone to call Don and gave Tonya a bit of advice.

  “Don’t touch anything.”

  Chapter 8

  Tonya leaned on my shoulder as I walked her outside for some fresh air and we climbed on the tailgate of my truck, watching Sheriff’s deputies file into her office. Sensing something was wrong, Gunner jumped into the back of my truck and wouldn’t leave Tonya’s side.

  “How well do you know Jacob and Big Dooley?” I asked, hoping they’d give her a break.

  “Not well enough.” She let out a breath and watched the guys removing trucks from the back pasture. “I’d only seen Big Diesel on TV and met Jacob when he came out to do the business deals.”

  “How much money are we talking about?”

  “Way more than I’ve got,” she said as tears filled her eyes. “My dreams are gone.”

  Gunner whined and licked her cheek.

  I stared at the ground and realized what she was planning. Not only was her dog park in jeopardy, but she might have to sell the campground to come up with Big Diesel’s money.

  Tonya’s father owned several rental properties on North Carolina’s coast and had plenty of money, but I knew she’d never ask him for a dime. She’d paid her own way through school and bought this land real cheap, then spent the next ten years building it up little by little.

  I racked my brain, trying to come up with ideas when two stern looking deputies approached. I hoped they had some good news, but their frowns revealed otherwise.

  “Tonya Addison?”

  “Yes?”

  “You’re wanted as an accomplice for the break in and robbery of Mr. Melvin Medlock’s home.”