Dog Gone

by Shannon Esposito

  That’s when I noticed what she was clutching in her hands. I froze. She saw my attention on it, and a small sob escaped her throat. I let myself fall onto the sofa beside her.

  We both stared at the squeaky green frog. Talia shook her head. “She’d never abandon her frog willingly.”

  My gaze rose to meet the two detectives, who were obviously getting ready to head out. “Something’s happened to Ginger,” I said. “She didn’t just run away.”

  The detectives shared a glance and then Salma nodded at Detective Farnsworth. “Go on and check the progress outside and finish the neighbor interviews, I’ve got it.” She lowered herself into a corner of the overstuffed loveseat and took out her notepad. “So, Miss Hill, what do you think happened to Ginger?”

  Talia pressed her perfectly sculpted nose into a Kleenex and then straightened her spine.

  How is it possible that she looks even more beautiful with a red nose and swollen eyes?

  “Well, I don’t know. I just know that she wouldn’t abandon this frog. She went through a false pregnancy and thinks it’s her puppy. She must be so distraught, wherever she is.” A deep tremor shook her body.

  Detective Salma Vargas eyed the squeaky frog skeptically. “False pregnancy?”

  “Yes. It’s a hormonal condition that mimics a real pregnancy. She even went through a false labor and is lactating.”

  Detective Vargas shook her head slightly. “I see. Okay, is there anyone you can think of who would benefit from taking your dog?”

  “Well, yes, my ex-husband. We had a long custody battle over both the dogs. I won custody, but he would take Ginger in a heartbeat if he could. We lost her sister, Holly, a few months back to cancer.”

  Salma scratched something on her notepad and then glanced up. “I’m sorry for your loss. That would be Sammy Salazar, the UFC champion fighter? Your ex?”

  She wiped her nose with a tissue. “He’s retired now but yes.”

  “Do you feel he’s capable of getting violent to get the dog back? Maybe took him from your dog nanny forcefully? Maybe he didn’t mean to kill Mr. Diggs but just take the dog.” She squinted her eyes, thinking out loud. “Maybe there was an altercation and Mr. Diggs fell into the glass statue, breaking it and cutting himself on the glass?”

  One petite shoulder rose. “He has a temper, sure, but I’ve never seen him physically hurt someone out of the ring.”

  Salma tilted her head. “Do you know the whereabouts of Mr. Salazar?”

  Talia’s face hardened, her eyes blazed. “Making an honest woman out of his mistress?”

  Salma’s mouth curved sympathetically and she shifted her feet. “Anyone else you can think of?”

  Talia bit her bottom lip. She squeezed the Kleenex in her fist. Her shoulders slumped and then she looked up and seemed to steel herself again. “No. Well, I mean, my neighbor Nell hated my dogs. She blamed them for the death of one of her peacocks and swore she’d get revenge. And she does seem strong enough to push Diggs into the statue in an altercation. He isn’t ...” the word caught in her throat. “He wasn’t a big guy.”

  Salma scratched that down in her notebook. “Anyone else?”

  Talia blushed and her eyes dropped. “Not that I can think of.”

  She studied Talia for a moment and then slowly closed her notebook. “Well, if you can think of anyone else, give us a call. We can’t do our job if we don’t have all the facts.”

  A fleeting look of guilt crossed Talia’s face. “I understand.”

  “Also, if you have next of kin information for Mr. Diggs, we’ll need to notify his family.”

  “Oh.” Talia cringed. “Right. I think he had a sister in North Carolina, but they weren’t close.”

  “All right. We’ll check his phone contacts.”

  As Salma rose, Detective Farnsworth came ambling back in. His mousy hair was in dire need of a cut and his button-down shirt was straining against his belly. His expression was dark and disturbed.

  “We have a problem.” His gaze flicked from Talia to Detective Vargas.

  Detective Vargas rested her hands on her hips. “Other than a dead man and a missing dog?”

  “Afraid so.” He moved closer and whispered something in her ear.

  Her jaw muscles twitched. She turned to us. “The ME has found a wound on the side of the victim’s head that suggests our theory is wrong. This may have been an intentional homicide.”

  “Homicide?” Talia shook her head vehemently. “No, that can’t be true. Diggs was the sweetest, most caring person in the world. Everyone loved him. Who would want to kill him?”

  Salma rubbed the space between her eyebrows. “I guess that is the million dollar question.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next morning Devon and I headed to the clubhouse with Lulu and my best friend, Hope. Talia had given me a photo of Ginger so we’d printed out “lost dog” flyers. The clubhouse bulletin board was the only place people were allowed to put up announcements or posters on Moon Key, otherwise we’d be plastering them on the side of every palm tree and golf cart around.

  Next we headed to Talia’s mansion. A cold front had arrived late in the night, and it was a foggy morning, dull and gray and chilly. I zipped up my white cotton hoodie.

  “She really had a dog-nanny? That’s a thing?” Devon said as he drove, his words a bit slurred from lack of sleep. Neither one of us had gotten much sleep last night. He’d come home late from his secret trip and then we’d stayed up longer talking about what had happened to Diggs and Ginger.

  I rolled my head in his direction with a smirk. “Yep. And don’t get any ideas, rich boy.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He chuckled. “And you think someone forcefully took the dog because of a squeaky rubber frog left behind?”

  “Yes.”

  At his skeptical glance, Lulu chimed in from the back seat. “Believe me, pregnancy gives you all kinds of new fierce protectiveness, whether your babies are real or not.”

  He nodded in concession and took a deep drink of the black coffee in his insulated cup. “So, if it was a homicide we find the dog, we find the killer.”

  My eyebrows rose. “We?”

  He rested a warm hand on my knee and squeezed. “If I know you at all, Elle, you’ve already gotten attached to this woman and her dog and won’t rest until they’re reunited.”

  I started to deny it but then sighed. “True but I’m only going to help her find Ginger. We are not getting involved in solving another murder.”

  Hope snorted from the back seat. “We’ll see about that.”

  I chose to ignore her.

  Devon shrugged. “Like I said, find the dog, find the killer.”

  I pulled my jacket tighter around my neck. “Let’s hope not.”

  Devon parked in front of Talia’s iron gates, even though they were wide open, and hopped out of the Jeep. We all climbed out behind him and moved closer to the area the police had taped off.

  “It’d been a beautiful glass statue of her late dog, Holly,” I said.

  “A shame.” Devon stepped over the tape and walked around the circumference of glass, which was now glittering as the early morning sun burned through the fog. Only the bottom feet remained intact. He bent down and scooped up a handful of the glass, examining it. “This looks like safety glass by the way it shattered into small, round bits.” He dumped the glass back on the ground and stood up, hands on his hips.

  “Should he be touching that?” Lulu asked.

  “Probably not.” Studying the look on his face, I asked, “What’re you thinking?”

  Devon’s gaze moved to the remaining feet of the statue. “If a person fell into a statue made of glass this thick, I don’t believe it’d actually shatter. Crack maybe. Break off in an area that was weak. But shatter? A falling body doesn’t seem like enough force to cause this kind of damage.”

  I had to forcefully stop the image of Diggs lying there that night from materializing in my head. “Maybe whoever hit
Diggs swung and missed the first time, hitting the statue,” I offered.

  Devon stepped back over the tape. “Maybe. That doesn’t really tell us anything, though.”

  “Except the killer has bad aim.” Lulu absentmindedly rubbed her baby bump under her red, cable knit sweater.

  “Or bad eyesight.” Hope’s hands were tucked into the pockets of her brown leather Michael Kors trenchcoat and the tip of her nose was pink from the cold.

  I tilted my head in thought. “It was dark out. Anyway, this isn’t getting us anywhere and it’s cold out here. Let’s go talk to Talia.”

  This time we were greeted by a tall, gray-haired man with drooping cheeks like a basset hound. Despite his appearance, he cheerily invited us in.

  “Miss Hill will be down in a moment. She’s asked me to get you situated and offer you a beverage. Coffee, tea ... fresh orange juice?”

  As we entered the greatroom, my attention caught on Ginger’s abandoned bed with all her colorful squeaky toys piled up. A wave of sadness hit me. “Coffee would be great. Thank you.” I forced a smile. “Marcel, isn’t it?”

  He returned a nod. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Fantastic hot chocolate you made for us last night.” It was the only thing I wanted to remember about last night.

  “Thank you, ma’am. And for you all?”

  “Coffee,” Devon answered. “Black, please.”

  “I’ll have the same,” Hope said, slipping out of her coat.

  “Water, thanks,” Lulu said, taking in the house with a star-struck expression. “I can’t believe we’re standing in Talia Hill’s house.”

  “Elle!” Talia rushed down the stairs in a black cotton dress and sunglasses that swallowed her face. Her moon-colored hair flowed loose down her back. She hugged me like we’d been lifelong friends, her small fingers surprisingly strong as she gripped my arms. “Thank you for coming back. Did you get the flyer up?”

  “Yes, we did.” I motioned behind her. “Devon and I put it up before we came here. He’s a local private investigator and he’d like to offer his time. All of us would, in any way we can to find Ginger. These are our friends, Lulu and Hope.”

  Talia slid her sunglasses off and held out her hand to each of them. Her eyes were puffy. She didn’t look like she’d gotten much sleep either. Then again, she was used to sleeping in the daytime. “Thank you, Devon. That’s so kind of you. Lulu and Hope, nice to meet you ladies. I appreciate your help.”

  Lulu just stood there, clutching her hands in front of her belly, frozen.

  A flushed Hope managed a quiet, “No problem.”

  Devon seemed a bit nervous, too. It was subtle, but I noticed. He cleared his throat. “Elle and I both understand how a dog becomes part of your family. And I’m so sorry for the loss of your dog nanny.”

  Talia nodded. “Thank you. When she comes back home, Ginger’s going to be just devastated that Diggs isn’t here. He’d actually get down on the floor to play with her. Such a caring person. Please sit.” She took the loveseat. Her gaze caught on Ginger’s bed and fresh tears sprang to her swollen eyes. She closed them for a moment and took a deep breath. “I’ve been wracking my brain all night. Trying to think of who would take Ginger if it wasn’t Sammy.”

  “Sammy’s her ex,” I explained to the room.

  “We know,” Hope and Lulu said in tandem.

  Of course, I’m sure everyone on the planet knew, whether they wanted to or not. The scandal was inescapable.

  Devon spoke up. “Sorry I have to ask, but you’re absolutely sure Ginger didn’t just run away? Maybe was frightened by the loud noise of glass breaking?”

  Talia tilted her head slightly. “Well, I can’t be one hundred percent sure. And believe me, I would prefer that scenario to thinking someone took her. I’d love to believe it, but she was in such a fragile state with her false pregnancy. She’d never abandon her green squeaky frog. In her mind, it was her puppy. She was such a good little mother.”

  I felt my face grow hot as I thought about how I’d flung it across the room, forcing Talia to fetch it.

  “All right.” Devon had his hands locked together, his elbows on his knees. “Elle said you told the detectives there was a custody battle with your ex-husband over the dogs and he lost. Do you believe he’d use force to take Ginger?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” Talia said. “He definitely had a temper and, as you know, he was a professional fighter. If he tried to take Ginger from Diggs, Diggs would’ve defended her with his life. But no,” she shook her head, “I can’t believe Sammy’s actually capable of murder.”

  “You’d be surprised what people are capable of.” Devon’s eyes blazed for a moment.

  I wondered if he was thinking of his own parents’ murders. They’d been killed because they found out a crooked jockey was doping their horses back in Dublin to win races. He’d hired two hitmen to smash into their boat and make it look like an accident. Senseless.

  Devon rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Detective Vargas is floating the theory that Diggs’s death may’ve been the result of the dognapping getting’ out of hand. That Diggs wasn’t actually the target. Do you have reason to believe your ex is on Moon Key?”

  Talia gathered her hair over one shoulder and began to twist it nervously. “No, but I’ve not kept up with his whereabouts since our divorce eighteen months ago. We used to holiday here together though. He’d know I was here if he wanted to take Ginger.”

  I remembered the one odd thing about their divorce. Every detail had been splashed all over the Internet, except one. No one could pin down who he was having an affair with. I wondered if Talia ever found out? I couldn’t imagine living my life with that kind of scrutiny, and couldn’t blame her for living her life at night. It was probably the only time she had peace.

  Devon glanced at me. “That’s the first thing we’ll check on then.” Then his attention was back on Talia. “Anyone else?”

  Talia’s face pinked. She squirmed and leaned forward. As she was about to say something, Marcel entered and began to pass out the beverages from his tray.

  “Thanks, Marcel.” I watched as Talia leaned back into the sofa and took a sip from her coffee cup. She’d obviously changed her mind about whatever she was going to say. Was there someone else she was afraid to mention? We couldn’t force it out of her. Hopefully she’d tell us soon if there was.

  “You mentioned your neighbor, Nell?” I asked.

  Talia turned to me. “Yeah. I can see her taking Ginger out of spite, but I really can’t see her killing Diggs.”

  “Maybe we’re looking at this from the wrong angle,” Lulu said, a hand resting protectively on her belly. She did this a lot lately. I wondered if that meant she was going to be an overprotective mother. “What if it’s not about Talia or Ginger at all? Did Diggs have any enemies? Anyone that would want to hurt him?”

  Talia’s eyes widened. “Diggs? Absolutely not. Diggs is ... was one of those people who everyone took to immediately. That’s why I’d hired him. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt him. He was just the gentlest soul on the planet. He loved my dogs like they were his own.”

  “How long had he been with you?” Hope asked, leaning forward.

  “About eighteen months. I hired him right after my divorce. He was great company. He spent all his time with me and the dogs.” She closed her eyes and struggled to compose herself. “He was just as devastated as I was when we lost Holly. He’ll be missed.”

  I reached over and squeezed her hand. It was all I could think to do. She opened her eyes and the raw pain reflected there broke my heart. I suddenly felt the need for action. We had to do something.

  I set my cup on the coffee table and rubbed my hands together. “I think it’s time to get out there. We’ll start our search around this area, then split up into teams. Devon and I will head east toward the Pampered Pup. Hope, you and Lulu can head west toward the Villas. We just keep going until we meet up on the o
ther side of the island. I’ve got some of the ladies from doga class starting around nine this morning to scour the golf course in the middle. Talia, you’re going to need to stay here in case Ginger finds her way back home. Any questions?”

  Everyone stood, anxious to get going.

  Talia trailed behind us as we made our way to the front door, her arms folded across her slim stomach. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she said goodbye. She wiped at it with the back of her hand. “Thank you, everyone.”

  Devon turned back. “One more question, Ms. Hill. Who created the statue of Holly for you?”

  “It was Brentwood Glass Studio in Miami.”

  “Thank you.”

  I gave Talia’s shoulder.a light squeeze. “We’ll get her back home. I promise.” As she nodded in agreement, I really hoped I could keep that promise.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  We searched every inch of Moon Key, knocking on doors and asking residents to check their properties, crawled along every perfectly manicured bush calling Ginger’s name. We looked under every parked car, on every docked boat, in every parking garage, beneath every beach cabana and inside every business, where we also handed out flyers. We’d only stopped at lunchtime to feed our own dogs. By the time dusk began to fall, we were all exhausted, starving and feeling more than a little defeated.

  We sat at the clubhouse and were slouched around a table, discouraged and waiting for our food.

  “She couldn’t have just disappeared. She’s here somewhere,” I moaned, rubbing my aching calf under the table.

  “I hate to bring this up,” Lulu said, “but if someone did actually grab her, they could’ve taken her off the island. She could be anywhere by now.”

  I didn’t like the dark circles under Lulu’s eyes. I should’ve sent her home hours ago to rest.

  “Unfortunately you’re right,” Devon grunted. “Elle and I will go have a chat with the guard at the ferry terminal after we eat. You two have done all you can for tonight. You should head home.”