by Fiona Grace
“Oh! I have that. I must’ve just forgotten to—”
“And where’s your certificate of insurance? You’ll need it, considering hazards such as …” She pointed to the puddle. “These.”
Audrey scanned the reception area, where the full room was watching the back-and-forth as if involved in an engrossing tennis match. “Yes. Thank you. I have it. I can post it. Sorry. We had a few strays dropped off, and I’m still working through everything. It’s been pretty busy, as you can—”
“It’s not going to get any easier, I promise you that,” she snapped, looking over the crowded waiting room. “Can I speak to you in private?”
Audrey nodded. It was better that way. She sensed an all-out reaming out coming, and she really didn’t want it to happen in front of her new customers. “Yes. Why don’t we step into my office?” She set the bunny down next to his owner. “Could you please—just, one moment, please?”
Now, he was no longer frowning at her. He was flat-out scowling. His eyes rolled to the ceiling and he muttered something, probably a curse word, in Italian.
“I promise. Just a minute. I am so sorry.”
She thought about leading Mimi down the hall to her closet-sized office, but they’d have to pass all the strays, and her office was far from ready. Every surface inside it was packed with projects that still needed to be done, if only she could find the time. So instead, she opened the door to the exam room, since she’d cleaned it right before. Mimi’s heels clicked severely on the tile floor as she stepped in behind.
Really, what she wanted to do was lead Mimi Catalano out the garbage chute, to the dumpster on the side of the building. But people would probably talk …
The second Audrey closed the door, Mimi said, “It’s busy now, but what’s out there is only the beginning. You need to understand that. This is not child’s play. And it is not America.”
Audrey nodded. “Yes, but I’m planning to hire some help to—”
“With what money? Dottore Smart.” She shook her head like Audrey was a child who didn’t yet understand the full ramifications of her actions. “The strays will keep pouring in. The sick animals. We have a big problem on our hands. And I’m afraid the only way to get it under control is not by taking these animals in. You simply don’t have the money or the space to afford such luxury.”
A sinking feeling coiled in Audrey’s gut. “What are you suggesting?”
She shrugged as if the answer was obvious. “As I have been suggesting to the council for years, I think the simple, humane process of euthanasia will save these animals from any further suffering.”
Audrey gasped. Her gut sunk even lower. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t and won’t do that.”
The smile that came over Mimi’s face was wrong. Sinister. “I think you’ll find that it’s the only way.”
Audrey shook her head. “I will never find that. And I’m not going to even consider going down that road. It’s hard now because I haven’t gotten into a groove yet. But I do think it will get better. I think—”
“And if it doesn’t? Will you consider euthanizing the strays?”
Audrey didn’t skip a beat. “No. I’m sorry. Mussomeli would have to find another vet. I don’t do that.”
“Ah. That’s a shame. Because I think if this problem continues, it’s going to put a big blemish upon our revitalization efforts. We need to stop it as quickly as possible. You see?”
“I understand. And I’ll do my best. But I—”
“I didn’t want you, you see.” She tapped her foot. “Falco, he’s an old softy. You charmed him with your pretty, shiny hair and your smile. But you will not charm me. I put forward the motion to get in an animal control officer who would be skilled in eliminating these problems. He shot it down and recommended you. I said it was a waste of our money, but they agreed to give you a chance. I think it foolish. You? You’ll never fix this problem.”
“Animal control? You mean an animal murderer.” She shivered.
“It’s not murder if it is humane. So if I were you, I wouldn’t get too comfortable here. You won’t be here long,” she said with that same sinister smile, opening up the door and strutting out.
Audrey stared after her, her mouth open.
It was only when the outer door closed and the parakeet started shrieking that she remembered the horrors that waited for her out in the reception area.
She’d show Mimi. She’d make this clinic a success and curb the stray problem, without killing a bunch of animals to achieve it.
Balling her hands into fists, she marched out to the waiting room.
But the chair where Rinaldo, Carota’s owner, once sat was now empty. Every other chair was taken by someone, but her next appointment had given up on her and left.
Audrey sighed. A disgruntled customer on the first day. Perfect.
And with Mimi Catalano breathing down her back, threatening to close her down at every turn, she’d have to work extra hard to make sure there weren’t any more.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Don’t worry, Henri,” she assured the man with the iguana, her last client of the day, for the tenth time. He was an early-twenties hipster guy from Belgium who’d also bought into the one-euro house thing. He had an iguana who’d recently lost his tail during a renovation accident. Though there had been a language barrier—Audrey had about as much a grasp of French as she did of Italian—it was clear the man was beside himself with guilt over his poor pet. “Yes, he lost his tail, but you might not have done anything at all. Iguanas use their tails as a defense mechanism, sometimes dropping them themselves to give them time to get away from a predator. So it’s fully natural.”
The man scratched his goatee. “Eh?”
She tried miming losing a tail and shrugging, but then gave up. He’d never get it.
“Yes, and like I said, he’s young enough that he might grow a new one in time. But larger ones might not, if they don’t need the defense. They might simply bulk up. Again, all completely natural and nothing to worry about.”
She mimed waving away, like no big deal.
“Eh,” he said, seeming to understand. “Merci beaucoup.”
Those were the kinds of clients she liked best. The kind with compassion, who saw animal lives as just as precious as human ones.
Unlike some witchy councilwomen, who believed animal lives could be done away with as simply as throwing out the trash. Councilwomen. Weren’t they supposed to be looking out for the good of the town? What a joke. A town needed pets, if only to keep depression levels at bay. And was the councilwoman really trying to make her up to code so she wouldn’t get into trouble? Audrey had the distinct feeling that if she were lying near death on a curb, Mimi Catalano would walk right past her.
She held the door open for him and waved at the carrier as the man stepped out onto the stoop. Coco, the iguana, stuck out its long tongue at her.
The second they turned away, Audrey bolted inside, turned the sign in the door to CHIUSO, and ran to the reception desk. She pulled stacks of papers and receipts out of the drawers, searching for that missing permit and the certificate of insurance. She found the permit right away, but the other item was nowhere in sight.
Things had calmed down by the end of Audrey’s first day of work, but by then, the image had been firmly cemented in her head: Mimi Catalano, dressed like a witch, cackling as she hung a “Closed for good” sign in front of her building. Now, she could think of nothing else.
“Where in the world are you, Mr. Insurance Certificate?” she said aloud as she rummaged through the papers, imagining the field day Mimi Catalano would have if she didn’t produce it.
After an exhausting search of all the drawers, she finally gave up and cleaned up the mess, readying the place for the following day. Before she left, she hung the lost permit in the window with the others, and closed the curtains tightly.
Again, Piazza Tre and a glass of wine were calling to her, but she couldn’t. She knew she’d never
be able to relax with the insurance certificate missing and the scepter of that woman hanging over her. I’ll get you, my pretty. And your little fox, too!
So instead of turning right to head home, she turned left, toward the center of town. She skipped across the narrow street, past the old marble fountain, thinking of how she’d made a wish in the elephant fountain with G. For luck, and for love.
So far, neither of them had really presented themselves.
If anyone could help her, it was the man who’d gotten her into this. Her benefactor. Though he hadn’t done much for the renovation except supervise, he was an animal lover, and a friend. He’d help her with the paperwork. Or at least, he might be able to get his fellow councilperson to lay off for a little bit.
The building was sandwiched between older ones, and had gothic, Roman columns in front of it and a long sprawling staircase. A street musician sat on the bottom stairs, playing some song on his acoustic guitar and crooning, as a little girl danced circles in front of him.
Audrey had gone to the municipal building to file for the permits, so she knew where to find Orlando Falco’s office. As she walked through the grand hallway, she almost expected Mimi to sweep in on her broom, doing some fancy skywriting in the air. Surrender, Audrey! But the place was nearly empty. Much of it was already closed for the night.
When she reached Falco’s office, she sighed. The door was closed. Of course. She’d have to try to get in touch with him when—if—her schedule ever allowed it.
The moment she took a step to the exit, a door behind her creaked open, and a voice said, “Audrey?”
She turned to find Falco approaching her in his dapper suit, briefcase in hand. With his snow-white hair, lean, six-foot frame, and Whitestrips smile, he looked every bit the dashing politician.
“Oh, you’re here,” she said.
“Yes, I was just on my way home. Busy day. How are you? How is the clinic? You must pardon me, I meant to get over there, but my schedule has been busy,” he said, motioning her to walk with him.
As they walked together toward the exit, their footsteps echoing through the massive halls, she said, “Well, it’s going fine. But I seem to have lost my certificate of insurance.”
“Oh?” He stopped. “You applied for that. I’m sure I delivered it to you in that envelope. It’s a sticker. Gold. This big.” He held out his hands to form the size.
“Ah, is it? I thought I was looking for a paper. I think I have that.” In fact, she was sure she’d seen it in the drawer. She let out a sigh of relief, but her gut still felt uneasy.
“Yes. Just affix it to the front door and you should be fine. Glad I could help,” he said, holding the door open for her. “Have a good—”
“Actually, there’s something else.”
He paused. He looked tired, like he’d had a long day and just wanted to get home. Join the club, buddy. “Yes? Have you run into any problems?”
“Well, yes. You see …” She paused, trying to choose her words carefully. In the event they were friends, This witch is trying to close down the clinic probably wasn’t the best way to open.
“Ah, but that’s because you’re new to the area. All new businesses experience growing pains. A few more ads in the paper, and you’ll have more appointments than you know what to do—”
“No, that’s not it,” she explained. “I’m actually really busy. I haven’t even been open two days and the kennel is almost full. I really would like to hire a couple helpers, if you know of anyone. An assistant, at least. But that’s not what I wanted to—”
“I’m not sure if that’s in our budget, but—”
“It’s okay. I understand. It’s nice to have but not possible now. That’s not the main issue.” He looked as though he was going to cut her off again, so she quickly blurted, “Mimi Catalano.”
His expression changed at once, not exactly to disgust, but something like it. No, they definitely weren’t friends. “Yes? What about her?”
“Well, she stopped by today. And yesterday, while you were busy giving tours at the Grand Opening. She told me I was missing the permits, but then she went off on a bunch of other things. I’m guessing she never was really a fan of the clinic?”
He frowned. “No. Unfortunately. She’s been difficult about it from the start. She had her own ideas of how to deal with the stray problem.”
“Right. She thinks catching and keeping strays is a waste of time and money. She wanted to hire an animal control officer and have them euthanized,” Audrey said, voice rising, getting more and more worked up as she thought about it. “I told her in no uncertain terms that if that’s what this town is looking for, I’m not the veterinarian who will carry those plans out.”
“I understand, I understand,” he said, holding out his hands in effort to calm her. “And by no means do all the members of the council want that. But yes, I admit that she’s pushing for it, and she’s rather one to make a big stink about it. She’s quite the piece of work.”
“She’s not just making a stink, Mr. Falco. She vowed to close the place down if I didn’t walk her line.”
They were now at the front of the building, at the bottom of the steps. He looked away, down the empty street, and muttered something under his breath. “Dr. Smart. I’m sorry if she was difficult with you. But please, don’t worry yourself unnecessarily. I will have some words with her, see if I can smooth things over some.”
Audrey smiled. “You will?”
“Yes. At the earliest opportunity. I promise you, I will not let her do anything to close the clinic down. I—and many other people in this town—know that you and that place are a godsend. You must believe that.”
She sighed with relief. Short of landing a house on Mimi Catalano and her broom, that was the best she could hope for. “Thank you. That would be great.”
He checked his watch. “I must be going. I’ll stop by later this week. I promise. Have a good night.”
He turned to walk up Via Barcellona, and she went the other way, back toward her clinic. She stopped there, went inside, found the insurance certificate—a gold sticker, of course—peeled off its backing, and placed it in the window, near the other paperwork. Good. Now she was official.
But with Mimi Catalano in the picture, she had to wonder if she would be able to stay that way for long.
CHAPTER NINE
The following morning, fighting off nightmares of Mimi Catalano cackling like a witch as she flew in on her broom, Audrey burrowed under the covers, trying to fight the rising sun, which was pouring its rays over the bedroom. Just five more minutes, she told herself.
Then it happened.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
She’d grown used to the construction racket happening all over the town. When Nessa, across the street, had moved in with an army of construction workers, they’d made enough noise to wake the dead. But this sound was different.
Nearer.
She pulled a blanket off her head and looked over at Nick, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, ears perked.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
It was coming from downstairs. Someone was banging at her door.
She pushed out of her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes. The last time this had happened, it had been a police detective, wanting to question her about her alibi in the death of a certain project foreman. Why did the people of Mussomeli seem to think it was okay to bang on people’s doors at ungodly hours of the morning? At least, this time, she wasn’t a suspect in a murder investigation.
Scuffing into her slippers and throwing on a fluffy chenille robe, she navigated her way down the stairs and threw open the door to see a pale nightmare in purple, with red-rimmed lips.
Mimi Catalano.
Audrey took a step back as the woman took a step forward, arms akimbo. “Well?”
“Um …” Was that a question? “I was just about to make some coffee. Can I get you some?”
The woman let out a sigh and tapped her heel impatiently. Evid
ently, from the way she was made up, she’d been awake for hours. She was wearing heels with a track suit again—this time, purple. She said, “Don’t try to sweet talk me. I told you to save that for Falco. You know why I’m here.”
She didn’t have an exact idea, but it seemed a good guess to reason that it was something about the vet clinic. Something that she’d done wrong, likely. Unless Mimi was now here to shut down her own renovation at Piazza Tre, not that much renovating had been going on lately. “Actually… can you be a little more specific?”
Across the street, a door slammed. Audrey looked over Mimi’s shoulder at Nessa, who was stretching for her morning run, a sly little smirk on her face. “What did you do this time, Audrey?”
Audrey scowled at her.
It was a question that Nessa hadn’t expected an answer to, since she started to skip into her run. But Mimi whirled around and said, “She was missing the required permits to operate her business.”
Nessa, who never met a scandal involving Audrey she didn’t like, slowed to a stop. “Really? That’s interesting.” She tutted.
“No, it’s really not,” Audrey muttered, motioning to Nessa to keep running. She looked pointedly at Mimi. “And I’m not missing the permits. They’re in the window. I put them there last night. Even the certificate of insurance.”
“I was just there. I didn’t see them.”
So she was going to fight her to the death on this? At least this time, Audrey knew she was in the right.
Before she could respond, Nessa came closer, still tutting. “I don’t doubt it. I’d keep a close eye on her, if I were you. She’s a shifty one. I said it ever since she moved in. Always peering out the windows, snooping. And my foreman was killed because of her.” She said it in a conspiratorial whisper, like the two of them were old friends. “Yep, it’s true.”
Really? “Um, Nessa. I didn’t kill your freaking foreman. Someone else did. Remember?”
She stared daggers back at Audrey. “Maybe someone else pulled the trigger, but you drove him to his death. All that complaining you did.” She sighed at Mimi. “I had to hold off on my own renovations for an entire week! Can you believe that?”
