by Fiona Grace
“Polpetto?” she called. “Is that you, boy?”
He let out one very sharp bark and turned in a circle.
She knew what that bark meant. She’d heard it on the beach, when she’d first met him and found Mimi’s body. It was a simple command: Follow me.
“He wants us to go with him,” she shouted, breaking into a run.
By the time she got to the corner, she already had a stitch in her side, but the sound of DiNardo’s footsteps right behind her spurred her on. When she got to the T where the alley met the street, she swung her head around.
Sure enough, Alberto was rushing down the street, his dog on his heels.
Sucking in a breath and letting it out, she started to run again. Unfortunately, uphill. This time, DiNardo easily overtook her, crossing a side street as a car slammed on its brakes, narrowly missing him. The driver honked its horn and started to proceed again, just as Audrey flew into the intersection, placing her hands on the hood to avoid being hit for the second time that day.
The man was fast. He might not have climbed those stairs to the beach, but he was definitely fitter than Audrey. Fitter than DiNardo, too, because it was clear he was widening the gap. She could barely see the Polpetto beyond DiNardo, who was pumping his arms and legs with all his might.
Just when she was about to give up, she heard a cry up ahead. It was a man, but it sounded decidedly… girlish.
Polpetto had pinned his owner to the ground, and was now standing on his back, licking his face playfully.
DiNardo came to a quick stop, with Audrey right behind him. Audrey smiled. “I bet next time you’ll think before you say a dog’s not important, huh?”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
In a surprising display of force, Detective DiNardo yanked Alberto Nucci from the sidewalk by his collar and shoved him up against the side of the building, shouting something in Italian. Nucci, beaten, nodded and held up his hands. Audrey tried to follow their conversation, but she was lost after she heard the name Tito a couple times.
“What is he saying?” Audrey demanded. “Is he denying it, the scoundrel?”
“No,” DiNardo said, loosening his grip on the man’s shirt. “He says that Mimi Catalano was in the habit of going along that route, opening gates, removing collars, to make the stray problem look worse than it was.”
“Ah-ha! I told you,” Audrey said proudly. “And? Then what happened?”
DiNardo looked at Alberto, whose face was red from exertion, that blue vein at his temple popping in the sunlight like it was about to burst.
“She’s a snake. A vicious snake, and not just to newcomers. I caught her doing it. I was having breakfast that morning and saw her at my back gate. Tito, he likes everyone. Even streghe.”
Audrey lifted a brow in confusion. “Streghe?”
“Witches,” DiNardo explained.
The man nodded. “Right. I saw her taking the collar from his neck, and then she ran off with it. Wearing heels, stupida. I caught up with her on the beach, after she’d gotten rid of the collar somewhere, and I demanded she tell me what she did.”
“And you fought?”
“No. Well, yes. But with words. I never touched her. I wouldn’t have. There were other people on the beach at the time. A jogger …a fisherman. I didn’t want to make a scene. I wanted her to tell me where the collar was and admit what she’d been doing.”
“Did she?”
“No, she was a stubborn one. She denied everything. She told me it was my word against hers, and that I’d pay for attempting to humiliate her in that meeting. The she turned away from me and lost her balance. I went to help her up and… she wasn’t moving. There was so much blood.” He shook his head, clearly perturbed by the memory.
Audrey eyed the man skeptically. The man she’d seen, with the red face and the pulsing vein, had a temper. This version sounded far too innocent. “Do you believe that, Detective?”
“Doesn’t matter what I believe. It’s for the court to decide.”
Nucci hung his head. “It’s the truth. I shouldn’t have run off, but I wasn’t thinking. It was an accident.”
Detective DiNardo reached under his jacket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “All right. I think you and I need to have a talk downtown.”
He twisted him around and snapped the cuffs on. Audrey hugged herself, thinking. It might not have been quite as innocent as Nucci had said, but even so, it was a sobering reminder that life was precious. She had to feel sorry for Mimi Catalano. Even though she’d made life difficult for people, she hadn’t deserved to die. No one did.
As the detective spoke to Alberto, possibly reading him his rights, Mason came jogging up the street with one of the strays on a leash. “What’s going on?” he asked her, then took notice of DiNardo and the cuffed man. “Wait. Don’t tell me …”
She shrugged. “You missed all the fun.”
“Looks like I did. Did that guy—”
“Yep. He said it was an accident, but who knows? Polpetto’s owner, like I always suspected.”
Mason nodded. “Yes. You did. You’re good, girl. Maybe you went into the wrong line of work.”
She laughed and looked at him. “Maybe I did. But I still didn’t solve the biggest mystery of all. Which is why you’ve been acting so suspicious lately. Is it because of your mysterious guest?”
“Partly.” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Fine. I’ll tell you. My finances might not have been as flush as I was hoping, recently.”
She stared at him. He’d said before his family had money. Lots of it. Gorgeous, handy, and loaded… as if he needed anything to make him more of a catch. He’d moved out here without any expectation of working at all once he set up his place—just living a simple Mediterranean bachelor lifestyle. “I thought you said …”
“I know what I said. I was wrong. Let’s just say that my gravy train’s gone off the rails. Anyway, I’ve been working down the street, stocking shelves at the market overnight. So… I’m sorry if I’ve been falling asleep at times. It’s not you.”
“Oh …” she said. Well, obviously. That made sense. More sense than him partying it up at clubs in town or getting into shady business. He didn’t seem like that kind of person at all. She clasped a hand over her mouth. “And you drove me to the lake when you should’ve been sleeping, that time? You’ve been coming right from that job to work for me?”
He nodded.
Her heart melted. So what did that mean, for her? Did that mean he …
She didn’t want to think about it, because if it did, she’d start giggling like a moron again. She clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle whatever weird sounds might come out. “Oh my god. I feel so bad. If I’d known, of course I would’ve let you sleep! No wonder you were tired.”
“Ah, sleep is overrated. And I couldn’t let you go to the lake alone. It wasn’t safe.”
“But you didn’t have to work at my clinic.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not.”
Detective DiNardo started to walk Nucci down the street, toward the police station. Tito followed along obediently. People had gathered on the street to watch the commotion, and so Nucci hung his head low. As DiNardo led Nucci past Audrey, Nucci came to a stop, and Audrey braced herself for the tirade. Maybe he’d even spit in her face.
Instead, he said, “Please. Take my Tito. He’s a good boy. Find him a good home.”
She reached down and took the dog by his collar. “Yes. Of course I will.”
He nodded with gratitude before walking down the road, not stopping to look back at his poor pup, who started to whine.
It tugged at Audrey’s heart. She reached down and stroked his brindle fur, patting his broad side heartily. “Aw, poor you. Don’t worry. We will find you a good home.” She stood up and murmured, “Even if it’s with me.”
Mason raised an eyebrow. “Why do you look terrified about that? Big dog like that’ll probably keep you in line.”
She shrugged. “It’
s just that you know how busy I am. This dog needs walks all the time, especially with someone who can keep up with him while he’s running.”
Mason nodded thoughtfully. “Well… what about me?”
She snorted. “Ha. Be serious.”
“I am serious.” He thrust up his chin. “I ain’t always joking around.”
Her jaw dropped. “I don’t know. It’s a big responsibility. He needs someone who’s going to love him. Not call him an ‘it’ and get all grossed out whenever he drools on his precious things.”
Mason crouched in front of the dog and ran a hand through his ears. “I actually had a dog like this when I was a kid. Named him Snoopy.”
She blinked. “You did?”
“Yeah. Died when I was twelve. Worst day of my life.”
She stared at him, shocked and a little touched by the show of emotion on his face. No wonder he’d been weird around Polpetto. Maybe it was more about hurt than disgust. She’d lost her first dog around the time she turned twelve, too, at about the same time her father disappeared. Those two things, happening so close together, were like the end of her world. “It’s always hardest to lose your first best friend.”
“Yeah.” He grinned at the animal. “Maybe it’s about time I get myself a second one. What do you say, Polpetto?”
In answer, he let out a sharp bark and handed Mason his paw. Mason laughed and shook it, and the deal was made.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Later that day, Audrey made it a point to stop by the Regalpetra on Via Garibaldi. Cradling the bottle of wine under her arm, she walked into the simple but well-appointed hotel’s lobby and went straight to the reception desk.
“Buongiorno,” she said, trying to remember the basic Italian phrases she learned from that guidebook. Um, how do you say, Can I have a person’s room number? “Uh, Bruno Altavera?”
The woman with a shiny black bob, in a blazer with a shiny brass placard that said, “Diana,” typed something into a computer. “Ah,” she said with a bright smile shining between her red-painted lips. “Our American friend, yes?”
Audrey nodded. “I am also an American friend,” she admitted.
“Is Mr. Altavera expecting you?”
“No. Actually, I just wanted to give him this gift.” She tittered. “You see, there was a little misunderstand—”
“I’ve found that Mr. Altavera is not very good with surprises,” she said, eyeing the bottle in Audrey’s hand. “It might be better that you just leave the bottle here, and I’ll make sure he gets it.”
Audrey’s lips twisted to the side. “Well, I would. I wanted to tell him something, and apologize, too.”
The woman pushed across a notepad with the hotel’s ornate crest on the top. “You can write a note.”
Audrey nodded and set the wine on the counter. “Okay.”
She picked up the pen and wrote: Dear Mr. Altavera.
That was the easy part. She tapped her chin with the pen, trying to decide how to form her next words. I’m sorry I nearly got you thrown in a Sicilian prison the second time I met you. She winced. I’m sorry you missed your flight home because of my rash suspicions. She clenched her teeth harder. I’m sorry you probably not only hate Sicily but all of Italy as well and will probably never even set foot in an American pizza place again, as long as you live.
“Audrey?”
She whirled around, pen still in her hand, to see Bruno stepping off a gilded elevator, a questioning expression on his face.
“Oh, hi! I brought you—” She waved at it so frantically that she knocked the wine off the counter. It fell to the white marble floor and shattered across it, splattering red all over the place, especially on her khaki pants. On the white tile, it looked like something out of a crime scene.
Behind her, Diana said, “No problem. We’ll have someone clean that.”
Audrey sighed. There went thirty euros, right down the drain.
He approached, careful to avoid the minefield of broken glass. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought you a peace offering,” she said. “At least, I tried to. Sorry.”
He surveyed the broken pieces of glass between them. “Peace offering?”
“Oh. You probably haven’t heard the news. They arrested Mimi Catalano’s killer earlier this afternoon.”
“They did? Huh.” He stuck his lower lip out and nodded with satisfaction. “Pretty good. I thought I’d be stuck here for weeks. So who was it?”
“It was a man who’d lost his dog. It turned out Mimi Catalano was going around the lake properties, letting out dogs and trying to make them strays in order to pass this tax that she’s been trying to promote.”
“That so?” He stroked his fleshy chin, staring at hers. “Uh, you have something …”
“What?” She wiped her chin and inspected her fingers. They were covered in a smear of black ink. “Oops.” She began to rub it harder, then lifted it for his inspection. “Did I get it?”
“Uh …” He said it in a way that made her think she wasn’t even close. “Almost. Well, I always knew it wasn’t me, and eventually they’d find that out.”
“Anyway. I wanted to bring you something to say that I was sorry.” Still rubbing her chin, she looked down at the floor, where a hotel worker was kneeling between them, trying to sweep up the mess with an inadequate hand broom and dustpan. “And… I fouled that up, too. But I promise to get you a new bottle before you leave.”
“It’s all right. And to tell you the truth, I don’t think I’m leaving,” he said, stepping out of the way of the worker as he tried to mop up some wine by his foot. “When I got back here, I called my girl, and she said that it was all right that I was being kept here. She’d heard everything I said about the place and wanted to come out herself. So she took some time off from work and she’d going to be on the next plane out here. So we’ll stick around here together for a few more days, and make the decision together.”
“Really?” She clapped her hands together in front of her. “That’s wonderful.”
“Yeah, and, to tell you the truth…” He leaned forward, as if he had a great secret to tell her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a platinum diamond solitaire. “I have been holding onto this baby for months, but haven’t been able to think of a way to pop it to her, if you know what I mean. What better way than in front of that castle, surrounded by the mountains?”
“Yes!” Audrey said, as if she were the bride, because for a moment she’d gotten transported by the idea of it. Who knew that rough-looking Bruno, who looked like one of those guys who enjoyed nothing more than a beer and football game on Sunday, was a romantic? “I agree. That would be perfect. Well, I will send you another bottle of wine to congratulate you.”
“Yeah? That’s a deal.”
She smiled. “Good luck!” She looked down at the man cleaning the mess. “And I’ll bring you a bottle, too, signore. I’m so sorry for the mess.”
*
That evening, Audrey poured herself a glass of wine and started to tile the kitchen, which Mason, true to his word, had finished sanding that afternoon. As she was starting to place the first tile, a text came through from her sister: So, question.
That sounded like a lead-in to a long conversation. She stopped, peeled off her gloves, and responded with: One sec. I’ll call you
Brina picked up the second she dialed the phone, almost before it rang. “Yes?”
“I’m just sitting here, thinking. He brought you dinner. He sanded the floor for you. He volunteered in your clinic. He adopted a pet for you. He’s hotter than Hades. WOMAN. What is stopping you from jumping him right now?”
Back to jumping again. Audrey sighed, and her mouth watered a little at the thought of that hot brown. She’d told Brina everything that had happened in the last few days, hoping to get some of that stellar big-sister advice. But though Mason seemed to like her, she couldn’t quite grasp the idea that he liked her, liked her. Yes, it was very middle school, b
ut Audrey usually felt that way, where relationships were concerned. The man had clearly been around the block before, and she hadn’t even left the front yard.
“What makes you think he isn’t just being nice because I’m his only American friend in town?”
“Please. Nice would be saying ‘Good morning’ when he passes you on the street. This is BEYOND nice. Trust me.”
“Come on. Don’t give me that.”
“I’m not giving you anything but the truth.”
Maybe. Brina knew these things, especially when it came to men. But Mason? He was too good-looking. Too perfect. If he ever gazed meaningfully into her eyes, like he wanted to kiss her, she’d probably have a heart attack. Besides, that would never happen…
“But he has a guest coming soon. A woman. Probably a girlfriend. A beautiful, supermodel girlfriend with a name like Amanda. He’s kind of quiet and mysterious about his past. I still think he’s definitely just being nice.”
“Ugh. Would you stop being like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like, selling yourself short. You’re a doctor! And a darn fine-looking woman. You need to get more confidence, girl. Don’t mind when I say I TOLD YOU SO when he professes his undying love.”
Audrey snorted. If he did that, she’d definitely have a heart attack. “I don’t have time to think about that. I have a pet adoption day to plan.”
“What about your bio—”
“Stop it with the biological clock crap. I am just fine.”
Brina let out a dramatic sigh. “Right. Planning your pet adoption extravaganza is so high on your list. I get it.”
“Well, yes. It’s important!”
The second she said it, she realized how lame she sounded. Brina laughed. “Okay, but when you’re eighty and an old cat lady who talks to her animals like they’re her best friends, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She pressed her lips together. “I’ll never do that.” She looked over at Nick, who was busy preening his tail. “I don’t talk to animals like they’re my best friends, do I, Nick?”
