Madison Westin 02-Deception in Paradise (20 page)

“They need a new home right now. Crystal was taking care of them, and they’re too much for her. They’re here at my place, and there’s not enough room for the three of us. Apple said she would take them, but she can’t take care of herself.”

“They can’t stay at The Cottages,” I said. “You know the rule, one dead cat per household.”

Fab and I laughed.

“I’m on my way over,” I told Joseph and hung up the phone.

I turned to Fab. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. You’re coming.” We took my SUV. There was no room for two big dogs in Fab’s sports car. Besides, she wouldn’t let a dog in her car, even if it were an ankle biter. “I have a crazy idea.”

“That’s shocking.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, and it isn’t necessary.” I picked up my phone. “Dickie, this is Madison Westin.”

“Did someone die? We can send out a car to pick them up, and you can come in tomorrow to make arrangements.”

“No, no one died. This isn’t a business call.”

Fab started laughing.

“Sssh,” I told her.

“Do you remember the dogs at Pavel Klaus’s funeral?”

“Yes,” he said. “They were great dogs.”

“Long story short, they need a home. Did anybody show an interest in the dogs at the funeral?” I was hoping he’d offer to take the dogs, since I didn’t have the nerve to ask him outright.

“Raul liked those dogs. He’s mentioned them a couple of times, wondering how they were doing. We’ll take them.”

“How soon could you pick them up?”

“I can go now,” Dickie said. “I just finished dressing Mrs. Weathersby. I didn’t think the dress was the right choice, so I adjusted her makeup so she’d appear more natural and not so pale.”

“Dickie, about the dogs. Are you sure? Pavel’s girlfriend left town, leaving them behind. They need a stable home, and it’d be nice to keep them together. At some point, I fear they’ll end up at the pound.”

“Give me the address, and I’ll go get them. I’ll surprise Raul. Moonshine, our Labrador, died about a month ago, and this will be a great surprise.”

“Dickie, I forgot to ask the dog’s names.”

“Don’t worry, I wrote them down. This will work out fine.”

I gave him the address of The Cottages and told him I’d call Joseph, so he’d be expecting him.

Joseph answered on the first ring. “I found them a permanent home. Dickie’s on his way to pick them up.”

“That cretin from the funeral home?”

“Stop it. Those two dogs just hit the jackpot with Dickie and Raul as their new owners.”

“I suppose,” Joseph said.

I knew Dickie creeped him out, but I also knew the dogs would shortly drive him over the edge. “This is the perfect solution for the dogs. Dickie’s on his way now. Promise me you’ll be nice.” I made a U-turn in the intersection and headed back home.

“You’re finding homes for dogs now?” Fab asked.

“Those dogs deserve a good home, and they got one. Every animal should be so lucky.”

“Softie.”

“You make it sound like a skin condition or something.”

CHAPTER 27

“Hi, honey. I’m home,” Zach said as he walked in the same doors Fab had come through earlier. “What are you two up to?”

“Getting drunk in the middle of the day,” I said, holding up my iced tea. “Any news for me?”

Fab and Zach did the silent dance. They glared, looked one another over, nodded, and relaxed. I felt guilty that I was the one to put a wedge in their relationship. Zach disapproved that Fab and I had become such good friends; he complained all the time that Fab was a bad influence.

“I took Slice off the case and assigned Winston to investigate. He hasn’t come up with anything new,” Zach informed me.

“So that’s it?”

“In the meeting this afternoon, the consensus was stranger murder,” Zach said.

“Stranger murder?” I shook my head. “Are you saying that the murder might never get solved? This isn’t the way to get me to stop asking questions.”

“What questions?” Zach demanded. “You promised to stay out of this case.”

“I asked Joseph to ask around, and he knows as much as you do. Nothing!” So what if it wasn’t the truth? “Who the hell is Winston, anyway?”

“New guy. Good connects,” Zach said calmly. “He did a thorough job, looked into Pavel’s life and background, and came up with no reason for someone to shoot him. Hence, the stranger angle. And he’s not going to make up information just to satisfy you. Your mother was happy that you asked me to investigate.”

“What about my mother?” I asked.

“She was worried you’d go snooping around and get in over your head. I reassured her you were letting me do the investigating, and that calmed her down.”

“How nice you two could reassure one another. I don’t need rescuing, and it’s getting old,” I told him. “Aren’t you supposed to be a top-notch investigator?”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean you have zero information. What do you charge your clients for work like that? Even the reports that Anoui sent over were useless. She couldn’t even include a decent photo of Pavel; I had to print it off the internet.” I could see he was struggling to stay calm.

“Look, I know you want to help out Jax, but he’s only charged with BUI, and he’s guilty. It is what it is. My company isn’t going to manufacture evidence to get Dick Weasel off. Let him man up and handle his own problems.”

“Breaking news: Weasel’s in jail on a possible murder one charge,” I said.

“There’s no other viable suspect. I’m not going to accuse someone else to make you happy.” His jaw clenched. “Shouldn’t you be at home waiting for Marco?” he asked Fab.

Fab gave him the finger and slid off the stool.

“Sit back down,” I told her. I turned back to Zach. “She’s spending the night. So you’re telling me there’s nothing. Case over. Any dock gossip?”

“Like you said, this case is closed,” Zach said evenly. “You’re pretty involved with someone you divorced.”

“It’s not that simple.” I sighed. “He was a part of our family, and he has a family of his own who are worried. No one wants him going to jail for something he didn’t do. In a small town, the story would forever be that my ex-husband murdered someone on the family boat. Do you think Pavel’s murderer should walk away? What happens if the person kills again?”

“Do you mind if we have some time alone?” Zach asked Fab.

Fab picked up Jazz. “We’ll go out by the pool.”

Once she left, I said, “You like Fab. Why are you being so rude to her?”

“I do like her,” Zach said. “She’s better backup than most men I know. What I don’t like is you two running around asking questions. You take crazy chances when you’re with her.”

“I don’t need to be reprimanded like I’m six years old. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

“You woke up one morning, said to yourself, ‘I’ll go with Fab while she jacks a car from a felon who owes Brick money.’”

“I don’t believe he had a record, and there was no jacking involved. Besides, we had a key.” I would’ve lied, but he knew too many details.

“What if rich boy had caught the two of you?” Zach demanded.

“He didn’t. Besides, he stopped paying for the rental, which makes it grand theft auto under Florida law. Are you sticking up for that?” Good thing he hadn’t heard about the shooting.

“Seriously, you must not be smart enough to know when you’re in a bad situation. Or you don’t give a damn. Is it all fun and games for you to worry your family constantly?”

I stared at him, shocked. “It must be my stupidity.”

“Don’t sulk. You know what I meant. Let’s table the discussion on Fab. I want to spend what’s left of the evening with you. We could go back to my place. I thought you could start spending more time there.”

“What are you talking about?” Suddenly, I felt claustrophobic. He was tightening the reins, and I didn’t like it.

“Taking our relationship for a test drive,” Zach said. “Spend more time together, as in living together.”

“At your place?” I squeaked.

“We would have privacy, and no people walking in and out.”

“Hmm. Well, I… uh… hmm.” He was definitely off his game if he thought I was going from occasional dating to being guarded.

He glared at me. “That’s not quite the response I expected.”

“I thought maybe we could go bowling, eat more Mexican food.” I hesitated. “You just sprung it on me. I need time to think about the idea.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know. That’s a big decision to make in five seconds.”

He leaned forward. “Come home with me now.”

“I can’t. I’m not bailing on Fab, and I’m waiting to hear about two dogs I’m trying to find a home for.”

His look told me he thought I was lying. “What dogs?”

“Kym, Pavel’s girlfriend, abandoned his two dogs. They needed a home, and I think I found them one.”

Zach threw his hands in the air. “Why does it have to be you? If you were living at my place, I could help you with the word ‘no,’ and you wouldn’t be bothered with these kinds of calls.”

“It’s not a bother. I love animals. Just because my choice is cat over dog doesn’t mean I wouldn’t help if I could.”

“One of Pavel’s friends would’ve stepped forward,” Zach said.

“I found the dogs a better home than going home with another drunk.”

“You can’t meddle in everything in town.”

“How does living at your place control who I say yes or no to? Are you going to lock me up and take away my phone?” Zach lived at the top of an old warehouse, modern, slick, and fifty steps straight up to the front door.

“You’re deliberately picking a fight.”

“Why don’t you leave before we both say something we can’t take back?”

He stared at me for a long moment, a vein raised on the right side of his head. He turned and stomped out of the front door.

Living together was a bad idea. Not to mention the fact I didn’t want to live at his place. “You can come out, Fab. You’re lucky he had his back to you, or he’d of seen you eavesdropping.”

“I’m not losing my touch. There just wasn’t another good place to hide,” Fab said.

“I knew you’d never resist listening.”

“The conversation went downhill after your lackluster response to moving in.”

“There was a moment or two there when I thought I might cry. Seeing you standing there gave me strength not to sink to such a girlie level.”

“You’re tougher than you give yourself credit for.”

“I love my house.” I looked around the room and knew I wasn’t moving anywhere. “He doesn’t have a pool. My house is comfy and has double-dipped chocolate ice cream bars in the freezer. Who would come visit me over there? No one. Everyone’s afraid of him.”

“Weren’t you just telling me you wanted more time with him?”

“Did you hear me say one word about moving in together?” I asked. “Dates, dinners out, shooting pool at the bar, late night swims, and sex. That’s what I meant.”

“When you said bowling, I almost laughed.”

“We can do all that without shacking up,” I said.

“I would have said sex first.”

“I’m sure you would.” I smiled. “I move in with him, and I spend all my time waiting for him to come home from being superspy. And I’m not living somewhere where a guy died.”

“That would creep me out, too. What if his ghost is still hanging there?”

“Oh, stop. I’ll never want to go there now.”

“How are you going to tell him?” Fab asked.

I sighed. “I don’t have to think about it tonight.”

“Okay, Scarlett, what are you thinking about?”

“What did you think of Zach’s report? I think he doesn’t give a damn. He acts like he’s got competition from Jax, and he doesn’t.”

“I almost laughed when you nailed him with the zero information,” Fab said. “The problem here is that you are loathe to do what you’re told.” She shook her finger at me.

“Did you believe he wasn’t able to dig up anything?”

“I believe he’s investigating like he said. My guess is whatever information he’s found out, he’s keeping to himself. He’s trying to keep you from getting hurt.”

“He has a few things to learn about women,” I said.

“The stranger murder angle has merit. When there’s no connection between killer and deceased, it’s a hard case to solve. At that point, you need someone to talk, DNA, or a gun with prints on it.”

I reached for my ringing phone. “Joseph again,” I told Fab.

“Dickie came and got the dogs,” Joseph said. “As soon as Dickster walked in, the dogs jumped all over him. He’s weird as fuck, but you’re right about him and the other guy giving them a good home.”

“That would be Raul, and I’m happy that the dogs have a new home. How are things there?”

“Quiet now that Jax’s in jail. Apple’s back. Of course, she didn’t go far, only across the street to the weed dealer, Chuck. His stuff is cheapass; he sells stems and seeds. She’s passed out in a chair by the pool, and Robert left dressed like a pimp.”

“She’s not close to the pool, is she?”

“No, she’s over in the corner. Wouldn’t that be something if she drowned?” His laugh was wheezy and brittle.

“That’s not very funny.”

“You know what they say, don’t you? It drizzles, then it pours.”

“Good night, Joseph.”

“So the little bastard is at home. I’m going for a ride,” Fab told me.

“Not by yourself.” I grabbed her keys before she got to them. “You drive, and I’ll hide in the car. You promise not to hurt him?”

“Why do you have to take the fun out of everything?”

“It wouldn’t be a fair fight even he was in good health, which he’s not,” I pointed out.

“Don’t worry. He’s turning out to be useful. He does manage to dig up good info. You have to remember number one is king with him and factor that in.”

“After, I want to go on a joyride,” I said.

“Where to?”

“I want to do the murder tour, drive down to where the boat accident happened, and then to where they pulled Pavel out of the water. After that, we can go to the docks where he worked and lived. It’s a different perspective at night.”

“Your promise lasted ten minutes,” she sighed. “I know you don’t want to accept a possible stranger angle, but you might have to.”