Never Say Sty (34 page)
Authors: Linda O. Johnston
“Apparently, although I’m not positive whether he had me in mind specifically at first, just a pig owner. But the harness still had its sales tag on it, and he’d bought another one under an assumed name and had it delivered to one of those sham post office boxes, so I figure he was probably already planning what he ultimately did. After the murder, Matilda confronted him, intending to blackmail him with what she knew. Instead, he turned the tables and threatened her—both physically and professionally—if she didn’t help him. Even though she’d been exonerated when her professionalism was called into question once before, he said he’d make sure former patients he happened to know went to the veterinary board with all sorts of allegations. By then, he’d definitely gotten the idea of making sure I went down for the murder—both to get me out of the way of his promotions within the department, and to pay me back for not supporting him before. He’d pin it either on me or on Nita, since if she was charged, I’d go ballistic.”
“Who, you?” I asked innocently.
“Yeah,” Ned’s voice shot back. “Anyway, he made Matilda plant the second harness at Nita’s.”
“Any idea when she got possession of it?” I asked. I had a feeling it had been in her house on the day I’d visited but she didn’t let me inside.
“Not yet, but that’ll come out as she talks. In any event, once she planted it, she was into the conspiracy up to her veterinary shrink eyeballs. And she was scared, figured he’d dispose of her whenever his plan was done, if not before. He purposely ran into her car and broke into her house, but she was afraid to let anyone know. Now that he’s been arrested, she’s singing like a cheerful pig.”
“Great!” I exclaimed.
“So, you did it again, Ballantyne. I used to get damned mad at you for showing me up in murder cases. Now I want to kiss those pretty feet of yours.”
“Hey!” Dante interrupted.
“But I’ll gladly turn that pleasure over to you, Mr. DeFrancisco. Bye . . . and have fun!” I heard the click, and Ned was gone.
“Looks like you’ve increased your fan club,” Brody said. “A cop in your pocket? Good position to be in.”
“Better than the antagonism that used to be between us,” I agreed.
“Well, one of these days I’ll want to hear more of your story. Maybe I can make a movie about it.”
“No thanks,” I said. “The publicity tonight for
Animal Auditions
is about as much as I can stand.”
Animal Auditions
is about as much as I can stand.”
“I still may take some lessons from you someday,” said Brody. “Murder Magnet 101.”
“So are you ever going to tell me how you learned to conduct investigations the way you do it now?” I asked.
A loud silence. And then a grin with a hearty, “Nope!”
“Then . . . Dante, you made an odd comment once about fixing things so you wouldn’t be arrested. Will you elaborate now?”
I was expecting a “no,” so I was pleased when he shrugged and said, “Since you wouldn’t be my alibi, I made sure the one I actually gave would work. Thing was, it was real. I’d been on a video conference that night with one of my overseas suppliers, so I had to get my high-tech guys to get their act together and provide evidence of timing, plus proof it wasn’t prerecorded.”
“And you didn’t tell me that. Why?”
“Just wanted you to worry a little.”
About whether he could be a killer? On the other hand, it would give me good reason not to get too involved with him. And I’d gathered, from stuff he said, that he genuinely wanted to keep his distance. Or at least he genuinely
wanted
to want to . . .
wanted
to want to . . .
A little like I genuinely feared letting my heart get wrapped around any man, especially one as controlling and unpredictable—and utterly irresistible—as Dante DeFrancisco.
Brody left a short while later. “It’s been a big day, and I have some scripts to read tomorrow.”
Maybe. Or perhaps he was conducting some other undercover investigation for Dante that neither disclosed to me.
When Brody was gone, I had something else important to ask Dante. “Ready to kiss my feet?” I inquired huskily.
“Anytime,” he said, and turned off the TV.
I ALL BUT danced back to the Valley to do pet-sitting rounds the next morning. Afterward, I headed my Escape toward Darryl’s to drop off Lexie. I wanted her to have a fun day, and it wouldn’t be if she stayed with me.
It was Tuesday. I had a big day planned at the law office to help make up for my lack of attention over the last few weeks.
Now that Sebastian’s killer was caught, my time spent on
Animal Auditions
was bound to go down. But I’d gathered from calls and a quick check of the Internet this morning that the show had gotten fabulous reviews—not to mention the huge audience, all of whom would undoubtedly frequent the show’s excellent main sponsor, HotPets.
Animal Auditions
was bound to go down. But I’d gathered from calls and a quick check of the Internet this morning that the show had gotten fabulous reviews—not to mention the huge audience, all of whom would undoubtedly frequent the show’s excellent main sponsor, HotPets.
Dante would do well from this, too.
Dante. We’d had such a glorious night, celebrating my success in finding Sebastian’s killer, his success in all the additional promotion for HotPets, our success in finding each other . . .
Well, yes, I guess I’d admitted to myself that I’d really fallen fast for this guy. Maybe I was foolish, after all the bad relationships I’d gone into in the past, including recently. But sometimes, even when a fellow won’t answer all your questions, you just have to make a romantic decision and run with it.
Then there was Darryl. When I got to Doggy Indulgence, Wanda was there again. We all went into Darryl’s office, and I smiled as the two of them stayed close together. Hey, this was August. A prime time for love? Apparently, even though this month didn’t usually have that reputation.
“Have you told the Jeongs about the possible separation anxiety solution for Princess?” Wanda asked.
I had to admit I hadn’t. Darryl understood immediately. “I guess you were a little preoccupied yesterday, what with figuring out the solution to Sebastian’s murder.”
I nodded. “But I’m not going to wait a minute longer.” I had the Jeongs programmed into my cell phone, and I called them where they were still conducting business, in New York, but due home in a couple of days.
Treena answered immediately. “Hi, Kendra. Is everything okay with Princess?”
“I haven’t talked to Annie today,” I told her as I attempted to get comfortable on one of Darryl’s office chairs, “but I’m sure everything’s fine. Not only that, I’ve had one of the best pet-sitters I know, besides me, helping out—Wanda Villareal. You’ve spoken with her, I’m sure.”
Wanda nodded.
“I have, and she sounds wonderful. And I haven’t heard threats from our neighbor for days. Is everything resolved?”
“Depends. Do you foresee much travel in the near future?”
“Probably, in spurts. On trips that we’re not so far away, I’ll bring Princess. At least we’ll have a few months coming up really soon when we’ll be in town, so we’ll just have to worry about what to do with her when we’re not at home.”
“Great. Perfect. Wanda has come up with a solution that can’t be beat. You need to get Princess a new best friend—a Brittany spaniel puppy that you can train while you’re here, and who’ll keep Princess company while you’re gone.”
A pause. “Maybe. I’d considered doggy day care, but she hated the few times we tried. But a puppy of her very own . . .”
“Not only that, but Wanda’s done some homework. There’s a breeder nearby who’ll have puppies available in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, Kendra, thank you! That sounds like such a good solution. And . . .”
“Hey!” I interrupted. I turned to Wanda. “How many puppies do they have?”
“I’m not sure. Why—would the Jeongs want more than one?”
“Treena, didn’t you say your neighbors lost a dog recently? What if you offer them a new pet? Imagine how the wife would stop complaining about a noisy puppy if she happened to have its brother or sister.” It was a solution I’d used at least once before, and it had worked then.
“Hey, I like that!” Treena exclaimed. “Let’s try it.”
“Right away,” I suggested. Within the next half hour, after a bunch of cell phone calls between Treena and her neighbors, and between the neighbors’ attorney—who, amazingly, was accessible—and me, we’d reached a tentative solution. I told Darryl and Wanda about it. “The other lawyer got us on a conference call, and his client all but cried into the phone about the prospect of getting her own crying puppy. It’s amazing!”
“It’s wonderful,” Wanda said, grinning.
“Super!” Darryl agreed.
“Thank you both so much.” I gave them a joint hug.
“Glad we could help,” Darryl said. “In any case, you know you can always run things by us.”
As Wanda nodded, I felt happy that my dear friend Darryl had graduated from “me” to “us.” Which, if I wasn’t in a kinda relationship, might otherwise have made me feel left out.
But tonight, Dante and Wagner were joining Lexie and me for dinner at my place. And—would you believe it?—I was cooking! Something simple, a really excellent pasta dish I’d learned some time ago. One with aphrodisiac implications.
I headed for my law office, where I was greeted by Mignon’s chirp and Borden’s high-toned congratulations. They, and it seemed everyone else in the office, had watched
Animal Auditions
last night. Everyone was impressed.
Animal Auditions
last night. Everyone was impressed.
That evening, I let Lexie accompany me on pet-sitting rounds, including to our old standbys Abra, Cadabra, Stromboli, and Piglet, not to mention Beauty, the golden retriever, and Mountie, the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, the latest additions to our client list. Then we headed home.
Rachel saw us as we entered the gate. She’d already let Dante and Wagner in, and along with Beggar they were sitting in the front yard of my big, rented-out house.
“Hi,” she said, running over to greet me. And then, worriedly, she whispered, “I know you and Dante are an item now. Are you going to let him pay your mortgage so you can move back into the house we rent? It’s your right, of course, but Dad and I would really miss living here.”
“Is that what Dante told you?” I gritted my teeth in exasperation.
“Oh, no,” she hastened to say as he started sauntering toward us, stopping to pick up a rubber ball to throw for all three dogs to chase. “I just assumed . . .”
“Things are staying status quo,” I assured her.
Later, I couldn’t help mentioning it to Dante. Over coffee, after dinner, when we’d already imbibed a bunch of delicious Chianti; my pasta dish, which had turned out well, was arguably Italian.
“I need to set some ground rules,” I told him.
“Uh-oh. This sounds serious.” But his dark eyes twinkled seductively, and it was all I could do not to grab his hand and tow him into my bedroom.
I took a deep breath. “I care a lot about you, Dante. And I want to keep seeing you, see where things go with us.”
“But I hear a
but
.” Even so, instead of fleeing, he scooted his chair even closer beside me in my tiny kitchen.
but
.” Even so, instead of fleeing, he scooted his chair even closer beside me in my tiny kitchen.
“But I need some space. To take care of myself, I mean—not to stop seeing you. I appreciate your helping me get the Escape. I love it. But as we discussed before, you need to talk to me before doing me financial favors.” I told him what Rachel had said. “People may make assumptions about us, and that I can’t help. But. . . . Well, maybe I’m being too presumptuous. Do you even want to continue to see me that way?”
“Absolutely, Kendra,” he responded, then shared a humongously hot kiss with me. “Honestly, I had no intention of falling for any woman the way I care for you. Brody knows that—he keeps razzing me about it.”
Which explained a comment I kept recalling, in which Brody had said something to Dante about never thinking he’d see the day . . . Interesting!
“It even scares me a little, damn it,” he continued. “Hell, it scares me a lot. The only other woman I really cared about died on me—a car accident. I’ll tell you more about it eventually, if you want to hear.” Hell, yes! “But I really want you, Kendra. And I’m willing to take it as slow as you want . . . at least for now. But someday—”
“Let’s worry about that someday as it comes,” I said. One that would include more insight into him. And learning more about his lost woman.
“Fine. Meantime . . . well, I want you with me a lot. I’ve been putting together some plans for HotPets products and services that I’d like your opinion on. Like . . . how would Lexie and you like to join Wagner and me on the first cruise ship that specializes in people bringing their pets?”
“Really? That sounds fantastic! When? Where will it go?”
“Details are still being worked out, but I’ll ask your input as things progress.”
“Excellent!”
“And I really want you to visit HotWildlife with me soon. There are some legal issues I’d like your advice on.”
“Anytime.”
We soon went out to walk the dogs for the last time that night. Dante and Wagner were going to stay over.
I was feeling all warm and fuzzy. Could it be that, for once in my life, I’d picked out the perfect man to care for?
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