Trouble in the Tarot (16 page)

“Sunny, don’t be like that. I—”

“Need to get to work. I get it.” I grabbed my bag of dirty clothes and my purse and left without another word.

Five minutes later, I pulled into my driveway to find the fire department, the ambulance, and the police there. Just
what I needed after the day I’d had. My anger vanished and worry set in.

I rushed over to Captain Walker. “Oh my gosh. What happened? Is everyone okay?”

The captain eyed my attire, but he didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he said, “They are rescuing Fiona as we speak,” and then he looked up in the tree.

I followed his gaze and couldn’t believe my eyes. Fiona was suspended twenty feet in the air, clinging to a tree branch with her pink pedal-pusher pants glowing like a beacon in the spotlight. The fire department reached her with their ladder basket, and a big strapping firefighter reached out and grabbed her in his big strong arms. It probably made her night.

More like her decade.

She swooned against him in a dramatic fashion, while Granny tapped her ankle-bracelet-clad foot rapidly on the ground. I walked over to Granny, who also eyed my attire and opened her mouth, more than ready to question me about it.

In no mood to be distracted, I snapped, “I swear I can’t leave you two alone for a minute. What the heck is she doing up there?”

“A minute? Ha! You’ve been gone all day.”

At least she’s forgotten about my clothes,
I thought.

“Your mother only stayed for a while today before she couldn’t take any more of that numbskull over yonder. I guess Fiona got bored. She said she saw Morty climb the tree, and she was afraid he would get stuck.
I tried to tell her Morty can take care of himself, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“How on earth did she get up there so high? She could have fallen and broken a hip or worse.”

“Silly fool used the ladder from the garage and climbed the tree, but then the ladder fell over. I think she kicked it. I offered to put it back up, but she said she was scared to death of breaking her neck. She said to call 911 before she fainted. That woman will do anything for attention. She knew you’d get mad if she set off her ankle bracelet. Guess she found a way around that.”

Granny pouted as Fiona reached the ground, and the captain walked over to make sure she was okay and comfort her. I suspected Granny was more upset over not being the one to have thought of the crazy stunt. Then a determined look crossed her face and she limped over to join them, saying the ladder fell on her foot and her bracelet was chafing her ankle.

I, on the other hand, threw up my hands at the lot of them and wearily made my way inside. I had bigger things to worry about, like figuring out who sent the threatening note and who on earth had been blackmailing Bernadette.

*    *    *

“Awww, look at him. I just want to reach out and give him a big ole hug,” Jo said as we leaned over a pen in the Animal Angels facility on Wednesday morning.

A one-year-old Great Dane stood shivering in the back of his pen, eyeing us with unmistakable terror in his eyes. He was enormous already but had obviously been mistreated. He had the short, smooth coat of a soft and creamy fawn, with black pointy high-set ears and a large black muzzle.

He kind of reminded me of Cole with his dark buzz cut and five o’clock shadow. They were both great in size, heart, and nobility, always dependable and even-tempered. The Apollo of dogs with his handsome outline and aristocratic bearing. He would make a great pet for them, as Great Danes made excellent watchdogs, with their large size and deep bark that would scare most people. And they were good with children.

“Your heart can’t help but go out to these animals,” I responded, my heart melting. Morty would never allow a dog in the house, but Jo and Cole were looking to adopt one. I smiled, knowing Jo. It was her way of testing herself as a parent before she added a baby to the mix.

I had to hand it to Ozzie Zuckerman. He was new in town and had just started his animal rescue operation. He said he planned to take in all sorts of animals that had been abused and find loving homes for them. Glancing around, all I saw were dogs. He said they were the easiest to start with, but he hoped the charity money would help him grow his business.

Ozzie wasn’t here at the moment. In fact, each time I had dropped by, he was never available. His assistant, Yvonne Lennox, pretty much handled the day-to-day operations. She walked over to us and smiled, her
wide-set brown eyes full of kindness. She looked to be somewhere in her twenties.

Yvonne brushed her chestnut hair over her shoulders. “Hi again, Miss Meadows. Anything I can help you with today?”

“Actually, yes. I brought my friend Joanne Burnham with me. She and her fiancé are looking to adopt one of your dogs.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said and shook Jo’s hand.

“I really like this big guy right here. I’ll have to bring my fiancé Cole back with me first before I decide for sure, but I have a few questions.”

“Absolutely. Fire away.”

“He looks pretty scared. I was wondering if we could talk to some of the other people who have adopted from you. I’d love to hear what works best in caring for these animals. If there’s something we should be aware of right up front.”

“Well, I just started working for
Mr. Zuckerman. I’m going to college to be a veterinarian and am actually interning for Dr. Sherry Parker, but I couldn’t resist volunteering my time here for such a good cause. We actually take the animals to see her first to be treated. That’s how I found out about this place.”

“I know Sherry quite well. She’s given me lots of advice regarding Morty, even though he’s never actually allowed her to examine him. She’s even made house calls.”

“Dr. Parker is fantastic. If I turn out to be half the vet she is, then I’ll be a happy woman. Anyway, Mr. Zuckerman is very busy trying to find suitable homes for these animals, so he’s not around much. I’m finding he’s very picky about who he adopts them out to, probably because of the nature of their situations. He’s turned down several people in town, which I think is a bit extreme, but he’s had a couple people from out of town interested in adopting the dogs. I’ll see if he can arrange for you to meet with one of those people. Maybe they’ve dealt with abused animals before.”

“That would be perfect. And please, put in a good word for us. Being cautious is one thing, but isn’t the point to find these poor animals good homes? I know plenty of people in town who are looking for pets and fit the criteria to be wonderful pet parents.”

“I agree. And you have my word that I’ll do everything I can to get him to say yes to you.” Yvonne winked.

“Thanks, Yvonne.” I waved good-bye as she walked away, then I said to Jo, “I have a couple questions I need to ask Sherry about Morty. Want to pick her brain about this big fellow here?”

“You read my mind. I mean, what’s up with not adopting to people in town? That’s just weird.”

“Now you’re reading
my
mind.” I studied the Great Dane carefully. “Something’s definitely up with that, and I aim to find out what.”

*    *    *

“I know Morty is finicky, but this feels different. Like something is really bothering him,” I said to Dr. Parker.
“He keeps dropping things at my feet, tearing up pages in the newspaper, and just plain acting ornery.

“I’d say bring him in, but we both know how that goes.” She laughed, tucking her blond shoulder-length hair behind her ears and then shoving her hands into her lab coat. “He probably doesn’t like his home in upheaval with both Granny and Fiona staying there and bickering constantly. I think everyone’s schedules are probably off.”

“You’re right about that. And I admit even I have been in a foul mood lately.” Between the Dynamic Duo and my squabbling with Mitch, but she didn’t need to know that part.

“And as for you, Ms. Burnham, first of all congratulations are in order, I hear,” Sherry said to Jo.

“That’s right.” Jo beamed, blushing slightly. “I’ve decided to let Cole make an honest woman out of me. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How can I help you?”

“Well, I am looking into adopting one of the dogs from Animal Angels. He’s about one year old and is a big, beautiful fawn-and-black Great Dane.”

“I know exactly what dog you’re talking about. And you’re right, he is a beauty. He’s big already, but just wait until his body catches up with the size of his paws. He’s going to be massive.”

“Jo likes her guys big,” I said, and Jo just wagged her brows, not disagreeing with me in the least.

“What’s his story?” Jo asked.

“Well, they found him neglected and chained outside. He was a bit malnourished, but otherwise, he looked pretty good. He didn’t appear to have been physically abused, just mostly forgotten about. He’s not used to people, but he’s not mean. I do think he’ll come around with the right family. Lots of love, time, and patience is all he needs, I suspect.”

“Between Cole and myself, we fit the bill perfectly. Now if we could only pin down Ozzie Zuckerman and get him to say yes. Do you know he hasn’t adopted any of his dogs to a single family in town?”

“That’s what Yvonne said. Seems a bit odd to me. The other day he brought in some new dogs he’d rescued. One really mean one who’d been badly abused. I had to muzzle him just to treat him. I told Mr. Zuckerman it would take a lot of rehabilitation to ever get that dog ready for someone to adopt.”

“Wow, that’s terrible,” I said. “I can’t imagine anyone who would treat an animal that way.”

“Me either, but Zuckerman barely listened and didn’t give off any warm and fuzzy vibes. Then he got a phone call and stepped outside, but that didn’t stop me from hearing his raised voice. He’d definitely had some kind of argument and barely remembered to take the dogs when he left. He seemed worried and upset, but I didn’t ask him about it. He didn’t exactly seem in the mood to talk about it, and quite frankly, I was ready for him to leave.”

“Thank you so much for the information, Dr. Parker,” Jo said. “Yvonne is going to talk to him about me meeting
up with one of his out-of-town adoptive parent prospects. I’ll keep you posted. One way or another, Bigfoot will be mine.”

“Oh, good Lord, she’s already named him.” I had to laugh. I had nicknamed Cole Sasquatch, and now she was naming her dog Bigfoot. What did that make her, Xena the Warrior Princess? I’d always known she was a voluptuous Amazon woman at heart. Their poor kids didn’t stand a chance in the name department.

“Good luck to you,” Sherry said.

“Oh, I don’t need luck,” Jo said with a look in her eye I knew all too well. “I just need a plan.”

11

Wednesday nights were quiet at Smokey Jo’s, so Sean covered the restaurant while Jo, Zoe, and I had a spa getaway at the Divinity Hotel. I’d suggested it because I knew how stressed Jo was about her wedding.

I also knew Ophelia was a spa addict.

I’d never had a massage, but I figured it was a good way to stay on the right side of Bridezilla since it was right up Jo’s alley. Not to mention it might shed more light on Granny’s case. Jo had agreed and scheduled dance lessons at
the Song Bird when we were done.

In the past, she’d never set foot in the Song Bird because it was her competition. But she really just resented the fact that Cole chose to visit the karaoke bar instead of her place. He mostly did that because the locals hung out at Smokey Jo’s and outsiders hung out at the Song Bird. After the accident and his wife’s death, he hadn’t been able to face the locals, but Jo had helped him through that. And now he was helping her to spread her wings and try new things.

Like dancing and karaoke.

Jo and Zoe were already in other spa rooms, and I requested the woman who’d worked on Ophelia the day after Bernadette’s death. I sat on the massage table in nothing but a towel, waiting and feeling a bit vulnerable. A big, burly woman with a nametag that said BETSY finally entered.

“I’m Betsy.” She shook my hand, and I tried not to wince at her extra-firm grip. “I heard you requested me. What can I do for you?”

“I was talking to a guest at the hotel named Ophelia Edwards. She said you worked on her not long ago, and she raved about your skills.”

Betsy grunted. “I remember her, all right. That one and her friends, the Naughty Nanas, were something else. Biggest slobs I’ve ever seen.”

“Really? How so?”

“My friend, Darla, had the displeasure of having to clean their rooms. Poor woman had to work overtime just to get them all done.”

“Did she have any help?”

“Nope. It was just her the whole time they were here. I gave her a massage for free that week. You should have seen the knots in her back. Anyway, enough about that. Talking about those women gets me all fired up, and that’s not the right mind-set to be in when giving a
massage.” She took a deep calming breath, and I swallowed hard. “What kind of massage would you like?”

“I’d like to purchase the same package Ophelia had,” I said tentatively, testing the waters with just her name. I needed more information on her, but it didn’t sound like I’d be getting any more from Betsy.