Other People's Pets
Page 25
The officers return to the living room, their hands empty. How is it possible they missed the pendant?
“That’ll be all,” the older one says, though he seems reluctant to leave, surveying the room one last time.
She doesn’t move until they’re out of the house. Then she locks and chains the door. Through the window, she watches their car pull away.
The pendant isn’t on the dresser. It’s not in her jewelry box, either. On a hunch, she grabs a flashlight and shines it through a back window. A fresh mound of earth rises next to the fence. A trail of dirt leads through the dog door into the bedroom.
La La kneels in front of Blue and scratches his ears. “Good boy,” she says.
After digging up the necklace, she drives to a lake she’s never been to before. Making sure no one’s watching, she throws the pendant as far as she can into the water.
The next day, she calls O’Bannon and tells him about the police visit.
“Let me see if I can get more information from my contacts in the precinct,” he says. A few hours later, he calls back. “An informant gave the police a tip. Seems this guy has been notoriously unreliable in the past, and they don’t put much stock in anything he says. He identified you as the perpetrator of a few burglaries to reduce the charges against him in a drug case. They may want to interview you, but I wouldn’t recommend you talk to them. Bottom line is, they don’t have enough on you.”
Tank.
25
SPRING 2017
Nat has flown in from Atlanta and stands with La La on the veterinary school lawn after her graduation ceremony. Clem has brought Blue. Naomi discovered he’d been lying about who La La was to him and about staying at her place and broke up with him. Clem and La La haven’t gotten back together. “I need a break from women,” Clem said, when La La suggested it. They’re friends and sometimes take Blue hiking or watch weekend marathons of Grey’s Anatomy. Clem’s busy with his blog, too. Ever since he changed the name to Small Kindnesses, posts pop up throughout the day and thousands of people have begun following him.
O’Bannon shows up at the graduation, too. La La sent him an invitation, thinking he would be too busy to come. But here he is, handing her a gift, an envelope full of cash. After she looks inside, he takes it back. “I’ll put it toward your balance,” he says.
Taking her friend’s arm, Nat says, “How does it feel to be a vet, La La?”
“Actually, I’ve started calling myself Louise. Doctor Fine in the clinic.” La La smiles.
Dr. Bergman walks toward her, a gift in one hand that’s coming unwrapped, a glass of champagne in the other that spills a little with each step. “I couldn’t be prouder,” he says, crushing the gift—a six-pack of apple juice, like the kind they drank from when he tutored her—against her chest as he draws her into a hug.
Zev applied for permission to attend the ceremony, but the request was denied. La La has promised him pictures. She didn’t bother inviting Elissa. Stepping back from Dr. Bergman, La La takes in everyone who’s come to celebrate with her. She’ll thank each of her guests before the day is over. Glancing at Blue, she wonders whether he’s lonely without Black. Or maybe that’s just how she feels. Black’s identification tag hangs from a chain around her neck. She squeezes it between finger and thumb, thinking of all the animals who have been part of her life. Family, she realizes, is more than who you’re born to. Her own can encompass every person and every animal whose life she touches. The thought startles her, then makes her laugh. She rubs Blue’s ear and it doesn’t take an animal empath to feel his affection as he leans up against her.
Epilogue
Sometimes, when Zev’s watching a movie on the TV in the common room, he thinks about Julia. As the screen fills with fiery cars and half-naked women, he imagines her reaction and laughs, then aches, missing her. He can’t see a Chihuahua in a dog food commercial without involuntarily protecting his feet. He’s indebted to Julia for showing him how rich his life could be.
Ever since the prison put him in charge of cleaning assignments, the place smells of bleach rather than urine, and he’s earned extra laundry privileges that allow him to keep his jumpsuit clean. Next spring, he’ll work in the garden. He’s been looking through catalogs and has picked out seeds for cucumbers and tomatoes and a variety of roses that, if you can believe it, are called Elizabeth Roses. So far, the prison’s proven safer than the jail, with more guards and fewer mentally ill prisoners mixed in with the general population, or at least fewer that have come at Zev.
La La visits when she can. She’s changed since Black died, though he can’t put his finger on how.
His first day in the old, run-down prison, he knew he could pick his cell lock, which is ancient and unsophisticated. But to escape, he would have to get past closed-circuit television, a barbed-wire fence, and an alarm, so he’s chosen instead to advise the corrections authority on strengthening the locks and getting rid of items prisoners might turn into picks.
He’ll do his time and consult on prison security when he’s released. He’s too old to be climbing through windows. Tired of risking his life for a candelabra or a watch. He’s ready to live a normal life. Maybe one day he’ll be a grandfather. It’s a long shot, but who knows. He’d like to be around for that. Anyway, that’s the plan, which he’s been telling La La, the warden, and anyone else who will listen. He’s pretty sure he’s convinced them.
Acknowledgments
My deepest gratitude to my editor, Deb Futter, and assistant editor, Randi Kramer, whose suggestions helped me strengthen and refine the book. Thanks, as well, to the entire Celadon team, who treat with such great care every book entrusted to them.
For believing in the book when it was just an idea and a few dozen rough pages, I’m indebted to my agent, Victoria Sanders, and her amazing team: Bernadette Baker-Baughman and Jessica Spivey.
I couldn’t have written the book without the editorial help and advice I received from Erika Krouse and Will Allison. Early feedback from Deborah Jayne, Sarah Schantz, Hilary Zaid, Melissa Scholes Young, Joy Allen, Carrie Esposito, and Heidi Pate was invaluable. Amelia Tanttila was a trusted sounding board.
Professionals in several fields gave so generously of their time and knowledge. LeeAnn Toolan, DVM, read the manuscript and guided me with regard to veterinary medicine. Katie Thomas, DVM, answered my questions about veterinary education. Donald J. Andrews, JD, and novelist Jeanne Winer, JD, assisted me with criminal law and procedure. Stephen Devries, MD FACC, and Linda Keyes, MD, advised me with regard to the human medical issues. Sky Mignery helped me find answers to questions about emergency responses. Any mistakes in these areas are entirely my own.
To my sisters, Beth, Victoria, and Miriam, thank you for your friendship and love. To the animals who have traveled alongside me—Tilly, Chance, Molly, Flora, Arie, and Rosie—my life is immensely richer because of you. We found each other thanks to the dedicated people who staff humane societies.
I don’t know where I would be without the custodian of my heart, my husband, Steve. We just celebrated our tenth anniversary, and, as he likes to say, “No one said it wouldn’t last.”
Founded in 2017, Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, publishes a highly curated list of twenty to twenty-five new titles a year. The list of both fiction and nonfiction is eclectic and focuses on publishing commercial and literary books and discovering and nurturing talent.
OTHER TITLES BY R. L. MAIZES
We Love Anderson Cooper: Short Stories
About the Author
R.L. Maizes was born and raised in Queens, New York. She now lives in Boulder County, Colorado. Maizes’s stories have aired on National Public Radio and have appeared in the literary magazines Electric Literature, Witness, Bellevue Literary Review, Slice, and Blackbird, among other publications. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, PsychologyToday.com, Lilith, and elsewhere. Maizes is an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the
Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is the author of the short-story collection We Love Anderson Cooper. You can sign up for email updates here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Other Titles by R. L. Maizes
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
OTHER PEOPLE’S PETS. Copyright © 2020 by R.L. Maizes. All rights reserved. For information, address Celadon Books, a Division of Macmillan Publishers, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
Cover design by Clay Smith
www.celadonbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Maizes, R.L., author.
Title: Other people’s pets / R.L. Maizes.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY: Celadon Books, 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020002701 | ISBN 9781250304131 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250304124 (ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3613.A3527 O84 2020 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020002701
eISBN 9781250304124
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2020