Barking with the Stars

by Sparkle Abbey

  “Hmmm.” Malone clearly wasn’t seeing any tie to his murder investigation with this one.

  “Okay, moving on.” I took a big drink of my latte to prepare for this one. “I was backstage checking out a dressing room issue and overheard a conversation between Drake Owen and Trevor Lang.” I waited for his reaction.

  “You were backstage alone?” Not the reaction I’d hoped for.

  “Not at first. There were workers, but then they left without saying anything. And they turned off most of the lights which was why Drake and Trevor didn’t see me.”

  “Go on.” He did seem to be interested in this one.

  I repeated word for word what I’d been able to catch of the cryptic comments between the two guys.

  “I didn’t think Drake Owen was in town. He’d told us when he came by to ask about us releasing the body that he wasn’t sticking around.” Someone or something behind me had caught Malone’s attention.

  “Apparently changed his mind.” I took a sip of coffee and casually glanced over my shoulder to see what Malone was staring at.

  Ohmigosh! I very nearly spit out my coffee. It was Betty and she had Mr. Swanson cornered by the pastry case.

  The octogenarian sported a nice bright two-piece lounge set with sailboats today, and I couldn’t see her eyebrows from my angle but I was sure they were coordinated with her outfit. What I could see was Mr. Swanson’s face, and from his expression she might as well have been wearing a gorilla suit. He was backed up against the dessert case and looked as if he was about ready to climb in with the tiramisu.

  I couldn’t feel bad for him. After all, he’d brought this on himself.

  Malone noticed my gaze. “Do you think I need to step in?”

  “Oh, no.” Was he serious? “I think Betty can hold her own.”

  “I meant, to save the guy.” Malone raised a brow.

  I laughed. “That’s a possibility.”

  Mr. Swanson had eased away from Betty and started out of the coffee shop when he spotted me and made a quick turn in my direction.

  “Ms. Lamont.” He stopped beside the table.

  “Good morning, Mr. Swanson,” I greeted him. “I’d like you to meet, my friend, Detective Judd Malone.”

  Malone eyed the man in his best taking-the-measure-of-someone visual inventory. I swear I could actually see the bravado go out of Swanson. He went from puffed and flying high to deflated in seconds.

  “Oh, okay.” Swanson blanched. “I’ve got to go. Got to see—uh—got an appointment.” And off he hurried, his short legs on a mission to carry him as far away from us as possible.

  “What was that about?” Malone pushed aside his cup. “And why do I suddenly feel like I’ve been used?”

  “Hmmm.” I took one last sip and picked up my bag.

  “My friend, Detective Malone, huh?” He stood. “Glad to know we’re friends.”

  I stood also.

  “Listen, Caro, I appreciate the intel about the fans and the people involved with Purple. But remember someone killed Purple and we don’t know who. Don’t take any chances whether it’s with your ex or seemingly innocent fanatics. Okay?”

  “Okay.” We headed out together just as Betty picked up her to-go order and walked through the propped open door.

  “Hey there, you two.” The sailboat getup was even more colorful up close, and she’d added a bright-yellow scarf as an accent.

  “Want to tell me what Mr. Swanson had to say?” I asked.

  “We were just talking RVs,” she said. “You know, campers and stuff.”

  Right.

  For once Betty was not chatty. She wasn’t even interested in feeling Malone’s muscles. She scurried in the direction of the Bow Wow Boutique without another word.

  “Oh, man,” Malone said under his breath. “This cannot be good. You, Betty, a strange man, and I’m sure your cousin is involved somehow.” He turned and walked with purpose down the street in the other direction. I’m sure, mentally measuring the distance he was putting between him and our hijinks.

  I slid on my sunglasses and walked to my car which I’d parked on a side street. Betty was already halfway down the block. There was no point in following her. I really didn’t have time for any brooch drama right now. Just a couple more days and this would all be wrapped up. What would the police do about all the fans who were leaving after the weekend? It wasn’t like movies or books where they could say no one could leave town. Unless they had a reason to detain someone, I imagined they had to let them go.

  My cell phone rang just as I reached my car. It was Diana.

  “Hi, hon.” I put the phone to my ear and unlocked my car.

  “Oh, Lord.” She paused for breath.

  “Are you all right?”

  “No.” She took a big breath. “I’m not.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Our new star, Nora, is stuck in Singapore and can’t get a flight out.”

  “On, no. Why?” I supposed someone as important as Nora Worthington flew on a private jet. It wasn’t like me getting bumped or missing a connection.

  “There’s some problem with her plane and the commercial flights are backed up because of tropical storm Nuri. There’s worry the storm could become a typhoon.” She stopped. “I don’t know all the details but I know Sunny is still working on trying other ways to get her here, but it doesn’t look good.”

  “What can I do?” I couldn’t imagine what else could happen to derail this fundraiser.

  “Nothing really, hon.” Diana slowed down a bit. “I guess I just needed to have myself a mini-meltdown.” She chuckled. “Tell you what you can do, the next time I want to get involved in something like this, I want you to tell me to write a big check and walk away.”

  “You’ve got it,” I responded. After all that had happened with this event, she was probably serious.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I PULLED OUT onto PCH and turned south toward the Ocean Mark P. What would we do now?

  As I drove down Pacific Coast and passed the Bow Wow Boutique, I reminded myself that Melinda’s shop had done well in spite of some negative press she’d dealt with early on from a disgruntled customer. My business would survive Geoffrey’s interference. And Warriors for the Paws would make it through this latest crisis. When you go big, you don’t go home. We would weather this.

  In less than ten minutes, I pulled into the circle drive at the hotel. The parking attendants and I were almost on a first-name basis now. I’d been in and out of the hotel so many times in the past two weeks that they’d probably driven my car more than I had.

  The lobby was packed today with the Purple Posers out in full force. I watched a group waiting for coffees and realized that though I’d spent some time with Marsha and knew what she looked like in real life, I probably wouldn’t be able to pick her out of the group.

  Tania stood near the registration desk and I waved at her as I passed. It would be a long weekend for the hotel staff, but that was nothing new for Tania. My phone buzzed; it was a text from Rufus. He wanted to know if I’d arrived and I texted back that I had.

  Joining him backstage, I helped tack up signs on the rooms. I didn’t know how to help with the lack of a headliner, but I could fill in assisting Rufus.

  Diana and Sunny arrived shortly after that and pulled Rufus into a confab, I assumed to talk about options. When he came back to where I was working to finishing up the signage, he was as subdued as I’d ever seen him.

  “Good grief, Caro.” He jabbed at his tablet. “When this is all over we all deserve a vacation or at least a spa day or something.”

  “Or something.” I put an arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “I’m with you there, hon.”

  Celebrities were beginning to arrive with their dogs. The noi
se grew as more celebrities and the canines arrived and checked in. The hallways echoed with chatter and woofs and a few whines. And I can tell you the whines were not the dogs.

  I helped direct the stars and their pooches to the right rooms. The noise level continued to grow as more people came. Shar and Babycakes not only had a luggage cart packed with who knew what, but also had brought a makeup artist. I’d figured that many of the stars would have staff and stylists the day-of but hadn’t realized that would also include dress rehearsal.

  As I had expected, the sounds and the tension translated to nervous dogs and so there was a couple of close calls with a bit of snarling. But thankfully no biting. Only a few minor accidents, but hotel staff had planned for that and had a clean-up crew standing by.

  I had just offered to check on the arrival of the veterans and therapy dogs when Mandy pushed through the crowd, followed by Drake Owen. I was surprised to see him as, I was sure, were most of the others in the vicinity. He walked through quickly and spotted Rufus who pointed him to the room where Diana and Sunny were holed up.

  Well, well. What was up?

  Mandy turned in the other direction. Had they been together or was it just coincidental that they’d arrived at the same time. I looked around for Geoffrey, whom I would have expected to be with Mandy based on last night.

  I wasn’t sure after hearing that Sheron had fired him, where that left the handling of Lavender for the event. If it were up to me, I’d have Sheron do that handling, as the dog seemed most comfortable with her. But no one was asking me.

  After confirming the veterans had not yet arrived, I went to make sure Shar and Babycakes had gotten settled. They seemed to be doing fine. The others on my list were also in their dressing rooms.

  Rufus stepped out of the way as a rolling rack of equipment came through.

  “Anything I can do?” I asked. “My stars and their pooches are all settled.”

  “Pray,” he deadpanned.

  “Been doing that, sugar,” I answered. And I had.

  Sunny stepped out of what I’d now come to think of as the war room. Her arm was hooked with Drake’s and she waited while those in the backstage area let them through.

  “If we could have everyone out front for a few minutes,” she requested, “we won’t take up too much of your time.”

  Though not everyone had heard her request, the word got passed. I helped Rufus knock on dressing room doors, and soon most everyone on site had filled the auditorium. There was still no sign of Geoffrey. Despite being fired by Sheron, he should have been there for his other clients.

  “Thank you, all, for being here,” Sunny spoke from the stage. Someone handed her a microphone and she continued, “Thank you for your commitment to this cause. And for continuing with us in spite of the terrible tragedy of losing a fellow performer.” Her voice broke and she looked over at Diana.

  Diana came forward and reached for the microphone.

  I’d seen it before but was always impressed. In a matter of minutes, the lady, even with Mr. Wiggles tucked under her arm, suddenly morphed from Diana, my caring friend and stray collector, to larger-than-life big-screen Diana Knight, the Hollywood star.

  “Hello.” She waited a couple of beats and then flashed the signature Diana Knight smile at the crowd. “We are so thankful you all have continued with us in spite of the tragic circumstances, and we know that you do it to honor those that have served our country.”

  “What we do,” she continued, as she swept an arm toward the crowd, “gives a voice to those who make silent sacrifices. Our soldiers, our veterans. The least we can do is to help continue this program that provides therapy dogs to those who have given so much more than we ever could repay.”

  I knew it was part of the speech she was going to give during the event and I’d heard it already but I also knew it was sincere.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “Yesterday, we announced that Nora Worthington would step in for Purple, graciously filling in at the last minute. This morning we found out that Nora is stranded in Singapore. All planes are grounded due to weather and it’s unlikely she will be able to join us for Barking with the Stars.”

  The crowd gave a collective sigh.

  “However, the show must go on.” Diana winked and grinned at her use of the cliché then looked over at Sunny who now seemed able to continue.

  Sunny took back the microphone. “As of about five minutes ago, we’ve had an incredible offer. Drake Owen has offered to step in and will do us the honor of performing the final number of the show.”

  Drake stepped in from the wings to hug both Sunny and Diana.

  “My fiancé cared a ton about this cause and this organization,” he said, “and, though I’m sure I won’t be the draw that either she or Nora would have been, I’m happy to do what I can. Thank you for hanging in there with us.” He handed the microphone back to Sunny.

  “Thank you.” She nodded toward Drake. “And thank you.” She bowed to the crowd. “Okay, let’s get this rehearsal started.”

  Rufus stepped up. “We will take it from the beginning. Just like it is on the program.”

  Everyone filed back to dressing rooms and places. An outside door at the back was open with a crew bringing in instruments. Rufus had said the veterans and their therapy dogs would be coming in that way as well. The group had arrived and they seemed well organized. No surprise there. Between Jonathan Trimble and Rufus, all parties were clear on where they were supposed to be and when.

  The flow of people to the stage was orderly and I could hear the soundcheck going on. I poked my head into Shar’s dressing room to check on her. She gave me a thumbs-up and then lifted Babycakes’ paw to give me a paws-up. I smiled and went on to the next room to check on Plucky and Carson. They were also good.

  I didn’t know what the plans were for Drake, so I wanted to check with Mandy on whether he was going to have any interaction with Lavender. I’d pass on my tips for keeping the dogs calm on stage to him, and also make sure he understood what Rufus and I had talked about in terms of if anything got too stressful.

  The back door seemed clear for the moment so I stepped outside. Rufus had a staging area set up for the therapy dogs, and I have to tell you this was the calmest area I’d found so far.

  Jonathan Trimble spotted me and he and Whiskey came over. “Hey, it’s good to see you again.”

  “And you.” I was so pleased he was involved. His experience and the time he’d had to work with his dog would be such an asset. The calm assurance they had would spread.

  “Is your daughter excited about tomorrow night?” I asked.

  “Excited doesn’t begin to describe it.” He grinned. “She had to have a whole new all-purple outfit to wear. She is definitely counting the hours.”

  We stood and talked a bit and I watched as people came out through the back door. I was shocked to see Trevor Lang was one of the people.

  I didn’t try to talk to him, though after overhearing him and Drake talking the other night, I was curious why he was still around. My money was still on him in the pool of suspects.

  “Almost ready,” Rufus called from the doorway.

  “Okay,” Jonathan answered. “All right, time to line up,” he called to the others.

  The men and women who’d been sitting with their dogs or playing catch in the sandy area beside the building, responded.

  “I’ll talk to you later.” I patted his arm. This time Whiskey stood but accepted my being close to his human without a problem.

  Back inside, I spotted Mandy ducking into the room next to Shar’s that now said “Lavender,” which I guess answered my question about whether the dog would still make an appearance.

  I followed her. “Lavender doing okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I didn’t bring her. It�
��s not like she needs to rehearse.” She opened a drawer and then closed it.

  I begged to differ but there wasn’t much I could do about it at this late stage. I’d simply have to be alert for any problems tomorrow night.

  “How are you doing?” Again today, she looked different than she had while working for Purple. Her outfit was full of color and up-close I noticed the attention to detail. Mandy was attractive but must have felt overshadowed by the very flamboyant Purple. Much like the change in demeanor I’d notice with Marsha, the Purple Poser, when she was role playing, Mandy seemed to have developed a new role for herself. Or perhaps dropped the old one.

  “I’m okay.” She picked up a hairbrush that had been left on the dressing table and hesitated. “Listen, I know that must have seemed odd seeing me with your ex-husband.”

  “No worries on my end.”

  “I didn’t want you to think it was a date or anything like that.” She ran fingers through her newly highlighted locks. “He’d asked to meet about Lavender and discuss handling her potential issues at the event.”

  That must have been before Sheron fired him.

  “Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me who he dates.” I waved off her concern. “Still, it’s good you’re not seeing him. Most people see through him in a very short time.”

  I hoped she got the not-so-subtle point I was trying to make. If she’d been living in Purple’s shadow for a long time, and it seemed she had, the girl could be extremely vulnerable to the attentions of a charmer like my ex.

  I didn’t want to spend any energy at all discussing Geoffrey. “So, tomorrow night you’ll be bringing Lavender?” I asked. “Had you thought about having Sheron come along? She seems to have bonded with the dog and it might be calming.”

  “She’s busy,” Mandy dismissed the idea. “Plus, she’s bossy.”

  Well, then.

  “Have you discussed with Drake when Lavender will be needed?” I wasn’t sure if he was going to pick up all the spots where Purple had been slotted to speak or if he was just doing the finale number.

  “I haven’t. I guess I’ll find out when they tell me.” She continued walking the room, picking up things and then putting them down.