by Cindy Bell
“Excuse me.” Nikki eased Spots out of the way, who began to bark and lunge at the two men.
“Nikki, sorry, I didn’t know you were here.” Grant frowned as he glanced at her, then looked back at the man in front of him. “Go now, Lucas.”
“I’m going.” The other man held up his hands and smiled. “But you’re not going to get rid of me, you know that. We have some things to straighten out.” He looked past Grant, at Nikki. “Nice dog you got there. A little feisty, huh?” He smirked at the dog. “Chill out, pup, I’m not someone you should worry about.” He gave Grant a sharp slap on his shoulder, then turned and walked away.
“What was that about?” Nikki held Spots’ leash tight in her hand.
“Nothing.” Grant waved his hand. “It was no big deal.”
“Grant, are you sure?” Nikki met his eyes. “If that guy is hassling you, I can get Quinn to help you out.”
“Listen to you, are you an honorary cop now?” Grant raised an eyebrow. “No, really, it’s nothing. I’m glad that you’re getting Spots out. He’s been a bundle of nerves all morning.”
“Seems that way.” Nikki held back her opinion about why he might have been so nervous. Lucas made her nervous, too, and the way that Grant had spoken to him, made her curious.
“I’d better get back to cleaning. We have a lot of visitors today.” Grant nodded to her, then stepped back inside the shelter.
Nikki watched him go, before Spots burst into a run. She laughed as she ran to keep up with him.
“Oh yes, you definitely have some energy to burn off, boy.”
Chapter 9
Sonia glanced out through the window at the driveway. “There she is, Princess.”
She clipped Princess’ leash on her, then stepped out through the door to greet Nikki.
“We were wondering when you might arrive. Any news?” Sonia met Nikki’s eyes.
“No, nothing yet. I got caught up with Spots at the animal shelter and I had to drop my car off. I do have good news about the animal shelter.” Nikki took Princess’ leash and began guiding her down the driveway. “The fundraiser has saved the animal shelter, and also drummed up a lot of interest in adoptions.”
“That’s fantastic. I’m glad to hear it.” Sonia smiled to herself. “Well, Daniel, it looks like you managed to help save the day. That’s something at least.”
“It is.” Nikki wrapped her arm around Sonia’s shoulders and gave them a quick squeeze. “Now, we need to find out what happened to Daniel. I did discover something last night. Apparently, he had been using a dating app on his phone.”
“He was on a dating app?” Sonia rolled her eyes. “Of course, he was. I don’t know why that surprises me.”
“He had lots of responses.” Nikki ushered Princess along the sidewalk. “But there was one woman in particular that seemed to be determined to get in touch with him.”
“Geoff Wollers, Daniel’s lawyer, mentioned that he’d been breaking more hearts lately. He suspects that it might have been one of those women that killed him.” Sonia frowned. “I guess it’s possible.”
“Did Geoff say who he was seeing?” Nikki glanced over at her, then narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute, when did you talk to Geoff?”
“Yesterday evening, when I took Princess for a walk.” Sonia smiled. “I tried to relax but I couldn’t. I needed to get out, to get some fresh air.”
“I would have walked with you.” Nikki frowned.
“I know, but I didn’t want you to have to come all the way back to me. I also thought Geoff might tell me more if I was alone.” Sonia shrugged. “You’re not the only one that wants this murder solved.”
“I know, but I worry about you—”
“Not that again.” Sonia shook her head. “I’ve told you enough times, Nikki, I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.”
“And I’ve told you, you don’t have to, because I’m your friend, and I’m willing to be by your side whenever you might need me or want me to be.” Nikki crossed her arms and squinted stubbornly.
“All right, all right. I hear you.” Sonia couldn’t help but smile some. Although Nikki’s tendency to be overprotective of her sometimes made her feel a bit useless, she couldn’t deny that she appreciated the friendship they shared. Before she and Nikki had become close, she had plenty of acquaintances, but no one she would consider a close friend. Nikki had changed all of that. “Well, in that case, you might want to come with me to meet Daniel’s assistant, Rick. I made an appointment with him today.”
“You did?” Nikki nodded. “I’d love to join you. Do you think he’ll know something?”
“He was Daniel’s personal assistant, but Daniel mentioned to me that he had only recently hired him, so I don’t know if he would have confided in him. Still, he could know something.” Sonia picked up a stick and tossed it for Princess to chase. “How did things go with Quinn?”
“I just left him a message. I haven’t spoken to him today.” Nikki frowned. “I haven’t told him about the woman on the dating app. I just feel like he has so much on his plate already, and this could be nothing.”
“Or it could be something. Maybe Rick will know something about it.” Sonia glanced at her watch. “If we’re going to make that meeting, we’d better get going. Are you free to join me?”
“Yes, I already walked the other dogs. I don’t have anything on my schedule until their afternoon walk.” Nikki guided Princess to turn around and walk back towards the house. “I just hope Quinn’s silence means that they’re on to something. Maybe they’ll have it figured out before the meeting is even over.”
“Maybe. We can hope.” Sonia smiled. However, she didn’t feel the hope she spoke about. Daniel had lived a secretive life. He knew how to hide the truth if he wanted to. It seemed more likely to her, that whoever had taken aim and pulled the trigger, was someone that Daniel would keep under the radar. It might be hard to uncover the truth.
“Yes, we should think positively.” Nikki smiled.
“You stay here this time, darling.” Sonia took Princess from Nikki’s arms and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head. “We won’t be long.” She tossed a few treats into Princess’ bowl, then hurried towards the door. Princess was so busy concentrating on the treats that she barely looked up as Sonia left. “Oh. I do hate leaving her.” Sonia frowned.
“She’ll be okay.” Nikki smiled. “Once I showed up here when she didn’t expect me to and she didn’t notice me at first. I found her lounging on the couch chewing on the remote.”
“What?” Sonia laughed. “Not my Princess!”
“Oh yes.” Nikki grinned. “I think she likes her alone time now and then, so she can get into things.”
“That makes me wonder where I left the remote.” Sonia narrowed her eyes. “She’d better not chew it up.”
“Don’t worry, I got her a toy that looks like one and hid it under the ottoman.” Nikki grinned.
“That’s why she’s been barking at the ottoman.” Sonia laughed as she slid into the driver’s seat of her car. “I thought she might be losing her mind.”
“Sorry, I meant to tell you.” Nikki settled in the passenger seat. “I guess it worked.”
“It sure did.” Sonia started the car. “His office isn’t far from here. I just hope that he’s going to be willing to talk to us. I set the appointment claiming that I had a legal matter to discuss with him. I didn’t want to be brushed aside.”
“Once we’re in, we’ll get him to talk.” Nikki looked out through the windshield at the oncoming traffic. “But first we have to get there. What’s with all the traffic?”
“Media, I bet. Daniel was a very wealthy man. The sharks are likely to circle.” Sonia managed to find an opening and pulled out onto the road. “Tell me more about this woman on the dating app.”
“Her name is Ava Dunn. She said she’d been trying to reach Daniel, and that he’d been avoiding her.” Nikki frowned as she pulled out her phone. “I’m opening the app n
ow, maybe I can find out more about her.”
“It sounds like Daniel. He did like to avoid his problems, and his emotions.” Sonia turned down the street that led to Rick’s office.
“It sounds to me like you knew Daniel quite well.” Nikki glanced up at her.
“I knew him well enough. When you are in the same social circle for so long you hear things about each other.” Sonia focused on finding the right office building. “Here it is.” She turned into the plaza and parked in front of the office that belonged to Rick. “We’re a few minutes early, but I don’t see any other cars nearby.” She frowned as she looked around the parking lot. “Hopefully, he’s actually here.”
Nikki held open the door for Sonia as she stepped inside. She looked around the small reception area. A few chairs, some old carpeting, and an empty desk. She frowned.
“It looks like he might not be.”
“Well, the door was open.” Sonia stepped farther in. “Hello? Rick? Are you here?”
The interior door swung open and a man Nikki recognized as Miller stepped through the door. She flashed back to the day before when she saw him with his phone pressed against his ear outside the country club.
“Mrs. Whitter, please come right in.” Rick gestured through the door to his office which had a sign ‘Rick Miller’.
“Is your receptionist off today?” Sonia led the way into the office.
“Actually, I’m between receptionists right now.” Rick sat down at his desk and waved his hand at the two chairs in front of it. “Please, sit. I’d like to hear about this matter with Mr. Barclay.”
“There is no matter.” Sonia sat down in one of the chairs and looked straight across the desk at him. “I’d like to know what you know about what Daniel was up to during his final days.”
“Oh, I see.” Rick adjusted his chair, then looked over at Nikki. “And I suppose you’d like to know the same?”
“Yes.” Nikki gazed back at him.
“Well, that’s a relief. I honestly thought, when I saw the two of you, that I would be faced with a long-lost kid problem. I guess that would be more up Geoff’s alley.” Rick chuckled.
“She’s young enough to be my granddaughter.” Sonia shook her head.
“Well, you never know these days.” Rick shrugged. “Daniel was a very busy man. He had many appointments on his schedule. It’s not really my place to reveal his activities to strangers.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sonia. “But you weren’t exactly a stranger, were you? I took your call about the auction. He gave me a list of some of his most valuable possessions and told me to make sure they were available for the auction. In two days?” He offered a strained smile. “That was no easy task.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.” Nikki sat forward in her chair. “But we’re more interested in whether he received any other phone calls, or letters, of a threatening nature?”
“Not really, no. Now and then of course there were some disgruntled calls when business deals went wrong, some threatened to sue, some threatened to hunt him down and knock him out.” Rick waved his hand. “But nothing serious.”
“Have you given the information about all of those threats to the police?” Nikki watched as he nervously moved his phone back and forth on the top of the desk.
“Everything I thought was important, of course.” Rick sighed. “No one saw this coming. Daniel had his troubles of course, but nothing that would warrant murder. I mean, no.” He shook his head. “Just no.”
“What about a love interest?” Sonia tapped her foot lightly against the floor. “Someone new that he was seeing?”
“Not that I know of, but he wasn’t always open with me about that part of his life.” Rick tilted his head back and forth. “He did order some flowers a couple of weeks ago, but it’s hard to say if it was personal, or business.”
“Were they for Ava Dunn?” Nikki scooted forward in her chair.
“Uh, let’s see.” Rick picked up his phone and began to skim through it. “They were for a Martha Rhiner.” He looked up at them. “Ordered a couple of weeks ago and delivered to an address north of here.” He looked back down at his phone. “No note or anything specific, just his name and telephone number.”
“Interesting. Do you know who she is?” Sonia asked.
“No idea.” Rick shook his head.
“Could we have that address?” Sonia stood up from her chair.
“What do you need it for?” Rick studied her, his eyes narrowed.
“We’re just trying to get an idea of who was important in Daniel’s life.” Nikki stood up as well. “I would think that someone he sent flowers to, might be important.”
“All right, I suppose it couldn’t do any harm.” Rick jotted down the address on a slip of paper and offered it to Sonia. “Now, unless there is a real legal matter to attend to, I really do have a lot to handle today.”
“I’m sure you do.” Sonia took the slip of paper. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Rick cleared his throat. “It hasn’t been easy.”
“I’m sure.” Nikki nodded and offered him a sad smile. “Thank you for your time.” She led the way out of the office, and back to the car. On the way to the car Nikki quietly explained to Sonia how she had seen Rick outside the country club the previous day and the conversation she had overheard.
“That’s interesting. It might be worth exploring more, but now we have another lead to follow.” Sonia nodded. “Shall we go see who this Martha person is?” She opened the driver’s side door.
“Let’s do it.” Nikki smiled as she buckled into the passenger seat. She checked her phone again. Nothing from Quinn. She decided to send him the information she’d discovered, just in case he didn’t have it. With his resources, he could probably easily find out if Ava Dunn or Martha Rhiner had a solid connection to Daniel. As she typed out the message, she hoped that she wouldn’t be interrupting something important.
“The address isn’t far. Actually, it’s in my neighborhood.” Sonia started the car, then drove out of the parking lot. “I wonder what his connection to Martha was?”
“Maybe she’ll be willing to tell us.” Nikki hit send on the text, then sat back against the seat. Now, it would be hard to be patient and wait for a response from him. “It sounds to me like Daniel had a lot going on that no one else knew about.”
“Yes, it does.” Sonia navigated her way through Dahlia, then pulled up to a house about ten minutes away from hers. “It looks like this is the place.” She peered at the entrance to the long driveway. “No security gate, that’s a good thing.”
“No security gate, and apparently no gardener.” Nikki studied the overgrown bushes and long grass that they drove past. “That’s pretty unusual for this part of Dahlia. I’m surprised it’s been allowed.”
“The property is set so far back from the road, I bet no one even notices it.” Sonia huffed. “But this place needs a good cleaning up. I wonder why she let it get this bad?”
“Maybe she’s going through a hard time.” Nikki frowned as Sonia parked in front of the house. “What’s that on the front porch?” She stepped out of the car and walked towards it. “Oh wow, Sonia, I think these are the flowers that were delivered.” She picked up a wilted plant in a basket. “I guess she never got them?”
Nikki looked at the note attached. It had Daniel’s details on it.
“I guess not.” Sonia walked past her and knocked on the front door. “Hello? Is anyone home?” She peeked through the window beside the door. “It doesn’t look like anyone has lived here in a while.”
“We should go.” Nikki frowned. “I’ll let Quinn know. I’m sure he’ll come and check the place out.”
“Good idea.” Sonia walked back to the car. “Whoever Martha is, she isn’t going to want those flowers now.”
Nikki glanced back at the house as Sonia drove off. Obviously, Daniel had believed that Martha still lived there, which meant that he might not have been in recent contact w
ith her. So, why did he suddenly want to send her flowers? Did it have something to do with why he had been acting so secretive lately?
Chapter 10
On the way back to Sonia’s house, Nikki’s cell phone buzzed. She glanced down at her phone and smiled at the sight of a text from Quinn.
“Quinn wants me to meet him at Gina’s for a coffee.” Nikki sent a quick text in response. “Hopefully he has some news.” She tucked her phone into her purse. “Do you want to join us?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Sonia winked. “I’ll drop you off.” She activated her turn signal.
“No, don’t do that. You’re already almost home, and I’m sure that Princess can’t wait to see you. I can walk. It’s a beautiful afternoon.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”
“I know you don’t, but it’s okay. It’s not a far walk.” Nikki smiled.
“Okay, but you’d better update me as soon as you can.” Sonia turned into her driveway, then parked.
“I will, as soon as I know anything.” Nikki waved to her, then headed down the driveway. She quickened her pace as she reached the street. She couldn’t wait to see Quinn, and not just because she hoped he had news, but because she always enjoyed being with him. However, she wanted to walk to help keep her nerves at bay. Being around Quinn still stirred a sense of awkwardness and giddiness within her that always left her feeling a little embarrassed. Exercise helped her to reduce the anxiety that plagued her when she thought about being alone with him. She enjoyed the time with him, but she just couldn’t quite relax. She hoped she would get used to being in his presence so that she would be able to relax in it soon.
Nikki continued towards Gina’s, a café owned by her good friend Gina. Nikki would usually be excited to see her and get the latest gossip, but she knew her friend wouldn’t be there. She was having a couple of days off. It was the first time since Nikki had known her that she had taken time off. Her parents were visiting from out of town, so after a lot of persuading she agreed to leave her business in her employees’ hands for a few days. Nikki was sure that Gina still checked in with them at every opportunity.