An hour later there was still no trace of her, and one by one my helpers were going home. Soon, Maria Fernandez, my neighbor on the other side, approached me.
“We looked everywhere, Nicky,” she said apologetically. “I think you should get some sleep. Call Animal Control in the morning. If anyone’s found her, that’s where they’ll take her.”
“I know, I know.” But even as I was saying this, I knew I couldn’t stop. I was standing there, in the middle of the sidewalk, in my now-filthy pink bathrobe and slippers, out of my mind with worry.
“Come.” Maria guided me toward my house.
“I can’t stop,” I argued. “I have to…”
Suddenly, strange-neighbor guy was in front of me. “She’s right,” he said. “You go home. I’ll keep looking.” I was already shaking my head when he continued, “Does Jackie have a tag on her collar?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Does it have your phone number on it?”
“Oh! I should be home.”
He nodded. “Someone might be trying to call you right now.”
“Thank you…” I didn’t even know his name.
“It’s Mitchell Richards. Mitch, to my friends. Now, go.” As I hurried away, he called after me. “Don’t worry. You’ll find her. I promise.” There was something so reassuring about the way he said it that I believed him.
The message light was blinking. I grabbed the receiver and punched in my code.
“You have one new message,” the computer voice told me. “This is the 24-hour animal hospital on Church. We have a little brown dog that was brought into emergency. Her name tag says Jackie Chan and gives this phone number. If this is your dog, please call us.”
I hung up and dialed. Please, please tell me she’s safe.
On the second ring, a woman’s voice answered. “Emergency Animal Hospital.”
“You left a message on my phone about a little dog?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Her name is Jackie?”
“Yes, we have her here,” replied the woman.
“Oh, thank you so much. I’ve been going crazy.”
“So you’ll come now, ma’am?”
“Yes, right away.” Then it dawned on me. The woman had said “emergency clinic.” Terrified, I asked, “Is she all right?”
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can tell you, except that she’s being treated right now. The doctor can give you more information when you get here.”
I tore into a pair of jeans. Two minutes later, I was racing up Shaw Street in my car, when I spotted Mitchell halfway up the block, still combing the bushes. I screeched to a halt.
I rolled down the window and called out, “She’s been found. I’m on my way to pick her up.”
Mitchell wrenched open the door and climbed into the passenger seat. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t even think. I just shot up the street as fast as my smart car would take me. At the speed I was going, I would have given Mario Andretti a run for his money, and judging from the terror on Mitchell’s face, I think he would have agreed. In front of the animal hospital, I came to a rubber-burning stop.
“You go,” Mitchell said, his voice tight. “I’ll park the car.”
At the desk, a gum-popping teenage girl with a purple streak in her blue-black hair told me to take a seat and that she was calling the “doc” right away. After what felt more like hours than minutes, a young man in a white lab coat walked over. He hardly looked old enough to be out of high school, let alone to have graduated from vet school. This kid was taking care of my Jackie?
“You’re here for Jackie?” he asked, wearing a blank expression.
“How is she, Doctor?” I asked, my heart in my throat.
“We’ve just finishing her second treatment, but she’ll need at least another two or three.”
A second treatment? Two or three more? “Oh my God! What’s wrong with her?” I cried.
“Didn’t anybody tell you?” he asked, surprised. I was faintly aware that Mitchell had come in. He was now standing next to me and holding on to my arm protectively.
“She’s been sprayed by a skunk,” said the doctor.
“That’s it?” I asked, in disbelief.
“That’s it,” he repeated with a chuckle. “Apart from being a very smelly little dog right now, Jackie Chan is fine.”
On the way home, I cradled my little girl protectively in my arms. She was wrapped in a damp towel and reeked to high heaven, but I’d never been so happy to see her in my life. Mitchell seemed happy, too, but I suspected it was mainly because he was doing the driving.
“Good grief, you stink,” I told her, and Mitchell and I burst into peals of laughter. We were both laughing so hard that Jackie struggled out of her cover and peered at us as if we were crazy.
A few minutes later, Mitchell zipped up the back alley and pulled to a stop in my spot.
“I’ll take a look at that latch tomorrow,” he said, indicating the back gate through which Jackie had escaped. In the dark, I could just make out the line of his jaw. It was a very nice jaw. “You’ll want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He smiled, and I got a flash of straight teeth.
I thanked him and gratefully followed him in the dark to my front door.
“By the way,” he said, before swinging his legs over the metal railing that separated our doorways. “I think I met one of your friends. She came by and wanted to know if I’d heard or seen anything the night your boyfriend was murdered.”
“Yes. That was Kim,” I said, thinking “friend” didn’t exactly describe her. “She canvassed the entire neighborhood trying to find anyone who might have seen or heard something.”
“That’s what good friends do.” He smiled—another quick flash of white. “You’re lucky you have people who care enough to go to such lengths for you.”
A wave of guilt hit me. Kim was always friendly to me, and here I was constantly pushing her away.
“About your boyfriend, I’m really sorry,” he continued.
“Thanks.” For some reason, I felt compelled to explain. “We had already broken up, so it’s not as if—I mean, it’s very sad. It’s just…”
Was there was something like relief in his eyes? It was hard to tell in the shadows. Maybe it was only wishful thinking.
“Well, good night,” he said and put his key in his lock. I watched as he closed the door behind him. Hmm. Now why had I thought he was a weirdo?
By the time I went up to my bedroom, I’d decided that my strange neighbor was not so strange at all. In fact, he was a very nice man.
As I was climbing into bed, exhausted, I noticed something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The clock on my bedside table, which I always kept at an angle, was now lined up straight. Someone had been inside my house. Or was I getting paranoid? I hopped back off the bed, looking around. Sure enough, the items on my dresser were all slightly out of place. I pulled open drawer after drawer, and in every one of them, things had been moved.
A quick inspection of my spare room, the kitchen and the bathroom indicated the entire house had been searched. While I had been searching Mona’s house, somebody had been searching mine. Or—hold on. For all I knew, the intruder could have been going through my house while I was looking for Jackie. But who, and why?
If Rob was involved with drugs, as seemed to be the case, had somebody come looking for his stash? Another thought occurred to me. Whoever had searched the house could have left the back gate open. But how did they get inside? A cold feeling washed over me. Rob’s key! I’d completely forgotten about it. It wasn’t on the list of items the police had sent. And it wasn’t among the items I’d searched through. Whoever had killed him had taken his key. And the killer could come in any time they wanted.
I felt weak
with fear.
First thing tomorrow morning I would call a locksmith—if I wasn’t murdered in my sleep during the night. To say I didn’t have a very restful night was to put it mildly.
tell the truth but just don’t
tell them I was there
The locksmith had been and gone, leaving me with a nice fat bill—so nice of him. On the bright side, I now had brand-new, secure locks on all the doors. I was in the middle of my third cup of coffee—a vain attempt to calm my rattled nerves—when the doorbell rang and rang and rang. I made my way hesitantly down the hall, convinced it was the police, here to arrest me. But to my immense relief, when I opened the door Toni was standing there, four-inch heels tapping.
“Oh Toni, you won’t believe what happened,” I cried. “Somebody broke into my house last night.”
“What! Are you all right?” She looked me up and down, forehead lined with worry.
“I’m fine. It happened while I was out.”
“Oh, thank God. Did you call the police?”
“Are you crazy? The police must have found my fingerprints at Mona’s by now. The last thing I want is to give them a reason to come over and question me some more. For all I know, the next time they see me, they’ll arrest me.”
“Was anything taken?”
I shook my head. “Not that I could tell. I think whoever was here was looking for drugs. They searched everywhere—my bedroom, the bathroom, everywhere,” I repeated.
She gasped. “You think it was the murderer?” Her eyes darted around. “But how did he get in?”
“It’s got to be. He must have taken Rob’s copy of my key.” I shivered. “The first thing I did was call the locksmith. I have new locks on the front and back doors.”
“So we both didn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about you breaking into Mona’s house without wearing gloves.”
I didn’t like the way she put that.
“That’s why I’m here. We have to come up with a story. But first, I need a cup of coffee.” She breezed by, heading for the kitchen, stopped, raised her nose, sniffed the air and grimaced. “What in the world…? It stinks in here.”
“It’s called ‘eau de skunk.’”
Her expression was a combination of snobbish disgust and disbelief. “You have got to be kidding.”
“You won’t believe the night I’ve just had,” I grumbled.
“Don’t expect sympathy from me because, as I said, I didn’t sleep a wink either.” She wagged a finger at me. “And it’s all your fault.”
I might seriously have murdered her there and then, if I wasn’t in enough trouble already.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ve been racking my brain all night trying to figure out what you should do. If the police question you, I hope I don’t get dragged into it.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you forgot to bring rubber gloves.”
Before I could point out that she was the one who had insisted on coming along with me, she took another whiff and pinched her nose. “Phe-ew,” she whined. “Let’s get out of here. Come on. I’m taking you out for coffee.”
* * *
Forty-five minutes later, I was sitting a coffee shop in Hazelton Lanes, where a continuous stream of hunks walked by. The best gym in the city was one floor up and it was always filled with good-looking men with buff bodies. Of course this was Toni’s favorite coffee shop. Made me wonder if the eye candy was why she’d bought a condo in this building.
At any other time I might have enjoyed the muscle parade myself, but I was worried sick about being arrested. I’d been waiting there for half an hour and there was still no sign of her. I was not amused. I should have known the moment Toni suggested we take separate cars that she’d be late. Punctuality was never her strong suit. Didn’t she realize this was an emergency? Sometimes, I swear. Well, that was it.
I grabbed my bag and was about to leave when I spotted her. She’d changed clothes and wore a short leopard-print skirt and a pair of vertiginously high zebra-print shoes. Her hair, which had been pulled back into a ponytail earlier, was now loose and tumbling onto her shoulders in luxurious curls. She exuded sex. Every man in the place turned and stared. She, however, seemed oblivious to the admiring glances. Now that was unusual.
“Gee, how nice of you to show up.” I glared, handing her a cup of cold coffee. “It was hot half an hour ago.”
She plopped into the leather armchair. “Sorry I took so long. I had to stop upstairs and check my messages.”
“And change clothes, and do your hair,” I added sarcastically.
She shrugged. I noticed a vein throbbing on her forehead and worry lines between her brows. At least she had the decency to be worried for me. I kept my face carefully blank and looked at my watch.
“Well, I’ve had my coffee so I’ll see you later.” I stood.
“Hold on. Don’t go.” She grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry I took so long. Please stay. We really have to talk.”
She sounded anxious. In truth, I desperately wanted her to help me come up with a plan. Still, I hated to be placated so easily. I shook my head with frustration and sat back down.
“Okay, talk. What do you think we should do?”
“Oh, come on, Nicky. Don’t be upset.”
“Don’t be upset? You don’t think that worrying about my fingerprints at a murder scene would be enough to make me upset?”
Toni shushed me and looked around nervously. “Be careful what you say in public. Now, I told you I spent the night thinking about it and—”
“And what?”
“First of all, we don’t know that Mona is dead. I bet she’s in the hospital right now eating Jell-O. You have nothing to worry about. She’ll name her attacker.”
“But what if she isn’t in the hospital? What if she’s in the morgue?”
She cocked her head and stared me in the eyes. “You’ll just have to tell the police you were there before she was killed. That you and she had a talk, that’s all. That when you left, she was fine.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You mean you want me to lie to the police?” I asked furiously.
“It’s not like it couldn’t have happened that way,” she answered righteously. “Most women in your situation would have wanted to confront their boyfriend’s mistress.”
“If this is your idea of a strategy, I’m not impressed. You’re no help at all.” I was halfway out of my chair again when she grabbed my arm. I pulled it away. “What are you trying to do, get me convicted?” I picked up my bag and bolted out of there. I was going up the escalator when Toni caught up with me.
“Please, Nicky. You can’t tell Steven that I had anything to do with breaking into Mona’s.”
“Some fine friend you are,” I muttered and climbed a few more steps. “First, you insist on coming along. And then when you could vouch for me, you chicken out.”
She followed right behind me. “It’s just that he seems interested in me lately and I—I…”
At the top of the escalator I turned to face her. “You don’t want him to find out because he’ll be angry with you. And if he’s angry, it’ll be bye-bye reconciliation.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes. She nodded. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I can’t let you face this alone. That would be incredibly selfish of me. Don’t worry. I’ll stand by you.”
I knew I should have my head examined, but Toni’s tears mellowed me. I sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it won’t come to that.”
She looked at me with such hope in her eyes.
I shrugged. “I suppose it is a plausible story. And it does sound better than breaking and entering.”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“And if I have to go to jail,” I continued, giving her the guilt trip
she deserved, “there’s no point in both of us doing time. Someone has to stay behind and take care of the business—and of Jackie.”
But the darn thing about Toni was that she didn’t do guilt. “That’s right,” she said. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
My anger had dissipated, so I told her about Jackie’s disappearance.
“Sprayed by a skunk,” she exclaimed. “Well that explains the stink. You’ll never get rid of that smell.”
“You might be right about that. I gave Jackie two more shampoos, and she still smells like Pepé Le Pew.”
“You’ll have to keep your windows open for days.”
“Great, so whoever broke in can just climb in.” I sighed. “I’m just grateful I found her safe and sound. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her. I love that little dog like she’s my baby.”
“Hmm. Reminds me of the old saying, ‘The more I know men, the more I love my dog.’” She shrugged. “The way you talk about Jackie, you make me wish I had a dog, too. I’ve been considering adopting one.”
Now that startled me. “Really?”
“Then I remember my last dog.”
“I had no idea you’d had a dog.”
She chuckled. “Come on. Of course you remember. I showed you the wedding pictures.”
It took me a moment to get her joke. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”
“Speaking of that particular dog,” she said, looking slightly embarrassed, “he left me a message. He wants me to have dinner with him.”
Ah, that explained it. “Admit it. Something is going on between you two.”
“No, nothing at all,” she declared, her eyes wide with innocence. “I swear.”
I searched her face. “So, will you accept his invitation?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe if he orders crow.” Her sneer evaporated. “I don’t know what I should do.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I think I might still have feelings for him.”
I let a minute pass while people walked by. Toni stood there looking tortured. “The question is,” I said, carefully weighing my words, “do you think he still has feelings for you?”
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