My sister laughed, but I was completely serious.
“I’m not kidding. I’d hate to end up next to another Cavanaugh, but he’s better than someone who would eviscerate a teddy bear.”
“That reminds me, Moss howled after you left.”
“And Cavan-ass left you a sticky note?”
“Of course, but that’s not what I was going to say. When Moss howled, Voodoo jumped up and ran to him like she’d been summoned. What’s that about?”
“Who knows?”
There was a pause. “Um . . . you?”
“I don’t know everything about animals,” I said.
“And here I’ve been telling people that was your job.”
“Speaking of jobs, I’ve got to go. I have a bunny that needs me.”
• • •
When I finished up with Patches, the aforementioned bunny, I called Kai.
“Hey, can I bring you an early lunch?”
I wasn’t really that hungry, but I wanted to talk to him face-to-face if I was going to admit to breaking my promise to stay away from the Ligners’.
“Actually, how about I meet you at Farah’s? I could stand to get away from this place for a little while.”
We agreed on a time and as soon as I walked into Farah’s, the scent of spanakopita washed over me, obliterating the memory of my earlier zillion-calorie snack.
I found a booth, slid in, and ordered drinks while I waited for Kai. He walked in a few minutes later and slipped in to sit across from me. The waiter came by to take our orders and bustled away.
Kai slid his phone across the table. I picked it up and studied the image on the screen. It was a photo of Brooke. A mug shot, actually.
“What’s this?” I asked, trying not to sound angry. Was he trying to remind me that Brooke had been in trouble?
“Brooke’s record. I can’t legally send it to you, but I thought you might want to take a look at it. Stefan’s is there, too.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling sheepish for jumping to the wrong conclusion—again. “Thank you.”
I looked over the files for a minute, not seeing anything I didn’t already know.
“So, how’s your day been?” I asked as I handed him back his phone.
As he often did, he waved my question away.
“Busy. Tell me how things are going with you.”
“Well, I just helped a champion jumping bunny get his mojo back.”
“Champion jumping bunny?”
“You’ve never heard of bunny show jumping?” I asked deadpan.
“I have to admit, I haven’t. Is it taking the sports world by storm?”
“Not sure Patches and his crew are there, yet. But you never know.”
“Now that he’s got his mojo back?”
“Yep. It turns out Patches hadn’t really lost his passion for the hurdles. He just disliked the foul-smelling paint job his owners had given his obstacle course. I took two terra-cotta pots, flipped them over, and put a stick across them and he hopped over that sucker like the champion he is.”
Kai leaned back to study me—my loquaciousness seemed to have triggered his cop radar.
Crap. Might as well get it over with.
“I went to the Ligners’,” I said just as the waiter appeared with our lunch.
Kai never took his eyes off me as the waiter placed the plates on the table and asked if we needed anything else.
I thanked him and, once he’d hustled off, said to Kai, “I was worried about Felix.”
“Felix?”
“The cat. I was afraid Bob Ligner might do something to Felix, so I went to get him. I even went to the house next door, so I wouldn’t have to trespass, but—”
“Get him?” Kai interrupted. “Let me get this straight; your interpretation of staying away from the Ligners’ is to go to the house next door and steal their property?”
“Felix is not property. And I didn’t steal him. He’s fine, but I can’t say the same for Mr. Snuffles.”
“Who?”
“Brooke’s teddy bear.” I explained what I’d seen, starting with Felix being safe and putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that I had been leaving when I’d seen Anne Ligner acting odd.
Kai didn’t look pleased at my justification.
“I couldn’t just leave.”
“Yes, Grace, you could have. Or you could have called me.”
“But it might have been nothing.”
“Or it might have been a body. And you could have contaminated the crime scene.”
“Seriously? You’re playing the CSI card?”
“I’m not playing at all.”
The waiter popped by to check on us, probably noticing that neither of us had touched our lunch and wanting to be sure there wasn’t something wrong. There was, of course, but it wasn’t the food.
Kai handed the waiter his plate and asked if he could take it to go. I did the same and then glared at Kai.
“This isn’t a damn game, Grace,” he said in a low tone.
“We’re talking about a guy who decapitated a My Little Pony,” I said. “Believe me, I understand it’s not a game.”
Kai shook his head. “You don’t even know if Bob Ligner is the person who tore up the toys. It could have been his wife. You said she apologized out loud when she threw them away, right?”
“I can’t see her taking out her anger on her daughter’s stuff.”
“You don’t know that’s the reason the toys were ripped apart.”
“Why else would someone do it?”
“Maybe Ligner or his wife was looking for something.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “I can think of several things a teenager on probation might want to hide from her parents.”
“You’re talking about drugs again.”
“Brooke’s boyfriend is a drug dealer.”
“So?”
“He might have asked Brooke to hold on to his stash.”
“Brooke was turning her life around.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
The waiter deposited our lunches and the check. I picked it up before Kai could.
“I asked you to come—I’ll get it.” I rummaged around in my purse, knowing I had a twenty somewhere, and tried not to be upset. I’d known Kai wouldn’t be happy with me but I hadn’t expected to be just as irritated with him.
Finding the crumpled twenty, I smoothed it out on the table and laid it over the check.
When I looked up at Kai, I saw the lines around his eyes had softened.
“I’m just trying to stay objective, Grace. We know Brooke and her mother recently had a fight about something. Maybe Anne Ligner was going through Brooke’s things, even started to cut open her toys.”
I hated to admit it made sense, but . . . “According to Ozeal, Anne Ligner wasn’t involved in Brooke’s life. I got the same feeling when I met her. She hadn’t noticed Brooke was missing.”
“Learning Brooke was gone could have goaded her into looking through her daughter’s things. We don’t know.”
“You’re right, we don’t. We don’t know enough about any of this because you can only poke around a little and I’m not supposed to poke around at all.”
“I’m sorry. I got upset because I worry about you. I don’t like the idea of you anywhere near Bob Ligner.”
“And you don’t want me to mess up a crime scene.”
“That, too.” He flashed me that heart-stopping smile and I returned it with one of my own.
“Does that mean we can sit here and eat lunch?”
A beep sounded from his phone. He checked the display and frowned. “I’ve got to get back. It’s been a . . .” He trailed off as his gaze met mine, then he let out a slow breath. “Let’s just say I haven’t had time to do much checking on Bob Ligner’s finances or his past relationships.”
An emotion I couldn’t name suddenly stirred in my chest. Kai was doing this for me. Taking extr
a time out of long days because he wanted to help me.
I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded. He must have taken my silence as disappointment on his lack of progress because his manner turned brusque as we gathered our lunches and headed outside.
“I’ll call you if I find something,” Kai said.
When he started to turn away, I reached out and touched his forearm to stop him. There were a dozen things I could have said, detailing how much his help meant to me, but all I managed was, “Thank you.”
“You can thank me by staying safe.”
“I tangle with crazy animals every day and, so far, I’m in one piece,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
But he only nodded and walked away.
• • •
I debated my next move as I walked to Bluebell.
I could try to find Stefan again. Or see if I could dig up more on Yard/Mercedes Guy—though how I’d go about doing so was a mystery.
As I was climbing behind the wheel I got a text that made the decision for me.
The message was from my sister. It read: Issue with important clients. Need help. ASAP.
At first I thought she might have sent me the text by accident until the follow-up message beeped onto the screen: And be nice!
I sent a message back asking where she was. She replied with an address that turned out to be . . .
A cemetery?
Ooookay.
After parking, I wandered toward the iron gates. I found Emma a few yards past the entrance, standing with a man and woman in the shade of a stately oak.
The couple was dressed in all black and both had raven hair that contrasted sharply with the very pale skin of their faces.
Emma smiled as I approached. “Eddie, Lilith, this is my sister, Grace.”
Eddie, like Eddie Munster? I couldn’t help but see a resemblance.
We shook hands. I glanced at my sister and plastered a smile on my face before saying, “Nice to meet you both. What can I do for you?”
“We’re having problems with the bats,” Eddie said in a low baritone I hadn’t expected from such a thin man.
“Bats?”
“They’re for our wedding, but there’s something wrong.” Lilith’s large doe eyes misted over, her voice quavering with concern.
“Bats. For your wedding,” I repeated just to make sure I wasn’t hearing things.
“To release instead of doves,” Emma clarified. “Sunday night, at the rehearsal, they didn’t seem to want to leave their cage.”
“Lilith loves animals and she’s worried that something might be wrong with them.” Eddie placed his narrow fingers on his betrothed’s shoulder with a comforting pat.
“Your sister says you are not only an animal expert, you’re also licensed as a veterinarian,” Lilith said. “We were hoping you could take a look at Vlad and Mina just to make sure they’re okay.”
Vlad and Mina?
I glanced at my sister. Her smile had become stretched and strained into something closer to a grimace. Not the typical Emma face. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was clear my sister needed me to smile and nod, so that was exactly what I did.
As I fell into step behind the couple, I noticed Lilith’s hair flowed almost to her waist and was tipped with red the color of, you guessed it, blood.
I tried to catch my sister’s eye, but she’d edged forward to answer some question Eddie had posed.
Before long, the path angled to the right and we passed through a short wall into a private plot. A massive mausoleum dominated the center. Its steep roof and pointed arches reminded me of a mini–Gothic cathedral. Which, given the company, was fitting.
In front of the tomb was a tall, intricate birdcage sitting on a marble pillar.
I stepped up to the cage and leaned down to look at the bats. Large and furry, with fox-like faces and big brown eyes, their small ears flicked around with interest. One of them yawned and stretched, displaying a dark, leathery wing as long as my forearm.
I took a moment to assess the bats. They were a little restless and hungry. With a bit of prodding I learned that they were used to eating by now, which meant one thing.
Stifling a sigh, I reminded myself to be nice.
“Well,” I said, turning back to Eddie and Lilith. “Vlad and Mina seem healthy but I don’t think they’re going to work for your wedding.”
“Why?” my sister asked.
I struggled to keep my tone friendly and said, “These are a type of giant fruit bat also known as flying foxes. Samoan flying foxes to be exact—which happen to be one of the few species of diurnal bats.”
“Diurnal?” Eddie squinted at the bats then cast me a quizzical glance.
“That’s the opposite of nocturnal, right?” Emma asked.
“Right. In the wild, they typically forage in the midmorning and sleep at night. Which means they’re probably hungry. Also, these guys are from the tropics. If you released them here they wouldn’t survive long—it gets too cold.”
Lilith pressed her dainty hand over her black-lipped mouth.
“Oh no! Eddie, we can’t. There must be another way.”
She turned those big, doe eyes to me and I looked at my sister for help.
“Maybe we could find some local bats to use,” Emma said.
“Would that work?” Lilith asked, eyes wide and hopeful.
“Um . . . I don’t . . .” I blinked at my sister, but she was doing the smile/grimace thing again so I trailed off.
“Please,” Lilith said. “We just can’t have the ceremony without the bats.”
“Money is no object,” Eddie added, setting my teeth on edge.
“Emma.” I pinned my sister with my gaze. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I did an about-face and walked through the gate, down the lane, and out of earshot.
When my sister caught up to me I spun to face her.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Come on, Grace, you can do this, can’t you?”
“Do what?”
“Get a couple of local bats.”
“From where? The 7-Eleven?”
“Can’t you have them come to you like you used to do with the birds?”
“Emma, talking a few birds into coming to eat out of my hand and capturing wild bats isn’t the same thing.”
“Why not?”
“I’d have to find a colony, for starters, and I am not kidnapping bats just so these weirdos can get their Goth on.”
I blinked at her in utter confusion. “How is it possible that you neglected to consult the animal telepath—who you live with—about this?”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture that reminded me so much of our mother I almost smiled.
“I didn’t know about the bats,” Emma said. “Eddie gave them to Lilith Sunday night as a surprise—after I’d gone to deal with a major catering issue at another event.”
I eyed my sister. She actually looked harried. Emma didn’t get harried. She was Emma.
“Are you okay, Em?”
She nodded. “I’ve got to hire an assistant. Sometimes people are—”
“Really stupid?” I supplied in a helpful tone.
“Unpredictable.”
“I’m going with stupid. Do you know that most flying foxes are endangered?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Oh no.”
“Yep—and you know what that means?”
“You’re going to confiscate the bats.”
“You’re damn skippy.”
“This is a nightmare,” she muttered. “Can you find some local bats or not?”
“Honestly, Emma, no, I can’t.” I waved away her scowl. “I’m not just being stubborn. Tonight is a full moon, right?”
She nodded. “That’s why we’re doing the wedding on a Tuesday night.”
“Well, bats don’t like to fly during the full moon.”
She groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I shook my he
ad, but talking about the full moon sparked an idea.
“I tell you what: I might be able to coax Vlad and Mina to fly tonight if we make some major adjustments to their cage. And provided Eddie and Lilith agree to donate the bats to the zoo and give me the info on who they were purchased from.”
Relief flooded Emma’s face and she yanked me into a hug.
“You’re my favorite sister, ever!”
“I’m your only sister.”
“You’d still be my favorite sister—even if we had lots of sisters.”
“Tell me that after we pull this off.”
• • •
Operation Bat Wing was a surprising success.
I’d been able to sweet-talk Vlad and Mina into leaving their roost to fly by the light of the moon with the promise of their favorite snack. Kiwi for her. Bananas for him.
The giant bats had awed the guests as they’d swooped overhead then circled around to the back of the mausoleum where Hugh and I waited. I handed the bats and the information on who had sold them over to Hugh and even managed to snag a plate of cheese-and-mushroom tortellini from the caterers before heading home.
Moss sat at my feet and gazed longingly up as I finished off the tortellini.
Have bite? he asked with a whine.
“No.”
One bite?
“If I fed you every time you asked me for a bite you’d have a belly like a nanny goat.”
This earned me an indignant snort.
Moss was a canine in his prime and he knew it.
He also knew I was a sucker, so he followed me into the kitchen and showered me with exuberant admiration when I set the plate on the floor for him to prewash.
I even left a few tortellini.
Pouring a glass of wine, my mind drifted to thoughts of Brooke and Boris. I tried to mentally sum up what I’d learned about Brooke’s disappearance, but once again, wound up with a bunch of unconnected dots.
Out of everything I’d discovered, Yard Guy’s role in what had happened to Brooke puzzled me the most.
He could be a landscaper simply doing a job for the Ligners, as Kai had suggested. But my gut told me otherwise.
I unplugged my laptop from its place on the kitchen counter and wandered into the living room to sit on the couch. On a whim, I Googled the landscaping company name I’d seen on Yard Guy’s shirt. Not surprisingly, I found no listing for Green’s Lawn and Landscaping.
A Tiger's Tale (A Call of the Wilde Mystery) Page 14