Without Missing a Bark

by Stella St. Claire

  "I should probably just tell him that I need more time. I started trying to figure out how to make room for his things, and then I imagined him living here, and”—Jackie’s eyes widened—“I had a panic attack. That doesn't bode well for us." Standing up from the couch, Jackie started to collect her books, putting them back on the shelves. "He should be okay with that, right?"

  "I think that Brent is willing to be patient with you," Olivia said and laughed. "You're worth it."

  "No. She's not."

  At the sound of the new voice, both women jumped and turned to see the intruder.

  Cora stood in Jackie's living room, holding a gun. It was trained on them. "She's not worth his patience," she hissed. "She doesn't deserve him!"

  "Cora!" Olivia stared in horror at the pretty woman she’d thought she’d known. "What the hell are you doing?"

  "Saving Brent! Saving him from the likes of her."

  Olivia inhaled sharply. "You've been the one stalking her! The phone calls. The threats. The mutilated book covers. The message for me to lay off."

  Cora glared at her. "I should have taken care of you a long time ago, but you made Andrew happy. Andrew was a good boss. I liked that he was happy—but then you kept corrupting Brent. Pushing him toward Jackie."

  "Actually, I wasn't really thrilled with the match," Olivia admitted. Jackie reached out and pinched her sharply, but she tilted her head, working things out at last. "You loved Brent."

  "Love him," Cora snapped. "I love him. He and I belong together. I knew about his past. His womanizing . . . but I was willing to be patient. He had to go through all of those women so he could understand that we were meant to be."

  Andrew’s secretary had a crazed look in her eye. Olivia tried her best to soothe her. "You are a wonderful woman. Andrew is always talking about you,” she paused and added thoughtfully, “but Brent has a policy against dating women he works with. That's probably why he never saw how much you could mean to him."

  The gun in Cora’s hand shook a little, and Olivia glanced around for something that she could use as a weapon. Jackie wasn't much for decorating, and Olivia didn't think that throwing a bunch of books at the crazed woman was going to make her run away.

  "He was going to see me when he was my boss. I'd be there every day for him. Answering his phone. Getting his coffee."

  "Sure. Because that's what every woman dreams about," Jackie muttered under her breath.

  "Shut up!" Cora screamed. "This is all your fault! I had to burn down his building because of you! Do you have any idea what it was like to see him in that kind of pain?"

  Olivia's jaw dropped. "You burned down Brent's building? Why?"

  "He was supposed to move in with Andrew. Living with Andrew would have helped him ease back into his bachelor life. Brent doesn't like to be alone, but he also doesn't need to be spending time with the likes of her." The gun waved at Jackie and then settled back on Olivia as if Cora saw her as the main threat in this situation.

  "What's so wrong with Jackie?" Olivia asked softly, trying to keep her body between Jackie and the gun. She was fairly confident that Cora wouldn’t shoot her. "I've known her most of my life, Cora. She's a good person. She owns a bookstore. She likes to help me solve crimes. She loves Brent."

  "If she loved him, then she wouldn't be breaking his heart every day. I know about the fights. And now he wants to live here? Well, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."

  "Cora, think about what you're doing!" Olivia cried out. "Brent isn't going to be happy if you hurt his girlfriend."

  A cold smile spread across Cora’s face. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt Jackie. It won’t be me. The fire is going to do that for me.” Her voice changed, going from horrible satisfaction to regret. “I'm sorry, Olivia. I really am. But I can't let you go, either."

  "Fire?" Olivia and Jackie backed away as Cora approached them. "What are you going to do, Cora?"

  "What do you think?" The woman sneered as she raised the gun. "I'm going to rescue my man."

  The gun came down, and pain exploded in Olivia's head before darkness took over.

  The strong smell of gasoline filled Olivia's nostrils and woke her back up. As she opened her eyes, the memories of Cora came rushing over her, making her head ache, and she tried to move, tried to jump up, but something was holding her down.

  "Olivia?" Jackie asked from behind her. "Are you awake?"

  Bleary-eyed, Olivia looked down to see the ropes binding her arms. Someone had tied her to a chair. "What’s going on?"

  "The short version is that your boyfriend's secretary tied us to chairs so she can burn us alive when she sets my house on fire," Jackie said, her voice trembling. "The long version includes all the ways that I'm going to kill Andrew and Brent if we make it out of here alive. How could they not see that she's a psycho?"

  "I didn't see it, either." Olivia grunted in pain as she tried to turn her head. "Where did she go?"

  "I don't know. After she conked you on the head and tied us down, she poured gasoline everywhere, including all over my books, and then she just disappeared. I'm rather hoping that she doesn't come back."

  Just then, there was a loud crackling, and Olivia tensed. "Fire! Jackie, we need to get out of here right now!"

  "Really? Because I was hoping that we could take a nap first!" Jackie snapped. "I'm trying, but our chairs are tied together—I can't even move us!"

  "Start screaming,” Olivia said frantically. “Maybe Hattie's home."

  She and Jackie screamed until they were hoarse and croaking. Thick smoke was rising. Even if somebody had called the fire station by now, chances were good that they were going to suffocate before anyone could rescue them.

  "I'm sorry, Jackie," Olivia said desperately, coughing. "I should have taken your stalker case more seriously. I should have made it a priority."

  "This is not your fault!" Jackie cried. "Don't blame yourself."

  "Olivia?" a familiar voice called out, punctuated by coughs. "Olivia? Jackie? Are you in there?"

  "Oh, my gosh," Olivia gasped. "Natalie! Help us!"

  Through the smoke, she saw the outline of something bright yellow—Natalie, making her way into the room.

  Olivia’s assistant rushed over to them and jerked at the knots confining them to the chairs. "The whole back of the house is on fire!” she said, choking, but not ceasing her efforts. “We have to go out the front. Come on!"

  The smoke stung her eyes, but Olivia gripped Jackie's hand as Natalie led them to the front door. Finally, they burst outside, and Olivia tried to gulp in some fresh air before coughing took over completely.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. "How did you find us?" Jackie finally asked when her own coughing subsided.

  "Goodwin and Fender were going insane at the office. When I couldn't get them to settle down, I tried to call, but you didn't pick up. I asked Janelle, and she said that you were headed here, so I figured I'd just walk the dogs over." With a shaky hand, Natalie pointed to the mailbox.

  Turning, Olivia saw Goodwin and Fender whining and straining at their leashes.

  With a cry of relief, Olivia ran over and hugged her best friends. They'd saved her life.

  Natalie had saved her life, too. “You are amazing.”

  The dog walker hugged her back. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for weeks for you to wear this shirt.”

  Olivia glanced down at her graphic tee. It read Sorry, I can’t. I have plans with my dog. “I don’t understand. Is it a favorite of yours? After today, I’m more than happy to give it to you!”

  “No! Lady Celeste saw it in her vision. I wanted to be ready in case I had to save you.”

  Lady Celeste. Olivia shook her head. Who would have thought that the crazy old woman would come through for them? She’d saved the day.

  But Cora was nowhere to be found.

  23

  Andrew walked into the apartment and set his briefcase down. Brent had done an excellent job in the interview, and Andrew was conf
ident that he was going to be awarded the job.

  They were going to End Game to celebrate, but Olivia wasn't answering her phone, and he wanted to let her know.

  No one had been at the doggie daycare when he’d checked just now, and the apartment was empty. Frowning, he scribbled her a note.

  Things had been a little tense between them lately. He'd hoped that tension would go away now that they'd solved the case, but he could tell that there was still something on Olivia's mind.

  They made a good team, and it was clear that she wasn't going to give up sleuthing any time soon. He might as well join her and try to keep her safe.

  A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. With a grin, he crossed the living room and pulled the door open, joking, "A little impatient for those drinks?" before he saw who was there. "Cora! Did I leave something at the office again?"

  His secretary looked flushed and was slightly out of breath. "Andrew. I'm sorry. I thought that Brent was staying here."

  "He's across the hall. We were just about to go out for drinks. Care to join us?" Snagging his keys from the table beside the door, he stepped out and closed the door behind him. He caught a whiff of something and frowned.

  Odd. Did Cora smell like smoke?

  "Drinks? Happy hour?" Cora followed Andrew as he crossed the hall.

  "Yup. We're celebrating a little bit early, but I think that Brent killed that interview. It's starting to look more and more like he might be your new boss." Trying the door, he found it unlocked and pushed it open. "Dude. You ready?"

  In the kitchen, he found Brent already opening up a beer and protested, "Hey. I thought we were going out!"

  A huge grin split Brent's face. "Sorry, man. I completely forgot. This day has just been great for me."

  Opening the fridge, Andrew pulled out two more beers. He handed one to Cora before popping the other open. "Oh, yeah? What else happened?"

  "Jackie agreed to move in together."

  "You two basically already live together."

  "Informally, and because of forced circumstances," Brent explained. "But now we're going to formally move in together. At her house. So you can have your apartment back or rent it out."

  "You can't do that!" Cora suddenly burst out.

  Andrew flashed her a puzzled look. "I can't rent out the apartment? I mean, technically, it belongs to Olivia and Janelle, but I'm pretty sure they're going to want to rent it out."

  "Move in with Jackie," Cora corrected, her eyes trained on Brent. "It's a huge mistake, and I think that deep down, you already know it."

  "Cora," Andrew admonished. "What has gotten into you?"

  "I've kept quiet for far too long. I thought that you would come to your senses naturally, but I can see that you've been waylaid,” she said firmly. “It's time for you to get back on track again. Your career is headed in the right direction, and you need the right woman by your side.” Standing straighter, she ended, “I'm that woman, Brent."

  Good lord. Cora had always had a crush on Brent, but this was ridiculous. "Cora, now might not be the right time," Andrew said, trying for a gentle tone. "Maybe we can talk about this later."

  Her face twisted into an ugly expression. "How about we talk about it now?" Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a gun.

  Andrew heart dropped into his stomach. He made a move toward her, but she swung around and pointed the gun at him. "This had nothing to do with you, Andrew, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I had to kill Olivia, but she was standing in my way."

  "Kill Olivia?" Andrew whispered. "Cora, what are you talking about? What have you done?"

  "Jackie had to go." Cora said, her voice an unnatural growl. "She had to go so that Brent and I could be together. I wish that Olivia hadn't been there, but she was. I didn't want to see you unhappy,” her voice became matter-of-fact, “but you'll find someone else. I know that you will."

  Brent dropped the beer bottle. The sound of the glass shattering on the floor made both Andrew and Cora jump. "You killed Jackie? Cora, what are you talking about? You wouldn't kill Jackie. We're friends, aren't we?"

  "We're more than friends," Cora said and cocked her head, and the gun followed the movement of her eyes as she turned to gaze sappily at Brent. "We're soul mates, and now that Jackie is out of the way, you’ll be able to see that for yourself."

  "If you two are soul mates, then why are you pointing a gun at him?" Andrew asked. He was trying to stay focused, but all he wanted to do was scream at her. What had she done with Olivia? It just wasn't possible that Olivia and Jackie were dead. It couldn't be.

  "Sometimes being in love means making the hard decisions." Cora coughed a little, and her hand shook. "You love me, right, Brent? I'll give you some time to grieve, but then we can be together. Just like we were always meant to."

  Andrew could sense her presence even before he could see her. Part of it was the smell of smoke rolling off her in waves, but most of it was the feeling of calm that came over him whenever she was around. He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, and then Olivia suddenly launched herself at Cora.

  The two women went down, and the gun skittered across the floor.

  Jackie ran to Brent as Andrew lunged for the gun.

  He'd just picked it up when the door burst open, and what seemed to be the entire Lexingburg sheriff station poured into the apartment.

  Dazed, Andrew was pretty sure they were over the maximum number of people allowed in the apartment.

  After Nick separated the two struggling women, Olivia threw herself into Andrew's arms, and he wound his arms tightly around her. "Are you okay?" he whispered over and over again as he rubbed her back. He wanted to make sure that she was real, that she was alive, and that she was right there.

  "I'm fine. Cora tried to burn Jackie's house down, with us in it. She's a little insane." Absurdly, Olivia began to laugh at her own understatement.

  There were no words. Andrew pressed his lips to the top of her head, closed his eyes, and thanked whatever power had helped her to escape.

  After a few minutes, she finally pulled away. "Lady Celeste was right, you know?"

  "Right about what?"

  "Right about the flames. And about Natalie. She practically shoved Natalie into my lap—and the girl rescued us. She thought that something might have been wrong when Goodwin and Fender started acting crazy, so she tracked us down. She saved our lives."

  Reaching up, Andrew cupped her chin. "Remind me to offer her my undying gratitude," he whispered before he leaned in to kiss her.

  As he held her, he thought about how close he'd come to losing her. This constant arguing they were doing about the cases that she took on hardly meant anything to him now.

  He loved Olivia. He loved her just the way she was, and he wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers.

  24

  Olivia fingered the ring in tucked into the small pocket of her dress. She'd made reservations in the city to propose to him, but apparently, he wanted to walk around town instead of going out to dinner. "Okay, maybe we could take a walk after dinner? Work off all those calories?"

  Andrew gave her an odd look. "I promise to feed you afterward. We could grab something from the bakery if you're starving. We can have dinner in the city anytime."

  "We could also walk around town anytime," she pointed out. "I put on a dress and heels. I even did my makeup."

  Andrew laughed as he buttoned the sleeves of his shirt. "I noticed, and you look amazing. It's just a short walk. You walk all the time with the dogs. After everything that happened, I just want to breathe some fresh air, stretch my legs, and spend some time with my amazing girlfriend."

  Her plans were dashed, but she knew how he felt. After dealing with Joyce and Cora, all Olivia wanted to do was spend time with Andrew.

  That's why she wanted to propose. She wanted something amazing to happen this week—but if he wanted to walk around town, then she would gladly walk around town.

  She just wanted him to be
happy.

  Incredulous, she watched as he leashed Goodwin and Fender. "Is this a family trip?" she joked.

  He grinned. "I guess it must be. Come on."

  Confused, Olivia followed Andrew out. They walked silently for a few minutes. "Are you going to hire a new secretary?" she asked softly, just to make conversation.

  "I'm not. I put in my notice today at work. I think I can handle the next two weeks without a secretary, especially one who's obsessed with my best friend. Brent is ready, though. He's already looking for a secretary." Andrew shook his head. "I still can't believe that I didn't see it. I mean, I knew that she was into Brent, but he's been with Jackie for almost a year now. How did I not see how it was changing her?"

  Holding Goodwin's leash, she wove her arm through his. "You can't blame yourself. Nobody saw it."

  He stopped suddenly and pointed. "You see that spot right there?"

  Following his finger, she looked at the closed flower shop. "The empty sidewalk?"

  "That's the spot where I first saw you. You were in an argument with the shop owner because one of the dogs you were walking peed on the flowers."

  Olivia's mouth dropped open slightly. "Really? I remember that day, and I still maintain Lila's innocence."

  "No,” Andrew said, his voice confident, “she peed on the flowers. I watched it happen, but I was taken with your passion. I'd never seen anyone defend a dog like that before, especially since you were wrong."

  "Wrong? No. You must have been seeing things that day," Olivia laughed as they started walking again. "The first time that I saw you was in the bakery. Janelle's employees had been talking about you for days. The handsome new guy in town. You were getting one of her poppy-seed muffins."

  "I'd done my homework. I knew that your sister was working there, and I wanted a way to meet you. I went to that bakery every day for a week trying to spot you. I got addicted to those muffins."

  "I never knew that." They kept walking. The dim street lamps cast faint shadows on the sidewalk, and the night was quiet. Lexingburg had a tendency to go to bed early during the week.