Best In Show (Mina's Adventures Book 6)

by Maria Grazia Swan

  Dan had said the whole thing like he was reading from a script. Mina stared at him, asking herself if it was the truth or some concocted story to make her feel safe and to let her know that the love of her life was no killer. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Could she accuse an officer of the law of lying?

  “So, Mina, you see why it won’t be necessary for you to identify him. We got a lucky break,” he said. “We found a passport in his pocket and the gun that appears to be the same one he used when he shot the two brothers. I’m guessing he was on his way to catch a plane because he sure isn’t from around here.”

  “What? He walked all the way to a gas station to grab something to eat? What was it he was choking on? A hot dog?”

  The level of sarcasm should have offended De Fiore, instead he kept staring at her with that maddening smile in his eyes. Then he said, “No, not a hot dog. Strangely enough he accidentally swallowed some plastic.” He paused. “A hospital ID bracelet, of all things.”

  Like an old rerun, Mina remembered Diego removing the plastic band from her wrist and saying: “I’m keeping this until someone has been held accountable for what they did to you.”

  Something told Mina that her bedtime storyteller would be calling her that evening.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next morning Mina had to get out of her house! Sure she loved Margo, and she cared a lot about Kalinda, but their never ending chatter drove Mina nuts. Plus, she felt uncomfortable going into her office since it was now Kalinda’s bedroom. So Mina announced she would be taking the boarder, Princess, to the vet, instead of sending Millie.

  Even the Spartan breakfast in the usually quiet kitchen became an exhausting tour de force, perhaps because excitement ran high. Kalinda could hardly wait for her almost-a-date with De Fiore. And Margo, nervous about her relationship with Gino, decided to get her hair color touched up by her regular gal. Mina prayed it wasn’t the one who had a tendency to make every head into a redhead.

  Even the cats got annoyed with the full house, and retreated upstairs for a nap on Mina’s bed. By nine-thirty Mina had packed everything she needed business-wise into her briefcase, ready to head over to the cottage to spend some quiet time with Millie, Zeus, and Princess before going to the vet’s office. It was almost comical having to go visit the B&B to get some mental rest. Whoever invented the your home is your castle slogan had never spent a day with Margo and Kalinda together.

  “Ok, ladies, I’ll be gone most of the day, but Millie is available in case of need.” She looked at Kalinda while saying that. “Let’s hope that awful Mr. Van Der Ass doesn’t come by while I take Princess to the vet.”

  “That’s the name of the owner?” Kalinda asked.

  Mina felt her cheeks catch fire. “Oh, his real name is Van der Voss, or so he says, but he is such a jackass... I don’t usually make fun of my clients, I promise.”

  “Van der Voss,” Kalinda repeated.

  “Yeah, sounds very…Dutch artist, right?”

  Kalinda batted her eyelashes like she didn’t understand Mina’s reference. “Maybe, but somehow it sounds familiar, and I don’t mean because I own any Old Masters.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Margo interrupted. “Old master, new master. Are we talking lovers?”

  That had both Kalinda and Mina laughing out loud. Leave it to Margo to put a sexual spin on everything.

  After Mina’s kitchen, Millie’s place felt as quiet as a church on Monday morning. Mina sat down and let out a long sigh. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take the cat over to Roger’s office. I need a break. This would be a good time for you to take the day off. Zeus will be fine until one of us gets back. Margo is on her way to the hairdresser, and Kalinda is tickled pink about spending time with De Fiore. He’s picking her up, don’t you know.”

  “Are you implying there is some budding romance there?”

  “Not sure, De Fiore isn’t the chatterbox type. Last night he came over to talk to me, at least that was the official reason…and a good one too. They’ve arrested the man who caused the accident, and it appears he was also the shooter.” She noticed Millie’s blank look. “You know, the kidnappers? One died? The surviving brother was in the same hospital where this man was taken upon his arrest. Or maybe they arrested him after the kidnapper, who apparently was hired by this man, formally recognized him? I don’t know. Do I make any sense?”

  “You do dear. So now you know that your Diego didn’t shoot these people, right?”

  Mina shrugged, that was only part of her concern.

  “Of course. I always knew he didn’t do it,” Millie added.

  “Oh. Why so?”

  “Because had Diego Moran been the shooter, he would have not missed. Both brothers would have been found dead, and he certainly would not have called the cops.” Apparently Diego had another fan.

  Mina arrived at Roger the Vet’s office when they were ready to close for lunch. The blonde receptionist locked the door behind Mina. “He’s waiting. I’m going to take a few photos of the cat and circulate them among cat fanciers to see if anyone recognizes her. If what the boss suspects is true, and her microchip was surgically removed, she may have been stolen.”

  “If she is stolen, why wouldn’t the thief keep her hidden?” Mina peeked at the cat sleeping inside the carrier.

  Roger stepped into the office at that moment. He must have heard her remark. “What better place to hide her than at your boarding facilities? Remember, he insisted on no other cats, which means no other cat owners. He may be waiting for a buyer, and if he doesn’t have cats of his own, he didn’t want to raise suspicions by suddenly having a cat in the house. I don’t know, I’m speculating here. How did he pay you? Cash?”

  “No, cashier’s check. As a matter of fact, I haven’t even deposited it yet. My guests have taken over my home office, and I feel like a stranger in my own house…” Shut up Mina, stop whining.

  Roger ignored the whining and gently removed the cat from the carrier. “Why don’t you sit and read a magazine,” he said to Mina. “We’ll run some tests, and then we can talk. It’s better if you stay out of the way.”

  What? She didn’t argue with him, after all this was his turf. Mina followed his suggestion and went to sit in the comfy waiting lounge. A glimpse at the colorful magazine covers spread out on the low tables made her decide to just close her eyes and rest her mind instead.

  What was really gnawing at her, more than anything else, was the fact that Diego hadn’t called her the night before. After De Fiore’s revelation about the killer being rushed to the hospital because he was choking on a hospital ID bracelet, she had no doubt Diego was behind the convenient accident. The pleasure the detective took recounting the facts only reinforced that belief. De Fiore happened to be in the vicinity when the call came in? How convenient. And the man was caught with the murder weapon in his possession. Sure.

  Oh, God!! When did she become such a disillusioned bitch? She was dripping negativity just because her lover didn’t call her? Get a grip, Mina. Reality check, girl. Sort of ironic all her fuss over a missed phone call, after the speech she’d given Margo in the kitchen. Mina wondered where Gino kept his gun when he was home. Did Margo even know he had one? In the quiet of the room she felt herself dozing off despite her racing mind.

  When Roger’s assistant called her name, Mina snapped out of her sluggishness and felt oddly refreshed. She went and found Roger sitting behind his imposing desk, waiting to share his findings. That desk of his went hand in hand with the obnoxious Corvette, she thought, and immediately regretted being so judgmental.

  “No microchip,” he said. “I’m confident there was one, and it was surgically removed. I use the term surgically with a question mark. With that said, Princess will be okay. The pregnancy however is a different story.”

  “Oh, so she’s pregnant.”

  “She is.” He fiddled with a fancy pen on his desk. Mina noticed his perfectly manicured nails. How odd she
never even looked at his hands when they were—sort of dating. “I’m not sure how the removal of the microchip was performed of if whomever did it was even aware of the pregnancy. What I’m trying to tell you is that it may have damaged the litter she’s carrying. I don’t know. Giving you a heads up. And Princess is at least five years old, not three. She seems to have been well cared for, and this is not her first litter. My assistant thinks she may be used for breeding purebred Blue Cream Persians. It’s a theory, not a proven fact. I’m guessing she’s halfway through gestation. Thirty, forty days into it. Okay? We have pictures of Princess, and if it’s all right with you, we’ll circulate them among reputable Persian breeders to see if anyone is missing a cat. That’s about all I can offer. Perhaps your friends in the police department can suggest other venues?”

  His sarcasm wasn’t lost on Mina, and yet she couldn’t care less. Her friends in the police department mentioned by Roger, included the man she knew he suspected she’d dumped him to be with. He had a right to some sarcasm, she figured.

  Mina drove back via the city streets instead of taking the freeway. It helped her concentrate. From time to time she glanced at the mother to be, cowering all the way at the back of the ample carrier. Poor thing, she must be terrified, not knowing what was happening, being handed around from stranger to stranger. Mina decided to give her a real treat when they got home. Yeah, maybe a bowl of French vanilla ice cream. Okay, not a bowl. A scoop. Yes, that was it. She was pretty sure she had ice cream in the freezer.

  But what about the missing microchip? If the Van der Voss fellow was the thief, telling him would be the equivalent of accusing him of stealing the cat. Maybe she should have a serious discussion with Millie. Two heads were better than one, and if she was once with the FBI, okay, a secretary at the FBI according to Kalinda who seemed to know everything, she may know tricks of the trade that Mina didn’t, because Diego never told her anything for her own good. Dear God, around and around she went and she always ended up blaming Diego for all her troubles. Seriously?

  Mina drove into her garage at about the same time as Millie’s car entered the gate, back from her time off. There was no trace of Margo or Kalinda. Mina was embarrassed to admit that she was relieved at the thought of being home alone. Well, at home with her cats. Instead of taking Princess back to the cottage, she went to her place where she scooped out vanilla ice cream for Aria and Houdini and then walked over to Millie's with the rest of the carton and Princess in the carrier.

  “Here, I brought some ice cream for us and the cats.” She handed it to Millie who had just unloaded some groceries into her fridge.

  “Ice cream? I can’t remember the last time I had ice cream. Are we celebrating something?”

  “No. I gave a small scoop to Aria and Houdini, and I figured we’ll do the same for Princess and Zeus while you and I talk.”

  “Got it. How about some tea?”

  “Tea sounds good.”

  The minute Millie sat down with her tea, after the cats had been served their treat, Mina got Millie up to date with the vet’s findings.

  “So, how do we talk to Van der Voss without letting him know we’re aware of the microchip removal? We can’t accuse him of a thing. For all we know he could be the one who’s been duped, right? Any ideas?”

  “How about we call him and ask him if he’s aware of Princess’s pregnancy? We can say the vet came by for his weekly routine visit and noticed the new cat and felt her belly and…”

  “That can work. If he knows about it, he’ll say so, and no big deal. If he doesn’t know... aye... well she was obviously pregnant before he got her here so it isn’t our problem.”

  They both turned to look at Princess, stretching on the carpet and grooming herself quietly after her ice cream treat. Poor, poor mama.

  “Okay, I guess I’ll have to make the call since I’m the business owner. I have his phone number in my briefcase.” Mina flipped though her papers, pulled out Princess’s file, and after a long breath in and out, she dialed Mr. Van der Voss.

  He answered on the third ring, “Yes.”

  “Mr. Van der Voss, this is Mina Calvi of the Ritzy C—”

  “I know who you are. What is it? Is something wrong with the cat?” On the phone his wheezing sounded like the whistle from a freight train.

  “Wrong? Huh, well, not exactly, except, well... I’m not sure if you’re aware that she’s pregnant.”

  “She’s not.” The shrill tone was more annoying than the wheezing. Then, “How could you?! You told me the calico was sterile.”

  “Hey, hey. Watch your mouth. We had your Princess a few days, and she’s in her second month of gestation.”

  “Second month of what? Who told you that? You’re insane.”

  “Our regular vet, he comes by every week and he noticed her belly. How long have you owned her? And...”

  “Your vet is an idiot, and he had no business touching Princess. She’s a show cat barely three years old and...”

  “First of all she’s at least five years old, and I don’t need the vet’s opinion to know that. You obviously don’t know much about cats in general and Princess in particular. Of course, as far as we’re concerned, we intend to honor our deal. It doesn’t matter that the cat is pregnant, and she isn’t due to give birth while here, so we’re good.”

  It was at that point that Mina realized Van der Voss was no longer on the line, and she had no idea at what point of the conversation he had hung up on her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Waiting was her scourge, Mina thought, while sitting in the living room, lights off, mind alert. Margo had gone upstairs early, and she must have had a phone fight with Gino. Mina had caught a word here and there. The name Eva was mentioned twice. What could this woman have done to get Margo so mad?

  Earlier, Kalinda had explained that Eva’s somewhat British accent was a leftover from her growing up in South Africa, but her mother was Dutch and her father American. Ah, the interesting souls one met in America. Not like her little town in the Italian Alps where everyone knew you and your family, and everyone seemed to be somehow related.

  It was now a little after ten in the evening, and Mina patiently waited for Kalinda to get home. The woman had no key to the house, and Mina had no intention of giving her one either. All she wanted was to go to sleep and forget that Diego hadn’t called her in the last forty-eight hours.

  Same old story... it seemed like her mood swings were all connected to Diego’s behavior. That, and the mess with Van der Voss. He’d hung up on her and hadn’t called back. Somehow she knew something was up, and it wasn’t going to be good. All his and Princess’s information was neatly filed in the large folder on the coffee table. She would ask De Fiore for help.

  Just then she heard a car pull into the driveway. Kalinda had the gate code, so it had to be them. Mina jumped up and rushed to the front door, then stopped to make sure Houdini wasn’t sneaking up on her. No Houdini. Good. She switched on the outside light in case some elaborate good-byes were taking place, to give them a two minute warning.

  Mina waited until she heard a car door slam—that was her cue. When she opened the front door, she saw De Fiore helping a giggling Kalinda into her wheelchair. “About time you got home, young lady,” Mina chided, hands on her hips, a stern look on her face. “I was about to call the cops.” She watched the detective’s expression go from annoyed surprise to a broad smile. “Do you mind coming in for a minute?” she said to him. “I would like to pick your brain.”

  “Seriously? I’d be honored. When was the last time you even acknowledged I had a brain? Be right there, kid. Let me get Kalinda settled in her carriage.”

  Once they were in the living room with all the lights on, Mina noticed De Fiore’s fancy silk tie hanging lose, untied. How about that? Knowing his fanatic attitude regarding his ties, that must have been Kalinda’s handy work. She gave Kalinda an approving wink.

  Mina gave Dan a short version of the Princess-Van der Voss saga
and asked if there was enough evidence to file some kind of paperwork to dig a little deeper into the obvious mountain of lies he was telling, and perhaps find out who the rightful owners of the pregnant cat were.

  De Fiore picked up the file from the coffee table and started to look through it.

  “I’m getting a glass of water from the kitchen,” Kalinda announced.

  “Can you get me one also?” De Fiore asked.

  Mina started to get up to help, but a direct glance from Kalinda changed her mind quickly. She wasn’t an invalid and didn't want to be treated like one.

  “Is this the real thing or a copy?” De Fiore pointed to the cashier’s check.

  “It’s the real thing, as you call it. I haven’t made it to the bank yet.”

  “Did he mail it to you or hand it to you?”

  “He hand-delivered it along with the filled-out paperwork.”

  “We could start with that. I can have someone check with the bank, the fingerprints, that sort of thing. Nothing elaborate, you understand, right?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely. And I may be wrong, and Princess could be his girlfriend’s cat he promised to sit for. I don’t know.”

  Kalinda rolled in from the kitchen, a tray on her lap with glasses and a bottle of water on it. “I feel like a new person,” she said. “This is the most I’ve done on my own in the last two years. Of course I’m not talking about what I do on the computer. No one needs feet for that. I’m so glad I let Margo talk me into coming to visit. Where is Margo? How did her hair coloring turn out?”

  “Her hair is good, her mood not so much. What’s going on with that Eva and Gino? I’m not totally certain, but I think she was arguing with him about Eva.” Mina caught a strange glance passing between De Fiore and Kalinda.