“Oh my God, he’s going to kill me!” Teri said.
“Quick!” I said to Jimmy G. “Go distract him!”
“Sure!” Jimmy G headed out the door.
“I’m coming with you!” said Amber. That was brave of her. Party Girl followed. Meanwhile, I waved Faizel over. “Is there a back way out of here?”
“Yes, follow me,” he said. He grabbed his keys and led us around the corner and into the foyer to the building, through a hallway lined with elevators that would take tenants to their condos above. We went out a back door marked EXIT, which took us into a narrow walkway behind the building.
It was hard to decide which way to go. One way would lead us out to Twelfth Street, the other to Olive Street. Since Pugnetti had been on the corner, I didn’t know which was better, but I took a chance and pointed us toward Olive.
Turned out I guessed wrong.
We had no sooner opened the gate which clanged shut behind us, than Pugnetti, who was arguing with Jimmy G on the corner, turned and spotted us.
“Hey, you! Stop!” he shouted, whirling around and heading straight for us.
Teri took off running down the street toward the park with me and Pepe following close behind. As we sprinted across Eleventh Avenue, I glanced back and saw Pugnetti following us, waving something in his right hand. A gun!
“Go right, Teri!” I shouted. That would take her by the playground. I didn’t think Pugnetti would dare to shoot around the little kids scrambling all over the play structure and swinging on the swing set. But what did I know about gangsters?
Teri swerved to the right and into the park, heading toward the playground. Pugnetti stopped to catch his breath at the curb. He was an older man and heavyset. I doubt he did a lot of running.
Jimmy G and Amber caught up with him.
“Go get that broad!” Pugnetti yelled at Jimmy G waving his gun toward Teri. “A couple thousand for you, if you do.”
“Sure,” said Jimmy G.
I scrambled to catch up with Teri. Would Jimmy G really sell out my sister for money?
Teri was galloping past the playground, her long hair flying. The moms and kids watched us go by, their eyes big, their mouths open.
Teri was approaching the water feature built into the park and designed to cover one of the city’s many reservoirs. On one end was an old stone building and a long reflecting pool. At the far end, the pool flowed from a strange cone-shaped fountain. Benches were set on either side so people could look out at the water and on one side, long lawns swooped down to the sidewalk. Those lawns were usually dotted with dogs playing with their owners and that was true, especially today with its unexpected sunshine.
I turned at the corner and looked back. Jimmy G was fumbling in his jacket and pulled out a gun as well. Was he actually going to carry out Pugnetti’s bidding? I knew my boss wasn’t trustworthy after the way he double-crossed me during our last case, but I didn’t think he would be willing to kill someone.
Teri was far out in front, heading alongside the long, narrow reflecting pool with Pepe at her side. I stopped, thinking I could maybe distract Jimmy G, talk some sense into him. Amber was limping behind him, having lost one of her high heels. And Pugnetti brought up the rear, moving slowly. As he reached the start of the reflecting pool where water flowed through a grate and underground, he stopped and tried to steady his gun with his other hand, taking a bead on Teri.
I stepped into the path of the bullet. Not a smart thing to do. Jimmy G lifted his gun, spun around and aimed at Pugnetti. He missed—I saw the bullet ricochet off the building—but he startled Pugnetti enough so Pugnetti’s bullet went astray, actually hitting Jimmy G’s fedora and knocking it off his head. Jimmy G was so shaken up he dropped his pistol into the reflecting pool.
Amber screamed.
As Jimmy G bent to retrieve his gun, Pugnetti fired again, missing again. The ducks who had been floating in the pool took off with a big whir of wings. Amber, who was right behind Pugnetti, took off her other shoe and flung it at him. Pugnetti spun around and fired at her.
“Hit the ground” shouted Jimmy G and she did. But I couldn’t tell if she had been hit or had taken cover. As Jimmy G went flying toward Amber, Pugnetti resumed his hunt of Teri who was almost at the fountain at the far end. She was screaming, “Help! Help!”
That’s when I became aware of all the other screaming that was going on. I’d been so intent on getting away from Pugnetti, that I hadn’t noticed all the screeching people who’d heard the shots. The soccer players in the sports field were looking our way. The moms were huddling with their kids in the playground area. People playing Frisbee with their dogs on the lawns were running for the sidewalk. And dogs, all the dogs, were barking furiously.
Pepe, who had been trailing Teri, turned around and yelled. “Calling all perros! Come to the rescue of the humans! Attack this evil dog-hater!”
And suddenly all the dogs in the park were running toward Phil Pugnetti. Big dogs, little dogs, fuzzy dogs, smooth-haired dogs, dogs trailing leashes, and dogs running free. I heard their owners calling their names.
“Dixie, come back!” said a woman chasing after a small black poodle.
“Sweet Pea, no!” One of three women who were sitting on a bench together with their dogs jumped up as her fuzzy little dog jumped off her lap.
“Orchid, come!” said her companion, whose dog, a small Chihuahua, hit the ground running.
“Andy! Get back here!” shouted the third woman, whose black cocker spaniel jerked his leash free from her hold.
“Buster, stop it!” said a long-haired woman who was being towed towards the melee by her big brown curly-haired dog who was straining at the end of his leash.
Just as Teri darted behind the fountain and Pugnetti raised his hand again to shoot at her, the dogs got to him. Pepe and Party Girl were leading the pack. The dogs jumped on him from behind, and his gun went flying. He fell to his knees and one of the bigger dogs pushed him over. All of them were barking.
Pugnetti curled up in a ball on the gravel walkway, his arms over his face. “Get them off of me!” he screamed. The dogs were swarming him like angry bees.
“Help! Help!” screamed Pugnetti. “I’m afraid of dogs.”
The dogs milled around him, barking and snarling and snapping.
“They’re going to kill me!” moaned Pugnetti.
“That would be justice!” said Teri, coming out from behind the fountain. She grabbed Pugnetti’s gun and aimed it at him.
Jimmy G and Amber came loping up. Jimmy G was carrying his pistol, which he must have retrieved from the pool.
“You’re OK?” I asked Amber.
“Yes,” said Amber. “Amber just dove for cover, like Jimmy G suggested.”
“Your job is done. Gracias brave comrades!” said Pepe to the other dogs. They began to disperse, returning to their owners gathered in a circle around us.
The police arrived on bicycles, guns drawn, and quickly took Pugnetti into custody as soon as the other park-goers verified our story that he had been firing a gun. Jimmy G had slipped his pistol into his shoulder harness and, luckily, no one mentioned that he had been shooting as well, or he would have been in jail too.
As we waited to be interviewed, I picked up Pepe and kissed him. “You are my hero,” I said.
“And you are Amber’s hero,” said Amber, throwing her arms around Jimmy G and giving him a big kiss right on the lips.
“And both of you are my heroes,” said Teri, throwing her arms around me and Pepe. She patted him on the head. “He promised he would rescue me that first day he sneaked into Serenity.”
“You can hear him talking?” I asked Teri.
“Well, sure,” she said. “Didn’t you hear him just now? He was telling all the other dogs to jump Pugnetti.”
“So you don’t think I’m crazy?” I asked her.
“If you are, then I am too!” she said with a laugh. “Maybe we should check ourselves into Forest Glen. I never had a
chance to try out the float tank.”
Epilogue
The Chinese Room on the top floor of the Smith Tower was the most elegant venue for a wedding and reception that I’d ever seen. The way it was decorated was fantastic: ornate coffered ceilings, intricately-carved pieces of furniture and a carpet with an Oriental pattern of cherry branches. One wall was painted a deep Chinese red and the others were covered with wallpaper displaying vivid wild flowers. And the view was astounding. Floor to ceiling windows on three sides provided a view of Seattle from the docks to the Space Needle. An observation deck ran around the outside.
Since it was Halloween, Brad and Jay had decided all the guests should come to their wedding in costume. After much deliberation, Pepe decided to dress as Cupid because he was still attached to the idea of being a Love Dog. So he wore a pair of small, shiny, gold wings with a little gold bow and arrow hanging at his side.
“Adorable, am I not?” he asked me, appraising himself in the mirror just before we left for the wedding.
“Very,” I told him.
Then he turned to me and said, “But I do not approve of your costume, partner.”
“Too bad,” I said, studying myself in the mirror on the closet door in my bedroom. I had decided to go as a lion to match Felix’s costume as an animal trainer. I was wearing a body-hugging caramel-colored fleece jumpsuit with a big net ruff around my neck and two felt ears attached to a headband nestled in among my curls. A tail with a pouf at the end of it attached to my rear end completed the look, along with some fuzzy boots.
“You just don’t like cats,” I said.
“They are evil creatures,” said Pepe, glaring at Albert the Cat who sat on the bed watching us and pretending to be disinterested. “At least, you will have Felix to keep you in line.”
Felix was waiting for us in the living room and he looked magnificent in a shiny red coat with yellow epaulets, tight white pants tucked into shiny black boots and a top hat. Of course, he carried a small whip in his hand and pretended to flick it at me as I came into the room.
“Down, girl!” he said as I pretended to pounce on him.
We arrived at the Smith Tower thirty minutes before the wedding was to begin. Almost forty stories tall, it had been the highest building west of the Mississippi when it was built in 1914. Now it is dwarfed by some of the larger skyscrapers in the Seattle downtown, but it’s still impressive. I particularly liked the copper and brass elevator, which was operated by an old-fashioned elevator operator wearing a uniform with gold braid on the collar and sleeves.
He seemed to find our costumes hysterical, especially me and Fuzzy, because we were both dressed as lions, although Fuzzy’s costume was minimal, just a beige ruff around her neck. “A little one and a big one,” he said, shaking his head and looking at Felix. “You’re going to have a hard time taming those two.”
About half the guests had arrived when we went inside. Everyone was in costume, even Jimmy G, who had eschewed the private eye look to dress more like a forties gangster with a shiny grey double-breasted suit and a plastic Tommy gun slung over his shoulder. Also on his shoulder was Amber, playing the role of gun moll, at least I think that’s what she was supposed to be, in a skin-tight red dress and a fur wrap and a long black cigarette holder.
She came hobbling across to greet us, a bit hampered by her tight skirt. “Don’t you two look cute,” she said, giving me a pouty little air kiss. “What do you think of Amber and Jimmy?” She waved at herself and Jimmy G who came up behind her, an unlit cigar clenched in his teeth.
“You guys look great together,” I said. I still wasn’t sure if they were dating or if Amber just enjoyed playing girl Friday to Jimmy G’s private dick persona. What I did know for sure was that she wasn’t marrying Jeff. My sister Cheryl still wasn’t speaking to me. For some reason, she blamed it all on me.
“Going for the gangster look,” said Jimmy G, resting his arm on Amber’s shoulder. “Seeing as how we put away a notorious gangster.”
Well that wasn’t really true. Phil Pugnetti had been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder based on Teri’s testimony, and it didn’t help that he was facing additional charges for discharging his weapon in a public park, endangering the lives of many.
“Hey, I was the one who put down Pugnetti!” said Pepe indignantly.
“You and the other dogs,” I said. “Where’s Party Girl?” I asked Amber.
“She’s partying, of course,” said Amber. “That was a joke. She’s here somewhere.”
“Did you get a costume for her to wear?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s a princess,” said Amber.
“I must find her!” said Pepe. “And shoot her with my arrows of love. I will sweep her off her four feet.” With that, he dashed across the room, his wings flapping, and disappeared into the crowd.
Brad and Jay came up to us, both dressed in powder-gray tuxes with tails and matching top hats and sporting lilac bowties.
“That was Pepe as Cupid who came flying by, wasn’t it?” Brad asked me.
“He’s got romance on his mind,” I told him.
“So do we,” said Jay. He and Brad smiled at each other. They had been inseparable ever since Brad was released from the hospital. He still had not completely recovered his memory of that traumatic day when Harry had hit him over the head with a hammer and he woke up next to Mrs. Fairchild’s corpse, but with Jay’s help and some counseling, he was getting back to work and had managed to pay the landlord the back rent.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten the rings,” Brad told me.
“No way,” I said. I showed them the gold chain I wore around my wrist. Two gold rings dangled from it. “I put them both on this gold chain for Pepe to wear as your ring bearer.”
“Wonderful,” said Brad. “I love having Cupid as our ring bearer.”
“Me too,” said Jay.
“Say,” said Amber. “You’re both out here together. Isn’t it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?”
“Honey,” said Jay, “since both of us are grooms, it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh . . .” said Amber, giggling. “I guess that’s true.”
I noticed a middle-aged man in black, wearing a clerical collar. He was standing by the south-facing window, talking to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. “Is that the minister?” I asked Brad.
“No, that’s just Fred. He always dresses like a priest on Halloween. He gets a kick out of giving benedictions to everybody.”
“Geri!” I turned around and saw my sister, Teri. She must have just arrived. She was dressed as a hippie, wearing a pale green long skirt, an embroidered blouse, and a garland of flowers in her hair. A tiny purple velvet purse hung from a cord looped around her waist.
“Peace!” she said, flashing me the peace symbol.
“I’m so glad you made it,” I said, giving her a hug. She had been staying with me ever since the trial, but she had left over the weekend on a mysterious errand. I wasn’t quite sure where she was going and I was a little bit worried. Would I lose her again?
“I’ve got great news,” she said. “I’ve been hired as a woof.”
“What’s a woof?” Felix asked.
“A worker on an organic farm,” said Teri. “And you’ll never guess where I’m working?”
“No, I can’t guess,” I said. “Where?”
“Sequim!” she said with a squeal. “I’m working for your friend Colleen Carpenter on her lavender farm. She’s paying me a stipend and giving me free room and board.”
“That’s awesome!” I said. I liked Colleen and thought she would probably be a great boss. “How did you manage to hook up with Colleen?”
“She called one day when you were out,” said Teri, “and I told her about how I was looking for a job and she invited me to come check out her farm. Things are quiet right now but that’s OK because she needs help doing the craft projects with all the lavender she harvested.”
“Congratulations,” I said.
I wasn’t sure whether to be sad because my sister was moving on or happy because I would get my couch back. Pepe had been quite put out because he couldn’t watch as much TV as he liked with Teri sleeping in the living room.
“And look!” said Teri, with excitement. She pulled a photo out of the tiny velvet purse. “I’m adopting one of Phoebe’s puppies! Pretty soon, I’ll have my own dog to talk to.”
I studied the photo which showed a tiny funny-looking fuzzy dog with big ears, big brown eyes, and a body dappled with black and white. She didn’t look like Pepe and yet she looked a lot like Pepe. “I’m calling her Pepita!” said Teri happily.
Brad, who had been listening to our conversation, looked over my shoulder. “Oh my God! That is the most adorable thing I have ever seen,” he said. “Are there more where she came from? Jay finally agreed we could adopt a dog because he knows how much I’ve always wanted one.”
“I’m told there are four more,” I said.
“Yes, but they’re going like hotcakes,” said Teri. “I think the people next door with the cocker spaniels are going to adopt one as well.”
Just then, somebody rang a gong. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it hung on a black-lacquered stand in the corner. The woman who rang it was quite striking. She was heavyset, almost as wide as she was tall, and she had long flowing grey hair. She wore a long black dress with dramatic sleeves that fluttered around her hands.
“Oh, I guess she’s dressed as a witch,” I said, noticing her black fingernail polish.
“She is a witch!” said Brad. “That’s Luna Llewellyn and she’s going to marry us.”
“Yes, you should get your dog,” said Jay. “That’s the signal that the wedding’s about to begin. We need our ring bearer.”
Brad and Jay encouraged everyone to take a seat as Felix and I went in search of Pepe.
“Boy,” he told me. “You sure know some of the strangest people.”
He was right, I thought as we picked our way through the tide of costumed folks, which included zombies, cowboys, a Klingon, and Big Bird.
The Silence of the Chihuahuas Page 23