I stood. “Oh hell no, he’s not.” I gritted my teeth, whirled, and marched toward the two detectives.
“Sutter!” I called as I stormed across the room.
Sutter turned and glared at me while Keith’s brows rose and concern leapt into his gaze, probably because he could sense his new girlfriend was about to go all psycho on him. I didn’t care. Let them see my anger. When I had spent time in jail for something I hadn’t done, at least I’d understood what was going on. Poor Eddy would never understand.
Keith stepped forward as if to stop my rampage as I plowed to a stop in front of Sutter.
I spit the words out in staccato fashion. “You. Will. Not. Send. That. Baby. To. The. Pound. Got it?” Had Keith not angled himself slightly between Sutter and me, I likely would’ve poked Sutter in the chest with each word. Even my mother’s voice, usually admonishing me to be ladylike, was silent in my head, as I knew she would have been just as outraged on Eddy’s behalf.
Sutter didn’t seem fazed. Grunt. He tilted his head. “What do you propose we do with him? Turn him out on the street to starve or get hit by a car? Or do you plan on taking him home with you?”
That brought my internal steam roller up short. What did I propose to do with the dog? I honestly hadn’t thought about that. All that had filled my mind was keeping Eddy out of doggy jail. I blinked and took a step back. Before I could stop myself, words pushed from my throat, almost as if of their own accord. “Yes. I’ll take him home with me, so you can call off your animal control buddies. Do you have a problem with that?”
Sutter smiled, and I barely kept my jaw from dropping open in surprise. While it didn’t make him handsome by any far stretch of the imagination, it made him seem a lot less unpleasant. Until he spoke.
“Well, then, I guess you’ll be staying put, seeing as how you’ll be taking responsibility for our prime and only witness to the crime.” His smile now seemed less friendly and more I’ve-got-you-right-where-I-want-you. “I know you’re not a permanent citizen of Hokes Folly yet. A few weeks ago”—Sutter gestured at Keith—“Logan, here, mentioned you hadn’t made the full decision to stay yet. I hope I don’t need to remind you not to leave town until this is settled.”
I laughed openly at him. He couldn’t really be that dense. It had to be an act. His confused expression sobered me. A little. “Detective, if you look around, you’ll notice this was a grand reopening party. That one thing should have told you I’ve chosen to stay. Permanently. I have no intention of leaving for any reason.”
Sutter grunted again and nodded. “Then I think we have all we need for now.”
I pasted on what I hoped was a helpful expression, when what I really felt was the need to bodily toss him out of my store. “If there is anything else we can do, please let me know.”
As Sutter walked away, I leaned into Keith, who had slipped his arm around my shoulders, probably in preparation for holding me back should I get another wild idea to chase Sutter down again. “Gads, what a night.”
He dropped his arm to my waist, turned me, and pulled me snuggly against his solid chest. “It’s over for now. Do you want me to go upstairs with you?”
I stepped out of his arms, smiling, and placed my hand on his cheek. How had I gotten so lucky? “No. I’m okay. I just want to be alone for a while, if that’s all right.”
Keith placed his hand over mine and turned his face to kiss my palm, closing my hand over the kiss when he was done and almost melting me where I stood. “There’s a kiss for later if you need one. If you need more than one, I’m only a phone call away.” He winked saucily at me, but I knew his intent was to get my mind off the night’s macabre event and off the swirling red lights I knew would stay in the parking lot at the end of the district until well into the wee hours.
Rita chose that moment to approach. “If you two love birds are done making goo-goo eyes at each other, I’ll say my goodnights.” She leaned in to give Keith and me each a quick hug. “I’ll be down here first thing tomorrow morning to help clean up, but I have to leave by ten to go primp twenty ladies for a one o’clock tea event at the Inn. I’m headed home to crash into bed. I’m glad you kept the dog. Call me if you need me.” She said this last to me.
I nodded and waved as Rita left the store, knowing she would need all the rest she could get. Her job as a makeup, hair, and fashion artist, primping, powdering, and preparing each lady as a turn-of-the-twentieth-century work of art for the formal dinners and events at the Hokes Bluff Inn, could be an exhausting one. Mason, who had to open the store the next morning, followed Rita out.
Keith slowly stepped over to where Eddy lay curled in a tight ball under the coffee station table. “Hey, buddy. Take care of our girl tonight, okay?” He gently stroked the dog’s head, earning a tiny tail thump in return. Keith stood and held something out to me. “Here, it’s my cummerbund.”
I took it reflexively but wasn’t sure why he’d handed it to me.
“You might need a leash to get him up the stairs.”
My heart melted even further, if that was possible. This man was almost too good to be true. My skin tingled and my breath caught as he gently kissed me goodnight before exiting and leaving me alone with a frightened dog.
I turned to look at Eddy, and my stomach sank at the sight of the still-bloody dog cowering in as tiny a ball as he could form, huddled under a table. Poor sweet puppy.
I approached him slowly, held out my hand, and was greeted by a few tentative licks on my fingertips. I stroked the dog’s head, my heart breaking as he whined. “Well, boy, we can’t leave you here, can we?”
He thumped his tail once on the floor in answer to my question.
I slid my fingers under his bow tie collar and tugged gently. When he resisted, I crouched down to the dog’s level and rubbed his ears, glad Keith had thought to give me something to use as a leash. Eddy tucked his head into my lap and sighed. I crooned softly, hoping to soothe him. I could only imagine his grief. He’d watched his master get murdered.
After a few minutes, I stood and again grasped his collar. Eddy hesitated a moment, then stood and took a few tentative steps forward. I continued crooning as I slowly led him toward the stairs. Unsure if Eddy would stay at my side as he had Linus’s, I slipped Keith’s cummerbund through the bow tie around Eddy’s neck.
“Come on. That’s a good dog. Let’s go.”
The dog paused, his pleading eyes glancing back and forth between the front door and the stairs, obviously torn between memories of his owner’s death and the thought of following me.
“It’s okay.” I reached to stroke his head again. “You can come home with me. I’ll make you a nice bed with some blankets on the floor, and we’ll see if we can find you a better home tomorrow.” No way was I letting Sutter ship him off to some pound where he’d stand as much a chance of being put to sleep as finding a new home.
At my gentle tugs on the makeshift leash, Eddy slowly followed me up the stairs, pausing with me as I unlocked the apartment door. I coaxed with soft words and a few head strokes, finally untying the cummerbund after we were locked safely inside. He took a few steps, sat, and looked at me as if to say, “Now what?”
I went to the kitchen, looking for something to feed the dog, letting him follow when he was ready. When he heard the can opener, he trotted into the kitchen and sat expectantly.
After putting the bowl of canned chicken on the floor, I leaned down and stroked the dog again. “Sorry, boy, but this is all I have for now. Just don’t get used to it. Your new owners might not feed you so well.”
He wagged his tail without looking up.
I left him eating the last of the chicken, glad to see his appetite hadn’t disappeared, and walked to the bathroom and turned on the water to warm up. Eddy couldn’t go to bed with his owner’s blood still all over his feet, even if it had dried by now.
Eddy’s face peeked around the corner, and at the sight of the water running into the tub, he jumped over the side and sat
. Well, that was easy. I’d expected to have to fight him into the bath, worried I might further traumatize him. But it seemed he liked baths. Who knew?
After soaping, rinsing, and toweling Eddy thoroughly, I pronounce him as clean and dry as I could possibly make him and turned him loose into the house to explore. While he poked around, sniffing his new, albeit temporary, home, I pulled blankets from the closet, folded them into a pallet, and positioned it in a corner of my bedroom.
I couldn’t hold back the tears that welled up to sting the backs of my eyes when I turned to see him already snoring, curled in a tight ball on the foot of my bed.
Chapter Four
“We’re sorry, there’s simply no room.” The woman’s compassionate tones seeped through the phone lines. “Have you thought of keeping the dog?”
I sighed deeply. “I’ve been asked that a dozen times already. I hadn’t planned on getting a dog at this point.” I knew I’d thought about it when I saw Linus with Eddy at the party, but I hadn’t meant now. I didn’t have anything a dog would need. I hadn’t prepared. I’d just reopened Uncle Paul’s store, and I had new time commitments. I wasn’t ready.
My eyes closed. “You do realize you’re making excuses again.” Mom’s voice echoed through my head.
“I really hope you change your mind,” the woman said. “If you’ve tried all the other rescue groups and the local no-kill shelters, the only place left is the pound. Since he’s an adult, he won’t have but twenty-four to forty-eight hours there before they put him down.”
After thanking the woman, I hung up and looked across the room at Eddy sprawled comfortably on the couch and snoring lightly. He raised his head when I spoke.
“It looks like I just inherited a dog.” I walked to the couch and crouched down to pet him, eliciting a wagging tail in response. No way was I letting this dog be put to sleep just because he had the bad luck to have his best friend murdered. “Since I’m officially a dog owner now, I guess we’d better find you a real collar and leash and something better to eat than canned chicken.”
I glanced at the resting dog and quickly tripped down the stairs to check on Mason and Rita. I’d gone down earlier, but they’d all but shoved me back up the stairs to work on finding Eddy a home.
“How’d it go?” Rita was slipping her coat on. “Find him a home?”
“Yep.” I swept an arm up the staircase toward my apartment. “The new owner has never had a dog, has nothing for a dog, knows nothing about caring for a dog, and has little time for a dog.”
Rita all but squealed and hugged me tightly. “How wonderful! He’s just what you need.”
“We’re keeping him?” Mason grinned as he stacked the last crate of rented glassware on the counter. “Will he come to the store during the day? I can help walk him.”
I disentangled myself from Rita’s hug, laughing at their enthusiasm. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far. I hadn’t considered any of this. I just didn’t want him to go to the shelter. Not after everything else.” My heart squeezed again.
“However it turns out, as always, you’re not alone.” Rita grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “Except for now. I have to get going or I’ll be late for today’s primping session. Have to get myself gussied up first.”
As the door chimes tinkled at her exit, I turned to Mason. “The store looks great.” I looked around at the sparkling counters, vacuumed floors, neatly packed glassware ready for the rental company to pick up, and full trash bags by the doorway to the back room. “Thanks for handling this.”
Mason grinned. “What else could a store manager do?” He leaned casually on the counter.
My eyebrows rose. “Manager?”
He scuffed a shoe across the carpet. “I guess I thought … since you’re the owner … I thought maybe …”
“Mason, stop.” I put a hand on his arm. When he whipped his head around, gaze startled, I held my hands up. “Easy there. You don’t have to panic every time we have conversations like this.” I smiled, hoping I was putting him at ease.
Mason swallowed hard. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you or anything. You’ve already done so much for me, and it’s just a title. And if you don’t like the idea, that’s fine with me. Really. It’s okay. We can forget I mentioned it.” He reached for the vacuum cleaner he’d left behind the counter.
“Mason, please stop.” I repeated the command, softer this time.
He froze and turned, standing stiffly with pursed lips to cover his embarrassment.
“I think it sounds like a wonderful idea. You often open and close. You have made bank deposits for me. You’ve tracked inventory and have been invaluable with your customer skills. Without you, the store would not have done half as well over the last few months.” As I spoke, I realized just how important Mason was to the store. “I agree a raise in title is in order. However, I insist it also come with a raise in pay.”
When I tossed out a new number, Mason whooped and pumped a fist before sobering. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be too unprofessional.” He straightened his spine. “You won’t regret this. I promise.” He turned, marched through the store, grabbed the two trash bags, and headed out the back door toward the dumpster in the alleyway.
I chuckled as I headed up the stairs to grab Eddy. “I already don’t,” I murmured under my breath.
I entered the apartment and looked around for Eddy. No dog. I looked in each bedroom, the bathroom, even the laundry room. Nope. My stomach tightened. Had someone come in and taken him? I checked the front door. Locked. He had to be here. He couldn’t have gotten out on his own. I stopped, calmed myself, and considered. If I were a scared dog suddenly left alone right after my owner was murdered, I’d hide someplace I felt safer.
I checked the bathtub, the closets, and the pantry. Finally, I knelt and looked under my bed, catching the glow of his eyes.
“Hi, baby,” I cooed softly, extending a hand under the bed. “Did you think you’d lost someone else?” I wedged myself as far under the bed as I could, my fingertips brushing against his soft fur.
“I’m sorry I left you.” I rubbed a velvet ear. “I promise I won’t again. Where I go, you go from now on, okay?”
The dog’s tail thumped the ground, as if he understood.
“Why don’t we find a better spot to snuggle than this, huh?” I eased out from under the bed but stayed on the floor where Eddy could see me.
After a moment, the dog edged out from under the bed, and I sat up. He climbed into my lap and pressed himself against me. I managed to keep my tears at bay as I kissed him on the head and told him what a good boy he was. I should’ve considered how he would feel if I left him alone in a strange place too soon. I guessed he really would go with me to the store every day.
When the dog calmed a bit, I grabbed the cummerbund-cum-leash, slipped it through the bow tie collar, and went out the front door. Relief flooded me when I realized I hadn’t parked my car in the same lot where Linus had been murdered. I turned Eddy’s nose the opposite direction and headed across the walkway in front of my neighbors’ doors. After loading the dog into the car, I called Keith as I started the ignition.
“Logan.”
“Hi. I hope you like dogs.”
Keith chuckled. “And good morning to you too.”
“I’m serious,” I said. “I’ve spent the morning calling every shelter and every rescue group within thirty miles. No one has room. The soonest anyone can take him is in six months.”
“I wish I could take him, but I just can’t,” Keith said. “My landlady would have a fit. She only rented to me because I didn’t have a pet. Have you thought about keeping him?”
I glanced in the rearview mirror at the dog sitting quietly in the back seat. “Oh, I wasn’t asking if you wanted to take him. I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t hate it if I had a dog from now on.”
“That’s fantastic. And I love dogs.”
“I’m actually calling to get Linus
Talbot’s address so I can go pick up his food, a real collar and leash, and maybe his bed and some of his toys.” I put the car in gear. “If that’s not possible, I’ll have to run to the pet store and pick up a few things. I was not prepared to become a dog mom today.”
“I don’t think it would be a problem to get his things. But I’ll warn you, Sutter is likely to be over there already. Want me to come along as a buffer?”
“Absolutely.”
* * *
I stood with my mouth slightly agape, staring up at the monstrosity looming up out of the ground. Not in the oh-my-gosh-this-is-so-amazing sort of way. More like the what-in-the-world-is-this sort of way. Learning that Linus had lived in the same neighborhood of historic homes as Phillie Hokes, I’d pictured a large, elegant home. What I saw looked like it had fallen, all dark and dreary, straight out of a gothic suspense novel. The menacing look was compounded by turrets, peeling paint, a crooked shutter on one of the windows, and a gargoyle weathervane on the highest peak. The only things missing were sinister music and maybe a few bats flying around the roofline.
Rather than continue to be critical of Linus’s run-down home, I opened my car door to let Eddy out, shut the door, and strode up the walk, noting the tarnished brass lion’s-head door knocker and the slightly rusty door lock. Flower boxes hung from the windowsills flanking the front door, and large glass “stones” filled the top over the dirt. At least here, Linus had planted something happy to offset the overall tone of the home.
A young police officer met me at the door and informed me Keith was waiting for me inside. I thought of the old adage about not judging a book by its cover and bravely followed the officer through the huge, creaking front door, hoping the inside of the home was more cheerful than the outside.
Sadly, this was not the case. The hardwood floors groaned when stepped on, and a lamp in the parlor to the left showed carpets that were far past well-worn. Although the room seemed neat and tidy, the cushions on the heavy, Victorian furniture were definitely threadbare, and the velvet drapes, which made an attempt to block out the sun, were faded and riddled with holes I suspected had been caused by moths.
Murder by the Bookend Page 4