She looked over at the dog occasionally, to make sure she was staying with her. She watched her take the lead. “Good girl, Bella.” The dog trotted in front of the horse for a while. Then she’d dart in and out of the grass, chasing after real or imaginary critters, only to promptly return to her post as lead dog. She’s getting twice as much exercise as the mare, Savannah thought.
She had been riding for about thirty minutes when she checked her watch. She lost sight of the dog for a moment, only to discover her standing in a stream around the next bend thirstily drinking. Savannah stopped the horse so she could drink and she took a sip from her own water bottle. As she looked around, she realized it would turn dusk soon. Better go back, she thought. “Come on Bella,” she called over her shoulder as she reined Peaches around.
***
“Oh, hello Dr. Ivey. How are you? Are you looking for Savannah?”
“Yes, I want to meet her new friend. Sounds like a great little mare.”
“Oh she is.” Bonnie glanced around and then looked at her watch. Worry lines creased her brow. “You know, she’s been gone for quite a while.”
The smile he wore suddenly faded. “Where’d she go?” he asked.
“She took Peaches out for a ride. I expected them back by now.”
He frowned. “She went alone? Oh, that’s not a good idea, is it?”
“No,” she said sheepishly. “I do discourage it, but Savannah is such a good…” Suddenly, something caught Bonnie’s attention. “Bella. My gosh, what are you doing here?” She gazed out in the direction from which she came, hoping to see Savannah and Peaches approaching. She saw nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Michael wanted to know.
“Well, I sent Bella with Savannah and…”
“How long ago?” Michael asked as he looked out as far as he could see along the trail.
“About an hour.”
He pulled out his cell phone, pushed a couple of buttons and put it up to his ear. “She’s not answering,” he said running his hand through his straight dark-brown hair. He walked over to her car. “There’s her cell on the seat. Darn!” he said. “Do you know where she went? Which direction? Could we head out that way in the car or on horseback? I can ride a little.”
Bonnie spoke in a calming voice, “I’m sure everything’s okay, Dr. Ivey. She should be right behind Bella.”
“It’s starting to get dark. I don’t want her out there somewhere, possibly hurt, at night. Don’t you understand?” He was surprised at how agitated he was becoming—how scared.
Bonnie brushed her ringlets away from one cheek and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s take the Wrangler. Bella, come,” she said over her shoulder as the two of them walked toward the Jeep. “She may be able to lead us to Savannah.”
They’d been gone for nearly ten minutes scanning the horizon and calling out for Savannah when Bella leaped from the slow-moving vehicle and bounded off up a trail to the right. “There she is!” Michael yelled. “Oh my God, stop!”
Chapter Nine
Michael jumped out after the dog and raced toward Savannah who was walking and leading the horse. “Savannah!” he practically shouted. “Are you all right?”
“Oh Michael, it wasn’t her fault,” Savannah said as she stumbled over a stone on the trail and almost went down on her knee.
He grabbed her around the waist. “You look woozy. Here, sit down on this rock. What happened?” he asked.
Bonnie caught up with Michael and looked at Savannah, who sat on the large rock resting her head in one hand. She still held Peaches’s reins in the other. Bonnie spotted a little blood on the back of Savannah’s head and leaned in to examine it. “Oh, a goose egg.”
“You’re hurt,” Michael said.
“Well, I guess I am.” Savannah started to cry. “I’m sorry, Michael. I’m sorry, Bonnie. I got careless. It wasn’t Peaches’s fault. She’s a good girl.”
Bonnie eased the reins from Savannah’s hand and led the horse a distance away.
“Can I have some water?” Savannah asked. Then she said, “Oh wait, I’ve got some here.” She struggled to pull the water bottle out of her jacket pocket and Michael reached over to help. She swallowed twice and wiped her mouth. “Well, I’m not quite sure what happened, but I think Peaches stumbled.” She spoke haltingly, “Bella came up this little trail and…well, I decided to follow her… I wanted to see how Peaches does on uneven terrain.” She peered out over the valley. “Bella got interested in a big badger hole and Peaches and I…we just walked on past her toward the top of the knoll.” She squinted her eyes and continued, “I guess something scared her or she stumbled, I’m not sure,” she said shaking her head slowly, “but off I went onto the ground.”
She looked over at the dog. “I remember Bella licking my face and nuzzling me—pushing me with her nose. Then she disappeared.” She smiled and continued, “Peaches stayed right with me. Didn’t even wander off or step on me.” She reached up and touched the back of her head. “When I was able to sit up, I crawled over to Peaches and stood pulling myself up using the stirrup. I was kinda dizzy, so decided not to try getting up on her. I just walked with her down the knoll and then…I saw you guys.” She turned toward Michael and scrunched up her face a little. “What are you doing out here, anyway?”
“Looking for you, silly girl. Come on. Let’s get you in the car. Bonnie, are you riding the horse?” Michael asked.
“Yes, meet you back at the ranch.” She checked the cinch and mounted the mare.
Bella looked from Bonnie, who was heading toward the ranch on Peaches, to the Jeep. Finally, she decided. She jumped into the back of the Wrangler and sat down, panting happily with her pink tongue dangling from her mouth.
***
“Okay if we leave Savannah’s car here overnight?” Michael asked Bonnie, once they met up at the corrals and he had retrieved Savannah’s cell phone from the front seat.
“Sure,” she said while leading the mare toward a hitching rail.
“I can unsaddle her and brush her down,” Savannah said weakly, holding onto Michael’s arm for balance.
“Oh no you don’t. You’re going straight to the emergency room in Straley. Come on, now—let me help you into the truck,” he said gently. “You don’t mind, do you, Bonnie?”
“Certainly not. You two go. Let me know how she is, okay?”
“I’m so sorry, Bonnie. I shouldn’t have gone off by myself. Peaches didn’t do anything wrong. It was all me,” Savannah said as Michael led her toward his vet truck.
“No problem, Savannah. We’ve all had our tumbles off horses. It’s part of the initiation,” she said with a little laugh.
***
The emergency room doctor rummaged through a drawer, eventually pulling out a small packet. “It’s a nasty bump, but you seem to check out okay.” He turned toward Savannah and Michael. “I’ll give you a sample for pain, in case you need it.” He then said, “You two are vets, you know the program—rest, cold compresses and take these pills for pain—no more often than every four hours.”
“For how long?” Savannah asked.
The doctor peered at her from over his glasses. “How long for what?”
“How long will I have to rest?”
He smoothed his cropped beard with one hand and said, “Until you get your balance again, and you can move around without the throbbing.” He gave her a hard stare. “I think you’ll know when. At least twenty-four hours.” He turned to Michael and grinned. “You’ll have to keep an eye on this one, Dr. Ivey. She seems a little too eager to get back on that horse.”
“I certainly will,” Michael said, glancing at Savannah, who flashed him a rather puckish smile.
***
At about the same time, back in Hammond, the detective picked up his vibrating cell phone. “Sledge? Mullins here. I have something to report. I was watching our guy, Jackson. He was out in front of the tat parlor, when he gets a phone call. He looks around and takes off. I follow him
into an alley. You’d never guess who met him there—that city council guy, Garfield.”
“Really?!?”
“Yup. They argued and the older guy—Garfield—seemed pissed off. Then he shoved a small package at Jackson and left in a huff. I followed Garfield out and saw him get into a black Escalade with a dent in the right front fender.” He coughed. “Could be the hit-and-run vehicle.”
“Well, I’ll be. Thanks, Mullins. This is really getting interesting.” Sledge hesitated, then asked, “Did you see what he gave Jackson?”
“Not right away. But I kept watching the kid and pretty soon, I saw him flashing what appeared to be some big bills around in front of his buddies. So I’m guessing it was money.”
“Hmmmm. Thanks Mullins. Keep watching him, will ya?”
Sledge made a call. “Gonzales, where are you right now?” he asked into his cell phone.
“Home. It’s dinner time. Where are you?”
“Um, still at the office. Hey, just got some information that puts an interesting twist on our case.”
“Oh yeah?” Gonzales expressed interest. “Did you get the lab results on the glove?” he asked.
“Sure did—it appears to be Garfield’s glove and it has Byrd’s blood on it.”
“Wow—open-and-shut case, right?”
“I’m afraid not. It’s good evidence, but some public defenders would still argue circumstantial. I’d like to come in with a stronger case for the DA—still lookin’ for motive, my man…need motive.” He cleared his throat. “I want to find out if there’s any connection between Garfield and Marvin Byrd. Can you do some digging using your super Internet research skills this evening?”
“Aww, Sledge. It’s my kids’ school open house tonight.” He sighed deeply before saying, “But I can do some checking after we get home. Roni can put the kids to bed tonight.”
“Good. I’ll go to City Hall first thing in the morning and see what I can dig up there.”
***
“Anything?” Sledge asked the next morning, upon seeing Ramon Gonzales step into the office and remove his coat.
“Not much, I’m afraid. Looks like Garfield lied to us—he has had some business dealings with Byrd, but it’s hard to tell to what extent. Garfield’s name comes up in a few places, but there’s nothing to track. It’s as if he’s a ghost in some of these transactions. How’d you do at City Hall?”
“I have Louise on it. There’s a whole lot of transcripts and stuff to go through, and when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for and specific dates, it’s kinda like trying to walk up a slippery slope.” Sledge shoved some papers aside and said, “I’ve asked Judge Peterson for a warrant. I’d like to go through Garfield’s office. That’s where the paper trail probably starts or ends.” He picked up his cell and said, “Yes, Sledge here.” He listened for a moment and then slumped a little in his chair. “Oh, no warrant, huh? Damn. Not good news.” He pushed a button on the phone and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
“Why not?” Gonzales asked.
“Same old story—not enough evidence,” Sledge said with sarcasm. He leaned forward and looked his partner in the eye. “You gotta have it in order to get it. Something’s wrong with the system.” He sat tapping his fingers on the desk. He then reached into his jacket pocket and said, “Well maybe I know a way to get that evidence we need.” He dialed, and put the phone up to his ear. “Hello, Ms. Jordan…uh…Savannah. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“No, Detective…Craig. I’m home today. Had a little horse accident yesterday and am confined to the house.”
“Sorry to hear it. Doctor’s orders?”
“Yeah, Dr. Ivey,” she quipped.
“Are you okay? How do you feel?” Sledge asked.
“Well, how nice of you to ask. I’m much better this morning. Just have a bump on my head. Can’t wait to get back on the horse.”
“Oh, like the hair of the dog, huh?”
“Something like that, I guess. So what’s going on in your world today? Have you caught any perps, lately?”
“We may be getting real close to catching one. I’m hoping you can help.”
“Me? Sure. What can I do?” she asked, grinning.
There was a pause. “Um, I think maybe we ought to...um, maybe we could try to use your cat…you know, to identify the killer. What do you think?”
Her smile faded.
“Savannah, are you there?”
“Yes, sorry. I’m just wondering how you envision us using Rags. I don’t want to put my cat in any more danger than he’s already in.”
“I was hoping you and Dr. Ivey might have some ideas. I’d like to just have three possible suspects placed in a room with the cat and see how he reacts to each of them.”
“Like a sort of line-up? Let me talk it over with Michael and I’ll get back to you. Is that okay, Detective?”
“Certainly. When?”
“Excuse me?”
“When can you let me know?”
“Um, after the noon hour. Michael is supposed to stop in or call around lunchtime.”
“Okay. I’ll expect to hear from you, then.”
***
“How are you doing, hon?” Michael asked, upon entering the living room. He walked over to Savannah and looked at her eyes, felt her forehead, and took a close look at the lump on the back of her head.
“I’m feeling pretty good, actually. No more wooziness.”
“Have you been resting?”
“I told you I would be, didn’t I?”
“And did you?” he asked, his eyes piercing into hers.
She glanced down, shifted her position. “Yes, that’s all I’ve been doing.” She then looked up at Michael and said, “Do you know what’s on daytime TV? The scheduling must be for morons. Finally, I found a cooking show. I learned how to zest a lemon and make crème brulee. All I need is a zester and a little torch thingy.” She laughed.
“So you’ve been watching TV all morning?” he asked sitting down next to her.
“No, I talked on the phone a lot—to Aunt Marg, Iris, Brianna, Bonnie—she called to make sure I was okay, my mom—we haven’t chatted in a while. It was cool catching up with everyone.” She pointed the remote at the TV and clicked it off. She then turned toward Michael. Mom sounds so good. I’m really glad she’s getting out and doing more with her life.” She took Michael’s hand and said, “We get to meet Bob at the wedding. Mom was thrilled when she heard we had set a date, by the way.”
“And I’m thrilled to see you so happy and feeling so much better. Gosh, you gave me a scare yesterday. You won’t do that again, will you?” he asked running his finger down the side of her face.
She lowered her head and looked up into Michael’s eyes. “You aren’t saying you don’t want me to ride, are you?”
He straightened his posture and frowned over at her. “Heavens no. I would never do that to you, Savannah. It means too much to you. We have to be free to do the things we love.” He moved his face closer to hers and said, “Don’t even think about it. I want, more than anything, for you to be happy.” He kissed her gently and then pulled back, searching her eyes with his. “Just be careful—can you promise me that?”
“Oh Michael, I love you so much,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She pulled back, looked at him, and said, “Where have you been all my life, anyway?”
“Waiting for you.” Suddenly, he glanced at his watch and jumped to his feet. “Now, what do you want for lunch? I can’t lounge around here all day with you, you know.”
“Why not?” she asked holding onto his hand as he attempted to walk away. “Sounds like fun to me.”
Michael groaned and smiled. “Oh, I would love that. But we have a business to run, my dear—you know, dogs and cats that need us. Now, what can I bring you for lunch?”
“How about some of that soup I made yesterday. A bowl of that and a piece of fruit—don’t we have some raspberries? T
hat would be perfect. There’s plenty for both of us.”
“Coming right up,” Michael said, turning toward the kitchen.
Savannah stood, swayed just a little before getting her balance, and followed after him. “Michael,” she said, “Detective Sledge called. He wants Rags to identify the killer.”
“What?” He turned to face Savannah.
“He said he has three suspects and he wants to put them in a room with Rags to see if he reacts to the real killer.”
He ladled soup into two bowls before asking, “How do you feel about that?”
She held onto the back of a kitchen chair and stared down at the seat. “A little scared,” she said quietly.
“What are you thinking, that someone would come after him again or that he might be traumatized if he sees the killer again?”
Savannah thought for a moment; nodded. “Actually both.”
He placed the bowls in the microwave and headed for the refrigerator to retrieve the raspberries. “His life might still be in danger anyway, don’t you think?”
“I guess,” she said. “It’s kinda weird to think of him in a situation like this. But might be interesting. And it would be great to have the killer behind bars.”
“I wonder who the three suspects are—surely, Damon,” Michael contemplated. “Who else? I hope not Iris.”
“Gosh, I don’t know. I hope not.” She relaxed a little. “Anyway, Rags likes Iris. She was here a few days ago petting him. She would never kick him, either.” Her face brightened into a smile. “Hey, this is a good reason to let Rags do it—to clear Iris.” Savannah walked over and took two placemats out of a drawer. She then took two spoons from the dish drainer. As she placed them on the table, she asked, “But where? What do you think, Michael?” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t want this here…”
He turned quickly to face her. “Definitely not here. Some place neutral…not the clinic.”
Cat-Eye Witness (A Klepto Cat Mystery) Page 19