Underwater: An Avery Barks Dog Mystery (Avery Barks Cozy Dog Mysteries Book 4)

by Mary Hiker

  “Where’s he?” Don said to the lab.

  Ace turned and ran back to one of the large cardboard boxes and a young blond man rolled out.

  “Good boy, Don said as he rewarded his dog with a game of tug.

  “Good job, Don,” I said as I opened the cardboard box, as I helped Junior Holder to his feet.

  “That’s amazing,” Junior said as he watched Don celebrate with Ace. “I didn’t think he’d find me in here.”

  Don wiped the sweat from his forehead as we walked out of the container to the graded dirt and grassy field where it sat. “Thanks for setting up another great training exercise.”

  “No problem. I’m glad Junior let us use this property before he starts building his daddy’s new barn next week.”

  Don patted Junior on the back. “Yeah, thanks Junior.”

  “Glad to do it,” Junior said. “You’re welcome to hang out as long as you want, but I’ve gotta go get back to work.” He gave Ace a pat on the head, cranked up his four-wheeler took off across the expansive field toward his family’s home.

  I let down the tailgate of my truck and pulled out a cooler full of ice and soft drinks, while Don opened up a couple camping chairs for our weekly Search and Rescue related conversation. Don had become one of our team’s best volunteer search and rescue dog handlers and I was the team’s trainer, so we always had something we needed to talk about.

  Ace got himself a good drink from his water bowl, then relaxed with us in the shade under a group of oak and hickory trees. It didn’t take long for Don to turn from the topic of dog training to the local death investigation.

  “What were you doing with Cody and Miss Emma the other day?” he asked and took a long drink of water.

  I hesitated, remembering the promise I made to Miss Emma. Don eyed me with a hint of suspicion as I struggled to answer.

  “I think the kid’s in some type of trouble and we’re trying to figure him out,” I said and adjusted my sunglasses. “I saw a business card at Chief Gus’ place with the same design as his tattoo.”

  Don shook his head. “Avery, I keep telling you to stop trying to be a detective.” He chuckled, “And for cryin’ out loud, don’t get poor Miss Emma involved in your antics. It’s tough enough trying to keep you out of trouble.”

  I leaned back and rested my hands behind my head. “Then, I guess you don’t want to know what I found out.”

  Don raised the brim of his brown ball cap and ran his hand through his hair, before adjusting the cap back in place.

  “Okay, go ahead and tell me,” he said, shaking his head, a little grin on his face.

  “First, the design belongs to a bunch of morons in South Carolina,” I said, hoping I was within the guidelines of my promise. “Second, the kid talked about a classic car that he worked on at Chief Gus’ house.” I got up to get another bottle of water from the cooler.

  “So?”

  “Chief’s garage door was wide open and there was no classic car in sight. Cody or someone else could have stolen the car, those things are worth a lot of money, you know.”

  “Hmm, I’ll check into it,” Don said as he caught the bottle of water I tossed to him.

  “Did you find out anything about his daughter?” I asked.

  “Yea, she lives in Pisgah County, only twenty-five miles from Gus’ house.” He averted his gaze. “I wish we hadn’t told her Gus was her biological father. It was too much of a shock for her and she’s struggling emotionally.

  Ace lifted his head and looked out across the open grass land toward the road. My eyes followed the dog’s gaze and I spotted a red SUV slowly making its way toward the pre-construction dirt driveway. I strained to see who sat behind the steering wheel, but could only make out a pair of dark sunglasses and a big black moustache.

  Don stood up and motioned for Ace to stay put and for me to stay seated. As Don walked over to the open side window of the running vehicle, I waved to the new Fire Marshall. Their conversation was meant to be private, but a soft breeze carried the words about one hundred feet right into my ears.

  “We got the fingerprints back from the iron at Chief Gus’ house,” the Fire Marshall said to Don.

  So, they DO suspect someone was getting ready to burn the place, I thought.

  “Are they Cody’s prints?” Don asked.

  “Nope. The only prints that were on that iron belong to one of your Sheriff’s Department Ladies Auxiliary Members,” he said and lifted a piece of paper to read a name. “Mrs. Dottie Peterson.”

  Don’s mouth dropped open and I covered my face to hide the fact that my mouth had dropped open too. I lowered my head, stared at the ground and whispered to myself, “Wow.”

  Don blew out a long breath and finally asked the Fire Marshall, “How does an old married woman get her fingerprints all over the iron of the town’s hottest elderly bachelor?”

  The Fire Marshall pointed toward Don, “Now, that’s the ninety-two dollar question.”

  Chapter 14

  I walked along the path that weaved between the buildings at the animal foster sanctuary as Scooter tagged along beside me. His basic dog training was progressing at a good pace and I hoped it would help us find him a new forever family.

  Chief Gus’ daughter decided not to adopt Scooter because her fiance insisted that dogs belong outside. Scooter needed to be indoors at night, so it wouldn’t be a good fit for either party. I respected her decision and focused on finding the best home for the sweet dog that I could.

  Scooter and I had stopped so he could rest when a sudden burst of loud rock music blared from down the road. A familiar black car cruised up the driveway and rolled to a stop in front of the sanctuary’s main cottage. It was followed by a Sheriff’s Deputy’s car.

  Cody stepped out of his car and, to my surprise, Scooter jumped up and ran over to the young man. Cody dropped to his knees and welcomed Scooter’s affection with a big hug.

  “Wow, I haven’t seen Scooter move that fast since he’s been at the sanctuary,” I said as I walked up to the two friends.

  “We’ve been buddies since I started hanging out at Chief Gus’ place,” Cody said, pushing the hair from his eyes. “Scooter liked to watch when we worked on the old classic.”

  Scooter leaned up against Cody as the teen rubbed the back of the dog’s neck.

  I tilted my head and asked, “What old...” but was interrupted when Deputy Don climbed out of his car and walked up, holding some paperwork.

  “Cody’s parents have agreed to let the boy adopt Scooter,” Deputy Don said and gave the hound a scratch on the head. “Gus’ daughter, Debbie, was happy to give her approval.”

  I smiled at the old hound dog. “More importantly, it looks like Scooter gives his approval.”

  Deputy Don asked me to walk to the building with him. As we reached the door, he said in a hushed tone, “This documentation allows the sanctuary to immediately take ownership of the dog if the kid is proven to be involved in any type of crime.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  Deputy Don stepped inside the building to deal with the administrative issues for the new family. I returned to where Cody hung out with Scooter.

  “Congratulations, Cody. You’re a new Dad,” I said and stuck out my hand.

  Cody shook it vigorously and said, “Thanks, Avery. I’ll take good care of him.”

  We loaded up the back seat of Cody’s car with dog supplies and toys, canned dog food and a couple boxes of treats. Cody selected the same brand of dry dog food that was on Chief Gus’ lawn.

  “I know Scooter likes this kind of food,” he said as he pushed a forty-pound bag into the car.

  “Did you give Scooter the bag of dog food I saw at Gus’ house?” I asked and handed him an extra dog leash.

  Cody nodded. “I hadn’t seen Gus in a couple days and Scooter was outside.” Cody adjusted the seat so Scooter could get in the front. “I opened the garage door to work on the classic by myself and found that the car was gone too. I figur
ed Gus was out of town so I better feed Scooter.”

  That doesn’t sound like the whole truth, I thought.

  I opened my mouth to ask a follow-up question but Cody didn’t give me a chance. He lifted his dog onto the seat and piled into the car. Scooter quickly claimed his spot in the front passenger seat and pushed his nose through the partially opened window.

  As they drove off, I imagined how the old dog felt feeling the wind flow through his fur as they cruised down the drive.

  I chuckled to myself, I sure hope that dog likes listening to rock n’ roll.

  Chapter 15

  My head throbbed as I overheard some unknown officials drone on about every last detail of Chief Gus’ belongings. While they stood inside the house and spoke to his biological daughter, I sat at the picnic table in his backyard in the cool morning air and stared at the shed where he spent the last moments of his life.

  Deputy Don asked my boss that a representative of the animal sanctuary attend this meeting with Gus’ family on behalf of Scooter. Chief Gus’ daughter, Debbie, wanted to thank us for taking care of the dog until a home was found. Since Ben was tied up with business meetings, he asked me to come on his behalf.

  Chevy was out in the truck napping. I didn’t want him causing any commotion with a grieving family and there was a nice breeze to keep him cool.

  I laid my arms on the top of the picnic table, rested my head on my forearm and eyed the brown liquid still sitting in the glass jar. I wondered if Chief Gus sold moonshine, or if he had taken to drinking it to ease the pain of financial woes.

  A pretty woman with long black hair emerged from the house, following behind a man wearing loose jeans and an unzipped grey sweat jacket with the hood over his head. He marched back toward Chief’s garage and stood with his hands on his hips.

  Miss Emma’s cat, Tabitha, flew out of the garage as the strangers entered and came to rest at my feet under the table. The hooded man walked directly to the mechanics tool box, opened the third drawer down and showed the woman some old tools.

  When he spoke, I was jolted by the familiar voice.

  “Who got the car?” he spewed.

  “They didn’t say anything about a car,” she said, her voice quivering.

  “So, we’ve got nothing but the antique tools!” the man said, as he punched his left hand with his right fist. “Everything else was swallowed up by his debt.”

  My heart raced as Deputy Don and a few others came out of the house and joined the couple. The woman was visibly upset.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” Don asked. “Let me take you over to meet Avery. She’s the one who took care of Scooter.”

  As the group turned toward me, I jumped up and away from the table, my hands balled into fists and yelled, “Stop right there.”

  When the hooded man got a good look at me, his tan face grew red with rage and his jaw clenched.

  Don and the officials stared at me. “Avery, what the….”

  I cut him off. “Hey, Zona! What stopped you from lighting the place off?” I yelled to the jerk from the gambling arena. “Looks like you had it all prepared to burn.”

  The officials huddled around Debbie while Deputy Don huffed, “Calm down, Avery.”

  Zona stood with his arms crossed and a smirk across his face. “That chick is crazy.”

  I pushed Don’s arms away as he gently tried to hush me.

  “Did Chief Gus owe you some money?” I yelled and pointed at Zona, my heart racing inside my chest. “He’s the one leaving calling cards at these fires, trying to act out his favorite TV crime shows.”

  Don said, “Avery, you’re on real thin ice here.”

  Zona spit on the grass. “I’m just a man trying to comfort his girlfriend on one of the saddest days of her life.”

  “Fiancee,” Debbie said and glanced at Zona with a furrowed brow.

  “Zona’s one of the thugs I was telling you about,” I fumed, grabbed Don’s shoulder, and looked at him face to face. “He just walked into Gus’ garage and knew exactly what drawer had the antique tools. He’s been here before.”

  Debbie’s head snapped to the right as she looked at her fiancé in shock. “When were you here? You promised me a year ago that you were through with Dooley. I thought you’ve been taking business trips.”

  Zona hissed, “Shut up.”

  “And I bet that business was starting a car fire and killing Gus!” I said, spitting out the words.

  Debbie faced Zona and put her hands on her hips, “Did you know all along that he was my real daddy?”

  Zona tried to ignore her.

  “Is that why you wanted to marry me? For money?” Debbie huffed. She put her hands up and turned away from Zona with disgust.

  Don quickly sized up the situation, got out his radio and called for back-up. The officials worked in unison and herded Debbie back into the house.

  “She’ll calm down in a few minutes and be right back here by my side,” Zona said, crossing his arms and keeping an eye on the house.

  You’re kidding yourself, I thought.

  Suddenly, the house door swung back open and Debbie’s red face appeared in the doorway.

  “I’m sure your Fire Marshall father is going to be real proud of you, Zona, for startin’ fires in his own county!” she shouted and slammed the door shut.

  Chapter 16

  Zona attempted to get back inside the house and talk to Debbie, but was rebuffed by two officials. I stood in Gus’ yard watching him argue his case.

  She probably has the car keys or he’d be out of here by now, I thought. It’s a long walk to South Carolina.

  Deputy Don keyed up his radio and requested dispatch to contact the Fire Marshall.

  “J.R.’s off today,” a voice crackled over the radio.

  “Get in touch with him and have him call my cell right away,” Don said, his voice full of authority.

  “Will do,” came the reply.

  The sun’s reflection bounced off the large glass jar on the picnic table and caught the corner of my eye. Tabitha had climbed on top of the table and stretched out next to the jug to take a nap. It triggered the memory of the cat’s leftover pilfered items at Miss Emma’s house the previous Saturday.

  I instinctively jumped on top of the picnic table, dropped to my knees and dipped my hand into the brown liquid. My cupped palm brought the drink up to my mouth and I took a gulp.

  “Pffftttt.” I spewed the liquid all over the ground and wiped my mouth.

  Zona stood on the door steps and laughed. “Told ya, she’s an idiot.”

  Don said, “Avery, you ARE acting like an idiot. That moonshine’s been sitting in the sun for days and has probably gone to the bad.”

  I raised my fists in victory. “It’s not shine, Don - it’s sun tea - and you know as well as I that anyone born within five hundred miles of here only drinks sweet tea.”

  “That’s right, no southerner in his right mind would dare drink sun tea, especially Chief Gus!” Rookie Deputy Ken said as he walked through the backyard fence gate.

  “Exactly,” I said. “But sun tea is the drink of choice in Arizona. Furthermore, Tabitha recently stole some used tea bags that I bet were from over here.” I eyed Zona. “There’s only one person around here who’s involved in a gambling ring with a diamond design, and who’s from sun tea drinking Arizona, and who expected to get his hands on a bunch of money.”

  “And who probably wiped his prints from the house,” Don said under his breath. “We need proof.”

  “He might’ve used gloves inside the house, but there are some prints on this jar,” I said loudly as I eyed Zona.

  “Looks like we need to ask you some questions,” Don said and moved toward the jerk.

  Zona hitched up his pants and bolted across the lawn, making a zig-zag move to run past Deputy Ken at the gate. The young deputy lowered his head and rammed his shoulder into Zona’s gut, dropping the punk like a rock.

  Deputy Ken kneed Zona in the back as he cuffe
d him and said, “I guess I should’ve warned you. I was All State Defensive in High School Football.”

  Zona’s hoodie slid off his shoulders during the scuffle revealing his sculpted biceps. I stared at him for a minute and gasped.

  My adrenaline spiked and my hiking boots kicked up the grass as I sprinted past Don and out the gate, yelling behind me, “I’m going to get your proof.”

  Chapter 17

  My boots felt heavy as I raced down the Lower Falls Trail, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Seeing the ‘Z’ tattoo on Zona’s arm reminded me of the day I saw a strange guy messing around in the natural pool under the falls.

  If I was the gambling type, I’d bet a hundred bucks Zona stashed a weapon back there. Chevy and I were about to find it and put the creep out of business.

  Twenty minutes after we hit the trail, my face felt the cool mist from the falls. I slowed down considerably to keep from falling on the wet rocks that lined the trail near the falls. Chevy raced ahead and splashed into the shallow pool.

  I rolled my body over a couple of down tree trunks and landed feet first on the edge of the pool. Water sprayed in my face and my boots sunk into the muck below as I made my way across the thigh deep pool toward the falls. The sound of the water landing on the rocks drowned out the other sounds around me.

  The wooded debris at the far edge of the pool was my target, and my eyes roamed the immediate area for anything that looked out of place. Chevy swam over to me to supervise and suddenly gave a little yelp.

  I grabbed him around the waist to hold him afloat, and found some fishing line tangled around his leg. I reached down, loosened it and easily pulled it off.

  As Chevy continued his swim time, I felt something heavy on the end of the line. At first I figured it was attached to a stump, but something moved when I tugged on it. I followed the fishing line under the water with my hand, and discovered several glass jars tied off at the end of it.