Will stared at Zach and then back at me. "Sorry I'm late. Got tied up."
"Well, here, I'm being rude." Zach nodded at me as he stood and held out a hand. "Zachary Faraday."
"Zach is Rose's son," I offered, as Will shook his hand and eyed him suspiciously. "We met at her funeral service."
"Detective Blake. So sorry for your loss."
He and Zach continued to stare at each other for a moment. Finally Zach's face broke into a dazzling smile and he chuckled. It was the first time I had ever seen him really smile. "You two kids enjoy your lunch. Darwin, can we continue this conversation at a later date?"
"Sure." I cringed inwardly at his use of the word date. "Oh wait, Zach!" He turned back to me. "Do you know who Lucky's vet was? I need to make sure she's not due for any shots."
"No, but I can find that information for you. I'll be in touch."
"Interesting character," Will said, watching Zach make his way across the road through the traffic. "What else did you two have to talk about besides the cat?"
Was he jealous? I held my hands over the steaming cup of tea, suddenly aware of the warmth that had left with Zach. "He wanted to know about the night we found his mother's body. I guess he's still trying to deal with his grief. Figure out some rhyme or reason for such a tragedy." I picked up the menu and changed the subject.
I hated keeping things from Will and that's all I seemed to do since we met, but there was nothing else I could tell him about Zach. I certainly couldn't tell him that Zach saw danger in my future. Or that I'd be facing it with him. I shivered. "I think today calls for some warm French onion soup." Comfort food.
"Cold?" Will slid his chair around next to mine and wrapped an arm around me. "That better?"
I grinned up at him as he pressed his lips into my hair. "You know what would be even better?" His slow smile made my insides hum. I smacked him playfully on the arm and scooted my chair sideways a bit so I could face him. "What would be even better is if you told me something about your family. You know, since you've had the pleasure of meeting my sister."
He ran his fingers up my arm. An echo of sadness washed over me.
"All right." He cleared his throat. "I had an older brother, Christopher. He was ten years my senior. When I was eleven, he was murdered. Stabbed to death at a party. No one was ever convicted. My mother died a year later from the grief and stress. She never recovered from losing him."
I entwined my fingers with his. How awful. I couldn't imagine losing one of my sisters that way. I could see why he never talked about his family now. "And your father?"
"He lives in Tampa. He's almost seventy now. He hasn't been the same since losing my mom. Still talks about her to anyone that'll listen." He shrugged. "He's adapted, though. Learned how to microwave dinners and all that."
"I'm so sorry, Will." I shifted to rest my head on his shoulder. "Is that why you became a homicide detective?"
He laughed and then shrugged, kissing the top of my head. "Yeah. I guess I wanted to solve all the unsolved crimes. So no family would have to feel like we did. No closure, no justice. It leaves an open wound."
"But, you can't solve them all."
"No." His voice rumbled close my ear. "But I can sure try."
I snuggled closer to him as we waited for our food. An odd mixture of sadness and frustration gripped me. I could help him solve some of the more unsolvable crimes. If only I could confide in him about what I knew. Oh and that I was once again investigating a murder behind his back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
McGillis had said there were five people in St. Pete with a license to keep venomous snakes. Fortunately, Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission made its database of those licenses public record. A quick internet search gave me the five addresses.
I was on my own Saturday. Sylvia and I had decided to keep Darwin's Pet Boutique open on Saturdays during the heavy tourist season to make up for the slower summer sales. Mallory had agreed to work that Saturday and let me check out the snake owners.
The first house on the list sat about five miles north of downtown. It was bit of a shock when the cab pulled up to a typical Florida neighborhood with older ranch houses. I was expecting something more secluded. More sinister. I wondered if the neighbors were aware of the dangerous snakes inside.
I asked the cabbie to wait for me and made my way up the driveway to the front door.
Within a few seconds a small girl, her wispy hair in two uneven ponytails, answered the door.
"Hi." I smiled down at her. She held a red Popsicle and it was dripping down her chubby arm. Did I have the right house? Surely, this cute little girl wasn't living with dangerous snakes? "Is your mom or dad home, Sweetie?"
A woman walked up behind her, wiping her wet hands on a dishtowel. "Hannah, what have I told you about opening this door?" she scolded. "Go eat that at the table."
She eyed me suspiciously. "Hi, we don't want any magazines."
"Oh, no," I said, smiling. "I'm not a salesperson. I just wanted to ask you a question."
She glanced behind her and folded her arms. "All right?"
"Were you or anyone in your residence acquainted with Rose Faraday?"
Her mouth twisted in thought. "No, can't say I recognize the name. Who is she?"
"She was a local psychic that got bit by a rattler and passed away last week. I'm just following up with the people who own venomous snakes in the area to see if they might have information on where the rattlesnake came from."
The woman's face registered genuine sadness. "That's awful. Well, my boyfriend keeps two Burmese pythons here but no rattlers. Aren't they native in the wild?"
"In the wild, yes. But she was bitten in her condo."
"Huh." The woman shook her head. "A psychic you said? Shouldn't she have seen that coming?"
"Guess even psychics can't see everything coming." I shrugged. "Well, thank you for your time." I went back to the cab, gave him the second address and mentally crossed this house off my list.
The second house was a nice brick rancher with a chain across the gravel drive, a 'No Trespassing' sign swinging from the chain. The cabbie pulled over to the side of the road and I walked around the chain, noticing JAMISON painted on the black mailbox. This must be the guy Sammy said recently acquired two rattlesnakes. My heart sank as I stood there ringing the bell and knocking and no one came to the door. Rats. I'd have to come back. I definitely needed to talk to Mr. Jamison. Right now he'd stay on the list.
I was starting to feel a bit queasy as we headed west through stop-and-go traffic. I guess I just wasn't used to being in a car. Even with the air conditioning blasting from the front vents, the air felt stale and suffocating.
When we stopped at the third house, I stumbled out of the back seat and sucked in fresh air. There was a rusty pick-up truck parked in the front yard's scrubby brown grass. After my stomach settled down, I approached the front door.
Before I could knock, a large man holding a beer can greeted me through the screen.
"You lost, sweet thing?" He opened the screen and a whiff of stale beer and urine made my stomach clench again.
"Just had a question for you, sir." Had to do this quick and skedaddle. "You own poisonous snakes, correct?"
He leered at me through glassy eyes. "You came here to take a gander at my snake? Well, come on in."
I ignored him and my sudden urge to run back to the taxi. I did however glance behind me to make sure the taxi was still there. "Were you acquainted with a woman named Rose Faraday?"
His face hardened. "Is she that stripper bitch? I done told the police I didn't grab her, she was fallin' off the stage and I just kept her from fallin'."
I blinked. Wow. Time to go, he obviously wasn't the murderer. I doubt he could sneak around at night without falling into a lake or getting hit by a bus. "No. That's not her. Thank you for your time." I sang "la la la la la" in my head to drown out his parting comments as I hurried back to the taxi and slammed the door. "Go, please!"
By the time we reached the fifth and final house, I was feeling really nauseous and frustrated. This was looking more and more like a waste of valuable time.
We drove back down 18th Street toward the Bay and crossed back over Beach Drive. I sat up as the driver pulled over in front of a black gated driveway leading up to a peach stucco mansion. "This is it." Now this was different.
"Just wait here, please." I instructed the driver before getting out and approaching the gate. There was a black call box on the right side. I mashed the button.
A female voice erupted from the box. "Yes? Can I help you?"
"Hi," I waved in case she could see me. "My name is Darwin Winters. I'm not selling anything. I just have a question to ask about a woman named Rose Faraday. I'm trying to find someone who knew her."
After a beat, the woman answered. "I'm sorry. Mr. Grayson not home until Wednesday. You come back."
I squinted at the monstrous house. She must be the housekeeper or caretaker. Surely she knows everything that goes on in that house then. "The name doesn't ring a bell for you?"
"No, Miss Winters," the box squawked. "You come back."
I sighed. "Okay. Well, thanks for your time." Nothing. Zero. Zilch. I fell back in the taxi, my stomach now growling, my head foggy with frustration. Time to head home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I tried to keep busy while Mallory relaxed on the balcony Sunday morning with Lucky curled up in her lap, watching the activity across the street at Straub Park. Today was the annual Dog-O-Ween costume contest. St. Pete vibrated with the excitement of it all. Above the bird calls and rustling of the breeze in the palm trees, voices and laughter reached us. A temporary stage was being erected, orange lights were being strung in the trees, and vendors were setting up booths to sell food and drinks. The weather was to die for. Sunny with a light breeze. It was going to be a great time, so why was I feeling so down?
Mallory must have heard my sigh. "All right, spill it. Is it Will?"
I looked up from clipping some purple and yellow pansies into a bowl of water for new flower essence. Mallory and Lucky were both staring at me.
"No." I shrugged, removing my straw sunhat and tossing it by the French doors. "Yes. I don't know." I slipped the tiny sheers back into my gardening apron. I shouldn't be handling the flowers while feeling down anyway. My vibrations were all wrong.
Mallory frowned at me. "You're really hooked on him, huh?"
I took a seat beside her and stroked Lucky's silky, black fur. "Yeah, I think I am." Lucky gave me an approving meow that sounded more like a bird chirp. I smiled. "Glad to see you're warming up to me, girl. Must be the tuna therapy."
Mallory took a deep breath and blew it out loudly. "Well, it's obvious he's crazy about you, too, so I don't know why you don't just come clean with him."
I glanced at her. I didn't really want to get into this conversation with Mallory. It would just lead to her getting angry about me being ashamed of our family. Again. I opted for being diplomatic instead. "Maybe you're right." And then used the avoidance technique. "Oh, sugar. I've gotta check on the pumpkin treats in the oven. Be right back."
I stood in front of the oven, the timer showing four more minutes. Moving around to the front of the kitchen bar, I fussed with the large basket we were donating to the winner of the dog costume contest. Rearranging the contents, I placed the hundred dollar gift certificate on top. The skull shaped pumpkin treats would be the last thing to go in there and then I could wrap it all up in cellophane.
With a jolt, I suddenly realized my thoughts had drifted off to Zach Faraday and his warning that I would be in danger. Why did everyone suddenly think I was in danger? It was irritating. I shuddered and pushed the thoughts away. Filling my mind instead with Will; his smile, the kindness in his blue eyes, his shoulders, his laugh—
The oven timer buzzed at the same time Lucky leaped onto the counter beside me from Mallory's arms. I jumped. "Jeeze O Pete!"
Mallory laughed as she pulled her hair up in a hair tie. "You really need to relax, Sis. Stress isn't good for you." Mallory ignored the childish gesture of me sticking my tongue out at her and sauntered into the kitchen to turn off the oven timer. "You want these treats out?" she called.
"Yes. Thank you." I plopped onto the stool and scratched Lucky behind the ear. She leaned into my hand. "She's right, you know. You could give me a little more to go on besides a person in black. Surely, you saw more than that? I mean, I am giving you free room and board, and thinking about buying stock in tuna."
Lucky stuck her butt up in the air and her face in the basket.
"Hey, nosey, be careful." Mallory plucked Lucky off the counter. "Darwin might just stick a bow on you and add you to that basket." She rubbed her nose in Lucky's fur and then stretched the cat over her shoulder.
I smiled. She was attached to Lucky already. Good. It wouldn't take too much convincing to get Mallory to take her back to Savannah with her. If and when she went back home. I needed to figure out who put that rattler in Rose's condo before I had a permanent roommate.
* * *
Mallory and I moseyed across Beach Drive into Straub Park around noon. Cars were parked on both sides of the street. I scanned the crowd above the big winner's basket in my arms. Spotting Frankie and Sylvia standing in front of the stage chatting with a short, balding man in a bright orange shirt, I nudged Mallory. "Over there."
"Olá donas!" Sylvia flashed her larger than life smile at us from beneath a large black sunhat and dark glasses. "Beautiful day, no?"
"Perfect." I greeted her with an air kiss. "Hey, Frankie."
"Hi, Darwin. Hi, Mallory." Frankie grinned at my sister and hugged me. "I want you to meet Edward Goodchild, the director of events for our Humane Society. They sponsored the party this year and all the vendors here are donating a percentage of their profits to the Humane Society." As I adjusted the basket and shook his hand, Frankie continued, "This is my good friend, Darwin Winters, and her sister, Mallory, who's visiting us from Savannah. Darwin co-owns Darwin's Pet Boutique with Sylvia." She pointed to our boutique across the street.
"So nice to meet you, ladies." Edward's soft voice matched his baby blue eyes. "Thank you for donating the first place prize. We're so excited. We've got over eighty pets registered for the contest so far."
"Our pleasure. It's a worthy cause." I motioned to the basket. "Where would you like me to put this?"
"Oh, just under the judges table would be fine. Thank you."
"Okay. Well, we're going to go check out the vendors. Y'all are the judges?" I asked.
Sylvia and Edward nodded.
"Yep," Frankie chuckled. Disqualified me from entering Itty and Bitty in the contest, but didn't stop me from dressin' them up. Be right back," she said, placing a hand on Edward's arm. "Come see my girls." We followed Frankie over to the dog stroller parked at the judges table and she unzipped the canopy.
A tiny devil and angel with Chihuahua faces peered up at us. The devil yipped. Frankie scooped her up and I scooped up the angel. "This is Bitty. The squeaky wheel." Frankie handed her to Mallory.
"Nice to meet you, Bitty," Mallory said, adjusting the tiny dog's devil horns. She held her up for a closer inspection. "You're about the cutest devil I've ever seen."
"And what pretty wings you have," I said, kissing Itty. Her tiny tongue licked my nose and then her ears went up. She spotted a golden retriever with three heads coming our way and started shaking. I turned so she couldn't see it. "Oh, poor thing."
"Yeah, they aren't too keen on the costumes." She took Bitty back from Mallory. "All right, gals, back in hiding for you two. I should've put you both in scaredy-cat costumes," she chuckled to herself.
I put Itty back, too and gave her an extra ear scratch. "See you in a bit, Frankie. We're going to go check out the vendors. You want anything?"
"Wouldn't mind a glass of cold white wine if you come across one." She glanced at her watch. "We've got about a half an hour before the judging
starts."
"I'll see what I can do." I hugged her and led Mallory through the park, which was filling up fast with people leading their costumed dogs around. We stopped and chatted with some of our regular customers. Some of the owners were dressed up, too. Lots of compliments were being thrown around as the festivities got under way.
Mallory was craving BBQ and I found a booth offering veggie burgers, so we split up. I was watching a Great Dane, a saddle and stuffed monkey riding on his back, sniff a pug dressed as a taco, when a deep voice spoke in my ear.
"I have a favor to ask of you."
My jaw clenched. I crossed my arms and turned around. "Hello, Zach."
He didn't waste time with pleasantries. "I've been invited to a Masquerade Ball on Friday evening and I need you to attend it with me."
I raised my eyebrows, baffled. Was he trying to ask me out on a date? "Seriously? Is that how you ask a girl out where you're from? It's not very effective, I gotta tell you." I narrowed my eyes. "Where are you from anyway?"
He stared at me for a moment. "Nowhere you would be familiar with. Will you attend with me?"
"No I will not. But there's plenty of eligible women in this town I'm sure would love to go to a party with you." I pointed behind him. "That blonde over there, with the vampire pit bull looks like your type."
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'm not looking for a woman. It has to be you." He moved in closer to me and lowered his voice. I felt my insides hum. Whatever power he held sent every cell in my body vibrating. "I was asking around about my mother's recent clients. One of them, a Bernard Grayson, sent me an invite to this Masquerade Ball, and I have no idea who he is or why I was suddenly invited."
I frowned. The name sounded familiar. I still didn't understand why he wanted me to go with him. "And this has what to do with me?"
"You are the only other person who thinks my mother's death is suspicious. Though I think you are not telling me why, I need you to help me figure out if this Bernard Grayson person was involved."
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