by Beth Byers
“I think Carver needs to step up,” I said, grinning at her with a wink and making Shane smile.
“It would be nice if they could track him down, catch him in his crimes, and make him go away,” Shane offered.
“We don’t need Carver. Since when do we need a badge to get stuff done?”
“Uh oh,” I said to Shane with a wink, “We’ve set off her inner criminal king pin.”
Zee rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to send a message. I’d have bet that it was an order to Carver. She might claim to not needing a badge to get stuff done, but I wasn’t sure I believed she didn’t use Carver whenever it suited her.
Chapter 5
“What now?” Simon asked as I put a container of food into the back of my car for the birds later that afternoon. He’d gotten rid of Jordy and disappeared for a while before he’d come back and found me helping Zee make the baked goods for the next day. “We still have a few days of honeymoon left. We could get in the car, head up to Cannon Beach see whatever their little live theater is playing there.”
“That sounds lovely,” I said.
He eyed me and then said, “But…?”
“But, I gave Shane the rest of the day off to check on her sister, so I need to let the dogs out, feed them, and check on the birds.”
“Then I guess we’ll play with your orphaned puppies and feed those parrots and try to avoid falling in love with them since we have enough pets.”
“I do like the sound of birdsong.”
“I don’t know that you get that from parrots, my love. Maybe from canaries? Have you ever known a parrot?”
I shook my head and he said, “Don’t fall in love with any more animals for a while, please.”
“Hey,” I said innocently. “You were behind the last one.”
His gaze narrowed on me and then he said, “I was behind Goliath. Seeing as how he protected you. I was not behind the cat.”
“You like the cat best.”
“It’s a ninja,” Simon said innocently. “We feed it and it gives us evil looks and hisses at us. He’s clawed me about a hundred times.”
I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist and then said, “So you like it better than the loving and devoted dogs?”
“I’m just saying you have to admire its gumption.”
We left Simon’s car and drove mine up to the dog shelter. The dogs were going crazy when we got there. We could hear them barking from the outside. That wasn’t normal for them at all. We’d usually have taken them for a good run in the play yards or even a walk or two by this point during the day, but they hadn’t been locked up the whole day. The first thing Shane did when she showed up was walk the dogs, feed them, and let the ones who could be trusted in the same play area out to play.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked.
I shook my head, hurrying over to the doors. Shane had left them locked and there wasn’t any sign that anything was wrong. Once I got inside, I realized that screaming I’d heard was the parrots. Perhaps their loud calls set the dogs off? Maybe it was a cycle with the birds setting off the dogs and then the dogs setting off the birds? If so, Shane hadn’t said anything about that happening.
Was that why she was so worried I’d fire her? If I’d known this was happening, I’d have been pretty upset. Then again, the cockatoo had been psycho, and it hadn’t sent off the dogs. I clucked to the birds and they shrieked at me, making me flinch a little. They were, however, ok. They didn’t look hurt. They had food and water, and the dogs were losing their little furry minds, so I abandoned the birds to see what was wrong with the dogs.
“Are they ok?” Simon asked me. I shrugged. I had no flipping idea what was going on.
I hurried through the waiting area, the interview rooms, bypassing the storage room to see the dogs.
The lights were on low, but I could see them. A few were whimpering. A few were barking. The little chihuahua was in its little soft house, curled into the back. I could hear it whine through the stall door.
The next stall over was the little spaniel. She was curled up into a corner, her nose tucked under her paw and her eyes begging me to fix whatever was wrong. I leaned down and called to her and she squirmed her way across the floor, sticking her nose out of her door. I opened it up. The spaniel was a tiny little thing, and I lifted her, tucking her under my arm. She was shaking in my arms.
Simon was a step behind me. The next stall was one of the barking dogs with wiry white fur. It was pacing its stall, going from edge to edge. The water bowl had been overturned, and its paws were wet where they paced.
The little spaniel whimpered as I talked to her, and I noted how the dogs at the end of the room were even more upset. Maybe one of the dogs at the end had gotten hurt? I hurried down while I comforted the spaniel. With each dog stall that I passed cold, black noses stuck out asking me to make them feel better. I approached the last couple of stalls with trepidation.
“Is everything all right?” Simon asked as I looked into each stall. He had stayed back with the wiry-white haired dog.
“So far,” I almost whimpered. “What in the world is happening?”
I glanced back at him and his kind brown eyes turned from the upset dog to me. He murmured something to the dog and followed me down the last of the stalls.
The little spaniel licked me, tucking her face into the crook of my neck and Simon said, “You know Mattie’s little dogs could probably do with a spaniel friend.”
His care for dogs was one of the reasons I adored him. I smirked at him and he winked before he added, “Then you could visit her without further breaking Daisy and Goliath’s heart. Those two are pretty territorial around you. They can’t handle more dogs taking your heart.”
“You play an evil game, sir,” I told him, “But perhaps a wise one. Goliath and Daisy and the other dogs are my priority.”
I took a breath and stepped that last bit between almost ducking before I checked the dog stall. A dog of indiscriminate but shaggy origin stood before me.
“Hello there,” I said to it.
He whined at me and pawed at the stall door and the spaniel in my arms whimpered again. I set her down, and she went darting towards Simon as I said, “This one is fine too. Upset but fine.”
“They’re still restless,” Simon said. “If we were at our place, I’d assume that a deer or a cougar was in the yard.”
“Firstly, husband of mine,” I turned to him and put my hands on my hips. “Do not ever, ever refer to a cougar being where my little pups live. Even Goliath would have trouble with something like that.”
“Rose, we don’t leave the dogs out there alone.”
I scowled at him.
“Cougars hunt primarily at night.”
The shaggy mutt pawed the stall door and jumped up onto his back legs. He barked once and then pawed the window. I turned from Simon to the dog and frowned.
“That dog…” I started. “That was weird.”
“Yeah.” Simon opened the stall door as I retrieved the little spaniel. Simon stepped inside the little room, bypassing the dog bed and water dish to look out the window. “Oh.”
The way he said it had me flinching. His warm, worried about the dogs voice had gone cold and hard. I nuzzled the quivering spaniel.
“Do I want to know?”
Simon shook his head. His jaw was tight and he said, “Call Carver, please. Rose…don’t come over here. But maybe take the dogs to the front if you can.”
“What am I going to need to do?”
“You’ll need to find foster homes for the dogs and the birds. The shelter won’t be available for a while.”
I didn’t need him to explain why. I’d seen his face like this before. I’d heard this quiet fury in his tone before. I’d seen the way he’d shifted from relaxed to business. Far, far too many times I’d seen the change. The only reason he’d do this to me with the dogs or that he’d shift like this was if there was a crime scene outside the window. It wouldn’t
just be some defacement of the property. It wouldn’t be something simple or easy.
“Who is it?”
Simon left the window and crossed to me, taking my face between his hands, and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I’m not sure.”
“But they’re dead?”
“There’s really no question of that,” he said. The muscle in his jaw clenched and the look in his eyes was dark.
“So, you’re needed. Vacation is over.”
Simon nodded once and then as I turned to call Carver, Simon pulled me back. He wrapped me up in a tight hug and said, “It might be over, but we’re taking this time back later. We’ll just do it after this round of madness is over.”
I nodded into his chest, squeezed him as tightly and said, “Will you tell me who it is? I’m going to worry until I know.”
“As soon as I figure it out. I imagine we’ll have to interview you and Shane and whoever else might have been in here today. Though this had to have happened when you were both gone. Neither of you would have left the dogs as upset as they are.”
I made the call while Simon went outside.
“Say what now?” Carver said when I explained.
“There’s a body in the side yard. I didn’t see it, but Simon said vacation was over, so I’m guessing it’s an obvious murder.”
Carver cursed and then said, “You two have the worst luck.”
As soon as I was done agreeing with him, I loaded the mean chihuahua into a dog crate. The rest of the dogs would be safe enough on leashes. I pulled the shaggy mutt first and then the wiry-haired white dog. The little spaniel stuck close to my feet while the two medium sized mixed breeds were the last I set loose to follow me out to the foyer. They were all leashed as I started making calls to the people I knew would help.
Az and my friend, Mattie were the first I called. They both agreed to help out with extra dogs for a few days and Az said he’d come immediately. Then I called Zee and told her I’d need another bird cage for the parrots. We’d only have to move 6 dogs and the birds. We were a small town and we did a good job of adopting out our dogs.
While Aaron and Bobby from the police force showed up along with the ambulance, I got Az to come and take the smart, shaggy mutt. He agreed to take the mean chihuahua but said, “Let’s be perfectly clear, I’m not adopting the little…” Az cleared his throat and then said, “Don’t get your hopes up. I just have bigger dogs, and this little beast will harass Mama Dog and the pups. I’m being kind to Mama Dog by keeping that chihuahua for you. I am not adopting this thing.”
“You big ol’ softie,” I told him. “You’re gonna fall for that chihuahua.
“Rosie luv,” he started and then stepped back when the ambulance left. Jane didn’t get back on it though. I frowned at her and then realized she’d stood back the whole time.
A minute later and Carver spoke with her for a while and then Simon. His gaze was fixated on me, but I wasn’t trying to interfere, I just needed Zee to have a cage on the way to my house and for one of the foster homes to come take the last two dogs. Mattie was taking the spaniel and Az agreed to take both of the larger dogs along with the chihuahua.
“How did you get out of this with just parrots?” Az loaded the chihuahua into the passenger seat of his truck and then strapped two dog crates into the bed of it. The larger dogs were loaded into crates and then he turned back to me as I loaded the parrots into a dog crate.
“That doesn’t seem like how you would travel with them.”
“I have no idea how else to get them safely to my place. It might be ok to leave them, but…Simon doesn’t want me here until this is resolved.”
Zee messaged me that she was on her way to my house. She’d gotten a smaller version of the large bird cage we had in The 2nd Chance Adoption center.
I knew me having to take the animals away and avoid the shelter was Simon’s protectiveness coming out, but fostering the dogs would be better for them. It would be good for the little demon chihuahua to get some love. I was making the internal bet, however, that Simon had no idea when he’d told me to find somewhere for the dogs that I’d be left with taking three African Grey parrots home with me.
“Hey,” I said as Jane crossed the parking lot. She looked sick.
“I wouldn’t want to be a doctor here,” Az told me. “Jane thought she’d be prescribing birth control and treating the flu and here she is seeing dead bodies.”
I shivered at that and then said, “I suppose she did it to herself becoming a doctor in a town where they’re gonna need you to double up for anything medical related.”
“True,” Az said.
“She did show up when I almost got hit by a car my first day here.”
Az shook his head and said, “That was back when Daisy was a dainty little pup, not long before Zee was raging that she had to deal with a new boss, and I wasn’t sure what to think of the too-nice lady who’d bought the diner.”
I laughed and then frowned as Jane pressed a hand to her mouth. Was she crying? “Jane?”
She stumbled at my call and then turned to me. Without a word, she ran across the parking lot and threw herself into my arms.
“Jane? What’s going on?” It wasn’t like her to react like this. What if it was someone we knew? Someone we cared about. My heart started racing as it skipped through the names of people I loved who could have been at the adoption center. Who I hadn’t talked to…I couldn’t think of anyone right away, but…who was it?
“It’s Jordy,” Jane cursed. She was still pressed into me, taking comfort in my hug. “That stupid bastard couldn’t have been murdered somewhere else?”
“Oh thank goodness!” I said only realizing what I’d said after the fact.
Jane looked green as she glanced at me and then pulled a little away.
“Don’t take Rosie wrong,” Az said before I could defend myself. “She was imagining the worst when she saw you looking upset. From here, you seemed to be crying.”
Jane glanced at me and I nodded. “I should have known better than the victim being someone I cared about, it’s just so terrible when this happens. I know Simon would have said something, but still…”
“I need your help,” Jane said cutting me off.
I paused. I knew a second later what she wanted. I…was done. I had promised to be done with this stuff. “Jane…”
“I’m a suspect. It’s why I’m over here instead of helping the poor EMT.”
“They have to treat you like a suspect Jane. I’m sure no one believes you had anything to do with this. I’m sure that Simon and Carver don’t think anything like that at all. I know Az and I don’t, and we haven’t even discussed it.”
Jane glanced over her shoulder and then looked slowly back at me. “Rose,” her voice was even and controlled, “Simon knows Hank. Hank was killing furious after meeting Jordy and Simon knew it. Hank said the most horrible things to me about my taste and he…I don’t know…he’s not answering his phone and I don’t know where he is, and what if…”
I grabbed her by the arms and pulled her close again, squeezing tight. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
Jane blinked rapidly and glanced away.
“Jane,” I said and I shook her lightly until she faced me. “This is one of those instances where you can’t take things back that you say. Just like Zee was saying earlier today. You love Hank. You trust him with your life, your children, and your heart. Put your faith in those years of support and love and trust in who you know. Don’t let your fears ruin your relationship.”
“What if?” Jane put her face into her hands and then hoarsely whispered, “If Hank did kill Jordy, it’s my fault.”
“How do you figure?” Az asked gently, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“I should never had said anything. If I hadn’t, Jordy never would have come back. He wouldn’t be dead. We wouldn’t be murder suspects. I should have taken this secret to the grave.”
Chapter 6
&nbs
p; “Hey…” Jane tapped my shoulder as I placed the birds in my car. I had to transport them with separate dog crates and towels across the bottom of it for them to grip. I hoped they’d be safe in there. It wasn’t intended for them, but surely for a few minutes it would be safe enough.
I turned to face Jane, knowing what was coming. I had hoped to avoid the question when the foster families for the dogs started showing up. They had let me sidestep answering Jane’s plea for help. Only now, the dogs had all been picked up and Jane was still here.
Zee had messaged that Jane must be relieved that Jordy wasn’t able to interfere with J.J. anymore, but those weren’t the words I’d have used to describe Jane. They were involved in this murder—unavoidably so.
We wouldn’t have killed Jordy, but I was also sure that those of us who’d met him weren’t sad he was dead. Beyond whatever sympathies we might feel for J.J. Thank goodness his only true experiences with parenting would be confined to the devoted Hank and Jane.
Perhaps Jordy would pull out some of the same charm he must have possessed to romance Jane that first time. He might have been deliberately antagonistic to us today but that was the role he was playing. Surely there was more to him than what happened this morning? And really, Jordy might have been awful but he had loves didn’t he? Passions? Hobbies? Maybe someday J.J. would find those out. Something to humanize the birth father who had been murdered.
Eventually, he’d get a full idea of what had happened. He’d ask why his dad had been killed. Jane would sidestep. Then, J.J. would research it on his own. It wouldn’t be that hard for him to do that.
“I need your help,” Jane repeated.
There had been a day a week or so ago when we were still laying around in Fiji. I could remember it so clearly. Simon and I had reserved a hammock under an umbrella right on the beach. We’d curled up together on it. At first we’d just enjoyed the breeze and the heat that relaxed your muscles. As the day went by, we’d started by talking about the morning breakfast or bird we’d seen or some other such thing. But we’d gone back and back in our reminiscing. The wedding. That moment we’d first met. When we realized that we’d loved the other.