A Villa in Sicily: Capers and a Calamity

by Fiona Grace

  Audrey dragged a hand down her face. This was the last thing she needed, now, when she couldn’t even leave the island. “Okay, Concetta. Listen to me. I want you to close the clinic. Right now. Call your doctor immediately and tell him that you think you may have been exposed to rabies. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. I understand.”

  “All right. They’ll know what to do. Don’t worry about the clinic. I’ll call someone to have them come in and take care of the animals there. You need to take care of yourself.”

  “But what about all the appointments you have?”

  “I’ll have that person cancel all the appointments for the next few days.”

  She sniffled, and Audrey realized the poor young woman was crying. “I’m so sorry, Audrey. I don’t—”

  “Please! It’s not your fault. What’s important is that you take care of your health.”

  “Are you coming back?”

  She let out a slow breath. “I can’t. I have a little emergency here myself, which makes it impossible for me to leave. But it’s okay. Everything will be fine. Now go and call your doctor.”

  Quickly, she dialed the number for Councilman Falco. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail. “Hai raggiunto l’ufficio del Consigliere Falco . . .” When she heard the beep, she said, “Councilman, it’s Audrey Smart. Please call me when you get this message. Thanks.”

  She hung up. That wasn’t good enough. She needed to get in touch with someone now.

  Quickly, she dialed G at La Mela Verde, but hung up when a woman answered, sounding annoyed and harried. It was the dinner rush, and his cafe was always hectic during the dinner rush. She couldn’t saddle him with this.

  Audrey hung up the phone and shivered. Everything seemed to be falling apart there, and there was very little she could do about it.

  Don’t even think about it. You can’t.

  But the more she tried to think of alternatives, the more certain she became. Her hands were completely tied. She had no other choice.

  So she did the only thing she could think to do. She picked up her phone and placed another call. A moment later, a voice said, “Hello?”

  She let out a shuddery breath. “Mason?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  “Yeah. That you, Boston?” Mason’s gruff voice, with a bit of a Southern twang, came through. He sounded so far away, but even far away, that drawl of his made her heart flutter.

  “Yes. It’s me,” she said, reminding herself to be aloof. He broke your heart, remember? You need his help as a neighbor. That’s all.

  “Hello! You get my text? I’ve been looking all over for you. That girl at your clinic said you went—”

  “Yeah, I did,” she said, cutting him off. “I’m here in Lipari on another assignment, working with the strays here. And there’s a big problem in Mussomeli. I need you to do a big favor for me.”

  “Sure. Name it.”

  She let out a little sigh of relief. That was one thing about Mason. He may have broken her heart, but he was dependable, and always willing to help her out in a jam. And she’d had many of those since moving to Sicily. “Thank you. Okay. A stray dog was brought into the clinic and it bit Concetta. She thinks it might have had rabies.”

  “Rabies? Yeah? That ain’t good.”

  “She hasn’t been vaccinated. So I told her to close the clinic and get to her doctor. But I need you to do a few things for me. You might want to write this down.”

  “That’s all right. I got it.”

  “You sure?”

  “My mind’s a steel trap.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that, because he did have a bit of an ego on him, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue with him. “All right. First, call Falco on the council and tell him that there’s a stray dog in town possibly infected by rabies. They should keep a lookout for any animal acting strange. Please tell Falco that I will be there as soon as I can, but at the moment, I’m held up.”

  “Held up? Everything okay, Boston? You don’t sound good. I hope you’re not getting yourself in any trouble.”

  “Yeah. I mean, no. No trouble at all!” She tried to sound nonchalant, but it didn’t work. Her voice had an obvious tremor. “I’m fine. But I can’t talk about it now. Also, I need you to go into the clinic and take care of the animals there. Just as you have before.” She knew he could handle that. He’d done it before. “If any of them seem to be acting violent, or strange, or foaming at the mouth, do not go near it. Call me immediately.”

  “All right. I’ve got it.”

  “And then I need you to go through my appointment book and cancel any appointments for the rest of the week. Call them and tell them I’ve had an emergency, and I’ll be in touch to reschedule.”

  “Consider it done.”

  “And call me. Please. I feel terrible I can’t be there.”

  “Don’t worry, Boston. I’ll take care of it.”

  She sighed with relief. Despite what had happened, she still trusted him, probably more than anyone else in this country. “That’s it. Thanks, Mason.”

  “Okay. Call the council, take care of the animals. I’m on it,” he said, in that confident drawl of his. Then there was a pause. “Audrey, I came looking for you because I wanted to talk to you about—”

  “Mason,” she blurted, cutting him off. She didn’t want to go into this. Not now. Not when everything was falling apart. “I can’t talk. I’m sorry. Just—call me as soon as you hear anything.”

  She quickly ended the call and threw her head back, staring up at the darkening sky. The clinic in Mussomeli would be closed, the stray population was in jeopardy, and the people in town were in jeopardy, too. This was the last thing she needed to worry about now, in the midst of a murder investigation in which she was the prime suspect. Could there be anything else piled up on top of her list of worries?

  As if someone above had heard her, loud thunder crashed above, and lightning slit the sky. Then the heavens opened up, and it began to pour.

  Nick whimpered and rushed between her legs for cover, but when that didn’t work, he scampered off, into a crack between two buildings. “Fair-weather friend!” she shouted after him.

  She held her purse over her head and tried her best to dodge raindrops as she rushed for cover, but even so, by the time she reached the opening in the fence, she was already drenched. Time to go back to the shelter, she said, hugging herself. Maybe I can find some answers there, since I haven’t been able to find anything in town all day.

  As she walked, rain dripped off the edge of her nose. Using her purse as an umbrella was clearly not working, so she let it fall. But as she went to hoist it onto her shoulder, the fabric of it gave way, and the contents of the purse spilled to the ground. Everything—her wallet, her phone, and all the folders she’d stolen—landed in a puddle of muddy water.

  “No!” she cried, stooping to collect it all.

  She shoved the items into her ruined purse, scooping up handfuls of mud at the same time. Once she had it all, she hugged it to herself, trying in vain to keep it all dry. She ducked under the overhang of a building and inspected the papers. They were a wet, muddy mess, sticking together.

  “Great,” she muttered.

  Not that it mattered much if the files got ruined. There wasn’t anything that was very helpful in them. All of that risk, all of that work obtaining them, and they hadn’t been worth much at all. It seemed like there was absolutely nothing in them of any value.

  She stared at the papers, trying to get them in some semblance of order. This was what she needed an assistant for. She regretted not bringing Vito with her. The results wouldn’t have been any worse than what she’d come up with alone. Sometimes she was just too stubborn to admit defeat. That was one thing she’d had trouble coming to grips with—she couldn’t do everything herself. No one could. At her practice in Boston, there’d been a team, so that if one of the vets had to go away, someone could always fill in.

  Here
was no different. She needed people. People like Vito, and Mason, and Concetta . . .

  Suddenly, a question popped into her head.

  Dr. Mauro had a practice catering to all the animals on the island. Did he have any help managing that practice?

  He’d had a receptionist’s desk, but Audrey hadn’t seen any clue in that front office area to say who it had been. Not that she’d looked very closely; at the time, she’d been too worried about getting caught. Perhaps it was a vet tech. Dr. Mauro had been getting on in age. Was it possible he’d done all his work alone? Even the best veterinarians needed some help, and from what she’d heard, Dr. Mauro had left a lot to be desired.

  Wiping the rainwater from the tip of her nose, she dove into the messy files in her arms, gently turning the damp pages as best she could, since they were fragile and sticking together. The words blurred, and in the descending darkness, it wasn’t easy to make out the print. She squinted. Atop one, she saw a name she’d never seen before: Flora Abruzzo. It looked like the report had been prepared by this person.

  Flora Abruzzo. Maybe all the work put into obtaining the files would be worth it, after all. It could be a lead. She’d have to ask Sabina or Vito and find out if they knew the woman.

  It was getting darker, but the rain was starting to slow. Unfortunately, she was soaked and exhausted, and though the walk to the shelter was only about a mile, it’d be an uphill journey. Just like everything I’ve been doing lately.

  Just then, lightning flashed across the clouded sky and thunder rumbled, shaking her. Taking a deep breath, she’d just made the decision to head out when someone suddenly stepped out from the alley and blocked her path.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Audrey let out a startled gasp as a man stepped in front of her. He looked a bit like a koala, with a pushed-down nose and two tufts of gray hair at his ears. At first, Audrey thought he was going to ask her for her wallet—that’s what would have happened if she’d been caught in an alley in Boston. But as the man kept speaking in mile-a-minute Italian, Audrey eventually made out the word furetto and determined he was talking about some kind of animal.

  “Slow down, please,” she begged as the man motioned behind him. “You say you have an animal? Injured?”

  “Emergenza!” the man shouted, frantic. “Emergenza!”

  “Oh. Emergency? Okay, please. Lead the way.”

  Stuffing her broken bag under her arm, she quickly followed the man down the alley and up the street, not even bothering to dodge puddles now, since she was soaked to the skin. All the while she had to wonder how this man knew who she was. It wasn’t like she was wearing a sign that said Veterinarian. But word clearly traveled fast around here, which was why just about everyone knew of Mauro’s death.

  And how fortunate that she’d been passing this way, just when he was having an emergency with his pet! As Audrey struggled to keep up, the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. It was Mason’s voice that she heard then: Audrey. You don’t know this man. This could be a ploy to get you alone so that he can hurt you. You need to be more careful.

  Yes, she often barged into situations head-first, without thinking. How many times had she had close calls in Mussomeli? Mason was her voice of reason and had helped her out of quite a few scrapes. Even now, he was helping her. As much as she wanted it not to, her heart hurt with the thought of him. She couldn’t deny it. She missed him.

  The rainstorm had just about ended, and even a little bit of sun began to poke through the clouds, by the time the man stopped in front of a rusted screen door. He paused for a moment and looked back solemnly, as if to warn her about something. Then he opened up the door and let her pass through into a living room.

  Her sneakers made a squick-squick-squick noise as she stepped inside. She looked down at the tiny puddle she was creating on the cement floor. “Is this—?”

  “Non ti preoccupare,” he said dismissively, ushering her through. “Sbrigati!” Hurry up!

  The room was small and austere, the only decoration on the white stucco wall a wooden cross. Beneath it, there were at least a dozen people, men, women, and children, all standing around the animal as if paying last respects to a beloved family member at a funeral. Their faces were grim, and a few of them were crying.

  Audrey had seen devoted pet owners, and loved whenever people treated pets as family, but she’d never seen such utter desolation in a room. The man shouted at them in Italian to move aside, and they did. With all the drama, she thought she’d see a child lying there, near death.

  Instead, taking up a tiny bit of space on a white pillow at the head of the bed, covered in lace-edged sheets, was a tiny ferret. Its black eyes stared miserably at nothing.

  “Oh. A . . . ferret?” She looked around, sure that there was some mistake.

  But then a woman leaned forward and kissed its tiny paw. As she moved close, a tear dropped onto the pillow beside the creature, darkening the fabric.

  Well . . . who am I to judge? I have a fox as a pet, and I’d probably be devastated if something happened to him.

  “What seems to be the problem?” Audrey asked, kneeling beside it.

  A few of the people began to speak in Italian, but a young girl in braids, who was probably the same age as Vito, said, “Milo is very bad. We found him this morning. He’d chewed through a lamp cord and we think he electrocuted himself.”

  Sure enough, the animal’s fur around his mouth appeared to be a little singed. Audrey placed her bag on the ground and pulled out her stethoscope. She checked his heart rate, which was a bit elevated, and turned him over, then pried open the animal’s mouth. Sure enough, he had the tell-tale black mark over his tongue that indicated electrocution.

  “Poor thing,” she said as the rest of the crowd looked over her, silent as a grave. “Was he out for a long time?”

  The girl shrugged. “We don’t know. When we found him, he was awake and acting strange, and then we found the chewed-up cord.”

  “Has he had any seizures?”

  The girl shook her head.

  “Well, his heart seems good and I don’t hear any fluid in the lungs, so there’s a good chance it isn’t anything too serious and he will be just fine. Still, he has a burn on his tongue so he’s probably going to be reluctant to eat anything soon. If he starts to have trouble breathing, I want you to find me right away.” She grabbed her prescription pad, which was a little damp, and a pen, and started to write out a prescription. “I want you to get these filled. This is an antibiotic for his mouth and a diuretic which should help keep everything clear. All right?”

  The girl took the slip of paper and nodded. “Yes. Thank you!” She turned to the crowd and started to translate. Everyone in the crowd sighed with relief, and began to gather around Audrey, hugging and kissing her cheeks.

  “No, oh, no problem at all,” she said, gathering up her things. The koala man thrust a few bills into her hand, but she quickly handed it back. “Oh, no. No charge. It’s fine.”

  An older woman spoke to her in an almost argumentative tone, and handed her a few jars of what looked like pasta sauce. Audrey looked at the young girl, who shrugged. “Mama insists that you take that. And she doesn’t take no for an answer.”

  “All right. Thank you. Please. I’m at Hotel Lipari if you need anything!”

  The young girl grabbed Audrey’s hand and succeeded in keeping the rest of the family at bay so that she could guide Audrey outside. When they were out there, she closed the door and sighed. “Sorry,” she said with a smile. She whirled a finger near her head. “My family is a little pazzo.”

  “Oh, no. That’s fine! That’s what I’m here for!” Audrey said, wiping the water dripping from her hairline away from her eyes. “Really, it’s no trouble . . . I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

  “Amalia.” She eyed Audrey with concern. “Can I get you a towel?”

  “Oh, it’s fine. I’m probably going to stop by the hotel and change anyway. I got a little held up tr
ying to rescue a few strays from that old house on the corner.”

  The girl smiled, baring pretty white teeth. “Oh, yes, that house has been like that for ages. Since I was a kid. I told Dr. Mauro about it, thought he might do something, but no.”

  “So he knew about it?”

  The rainstorm had passed, and now the stars were popping out everywhere in the clear, dusky-blue sky. The warm air was starting to dry Audrey’s clothes, leaving them stiff and uncomfortable. They began to walk together up the street. “Oh, yes. In his defense, though, he had a lot on his mind. There are a lot of strays around here.” She sighed. “Very terrible, what happened to him. I’m sure you heard?”

  Audrey nodded. “It was terrible. So he was Milo’s vet?”

  “Yes. That’s right. Ever since we got him. He took good care of him. Which was why, when he was hurt, Papa didn’t know what to do. Thank goodness I saw you, and knew who you were. So I told Papa, and he ran out and waved you down.”

  Audrey raised an eyebrow. “So you thought Dr. Mauro was a good doctor?”

  “Yes.” She laughed. “Oh, obviously, you’ve heard all the rumors about him. And Mama and Papa would be the first to tell you they were all true. But he wasn’t a bad man. He was a very good doctor for many years. My parents took all of our animals to him, even before I was born, and he took very good care of them all.”

  “I did hear rumors. That he was misdiagnosing pets, working under an expired license . . .”

  Amalia nodded. “Yes. It’s all true. A few years ago, he and his wife of like, thirty years separated. Papa said that really made him go off the deep end. That was the start. He couldn’t cope with it. And so he let the practice slide. Everything began to fall apart. At first, he just missed a few appointments. But it only got worse and worse. He stopped caring for himself. The clinic went to pot. He said some animals were fine when they were not. He didn’t seem to care about anything.”

  “He’s going through a divorce?”