Jack went quiet, and Paige’s shoulders hunched. She knew Jack didn’t like talking about how bored she was in Otter Rock. She wished she could reassure him…but she still didn’t even know what she wanted, yet.
“I spent most of the afternoon with Barkley,” she said, wanting to fill the awkward silence. “I swear, he gets into everything. I did come home to do some work after we went to the school today, but he distracted me. So instead of finishing up the Munroe file, I researched different dog food, booked us in for another lesson at the training school, and I bought some toys online.” She scowled. “I didn’t get any work done at all.”
She smiled when Jack laughed.
“You said you weren’t seeing Lily Munroe until Thursday, so you still have some time,” he said.
“Yeah,” she said. She made a face at Barkley. “He’s still a menace, though.”
Jack laughed again. “At least he’s keeping you busy.” He sighed. “I better go; I just wanted to talk to you for a bit.”
“You can always call whenever you want,” Paige pointed out. “I know you don’t want me involved, but I can always listen if you need me to.”
“Thanks,” Jack said, and Paige frowned at how dismissive that sounded. “Goodnight, Paige.”
“Goodnight.”
Paige sighed as she hung up, some of her gloomy mood from earlier returning. She really did understand why Jack didn’t want her involved… but she didn’t know why he wouldn’t talk to her. He was obviously tired and worn out. At the very least, she could help by listening to him voice his thoughts.
But he didn’t even seem to want that.
Shoving the thought away, Paige scooped up Barkley.
“Bedtime,” she announced.
She was more than ready for today to end. Hopefully, everything would feel a bit brighter tomorrow.
Chapter 7: Bad Luck
7: Bad Luck
The next morning, Paige woke up in a thoroughly bad mood. It worried her that Jack had sounded so tired and unhappy, and it irritated her that there was little that she could do about it.
There was also a tiny part of her that was annoyed that Jack would refuse her help on the case if she offered it. Hadn’t she already proved that she was good enough to help him? She understood the legal complications…but who had to know, anyway? As long as they kept it quiet, no one would get into trouble.
Then she sighed. She was just being selfish again. Jack had very good reasons for telling her that she had no right to look at the case. He was the sheriff, and this was his job. She was a divorce lawyer, and her job wasn’t to look into the murder of a man she had only met once.
Speaking of being a divorce lawyer…
Paige looked at her watch. She had an appointment with Jessica Wilson in an hour. They had gotten very little done yesterday, so she needed the woman to come in and go over some of the details with her. At the very least Paige needed to know how, exactly, they wanted to split the assets, and whether Daniel had managed to get his own lawyer.
That left her with an hour to do nothing other than wallow in her own thoughts. Paige looked at her watch again and sighed. She couldn’t go into an appointment when she was a ball of energy and frustration.
Paige wandered into the kitchen, wondering if a cup of tea might settle her. As she flicked the switch on the kettle, however, Barkley barreled out of nowhere, barking excitedly.
“Good morning,” she said, bending down to pat the excited dog. “You’ve got a lot of energy, today.”
Barkley ran to the couch and back, almost tripping over his own paws. Paige couldn’t help but laugh; he was so full of energy.
Then she paused. Barkley was energetic. She needed to work off some steam. So maybe she could take the puppy for a walk until her appointment?
She had time, after all. She usually took Barkley on a walk in the evenings, but it was a cool day today, and a walk would do them both good. With this thought in mind, Paige took Barkley’s leash down from the hook by the door, and shook it to get his attention.
Barkley froze in the middle of licking his paw and looked at her, blinking his large, brown eyes. Then he raced toward her, more excited than ever as he leaped up to her, his paws scrabbling at her knees.
“Alright, alright,” Paige laughed, kneeling down and getting a face full of dog slobber for her troubles. “Ew, Barkley! I know you’re excited, but calm down!”
She managed to get the lead clicked onto his collar, and he ran for the door, only to be pulled up short because Paige hadn’t gotten to her feet yet. Barkley whined, running around her.
“Watch it!” she yelped, and stepped over the leash before he managed to tangle her in it. “Alright, you crazy dog, let’s go.”
Leaving her car behind, she kept to her decision to walk into town. It was only a fifteen-minute journey on foot, as she had discovered when she took Barkley this way two nights ago. It had made her feel guilty for not walking to work more often; it was ironic that she had walked the half an hour trip to work far more often in Portland because of how terrible and expensive parking was, yet, in this small town where everywhere was only a few minutes walk away from anything, she drove more often than not.
Walking with Barkley, however, had shown her just how much she was missing while she was closed up in her car. She and Jack, as well as some of their other friends, used to run around Otter Rock all the time, dashing around the coast, dodging the rising tides and rolling over the gentle, grassy hills. The salty smell of the sea was one thing she had desperately missed in Portland, and she breathed it in now.
Now she was surrounded by the familiar sounds of her childhood. She could hear, distantly, the roar of some sort of engine, as well as the sound of waves crashing against the nearby cliffs. As she got closer to town, Paige could hear the sound of quiet conversation between the few others on the street, and the tinkling of a bell as someone left the general store.
Paige had started to wonder if this town would suffocate her in silence. But maybe she was the one that just wasn’t listening hard enough.
“If Jack’s plan was to get me to appreciate Otter Rock a little better by getting you…it’s working,” she informed Barkley.
The puppy just looked up at her, his tongue lolling out. She smiled down at him.
Because she wasn’t watching where she was going, however, she almost ran into someone walking the other way. She veered out of the way at the last second, and the other person stepped back, startled to suddenly have someone in their personal space.
“Sorry!” Paige said. She blinked at the sight of vibrantly red hair. She knew this person… “Olivia Clark?”
She hadn’t seen much of Olivia since Cynthia Johnson’s case had ended. She had professed herself to be Cynthia’s best friend, but it had come out that Cynthia had betrayed Olivia during the set-up of a business the two of them had wanted to run. In order to get the money for the divorce from her powerful husband, Cynthia had sold her shares in the business, and the dreams Olivia and Cynthia had worked so hard for had fallen apart. After the case was solved, Olivia had taken a holiday overseas, though Paige didn’t know when she had returned.
She also didn’t know why Olivia was scowling at her as though Paige had personally offended her. The woman had never been formally accused, and likely wasn’t aware that there were even thoughts that she was a suspect in the murder, so it didn’t make sense for Olivia to be glaring at her like this when they had only met once before, when she and Jack had gone to question her about her relationship with Cynthia.
“Paige,” Olivia said, her voice flat. “Nice to see you.”
“You too?” Paige said, confused. “How are you doing?”
“Fine,” Olivia said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Then she turned on her heel and stalked away. Paige blinked, confused by her attitude. Then she shook her head. It didn’t matter, and she did have to remember that the poor woman had lost her best friend not that long ago, no matter wha
t had happened between them before that.
She glanced at her watch. She had taken her time meandering into town, and now she had only fifteen minutes to get to her appointment. She was here in town, so that wasn’t much of an issue… but she had forgotten that she had Barkley with her.
Paige eyed him.
“Think you’re good enough to come and sit in the office with me?” she asked.
Barkley yapped at her and then went back to watching a butterfly that was fluttering around nearby. Paige sighed. She unfortunately didn’t have much of a choice; she should have kept a better eye on the time.
Though, this had been good for her. The tight frustration in her chest had loosened, and she felt far more relaxed and able to deal with her client. It would be fine; she could just leave Barkley in the outer office with some water while she spoke to Jessica.
Once she got to the office, Paige found somewhere to secure Barkley’s leash, not wanting him to dash out the door if someone opened it, and scoured her little kitchenette until she found a bowl to fill with water. Barkley lapped eagerly at the water, and she scratched his ears fondly, sitting with him for a few more minutes.
When the door opened, Paige stretched and got to her feet, smiling at Jessica as she came in the door.
“Hi, Jessica, thanks for coming in,” she said.
“It isn’t a problem,” Jessica said, shaking her head. She looked at Barkley. “And who is this?”
“This is Barkley, the dog I’ve been taking to the training school,” Paige said. “He’s only a puppy, and he’s a bit mischievous.”
Jessica laughed. “I’d imagine. Did you want to talk out here, then?”
“No, Barkley will be fine,” Paige said. “We can talk in my office, but we’ll leave the door open.”
She led Jessica to the small office, and sat down in her chair, smiling at the feel of the soft leather. While she appreciated looking at Otter Rock with new eyes while she took Barkley for walks, she had also become aware of just how unfit she was in the last week, and her muscles did not appreciate the continued strain.
“You said you still had some things to talk to us about?” Jessica asked, sitting on the other side of the desk.
“Yes,” Paige said with a nod. “We still need to discuss…”
She was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. She blushed and dug it out of her pocket; she had forgotten to turn the sound off.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Jessica, cringing at herself; what a rookie mistake.
“It’s okay,” Jessica said with a dismissive wave of the hand. “It’s probably Daniel; I told him we had an appointment today.”
Paige stared at her. What part of “Daniel needs another lawyer” had the couple not understood yesterday? Were the two of them purposely going out of their way to make this as difficult as they could?
Unfortunately, she couldn’t just ignore the call. With some trepidation, she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear, not about to make the same mistake of putting it on speaker.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hello, this is Daniel Wilson,” the man on the other end greeted. “My wife said that we had an appointment with you today, as well? Why do we have an appointment today when we saw you yesterday?”
“Your wife has an appointment with me, Mr. Wilson,” Paige corrected. So much for taking a walk to calm herself; she could already feel her frustration rising again. “I need to discuss with her what her thoughts on the outcome of the divorce are.”
“Which is what we both need to be present for,” Daniel pointed out.
Paige momentarily closed her eyes, praying for patience.
“Mr. Wilson, yesterday we discussed how these proceedings work,” she said, trying her hardest not to snap. “It is a conflict of interest for me to represent both you and your wife. If you would like these proceedings to run smoothly, you need to find another lawyer who specializes in divorce. If you would like proceedings to pause while you do this, I am more than happy to accommodate that.”
On the other end, Daniel scoffed, his disdain clear. “Seems to me that you lawyers just want to make the most money you can out of the two of us.”
“Your lawyer would represent your best interests, while I represent your wife’s,” Paige said through gritted teeth. “The two of you don’t need to interact much at all in these proceedings, to make things easier for both of you. Through you, your lawyers will come to a compromise that you can both agree on. These proceedings will only take as long as we need to reach that compromise.”
There was a sulky silence. Then Daniel huffed.
“Fine,” he snapped.
There was a click and then the dial tone; he had hung up on Paige. Paige worked her expression into some semblance of calm and put the phone down, managing a strained smile at Jessica.
“Sorry about that,” the other woman said with a careless shrug. “I guess the idiot didn’t really understand what you were saying yesterday.”
“It’s fine,” Paige said, clearing her throat. “Now, let’s get down to discussing your thoughts.”
As she handed Jessica a form to read over, Paige heard the distinct sound of something ripping in the outer office. She let out an inaudible sigh and hoped that the day would be over soon.
Chapter 8: Suspects
8: Suspects
It said something that Paige did not schedule another appointment with Jessica Wilson after they finally finished the paperwork. It had taken far longer than she had expected it to; Jessica questioned everything and required an explanation for things that Paige hadn’t expected to have to explain. By the time they finished, it was late afternoon, and she was more than glad to simply tell the woman to phone her when she was ready to come in and see her again.
She would regret that later. For now, though, as Jessica left, promising to phone in the next few days, Paige was happy to see her leave.
Then she finally turned her attention to Barkley. The puppy was curled up under a chair, dozing peacefully. Scraps of clawed and chewed paper littered the floor, and Paige really hoped that Barkley hadn’t destroyed anything important. She would hate to have to explain to one of her clients that they had to redo their paperwork because her dog ate it when she carelessly left it within his reach.
“At least you’re happy,” she said with a sigh.
He opened an eye when she reached down to untie his leash, and stretched. The sight of him pushing his little legs away from his body, shaking his head to get rid of the last vestiges of sleep, was terribly cute, and Paige had snapped a picture on her phone before she realized it. Then the puppy ambled to his feet, his jaw open in what was unmistakably a doggy yawn.
She rolled her eyes at him. Looked like he had exhausted himself ripping her papers to shreds.
“Ready to go home?” she asked the Beagle, standing and wrapping his lead around her wrist. “Hope you don’t mind a walk.”
Her calves twitched at the reminder that they still had to walk home, but Barkley perked right up, his tail wagging wildly. She laughed as she grabbed her purse and opened the office door, making him dart past her in his excitement to get outside.
“Come on,” she said to Barkley as she locked the door. “Let’s go home, eat dinner and watch some stupid tv for a while; I can do without having to think about anything for a little while.”
At least she didn’t have any appointments tomorrow, she decided as she and Barkley left town. She could spend the day forgetting about her frustrations.
Jack sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, trying and failing to suppress a yawn. He grimaced as he picked up the phone and dialed a number that was now as familiar to him as his own.
“Hello?” came Paige’s voice after three rings. She sounded groggy.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Jack asked.
“Yeah,” Paige said with a tired huff. “It’s eight o’clock, Jack; why are you calling me now?”
“I honestly thought you would be up,
” Jack said apologetically.
“No clients today,” Paige said with a yawn. “So, I got to sleep in.” He could almost feel her glare down the line. “Well…I was going to get to sleep in.”
“Sorry,” Jack said, but he couldn’t help the amused smile that crept onto his lips. Paige was always grouchy in the morning. “Do you want me to call back later?”
“Don’t bother, I’m awake now,” Paige said, sounding like she highly resented that fact. “What did you want, anyway?”
“Actually, I need you to come down to the station,” Jack said. “Do you have time to do that today?”
“I guess I can make time,” Paige said. “Do you have a time you want me to come in?”
“An hour?” Jack offered, looking at the clock.
He had honestly hoped that she would be able to come in almost as soon as he phoned, but that had been banking on her already being out of bed. He wasn’t cruel enough to insist that she come down while she was still half asleep.
Especially considering what he had to talk to her about.
“An hour is fine,” Paige said with another yawn. “I’ll see you then.”
“See you in an hour,” Jack returned, and hung up.
He couldn’t help but laugh as he did so. Paige was going to kick herself for not questioning him further on why he wanted her down at the station when she woke up a little more. It was a mark of how tired she was that she hadn’t buried him in questions.
“All good?” Jackson asked, poking his head through the door.
“She’ll be here in an hour,” Jack said.
Jackson raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted her to come in straight away.”
“Yeah, that was before I realized she had a day off,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “I woke her up, so I figured I better give her time to get ready.”
“So sweet, sheriff,” the officer snickered. “How did she take being told that she was getting questioned?”
“She doesn’t know yet,” Jack said. “She wasn’t awake enough to ask why I wanted her to come in.”
The Comfy Canine Murder Case Page 5