“Pity,” Daniel said. “Sorry for taking up your time.”
He didn’t look sorry. Then Paige caught it, his eyes sliding behind her for a brief moment. Barkley suddenly barked.
She reached for the phone in her pocket, but she was too slow to react to the danger she knew, instinctively, that she was in.
As such, she didn’t move out of the way in time to avoid the arm that wrapped around her neck from behind.
Chapter 22: Fight or Flight
22: Fight or Flight
Paige cursed her lack of observation and dropped Barkley, hoping that the dog wasn’t hurt by the fall. Her phone went spinning out of her hand and clattered to the ground. She vaguely heard it buzz somewhere in the grass with an incoming message, but she could spare it any thought right now. The arm dragged her backward and she twisted in its grasp, trying to pull it off her as it put pressure on her throat, making her choke on the little air that she could breathe in.
Distantly, she could hear Barkley barking hysterically, but all her focus was on Daniel closing in on her. Finding that she couldn’t pull herself free, she drove her elbow backward instead, catching the person behind her in the stomach. She heard a gasp and then the arm loosened enough for her to pull free, swinging around to face both her assailants.
She wasn’t surprised to see that it was Jessica. The woman was snarling at her, holding her stomach where Paige had hit her. She was also between Paige and the front door of her apartment, cutting off any escape in that direction. Meanwhile, Daniel had positioned himself so that she would have to get past him if she wanted to run for her car. The two of them had boxed her in.
But neither of them had counted on Barkley.
Ever since Paige had gotten him, the puppy had been gentle and goofy, and empathetic enough to know when to simply sit quietly with her. Now, however, he was snarling and growling at the threats to his owner, fierce barks tearing themselves from his throat.
As Paige watched, he sprung off his back legs and leaped at Daniel, his teeth bared in an unmistakable threat. His teeth clamped around Daniel’s arm, which was reaching out toward Paige.
“ARGH!” Daniel cried, reeling back. “Get off!”
“Throw it off!” Jessica shrieked.
“Barkley, let go!” Paige yelled, ducking past Daniel and making a dash for her car, already pulling the keys out of her pocket.
But suddenly, there was a whine, and she whipped her head around in time to see Daniel pull Barkley off his arm by the scruff of his neck. The puppy hung in his hand for a moment, the man glaring hatefully at him with thin rivers of blood running from the bite marks. Then the puppy went flying as Daniel tossed him away, in the opposite direction. Barkley yelped as he hit the ground, rolled twice and then was still.
“Barkley!” Paige cried, horrified.
She dropped her keys and ran toward the puppy. She knew it was stupid; her top priority should be to get to safety. But there was no way she could leave Barkley with these two, especially not while he was injured, and certainly not after he had attempted to save her.
But she didn’t get very far. Daniel’s legs were longer, and he intercepted Paige before she could reach Barkley, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back, forcing her to face him. His fist was raised high, a cold look in his face, and Paige’s entire body locked up in anticipation of the blow.
Then, out of nowhere, there was a roar of fury and something tall tackled Daniel from the side, sending the man flying.
Stunned, Paige looked down. Daniel, not expecting the interaction, hadn’t reacted fast enough, and he was already on his stomach; his hands being cuffed behind his back as he groaned, still a little dazed from the hit.
Kneeling beside him, Jack looked up, a grim expression on his face.
“Are you okay, Paige?” he asked.
“Where did you come from?” Paige burst out.
Jack’s lips quirked into a smile. “Would you believe that I was coming to pick you up for lunch? I sent you a message when I was on my way.”
An incredulous laugh burst from Paige. Because, really, what were the chances? She even remembered her phone vibrating after she dropped it.
“So, do you want to explain what’s going on here?” Jack asked, looking around.
“Yeah,” Paige said. “Wait, where did Jessica go?”
“The woman ran off,” Jack said with a scowl. “Did she have something to do with this, too?”
“She, she attacked me, too,” Paige said, nodding. “I almost got away when Barkley… Barkley!”
Unable to believe that she had forgotten the dog for even a second, she whirled around and fell to her knees beside him. He was already moving though, pulling himself unsteadily to his feet. He was probably bruised, but otherwise, he seemed fine.
She ran a shaky hand down her face. She couldn’t believe that had just happened. She had come home so that she could be safe while she called Jack, but it seemed that her movements had been predicted. Daniel and Jessica had completely outplayed her because she had been too arrogant to ask for help when she needed it.
“Thank you,” Paige said, carefully gathering the puppy into her arms and hugging him. For a moment there, she had really thought… “We’ll take you the vet and get you checked out, yeah? You brave puppy.”
“Is he okay?” Jack asked, standing and hauling Daniel up as well.
“He’ll be okay,” Paige said, glaring at the man in handcuffs. “Daniel threw him.”
“Daniel…” Jack blinked. “Isn’t he the husband of your client?”
“Jessica, yeah,” Paige said. “She was the woman that ran off.” She gave Jack a sheepish smile at his clear surprise. “I…might have a few things I need to tell you.”
Jack closed his eyes, almost as though he was praying for strength.
“It looks like it,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not sure what’s going on, Paige, but, tell me the truth, please; have you been investigating?”
Paige shifted uncomfortably. “Would you believe me if I said some of it was an accident?”
“Probably not,” he said. “Let’s go down to the station. We need to get this guy in a holding cell. And you need to tell me exactly what you’ve been up to.”
More than once, Jack simply wanted to just close his ears and pretend that this was all a nightmare. It had been bad enough pulling up at Paige’s apartment just in time to see her and Barkley being attacked.
Now, though? Now it was so much worse to know that Paige had been actively seeking trouble.
“I was on my way to call you!” Paige protested. “Look, I just had a bad feeling, was all. I had no proof!”
“Finding proof wasn’t your responsibility!” Jack snapped. “If you had come to me with your suspicions, I could have looked into it for you!”
“They were my clients,” Paige said mutinously.
“That doesn’t mean you chase down suspected killers…on your own!” Jack said. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You’re a divorce lawyer, not a cop!”
Why the hell had he fallen in love with this stubborn, foolish woman? Oh, right. He’d fallen in love with that side of her to start with.
“Just…” Jack deflated. “Couldn’t you have just trusted me to do my job, Paige?”
He opened his eyes to see Paige’s eyes opening with shock.
“I know you want to help,” he said, defeated. “I understand it, I really do. I…really enjoyed investigating with you last time. I liked being able to bounce theories off you. But this isn’t your job. I could lose mine if I’m not careful. This is what I do for a living, Paige. I was doing this long before you returned to Otter Rock. Why couldn’t you just trust me to do it properly? Maybe I didn’t put all the pieces together fast enough…” He shot her a glare. “Though I might have done so if I had all the pieces. But I would have gotten there. Did it mean that much to you to tell me how much better you could do it?”
“No!” Paige burst out, sounding horrified. “No, that
wasn’t it at all, Jack! It’s…” Her shoulders slumped. “During the last case we investigated, you listened to me, and talked to me. But on this one, you just kept telling me that there was nothing that I could do, that you didn’t need my help. I thought that you didn’t trust me. So…I guess I wanted to show you that you could.”
Jack stared at her. Then he burst into incredulous laughter.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked. “That’s what this was about?”
“What was I supposed to think?” Paige snapped, embarrassed. “And you were thinking the same thing!”
Jack stopped laughing as he realized that she was right.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Paige said, closing her eyes. “I should have talked to you about it.”
“Yeah,” Jack said with a sigh. “But I should have, too. We’re both a pair of fools, aren’t we?”
Paige gave him a tentative smile. “Does that mean I’m forgiven for going behind your back to investigate?”
“Not a hope,” Jack said cheerfully, making her smile fall. “The paperwork alone is going to be a nightmare, you know. And we’ve still got Jessica Wilson on the run. We also need to find the evidence that they are the killers. There was nothing left on the crime scene; the bloody water washed it all away.”
“Which was probably why they chose to kill Jonathan there,” Paige pointed out.
“No doubt,” Jack sighed.
“Speaking of evidence… I might have something,” Paige said. She coughed when Jack raised an eyebrow at her. “In all fairness, I only discovered the significance of this today, and I was on my way to call you about it when I got ambushed. I found a watch at the beach. Daniel told me it belonged to him. I think it has blood on it. I also have a saved call on my phone…maybe you can figure out where Daniel made the call from on the day of the murder?”
“Not on a cell, Paige,” Jack said. “We might have been able to track him at the time of the call, but not after the fact.”
Paige snorted. “Then Daniel gave himself away for nothing. It was him asking me about Barkley and then questioning me about the call that made me suspicious. I did listen to the call, but all you can hear is water in the background, which isn’t much use.”
“Circumstantial evidence, at most,” Jack agreed. “But it might be useful. Are you okay to lose your phone for a few days?”
“Why don’t you just give me the sim card and I’ll grab a cheap phone at the store?” Paige suggested. “I need my phone for clients, after all.”
“Good idea,” Jack said, standing and stretching. “So, where did you leave this evidence?”
“The top drawer of my desk at the office,” Paige said, pulling her keys out of her pocket. “Here; the door and the drawer are both locked, so you’ll need these.”
“Thanks,” Jack said. He nodded to Barkley; the puppy was curled tightly on Paige’s lap. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I think he’s more spooked than anything,” Paige said, brushing a soothing hand down the dog’s spine. “Did you know Jackson’s family has a farm and he’s used to looking after animals? He took a look at Barkley for me when we arrived, while you were on the phone; nothing seems to be broken, but I think he’ll be bruised for a while. I’ll run him to the vet in a minute, anyway.”
“Not alone,” Jack warned. “Especially when we don’t know where Jessica is.”
“I’ll stay here,” Paige promised.
Jack didn’t really want to leave Paige on her own, not after what she had done while left to her own devices before now, and especially not with a possible murderer on the loose, but he had no choice.
“I have my cell on me,” he said, patting his pocket. “Call me if there’s trouble.”
“I’ll be fine,” Paige said reassuringly. “Go on.”
Jack hesitated for a moment more and then sighed. It would have to be fine. He had a case to solve.
Nearly an hour later, after sitting quietly in Jack’s office while she contemplated everything that had happened, Paige almost jumped out of her skin when the office door opened. Her hand was already on the phone before she realized that it was Jack.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the sheriff said.
“No, it’s okay,” Paige said, coaxing Barkley into sitting again; he had jumped up and growled at her fright. “Sorry, I’m a little…on edge.”
“I can’t say I blame you,” Jack said.
“Any word on Jessica?” Paige asked.
“None so far,” Jack said. “There are officers stationed near her house, though; she might return there at some point.”
“Sorry, I wish I knew what car they drove, but I never saw it,” Paige sighed.
“Well, for now, she’s laying low,” Jack said. “But she’ll have to surface sometime.”
“What about Daniel?” Paige asked. “Anything from him, yet?”
Jack let out a harsh bark of laughter. “No, we’re letting him stew for a bit while we collect the evidence we need. I don’t want to go in there without a full hand.”
“That’s fair enough,” Paige said. “So, you found the watch?”
“Yeah,” Jack said, pulling something small out of his pocket. “And your phone. Here’s the SIM card, by the way. And, here.”
Startled, Paige caught the box Jack tossed at her. It was for a phone, and not for one of those cheap things she was going to pick up from the local store. It looked like Jack had gotten it from a proper electronic store.
“Your phone is ancient,” Jack informed her. “How old is it?”
“It’s only five years old,” Paige said, frowning at him.
“Yes, well, the audio on it was crappy, and it was slow to boot,” Jack said bluntly. “Take that one instead; when we’ve finished using your old one, we’ll give you that one back so you can transfer everything over.”
Paige wanted to protest. She knew Jack was giving this as a gift, and not just because her phone wasn’t upgraded. But she caught the look in his eyes and subsided.
“First Barkley, now this,” she grumbled. “You’re spoiling me.”
“Yeah?” Jack asked, moving around the desk to sit down. “I won’t apologize for that. I want to spoil you. For as long as you’ll let me.”
Startled, Paige looked up. Jack gave her a small smile and leaned back in his chair.
“Anyway, we have a few results from the watch,” Jack said before Paige could say anything. “The testing is still being done, but it’s definitely blood on it, and it’s the same type as the blood on the beach, so we’re almost certain it will be a positive match. More telling, though, were the fingerprints.”
“You got some fingerprints off it?” Paige asked, surprised.
“On the inside, actually,” Jack said with a laugh. “That thing must have been shut tight. Your fingerprints were on it, where you must have opened it and touched the face. There were two other sets inside it. One set belonged to Daniel Wilson. The other set belonged to Jessica Wilson; we had her prints on file because of the investigation. If the blood on the watch is a match to Jonathan Cook’s, the two of them will have a lot to answer for.”
“Wow,” Paige said. A thought occurred to her. “My fingerprints are on the watch. Doesn’t that mean I’m a suspect?”
“You’re actually saved by the fact that only your fingerprints are on the casing, proving that you picked it up after it was caught in the water and sand,” Jack explained. “On top of that, only one fingerprint inside the watch belonged to you, where you must have touched the glass. Daniel and Jessica’s fingerprints were all over the inside.” He grinned. “You also have an ironclad alibi.”
“Yes; I was in an appointment with the murderers,” Paige grumbled. “That’s going to look great on file.”
Jack chuckled. “Don’t worry so much about it. Anyway, I’m going to go and question Daniel once the blood results come in. No,” he added, seeing Paige open her mouth. “You can’t watch.”
Paige sighed but nodded, under
standing. “Fine. But you’ll tell me about it?”
“That’s probably crossing the line,” Jack said, then grimaced at Paige’s pleading expression. “Alright. But you have to wait here while I do that. Do you want me to call someone in to look at Barkley?”
“That would be great,” Paige said with relief. “Thanks, Jack.”
“In the meantime, I think we could do with some food,” Jack said. “Hungry?”
Paige’s stomach rumbled and she blushed. “Starving.”
Then, after lunch…they could finally get those answers they had been chasing.
Chapter 23: Answers
23: Answers
“Looks like Barkley is going to be fine,” Melissa Davis, the town’s unofficial vet, said with a smile.
Paige smiled back. She had known Melissa since she was a child, though the woman had only been a teenager herself, back then. She had grown up on a farm, much like Jackson had, and had spent most of her time caring for a range of different animals. She had been particularly fond of providing them with medical care, so it had surprised the town when, instead of going on to become a vet, she had studied to be a doctor instead.
In times of emergency, though, many in Otter Rock turned to Melissa for advice for their animals, and she did the best she could to provide for them before their owners could get them to a certified vet.
“I’m glad,” Paige said, heartfelt. “Thank you, Melissa.”
“It isn’t a problem,” Melissa said, standing. “Just let him rest for the next few days. Take him to the vet if any serious symptoms start showing up. I believe it’s just bruising, but you don’t mess around with injuries.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Paige promised.
“Good,” Melissa said. She stretched. “Sorry, I have to run; I have an appointment scheduled for four thirty.”
“No, don’t apologize,” Paige assured her. “I’m really grateful to you for doing this.”
The Comfy Canine Murder Case Page 15