by Maria Geraci
“And he liked Abby?”
“He didn’t dislike her, but we would never have given Cornelius away without Miss Deborah’s consent. It wouldn’t have been right.”
“Then how did he end up with Abby? Deborah says that he ran away.”
Anthony sets down his teacup. “Hardly. Corneluis would have never run away. He was dognapped.”
I knew it! “For real?”
“We have security footage showing the culprit. But…Miss Deborah didn’t want to involve the police.”
So the whole story of Paco running away was just that. A story.
“Do you have proof that Abby Delgado stole Cornelius?”
“No,” Anthony says firmly, “Not Miss Delgado. It was a man who took Cornelius.”
“A man?” My heart speeds up. “Anthony, is there any way I can take a look at that footage?”
Chapter Fourteen
Holy wow. It’s just as I suspected. Paco was dognapped by my favorite sociopath, Derrick Delgado.
After viewing the tape and promising Aurelia and Anthony that I’ll keep in touch to let them know Cornelius’s fate, I get in my car and head back to Whispering Bay.
PTSD, my butt. Wait till Will hears about this.
He sits on his living room couch with Paco on his lap listening to my story.
“I knew he was lying to the police, but now we have him on tape.”
“You lied to the police, too. When you didn’t tell Travis about how Abby was upset with Sebastian. But that doesn’t mean you had anything to do with Abby’s death.”
I give Will the stink eye. “Whose side are you on?”
“I won’t dignify that with an answer. So the brother kidnapped the dog for Abby. All that proves is that they were in sync. He was probably doing her a favor.”
“Then why lie about not knowing anything about the dog?”
“Maybe because what he did was illegal?”
“Which means that he’s capable of doing other illegal activities. Like breaking and entering into the rec center.”
“What’s all this leading to?”
“We need to confront Derrick Delgado.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. I can’t just show up there on my own when he’s already reported me to the police, can I?”
“The police?”
Oops.
“I forgot to tell you that part. When Derrick realized I didn’t work for the law firm, he called the police. But only because he thought I was a scam artist, which goes to prove how unstable he is. I mean, really? Me? A scam artist?”
“I don’t like this, Lucy.”
“Does that mean you’re out? Because I’m going to confront him with or without you.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“So sue me.”
He shakes his head as if he can’t believe he’s going to help me, then goes to the hall closet to pull out a jacket. “I’m driving.”
“Awesome! Oh…and Will, just so you know, Derrick has a shotgun.”
Me and my big mouth. If I hadn’t told Will about Derrick’s shotgun, he wouldn’t have involved Travis.
“You were right to call me,” Travis says to Will as we all pile into Will’s car. He glares at me. “I thought you were going to update me on the dog?”
“I was. Eventually.”
Travis is off duty, but the second he heard about my plans to confront Derrick he practically ran all the way to Will’s house to join us. “For the record, I’m against this.”
“Then go home,” I say in a fake sweet voice.
“Believe me, I would if I didn’t think you were going to hightail it over there no matter what Will or I say.”
Will chuckles. “It’s amazing how well you’ve come to know her in so little time.”
“Sweet. I have two knights in shining armor.” Despite my sarcasm, the truth is I’m glad that both Will and Travis are coming with me. I have no idea what Derrick Delgado is capable of, and I really don’t want to find out on my own. Plus, you know, he does have that squirrel in his arsenal.
It’s past eight p.m. by the time we get to Derrick’s, and it’s full-on dark. Since he lives on the edge of town on a dirt road, there aren’t any street lights. Weeds cover the narrow path leading to the trailer. Luckily, Will keeps a couple of flashlights in the trunk of his car.
“Are you sure this is the address?” Will asks, aiming his light on the dented steel mailbox. The peel-on street numbers are faded from the sun making them difficult to read. I’m confident this is it, but I want to make sure, so I move the red side flag out of the way to get a better look at the numbers. It’s so rusty and old that it falls off in my hands.
“This is the place, all right,” I confirm.
“I can’t believe you came out here all alone,” Will says like a disapproving older brother. “Sebastian would have a cow if he knew you were running around confronting strange men with guns.”
“How was I to know he’d pull a gun on me? Besides, all’s well that ends well, right?”
Before Will can answer, the porch light snaps on.
“Who’s out there?” asks a gruff male voice.
“Mr. Delgado, it’s Officer Travis Fontaine from the Whispering Bay police department. I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.”
The front door opens, and Derrick steps out. He’s holding the infamous shotgun, but this time it’s not aimed at anyone’s head.
“Whoa.” Travis points to the gun. “No need for that, sir.”
Derrick’s eyes go wide as he spots me. “That’s her! That’s the gal who tried to rob me.”
“Rob you?” I sputter. “I admit, I might have misrepresented myself the other day, but believe me there is absolutely nothing you have that I’d want to rob you of.”
He scowls at Will. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Lucy’s.”
“So you’re her accomplice.”
Travis clears his throat. “About those questions, Mr. Delgado?”
“I ain’t got nothing to hide, so ask away. But make it quick. I got a pot pie in the microwave.”
“Miss McGuffin says she saw a surveillance tape that shows you jumping over a fence at Susan Van Dyke’s house and stealing her dog. Do you know anything about that?”
Derrick’s face registers shock for a second before he masks it with a sneer. “That’s nuts. I don’t know any Susan Van Dyke. And what the hell would I want with her dog?”
“Abby had Cornelius with her when she died. You dognapped him for her, didn’t you?” I demand.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. Unless you’re going to arrest me for something, then you bozos better get off my property.”
Travis nods sternly. “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Delgado.”
“Cooperation?” I turn to Travis. “That’s it? You’re aren’t going to take him down to the police station? What kind of cop are you?”
A muscle on the side of Travis’s jaw twitches. “Lucy, I told you before, leave this to the professionals.”
Derrick grins like he knows he’s got the upper hand. “Yeah, listen to the nice cop, Lucy.”
The way he says my name gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Will takes me by the elbow. “Let’s go,” he says quietly. “We’re not going to get anywhere by antagonizing him.”
The last thing I want to do is leave. Not when I know that Derrick is guilty of taking Paco and who knows what else. But I don’t have any choice.
I start to follow Will down the steps, then I remember that I’m still holding onto the mail flag. I hand Derrick the rusty red flag. “By the way, this fell off your mailbox.”
He looks at it a second, then tosses it into his yard. “I should sue you for the destruction of personal property, but I’m feelin’ generous, so I’ll just tell you to go on and get.” He slams the door in our faces with a loud whack. A few seconds later the porch light goes out.
“Guess he wants to save on h
is electric bill,” Will mutters.
“I really wish you’d let me ask the questions here,” Travis says to me. “You forget this dognapping didn’t happen in Whispering Bay. If Deborah Van Dyke doesn’t want to press charges or get the Destin police involved, then there’s not much I can do about it. I can’t haul him down to the police station unless I have some evidence that he committed a crime in Whispering Bay. Got it?”
“So is breaking and entering into a public building considered a crime?”
“I’m not going to arrest Sebastian for that.”
“Not yet anyway. What about Derrick? What if he broke into the building? What if he…what if he stole a key to the building and left it unlocked for some nefarious purpose?”
Travis looks at me like I’ve grown another head. “Where do you get this stuff?”
“I don’t know, but if it did go down that way, then he was definitely up to no good, and it’s your responsibility as a police officer to get to the bottom of it.”
“Okay, yeah. If that’s the case, then, yeah, I’ll arrest him. But good luck getting your proof. ” He catches up to Will, who’s already halfway to the car.
I hang back, slowly walking through the weedy yard, aiming the flashlight on the ground, until—Bingo!
I really can’t believe our good luck.
I gingerly pick up the mailbox flag.
Will turns around and aims his light at me. “Lucy? What are you doing?” He winces when he sees the flag in my hand. “Unless your tetanus shot is up to date, I’d drop that.”
“Yeah, I’d—” Travis stops when he sees the expression on my face. His frown is replaced with a grudging look of admiration.
“Oh,” says Will, catching on as well.
“Yep,” I say, grinning, “We just got Derrick Delgado’s fingerprints.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Ha!” I shout gleefully from the backseat of the car. “Now all you have to do is match the fingerprints on that mail flag to the prints on the doorknob, and you’ll have the proof you need. I can’t wait to see the look on Derrick Delgado’s face when you arrest him for breaking into the rec center.”
Travis turns around in his seat to face me. “That’s if the prints match. And even if they do that doesn’t mean he entered the building illegally.”
“Have you always had such a negative attitude? Good thing I was there when the technicians were dusting the doorknob. Don’t forget my prints are going to be there too. Do you think I should be reprinted? So that the lab can tell whose prints belong to who?”
“The lab is perfectly capable of making that distinction,” Travis says testily.
“Anyone want to stop for a burger and a shake?” Will asks. “I didn’t have dinner so—”
“You’re just mad because you didn’t think to get Derrick’s fingerprints,” I say to Travis.
“Hardly. Like I said, even if his fingerprints are there, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“I know. I know. I should leave it to the professionals.”
Travis makes a growling sound deep in his throat. “I admit, getting his fingerprints was pretty clever. Happy now?”
“Extremely.”
Will catches my gaze in the rearview mirror. He looks confused.
“What?” I say to him. “Oh. The burger and shake. I’m good either way.”
“Yeah,” says Travis. “Stop if you want, or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Will doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t stop for food either. Instead, he drives back to his house in silence. Once there, Travis heads to the police station with the evidence I’m pretty sure is going to get Derrick in a lot of hot water. Or at least I hope so.
“Luce,” Will says, stopping me as I’m about to get in my car, “What was all that about?”
“All what about?”
He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Between you and Travis. I know you don’t like the guy, but that was a little extreme, don’t you think?”
“Oh, that.” I chuckle. “That was just some good-natured ribbing. Travis is…all right. A little stuffy, maybe, but we made our peace last night.”
“Last night?”
“He came by my place after hours to talk about the case. He even ate one of my muffins. And he liked it. I was working on my newest batch of the mango coconut recipe. I think I’m really close to perfecting it.”
Will nods thoughtfully, but I can tell something’s bothering him. Only I have no idea what it might be, and he doesn’t seem inclined to tell me, so we say our goodbyes, and I head to The Bistro.
Back home in my apartment, I settle in for my third night (and second in a row) with Paco, who insists on sleeping at the foot of my bed. I think I’m going to have to double my dose of Benadryl.
Even though I’ve basically taken enough medication to put me in a coma, I have trouble sleeping. I lay awake with Paco snuggled next to me, and I can’t help but think about Susan Van Dyke. Anthony and Aurelia made her sound like she was a nice person. I really need to do right by this little dog of hers.
The next morning, I drag myself out of bed because once again I didn’t fall asleep until after two. Paco, on the other hand, looks chirpy and refreshed. Currently, he’s trotting back and forth between the apartment upstairs and the restaurant. He goes up to the patrons, happily accepting their pats on his head, and never begs or makes a pest of himself.
It’s as if he’s on his best behavior, showing me what a great addition he’d make to The Bistro. Unfortunately, his nice dog routine isn’t going to work with me because I can’t live on Benadryl forever.
Just as I think that I need to call Lanie to update her on the dog situation, she and Dharma walk through the door. Paco immediately runs up to be petted.
“Hey, little guy!” Lanie scoops him up and kisses him on the nose. “Isn’t he adorable?” she asks Dharma.
Dharma gazes at Paco warily.
“I thought you were bringing him back to Susan Van Dyke’s family,” says Lanie.
I fill them in on what happened yesterday, including the fact that Paco was dognapped by Derrick Delgado.
“Wow. That’s crazy. So he needs a permanent home, huh?”
“Babe,” Dharma says firmly like she already knows where this is headed, “we already have four dogs. You promised. Not one more.”
“But—” The look on Dharma’s face stops Lanie mid-sentence. “Dharma is right. It wouldn’t be fair to Paco if we took him. Between our jobs, we barely have time for the four we have.” She reluctantly places Paco down on the floor.
“I understand.” Rats. I was really hoping that Lanie would take him. “Will you be on the lookout for a good family? Someone who’ll really appreciate him? I don’t mind keeping him until you find the right person.”
“Sure thing, Lucy.”
I hate taking medication, but it’s just temporary until Paco finds his forever home. Maybe Dr. Nate can prescribe something that makes me less drowsy than the Benadryl. I make a mental note to call his office to set up an appointment.
I take their orders and pour them coffee, when out of the blue, Paco starts barking like he’s possessed. I’ve never seen him like this before. I’m about to apologize to the next customer in line when I see that it’s Phoebe Van Cleave and her ghost society pals.
Phoebe takes one look at the dog and goes pale.
Ha! I should tell her that I’m on to her. How I know all about how she wanted Cornelius, and that’s she not fooling anybody. Especially not me.
“It’s Cornelius!” Victor crouches down to Paco’s eye level. “What are you doing here?”
Paco keeps barking.
“This is the dog that Abby had with her when she passed,” I say, trying to gauge everyone’s reactions.
No one, not even Gloria seems surprised by this, which is pretty telling.
“Paco,” I say, “stop it. You’re disturbing the customers.”
“Paco?” says Victor.
�
�I’m calling him that, since it’s the name Abby gave him.”
Paco barks one more time for good measure, then lets out a final growl and runs up the stairs back to the apartment. Not that I blame him. If I were him, I’d want to get as far away from Phoebe as I could too. “Sorry, I don’t think he likes you.”
Phoebe sniffs. “I don’t understand. He’s never reacted like this to me before.”
Gloria nods in agreement. “Cornelius, er, that is, Paco and I have done several séances together at Susan’s home, and he’s always been extremely charming. What do you think got into him?”
“Considering that his owner died, then a few days later he was dognapped, and then he was with poor Abby when she passed, I’d say he might have some trauma going on.”
“Dognapped!” Gloria says. “Who on earth would do that?”
The hairs on my neck tingle. Gloria isn’t as shocked by this information as she wants me to think she is.
“Derrick Delgado. He denies it, but there’s a surveillance tape that proves otherwise.”
If I thought Phoebe was pale before, then it’s nothing compared to now. It’s like all the blood has drained from her face. “This is so disturbing,” she murmurs.
Victor tsks. “I’ll say.” He studies me closely. “How have you been, Lucy?”
I mentally sigh because I know what’s coming next. “I haven’t gotten any messages from Abby if that’s what you want to know.”
The three of them exchange a look.
“If you’d agree to participate in a séance,” says Gloria, “Maybe we could find out why Abby’s brother dognapped Paco.”
I’m about to ixnay the séance idea when I snap my mouth shut. It occurs to me that I’ve been looking at this all wrong. Phoebe knows a lot more about this dognapping than she’s let on. Gloria and probably Victor do, too. But Phoebe is the only one of them with a motive to get rid of Abby. I’d bet my last mixing bowl that Phoebe is at least partially responsible for fast tracking Abby along to the pearly gates.