Heartsong Cottage (18 page)

The call ended and Daniel didn't hesitate in searching his contacts list for the call he needed to make. Experience had taught him that the best way to psych himself up for calls like this was to waste no time dithering over it. Besides, he'd promised Glenn Johnson he'd call the moment he got word, day or night.

Johnson answered on the second ring. Daniel destroyed the man's world with two little words. “It's her. I just got the call from the lab and we have a positive ID. I'm sorry, Glenn.”

The conversation lasted only a couple of minutes, and as the grieving father choked out his thanks prior to disconnecting, Daniel gave a tennis ball lying near his feet a vicious kick. By the time he returned the phone to his pocket, he felt as if he'd aged five years. “Well, that sucked,” he said aloud.

“You do horrible and important work, Garrett.”

Daniel hadn't noticed Gabe Callahan standing in the shadows with a putter in his hand.

“It takes guts to do what you do,” Callahan continued. “Sorry to have eavesdropped, but I didn't want to interrupt you. I take it you just closed another case?”

“Yeah. A four-year-old girl. A former neighbor admitted to killing her in a suicide note, but didn't say what he did with the body before he ate a gun. Despite the note, her parents held out hope. They needed answers.”

Callahan muttered a curse. “I hope there is a special level of hell for people like the neighbor. Four years old, huh? They'll never get over it.”

The authority with which Callahan spoke reminded Daniel that they had tragedies in common. Gabe had lost a child of about that age. A boy, if he recalled correctly. Lost him as a result of a car accident that had killed Callahan's first wife and had the boy fighting for his life in the hospital for months before finally losing the battle.

“No, they won't get over it. But having an answer will help them live with it.”

“Like I said, you do important work. It's actually why I followed you out here. My brother Mark and I were talking about you just this morning.”

“Oh?”

“Mark was an investigator with the army before he left the service and opened his own agency. One of the things he does is give seminars to cop shops about ways that private firms can assist the men in blue. He committed to speaking in Portland, Oregon, the week after next, but his wife is having a seriously awful bout of morning sickness and he doesn't want to leave her. I suggested your name as a sub. Would you be interested?”

Daniel found the possibility surprisingly intriguing. “Possibly. I have commitments in Texas next week and I want to be back in Eternity Springs for the Fall Festival, but I have some free time in between. Although, it's been a long time since I've done a presentation of any sort. I'm afraid I'd be rusty.”

“I'll bet you'd be great at it. Can I tell Mark to give you a call?”

“Sure.”

Daniel mulled over the idea as he walked back to his cabin a short time later. When his phone rang with a call from a Texas area code as he started over the Angel Creek footbridge, he guessed that Gabe had wasted no time contacting his brother.

The conversation with Mark Callahan lasted twenty minutes, and by the time it ended, Daniel had agreed to give the seminar.

His original intention of going fishing bright and early the next morning fizzled when he worked late into the night making notes about the presentation. The spark of enthusiasm he'd felt when Gabe Callahan rolled out the idea grew with the effort. When he finally went to bed, he did so with a lighter heart than he'd known for quite some time.

He dreamed of Shannon and awoke way too early the next morning to the ringing of his phone.

Groggy and with the woman on his mind, he growled, “Garrett.”

“Mr. Daniel Garrett?”

“Yes.”

“I'm Dr. Norris calling from Olivia Street Animal Clinic. We have your dog.”

He lowered the phone and scowled down at the number. He didn't recognize the area code. He shouldn't have answered the phone. “You must have the wrong Daniel Garrett.”

“Hmm, the database registry provided this phone number and the following address.” He rattled off one that Daniel knew well.

“That's my old house.” The home where he'd lived a decade ago. The sheet fell away as Daniel sat up. His mouth was suddenly sandpaper dry. “I'm sorry. Who did you say you were with again?”

“Olivia Street Animal Clinic. The granddaughter of friends of mine found your dog wandering the neighborhood a week ago, wearing no collar or tags. They put signs up, but when nobody called, they brought her to me this morning to scan her for a chip. She's a bit beat up now, but I can tell she's been well cared for in the past. She's a sweet old girl. Slept the last week at the foot of the little girl's bed. You should update your database information with your new address, Mr. Garrett.”

“Soupy?” Daniel asked, barely hoping to believe it. “You found Soupy?”

“If she's a brindle boxer around ten or twelve years old, then we found Soupy. You can pick her up at my clinic. I'm open until six today.”

Oh, holy hell. Daniel massaged his brow, thinking as slow as molasses. Soupy? Justin's dog? He recalled Gail standing in their living room saying,
She's gone, Daniel. She's just gone.

But now she'd been found? Soupy was alive. “Your clinic is where?”

“We're in Old Town. Just down the street from Hemingway Home. You can't miss us. It's a pink house. I made the unfortunate decision to let Shannon choose the paint color. There is parking for patients in the back.”

Old Town. Hemingway Home. Shannon? Daniel had lived in the Boston area all his life and he'd never heard anyone use that term, and Hemingway's was a restaurant, not a house. An itch of suspicion crawled up his spine. Old Town. Hemingway.

Could he possibly be calling from Key West?

Daniel wasn't about to ask. He could track down the necessary information easily enough, and selfishly, he didn't want the vet looking for whoever had lost her last. Under the law, pets were chattel. It's finders keepers. Besides, Soupy had been wandering a neighborhood without a collar for a week. Whoever lost her hadn't responded to the notices and called. She apparently hadn't been tagged since the one he'd had placed.

Whoever lost her didn't deserve to keep her. And frankly, he was too excited to care if someone else might mourn her loss. He wanted her back.

“I'm in Colorado right now, Doctor. I don't think I'll be able to make it there in time to pick her up today, but I'll definitely be there tomorrow. If you'll keep her overnight for me, I'm happy to pay boarding. In fact, if you have an open appointment, I'd appreciate it if you'd give her a thorough exam. Will that be all right?”

“That's fine.” Following a moment's pause, the man asked, “Yes. When did you lose Soupy, Mr. Garrett?”

Damned if his eyes didn't flood with moisture, and he had to clear the sudden lump from his throat before he spoke. “It's been a while. I'd given up hope of finding her. Thank you, Doctor. Losing her was hard. You don't how much it means to me to get her back.”

“Little Shannon will be happy to hear that.”

“The girl who found her is named Shannon?” Daniel smiled as he scrambled out of bed. “That's a beautiful name. Please tell Shannon that she has made me very happy.”

“I'll do that.”

Daniel disconnected the call and went immediately to the Internet. Olivia Street Animal Clinic. Olivia Street. Dr. Norris. The search results proved his suspicions correct. “Unreal.”

So, what was the fastest way to Key West from Eternity Springs? As he clicked over to a travel Web site, he thought of how his final words to the veterinarian had rolled off his tongue. Wonder if there's a message in that?

*   *   *

Shannon lay cozy and warm beneath her pillowy down comforter and gave herself five more minutes to snooze. She really didn't want to get up this morning. For these past few weeks she'd experienced a tiredness unlike any she'd ever known. She knew she'd feel peppier after teaching her yoga class, but right now, she'd love to call in sick. “Too bad your boss is such a slave driver,” she murmured toward the ceiling.

She turned her head and gazed out the window where a steady rain fell. Weather like this only made leaving her bed all the more difficult. She wondered what the forecast was for the next few days. Sunny skies, she hoped. She'd really like to be having a good hair day if Daniel came into Murphy's.

Daniel. Stretching languidly, she indulged in a little smile. Yesterday, he'd sent her a cupcake from Sarah's bakery and a note that said he was thinking of her. It had made her go gooey like the frosting on top.

I could fall in love with him so easily.

That was the thought that finally drove her from her bed. She pulled on her bathrobe and stumbled toward the kitchen. She filled her electric teakettle and stood trying to decide between a turmeric and ginger blend of herbal tea or a chamomile one when she heard a knock on her door.

Shannon's brow furrowed. Ten minutes after seven and raining outside. Who in the world would be…?

She cinched the sash on her robe and walked to her front door, not really surprised when a glance through the peephole revealed the identity of her visitor. Who else came calling when she was in her bathrobe?

“Daniel?”

The confounded man walked right inside without waiting for an invitation. His eyes were shining. His smile, beaming. “Shannon, is it all possible for you to get away from town for a couple of days? The craziest thing has happened, and I have to go to Key West. I'd very much like you to come with me. I called in a favor and there will be a private plane waiting in Gunnison to take us to Florida.”

“What? Why?”

“My dog. She found my dog.” Happiness rang in his voice as he grabbed her around the waist and picked her up and twirled her around. “A little girl named Shannon found Soupy so I figure it's a sign. You should come with me. Please? I very much want you to come with me to get her.”

The room spun a little. “Put me down, Daniel. I'm a little slow on the uptake this morning. Why do you have a dog in Florida?”

“Beats me. How she got from Boston to Key West will probably always be a mystery. I honestly thought Gail had her put down.”

“Who's Gail?”

“My wife. Justin's mother.”

Shannon took a step backward. “Wait a minute. Are you saying that somebody found your dog who disappeared almost a decade ago? In Florida?”

“Yes!” He told her about the phone call from the vet. “Tell me you'll come with me.”

She couldn't miss the sparkle of joy in his eyes, an emotion she'd not witnessed in him previously. He looked like a schoolboy. “Ten years?”

“I know. It's crazy. I feel like a little kid at Christmas.”

His excitement was infectious and Shannon found herself wanting to tell him yes. Better sense prevailed, however.

“I can't just pick up and leave.” The irony of hearing herself say those particular words had her inwardly rolling her eyes. “I have a class to teach this morning. I have orders to place for Murphy's and tile to lay at Three Bears.”

A glint of mischief joined the joy in his eyes. “Haven't you ever played hooky, sunshine?”

Sunshine? He said it like an endearment and it warmed her from the inside out.

“It's been a very long time,” she confessed, hearing the yearning in her own voice.

“Let me tempt you.”

“Daniel, that's all you've done since the day we met,” she grumbled.

She hadn't been on an airplane since the second time Russell found her. She couldn't afford to have her real name on a flight manifest, and she hadn't trusted her new identification enough to risk a TSA check. A private plane negated that concern. She loved Eternity Springs, but it would be really nice to get away for just a little bit. On a private plane, no less! She'd never flown on a private plane, and Key West was someplace she'd always wanted to visit.

However, it
was
a public place. A very public place. Lots and lots of tourists. Tourists with cameras who posted their trip photos on Facebook. No, she couldn't go with him. It was too risky. Going would be stupid.

So wear sunglasses. Wear a hat. Eternity Springs has tourists with cameras, too. I don't wear a hat and sunglasses every time I go out in public here. It could be argued that I'd be safer there than I am here at home.

“I can't go, Daniel. My class—”

“Get a sub,” he interrupted. “When was the last time you took a vacation, Shannon?”

“I can't afford a vacation.” In more ways than one.

“Then isn't it handy that the whole trip is on my dime? Look, if you're worried about sleeping arrangements, don't. I'm not expecting you to sleep with me. I know someone who owns a vacation house there, so I called in a marker. We have a four-bedroom house to ourselves.”

She couldn't resist him. She didn't want to resist him. For that matter, she didn't want to sleep in separate bedrooms, either.

She wanted to tell him yes. After all, this wasn't an ordinary trip to the pound to pick up your average runaway dog. She was honored to have been asked to go with him on such a personal journey.

Dare she say yes? The chances of running into Russell in Key West were remote. Florida was a long way from Chicago, the most recent address she had for him, and he wasn't a sun-and-surf kind of guy. As far as pictures went, well, if she were careful with the sunglasses and hats, she should be as safe as she was here.

“How much time do I have to get ready?”

“You'll come with me?”

“I will.”

Delight filled his expression. He leaned down and smacked her loudly on the lips. “You have an hour and a half, but an hour would be better.”