Much Ado About Felines (Whales and Tails Mystery Book 4) (3 page)

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Olivia argued. “Greg’s mama has a lot more influence over him and his decisions than you might think. Besides, have you seen her? She’s built like a linebacker and Greg is such a puny kid. My guess is that he’s scared to death of her.”

“I heard Greg was offered a chance to go to South America with that friend of his from the pizza place, but his mom put the kibosh on the whole idea,” Doris added.

“Seems like he’s old enough to make his own decisions,” Maggie commented.

“Maybe, but I don’t blame his mama,” Doris insisted. “That kid he works with is bad news.”

I listened as the group began to discuss other members of the community who were
bad news
. In most cases the conservative senior women who took part in the conversation were being just that: conservative. Still, Doris did have a point about the kid from the pizza joint. The guy had always given me the creeps. If I found out tomorrow that he was a serial killer I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.

“Were you at the book club on the Thursday before Roxi died?” I asked Maggie, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet during the exchange.

“I was.”

“And how did she seem?”

Maggie shrugged. “She seemed like Roxi. She really enjoyed her mysteries and she always had a lot to share. That night was no different. She seemed cheerful and happy to be there. If something was going on that led to her death she didn’t let on.”

“Did she mention any plans she might have had for the weekend?” I wondered.

“Not that I remember.”

“She did say something about meeting someone on Saturday,” Marley reminded Maggie.

“You’re right. I think it was someone she knew from work,” Maggie informed me, “but I can’t be sure.”

“You might talk to Molly,” Marley suggested. Molly was the cashier at the Driftwood Café. “It seems the two of them had been tight of late.”

I spoke to the women for a few more minutes and then moved on to the Driftwood to see if Molly was on shift. She wasn’t, but the person who was covering the cash register confirmed that both Roxi and Molly were off over the past weekend, so it was possible they’d planned to get together to do something. Molly wasn’t due to come in again until the following Monday, so I thanked the woman I spoke to and headed back to the bookstore.

I looked up into the sky. It wasn’t looking good. I hoped Banjo’s weather-predicting abilities were as accurate as he’d assured me.

Kayla and Karla were waiting for me when I arrived at the oceanfront estate where I lived. Maggie lives in the main house, which is huge, while I live in the summer cabin, which is tiny. Also on the property is Harthaven Cat Sanctuary, which Maggie founded to protect the island’s feral cat population after Mayor Bradley made it legal to remove cats from your property using any means at your disposal.

Sugar and Spice were sisters who had come to us at a very young age. Sugar was pure white, while Spice was sort of a cinnamon color. Both kittens had round faces and long hair, and both were totally adorable.

“So who gets which kitten?” I asked.

“Spice will be mine,” Karla informed me. “Although I don’t suppose it will matter because we’ll all be living in the same small apartment.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy the girls. They’re box trained and very affectionate. They’ve had their shots and have been spayed, so you should be good on that front for a year. Are you all set up with kitten food and litter boxes?”

“We’re ready. We bought everything we’d need right after you confirmed that we could have them this morning,” Kayla informed me.

“We’re really very excited,” Karla joined in.

“I’m glad your new landlord is cool with kitties. I’m sure Sugar and Spice will make awesome pets. You do live on a busy street, though, so be sure to keep them inside. We wouldn’t want them to get hit by a car.”

“We will,” both girls assured me.

After I saw Karla, Kayla, and their new pets off, I cleaned litter boxes and then provided all our residents with food and water. It was a lot of work caring for the cats, which needed to be tended to twice each day. Maggie and I generally shared the work generated by the cat sanctuary, but even with the two of us, the chores seemed never-ending. We’d talked about hiring part-time help now that Haley, our summertime helper, had returned home, but so far neither of us had gotten around to searching for the right person.

Once I’d completed my chores, I grabbed my dog Max and headed down the beach for a very quick run. It appeared Banjo had been correct in his forecast. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, and the meteorologists were still calling for rain, but so far we hadn’t had a single drop. I knew I’d need to make the run fast, but Max needed the exercise after being cooped up in the cabin all day. I, on the other hand, didn’t have an overabundance of excess energy after my long day at the bookstore, so I just walked along the shoreline as Max ran down the beach, chasing the seagulls and bald eagles that had come out to find their evening meals in the low tide.

During the summer it was easy to make time to spend outdoors, but as the days grew shorter I knew it would be harder to squeeze in walks on the beach as I tried to manage the other obligations of my life. I hated to leave Max alone for so much of the day. I’d thought I might bring him to work and let him hang out in the cat lounge, but I was afraid his presence would distract from the cats we were trying to place. Maybe I’d see if the
Madrona Island News
needed a doggy mascot on the days I worked.

As I walked, I could hear thunder rolling in from the distance. It sounded like the storm was finally going to make its way ashore. I turned around and headed back toward my cabin. I found I was looking forward to spending the evening with my brother and my two best friends, even if the main topic of conversation would be the death of a neighbor.

By the time I returned to the cabin it was starting to sprinkle. I made a fire and then headed up to my bedroom for dry clothes before the others arrived.

I fed Max and then opened a couple of bottles of wine. I wasn’t sure what Cody planned to bring over for dinner, but I hoped he’d hurry up and get here. I was starving.

“It’s really starting to come down out there,” Danny, who was the first to arrive, commented as he came in through the side door. “I hope it lets up before tomorrow. I have four tours going out.”

“I heard the storm is supposed to blow through by morning, so you should be fine. How did things go today?” I asked as he helped himself to a beer from my refrigerator.

“It was a good day. I’ve been pretty lucky with the weather so far this season, but I can feel change in the air.”

“If you have four tours tomorrow I take it you won’t be at church or at Mom’s for dinner.”

“Sorry. I need to make my money while I can.”

“Mom isn’t going to be happy that you missed three Sundays in a row.”

“Mom is going to have to learn that I’m an adult and going home to Sunday dinner isn’t always going to be a priority.”

I understood what Danny was saying. I’d had similar thoughts on other occasions, but so far I hadn’t had the courage to defy my mom and actually turn my back on tradition. Ever since I was born, Sundays had been reserved for attending Mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, followed by supper at my mom’s house. When Tara and I opened Coffee Cat Books we’d discussed being open on Sundays, but in the end we’d decided that our obligation to church and family was more important than the additional profit being open might bring us.

“Have you heard from Aiden?” I asked about my oldest brother, who had been in Alaska following the fish since June.

“Not in a few weeks, but the last time I spoke to him, he thought he’d be home the first part of October. I imagine that, like me, he’s trying to squeeze what he can out of the nice weather we’ve been having. It’ll be good to have him back. Maybe he can deflect some of Mom’s mothering.”

“Each time he returns I think that maybe he’ll settle down and stay, but then, come summer, he’s off again, chasing the fish.”

“Fishing is in his blood.” Danny took a swig of his beer, than sat down on one of the bar stools that lined the counter separating the kitchen from the living room.

“I guess. At least he’s home most of the year, unlike Siobhan, who never comes home at all.”

“Siobhan is just trying to live her own life.”

Danny was right. I guess I understood how Siobhan, who didn’t really get along all that well with our mother, would prefer to stay in Seattle, where she probably wasn’t treated like a child. Still, I missed my older sister and wished she’d make the trip to the island a little more often.

I watched as Tara pulled up in her car and dashed into the cabin with her kitten, Bandit, under her sweatshirt. She set him on the floor and he immediately pounced on Max.

I laughed as Max barked once in greeting and then sank into downward-dog position to greet the rambunctious kitten.

Tara pulled off her wet sweatshirt and hung it near the fire to dry. “I heard there are flash-flood warnings out for low-lying areas,” she informed us. “I think the storm is supposed to blow through quickly but dump quite a bit of rain on its way. Maybe up to several inches.”

“I guess we could use the water, but I do hope there isn’t any serious flooding. Last time there was a flood the peninsula road was inaccessible for almost two days.”

“I’m sure things will be fine.” Tara looked around the room. “Cody’s not here? I’m starving.”

“He texted to say he’d be a few minutes late, but he should be here soon. I have cheese and crackers to go with the wine if you want something to tide you over.”

“I guess I’ll wait a few minutes,” Tara answered as she poured herself a glass of wine. “I’d hate to get filled up on crackers only to find he brought something from Antonio’s. I’ve been craving Italian all day.”

“I do remember him saying something about Antonio’s,” I confirmed.

“By the way,” Tara turned to Danny, “did you get my message about the group who wanted to change their reservation from tomorrow to next Sunday?”

Tara and I had taken over the reservation system for Danny after we opened the bookstore. Between the two of us, we’d mostly handled the reservations for
Hart of the Sea
anyway, but now that we had the shop on the wharf we had an actual reservation counter.

Danny frowned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Sorry, I didn’t check my messages when I came in from my last tour.”

“You really need to stay on top of things,” Tara scolded. “If I hadn’t seen you this evening you would have prepared for an eight a.m. tour for nothing.”

“I guess that would have been my problem,” Danny shot back.

I hated to see Danny and Tara bicker, and it seemed they’d been doing a lot more of it lately. I suppose the added tension could be due to the fact that uberorganized Tara was handling the scheduling for over-the-top disorganized Danny on a daily rather than occasional basis. The two really were at opposite ends of the spectrum. But in spite of this obvious conclusion, I was pretty sure the tension had more to do with the unresolved feelings they were fighting since the sleep kiss they’d shared a couple of months before.

“It looks like there are headlights on the peninsula road,” I informed them in an attempt to change the subject and dispel the tension. “I hope that’s Cody with our dinner.”

Thankfully, I was right and the car did belong to Cody, who pulled into the drive and then turned left, away from the main house and toward my cabin on the beach. He got out and ran toward the deck, and I noticed he didn’t have any food in his hands, which made me a little nervous.

“Look what I found sitting in the rocking chair outside,” Cody said as he walked in through my side door. He held a beautiful calico cat in his arms.

“Must be Beatrice,” I commented.

“Beatrice?”

“I’ll explain later. Did you bring food?”

“I did. Why don’t you take the cat and I’ll get the food?”

Cody must have read Tara’s mind because he had ordered food from Antonio’s. He brought two lasagnas, one sausage with marinara and one seafood with alfredo. He also brought garlic bread and salad with Antonio’s special dressing.

I took a few minutes to get Beatrice settled in. I showed her where the cat box was and then prepared fresh bowls of food and water. She ate some food, used the box, and settled down on the sofa in front of the fire for a nap. Then I returned to the kitchen, my friends, and dinner.

“So how did your investigation go?” I asked Cody after we had all served ourselves.

“I’m not sure. On one hand, I’ve been given a list of potential leads by a variety of people. On the other, none of them seems likely to end up anywhere. Still, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to follow up.”

“What leads?” I asked.

Cody took a sip of wine before he continued. The poor guy looked exhausted. He’d been working long hours since he’d reopened the paper.

“I spoke to Ernie Wall, Roxi’s boss at the Driftwood Café. He said Roxi was a hard worker who was well liked by her customers but that something had been going on lately. She was a real mess after Jimmy died, so he gave her a month off with pay. When she returned she seemed to be back to her old self for a few weeks, and then about six weeks ago she started coming in late and even missing her shift on a couple of occasions. Ernie asked her about it and she told him that she was having some financial issues so she’d taken another job, tending bar at O’Malley’s in the evenings. Ernie said he tried to help her out with some money, but he didn’t think it was enough.”

“If she was up half the night tending bar I guess that would explain her tendency to sleep in,” I offered.

“It would, but the thing is that I spoke to O’Malley too, and he said that while she did hang out in the bar most evenings, she wasn’t working for him.”

“The fact that she’d been hanging out in the bar fits with what I’ve learned as well,” I confirmed. “It sounds like she’d been marathon dating since Jimmy passed.”

“I’d seen her in the bar almost every time I’d been in,” Danny confirmed, “and on each of those occasions she was with a different guy. Jimmy was my friend and I cared about Roxi, so I hate to say anything that might cast a bad light on her, but it seems like she might have been dating for money.”

“She was working as a hooker?” Tara asked.

“It’s just a hunch. An unsubstantiated hunch, so I’d recommend we be careful about who we mention it to,” Danny answered.

“Do you have any reason to believe Roxi was in trouble financially?” Tara asked Danny.

“I don’t see how she wouldn’t be,” Danny reasoned. “Jimmy made more money than she did, and now his income is gone, and it ain’t cheap to bury someone these days.”

“Which brings me to my next lead,” Cody offered. “I went down to the harbor to talk to the people who have boats docked near Jimmy’s, and the woman who lives in the first slip in her row told me Roxi met a man at the boat on several occasions.”

“Did you happen to ask when she saw this man?” I wondered.

“I did, but she claimed she couldn’t really remember. She did say that while Roxi refused to discuss who he was or why they’d met, she seemed to be afraid of him.”

“Are you thinking the guy might have been some sort of money lender or maybe an employee of a money lender?” I asked.

I took a second helping of seafood lasagna while Cody gathered his thoughts before continuing. This had to be the best seafood lasagna I’d ever eaten. The lobster was plentiful, the scallops cooked to perfection, the crab fresh, and the shrimp tender. Once you added the thick white sauce, homemade pasta, and melted cheese, it was a meal to die for.