Groomed For Murder: A Pet Boutique Mystery (22 page)

That seemed to be Steve’s MO. He saw the imperfections in his life, like his wife’s infidelity. He wasn’t blind to it, but he chose to pretend it wasn’t there. He must have imagined that Daniel could do the same.

I glanced over Steve’s shoulder. By now both Sean and Jack were late for their five o’clock drop-ins.

“So what happened?”

Steve shook his head as though he were settling down a bit, giving up, but then he slipped the gun from his pocket.

“We were just talking, you know? I told him that if he’d just leave town, I’d be able to come to terms with Ama, repair our marriage, and that I still loved Jordan like my own. He laughed at me. Laughed! He said that he and Ama had met a couple of times since the conference. I thought she was in the Twin Cities to attend workshops at the U, but she was meeting him. Sleeping with him. He said our marriage was obviously pretty shaky.

“I could have let that slide, but then he said that now that he knew about Jordan, he would sue for visitation. I said something about how I’d kill him before I let him destroy my family, and he must have thought I meant right then and there. He’s the one who grabbed the gun
safe and opened it. He’s the one who pulled the gun. I told him to stop, lunged for it, and it went off.”

“See, it was just an accident,” I soothed. “You didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“But I did. And I meant what I said. At that moment it was an accident, but I would have killed him before I let him take my boy away. I was dead serious about that.”

The gun was out now, hanging loose at his side. I didn’t know what he was planning, whether he was even aware that the weapon was in his hand.

I was paying so much attention to the gun in Steve’s hand that I hadn’t noticed anyone approach the door. I was as startled as Steve when Sean stepped into the room.

Steve spun around, raising the gun as he did so. I gasped, but managed to hold back my scream, as Sean threw up one hand in surrender while the other held the pan of magic bars.

“What the . . . ?” Steve yelled.

“Easy, man. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m just here to drop off some cookies.”

He glanced in my direction, meeting my eyes, and I could see the question in them. I nodded that I was okay.

“I don’t know what to do,” Steve said, his voice filled with panic now. He raised the gun, and both Sean and I froze. His hands trembling, Steve swung the gun toward me, then toward Sean, and finally he raised it to his own head.

“Steve,” I said softly. “You don’t want to make Ama cry, do you? If you hurt yourself, she’ll never stop crying.”

Tears began to slip down the big man’s face. I could read the confusion in his eyes. He couldn’t see a way out.

Just as he started to lower the gun at me again, I heard the cock of a gun somewhere just behind me. Jack. He must have heard the conversation through the phone and come in through the back door.

“Put the gun down, Steve,” Jack said, his voice steady but commanding.

“I . . . I can’t.”

“Yes, you can, Steve,” Jack continued, putting special emphasis on Steve’s name. “We can work this out, Steve, but if you don’t put the gun down now, someone will get hurt. And I know you don’t want that, Steve.”

Steve choked back a sob and jerked, and for an instant I thought all was lost. Either he would pull the trigger himself or Jack would shoot him. But, instead, Sean, standing behind Steve at that point, lobbed the pan of magic bars at Steve and the gun went flying out of his hands and skittering across the floor.

That’s when I began to shake. In a matter of breaths, Sean had rushed to my side and pulled me into a rough embrace, trying to calm me with whispered nonsense words. Over his shoulder, I watched Jack grab Steve in a lock grip and quickly pin him to the floor. He was Mirandizing Steve and slapping cuffs on him before I fully comprehended that we were all still alive.

I looked up at Sean and then at Jack, two men who were each trying to protect me in their own way. And then I looked at Steve. He, too, was a protector, but it had led him down a far darker path. Despite his best efforts, I knew Ama would be crying tonight.

Twenty-three

I
ngrid and Harvey offered to put off their wedding yet again, thinking I needed some time to collect myself, but I assured them that keeping busy and reaffirming life and love were exactly what I needed.

Saturday morning broke bright and brilliant, a perfect Minnesota spring day with skies such a piercing blue you could barely stand to look at them. I was already enjoying a quiet cup of coffee at my dining table—Packer across my feet, Jinx across my lap, and Daisy taking up the entire sofa—when Ingrid came out to join me.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“More than ever,” she replied as she took a chair opposite me and poured her own cup of coffee. Packer wiggled off my feet and made his way to her side. She did not disappoint: Packer let slip a whimper, and
Ingrid immediately dropped her hand to begin stroking his silky ears.

I shook my head. “Your faith in love is astounding. This week has been incredible. We’ve seen what love can lead to: betrayal, lies, even murder. Under the circumstances, I’m not sure I’m ready to jump right into a romance.”

Ingrid chuckled, the sound like gravel shaken in a tin can. “It has, indeed, been an incredible week. But not just because of Daniel’s murder and the fallout from all that. Jane reminded me of something Steve Olmstead should have known. Love may open you to betrayal, but, if it’s deep enough, love can survive betrayal. And then
you
—”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. This week you’ve reminded me of love’s payoff. You made me so proud when you gave me that down payment on this building. You went on and on about how much I did for you, but all I really did was love you. And now you’ve given me such joy and pride.”

“Oh, Ingrid . . .”

She raised her hand and laughed. “No crying allowed, young lady. You also reminded me that love has to find a way. After all those years mourning for your relationship with Casey, you’re finally getting back out there.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Uh, uh, uh. I’ve seen the way those two boys look at you.”

“Two?” I squeaked.

“Don’t play coy. You went on a date with that hunky cop Jack, but Sean . . . he still has feelings for you. I can tell you’re both confused about them, but they’re there nonetheless.”

“I don’t—”

“Oh hush. The point of all this is that I’ve witnessed love in many forms this last week. And while some of it is tragic, most of it is joyous, and I want to be a part of that mad happiness.”

“You’re quite a woman, Ingrid Whitfield.”

“I know. And you might as well get used to calling me Ingrid Nyquist.”

I laughed. “Yes, ma’am. Now, if you’ll excuse me, soon-to-be Mrs. Nyquist, I need to walk these dogs before the last-minute crush of preparing for the weddings.”

Ingrid patted her leg, and Packer stood up on his hind legs, and strained his neck, licking his chops, looking for a little sugar. Ingrid grabbed both of his ears and scratched them vigorously. “You be a good dog for your mama, sweet boy.”

I leashed up the dogs and headed downstairs and out toward Dakota Park. Packer still wasn’t thrilled about sharing the limelight with gawky Daisy May, but the two had managed to work out a system so they could walk together without entangling their leashes or tripping all over each other. The two dogs seemed to slalom in wide curving S figures, noses to the ground, until we reached the park.

Suddenly, they were both straining at the leash,
wheezing and panting trying to break free. They had a common goal: Jordan Olmstead, playing in the sandbox.

Ama sat on a bench near him, her head tipped up to the blinding sky.

I let out the dogs’ leads and joined Ama on the bench. I wasn’t sure if she’d be happy to see me, but I figured it was never too early to begin healing.

“Did you know?” I asked.

She shook her head without meeting my eyes. “I suspected, but I didn’t know. It only made sense for Steve to kill Daniel if he knew about the affair, but Steve acted perfectly normal at home. So I had my suspicions, but Steve’s own behavior made them seem ridiculous. After all, if he was angry enough to kill Daniel, why didn’t he kill me? Or at least scream at me?”

“Because he loves you.”

“But I betrayed him.”

“The mix of love and betrayal is unpredictable. It’s potentially explosive, but you never know which way the path of destruction will go.”

I thought about Ingrid. The affair between Arnold and Jane had been complicated: Ingrid had been gone for months, Arnold was lonely, Jane was unhappy in her marriage. . . . At a minimum, Arnold should have borne the brunt of some of Ingrid’s bitterness. But she’d saved it all for Jane. As the story unfolded to me, she never mentioned Arnold’s betrayal, just Jane’s. I suppose you have to do that, to avoid your whole life crashing down around your ears.

If Steve had let the full weight of his wife’s affair fall where it may, it would have ruined his marriage, put a strain on his relationship with Jordan, and left him a husk of a man. Directing all his anger at Daniel allowed him to have his rage, to express his rage, without giving up the rest of his life.

“It’s amazing how people can compartmentalize their feelings. Be angry about a complicated situation, yet turn that anger laserlike against a single person.”

“I suppose. I just wish . . .”

I nodded. I imagined Ama was wishing a lot of things at that moment.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, turning to watch her son holding a patient Daisy May in a headlock while Packer licked his ankles.

“You’re a wonderful mother, Ama. And Steve is a wonderful father. You’ll both figure out how to keep raising a happy child, even under these new circumstances.”

“We’ve got that big house I can’t afford. We bought it back when construction was booming, but Steve has been struggling to find contractor jobs for nearly a year. We were barely making ends meet with Steve’s income, and I make way less than he does. Did.”

“Obviously, our first effort to rent out the second floor of 801 Maple didn’t end well, but the idea was strong. You could move your office inside and take in a renter for the mother-in-law apartment. I know it would mean giving up your adult space, but it would be worth it to take some of the pressure off your finances.”

Ama sucked in a deep breath. It looked like something settled in her mind, like she had slipped into a new groove with some of the panic dissipating.

“That’s a great idea,” she said.

“And we’re here to help you. This whole community loves you, Ama. You have a soft spot to land, I promise.”

“Thank you, Izzy. I can’t believe how kind you’re being after me and my problems caused you so much pain. I know that I’ll get through this, but I’m worried about Jordan. It’s going to be hard for such a little boy to understand why Daddy doesn’t live with us anymore.”

I watched Jordan playing with the dogs.

“Tell you what,” I said. “It’s a little thing, but maybe it will help. Why don’t you and Jordan take Daisy May? She needs a home, and I can’t keep her forever. She seems to like you both, and Jordan obviously loves her. She might be a good friend for him in the weeks to come. What do you say?”

Ama watched her son hanging on Daisy May while she bathed his face in doggy kisses. A faint smile spread across her face.

“Deal.”

I glanced at my watch. I could afford five more minutes before I had to go back to Trendy Tails to put the finishing touches on the wedding details. I sat quietly at Ama’s side, my own head tilted back to enjoy the spring sunshine on my face, and listened to Jordan giggling with the dogs.

There’d been a dark cloud in Merryville for the past week, but it had finally dissipated. The sun was back.

*   *   *

The afternoon of the marriages of Ingrid and Harvey and Romeo and Pearl, everything went smooth as silk. Well, almost. Romeo managed to shake his collar around so his bow tie was on his back; one of the guests, a terrier of some sort, tried to hump Lucy’s Wile E. Collie; and another critter—a cat named Toast—hacked up most of a piece of the reception cake onto Packer’s plate . . . though that did not even slow him down as he gobbled up his food.

And, of course, Ama was not there. It was just too soon.

We still got plenty of pictures of the two ceremonies, with Xander Stephens demonstrating yet another talent by taking incredible candid and posed shots with everyone involved. I was particularly fond of one of Aunt Dolly, decked out in a fringed minidress, standing on her toes to whisper something in Richard Greene’s ear. In the photo, he’s bending down to meet her halfway, and a soft smile graces his lips. Someday, I thought, someday soon, we’d be planning another wedding.

Jane Porter and Knute Hammer attended the second wedding, but this time, Jane looked genuinely happy for Ingrid and Harvey. The fact that Jane and Knute had gone from social companions to hand-holders might have had something to do with that. In any event, Ingrid brought Harvey over to meet Jane, and the two women clutched each other’s hands like they were old friends. I knew they’d still bicker over canasta, but the wound from Jane and Arnold’s affair seemed to have healed.

All my friends had coupled up for the event. I could
hear Taffy’s lilting laughter coming from the kitchen, where Ken was continuing to crank out delicious appetizers, and Jolly Nielson had pitched in to help Rena serve the array of pet treats she had concocted. Xander stood stoically at Lucy’s side while she chatted up everyone and his brother.

I shared a glance with my sister Dru. Uncomfortable in social situations, she clung to Lucy’s side, even though the two drove each other nuts. Even from across the room, I could see the glint of pain in Dru’s eyes.

Poor Dru. She was so smart and so loving (in her own prickly way), but she’d had even less luck at love than I had. A few loser boyfriends who never lasted more than a couple of months, and long stretches of working overtime and helping my mother scrapbook. She deserved to find love, too. I made a mental note to make it a priority to play matchmaker.

All told, with the exception of my lonely sister, it seemed everyone was having a blast at the combo human/doggy wedding.

Pris approached me as Ingrid and Harvey were getting ready to cut the human cake. She wore Kiki—complete with lavender chiffon ruff—draped over her shoulder. At her initial approach, the cat could see me, and she lifted her head, laid her ears back, and began making a threatening
roo
ing sound in the back of her throat. Pris sighed, and turned to angle her body so Kiki had a different view. Kiki relaxed immediately.

I swear, I’d broken hearts, broken rules, accused people of killing other people, yet no creature on the planet despised me as much as that fluffball cat.

“This went well,” Pris said. “Not a single corpse.”

“I agree. Any interest in making it a regular thing?”

Pris smiled. “We’re supposed to be rivals, right?”

I smiled back. “I think there’s room for a little rivalry between business partners.”

She bobbed her head. “Fair enough. I’ll start drafting a menu of services and prices so people can choose which of the wedding amenities they want.” Pris had clearly been pondering the idea of a collaboration herself.

“Sounds good. Drop it by when you have a draft, and I’ll go over it, adding in the services we can provide. And I’ll start working on a plan for the cat show in July. We’re really going to have to put our heads together to make that show a success.”

She nodded.

“By the way, how on earth is Hal going to get the Soaring Eagles site turned into a convention center by July?”

Pris smiled, that sly mischievous smile of hers. “It didn’t take much to convince Hal and the Japanese investors that a convention center would bring a better return than some crappy vacation condos. After all, they’d hardly made any progress at all. And I know Hal comes off as an idiot, but he didn’t become the RV King without having a little get-up-and-go. If he’s got a specific date in mind, he’ll get the job done. He’s crap as a husband, but a star as a businessman.”

“What about the owls?”

She waved off my question. “We’ll get those little
suckers moved, someplace farther north. They’ll be fine.”

I couldn’t imagine moving all those tiny birds, but I knew Pris could always get what she wanted. If she wanted tiny birds moved across state, then they would be moved. I had a ridiculous image of little owls carrying little suitcases and getting on a little bus . . . with Pris at the wheel.

“Oh, and Izzy,” Pris added, tilting back her head so she could stare down her nose at me, “no more accusing Hal of murder. That does me no good. It means attorney fees and a bad reputation that could slow down our cash flow from the RV lot. It’s mistresses I’m looking for. You find me a mistress, and I’ll buy you dinner.”

She winked at me, and then glided back into the crowd.

Rena walked over and dumped Jinx in my arms. “Take this cat.”

“Okay.”

“She’s big and pushy and won’t leave me alone,” she complained.

“She loves you,” I countered.

“I know. But now that the cakes have been cut, and your sisters have cleared the chairs away, I need to take up my role as DJ and get this party started.”

I lifted Jinx up so my shoulder bore most of her weight, and watched Rena scoot through the crowd to the speakers and MP3 player she’d set up on the shelf behind the front display cabinet. It was the same MP3
player she’d given Ingrid at our impromptu shower, so we were definitely in for some golden oldies.

In a moment the sweet whistles and lilting lyrics of “Wonderful, Wonderful” filled the room. All the guests grew silent and moved as one away from the center of the floor. Harvey swept Ingrid into his arms, and they began to glide across the hardwood like a couple of ballroom pros. Finally, in the last refrain, he dipped her gracefully, drawing a gasp from all present, followed by applause when she was once again upright.

The delight in their eyes was contagious. I stood against the back wall, absently stroking Jinx’s head as she purred right into my ear. I sought out Sean on one side of the room, smiling as he listened to something his mother had to say. He glanced up and caught my gaze, his eyes haunted, dark, and deep. When he leaned back down to continue his conversation with his mother, my eyes traveled around the room until they landed on Jack Collins. His head was thrown back in laughter, presumably at the bickering between my sisters. He, too, caught me staring, and eyes sparkling with mirth, he winked at me.