Let Loose (27 page)

Ethel greeted me with a raised cane and a big
smile. “There she is!” she called.

Everyone stood and applauded. More than a
little embarrassed, I flushed and waved my hand at them to
stop.

To my disappointment, they did. Still, I felt
a glow around me as I let Kiska lead me into their midst.

Ethel patted the space beside her on the
loveseat. “I was just telling everyone how you took down that
mountain. Tiny little thing that you are.”

Me, tiny? I flushed and wiggled a bit in my
seat.

Phyllis, apparently not understanding the
importance of giving a girl (me) her due (especially when the due
was filled with compliments) broke in. “So he killed Red? Do they
know why?”

Everyone looked at me, which, considering I
was the only one dating a police detective, was fair, but since the
police detective was also the tight-lipped Peter Blake, somewhat
laughable. He had revealed to me that the big case he’d been
working on was the snowmobile thefts and that when I saw him at the
rally with Jeremy he had actually been investigating. So he hadn’t
lied to me when he said he had to work. This had gone a long way
toward making me feel better about our relationship, but he still
wasn’t going to be telling me anything remotely official or
secret.

Luckily, Ethel had the answer. “Red found two
of our snowmobiles at the campground. He called Frank to tell him,
but got Allen instead. Allen told Larry and the two went out there
to retrieve them. Or at least that’s what Allen thought they were
going to do. I think Larry planned on killing Red all along and
that’s why he told Allen to bring the gun. If he hadn’t, Red would
have found the sleds missing and started asking more questions.

“Larry’d heard about the row at the
fundraiser. Frank had motive. So they just needed to get the gun
back in his hands too. Except Allen didn’t want to frame his dad
and hid the gun at Craig’s instead.”

Where I’d found it.

“Why’d they switch from framing Frank to
you?” I asked.

“I’d just been arrested.”

Her answer seemed less than satisfactory to
me, especially considering all she had done for Allen, but I guess
if he had to choose between his father and Ethel, maybe it made
sense.

Susan grunted. “And he didn’t even have to
break in.” She gave Ethel an accusatory look.

At my confused face, Carol explained, “Allen
had stopped by that morning to talk with Ethel about some
things.”

I glanced at the octogenarian. She looked
back, her face innocent.

“So you suspected—”

Ethel squeezed my hand. “Don’t be silly.
Would I have let myself be hauled off to that jail if I’d thought
Allen had left the gun there?”

Her friends shifted their gazes to various
places in the room.

She had known, or at least suspected, but
that didn’t mean Allen was her only suspect. I thought back to when
I’d seen her at Rhonda’s after her release. The needlepoint book
had to have been for Craig, and the huckleberry candy was for
Allen. She’d had a cookbook too... which meant there was at least
one other person who she had considered.

I sighed. Half of Helena might have helped
Ethel in her do-gooding for all I knew.

Milly, apparently deciding it was time for a
topic change, entered the conversation. “How’d the snowmobiles get
to the campground?”

Ethel frowned. “Allen. He’d stolen them from
Craig’s the night of the fundraiser and left them at the campground
for pick up in that garbage truck.”

Her group let out a collective sigh.

Molly, who was sitting on Ethel’s other side,
patted her on the hand. “So sad that he got involved with all of
this. I thought you’d done a great job with that one.”

“Yes, well, we know it takes time to really
make a change, don’t we?”

The women nodded and made agreeing noises
with a few, “Yes, we do.” and “Isn’t that the truth’s” thrown
in.

Susan wasn’t as sympathetic to Allen’s fall
as the others were. “What’s going to happen to him?”

Ethel tapped her finger against the head of
her cane. “He’s in jail, and he’ll have to stay there, unless we
can figure out a way to get him out. He isn’t a bad boy, just
misguided. We all know Frank Kelly has been no role model for him.”
Her gaze moved around the room, like some kind of silent beacon
calling her troops to battle.

Not wanting this to turn into something that
I’d have to hide from Peter, I jumped in. “Uh, um, not to be,
nosey, but what about you? Are you safe now?”

Ethel followed Milly’s example, patting my
hand. “No need to apologize. Of course, I’m safe. We did absolutely
nothing wrong. Isn’t that right, girls?”

As one, the gang nodded.

Which was great, except... “What about the
snowmobiles? You didn’t take any of them?”

Carol laughed. “Of course we took them. We
just didn’t steal them.”

The theme to the
Twilight Zone
played in my head. “But they were stolen...”

Ethel squeezed my fingers and spoke in a
“she’s a little slow” voice. “Not until Allen took them from us.
They were
given
to us...” She gestured around the room.
“...by the owners. We just provided hauling and disposal
service.”

“Hauling and disposal?” Maybe I
was
slow because I certainly wasn’t getting what she was saying.

Carol answered, “We had them hauled off when
the husbands weren’t around to see it happening. Then we sold them
and split the money with the wives.”

Thank heavens for some bluntness.

Rhonda pulled a length of red hair over her
shoulder. “Because?”

Carol frowned. “The men don’t ask us before
they buy the things. Then they spend every weekend out carousing. I
needed a new washer, not ‘progressive rear suspension.’”

Put in her place, Rhonda took a step back.
“Oh.”

Betty wasn’t as easily intimidated. “What
about the insurance companies? They have to be puffing hard at the
false claims.”

Carol shrugged. “Anyone placed a claim with
their insurance company, it’s on them. We didn’t tell them to.”

“That explains why Fitz McGowan told me his
insurance wouldn’t pay. His wife must not have actually filed,” I
added.

Ethel nodded. “It was all very much on the up
and up.”

I wasn’t sure that “up and up” was the right
term, but it certainly didn’t sound like the group had broken any
laws.

The wives though, who knew the snowmobiles
hadn’t really been stolen, were probably at least on the hook for
filing false police reports, but I doubted any of them would serve
time for that.

Still, I was happy that it at least sounded
like Ethel would not be visiting the jail again, as a prisoner
anyway.

o0o

Two weeks later, I was even happier when
George called to tell me the police were releasing their hold on
Red’s team.

I was home with the dogs when he called. I
ran my fingers over Fluff’s head. I had grown fond of her, and
heaven knew my life wasn’t going to be the same when the team left
and I could indulge in things like pillows and clean towels again,
but still it was going to be hard to see them go. Of course, the
police releasing them and the Human Society finding them new homes
were entirely different matters.

“I think I know someone who might want them
too,” George added.

My fingers stilled. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Don’t know how you’ll feel about it
though.”

Not the ex-wife. I’d keep the entire team
myself before I’d let Red’s ex sell them off for profit.

“Craig Ryan has shown an interest. The Humane
Society isn’t sure about him though. They say his yard needs a
better fence and a lot of cleaning up. They’re also not sure he
knows enough about the breed.”

I sucked in a breath. Craig? That was right
down the road...

“But they said if someone was willing to
sponsor him, keep an eye on how the dogs were doing, maybe stop by
once or twice a week—”

“I’ll do it.” The words were out of my mouth
before my brain had time to form them.

George chuckled. “For some reason I thought
you just might...”

o0o

Two months later...

On the day of the race, I could hardly
contain my excitement. I’d followed through with my plan and set up
a pop-up version of Dusty Deals in my garage, complete with an
awe-inspiring selection of antique snow gear: snow shoes, skis and
even a couple of fur-lined hats that I was pretty sure were mange
free. I’d also rounded up pictures of dog sled races through the
years, posters from all of the Silver Trail races - although
Betty’s, of course, got prime positioning - and sweatshirts
featuring the race’s official logo, this year’s starting point and
today’s date.

Business was slow at first, but once Betty
arrived with coffee and doughnuts, things picked up some. Our real
push was going to be after the start anyway. With ten minutes left
until then, we closed up shop and headed to the campground, both to
join in the fun and to hand out fliers explaining the joys of
shopping available just a few snowy feet down the road.

Unfortunately, I had to leave Kiska behind,
tucked in my house... and likely my bed, but I was looking forward
to seeing Fluff and the others doing their thing.

Martin was running his own team, but he’d
found another Canadian musher who was running Fluff and her crew,
while Craig learned the ropes of dog sledding for himself.

The Humane Society, with a little pushing
from Ethel and more than a little commitment from me, had agreed to
Craig’s adoption of the team.

Somehow Ethel had gotten the local lumberyard
to agree to donate materials for a fence, and gotten Peter, George,
Betty, Everett, Rhonda, me and every other able bodied person she’d
ever met to agree to a fencing party come spring. Until then, she’d
enlisted the high school cross country team to take the dogs on
runs a few times a week.

Surprisingly... well, maybe not that
surprisingly... this organized exercise cut down on their
destructive habits a lot. It also kept them in shape for today’s
event.

“Is that Ethel?” Betty asked as we climbed
onto the snow bank created when they’d plowed the entrance to the
campground.

I looked and sure enough, the octogenarian,
dressed in ski bibs and a wool dress coat, stood perched on the top
of another bank, this one positioned so it overlooked the
start.

And Ethel wasn’t alone. Just like Fluff, she
had her crew with her. Peter was there too.

The two of them were sharing the honor of
firing the start gun.

I wasn’t jealous that my other half had
gotten the honor. Well, not much.

First in line to start was Fluff and company.
Behind them was Martin and his team.

He was looking cute as ever, but not half as
cute as Peter. I let my gaze shift over the Canadian and then
settle back on my boyfriend. He cocked a brow, which let me know
he’d seen my waver in attention.

But that was okay. He didn’t need to get too
secure.

Rhonda hauled herself up onto the snowdrift
beside us. “How are things between you two?” she asked, eyeing
Peter too.

“Fine.” I didn’t need to go into details, but
our brief misunderstanding had done us both good, or at least had
renewed our appreciation for each other.

“He’s taking me to the Hot Springs for
Valentine’s.”

Rhonda’s eyes widened and Betty half turned
to give me an interested stare.

“Overnight?”

I kept my gaze on my man. “Of course.”

“Of course...”

I could feel the two of them twittering
beside me.

“Two nights, actually.”

“Two nights,” the mocking birds repeated.

“No kid?” Betty asked.

I shook my head.

“No dog?” Rhonda added.

I paused. I hadn’t thought about that...

Rhonda grabbed my arm. “I’ll keep him. If I’m
going to keep dating Martin, I need the experience.”

This caused my eyes to widen. I hadn’t
realized my friend was considering a long-distance relationship. Of
course, considering and doing were two very different things.
Still, there was no one I’d trust more with Kiska than Rhonda. As
long as her cat agreed, that is.

A whistle blew and our attention was drawn
back to the start. The dogs all barked and pulled and jumped in
place, letting all of us know that they were ready, past ready, to
run.

Ethel raised the pistol and Peter placed his
hand on hers. Together they pulled the trigger and Fluff was off.
To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure she hadn’t jumped the start,
but then Fluff was Fluff: a strong female who knew just what she
wanted and how she intended to get it.

Peter said his goodbyes and then loped down
the snow bank, his gaze on mine the entire time.

No good deed goes unpunished, but bad
behavior can also be its own reward.

I planned on seeing if the second was true as
soon as I could.

-o0o-

I hope you enjoyed
Let Loose
. If
you’ve read the other books in the Dusty Deals Mystery Series you
know I love Alaskan malamutes and Australian shepherds. We’ve owned
and loved both. In this book I hope my love of huskies comes
through too. We’ve had three Siberian huskies as permanent family
members. The last we adopted from
Adopt a
Husky
. They are a great non-profit organization
dedicated to matching Siberian huskies and husky mixes with the
perfect family for their forever home. A great group to find an
Alaskan malamute just right for you is the
Illinois
Alaskan Malamute Rescue Association
.

If you are considering either breed, you
might want to check out my blog post:
Want Your Own Malamute or Husky? Are You Right for
Them?

Rescue organizations are a great way to find
the perfect pet and to save a dog that might otherwise not have a
chance, and I like to support them. If you work with one that would
like copies of my books for raffles, etc., please let me know at
[email protected]
.
Print copies of
Loose Screw
are now available, and I would
be happy to mail some out for a good cause.