Woof at the Door (13 page)

Wait, no, I hadn’t. We were still alone. There was still time.

I stood and stepped forward, until I was looking up into his face. “Kai, I was hoping
to talk to you about LaBryce.”

I saw his back go rigid and winced inwardly. “I owe you an apology. I jumped to conclusions
last night. Like I said, I’m not terribly objective when it comes to you.”

He didn’t look happy about it. So much for using my “influence” to my advantage. The
fact that Kai was attracted to me only seemed to irritate him. “That wasn’t what I
wanted to talk about.” It was time for Grace to act like Grace and cut the crap. No
more buttering up. No more BS.

“You remember what I said yesterday in the elevator? That I know, for a fact, that
LaBryce is innocent?”

He nodded but said nothing, waiting for me to continue.

“LaBryce was here. He came home after the party, got drunk, and slept it off on that
couch.” I pointed through the glass.

Kai’s eyes didn’t follow my finger; they stayed fixed on me. “Are you telling me you
know this because you were with him?”

“No. But I know someone who was.” She just couldn’t talk—not to Kai anyway. Charm
was talking to me, however. Asking me about a bottle and wondering if there were more
dog biscuits in my pocket. I ignored the persistent hum of the cat’s brain.

“I need to know who. Give me a name.”

“I can’t.”

“You are withholding information in a murder investigation.”

“No. I’m not. I’m giving you information. LaBryce is not the killer. He was here.”
I spoke calmly, thankful that Charm was ignoring Kai’s irritation, preferring to sniff
my pockets.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything else, are you?”

I shook my head. “I’m really not.”

“I could take you in. Arrest you for interfering with a police investigation.”

As soon as he said it, I knew he wouldn’t. Maybe my flirting had done some good after
all. But something about the way he had listened when I described what LaBryce had
done the night of the murder made me think Kai had heard the story before. From LaBryce.

“You know I’m telling the truth. Because it matches LaBryce’s story, doesn’t it?”

Kai didn’t answer immediately. When he finally spoke, it was almost to himself. “He
told us that he slept on the couch, and not in his bed.”

Kai’s cell phone vibrated audibly in its holster. He flipped it open. “Duncan.” He
paused to listen. “Okay. I’m almost finished here.”

He closed the phone. “I’ve got to head back to the lab. There’s a security camera
at the entrance to Mark’s neighborhood. The guard booth is only manned until midnight,
but the camera runs twenty-four-seven.”

This was a good thing. “I guess you’ll see that LaBryce left Mark’s and didn’t come
back.”

“Maybe.”

I had to smile. Even if Kai was not yet convinced, that was okay. I reminded myself
that it was his job to be skeptical. I assumed Kai was a show-me-the-proof kind of
guy.

He would get it soon enough. I felt a strange little whoosh in my heart. What would
happen if they identified the killer from the tapes? LaBryce would be cleared.

I’d be off the hook. I felt a surge of relief and then a stab of disappointment because
at some point in the last few minutes I’d realized . . .

I might actually want to get caught.

CHAPTER 9

I left Charm with promises that I’d be back soon. Though I hoped it was under less
stressful circumstances. I needed to run home and pick up Jax and Moss. The appointment
I had made to have Jax evaluated at the Humane Society wasn’t until later, but after
my lovely encounter with Mr. Cavanaugh that morning, I didn’t want to keep the dogs
cooped up inside too long.

Moss howls for me after a while. Though I’ve told him time and again that I can’t
hear him after I drive away, he refuses to believe it. I was sure there would already
be one complaint waiting for Emma. No need to add another.

By the time I’d ushered the two canines into Bluebell and vaguely pointed us toward
town on Beach Boulevard, I’d decided to track down Alex Burke. I needed to get some
more vitamin powder. I also planned on giving him a nice dose of what for. I didn’t
mind looking after Charm. But after the call this morning from Mark’s brother, I needed
to remember that Jax required my attention, too. I had to make sure he would be safe
to adopt out.

I could do both, of course, but it wasn’t my job.

Even though Kai seemed to think that Alex had blown off work because LaBryce was in
jail, I didn’t think that was much of an excuse.

I called the only person I could think of who might know Burke—who wasn’t in jail.
Dr. Hugh Murray, the zoo vet, was busy, or so I assumed when he didn’t answer his
phone.

I sat at the light at University, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel. So, how
could I find Burke’s number? I called Information, and lo and behold, there was a
listing for A. Burke off Kings Road.

Who knew people still had listed phone numbers? I called; the phone rang and rang.
No machine picked up. No answering service either. This had to be his home phone since
it was listed with an address.

Kings Road wasn’t too far away if I hopped on 95. I had plenty of time before I had
to get Jax to his evaluation.

Burke’s neighborhood had seen better days. Like, in the 1950s when the small concrete
block homes were a perfect starter for John, the salesman, and his new wife, Betty.
Back then, you would have seen Johnny Jr. playing catch on the neatly trimmed grass
of the tidy front yard. Now the yards were cordoned off with chain link and guarded
by pit bulls. Junk littered the front porches and was strewn over weedy lawns. The
flotsam and jetsam of poverty.

Burke’s house was no exception. Though the yard was devoid of broken toys and tattered
couches, I was willing to bet the squat, square cube was not going to be featured
in
Southern Living
anytime soon. I parked Bluebell on the street, and ignoring the dogs’ requests to
come with me, I left them in the ’Burb and hopped to the ground.

The gate barring the way to the front walk was leaning awkwardly on its hinges, and
though it was technically closed, there was no latch. I pushed it open and walked
to the front door.

I knocked, and peeling paint flaked off the door and drifted to the ground. I tried
to peek inside, but the jalousie windows didn’t appear to have been cleaned in the
last thirty years.

I thought about going around the house, but that seemed to be overstepping a bit.
Finally, I decided to try Hugh again.

Voice mail. Damn. I thought about running to the zoo and tracking him down, but rejected
the idea as soon as it popped into my head. Even though I went to the zoo fairly often
to enjoy the soothing white noise of the multitude of animal brains after a long day,
I always avoided Hugh. I’d told myself his flirtations made me uncomfortable, and
though that was somewhat true, I knew it was an excuse.

A reminder of my cowardice.

“Unacceptable, Grace.”

I needed to find Alex Burke, tell him Charm was out of his special vitamin mix, and
find out if he could come back to work. If that meant I had to deal with Hugh’s charisma,
so be it.

I climbed back into Bluebell, pulled out of the depressed little ’hood, and a short
ten minutes later, I was parking at the zoo.

Moss being a better theft deterrent than any alarm, I decided to leave the engine
running with the AC on while I ran my errand. Walking under the tiki hut–inspired
thatched entryway, I nodded to the ticket taker, who recognized me, and headed toward
the animal hospital.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Hugh’s voice stopped me in front of the Black Bear exhibit in the Wild Florida section
of the zoo. Hugh trudged through a thicket of palmettos and hopped a short wooden
fence with the ease of a panther.
Wild Florida indeed.

“Hugh, do you have a minute?”

“For you? As many as you need.” Those warm honey eyes roamed my face as he stepped
closer.

I had to fight the urge to step back. “I was wondering if you know Alex Burke. He
works for LaBryce Walker.”

Hugh’s eyebrows shot up. “LaBryce is in deep shit.”

“I know.”

“You think he did it? Do you think he killed Mighty Mark?”

Why did some athletes have such stupid nicknames? “No. I don’t think he did it.”

I was glad that Hugh didn’t ask me to expound on my belief. He just nodded and asked,
“Alex Burke. Like, Alexander Burke?”

I shrugged. “LaBryce just called him Alex. But that makes sense.”

“I remember a guy named Burke. He applied here a few years ago, I think. I remember
because there was some issue with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t remember exactly. There were rumors.”

“What kind?”

“I bet Lucy Ann will remember.”

Lucy Ann was the informational hub of the zoo employees. If someone was getting married,
divorced, was allergic to strawberries, whatever, somehow Lucy Ann knew about it.
She was a volunteer who came in a few times a week to do little educational talks
to kids. I estimated her age to be approximately one hundred and seventeen, though
she was as healthy and hale as any sixty-year-old.

Lucy Ann’s omnipotence always made me a little nervous. She reminded me of my grandmother.
Not that I was scared of my grandma. I wasn’t. Well, maybe a little. In the way that
kids are afraid of adults that seemed to be able to pluck ideas right out of their
brains. My grandma could take one look at me and know if I was lying, if I’d washed
my hands before dinner, or if I was mad at Emma.

When I was a kid, I thought it was some sort of weird grandma-power. I still think
that’s possible. Lucy Ann had it, too. Maybe there was a club.

Lucy Ann was usually near the Kid Zone, an area that functioned exactly as it was
titled. I walked with Hugh through winding paths past gorillas and chimps. I could
feel the buzz of their brains, but no one was close enough for me to talk to. Which
was good. I wasn’t there to chat. Chimps could be very chatty once they got going.

I spotted Lucy Ann as we rounded the same corner I had navigated two days ago with
a lemur on my head. I glanced into the lemur exhibit and spotted Kiki right away.
He gave me a friendly whistle and I called out a greeting before turning to Lucy Ann.

“I heard you had to get a little ringtail back in there the other morning,” Lucy Ann
said.

“Yes, ma’am.” Of course she knew; she knew everything, which was why I was standing
in front of her.

Lucy Ann eyed Hugh and then looked back at me. “What are you two up to today?” The
way she said it sounded more like she was talking to a married couple she’d run into
as she strolled down her street. I shifted away from Hugh, just to make a point.

“Lucy Ann, do you remember a man named Alexander Burke?” Hugh asked. “He applied for
a job here a while ago, but I remember there were some objections about him, and he
didn’t get the job.”

Lucy Ann’s eyes stayed fixed on me. “You should stay away from that man.”

I felt my eyes widen. I hadn’t expected this. “Why?”

“Because he’s trouble, that’s why.”

This was where Lucy Ann and my grandmother began to meld into the same person. I knew,
sure as my eyes are blue, that if I asked her why, she would not elaborate. She had
spoken, and that was that. Thankfully, Hugh intervened.

“Grace needs to talk to him. Business. But if he’s trouble, we need to know what kind.”

I glanced at him—when had this become a
we
?

Lucy Ann seemed to think about that for a second. “Well, I’ll tell you what I know.
We didn’t hire him because he has a criminal record. Drugs. Among other things.”

“Other things as in . . .”

“As in he’s a violent man.”

“What do you mean ‘violent’? Did he assault someone?” Hugh asked. We both knew Lucy
Ann would know the answer to this question, but at that moment, a bevy of preschoolers
were herded up the path toward us by a teacher and several other adults. Lucy Ann
turned toward them, beaming.

She glanced over her shoulder at us before wading into the sea of little bodies. The
meaning of her look was clear. I should steer clear of Alexander Burke. And Hugh should
make sure I did.

I glanced at Hugh, who lifted a shoulder and said, “If Burke was convicted of a crime,
it’s public record. We can check.”

We headed toward Hugh’s office, which was in the hospital. As we walked into the building,
I pulled in a deep breath. The cool air was infused with the scent of antiseptic and
animal. I felt a pang, knowing I could never work in a veterinary hospital again.
I missed it. I had experienced an overwhelming amount of terror and pain in a place
like this, but I had good memories, too, of the ones I helped save, despite my ability.

Hugh led me into his office. He sat at his computer, and I hovered over his shoulder
as he tried to find Alexander Burke’s criminal record. I knew such things were possible,
theoretically, but I was still impressed when after a few keystrokes and mouse clicks,
we were reading Alexander Burke’s rap sheet.

“It looks like Burke was charged with possession at the same time he was arrested
for aggravated assault.”

“What’s the difference between aggravated assault and regular assault?”

Hugh swiveled in his chair to look up at me. “I don’t know. Got any lawyers you can
ask? Or a cop?”

I had both. But I knew I’d be calling Wes. “I have a good friend that’s a lawyer.
I’ll call and ask him.”

Hugh flashed a sudden, brilliant smile. “This is nice.”

“What?”

“Talking to you.”

I angled my head, felt my brows knit. I talked to Hugh fairly often.

“I mean about something other than the animals.”

“Oh.” The warm glow in his eyes seemed to reach out and brush against my skin. I started
to move back but discovered that I didn’t really want to. What was wrong with me?
One flirting session and I was in heat or something.

Or maybe I had let some part of my defenses collapse with the idea of coming clean
about my ability.

The thought made me want to bolt, and when Hugh stood, I
did
step back.

“Are you going to try and find Burke?”

“Maybe.”

“If you wait for me to get off work, I’ll help you. I think Lucy Ann is right, you
shouldn’t go hunting this guy.”

I felt a reflexive burst of temper at the comment. If I wanted to talk to Burke, I
would do it. I didn’t need a man to protect me. I wanted to snap at Hugh, but I couldn’t
bring myself to do it. He was trying to help. Yes, I was aware that this change in
my policy was sudden. The inner feminazi I had nurtured for years was screaming that
I should put Hugh in his place and stomp out of his office.

But I couldn’t, not with him standing in front of me with real concern in his eyes.
How could I snap and snarl and brush off such sincerity? How had I done it for so
many years?

I smiled, and it was a real, open smile that I wasn’t sure Hugh had ever seen on my
face. “Come on, Hugh, I tame dragons. Don’t worry about me.”

He seemed a bit off balance then. I didn’t know if it was my comment or that I didn’t
react like he’d expected. I had the sudden image of a dog that had been hit over and
over and didn’t understand kindness. I felt a hot rush of guilt. God, I’d been a total
bitch.