Desperate Housedogs Page 3

  “Nobody seems to know. Or at least the police aren’t saying.”

  “Wow.” It still boggled my mind. Yesterday, I’d been talking to the guy. Working with him and the dogs. Today he was dead. “I guess you just never know when your number is going to be up.”

  “Guess so. But enough about bad news, hon.” Grant leaned on the counter. “What can I do for you today?”

  I attempted to gather my wits, which were definitely ungathered. “I’d like to get this cleaned and the setting checked out.” Reaching into my purse for Grandma Tillie’s brooch, I came up empty-handed.

  “Certainly.” Grant waited, his brows raised in question.

  I began pulling items from my handbag. My wallet, cosmetic case, several tissues, a leash . . . no brooch.

  “I had it.” I continued emptying my Coach bag. “I swear I did.”

  “Your grandmother’s brooch?” he asked.

  The ongoing battle between my cousin and me for ownership of the antique pin was no secret among our close friends in Laguna Beach. Grant specifically knew about the brooch because Mel and I had each had it appraised for insurance purposes.

  I nodded faintly, a sick feeling spreading through me like a flood. There could only be one place I’d lost it because I’d only been one place besides Mel’s.

  Kevin Blackstone’s house.

  Holy Guacamole. Now what?

  I’d just have to go there and retrieve it. That was what.

  I piled everything back into my purse, thanked Grant, told him I’d be back, and headed toward Ruby Point. I prayed Kevin had not changed the security codes, and that Detective Judd Malone was chasing other law-breakers.

  Chapter Four

  Kevin’s house stood still and silent. No police. No crime scene tape.

  That was good. On the drive there, I’d considered that the house might be sealed off as a crime scene with what I’d just heard, but it wasn’t. Perhaps Grant was wrong and Kevin really had died of natural causes.

  It appeared whatever they’d decided, the police were done with Kevin’s house. I didn’t waste any time. The entry wasn’t clearly visible from the street, but I didn’t want to have to explain myself, either to the neighbors or the police. I just wanted to retrieve my grandmother’s brooch. I punched in the alarm codes, eased open the door, slipped in, and reset the alarm.

  Inside, I surveyed the room.

  Zeus and Tommy Boy’s rawhide bones, their “Howlickin Beer” rubber chew toys, and other squeaky playthings lay strewn around the room. As I walked through to the kitchen, their food and water dishes sat half full on the “Hund 1” and “Hund 2” placemats Kevin had commissioned for them.

  We’d worked with the dogs on German language commands and he’d thought it was clever to have Dog 1 and Dog 2 in German. The dogs never paid much attention to which one was which, they would both eat out of one and then both switch to the other. The house seemed hollow without them and their master.

  I didn’t know where Kevin had actually died. The detective hadn’t said, nor had Grant, but for some reason I pictured it in the entry way or perhaps the living room.

  I had no idea where to start looking for the brooch. I stood still and tried to think.

  I’d only been in the living room with my handbag. I’d dropped it by the door when I’d arrived and hadn’t picked it up until I’d left. Since the brooch wasn’t anywhere on the floor, I had to assume either the police had found it and thought it belonged to Kevin, or Kevin had found it and realized I’d lost it. If so, I wondered why he hadn’t called me about it.

  Well, duh, Caro. Maybe because he was dead?

  If I had something, like a piece of jewelry I was holding onto until I could return it to the owner, I’d put it in my underwear drawer. Probably different for guys though. Where would a guy put a god-awful-ugly brooch he’d found in his living room?

  Maybe the best place to begin was to look for it in plain sight. I checked all shelves, all tables, all counter tops. Nothing.

  Fine. On to a deeper dive.

  I started with the kitchen and pulled open a drawer and peered in. Nada. Next, the refrigerator. Nope.

  I had a terrible thought. An awful, awful, terrible thought. What if it had been a robbery and whoever broke in took it?

  Don’t go there, girl.

  It’s here. Keep looking.

  The cupboards were full of mismatched dishes and the pantry full of junk food. This was worse than Mel’s. Chips, candy bars, even several boxes of those powdered sugar donuts. Oh, and then a big bottle of vitamins. Like ingesting the junk food wouldn’t negate the health benefits.

  While the high-priced LA decorator had given Kevin’s house polish and class, the refinement was clearly only skin deep. I methodically worked from one side of the room to the other, opening drawers and doors, but finding nothing.

  I moved to the living room checking every nook and cranny. A desk was empty—more show than function. The entertainment center housed only electronics. Although it was a big room, there were few places where an item could be tucked away, so it didn’t take long.

  The house was too quiet. I couldn’t help but make the comparison between yesterday’s noise and today’s silence.

  I hesitated at the foot of the stairs. I’d never been to the second floor of the house. Working with Zeus and Tommy Boy had never involved Kevin’s bedroom.

  Thank God.

  I needed get on with it before someone spotted my car. Even though I’d parked down the street, I didn’t want to be found in the house and have to explain to Detective Malone, who already seemed to think I was a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.

  I tiptoed up the stairs, not exactly sure why. I tried the first door. Sure enough, it looked like a master bedroom. The curtains were drawn so I flipped on the switch. Music and light flooded the space, which illuminated a king-sized bed draped in black satin. Mood lighting threw shadows on the wall and a red lava lamp flickered on.

  Holy mojo, baby. What was up with the Austin Powers theme?

  Moving quickly, I searched through the drawers of Kevin’s man-sized dresser. The last drawer I opened held Kevin’s underwear—and my grandmother’s brooch wrapped in a fluffy yellow kitchen towel.

  Nice of Kevin to keep it safe for me. I sent a thank-you heavenward and curled my fingers around the brooch. Suddenly I realized along with the towel I’d also picked up a pair of silk boxers and a tiny black book.

  I quickly dropped the boxers.

  Opening the book, I flipped through several pages of notes and my eyes landed on my name.

  Suddenly I heard a sound downstairs. The barest click. I stopped and leaned toward the doorway listening.

  I heard a creak.

  Panic rose in my throat. It sounded like the front door, but I couldn’t be sure. I quietly closed the dresser drawer, scooted across the room and turned off the lights.

  My heart pounding, I realized I couldn’t go back down the stairs so I headed in the opposite direction.

  Just as I reached the end of the hallway, a shrill screech blasted through the house.

  Chapter Five

  The awful screeching continued. Whoever had entered the house had set off the alarm.

  I ran down the back stairs and stumbled outside. The door I’d come out looked to be the delivery entrance. There was a narrow alleyway behind the houses, and I started in what I thought was the direction of my car.

  “Whatcha doing?” A bedraggled man, his long coal-black hair in a pony-tail, popped up out of nowhere.

  I nearly let loose my own screech and backed up a step.

  “S’matter, luv? Are they after you?” He reached up and inched his sunglasses down a notch, the ginormous rings he sported on every finger glinting in the sun. His bloodshot eyes said he’d either started the party pretty early today or had continued it from last night.

  “No.” I finally choked out. “I’m lost. I’m trying to get back to the street.”

  I’d thought a
t first he was a homeless person. Even Laguna Beach with all its wealth has its share. But if I was any judge of bling (and I was) those weren’t exactly Cracker Jack rings.

  “Oh, smashing! Come this way then.” He motioned me toward a doorway I hadn’t spotted before.

  I hesitated.

  “S’all right. It’s too early in the day for me to ravish you, tho’ ’tis tempting.” He guffawed at his own joke and staggered toward the doorway.

  The sound of Kevin’s alarm in the background outweighed my fear. I followed. The door led to a walkway protected on each side by a tall hedge.

  “This way, luv.” He motioned again.

  Dark hair, dark glasses, a black t-shirt under a black leather vest, and black sweat pants. The guy almost blended into the shadows between the hedges.

  Suddenly we rounded a corner and we were in the shockingly brilliant California sunshine. It was like stepping from an Alfred Hitchcock black and white flick onto the set of Blue Hawaii.

  I stopped in my tracks.

  A kidney-shaped pool was surrounded by lush tropical plants. My eyes drank it all in—a tiki bar in one corner, a telescope pointed skyward in another, a white bench draped in beach towels in a secluded nook. I looked back at my guide hoping either a) this was his backyard or b) we’d keep moving through really fast.

  Mystery man placed one be-ringed finger to his lips. “Shhh . . . everyone else is asleep.”

  He opened the French doors and invited me in.

  An older black Labrador loped towards us. I couldn’t resist and stopped for a moment to scratch the dog’s neck.

  “That’s Elvis.” My friend also stopped to pat the dog.

  I could see how Elvis had ended up with his name. The dog had what must have been a mouth injury or defect and was left with a permanent lip curl.

  Thank-you. Thank-you, very much.

  He was a handsome guy.

  The dog, not my newfound friend.

  I barely had time to glance around as we continued through, but what I could see of the house matched the patio. More of the same opulence. I also realized “everyone else is asleep” must have meant the many dogs littering the multiple leather couches in the living room.

  There had to be ten or more.

  He unlatched the front door and swept his arm toward the opening. “No worries, luv. I’ve no bloody idea what you were doing next door, but I won’t tell a soul I saw you.”

  “Thanks.”

  I stepped to the street and hot-footed it to my car.

  As I glanced over my shoulder, I could see a blue and white Laguna PD patrol car sitting empty in Kevin’s driveway.

  I thought I was going to pass out. I gulped back my fear and kept going.

  Once in my car, I finally stopped holding my breath.

  Breath in. Breath out, Caro.

  Close call.

  I unclenched my fist, admiring the glint of sunlight on my precious recovered treasure. Grandma Tillie’s brooch.

  I started my car and slowly made my way down the palm-lined street and to the Ruby Point exit gate. Arranging my face in what I hoped was an innocent looking smile, I waved at the guard as I passed.

  Deep breath.

  At that very moment, the realization hit me. I held the brooch in my hand, but at some point I’d dropped the fluffy yellow kitchen towel and Kevin’s little black book.

  Chapter Six

  I sure as heck couldn’t go back and look for the items I’d dropped, but I mentally retraced my steps. Down the stairs, out the back, scared out of my wits by the man in black, through his house, out the front. I remembered having the towel when I got to the alleyway but not afterwards.

  Wow, I hoped the pet therapist gig worked out for me, because turning to a life of crime was not a possibility. I was a pretty dang inept burglar.

  Turning my car onto PCH and then into the Village section of Laguna Beach, I entered the canyon and headed for the Animal Rescue League to check on Zeus and Tommy Boy.

  It was a short trip to the ARL but the drive through the valley on Laguna Canyon Road gave me time to think. I’d had only a few minutes to peek at Kevin’s little black book before the alarm had sounded, but even at first glance it didn’t appear to be contact info, dating or otherwise.

  Thinking through what had just happened, my escape from Kevin’s and the bizarro trip through the house next door, I snickered to myself. Okay, I admit it was a snicker that was a little on the hysterical side.

  Still, the neighbor guy had been funny. I’d just been too freaked out to appreciate it at the time. I wasn’t sure if he was on something or the stoned-out attitude was the lingering fog of too many drugs when he was younger.

  Still, thanks to him, my search at Kevin’s had gone undetected.

  What a knight in shining leather, huh?

  That Kevin was dead still seemed surreal on a lot of fronts. Part of what made it seem even more unreal was Grant Trask’s intel that there was some question about whether it had been natural causes. If so, that meant someone, not something, had killed Kevin.

  I couldn’t imagine it. He’d been an affable guy, well-liked in the community. Except for the run-in with Mandy Beenerman. But I hardly thought the mailbox dispute was a killing offense. Besides that had been months ago.

  Also, if it were true someone had killed him, Kevin had been offed not in a risky situation of any kind, but behind the secured gates of a guarded community.

  Hard to comprehend.

  The bells on the ARL door gave a distinct jingle and the smell of disinfectant and pets greeted me. Don Furry looked up from the paperwork he was working on at the counter.

  “Hi, Caro.” His sun-crisped face crinkled in a friendly smile. He didn’t seem to notice the racket that came from other parts of the complex, and I knew from my volunteer experience you got to a point you tuned the noise out. “Here to see the boys?”

  “I’d love to.”

  He stacked his paperwork, set it aside and opened the gate to let me in the backroom.

  “How are they doing?”

  “Much better than yesterday.” He led the way to a large dog run area. “They’re still wound up a bit, but not as wild. Quite the deal. Kevin Blackstone dying, I mean.”

  “Yeah, quite the deal.” I took a moment to compose myself and then entered the area calmly.

  The dogs were happy to see me. Zeus and Tommy Boy barked in greeting, but seemed to have dropped the nervous bark-bark-bark we’d dealt with yesterday.

  Sheesh. Was that only yesterday?

  Don scratched Tommy Boy’s head and then leaned over to pat Zeus. “I didn’t know much about the guy, but he wasn’t that old for a heart attack or anything sudden like. Always gave a decent donation for our annual fundraiser.”

  With Don, like Diana, it was always about the animals. Kevin could’ve been a mafia don, but if he was good to his animals and contributed to the cause, he qualified as a good guy.

  “I know you usually have to keep them for a period of time, but I didn’t know what the rules were if the owner was deceased.” I looked around for the box of dog toys usually kept near the fenced exercise space. “I’d be happy to take them until we can find a good home for them. Hopefully someone who will be willing to take them both.”

  Don handed me the box of toys, which had been hidden by a mound of newspapers.

  “We contacted the German Shepherd Dog rescue organization this morning about getting word out regarding potential adoptions, but it sounds like we may not need them. Kevin’s next of kin apparently contacted the police department.”

  “Next of kin?” I fished out some dog toys.

  I’d never heard Kevin mention family and I’d not seen any family pictures in the pretty thorough search I’d just done of his house.

  I didn’t mention the search to Don.

  “Yep, that’s what they said. A brother, I guess. I don’t know if he’ll want the dogs or not, but we’re kind of on hold until we hear one way or the other.”


  “Wow. I didn’t know Kevin had a brother.”

  “I guess nobody did.”

  While we talked I threw some tennis balls and the dogs chased them down. Don and I chatted about the weather, the potential for flooding this year, and the upcoming Fur Ball fundraiser.

  “I don’t know what we’d do without people like you and Diana who volunteer so much of their time.” Don shook his head.

  I waved his comments off. I volunteered once a week and helped exercise the dogs. I also worked with any who had problem behaviors, but most often exercise helped the most. Being cooped up with lots of time on your hands isn’t good for man or beast.

  “There are a lot of people who give of their time and money. I just hope we can get a whole bunch of them to part with their money at the Fur Ball. The numbers from last year were great. I’m hoping we can top them.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt you will. I’ve heard you and Diana have been out twisting arms for some pretty snazzy auction items.”

  “We do have some great offerings.” I gathered the toys and put them away. Zeus and Tommy Boy seemed to be doing really well. They were actually in better shape than the last time I’d seen them. At Kevin’s house.

  “I’ll see you Thursday at the usual time.”

  It was hard to leave the dogs behind but I knew they were being well cared for until Kevin’s family could take them.

  Next I was headed to check in at the office and catch up on some paperwork. I’d retrieved Grandma Tillie’s brooch, Kevin’s dogs were being well cared for, and I was hopeful Kevin’s brother would turn out to be a dog lover and want to take Zeus and Tommy Boy home.

  The thought the two dogs had been so agitated yesterday nagged at me. What had set them off? It probably wasn’t a coincidence that they had been so upset just before Kevin’s death. Something or someone had to have disrupted their routine, most likely something or someone who had ended Kevin’s life.

  Chapter Seven

  My office was in the same building as a real estate broker, an accountant and a psychic. Only in Laguna Beach.