Part 28 (1/2)

I stacked the empty totes inside one another. ”Am I supposed to be surprised that you're taking up the charge to end illegal gambling at wiener races?” I asked with more than a hint of impatience in my voice. I knew I was being awful, but I didn't know any other way to get him to leave.

His jaw tightened. I'd struck a nerve. ”That includes Hagan Stone.”

I shrugged. ”Congratulations. The story has Pulitzer written all over it.”

He crossed his arms. Frown lines edged the corners of his eyes. ”Your boyfriend is up to his elbows in this mess.”

He had no idea. ”Look, I get it. You have a job to do. Like I told you yesterday, Grey is a big boy. He can take care of himself.”

”What about you?”

I squared my shoulders. ”What about me?”

”If your name comes up, I can't overlook it.”

I blinked. I had to have heard him wrong. He thought I was involved somehow?

I side-stepped the lids on the floor and stood in front of MacAvoy. I locked eyes with him. ”I wouldn't expect you to. But let me be perfectly clear. It won't.”

An adversarial silence filled the air. Missy must have noticed the coldness in my tone. She waddled out from behind the counter to check out what was happening. I motioned for her to come to me.

”If you've gotten everything off your chest, I'd like to get back to work.”

Without a word, he slipped on his gla.s.ses and left.

I squatted next to Missy and absently scratched her back. ”That man is a pain in the b.u.t.t. I wish he'd go back to wherever he came from.”

I pushed out a frustrated sigh. I'd basically declared war on MacAvoy. Stupid move on my part. A sensible person would apologize. I could be sensible. It just wasn't going to happen today.

Chapter Thirty-One.

I NEEDED A DISTRACTION. Who better to distract me than Darby? I retrieved my purse from behind the counter and pulled out my cell. I paused. Why call when she was probably right next door? I shoved my phone in my back pocket and popped outside to see if her studio lights were on.

From the sidewalk, I could see the closed sign hanging on her door.

”Darn.”

I spun around and b.u.mped into Fallon Keller, knocking her drink out of her hand. Pink lemonade flowed down the sidewalk.

”Geez, I'm sorry. I keep running into you don't I?”

Fallon held out her hands to protect herself from further abuse. ”You don't seem to watch where you're going.”

I cringed. She was right. ”Did that spill on you?” I quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed up the cup, lid, and straw.

She inspected her purple knit blouse and white capri pants. ”I don't think so.”

I grabbed her by the elbow, ushering her toward the boutique. ”Let me replace that. I have bottled water and soft drinks.”

She allowed me to lead her inside the shop. I left her up front by the interactive toys.

”What would you like?” I tossed the garbage in the trash behind the counter. Missy lifted her head long enough to confirm I was back.

”Water is fine.” Fallon tucked her purse under her arm. ”I saw that reporter leave your shop.”

”He was checking out the store,” I fibbed. I break up with Grey, and suddenly I'm a proficient liar. The irony wasn't lost on me.

I hurried toward the office, grabbed a cold bottle of water from the mini-fridge, and returned with her drink. ”Feel free to look around. Watch out for the storage containers. I'm still unpacking from the weekend.”

She gripped the bottle with one hand, but didn't open it. ”I saw you at the drugstore. You were talking to Lenny.”

I glanced at her and said, ”We were discussing Pickles.” A half-truth. I had questions of my own and didn't want to scare her off before I got the chance to ask them.

Her eyes darted around the shop. ”He was really mad after the race.”

I smiled. That was an understatement. ”Were you able to see Zippy yesterday?”

She nodded. ”He was with the ladies at the front desk. They promised to watch out for him.”

Sally and Lorraine worked the information desk at the police station. Not only were they missing a sense of humor, they carried guns. If they said they'd look after Zippy, they meant it.

Fallon moved thoughtfully around the front of the shop. ”I checked out your booth at the race. I saw a medium-sized animal-print pet carrier. Do you still have it?”

I tilted my head to the side. ”I haven't unpacked it yet. Are you interested?”

She nodded. ”I'd like to buy it.”

I motioned at the display of dog carriers less than a foot from where she stood. ”I have one exactly like it up front by the window. To your left.”

”No,” she snapped.

I blinked in surprised at her sudden hostility.

She regained her composure and smiled shakily. ”I want the one that was at the booth.”

Okay. This was interesting. What was so important that she had to have the one she saw at the Dachshund Dash? I refrained from pointing out how strange she was acting.

”Are you sure it has to be that one? It's been in the storage bin. The carrier is soft-sided so it might be damaged.” I didn't believe for a second there was anything wrong with that carrier.

She shook her head adamantly. ”I'd rather buy the one from the race.”

It was clear from her tone she was not budging. ”Whatever you say.”

I gingerly made my way to the last two full storage containers and dragged the one with the dog beds and carriers behind the counter.

I coaxed her back to a topic of my choice. ”So do you and Lenny know each other well? He was surprised you were still in town.”