The woman in the equestrian office reminded me of the mother on every Hallmark movie I’d ever seen. Sweet, joyful, and ready to please even the toughest client.
Her toothy smile brightened the room. “Well hey there! Welcome to Milton Equestrian Farm! Are you here for lessons?”
I pointed to my chest and laughed. “Me? Oh heavens, no. I wouldn’t do that to a horse. I’m actually here for an employee reference.” That wasn’t a lie, really.
Her smile faded. “Someone wants to leave?”
I smiled, hoping that would show her otherwise. “No, ma’am. My name is Missy Kingston. I’m with Angels on Earth dog rescue. One of your employees is looking to adopt one of our rescues, and I’m just doing a reference check.”
“Oh, thank the Lord!” She pressed her hand to her heart. “You had me worried there for a moment. It’s hard to get good people these days, and we can’t afford to lose the ones we’ve got. Who’s interested in adopting one of your fur babies?”
“Tammy Simpson.”
Her mouth twitched. “Tammy? That’s not surprising. She’s very dedicated to our horses, and I can see her wanting a dog. She’s always around the farm dogs, especially Boy. He’s her favorite.” She sighed. “And given what’s happened to her last two, I can see how she’d want to heal those wounds.”
“Last two?”
“One got hit by a car, and the other had rabies. Was pretty tragic for her.”
“Oh, I didn’t know. She didn’t put any of that on the application.” I wasn’t sure if any of that was true, but I didn’t think the woman was lying. Misinformed, maybe. “She mentioned one of the horses was sick. Said something about stopping by last night to check on it. Is the horse okay?”
She dropped her head to the side. “A sick horse? No, ma’am. We haven’t had any of our babies sick at all this year. She say who she was talking about?”
I shook my head. “No. She just said she came by last night to check on it.”
She pursed her lips and held up her index finger. “Give me a minute. Let me see if something happened and I’m not aware. Sometimes my son Jimmy—he runs the stables—doesn’t tell me what’s going on.”
“Mine does the same. Daughter, I mean.”
She laughed. “Kids today.” She stepped behind the counter and picked up a walkie-talkie-sized cell phone.
I covered my smile. Hayden would have a field day if I had a phone that big, although I’m sure it’ll happen when I’m older. I’ll need one to match the size of the TV remote, which seems to be getting bigger with each new service Hayden sets up for me. I needed written instructions for this last one. She switched me from cable to streaming, and I still don’t know what I’m doing.
“Jimmy, who’s sick?” the woman said into the phone. After a minute, she added, “Tammy Simpson came by last night to check on the sick horse.” Paused again. “I’m telling you, she did. There’s a lovely woman from the animal shelter here asking. Said Tammy told her that herself.” One more pause, and then, “Hurry up. I’ve got cookies in the oven in back, and I don’t want them to burn.” She set the phone down and smiled at me. “My son will be right here. If you don’t mind, I’ve—”
I cut her off. “I can smell them. Go get them out of the oven. I’ll mosey around your store while I wait.”
“Okay then. He’s the tall, handsome one, and he’s single, by the way.”
I held up my wedding ring finger. “Not me.”
She frowned. “That’s too bad.”
I walked around the small store, twisting my wedding band around my finger. I hadn’t worn it in a few months, but I felt oddly compelled to put it on because I didn’t want to give Kevin the wrong idea. Most of the time I still felt married. Love doesn’t die just because your spouse does.
“You’re here about a sick horse?”
The woman was right. Her son was the tall, handsome one. He looked like the man in the Marlboro commercials, except he didn’t smell like smoke. His dark hair, graying at the roots, made him sexy. My grays made me look worn-out and old. And his bright blue eyes perfectly highlighted his rugged skin. If Hayden were here, she’d be shoving me toward him with both hands.
“Yes. Well, no. I mean, sort of. Tammy Simpson is looking to adopt a dog from my rescue, and she gave me your farm as a reference. She mentioned she was here last night for a sick horse. I was just checking to see how it is and get a reference.”
“We don’t have a sick horse. Did she tell you which one?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes darkened. “What time did she say she was here?”
“She didn’t, but based on our conversation I’d say around eleven?”
He rubbed the graying stubble on his chin. “Hmm. Maybe that’s why the stable was unlocked this morning. Woman forgets to close the doors all the time. I can see her forgetting to lock them too.”
I tilted my head to the left. “Would she be able to get in after you closed?”
“She shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t borrow someone’s key. That happens. We do nightly checks, and she could have been covering for someone.”
“Is there a way to find out?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m just wondering what this has to do with Ms. Simpson adopting a dog?”
I dragged my bottom lip under my upper teeth. “I’m just doing my due diligence, sir, and she said she was devoted to the horses, so I just wanted to verify her commitment to animals.”
“Well, she may be, but I can’t say if she was here or not.” He tugged on the small hairs growing on his chin. “I might could have a look at the security cameras, though.”
I swallowed back the desire to scream, please! “I’m not sure that’s necessary.” Please, I thought. Do it!
He nodded and crooked his finger. “Come on back. Between us, I’ve had my concerns about Ms. Simpson, and if she said she was here, I’d like to make sure. I’ll take a look at the schedule, see who was on the rotation for the late-night check-in. If it’s her, then we won’t worry. If her name’s not on the schedule, then we’ll have ourselves a look at the camera.”
Tammy Simpson wasn’t scheduled to check the horses that night, and her name wasn’t added to the schedule at the last minute either. She did, however, come by the stables. She just didn’t enter them. Although she tried, the door was locked.
“Now that means Billy Joe didn’t lock up after he left. That kid.” He shook his head. “He needs a talking to again.”
“Well,” I said, wiping some random hay from my pants, “at least you know who left the door unlocked.”
He stood. “Ms.—what was your name again?”
I stuck my hand out to shake. “It’s Missy Kingston, and I don’t think I actually introduced myself.”
He shook my hand. “Jimmy Mayfield. Nice to meet you.” He shrugged. “May I be honest?”
“Of course.”
“If I had a say in the matter, I wouldn’t let Ms. Simpson adopt a dog. She does seem to care about animals, but she’s strugglin’ to keep her life under control. Give her some time. She might be a good choice later, but in my opinion, the time isn’t yet.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Mayfield. I appreciate your honesty.”
He walked me to my car and offered free riding lessons if I was interested. I kindly said I’d consider, and he handed me his card. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was flirting, but I had on my ring, so he wasn’t. Was he?
He didn’t matter. What mattered was I knew Tammy Simpson was lying.
I stopped at my favorite coffee shop for a pumpkin coffee with a shot of espresso. I felt weighted and tired, and I needed the pick-me-up. I probably wouldn’t sleep later, but I doubted I’d have gotten much anyway. I stood outside admiring the few Christmas decorations already going up around old town. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the city was competing for a Hallmark movie location. The trees were filled with twinkle lights, and stores were switching out pumpkins for cranberries and poinsettias. And it wasn’t nearly complete. With Thanksgiving barely behind us, soon Main Street would be a winter wonderland, at least as much as it could be when the daily temperature was usually fifty-five degrees.
I caught a glimpse of a white van turning at the intersection two blocks away. It stopped at the sign before turning right, away from old town’s main strip. My first thought was that the van was the same one involved in what was happening, but I had to be logical. Whenever Sam and I would purchase a new car, I’d suddenly see the same one all over town. It used to frustrate me, but Sam said I was just paying more attention, and that could also be the case with the white van.
Julie Salmonelli walked out of the women’s boutique across the street carrying five bags. I smirked thinking she’d been shopping for herself because she seemed far too selfish to shop for anyone else. “Stop it,” I said out loud. “You sound like a middle-school girl.”
“Do you always talk to yourself?”
I jumped at the familiar voice. “Kevin, you scared me!”
He smiled. “My apologies.” He spied the large paper cup in my hand. “Had I known you were a coffee drinker, I would have suggested that instead of wine the other night. Based on the amount you left in your cup, you must prefer it.”
“Actually, I’m not much of a drinker in general. I like to think I can enjoy a glass of wine, and sometimes I do, but usually it just makes me tired and cranky.”
‘I understand.”
I noticed the two bags in his hands. “Christmas shopping?”
He grimaced. “Would I look bad if I said no?”
I laughed. “I read somewhere that forty percent of the items bought during the holiday season are for the purchaser.”
His eyes sparkled. “I’m glad I’m not the only one.”
I finished my coffee. “I hate to run, but I’ve got to get back to the shelter.”
He nodded. “Of course. Tonight still work for you?”
“Yes. I’ll see you there.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I wasn’t sure I was. That would depend on how he answered my questions about his own confrontation with Shelly Wishard on the night she died.
* * *
Detective Bruno leaned against his car in the shelter lot and puffed on a cigarette.
I smiled and stepped out of my car. “I was wondering when you’d stop by.”
“Hear you’ve been talking to people about the case.” He flicked the butt onto the gravel lot and stamped it out with his boot.
“Hear you haven’t.”
He flinched. “We have a process, Ms. Kingston.”
“And I have a dead friend and missing rescues, Detective.”
He stared at me long and hard. I waited for him to say something, and when he finally did, it caught me off guard. “What did you find out?”
I was speechless for a second but smiled to cover my shock. “Tammy Simpson argued with Shelly Wishard the night we met at the park. At first it looked like just an ordinary tense thing because people were angry, but when I look back, I remember seeing them talking earlier, and they seemed confrontational then too. It could be nothing, but Shelly adopted the dog Tammy wanted, and she brought him to the meeting that night.”
“So they could have argued about that?”
“It’s possible, except the dogs were in the other area away from all of us for most of the time, so she might not have known. And when I asked Tammy where she was the night Shelly was murdered, she said she went to the farm she works at to check on a sick horse.”
“Let me guess. You contacted the farm, and she didn’t check on a sick horse.”
I nodded. “We even watched the tape. She didn’t go inside. The door was locked.”
He pressed his lips together.
“There’s more. Nancy Meyer, another woman who wanted to adopt a dog, was also at that meeting.”
“And you think she could be involved?”
“You haven’t spoken to Justin, have you?”
“We passed in the hall earlier and he said he had something to tell me. I figured it was something involving you and decided to come straight here before going back to the crime scene.”
“Nancy Meyer’s brother is in prison for dog fighting.”
“Really?” He lit another cigarette.
“Her mother says she wants to adopt a dog to repent for her brother’s sins, but I find it interesting that she went to visit him.”
“People visit family in prison all the time.”
“It’s just convenient timing.”
“Do you know her brother’s name?”
I shook my head. “Justin’s planning to—” I stopped myself in case it would get him in trouble.
“Make sure he keeps me in the loop, will you?”
I was surprised he’d asked that. “Of course. May I ask a favor?”
“You can try.” His upper lip twitched.
“I have to check on some things inside, but I’d really like to go back to Shelly’s home. Is that possible?”
He sighed. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”
“A pittie owner is dead, and dogs are missing. Would you stop?”
“It’s my job, Mrs. Kingston.”
“And dogs are my passion, Detective Bruno.”
He nodded once. “Understood.”
“So?”
“Only if I can look at the dogs.”
I smiled. Bruno was a bigger softie than he wanted people to believe. I might just like him after all.
Bruno played with several of the dogs in the shelter, and they all took to him like they’d never met a stranger. Dogs sensed dog people, and Bruno, whether he realized it or not, was a dog person. When he asked to play with the puppies, I laughed at him.
He shrugged. “If you don’t like puppies, are you really human?”
“No. Definitely no,” Kerry said.
When she batted her eyelashes at the detective, he blushed, and I almost laughed again. Dogs were like Cupid, making connections far easier than any online dating app.
“Okay,” I said. “I think I’m done.” I eyed Bruno, who was holding a wiggling Princess to his face and letting her shower him with kisses. “You ready, Detective, or should we get you two a private kennel?”
Kerry laughed. He blushed again. It was nice to see the human side of him.
“Are you going to be adopting these puppies out?”
“Yes,” Kerry said quickly. “But we have an application process and require a home visit. I can do that if you’d like?” she asked me.
I raised my eyebrows. “Uh, sure.”
She ripped an application from the clipboard and handed it to him. “Would you like to fill it out now?”
I tried really hard not to smile but it was impossible. “Because of the missing dogs, we’ve paused all adoptions for now.”
“He’s a detective. I’m sure he can keep Princess here safe.”
He handed Kerry the puppy and took the application. “Actually, it’s probably best I wait until this case is closed. I don’t want to neglect that little princess because of work.”
“At least fill out the application. If you want her when it’s time, I’m sure we can put a rush on your application,” she said.
“In the meantime, maybe Kerry can go ahead and do the home visit?” I impressed myself for saying that without a smile plastered on my face.
She dropped her jaw. “Uh, sure. I’d be happy to? What works for you, Detective?”
He glanced at me, then back at Kerry, and then rubbed Princess’s chin. “Let me get back to you in a day or two. Is that okay?”
Kerry pushed back her shoulders. “One hundred percent.”
I turned around so I wouldn’t laugh, but it was getting really hard not to. I sure hoped this wasn’t what people saw when I talked to men because that was not the impression I wanted to make.