Gia pulled into the driveway of her Spanish-style ranch, shifted into Park, and sat. Sometimes she still got chills when she pulled up to the house. The cream-colored stucco and scalloped terra-cotta tile roof were perfect, and it was all hers. A dream come true.
“You ready?” Savannah climbed out and grabbed the groceries from the backseat.
If Alfie was coming over, they’d need snacks. Plus, she was hoping she and Savannah would get to watch a movie and munch on popcorn, just like they used to do, since Hunt and Leo would no doubt be working late to solve Rusty Bragge’s homicide. She got out and started toward the front door, then stopped when she spotted her nemesis sitting atop her garbage pail, digging through a container of shrimp. “Are you kidding me?”
“What’s wrong?” Savannah glanced in the direction Gia was staring just as Gia started toward the side of the house, where garbage was once again strewn across the lawn. She rounded the car until she stood beside the driver’s door, then stopped short. “Whoa, Gia, hold up.”
Gia paused, one eye on the raccoon and one on Savannah. “What? I have to clean up the garbage.”
“Yeah, but . . .” She gave the raccoon the side-eye. “Those varmints can carry rabies and whatnot. You should wait until later when he’s done.”
Gia lifted a brow. “Seriously? He’s just sitting there staring at me. It’s like he’s taunting me, daring me to try to stop him. If I don’t make a stand here, I might never get rid of him.”
Savannah laughed out loud—a full-on belly laugh.
“Glad you find my misery so entertaining.”
“Gia—” She hiccupped and laughed harder.
But Gia tuned her out as she spotted the garden house hanging coiled on the front of the house and inched toward it, her gaze riveted on the critter, whose head tilted to watch her in fascination, shrimp clutched in his grubby little claw. Sweat soaked Gia’s back, and her hands shook as she uncoiled the hose and turned it on, then backed away until the hose pulled taut.
Savannah just shook her head, then opened the driver’s-side door and set the groceries on the front seat. “Are you sure you want to mess with this little guy?”
“What choice do I have? The raccoon-proof cans are obviously not doing the trick, but if I scare it off, maybe it won’t come back?”
“So, that’s your plan?”
“Keep your skepticism to yourself.”
She laughed again, leaned her butt against the hood of the car, and folded her arms, obviously settling in to be entertained. No doubt Hunt and Leo would be getting an earful later.
If Gia didn’t want to be completely humiliated, she’d better make this work. “Okay, buddy, I’m going to give you one chance to get out of my garbage, and then you’re getting soaked.”
Rocky Raccoon just stared at her through those big black—adorable—eyes. Great. Now what? She couldn’t spray him. Not that it would hurt him, probably, but she couldn’t take that chance. She turned the nozzle to the strongest stream, aimed, and opened it up. The spray hit the can with enough force to knock it over, spilling several more bags.
The raccoon startled and shot toward her.
Uh-oh. Gia screeched and stumbled backward, but with her death grip on the hose, it tightened and jerked her back.
The raccoon was still hightailing it straight toward her. Why had she assumed it would flee in the opposite direction?
Savannah bolted toward the house, leaving the car door open.
And in it went.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” It was bad enough he was making a mess out of the garbage, no way was he getting the groceries they’d just bought.
Keeping the hose aimed in front of her and both eyes peeled for the raccoon, Gia crept toward the open car door. She peered in the side window but didn’t see the raccoon. She tiptoed sideways, leaning over to see in the back window.
The raccoon was crouched in the corner of the backseat, back arched, looking none too happy.
With her gaze glued to the creature, Gia grabbed the grocery bags off the front seat, dropped the hose, and ran.
Savannah swung the front door open as she reached it, then stumbled in beside her and slammed it shut behind them. They both leaned their backs against the door—as if the raccoon could open it and follow them inside. Gia started to laugh, then remembered its position, sitting atop the garbage pail, shrimp held between its hands, a little too human-like. She turned and locked the dead bolt.
Thor, her hundred-plus-pound Bernese mountain dog, bounded into the foyer, skidded as he tried to stop on the tile, and plowed into Gia’s legs, then looked up at her so adoringly she couldn’t help but laugh.
She shifted the bags to pet his big, blocky head. “One of these days you’re going to realize you have to stop sooner.”
He wagged his entire body as he pressed his side against her legs, keeping her from moving until she’d spent a sufficient amount of time greeting him.
“I know, baby, I’m sorry I’m late.”
Thor barked once, then turned his attention to Savannah.
Klondike, the tiniest of the three kittens Thor had saved from a coyote attack, sauntered into the foyer. She’d filled out as she’d grown, her black and white fur and black booties now soft and silky, the chunk missing from her ear the only remaining testament to the ordeal she’d suffered. With too much dignity to pounce as Thor was prone to, she simply weaved between Gia’s feet until Gia scooped her up and nuzzled her against her neck. “Hello, little one.”
Klondike tilted her head back, stretched, and eyed Savannah as if just noticing her presence.
“Sorry, baby, Pepper’s not here tonight. Maybe I’ll bring her next time.” Savannah had adopted one of Klondike’s siblings, and Alfie had taken the other. If the two of them hadn’t been so insistent, Gia would have claimed all three.
She lowered Klondike to the floor. She was late, and they needed food and water, then she had to take Thor out. Out into the yard. Where Rocky might be lying in wait to ambush Gia for spraying him with the hose.
When Thor trotted toward the kitchen, Savannah turned to Gia.
Gia just looked at her for a moment, then held up the bags in triumph. “At least I saved the snacks. From the raccoon and Thor.”
Savannah blinked twice, then grinned. “So . . . now what?”
Gia trudged to the living room curtains, parted them, and peeked out. Since she couldn’t see into the car, she had no way to know if the raccoon was still there. Hopefully, it wouldn’t decide to build a nest—or whatever kind of shelter raccoons lived in. Being Gia was born and raised in New York City, she knew little, okay nothing, about wildlife. She supposed she could wait for Hunt or Leo to get off, then ask them to clear the car. But she’d never live that down.
Maybe she should have shut the car door and trapped it inside. She could still run out there and slam the door shut, but then what? She had no idea how long it would take to get someone out there to take care of it, and even this late in the day the Florida sun was too hot to trap a poor critter inside a vehicle. She let the curtain drop and headed for the kitchen. “Now we eat.”
Savannah followed. “It’ll probably leave once it feels safe again.”
“You mean when he realizes the crazy woman with the hose is gone?”
She laughed. “Something like that.”
Gia set the bags on the counter, then fed Thor and Klondike while Savannah unpacked the groceries. “What time is Alfie coming?”
Savannah glanced at her phone. “He should be here any minute.”
“Did you tell him what was going on?”
“Yup.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He said he’d be here with bells on.”
Gia paused, Thor’s leash clutched in her hand. “You don’t think he’ll really wear bells, do you?”
Savannah shrugged and stuck the butter in the fridge. “With Alfie, you never know.”
“Too true.” She usually let Thor run free in the fenced section of the yard, but she didn’t want to chance him getting hurt if the raccoon was out there. No matter how affectionate Thor had been with Klondike, refusing to leave her side after he’d rescued her, she wanted to be careful. There was no way to tell how he might react if he felt threatened or thought Gia might be in danger. As soon as he finished eating, Gia clipped the leash to his collar and scanned the yard. “Let’s make this quick, boy.”
She whipped the door open, hurried outside and kept watch while he did his business, then ran back up the deck stairs and into the kitchen. All without coming across any wildlife, thankfully. She double-checked she’d locked the dead bolt, then washed her hands.
Once they finished putting away what they wouldn’t need until later, Gia turned the oven to preheat, then lined up trays on the table. She opened boxes and spread frozen appetizers on the trays. Not the healthiest dinner, but they hadn’t had time to eat yet, and appetizers would be easy enough to eat while they researched whatever they could find that might help exonerate Cole. Plus, if Hunt and Leo got off early enough, they could always just heat up some more.
By the time a knock sounded on the front door and Thor took off barking, the table was lined with platters filled with appetizers, drinks had been set out, and two laptops sat open on the kitchen table. She started for the door then paused and glanced at the food. Both Klondike and Thor were occasionally known to try to poach. “Can you watch the food while I go let Alfie in?”
“Sure thing.” Savannah popped a mini egg roll into her mouth as she pulled out a chair and sat in front of one of the laptops. “I’m going to start a list of what we’re looking for.”
“Perfect, thanks.” Because her thoughts were so jumbled it would take hours just to sort it all out. She checked to be sure it was Alfie, then opened the door. “Hey, Alfie, thanks for coming.”
“Any time.” He practically vibrated with energy. As always, despite working from home as a freelance information analyst, Alfie was impeccably dressed in Dockers and a blue short-sleeved button-down shirt, complete with a pocket protector containing a row of pens and at least one stylus. He hauled in a bag full of what Gia thought of as hacker tools. “Working with you and Savannah is always a hoot.”
Thor nudged Alfie’s hand with his head, while Klondike feigned indifference from a distance.
“Hey, big fella. Seems like you’ve grown since I last saw you.” He stopped on the threshold, set his bag down, then petted Thor. When he straightened, he inhaled deeply. “Mmm. Something smells delicious.”
Gia glanced at her car, the driver’s door still standing open, and sighed as she swung the house door shut. That was a problem for a different time. “You don’t know anything about raccoons, do you?”
“Only that they’re terrifying, with those intimidating black burglar masks.” He shivered and hefted his bag over his shoulder, then stopped short. “That’s not what you’re cooking, is it?”
“What?” She ran through the conversation in her head. “Oh, whoa, no. The raccoon is outside in my car.”
“Oh. Whew.” He glanced over his shoulder as if he could see through the door. “Outside is a good place for it.”
So much for getting him to go out there and chase the rascal out of her car. “That’s what I figured.”
He followed her to the kitchen and set his bag on one of the empty chairs, then pulled out his laptop and some kind of square box Gia didn’t bother to ask about.
She probably wouldn’t understand it anyway, as tech-challenged as she was.
Once he had everything he needed set up to his satisfaction, he filled a plate and sat. “So, what are we looking for today?”
Gia piled pot stickers and egg rolls onto her own plate, then filled a small bowl with duck sauce and another with soy sauce. “We need to figure out who killed Rusty Bragge so Cole will be off the hook.”
He stared at her, mouth full, and blinked a few times, his expression blank. “Hmm?”
“Oh, right.” She sometimes forgot that, despite being on the computer all day long for work, Alfie tended to lose himself and forget about the outside world. And he never kept up with the news. So, while they munched on pizza rolls and chips with spinach artichoke dip, Gia brought him up to date.
Savannah tapped a notepad where she’d written a list. “I figured Gia and I could scroll through any of Rusty’s social media accounts. And his wife, Amanda’s, as well as the guy that I think she was sleeping with, Caleb Ryan, while you try to do a deeper, more intense search.”
He nodded eagerly, set his plate aside, and smoothed his brown hair back. Then he scooted closer to the table, cracked his knuckles, and wiggled his fingers before he began banging away on the keyboard. Before Gia had even found Rusty’s first social media account, Alfie let out a low whistle. “This guy owns a lot of stuff.”
“Oh, yeah?” Gia answered, distracted as she tried to find any kind of accounts belonging to him. Seems someone in business would have at least one site, for advertising if nothing else. Gia tried to keep up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, often posting pictures of different dishes, sometimes adding a recipe or two.
Alfie stared at the screen, a scowl marring his features. “At least, he did own a lot. It seems he’s filed bankruptcy more times than I can count.”
“You found that already?” Gia leaned over to see his screen.
He pointed to the search results. “Three current cases popped up as soon as I typed his name in the search engine.”
“Can you access past cases too?”
“Sure, but . . . hmm . . .” Alfie scratched his head.
“What?”
“I think you might be more interested to know he was arrested for attempted murder.”