I hurried past the dumpster and decided to take the back streets home. When I arrived, I wouldn’t be surprised to find Trevor waiting for me. I’d deal with that later. For now, I had a bunch of kids who’d found themselves in a very bad situation and one had died.
Jacob wasn’t going to take the fall for it, though.
Suddenly, I heard little cries. As I turned slowly, they sounded again. “What the heck?” I whispered. The sounds were coming from the dumpster. I dropped to my hands and knees and looked under it, then walked around it. I waited.
When they sounded again, I realized the noise was coming from inside the dumpster. Cursing, I flipped open the top and hauled myself up to the rim. Below me, a puppy stared up at me, its big brown eyes pleading for help.
Someone had put a puppy in a dumpster.
I swore some more. There wasn’t any garbage surrounding the ball of blonde fluff, so this had happened very recently.
“Hello, my little friend,” I said gently. “Who did this to you?”
More cries. I didn’t have time to waste, so I dropped to the inside with a loud thud. Thankfully, my wild childhood had taught me how to climb all sorts of fences. I’d been in and out of a few dumpsters in my time as well.
My new friend barked twice, then slowly came toward me as I crouched down. “Hey, there,” I said softly. “What do you say we get you out of here?”
The little tongue licked my fingers, so I took it as a “yes.” I grabbed the puppy and held it to my chest, quickly checking for a sex. “Well, little girl, you’re stuck with me. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for you right now, but it’s better than being in here.”
Even though my sweatshirt was still slightly damp from the coffee, I tucked it into my jeans and gently placed the puppy inside. Before she could squirm too much and dislodge my makeshift baby carrier, I scrambled up the side of the dumpster. Once on top, I straddled it, then pulled her out. My knees and ankles whimpered when I jumped to the ground. “That was a lot easier to take when I was twelve,” I muttered.
She licked my cheek, her blonde tail thumping against my ribs. “You are cute as heck,” I said, stroking her little head. I figured she was probably about two to three months old.
As I walked home, she settled in my arms and seemed perfectly content. The last thing I needed was a puppy, especially with Jacob being accused of murder. I had to find out who really killed Ava, and caring for a puppy didn’t allow for a lot of free time. And then there was the fact that Daisy hated puppies… well, she said she did, anyway. When we’d had that whole litter at Christmastime, she’d had fun with them while complaining.
“I guess we’ll just have to see what happens,” I said. “My son is in a lot of trouble and I need to help him.” She licked my face again. “If you keep being this cute, we’re going to get along just fine.”
My new charge and I walked the rest of the way home in silence. Once again, I wished I had a pen and paper. There were so many thoughts swirling in my head, I needed to jot them down.
I had been right. When I arrived home, Trevor’s truck sat in my driveway. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for his anger. He had to know I was behind Jacob’s disappearance. If he didn’t, he wasn’t as smart as I thought he was.
I approached the rear of his vehicle and he exited. “Where is he, Gina? And why are you carrying a puppy?”
“I swear to you, I don’t know where Jacob is,” I replied. “And I found this little one in the dumpster. I’d like to tie a rope around the neck of whoever did this and pull tightly.”
Trevor winced. “Kind of a bad choice of words there, Dunner.”
Right. That’s exactly how Ava had died. A bad choice of words, indeed. “Sorry about that. Do you want to come in?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Sure.”
I grinned, pleased he wasn’t that angry with me.
“Speaking of ropes, did you find out anything about the one around Ava’s neck?”
“Nope. It looks like it came from their boat. Every boat in the area will most likely have one. It’s nothing special.”
I didn’t know what I was hoping for. Maybe some unique rope only used in a certain profession that would narrow down our list of suspects.
As I unlocked the door, he said, “Quick change of subject… I know you’ve told me you don’t want to know anything about your mother—”
“Stop right there. She’s the last thing I can think about. I’m focused solely on Jacob, Trevor.”
He mumbled something about how sorry I’d be, but I ignored him as Daisy started yelling from inside. “Gina! Gina! You’re home! It’s been forever! I missed you!”
I opened the door and her tail stopped wagging almost immediately. “Who is that?!” she screeched. “You went to help Jacob and you brought home a puppy? How does that work, Gina?! You’re cheating on me!”
Reaching down, I stroked her head. “Smell the puppy, Daisy. She’s going to be staying with us for a while.”
“I hate puppies,” she muttered as she buried her nose in puppy fur. When she received a lick on the tip of her nose, Daisy giggled. “Okay, maybe this one isn’t too bad. Put her down.”
After I set her on the floor, Daisy did a full nose-to-tail exploration. “She’s cute, Gina. Almost as cute as me.”
“Maybe you two can be friends,” I suggested. “She needs everyone to be nice to her.”
Trevor chuckled behind me. “She can’t understand a word you’re saying to her, Gina.”
If only he knew. If only I was brave enough to tell him the truth. I stood and smiled. “I can hope she does. Let me get the little one some food.”
Everyone followed me into the kitchen.
“If you’re going to feed her, it’s only fair that you feed me, too, Gina.” Daisy sat at my feet. “I’ve been a very good dog since you left this morning. And you didn’t feed me.”
My departure had been quite hasty, so I prepared two bowls, set them down, and then leaned against the counter to monitor them. To my surprise, both dogs stuck to their own bowls.
“Who throws a puppy in a dumpster?” Trevor asked.
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “And it’s probably best that I don’t.” My visceral reaction to animal cruelty bordered on violence. I had actually broken a man’s nose during a rescue once a few years back. He hadn’t pressed charges against me because he was up to his bloody nostrils in indictments for the animals and other shady activities.
“She’s cute, though,” he said. “A little puff of blonde.”
“Yes. Probably a lab, or maybe a retriever.”
Once she finished with her meal, she began yapping at Daisy. When she didn’t get a response, she nipped at her foot.
Daisy growled.
“Hey!” I yelled. “No growling!”
“I told her to let me finish my food, and then I’d play with her!” Daisy retorted. She then placed her paw on the little blonde head and pressed until the puppy was flat on her stomach. “She needs to learn some manners.”
Trevor laughed as Daisy held her head down.
I sighed and looked at him. Now that I was certain Daisy wouldn’t hurt our newest rescue, I felt confident changing my focus. “Let’s sit down and figure out who murdered Ava.”
Trevor plopped down on a chair at a kitchen table. “I’m exhausted.”
I was too, but I couldn’t rest until I found the killer. After starting a pot of coffee, I grabbed my notebook and pen from a drawer, then took a seat across from him. “Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. Who were the last kids at the party? I have Jacob, Eric, Ava, Oliver, Terry and Bianca for sure.” I wrote down their names. “Now it seems that people are unsure if Gabriel was there or not when Terry served the water.”
“The four kids I talked to at the emergency clinic weren’t certain,” Trevor replied. When the coffee pot sputtered, notifying us it was done brewing, he stood and pulled two cups from the cupboard, then poured us each a coffee. “But when I spoke to Gabriel at the scene, he said he’d left, but come back to find Ava dead and everyone asleep. He’s the one who called 9-1-1.”
“Did you believe him?” I asked, jotting down the information.
“I didn’t see a reason not to. He was really upset.” Trevor set the coffee down in front of me, then took his seat. “And don’t forget Zoe. She was there when I arrived and said she’d been sleeping.”
Next to Jacob, Eric, Ava, and Bianca, I wrote drugged.
“What about Oliver? I asked.
“He was hard to wake, but he said he’d had a lot to drink.”
“So, Oliver, Ava’s boyfriend, was drunk. Zoe fell asleep. Gabriel left and came back.” I tapped my pen against the paper. “And where was Terry?”
“When I arrived at the Willard home this morning, Terry wasn’t there.”
I arched an eyebrow and picked up my coffee. “So she drugged everyone, killed Ava and… took off?”
“Would you hang around if you’d murdered someone?”
Good point.
“We aren’t sure if Oliver and Terry were dating on the side, are we?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, but I think anything is a possibility at this point. Could she have killed off Ava to have a chance with Oliver?”
“I’d never do something like that, but I suppose so. Where does Terry live?”
“She’s about twenty minutes outside of town,” he said. “I just got notification of her address when you walked up.”
I took another sip of coffee, some of it dribbling down my chin to my sweatshirt. I glanced down at the stain.
“I was going to tell you to be careful with that so you don’t stain your sweatshirt, but then I remembered you already had.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “Let me go change.”
As I hurried down the hall, Daisy ran past me with our little friend at her heels and into the bedroom. I shut the door behind me so I could have a quick conversation with my dog.
Daisy jumped on the bed, but the puppy couldn’t quite make it. As it whined and tried to follow Daisy, my dog stood at the edge and stared down at her. “Come on, you little turd! You can do it! Gina, tell her she can do it!”
I picked up the blond fluffball and set her on the bed, then pulled off my sweatshirt. “What do you want to name her?”
“I get to name her?” Daisy asked.
“Yes.” I pulled out a sweatshirt from my drawer, slipped it on, then sat on the bed. “I’m going to need your help over the next couple of weeks.”
“What do you need me to do?” Daisy sat down next to me. She wagged her tail while the puppy chased it.
“Exactly what you’re doing. Take care of her.”
“I can do that,” she said. “I kind of like her a little bit. I’m glad you found her.”
“Did she tell you where I found her?”
“Yes. She said a bad man put her in the garbage and she was really scared.”
“I’m happy I was there to fish her out.” I shook my head, trying to contain my rage. “I really hate people sometimes.”
“What’s going on with Jacob?” Daisy asked.
“He’s gone,” I whispered in case Trevor had come down the hall. “I don’t know where, but he’s safe.”
“So what happens next?”
“Well, Trevor thinks I had something to do with his disappearance, so I’m hopeful that he allows me access to the case information, but if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Daisy giggled. “Gina, Jacob’s your son. Of course you made him disappear.” She kept moving her tail, and the puppy continued to chase it.
“Will you help me out these next couple of weeks?”
“Yeppers! I’ll be a very good dog and keep this little brat in line.”
“Thank you,” I sighed. I grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her nose. “You’re the best dog ever.”
Daisy licked my cheek. “I’m going to remind you about saying this when you find the chewed-up sock in the bathroom.”