Things I like about Cedric:
- Nothing.
- Nothing.
- Nothing.
- Definitely nothing.
“Let’s go through the books in the vault one by one,” said Miss Josie to Mrs. Steele when we returned to the shop. Cedric left as soon as we got home from Misty Mountain, hopefully, to find a place to stay. The sooner he got off Miss Josie’s couch, and out of her life, the better.
“What am I looking for exactly?” asked Mrs. Steele, a pair of dainty spectacles perched on her nose.
“Books with missing pages,” said Miss Josie. “I’ve already found two. Both are completely ruined.”
“Besides The North American Indian?”
“Yes,” said Miss Josie, rolling up the sleeves of her white blouse. “Let’s get to work.”
Mrs. Steele made a tsking sound and heaved herself up onto one of the high stools by a tall table next to the vault. Together they worked in silence for the rest of the morning. When Cedric came back, he uttered a brief greeting and walked up to Miss Josie’s apartment. She followed him, and so did I.
Cedric sat on the couch, taking off his damaged loafers. He had a shopping bag next to him. He pulled out a pair of cheaper, and much less elegant, shoes and put them on his feet.
“I had to buy a new pair,” he said. “Thanks to Capone.”
“I’ll pay for your new shoes,” said Miss Josie.
Cedric’s lips narrowed. “You ought to pay to replace the old ones. They were a great deal more expensive.”
Miss Josie folded her arms across her chest. “Certainly. Send me a bill.”
Cedric tossed down the box in disgust. “I don’t want your money. I’m just irritated. I saved a long time for those shoes.”
She sat next to him on the couch. “I understand. Were you able to find a place to stay?”
He shook his head. “I have a lead on a place for rent on River Road, but I can’t see it until tomorrow. I’ll have to stay another night.”
Miss Josie stiffened. “Enough is enough, Cedric. You need to be out by tomorrow.”
Cedric frowned. “I don’t mean to inconvenience you, but I had nowhere else to turn.” He ran a distracted hand through this hair, making it stand up on end. “There’s something else, too. Something I haven’t told you. I got laid off. Smythe’s is downsizing. I need you, Josie. I’m desperate.” When he reached for her, she hopped off the couch and moved to the other side of the room.
“I’m sorry for you, Cedric, but it doesn’t change anything. I can’t have you hanging around any longer.”
His expression darkened. “Because of all the other men in your life?” he asked, his voice hard. “The vet, the trainer, the coffee guy?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Because of you, Cedric. Because of how you hurt me. Because of how much I once cared for you.” The expression on her sweet face nearly made me weep.
He scowled. “Once cared for me?” he asked. “You mean you no longer do?”
She sighed. “It’s over, Cedric. It was over a long time ago. Please move on with your life. And don’t blame me because I want to move on with mine.”
She went straight to her bedroom, closed the door, and locked it behind her. Cedric left the apartment and stomped down the steps. After giving a curt nod to Mrs. Steele, he went out to the back garden. I followed him.
For a long time, he sat on one of Miss Josie’s chairs, lost in thought, a folded piece of paper in his hands. The paper looked an awful lot like the map of the garden Ms. Josie had found in Mr. Bartleby’s last ledger.
Miss Josie came outside to tell him she had to run out to the bank for a few minutes, and Cedric nodded in response, sticking the piece of paper into his pocket where Miss Josie couldn’t see it. As soon as she left, he marched over to the shed.
Cedric the Betrayer was up to something.
He stepped inside, grabbing a flashlight from a shelf next to the door. He knew exactly where to find it, which meant he’d been in this shed before. What was going on here?
He picked up a shovel, and turned, bumping right into me. “Get out of my way, you stupid dog.”
He shoved me with his foot, and I hopped out of his way. He looked around a few seconds, and then started to dig up the dirt floor of the shed. The ground seemed hard, and he had to slam the shovel with force to crack the surface.
Rocco joined me; his head cocked to one side. “What’s he looking for?”
I frowned. “I have no idea, but maybe he likes digging. Digging is fun.”
Rocco narrowed his eyes. “It doesn’t look liked Cedric is having fun,” he said as we watched Cedric huff and puff, intent on his task.
Realization dawned on my little puppy brain. “Do you think he’s looking for the missing books?”
“I don’t know, but this isn’t good.”
“We need to stop him.”
“Be careful,” said Rocco, but I didn’t listen. Instead, I plunged into the shed, barking my head off.
Curse my propensity for running headlong into danger.
“Get out of here,” said Cedric, wiping sweat from his brow. He had dirt on his hands, and on his face. “Leave me alone, you idiot dog.”
I refused to leave him alone. I had to stop him. If he dug up the missing books and took them away from Miss Josie, it would be a catastrophe.
Seeing no other option, I grabbed his pant leg with my teeth and pulled as hard as I could. I didn’t bite him, but I may have yanked out a few of the hairs on his leg and I ripped his pants. He did not respond well to this. He turned to me, his face a mask of pure fury, and chased me out of the shed, wielding the shovel like a weapon.
“I’m going to kill you, Capone.”
Note to self: Cedric is insane.
As he swung the shovel, I knew he sincerely wanted to kill me. Rocco knew it, too. He sat on the roof of the shed, howling and hissing at the top of his kitty lungs. I barked and dodged and weaved and ran as fast as I could around the yard, intent on avoiding Cedric and his swinging weapon of mass destruction. He nearly got me once, but I ducked and dashed between his legs. When I came out the other side, Cedric turned, the shovel high in the air, and screamed as he lowered it to the ground. At that moment, the side door to the garden opened, and Miss Josie and Mr. Nate stepped inside. Both of them stared at Cedric in shock.
He looked pretty terrifying, with his crazy eyes, dirty face, torn pants, and filthy hands. He took a deep breath, leaned on the shovel, and made a visible effort to compose himself.
“Josie,” he said, panting slightly. “Back so soon?”
I ran over to Miss Josie and hid behind her, trembling. I’d never come so close to death in my whole life. Not when the horses back on the farm tried to trample me. Not when I’d gotten so sick from the peony bushes. Not when I’d eaten the whole bag of chocolate. Not with the German shepherds. Cedric wanted to hurt me on purpose, and he probably would have succeeded if Miss Josie and Mr. Nate hadn’t shown up in time.
Miss Josie knelt to check on me. “What’s going on here?” she asked. “Why would you attack a defenseless puppy?”
“Defenseless?” asked Cedric, letting out a sharp laugh. “You’re hilarious. He’s the one who attacked me. He bit me.”
“He bit you?” asked Miss Josie in surprise.
Cedric showed her his ripped pants. “Your dog is out of control. What if he goes after one of your customers next? You need to make a choice here, Josephine. It’s either him or me. I will not put up with this any longer.”
My heart pounded in my chest. Oh, calamity. What if she believed him? What if she chose him instead of me?
Miss Josie rose to her feet. “I thought it was obvious, but if I need to say it I will.” She looked down at me with a smile. “I choose Capone. He’s my dog, this is his home, and neither one of us will put up with you or your nonsense any longer, Cedric. I’ll pack your things and put them by the front door. You can pick them up in an hour.”
Cedric stared at her in shock. “You can’t be serious,” he said.
“Goodbye, Cedric. Don’t come near me, or my dog, ever again.”
He let out a bellow of pure fury, and threw down the shovel, nearly hitting Rocco. “I won’t forget this, Josephine. You’ll regret you ever chose that animal over me.”
She shot Cedric a withering glare. “Are you making a threat?”
Cedric shook his head. “It’s not a threat,” he said, his voice low and his eyes cold. “It’s a promise.”