Fool's Moon, page 22
She gave him a look, but otherwise let his words dangle there a moment. Finally, she replied, “Let me see if I understand you. You’ll let me keep my cat, Brandon, if I’ll work as your decoy while you poke around on a Palm Beach estate. Does that about cover it?”
“Hey, I said I’d give you a deal on the security cameras, too. So how about it?”
“I don’t know. I already had plans to meet friends tonight for dinner at the brew pub. It would be pretty rude to cancel on them last minute.”
Not that he needed to know that the meeting was actually her regular weekly study night with some of her classmates … something she could beg off, if she needed to do so. And she was uncomfortable enough over the circumstances of Luciana’s death that she wouldn’t mind poking around a bit herself. Not that she had any clue as to what they might find.
But if her particular task was to be distraction, she did have an idea of how to go about that.
“So I’ll throw in dinner too,” he countered. “We have a deal?”
She glanced over the counter at Zuki, who was still patiently on alert. “I’ll do it but only if we add one more condition. My dog comes along with us.”
He shook his head in disbelief but said, “Fine … except she rides in the bed, not in the cab. I don’t want her getting nervous halfway there and taking a bite out of me, and I sure don’t want her leaving white hair all over my black upholstery.”
Then, when Ruby would have protested, he added, “Don’t worry, the bed has a camper top, so she’ll be safe back there. So if that works for you, I’ll pick you up at seven.”
He didn’t wait for her okay but headed toward the door again. But before he walked out, he called over his shoulder, “Don’t forget the ballcap, okay?”
Twenty
“How are you going to get into the truck?” Zuki wanted to know. “You’ll have to run out where they might see you jump in. And you know if Ruby spots you, she won’t let you come along.”
“We’ll figure out something,” Ophelia assured her, while Brandon nodded his own agreement. “Because no way are we letting Ruby drive off with the PAWN human without all of us coming along to guard her.”
For, even though Luis had claimed that he was going to let Brandon remain at the Botanica, no way did she believe him … not with that picture of a rat painted on his arm! Dumb fish or not, Philomena had been proven correct enough times that Ophelia wasn’t going to doubt her again. And she wouldn’t put it past Luis to somehow be making secret plans with the son to do more bad things.
And to cover up bad things, she thought with a shiver, remembering the broken light on the front of the picking up truck.
“All right,” Zuki agreed with a sigh. “It’s almost time for him to be here. I’ll go fix the gate so you can get in and out.”
While the pit bull went to handle that part of the night’s plan, Ophelia and Brandon trotted upstairs to check on Ruby. They found her already changed into new clothing: plain jeans and a black T-shirt and a gray version of what the humans called a “hoodie.”
Spying the pair, Ruby grinned and said, “Hey, kitties, your buddy Luis thinks I need to wear a ballcap. You think he’ll be okay with this?”
She reached behind the bedroom door, where many of her toys were hanging on hooks. She grabbed a pink hat that stuck out in front like a duck’s bill and plopped it on her head, then turned so the felines could better see it. Sparkly little rocks on the top part made a word picture that Ophelia tried to spell out.
B-i-t …
She frowned in confusion as she finished reading, then exchanged confused looks with Brandon. Why would Ruby wear a hat that called her a canine?
Ruby must have come to the same conclusion, for she pulled it off and tossed it onto her bed.
“You’re right, kitties. Wrong place, wrong people for that one. We’ll stick with something nondescript.”
Another hat in that same style was hanging on the back of the door. This one was blue and looked like it was made from the same cloth as her jeans. Instead of sparkly letters, it had the face of a mean-looking owl on it. Ophelia knew from another shirt and a coffee cup of Ruby’s that the owl had to do with her school place.
Ruby twisted her hair up and stuck the hat on top of her head, then looked at herself in the mirror.
“Perfect,” she declared. “No blue streak showing, just a little FAU school spirit. Nothing to offend … unless you hate the Owls.”
To the cats, she said, “All right, you two. Zuki is coming with me tonight, so that means you two are in charge of things. You’ve already had your dinner, so I expect you to play nicely while we’re gone.”
She picked up a small version of her usual backpack, and the three of them headed downstairs again. Zuki was waiting at the door leading from the hallway to the shop. The pit bull gave the two cats a faint woof to indicate mission accomplished.
“You about ready, girl?” Ruby asked the dog, reaching around the kitchen doorway for Zuki’s leash and tote bag. “Let’s lock up now and wait for him out front.”
Ophelia and Brandon waited until the two were outside and they heard the key in the front door click to lock it; then the two felines rushed down the hall and out the pet door into the courtyard.
The three roosters were already in their cages for the night. In sleepy voices, they asked,
“Where.”
“Are.”
“You.”
“Two.”
“Going.”
“Now?”
“We’re helping Ruby with something important,” Ophelia whispered as they rushed past. “You’re in charge while we’re gone.”
“We.”
“Are.”
“Boss?”
They answered their own question with a soft chorus of triumphant crowing that promptly cut off when Brandon and Ophelia both hissed the command Quiet! Leaving the roosters to their grumbling, the pair trotted down the side yard and crawled beneath the potting table. The pet door was propped open with a rock, courtesy of Zuki. Peeking out first to make sure the coast was clear, they slipped out and took up position at the corner of the house.
Since it was already mostly dark out—at least, to human eyes—the streetlight near the Botanica was lit, throwing a yellow glow on Ruby and Zuki. The latter cocked her blocky white head, obviously hearing the two felines. The three parking slots in front of the Botanica were empty right now, but Ophelia could see down the next block a single crooked headlight driving in their direction.
“That must be Luis’s truck,” Brandon whispered. “Get ready.”
“For what?” a voice growled from the shadows beside them.
Ophelia and Brandon both jumped. The pair swung about with claws and teeth bared, only to see a familiar small fuzzy figure sitting on the nearby sidewalk, hind legs jauntily shifted to one side.
“Rally!” Ophelia yowled. “What are you doing here? We thought you’d gone away.”
The terrier got to his paws and shrugged. “Eh, I decided to come back tonight in case Zuki had some extra dog biscuits to share,” he said, trotting over to them. “So, what are you waiting for?”
“The human in that picking up truck coming toward us … he’s going to take Ruby and Zuki to our old house. We’re going to sneak into the truck and go along with them.”
“Hmmm … I have to say that biscuits sound better.”
By now, the picking up truck was pulling in—not into a single slot, Ophelia saw, but parking across all three spaces. That meant the front of the truck was facing them, which also meant they’d have to run all the way past the passenger side without being spotted.
Ophelia gave Brandon a swift nudge. He glanced from her to Rally, and nodded.
“How about if we give you those biscuits when we get back?” Brandon hurriedly suggested. “But in return, we need a little help.”
He whispered in the terrier’s ear. Rally listened, and shrugged again. “I guess … whatev.”
“All right, get ready,” Brandon replied.
They watched as Luis stopped the truck, leaving it still running as he got out. He was dressed much like Ruby, the rat picture on his arm covered now with his shirt sleeve. “Ready to go?” he asked her without preamble.
Ruby nodded. She had Zuki on the leash and was walking her around to the back of the truck while Luis lowered the tailgate. The pit bull gave an anxious look in their direction, and Ophelia popped out of the shadows long enough to give her canine friend an encouraging nod.
Don’t worry. We’ve got this.
Zuki nodded back and bounded into the truck bed. At that, Brandon turned to Rally. “You’re on. Make it good.”
“Watch and learn, feline,” the terrier growled back, and then gave a sharp, high-pitched whine of a bark.
Ruby had been concentrating on loading Zuki, but now her head shot up. Staring toward the front of the truck, she asked Luis, “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah. It sounded like a dog. There it is again.”
For Rally had let loose another cry, this one even more high-pitched. As Luis shut the tailgate, Rally went into action. Rear paw held high, as if it had been injured, he hobbled on three legs into the headlight beam, giving a little shriek with each step.
“Look in front of the truck,” Ruby exclaimed. “Poor little thing … it’s hurt. Luis, we have to catch it.”
“And do what with it?”
“I don’t know—take it to the emergency vet? C’mon!”
Giving Zuki a quick pat, Ruby hurried toward where the terrier stood. Luis followed more slowly, shaking his head. Rally, meanwhile, was letting loose with pitiful little yips, backing away as Ruby moved closer.
Brandon gave a quick purr of appreciation. “He’s pretty clever for a canine. Now, get ready. As soon as he lures them a bit farther away, we’ll make a run for it.”
“I’ve almost got him,” Ruby called back to Luis as Rally halted to let her get within a few feet of him.
Luis had moved in front of the truck, too, though he was obviously letting Ruby do the hard work. “You better watch out,” he warned. “You try to pick up a hurt dog, he might bite you.”
“I’ll get him by the collar, first, and then I’ll see if he’ll let me pick him up.” To the dog, she said, “C’mon, little guy. Let me and Luis help you. Let me get just one more step closer, and—son of a gun!”
As Ruby bent toward him, Rally gave a sudden, loud bark and skittered backward. Then, all four legs suddenly functional and churning, he spun and went running down the street away from the humans.
“Now!” Brandon softly yowled.
With Ruby and Luis’s attention fixed on the terrier, he and Ophelia took off like shadowy rockets. They raced past the truck and around to the back of it, bounding through the open camper top and into the bed, where Zuki waited.
“Good plan,” the pit bull softly exclaimed, tongue lolling as she gave a wide canine grin. “I was watching through the back windshield. Rally should be a stunt dog in the movies!”
“Well, we did have to bribe him with more of your biscuits,” Ophelia confessed. “He’ll be waiting for them when we get back.”
Then, hurrying to look through the back windshield and out the front, she added, “I think the humans have given up on chasing him. Look, they’re coming back. We’d better stay low until we’re driving.”
Taking time to give each other a soft, congratulatory bump of their heads, she and Brandon crouched beneath the drop cloth which was still there from the previous time. Paws crossed for luck, they waited for Luis to drive off.
“Poor little dog,” Ruby said as Luis held the truck door open while she climbed inside. “I haven’t seen him around before. Someone must have just dumped him.”
“Don’t worry, I doubt he went far,” Luis replied as he closed the door after her. Talking through the open window, he added, “If you’re lucky, he’ll be waiting here when we get back.”
That last was said with an obvious bit of sarcasm, but Ruby refused to bite. If the injured pup was still there later that night, she’d try again to catch him. Though the way he’d taken off when she’d attempted to grab him, he couldn’t have been hurt that badly, she thought with a wry smile. Maybe she could contain him in the courtyard until morning when she could contact one of JoJo’s rescue friends to pick him up.
“Yeah, well, if nothing else, I’ll see if I can help the poor fellow find a new home.”
“Good luck with that. I like dogs and all, but that mutt is butt-ugly.”
“Aw, I thought he was cute with that underbite.”
Luis rolled his eyes but made no comment as he started around to his side of the truck. After a glance back in the bed to make sure Zuki was okay, she gave the interior a quick once-over.
It was in pretty decent shape for what apparently was a working truck, with bucket seats that were clean and rip-free. Unlike the vehicles of numerous single males she’d ridden with in the past, its passenger floorboard didn’t serve as a trash can, though the interior did have a strong fast-food odor about it. An older model, it lacked the fancy built-in media center satellite radio and directional display. Instead, one of those portable GPS units was suction-cupped to the windshield.
In the time it took for her to make these observations, Luis had reached the driver’s side and climbed inside. Putting the truck into gear, he pulled onto the street again. A block down, they hit a red light, and he took that opportunity to reach behind his seat.
Ruby froze.
Despite the lack of junk or bondage equipment or running chain saws inside the truck, once she’d climbed inside, she’d not been able to shake a feeling that something was slightly off. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe the truck rode funny, or the seat belt buckle was a little too hard to unfasten. But now, mental alarm bells were going off.
What was he reaching for? Guns ? Knives? Rope?
She slid her hand into her mini backpack and gripped her cell phone, ready to hit redial and send a panicked call to JoJo if things went sideways.
And then Luis dragged out a large paper sack stamped with a familiar fast food logo on it.
“Here,” he said and handed the bag to her as the light turned green again.
The smell of fresh French fries and burgers abruptly assaulted her; hence, the fast food smell she’d noticed. Heaving a sigh of relief, she asked, “What’s this?”
“I promised you dinner,” he said with a shrug. “We’re kind of on a tight schedule, so I got it to go. You’ve got your choice of a burger with the works, or else a chicken sandwich, plus fries. Oh, and there are large diet colas in the console between us.”
“Uh, thanks?”
Feeling like an idiot now, she opted for the chicken. He ate his burger with one hand while steering with the other. He’d finished it off by the time they reached the next red light, where he took the bag back from her. He dumped both large containers of fries into it and stuck the cardboard containers behind the seat again. That accomplished, he set the bag on the armrest between them and reached into the bag for a handful.
“Easier this way.”
“Yeah, easier,” she mumbled through a mouthful of grilled chicken and bun. She took a token fry from the bag and left the rest for him. The smell of fresh-cooked fries was hard to resist, but the whole sharing-from-a-bag routine seemed a bit too intimate, given their decided lack of a relationship. And, her recent fear of kidnapping/murder.
As the light changed again, he glanced over at her.
“You look good. Uh, I mean, appropriate. You know, for what we’re doing tonight.”
Sounding a bit uncomfortable, he jumped to a change of subject. Indicating her ballcap, he said, “So you’re an Owl? Me too. When did you graduate from FAU?”
“I got my BA four years ago, but I’m back now working on my master’s in English Lit. I’m kind of taking the slow track.”
He appeared a little surprised as he smiled. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It took me almost three years to get my MBA since I was taking all night classes.”
“Well, uh, if you were working full-time, that’s not surprising,” she replied, trying not to sound as shocked as she felt.
MBA? Though, of course, any number of small business owners in this day and age had an advanced degree. Just because his business happened to be a pawnshop, she shouldn’t have made the assumption he wasn’t as educated as she.
Feeling a bit chastened by that—though, to be fair, he’d seemed equally surprise by her revelation—she took another fry as a symbolic peace offering.
For his part, he grabbed a handful from the bag and asked, “So, what’s with all the luggage?”
“This?” She held up the tote bag. “This is Zuki’s traveling kit … you know, poop bags and toys and stuff. The other one is just my purse.”
She set down the tote again and picked up her mini backpack. “I brought something along that might help us tonight,” she went on, reaching inside it and pulling out her Rider-Waite deck.
He glanced at the box of cards and frowned before refocusing on the road. “What are you going to do, chuck it at Givens if he gives us any flack?”
“Actually, since you said I was the distraction member of our little team, I figured I’d give him a Tarot reading. That’ll keep him occupied for a bit.”
Then, in a confidential tone, she confessed, “And I kind of stacked the deck. I put all the scary-ass cards on top so I can do a little sleight-of-hand with the shuffle. I’ll give him a reading guaranteed to leave him with guilty nightmares.”
“Yeah, well, assuming he can even feel guilt. But good thinking.” He gave an approving nod, then glanced her way again. “Actually, I’m surprised you haven’t tried to do one of those Tarot readings for me.”
