Fool's Moon, page 28
The Joan woman screamed and let go of the pill bottle, leaping to her feet.
Ophelia scrambled to her paws, too, ready to flee … only to find that one back claw was tangled in the rough cloth. Stupid towel! A second later, however, she had extricated herself.
And that was when the Joan human gave her a kick that sent her flying.
The impact to her side made her gasp, and the bottle fell from her mouth. She heard the skittering sound of the pills inside it as the cylinder hit the pavers and went rolling away. She should flip about so that she could land feet first, like a proper feline, she frantically told herself. But the kick had stunned her, knocked the breath from her so that she couldn’t react.
And so she landed in the pool, upside down, splashing into the center of the shiny moon reflection, the impact sending silver water dancing skyward.
Cool water promptly enveloped her in a noiseless cocoon. She sank with frightening speed toward the bottom where the pointy-nose fish lurked. Eyes wide, she flailed her paws, desperate to flee it, to make her way to safety at the surface. At first, her efforts were in vain. But the more she kicked, the slower she fell through the shiny waters, until she began to rise again.
Just when she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she popped out onto the surface. Gasping, she sucked in fresh air, paws churning wildly as she strove to keep her head out of the pool. She should try to swim to the stairs, she told herself, but that end of the pool was a long way away. And her side hurt from being kicked. It was all she could do to keep herself afloat.
Brandon … Ruby … help! Come find me!
She kicked for a while longer, but her efforts didn’t bring her any closer to the pool’s edge. Worse, she was starting to shiver now as the chilly waters fully penetrated her fur. Her legs began moving more slowly, and she could feel herself sinking again, until only her mouth and nose were above water. She splashed a few moments longer, managing a final little mew—help!
She caught a last breath … and then she slipped beneath the surface.
She drifted down, down, down. Strangely, the water was clear and bright and shiny now, so that she seemed to be falling through liquid glass. And it felt warmer, too, like sitting on the old woman’s lap back when she was just a kitten. She was dying, she realized, just like the ibis … just like Luciana … just like the old woman.
But it wasn’t so bad. Not really.
Ophelia! Ophelia!
A soft familiar voice was calling her, and she looked around her, puzzled. And then, in the distance but moving closer through the bright water, she saw her.
Mom!
The old woman smiled as she drifted toward Ophelia. She was wearing the same long white nightgown she’d had on the morning they had found her in the water, but now her eyes were open, and her face was round and pink! Her white hair looked like a cloud, dancing in the water around her head. She extended a hand toward Ophelia, and her smile grew wider.
I’ve missed you, little one. Have you and your brother been behaving?
Mom, Mom, I’ve missed you, too, Ophelia mewed, raising her paws in return. When you left, Brandon and I had to find a new home and a new mom. Her name is Ruby. She’s nice, and so is our new friend Zuki. And even the roosters, and Philomena the koi.
The old woman laughed, the sound like small bubbles of music surrounding her. You’ve had an exciting time, my sweet Ophelia, she exclaimed. But now, you have to make a choice. You can come with me now, to a place where humans and animals live together. It’s always warm and sunny, with bright colors and happy sounds. No one yells or fights or is ever hungry or hurt again.
Ophelia opened her eyes wide. Are—Are you talking about the Rainbow Bridge? she asked in a small voice.
The old woman nodded. People and animals call it by many different names, but yes. And it’s a wonderful place.
But what about Brandon and Ruby and Zuki? If I go with you now, I won’t see them again … not for a long, long time.
She nodded. That’s true … and that’s why you have to hurry and make a choice. You can come with me now, or go back to be with your brother and your new mom.
But if I don’t go, I’ll miss you. And if I do go, I’ll miss them. How do I choose?
The old woman’s smile grew warmer, wiser. I think you know that answer. It was my time to leave this world, but you’re a young feline with many more adventures before you. And someday, when you’re a very old cat, I’ll see you again. And then we’ll laugh and play together, just like we used to do.
Ophelia nodded. I—I have to go back. I can’t leave Brandon by himself.
I know. Give him a kiss from me. And don’t be sad, either of you. This is how it was meant to be.
The water around the old woman started to shimmer, and she began drifting backward, away from Ophelia. But with the growing distance she started to change: white hair turning long and dark, wrinkled skin turning smooth, lips rosy red instead of pale, limbs sturdy and firm. This, Ophelia realized, was how the old woman had looked many years ago, when she was in her prime.
Mom, Mom, you’re young again! Ophelia cried in excitement as Hilda’s beaming image grew smaller and smaller. Mom, I love you! Goodbye, goodbye!
I love you, too. I’ll see you again, my sweet Ophelia. Ophelia … Ophelia …
“Ophelia! Ophelia!”
The frantic shouts were coming from somewhere beyond the pool. And then a large splash shattered the moon’s reflection in its surface. She could see the lights along the pool’s sides now, and something swimming toward her like a fast fish … a fish with dark hair with a blue stripe in it!
Mom!
An arm wrapped around her, and an instant later she was on the surface. Vaguely, she was aware that Ruby was holding onto her, swimming with her to the shallow end, and rushing up the pool steps cradling her. Then she was upside down for a moment as someone lightly shook her.
“Ophelia! Ophelia!” she could hear Brandon yowling. “Don’t be dead!”
I’m not. At least, I don’t think I am, she tried to yowl back, though she didn’t know if he could hear her.
She was still cold, though Ruby had found the same towel that Joan had used to swaddle her and had wrapped her in it, holding her close. This time, she didn’t mind the rough loops, though the towel really didn’t help much, since they were both dripping with water. She heard another voice then, and she opened her eyes long enough to see the son coming toward them. He had a big blanket in his hands and was holding it up, ready to throw on top of them.
Ophelia squirmed and tried to call out a warning. But then the son draped the blanket over Ruby’s shoulders, like he was trying to help. So confusing … but then, she was so tired. But with the blanket over her now like a tent, she wasn’t quite so cold. She buried her face against Ruby’s arm. Maybe she should try to sleep for a little bit … just until she was dry again.
But first, she raised a weak paw and, very softly, gave her new mom a gentle tap on her cheek.
“Is she alive?” Luis asked, tone anxious as he squatted down next to where Ruby huddled under the blanket that Givens had brought her.
She nodded, trying not to shiver. “I’m pretty sure I pulled her out in time. I even turned her upside down and pressed her chest, but she didn’t cough up any water. I think she might be in shock, though. I really should get her to the emergency vet.”
“I can’t leave … not until we get a few things settled here. But my aunt’s car is parked behind the guest house. If you think you can make it alone, I’ve got her keys. You can take her car and go. Send me a text where you are, and I’ll come meet you as soon as I can. The cops should be here any minute.”
“All right. Do you think you can find my glasses for me? I pulled them and my shoes off before I jumped in, but I can’t remember where I left them.”
He quickly retrieved both items and then helped her to her feet, tucking the blanket more securely around her. “Come on, let’s get your stuff and get you out the gate while the getting’s still good.”
“But what about Brandon and Zuki?” she asked as they exited through the gate, the cat in question trailing after them.
Luis bent and scooped up Brandon. “I’ll put him and Zuki in the guest house until I’m ready to leave … though Zuki is pretty busy at the moment.”
He nodded in the direction of the portico, where Joan’s red sports car was parked near the mansion’s front door. Joan was awkwardly crouched atop the vehicle’s hood, while Zuki sat patiently in front of it, pink tongue lolling. Seeing them, Joan gave a little shriek.
“Help! Call this filthy beast of yours off right now, or I swear I’ll sue all of you.”
“Don’t worry, Joan,” Luis called back to her. “Just sit tight for now, and try not to scream. The dog doesn’t like that. Once the police arrive, she’ll back right off.”
Ruby gave a wry laugh. “Well, I can tell you what dog just earned herself a nice steak for dinner tomorrow night.”
A few minutes later, she was sitting in Luciana’s battered but serviceable sedan. Ophelia—almost dry now, and wrapped in an even larger towel—was carefully bundled in one of the empty packing boxes that had been placed in the car’s front floorboard. To her relief, the cat seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but Ruby wasn’t going to take any chances.
She was drier, too, now. At Luis’s insistence, she’d hastily swapped her own soggy jeans and hoodie for a nearly new set of sweats belonging to his aunt, which were still in one of her dresser drawers. She’d given Brandon a quick kiss before leaving him in the guest house and rushing back out the door with Ophelia.
“There’s an emergency vet on Old Dixie Highway,” she told Luis now through the open window as she started up the car. “I’ll text you with all the details. They’ll probably want to keep her overnight.”
To her dismay, she heard her voice trembling on the edge of tears. She hadn’t realized until she’d seen Ophelia’s seemingly lifeless body drifting in that pool how much she’d come to care about the little cat and her brother in just a few short weeks.
Luis gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. That little gata is a tough cookie, just like her owner.”
“Let’s hope so.” Then another thought occurred to her as she put the car into gear. “Since you did such a good job of finding my things, I don’t suppose you stumbled across that pill bottle of Joan’s that Ophelia ran off with, did you?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
Triumphantly, he pulled a small amber pill bottle from his cargo shorts pocket. “Good old Joanie was crawling around on her hands and knees looking for it when I ran out to the courtyard after I heard you yelling. She took off for the gate once she saw me. As soon as I was sure you and Ophelia were out of the pool, I sent Givens for a blanket and started looking for it, too. I always was the best one at finding Easter eggs when I was a kid. Turns out I haven’t lost my touch.”
He gave the container a shake, rattling its contents. “Something tells me that she doesn’t have a prescription for these.”
“What is it, Ecstasy or something?”
“More like something. Looking at the size and color, if I had to guess, I’d say they’re roofies.”
“Roofies? You mean, date rape drugs?” Ruby gave him a quizzical look, knowing she needed to get going but also certain she needed to understand just what was happening here. “Why in the world would she carry around something like that?”
“Some people use Rohypnol to take the edge off when they binge on cocaine. And then you get folks with really bad insomnia who use it to basically knock themselves out. I have a feeling coke’s a little too old school for Joan, so it might be something as simple as the I-can’t-sleep thing.” He shrugged. “You can’t get the stuff legally in the US, but that doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of dealers around. Of course, you can always head down to your neighborhood bar and use the pills as your good old ‘knockout drug’ if you’re that kind of—”
He broke off abruptly and stared at the pill bottle in his hand, expressions of shock and then outrage flashing across his features. Ruby stared at the bottle, too, as a terrible thought occurred to her … the same thought that likely had just hit Luis.
Hadn’t he told her previously that a witness supposedly had seen Luciana a few minutes before the hit-and-run accident wandering the streets looking drunk? Wasn’t that what ingesting a drink spiked with roofies did … made the victim act like they’d had about ten too many mojitos?
And hadn’t Mrs. Givens supposedly fallen and hit her head first, before she slipped into the pool and drowned? Had she swallowed a spiked drink, too?
She drew a steadying breath. “I was just trying to scare Joan with that Tarot Death card, but now I’m wondering … ”
She trailed off, not quite wanting to voice the suspicion.
Expression grim, Luis finished the thought for her. “You mean, you’re wondering if she had something to with Mrs. Givens’s death and my aunt’s accident? Yeah, I’m wondering that, too.”
She saw his fingers wrapped tightly around the pill bottle, like they were wrapping around something else. Like Joan’s throat.
“So that’s why the cops are on the way, to arrest her on suspicion of murder?” she asked in a small voice.
He gave her a fleeing smile that held more anger than amusement. “Not unless they’re psychic. The only thing I mentioned was embezzlement and illegal substances. We just upped the ante here, assuming we’re right about Joan’s involvement … and assuming anything can be proven.”
Ruby bit her lip. Gut feelings might be stock-in-trade for Tarot card readers, but hard evidence was needed to charge someone with a crime. Unless Joan confessed, simply possessing the drugs likely wouldn’t be enough to push for murder charges.
“At least we’ve got something to give the police that should make them reopen both cases,” she declared. “Speaking of which, should they be here by now?”
“Actually, I should have said cop, singular. They do things a bit differently here in Palm Beach, especially when there’s no cut-and-dried evidence. You remember good old George up at the guard house? He has a brother named Carson who’s a Palm Beach police detective. He’s coming out to have a little conversation with Joan. We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Ruby nodded. “If it helps, the last card in the reading—the one I didn’t get a chance to show her—was Judgement.”
She heard a faint mew then from the box on the floorboard beside her. “I’d better hurry. I’ll let you know later about … well, everything.”
Epilogue
JoJo grinned as she tossed a couple of shrimp from her spring roll onto the bricks near the koi pond. “I have to say, for a little cat that almost drowned a week ago, Ophelia sure is looking perky.”
“She is, isn’t she?” Ruby replied with a laugh.
Although perky wasn’t exactly the word she would have chosen, she thought, watching the feline in question pounce on her unexpected treat and then kick it halfway across the courtyard. Positively feisty, was more like it.
Following a precautionary overnight stay at the emergency vet clinic, Dr. Olivia—the animal hospital’s young, blond veterinarian on duty both days—had pronounced Ophelia to be healthy as the proverbial horse.
Your little kitty must have had a guardian angel looking after her, the vet had declared. Near-drownings like these are serious. They usually mean major respiratory issues that require oxygen supplementation, sometimes even a ventilator for respiratory assistance. We gave her the oxygen, just to be sure. But Ophelia had no sign of water in her lungs. And all the lab tests came back normal.
To prove the vet’s point, Ophelia’s first action upon returning to the Botanica had been a celebratory leap and slide along the length of the cash register counter. The stunt had sent stacks of pamphlets and giveaway newspapers, along with a wide copper pot cram-filled with dracaena (aka corn plant, aka lucky bamboo) tumbling to the ground. Even after a meticulous cleanup, Ruby was still finding stalks here and there in the shop days later.
But while Ophelia had come through with flying colors, Ruby hadn’t been sure, at first, that her bank account would survive the ordeal. She’d pulled out her credit card to settle up before bringing Ophelia home, feeling a bit lightheaded as she saw the four-figure total at the bottom of the itemized bill. But she’d truly almost fainted when the smiling clerk told her that the invoice had already been paid in full by someone who wished to remain anonymous.
Luis, she’d gratefully assumed, vowing to pay him back.
What truly mattered was that the two cats and Zuki were safe and well after their adventure. She had puzzled for a couple of days over Brandon and Ophelia’s startling appearance at the Givens estate. How’d they’d known something was up, let alone escaped the Botanica, she wasn’t sure. Her best guess was that maybe they were jealous of Zuki getting all the road trips and so had hitched a ride in the back of Luis’s truck along with the pit bull.
Figuring out the tangled machinations of Joan Ratzen had been far more difficult.
“Back to what we were talking about,” she said through a bite of kung pao tofu. “Any chance that Joan is going to serve any time for Hilda and Luciana’s deaths?”
“Without any evidence? Nope. Right now, all they could charge her with is simple possession because of the Rohypnol. That’s three years tops, assuming the judge wants her to serve jail time. But I’m guessing it’s her first offense, so she’d probably get by with a fine.” JoJo frowned, pausing to draw a matching frowny face in her rice with a chopstick.
“Trying her for murder, or even manslaughter, will be a heck of a tough case to make,” the attorney went on. “Even if she confesses to giving them spiked drinks, it was only random bad luck that both women suffered a fatal accident while under the influence. There’s no real way to prove she deliberately put them in harm’s way.”
