Trouble at the Kennel (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery #9)(6)
“Ms. Collins, I don’t like being accused of allowing a situation like that to happen in my kennel. We are very careful here at Doggie Love Kennel. I assure you Duchess was not impregnated during her stay with us.”
“Well, Ms. Barnes, I am just as certain it happened when she was there. I’d like to know what you intend to do about it.”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. As I said, we don’t allow situations like that to occur here at Doggie Love. Duchess must have been impregnated by one of your neighbor’s dogs or something like that. No, I’m certain it did not happen here at Doggie Love.”
“Fine. My attorney will be in touch with you,” Lisa said, slamming the phone down. Great, this is just great. I don’t know who the father is, the kennel denies any responsibility, and I haven’t even addressed whether or not Duchess could be injured giving birth if it turns out the father was some big pit bull or some large dog like that. Sometimes life is so unfair.
She walked back to where Duchess was sleeping on her satin pillow. “Mama will take care of you, darling. That woman at the kennel deserves to have something bad happen to her for what she’s done to my precious baby girl,” she cooed. “It’s going to be fine. Trust me, I’ll take care of it.”
Serve Ms. Barnes right if all of her dogs were released from their kennels and allowed to run loose in the neighboring area. Then when a lot more of them get pregnant, she’d probably lose her business from all the lawsuits that would be filed against her , Lisa thought, smiling to herself with a look of satisfaction on her face.
CHAPTER 5
After leaving Mike at the kennel so he could continue his investigation, Kelly, along with the two dogs, started driving home. As she drove she wiped away the tears sliding down her cheeks and wondered why someone would want to kill Mary Barnes. She considered Mary to be one of her best friends and found it hard to believe that someone as well-liked as Mary had been murdered.
Putting Mary and the word murder in the same sentence was hard for her to do. She also wondered what would happen to the kennel and the dogs that were boarded there now that Mary was dead. Selfishly, Kelly felt lucky she and Mike had returned when they did. If they’d arrived a day later, Rebel might never have been found. The very thought of losing him caused her to start crying again.
When she approached the driveway of her house she smiled in spite of her tears. She loved the large house that was situated on a hill overlooking the bay. Brightly colored flowers greeted her and the picturesque view of the bay warmed her heart. When the bay was flat and free from waves, the sun shining on it made it look as if diamonds were dancing on the water. It was a sight that never failed to thrill her.
“Come on, guys,” Kelly said, “let’s go inside.” She caught a glimpse of herself in the hall mirror and saw a tall dark-haired middle-aged woman. She thought that maybe Mike’s comments about her being attractive weren’t said by him just to make her feel good. Lively eyes looked out from a porcelain complexion. She wore her hair pulled up in a chignon, a tortoiseshell hair clip holding it in place. Kelly took a long look at herself, trying to see if she’d gained any noticeable weight while they’d been in Italy and Cuba.
Although she was tall, she wasn’t slender and was well aware that eating like she had while she was in both countries could have easily added a few unwanted pounds to a body that obviously liked to eat. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked in the mirror, glad that if some damage had been done, it wasn’t too obvious. She decided she’d eat only healthy food for the next few days to counterbalance the overindulging she’d taken part in while she’d enjoyed the Italian and Cuban food.
The dogs romped from room to room, clearly glad to be home, and ended up in front of the glass patio door, wanting to go out so they could get reacquainted with their own yard. Kelly opened the sliding glass patio door and let them run around in the yard while she brought in the luggage. She spent the next couple of hours unpacking, reading the mail, and deciding what she and Mike could have for dinner, although she knew when a crime had been committed, particularly murder, Mike would probably not make it home until quite late. She was tired from the long trip and had no desire to go to the store.
Mike liked to make a wonderful dish he called “fisherman’s fried rice.” She decided tonight was the perfect night for the dish Mike had learned to make years ago from his friend, Jack Trout, who had been Mike’s fishing guide while they were in Cuba. It only required rice, bacon, eggs, scallions, and a little soy sauce. She had all of the ingredients, and if Mike couldn’t make it home, she could easily prepare it herself. After all of the wonderful food they’d eaten lately, she looked forward to a simpler meal. I’ll start my new healthy regime tomorrow , she thought.
She’d just picked up her cell phone to call Mike and see what he’d been able to find out about Mary’s murder when her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number on the screen. “This is Kelly Reynolds.”
“Kelly, this is Noelle Hughes, Mary Barnes’ daughter.”
“Oh, Noelle, I’m so sorry about your mother. I considered her to be one of my best friends, and I simply can’t understand how something like this could happen or who would want to kill Mary. It makes no sense. I don’t think Mary had an enemy in the world, and everyone I knew loved the kennel. It was definitely the best in the area. I’d just picked up the phone to call Mike and see what was happening when you called. Were you able to find the missing dogs?”