Drool Baby (A Dog Park Mystery) by C. A. Newsome

Author:C. A. Newsome
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: suspense, whodunit, series, shelter and rescue dogs, amateur detective cop lovers thrilling suspenseful, cincinnati dog park, cozy mystery animals dogs, mystery amateur female sleuth, romantic mueder mystery, suspense romance relationships
Publisher: C. A. Newsome

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Friday Evening

The pizza had been sitting on the table, growing cold. That's where it was when Peter left the kitchen. Now the box was shredded on the floor and three guilty pairs of eyes were looking up at him. There wasn't a crumb in sight, though a few olives were scattered around. He guessed dogs didn't care much for olives.

It fired his seething temper. "Bad dogs!" he yelled. The trio slunk away. He grabbed another beer from the fridge and sat out on the back stoop. It wasn't their fault. He'd been distracted and hadn't put the pizza out of reach.

He'd come home to find the apartment empty. Lia hadn't taken the dogs, hadn't left a note, and wasn't with any of her friends. She wasn't answering her phone. The last person to see her was Jim. She'd spent the afternoon reviewing files with him, but had left around four o'clock. Hours ago.

He was torn between anger and fear. Anger that Lia hadn't let anyone know where she was, and fear that something very bad had happened, was happening at this very moment, and he couldn't do anything about it. That, along with a fruitless afternoon with Brent interviewing reluctant neighbors in the drive-by, had put him in a foul mood.

By the time the beer was half empty, he'd cooled down enough to decide it was cruel to sit out back and keep the dogs locked up in the house. Rationalizing that they deserved it did him no good. He let them out and tossed a couple of tennis balls for Viola and Honey.

It was ten o'clock when he heard the key in the lock. He waited until she came in the door and he could see that she was unharmed.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I wanted to be alone. I had to think."

"You had to think with your phone off?"

"My phone was off? It must be dead." She had the nerve to appear unconcerned.

"I've been going crazy. Nobody knew where you were. I thought Bucky had you and was at this very moment, cutting you into very small pieces." Peter ran his hand through his hair as he paced.

"You called my friends? I can't believe you did that!" Lia's voice started to elevate.

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You could have just trusted me."

"Dammit, Lia, it's not about trust. Not when people are being murdered."

"Peter Dourson, I've been getting along just fine for my entire adult life without you. I think I can handle a few hours by myself."

"For Christ's sake, why do you think I moved in here? It's not for the pond-scum smoothies!"

"You mean, why did you blackmail me into letting you stay? I was never crazy about this set-up. I hate digging into my friends' lives, and right now, I'm not happy with you, either."

"Well, that sure makes two of us."

"And if you're going to keep yelling, you can leave. You don't get to stand here in my apartment and yell at me.

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