Treasure of Darkness: a romantic thriller (Palmyrton Estate Sale Mystery Series Book 2) by Hubbard S. W

Author:Hubbard, S. W. [Hubbard, S. W.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2015-01-22T16:00:00+00:00

According to veterinarians, a dog’s nose can distinguish one hundred thousand different smells, so it’s no wonder Ethel is beside herself with glee when she enters Harold’s house. I can’t leave her alone all day in Maura’s unfamiliar apartment, so I’ve brought her to work with me, much to Jill and Ty’s delight. Jill pirouettes around the kitchen with her, talking in high-pitched doggie talk, until Ethel breaks free to follow her nose into a corner stacked with boxes of decaying cookbooks. She begins scratching the floor, frantically trying to insert her whole muzzle into the pile.

“Yo, Ethel—you ever smelled anything that bad before? You be careful, girl. Most likely a big ol’ rat behind there. You not a street dog. You don’t wanna mess with that.”

Ethel pauses and cocks her head.

“See that,” Ty says. “She’s listening to me. Dog’s smarter than you, Jill.”

Despite his jokey manner with Jill and the dog, I sense a coolness between Ty and me. I’m not sure how much I want to tell Jill about the Play-O-Rama incident; she’s so excitable. I’ll give her a quick run-down later. But I need to tell Ty everything. When Jill’s back is turned, I gesture for him to follow me out to the van. “Help me bring in that box, Ty.”

Mercifully, he doesn’t say, “What box?”, and follows me out.

Once we’re behind the van, I tell him about what happened last night. “So, it’s not safe for me to stay in my apartment until we figure out what’s going on. Sean followed me home last night so I could get Ethel and grab some clothes. I had to tell him about the call from Ramon, Ty.

Ty slaps the side of the van. “Why’d you do that?”

“Ty, listen to me. These coyotes work for human trafficking rings. We’re talking organized crime here. We can’t mess with this ourselves. We have to let the police handle it.”

Ty says nothing. He stares into the back yard.

“Did Ramon call last night?”

Ty shakes his head. “Nuthin’”

I study him closely. “Ty, are you hearing what I’m saying? These guys know that we witnessed their crime. You’re in danger too. Now, are you being completely truthful that Ramon didn’t call again?”

Immediately his shoulders go back and his chin comes up. “My phone did not ring. You wanna check?” He holds the phone out.

I know if there is to be peace between us, my answer has to be no.

So we head back into the house, both a little edgy, walking in just as Ethel begins barking her unmistakable “stranger alert” bark. Following the sound, we find Harold sitting at a card table covered with paper, rulers, pencils and a calculator. He’s utterly oblivious to the unfamiliar dog barking at him.

“Hi, Harold,” Jill says. “Whatcha workin’ on? Your toilet design?”

He looks up, roused from deep concentration. His bright blue eyes are calm, alert. “Yes, I’ve solved one of the constraints in quite a novel way, I believe.”

Ty and I exchange a glance. Harold sounds so scholarly, so confident.

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