Gore in the Garden by Colleen Shogan

Author:Colleen Shogan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Epicenter Press Inc.
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

After dropping Meg off at the Metro station, we strolled back to our condo building. At nine o’clock, the heat had finally broken, and a short evening walk became bearable.

“Sebastian, how are you enjoying your stay in the greater Washington area?” asked Doug in a friendly brother-in-law tone.

“I’ve always liked D.C.,” said Sebastian. “I wonder if this is the right time for a move.”

If dusk hadn’t already fallen, Sebastian would have certainly seen the expression of shock on my face. “Permanently?”

As soon as I’d spoken, I regretted it. What a crappy big sister I was. I should have said, “What wonderful news!” But I’d been disconnected from Sebastian for years. The change was almost too sudden.

My brother turned to look at me. “There’s plenty of opportunities for tech work in this area. And given the political climate, it seems as though the time for protesting is ripe.”

“That makes sense,” I said with no delay.

“Sounds like an exciting prospect,” said Doug enthusiastically. “Here we are.”

We’d arrived at our condo building. A minute later, we braced ourselves at the door. “We need to be careful. Clarence likes to escape into the hallway,” I explained.

Sebastian nodded. “I know. We had an incident earlier today.”

After a swift opening and closing of the door, we were inside in a flash. Clarence sat at our feet, tail wagging. To my surprise, he jumped up on Sebastian and ignored Doug and me.

“Traitor,” I murmured, staring at my dog.

“What was the incident concerning Clarence?” asked Doug.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” Sebastian rubbed Clarence’s ears. “We came home and fell asleep for a while. I guess we were exhausted.”

“Taking over a congressional office can have that effect,” I said, my lips pursed together.

Sebastian ignored my comment and continued with his story. “I woke up and realized I’d forgotten to eat lunch. I took a quick trip to your local deli and came back with a turkey sandwich. I guess Clarence got excited when he smelled the turkey. He tried to grab the sandwich from me as I opened the door. He must have figured out he could run down the hallway, so he sprinted to the other end before I could catch him and bring him back to the condo.”

This was typical Clarence shenanigans. But I suspected Sebastian was holding back. “That was it?” I asked in a strained voice.

“One of your neighbors did open her door and yell at us,” he said, his cheeks flush.

“Undoubtedly, it was Mrs. Beauregard,” said Doug. Our elderly neighbor preferred cats over dogs (“much more civilized animals”) and detested Clarence’s exuberance. His recent penchant for barking had pushed Mrs. Beauregard over the edge. She routinely reported Clarence to the oversight board, reciting chapter and verse from the sacrosanct condo covenant to bolster her claims.

“I believe that was her name,” said Sebastian. “But don’t worry. I talked with her and she seemed happy as a clam when I left.”

“You charmed Mrs. Beauregard?” I asked, the pitch of my voice rising at the end of the question.

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