A Tiger's Tale (A Call of the Wilde Mystery) (13 page)

“Deal.”

• • •

I didn’t keep my promise.

I’d wanted to, but the next morning as I sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean, I remembered Felix.

The cat might have more to worry about than missing a few meals. Pets could be used as a tool to hurt the people who cared about them. Refusing to feed the cat was a bad sign. I wouldn’t put it past Ligner to take Felix to the pound, or worse.

“Don’t do it.”

My sister’s voice snatched me out of my dark thoughts.

“What?” I asked as she sat at the patio table next to me.

“Whatever you’re making that face over.”

“I wasn’t making a face.”

“Yes you were. You were making this face.” She squinted her eyes and pressed her lips together until they formed a bloodless line.

“Attractive.”

“It’s your plotting face.” She did it again.

“You look constipated.”

“No, that’s different. See the eyebrow?” She made the face and pointed at one arched brow. “It means you’re thinking about doing something you shouldn’t.”

I shrugged.

Emma leaned back and took a sip of her tea.

Waiting me out.

I avoided discussing domestic violence with Emma, even though it didn’t bother or upset her. I couldn’t say the same for myself.

“Bob Ligner is an abuser. The cat told me.”

Emma took another sip of tea. “You think he did something to Brooke?”

“Maybe. He’s capable, without a doubt.”

“And you’re planning to . . . what? Sic Moss on him and make him talk?”

“Not a bad idea. But, no. I’m not planning on doing anything to Ligner.”

“Then why were you making the face?”

“Because I told Kai I’d stay away from the jerk.”

“So stay away from him.”

“I’m worried about Felix, the cat.”

“Oookay.”

“You remember my client with the Houdini dogs?”

“Not offhand.”

“Nice guy. Single. He had twin boys. He thought his dogs were somehow climbing over his fence because the gate was locked and they’d be loose.”

“The guy with the crazy ex?”

“Right. The crazy ex was the one opening the gate.”

“I guess that answers that question.”

“What question?”

“Who let the dogs out?”

“She did.”

“Come on—I’m talking about the song.”

“What song?”

Emma sang a few bars of a hip-hop song I vaguely remembered hearing in college.

“I’m trying to make a point here, Em. The crazy ex wanted to hurt those dogs. They could have been lost or hit by a car.”

“And you want to rescue Felix the cat before something happens to him?”

“Yes.”

She angled her head and studied me. “I’m not buying it.”

“What do you mean? The cat hasn’t eaten—”

“That may be true and you may have a good reason to be worried but that’s not really the reason you want to break your word to Kai. You want to snoop.”

“I . . .” Crap, she was right. “Okay. Maybe I do, but so what? I might find something useful.”

“Or, you might get caught.”

“Ligner’s a coward. He wouldn’t do anything to me.”

“That might be the stupidest thing I have heard you say in a long time.”

“He already caught me once, and he didn’t do anything then.”

“Because you made up a good excuse and apologized, right?”

I didn’t answer.

“Great. Perfect.” She set her teacup down with deliberate care then leaned over the table, propping her weight on her elbows. “You’re telling me you called him out? Challenged him?”

“It’s not like I went all Lisbeth Salander on him and tattooed ‘I’m an abusive asshole’ on his forehead.”

“Oh, well, in that case, it’s no big deal.” After her fit of sarcasm, Emma leaned closer. Emotion sparked like fire in her dark eyes. “People like Ligner have to be in control. It means everything to them.
Everything
. Anyone who can’t be controlled is the enemy.”

“Works for me.”

“I’m serious, Grace.”

“So am I. Ligner can think I’m the queen of England for all I care.”

“You’re underestimating him. Don’t.” She raised her hand to stop me when I tried to counter her argument. “I know you think Ligner’s a coward. And you’re right. But he’s not stupid. You played your hand. Called his bluff and upped the ante. If you think he’s not stewing over how he can win back the upper hand, you’re wrong.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll be careful. I’ll go pick up Felix and that’s all. No snooping. I won’t even trespass.”

Emma looked dubious, so I lifted my hand and offered what had always been the most solemn oath between us.

“Pinky swear.”

Emma’s lips twitched into a smile and she hooked her little finger to mine.

• • •

I pulled into the Ligners’ neighborhood an hour later. I knew Bob Ligner was at work—I’d called his office moments before and was told he was meeting with clients—but, keeping to the pinky promise, I cruised past his house and turned into the next driveway on the street.

The
FOR SALE
sign was still out front, there was a lockbox affixed to the front door, and there weren’t any window treatments or other signs of occupancy. The home was vacant. Perfect.

I hopped out of Bluebell and headed to the side of the house closest to the Ligners’ property. Through the thicket of oleanders, I caught a glimpse of the spot near the trash cans where Bob Ligner and I had had our little heart-to-heart, but could see little else.

Which was fine. I was here for Felix, not to snoop.

The gate leading to the vacant backyard was propped open so I strolled through—just another potential home buyer taking a look around.

Feeling supremely clever, I walked to the privacy fence bordering the Ligners’ property and cast out my mental feelers in search of Felix.

I found him quickly enough, but not where I’d expected.

Felix wasn’t in the Ligners’ house or yard. And he wasn’t hungry or frightened. In fact, Felix was sending out super-happy vibes. Waves of contentment rolled through him, and though I couldn’t hear it, I recognized the familiar feline signature.

Purring.

Curious, I tried to pinpoint Felix’s location and began moving along the fence toward the far end of the backyard. It was my ears rather than my mind that led me to him.

“Oh, all right,” a reedy voice said from the other side of the back fence. “I’ll give you a lap for a few minutes.”

“Meow!”

I peeked through the space between fence boards to see an elderly woman set her watering can on the ground then ease herself onto a large garden bench. Felix sprang up and into the woman’s ample lap.

Soft. Nice.
His mind was a thrumming ball of happiness.

I watched Felix settle down into a comfortable ball. The woman scratched him under his chin and his eyes closed in utter bliss.

Cats.

My view of the woman’s house was limited, but I could see a small bowl sitting by the back door. I could tell from the full feeling of his belly that Felix had been fed.

When the woman stopped petting him, Felix opened his eyes to gaze up adoringly at her then gently patted at her arm with a paw.

“I can’t sit here all day, you know,” the woman chided. “I have daylilies to divide.”

As only cats and contortionists can, Felix twisted his upper half until his front feet pointed skyward. He continued to make eyes at the woman and began pawing the air.

Charmer.

Like so many cats before him, Felix had found the secret to survival: Find a sucker willing to take you in.

Being a card-carrying member of the Sucker Club, I had to smile.

I pushed away from the fence, hoping my impending house hunt would yield a place with a nice cat lady next door instead of someone like Emma’s crazed animal-hating neighbor, Mr. Cavanaugh.

Or worse, a man like Bob Ligner.

No longer worried about Felix, I turned to head back to Bluebell. I’d make sure to tell Brooke where her cat was when I found her.

If
I found her.

That sobering thought made me pause as I reached the open gate.

Temptation bubbled up inside me to take a quick peek over the fence into the Ligners’ backyard and look for . . . for what?

I would probably do more harm than good snooping around. Kai was looking hard at Ligner. I had to trust he’d find something.

Plus, I’d pinky sworn.

My resolve restored, I started through the gate and froze. A sound drifted from next door. Footsteps through the grass and something being dragged. I heard the metallic scrape of the gate latch and the groan of hinges. More dragging, the garbage can lid being opened, something heavy being dumped in the trash, and then . . . a small sob.

I crept forward and peered through the oleanders.

Anne Ligner stood with her back to me, facing the open can. I could just make out the top of the black plastic trash bag she’d deposited. Her shoulders shook and, as she slowly closed the lid, I heard her whisper something that chilled me to my core.

“I’m sorry, Brooke.”

Then she turned, walked through the gate, and into her backyard. A moment later, I heard the back door slide closed.

I was surprised I could hear anything with my pulse pounding so hard in my ears. Heart hammering, I stood there for a moment, staring at the trash can.

Was it possible that Anne Ligner had just dumped her daughter’s body in that can?

All thoughts of promises gone, I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, crouched, and pushed through the spindly lower limbs of the bushes.

Scrambling up, I stepped to the can, lifted the lid, and stared down at the thick black plastic.

Fingers trembling, I reached out and unwound the twist tie that had been used to secure the bag.

I stopped, hands poised to pull the bag open.

My breaths came in little ragged puffs. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fisted my hands and tried to get a handle on my breathing.

I really didn’t want to open the bag.

I had to open the bag.

“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Just do it.”

Forcing myself to obey, I opened my eyes, grabbed the bag, and jerked it open.

I did not find a body in the Ligners’ trash.

The wave of relief threatened to turn my knees to Jell-O, but my curiosity soon had me straightening to reach into the bag.

It was filled with stuffed animals and other toys. Was this a sign that Anne Ligner knew her daughter was never coming home? I picked up a teddy bear with the words
MR. SNUFFLES LOVES YOU!
embroidered on his chest and noticed something odd.

The bear had been sliced open, and his stuffing, or what was left of it, spilled out of a long gash on his back.

I lifted another plush doll—it, too, had been cut open. A rubber pony was missing its head. The bag was filled with mutilated toys.

A chill crept over me.

I retied the bag and got out of there as quickly and quietly as I could.

Once safely inside Bluebell and on my way out of the neighborhood, I let the litany of curses and questions I’d been stifling spill out.

“Holy shit! What the hell was that?” I asked aloud.

“Creepy,” I answered myself. “That was friggin’ creepy.”

So creepy I decided I needed to grab a doughnut to calm my nerves. I had just taken the first warm bite of my Krispy Kreme chocolate glazed when my phone began singing “Crazy Train.”

It was Emma calling to check on me. I relayed the story, talking around a mouthful of doughnut.

“That’s pretty damn creepy,” she said.

“I know, right? They were murdered, Emma. It was a toy massacre. Who does that?”

“People who are losing control and want to take it out on something. I think you need to call Kai and tell him about this.”

I paused to swallow. I didn’t really want to admit to Kai that I’d been to the Ligners’.

“Just explain that you wanted to check on Felix,” Emma said, reading my mind. “He’ll understand.”

I wasn’t certain that was true, but I would call him anyway.

“Hey, Em, we’re looking at houses tomorrow, right?”

“Yep, the Realtor is supposed to be e-mailing a list of properties in the morning.”

“Is there a way to do a neighbor check? A screening or something for nutcases?”

My sister laughed, but I was completely serious.

“I’m not kidding. I’d hate to end up next to another Cavanaugh, but he’s better than someone who would eviscerate a teddy bear.”

“That reminds me, Moss howled after you left.”

“And Cavan-ass left you a sticky note?”

“Of course, but that’s not what I was going to say. When Moss howled, Voodoo jumped up and ran to him like she’d been summoned. What’s that about?”

“Who knows?”

There was a pause. “Um . . . you?”

“I don’t know everything about animals,” I said.

“And here I’ve been telling people that was your job.”

“Speaking of jobs, I’ve got to go. I have a bunny that needs me.”

• • •

When I finished up with Patches, the aforementioned bunny, I called Kai.

“Hey, can I bring you an early lunch?”

I wasn’t really that hungry, but I wanted to talk to him face-to-face if I was going to admit to breaking my promise to stay away from the Ligners’.

“Actually, how about I meet you at Farah’s? I could stand to get away from this place for a little while.”

We agreed on a time and as soon as I walked into Farah’s, the scent of spanakopita washed over me, obliterating the memory of my earlier zillion-calorie snack.

I found a booth, slid in, and ordered drinks while I waited for Kai. He walked in a few minutes later and slipped in to sit across from me. The waiter came by to take our orders and bustled away.

Kai slid his phone across the table. I picked it up and studied the image on the screen. It was a photo of Brooke. A mug shot, actually.

“What’s this?” I asked, trying not to sound angry. Was he trying to remind me that Brooke had been in trouble?

“Brooke’s record. I can’t legally send it to you, but I thought you might want to take a look at it. Stefan’s is there, too.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling sheepish for jumping to the wrong conclusion—again. “Thank you.”

I looked over the files for a minute, not seeing anything I didn’t already know.

“So, how’s your day been?” I asked as I handed him back his phone.

As he often did, he waved my question away.

“Busy. Tell me how things are going with you.”

“Well, I just helped a champion jumping bunny get his mojo back.”

“Champion jumping bunny?”

“You’ve never heard of bunny show jumping?” I asked deadpan.

“I have to admit, I haven’t. Is it taking the sports world by storm?”

“Not sure Patches and his crew are there, yet. But you never know.”

“Now that he’s got his mojo back?”

“Yep. It turns out Patches hadn’t really lost his passion for the hurdles. He just disliked the foul-smelling paint job his owners had given his obstacle course. I took two terra-cotta pots, flipped them over, and put a stick across them and he hopped over that sucker like the champion he is.”

Kai leaned back to study me—my loquaciousness seemed to have triggered his cop radar.

Crap. Might as well get it over with.

“I went to the Ligners’,” I said just as the waiter appeared with our lunch.

Kai never took his eyes off me as the waiter placed the plates on the table and asked if we needed anything else.

I thanked him and, once he’d hustled off, said to Kai, “I was worried about Felix.”

“Felix?”

“The cat. I was afraid Bob Ligner might do something to Felix, so I went to get him. I even went to the house next door, so I wouldn’t have to trespass, but—”

“Get him?” Kai interrupted. “Let me get this straight; your interpretation of staying away from the Ligners’ is to go to the house
next door
and steal their property?”

“Felix is not property. And I didn’t steal him. He’s fine, but I can’t say the same for Mr. Snuffles.”

“Who?”

“Brooke’s teddy bear.” I explained what I’d seen, starting with Felix being safe and putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that I had been leaving when I’d seen Anne Ligner acting odd.

Kai didn’t look pleased at my justification.

“I couldn’t just leave.”

“Yes, Grace, you could have. Or you could have called me.”

“But it might have been nothing.”

“Or it might have been a body. And you could have contaminated the crime scene.”

“Seriously? You’re playing the
CSI
card?”

“I’m not playing at all.”

The waiter popped by to check on us, probably noticing that neither of us had touched our lunch and wanting to be sure there wasn’t something wrong. There was, of course, but it wasn’t the food.

Kai handed the waiter his plate and asked if he could take it to go. I did the same and then glared at Kai.

“This isn’t a damn game, Grace,” he said in a low tone.

“We’re talking about a guy who decapitated a My Little Pony,” I said. “Believe me, I understand it’s not a game.”

Kai shook his head. “You don’t even know if Bob Ligner is the person who tore up the toys. It could have been his wife. You said she apologized out loud when she threw them away, right?”

“I can’t see her taking out her anger on her daughter’s stuff.”

“You don’t know that’s the reason the toys were ripped apart.”

“Why else would someone do it?”

“Maybe Ligner or his wife was looking for something.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged. “I can think of several things a teenager on probation might want to hide from her parents.”

“You’re talking about drugs again.”

“Brooke’s boyfriend is a drug dealer.”

“So?”

“He might have asked Brooke to hold on to his stash.”

“Brooke was turning her life around.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

The waiter deposited our lunches and the check. I picked it up before Kai could.

“I asked you to come—I’ll get it.” I rummaged around in my purse, knowing I had a twenty somewhere, and tried not to be upset. I’d known Kai wouldn’t be happy with me but I hadn’t expected to be just as irritated with him.

Finding the crumpled twenty, I smoothed it out on the table and laid it over the check.

When I looked up at Kai, I saw the lines around his eyes had softened.

“I’m just trying to stay objective, Grace. We know Brooke and her mother recently had a fight about something. Maybe Anne Ligner was going through Brooke’s things, even started to cut open her toys.”

I hated to admit it made sense, but . . . “According to Ozeal, Anne Ligner wasn’t involved in Brooke’s life. I got the same feeling when I met her. She hadn’t noticed Brooke was missing.”

“Learning Brooke was gone could have goaded her into looking through her daughter’s things. We don’t know.”

“You’re right, we don’t. We don’t know enough about any of this because you can only poke around a little and I’m not supposed to poke around at all.”

“I’m sorry. I got upset because I worry about you. I don’t like the idea of you anywhere near Bob Ligner.”

“And you don’t want me to mess up a crime scene.”

“That, too.” He flashed me that heart-stopping smile and I returned it with one of my own.

“Does that mean we can sit here and eat lunch?”

A beep sounded from his phone. He checked the display and frowned. “I’ve got to get back. It’s been a . . .” He trailed off as his gaze met mine, then he let out a slow breath. “Let’s just say I haven’t had time to do much checking on Bob Ligner’s finances or his past relationships.”

An emotion I couldn’t name suddenly stirred in my chest. Kai was doing this for me. Taking extra time out of long days because he wanted to help
me
.

I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded. He must have taken my silence as disappointment on his lack of progress because his manner turned brusque as we gathered our lunches and headed outside.

“I’ll call you if I find something,” Kai said.

When he started to turn away, I reached out and touched his forearm to stop him. There were a dozen things I could have said, detailing how much his help meant to me, but all I managed was, “Thank you.”

“You can thank me by staying safe.”

“I tangle with crazy animals every day and, so far, I’m in one piece,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

But he only nodded and walked away.

• • •

I debated my next move as I walked to Bluebell.

I could try to find Stefan again. Or see if I could dig up more on Yard/Mercedes Guy—though how I’d go about doing so was a mystery.

As I was climbing behind the wheel I got a text that made the decision for me.

The message was from my sister. It read:
Issue with important clients. Need help. ASAP.

At first I thought she might have sent me the text by accident until the follow-up message beeped onto the screen:
And be nice!

I sent a message back asking where she was. She replied with an address that turned out to be . . .

A cemetery?

Ooookay.

After parking, I wandered toward the iron gates. I found Emma a few yards past the entrance, standing with a man and woman in the shade of a stately oak.

The couple was dressed in all black and both had raven hair that contrasted sharply with the very pale skin of their faces.

Emma smiled as I approached. “Eddie, Lilith, this is my sister, Grace.”

Eddie, like Eddie Munster? I couldn’t help but see a resemblance.

We shook hands. I glanced at my sister and plastered a smile on my face before saying, “Nice to meet you both. What can I do for you?”

“We’re having problems with the bats,” Eddie said in a low baritone I hadn’t expected from such a thin man.

“Bats?”

“They’re for our wedding, but there’s something wrong.” Lilith’s large doe eyes misted over, her voice quavering with concern.

“Bats. For your wedding,” I repeated just to make sure I wasn’t hearing things.

“To release instead of doves,” Emma clarified. “Sunday night, at the rehearsal, they didn’t seem to want to leave their cage.”

“Lilith loves animals and she’s worried that something might be wrong with them.” Eddie placed his narrow fingers on his betrothed’s shoulder with a comforting pat.

“Your sister says you are not only an animal expert, you’re also licensed as a veterinarian,” Lilith said. “We were hoping you could take a look at Vlad and Mina just to make sure they’re okay.”

Vlad and Mina?

I glanced at my sister. Her smile had become stretched and strained into something closer to a grimace. Not the typical Emma face. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was clear my sister needed me to smile and nod, so that was exactly what I did.

As I fell into step behind the couple, I noticed Lilith’s hair flowed almost to her waist and was tipped with red the color of, you guessed it, blood.

I tried to catch my sister’s eye, but she’d edged forward to answer some question Eddie had posed.

Before long, the path angled to the right and we passed through a short wall into a private plot. A massive mausoleum dominated the center. Its steep roof and pointed arches reminded me of a mini–Gothic cathedral. Which, given the company, was fitting.