Kitten Kaboodle (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 20) (9 page)

I took Tucker home and called Salinger to fill him in on what I’d found out. You’d think the man would be happy I was basically doing his job for him, but instead he chewed me out for being in possession of the stolen kittens all along and just now getting around to mentioning it. At least he agreed to let me keep them while they straightened everything out. I just hoped whoever ended up having the say-so as to what would happen to the kittens would let me keep them until I could find them good homes.

I thought about the pups I’d rescued that day. Sometimes being a rescue worker was difficult and depressing work. There were times we didn’t arrive on time and had to deal with our sorrow for the needless deaths of our four-legged friends. But today had been a good one. Today good had prevailed over evil, and I meant to cherish the victory and worry about the times things didn’t work out as well when I was confronted with them.

In spite of everything that was going on and the myriad of emotional issues I was dealing with, I woke with a smile on my face. Zak and Alex were coming home today. It seemed the family had been scattered over the summer. I was looking forward to school starting up and a return to our regular routine.

Pi wouldn’t be with us this year. Zak had arranged for him to graduate high school early and he’d been admitted to one of the top colleges in the country. I’d miss his daily presence in our lives, but I knew moving on with his education was the best thing for him.

Scooter would be in the sixth grade at Ashton Falls Elementary and Alex would attend Zimmerman Academy on a full-time basis. We’d hoped to have the main campus up and running by the start of the school year, but a winter with heavy snow had delayed the construction of the project, so the temporary building we’d used the previous year would have to do again. Zak was frustrated by the delay, but in the long run I thought having an additional year to hire staff and admit students would actually be beneficial.

I crawled out of bed and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Although the high for the day was supposed to hover around eighty, the morning temperature was a cool thirty-eight degrees. I knew once the sun came up over the mountain it would actually be pleasant, so I made a cup of coffee and took it out on the deck, where I could keep an eye on the dogs as they romped on the beach.

When I’d gotten back home the previous evening Twyla and Darlene had been in the media room watching a movie and, based on her absence from the living area of the house, I’d assumed Mother Zimmerman already had gone to bed. Nona hadn’t been home by the time I turned in, but her motorcycle was in the drive this morning, so I assumed she’d been out partying and had gotten in late.

“You’re up early,” Mother Zimmerman said, walking up from behind me.

I turned and looked at my mother-in-law, who was dressed in fuzzy slippers and a warm bathrobe. “I have a busy day, so I figured I should get an early start.”

“It seems you’ve been gone almost the entire time we’ve been here.”

I took a sip of my coffee before answering. The last thing I wanted to do was to start my day with an argument. “I wasn’t aware you were coming, so I didn’t have the opportunity to schedule my time differently.”

“Yes, I suppose you have a point. I spoke to Zak last evening and he reminded me that we had agreed I would give adequate notice prior to visiting. It is his opinion that I owe you an apology for showing up unannounced, so consider this my apology.”

“Thank you.”

“Zak also informed me that I had overstepped my boundaries by arranging to convert your guest room into a nursery without speaking to you first. I canceled the contractor I’d hired.”

“I appreciate that.”

“You do plan to have children?”

I looked at Mother Zimmerman. “Yes, Zak and I plan to have children. When we’re ready.”

“I know it must seem as if you have all the time in the world to take on the responsibility of parenting, but time flies by faster than you can imagine. Don’t let the fact that you are fostering the children who live with you prevent you from the joy of having children of your own.”

I tucked my legs up under my body and turned to look at the woman who, like it or not, was going to be the grandmother of any children Zak and I had. “Before Alex and Scooter came to live with us I was certain I didn’t want to have any children of my own. Ever. But having these two awesome kids in my life has caused me to look at things differently. It’s because of them that I’m now open to the idea of having children. Instead of looking at the kids as an obstacle to the grandchildren you hope to have one day, maybe you should get to know them. You may find you actually like them.”

“Yes, well, perhaps you are right. It’s a bit chilly. I think I’ll head indoors.”

I turned back toward the lake as soon as Mother Zimmerman left. I really hadn’t given all that much thought to when Zak and I might take the next step and bring a baby into the family. Maybe I’d talk to Zak about it when he got home. I knew he really wanted a child, although to be honest, I wasn’t sure this was the right time. We were both so busy with our businesses, the Academy, and the two children with whom we already shared our home.

Then again, maybe Mother Zimmerman was right. Maybe time did fly by and waiting for the perfect time might mean we’d miss our window. This was a complicated matter that would require a lot of thought, definitely not something I’d find an answer to today.

When I was satisfied the dogs had worn themselves out I headed inside to shower and dress for work. I planned to spend a good part of the day at the Zoo, making sure the cats we’d taken guardianship over were settling in as comfortably as could be expected. I also had two cubs who were scheduled for release in the fall that I needed to assess, and I needed to relocate a raccoon family that had taken up residence in the crawl space under the building.

If I had time I also wanted to follow up with the only “suspect” still left on my list: Ben Wild. An argument at the post office didn’t necessarily denote a motive, but maybe he would have some sort of insight that would point me in a new direction.

“I have great news,” Jeremy said to Charlie and me an hour later.

“I love it when the day starts off with great news. What’s up?”

“There was a message on the machine from the attorney handling Edna Leech’s estate. He said the heirs aren’t interested in the cats, so we’re free to rehome them. He’s sending over a signed release this afternoon.”

“That is great news.” I tossed my backpack on my desk chair. “Have you identified any of the cats that might be ready for new homes right away?”

Jeremy handed me a list. “All the cats on the list show adequate socialization skills to be integrated into homes, although I think we’ll need to find applicants who’re looking for indoor-only cats. These have never been outdoors and I doubt they’d have the instincts needed to survive the predators in this area.”

Personally, I recommended that all the people who adopted our cats raised them indoors, but there were a number of cat owners in the environs who chose to ignore that recommendation. Some cats had the instincts to survive the coyotes and cougars living around Ashton Falls while others didn’t.

“Once we get the written release let’s go ahead and put an ad in all the usual places, letting people know that we’re taking applications for the cats,” I instructed Jeremy. “We need to make it clear that all of them will be altered prior to adoption. That should weed out backyard breeders hoping to make a buck. After you do that, call Scott to schedule the spays and neuters. Oh, and have him do a medical evaluation for each cat as well. We want to be sure the animals we adopt out are healthy.” I picked up a pile of mail and started to weed through it. “Anything else I should know about?”

“I got a call from Fish and Game asking if we could take a couple of bear cubs that were orphaned when their mother was shot by poachers. The bear cage is at capacity until we release the two older cubs this fall, but if we can move the cats out of the cougar cage we could temporarily house these cubs in there.”

“Do we have anywhere to house the cats?”

“Not really,” Jeremy said. “But the cubs aren’t going to be delivered until Friday of next week, so I thought maybe we could farm some of the cats out to foster families.”

“Okay, make some calls to see if you can free up the space. If you can, call Fish and Game back to tell them we’ll take them. We might even be able to get a few of the cats rehomed by Friday. Go through our files to see if there are any prescreened applicants who might be a good fit.”

“I’m on it.” Jeremy turned and left the office.

It always made me feel good when we were able to rescue an animal in need, but the truth was, we’d earned a reputation for being the ones to call when there was a need to find shelter for wild and domestic animals statewide. What we really needed to do was expand. I’d thought of talking to Zak about building a second shelter on the property. There was plenty of room to do so, but I kind of hated to start a second construction project when the first one wasn’t completed yet. If all went well, the phase one construction for Zimmerman Academy should be finished by the first part of next year. While Zak’s plans for the campus included several buildings, including the main building, where the classes were to be held, two large dorms, a separate library and gymnasium, and an administrator’s residence, we planned to open in the fall of next year with only the classrooms and a single dorm ready. Phase two would begin the following year, including the second dorm and the library/gym.

Jeremy poked his head through the office door. “You have a call on line one.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said as I picked up the phone.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Zak greeted me a bit too cheerfully.

“Please don’t tell me you aren’t going to make it home today.”

“No, I’m coming home, but I’m going to be later than I initially planned.”

“Is there a problem with your program?”

“No, that’s up and running fine. But I spoke to Scooter’s grandmother and he’s ready to come home as well, so Alex and I are going to pick him up on the way.”

I grinned. “That’s great. I’ve really missed everyone.”

“Yeah, it’ll be nice to have the family back together. We’re going to be pretty late by the time we make it all the way back to Ashton Falls, though, so no need to wait up. I’ll try not to wake you when I get home.”

“You’d better wake me. Just keep in mind that all the animals are sleeping in our room with me; it’s the only safe haven from Twyla’s kids, so don’t trip on anyone when you come in.”

Zak laughed. “I’ll be prepared for the animal obstacle course. By the way, I spoke to my mother last night.”

“She told me. She even apologized as instructed, so thank you for that.”

“It’s the least I could do. I wanted to…hang on; I have another call.”

I waited while Zak put me on hold.

“It’s Coop; I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.”

I knew the day was going to drag on endlessly if I didn’t stay busy, so I did the assessment on the cubs set for release that I needed to turn in to Fish and Game and then helped Tiffany clean the dog runs before asking Jeremy if I could leave Charlie with him for a couple of hours.

I headed out to track down Ben Wild. It would be awesome if I could get this murder case wrapped up before my family returned home.

Ben owned a gas station at the edge of town. Most days between six a.m. and six p.m. that was where you’d find him. While he worked nearly every day, he did have the flexibility to come and go during that time, which he took advantage of by volunteering for community events and programs. I didn’t think he could possibly have had anything to do with Edna’s murder, but if Ben had been involved in Aspen’s protest, maybe he had some insight into the dynamic of the group. After clearing Fritz, Jethro, Wanda, and Pete, I was back to thinking Edna’s death might actually have been related to the cats after all.

“My argument with Edna in the post office had nothing to do with the cats,” Ben said when I asked him about the incident. “She brought her car in here and authorized me to do over fifteen hundred dollars’ worth of repairs and then told me she didn’t have the money to pay me. Legally, I could have kept her car until the bill was paid, but she talked me into agreeing to a payment plan. After what happened with Fritz I should have known she never had any intention of paying me.”

“When you said after what happened to Fritz were you referring to the fact that Edna fired him?”

“Edna didn’t fire Fritz; he quit after she failed to pay him three months in a row. The only reason he hung in that long was because she kept telling him she was going to get some money from the neighbor over a property line dispute, but she never did.”

“I thought that dispute came about because Edna had the property surveyed because she wanted to apply for a building permit. A woman planning to build a second barn doesn’t sound like someone who’s hard up for money.”

“According to Fritz, Edna never planned to build a second barn. Somehow she found out about the well and had the property surveyed so she could force her neighbor to pay her for the use of the property where the well was located. I don’t know all the details; I guess you can speak to Fritz directly.”

“I heard he left town. Have you seen him?”

“No. Not for a week at least. If I run into him, I’ll ask him to call you.”

I left the gas station and planned to grab a sandwich. I parked my car in the alley behind the sub shop and was about to step out when I noticed something behind me that made me gasp.

“Where did you get that jacket?” I asked the filthy woman who’d been going through the Dumpster.

“I didn’t steal it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

I reached out to touch the spot on the front of the jacket she was wearing, where a tassel was missing. “I didn’t say you stole it, but someone definitely did.”

“I found this in the Dumpster at the other end of the alley. If someone threw it out I figure I have every right to take it.”