The Stone of Sadness (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 3) (19 page)

“Yes, it’s nice to be done with school and just relax a bit. Yesterday I worked some more on cleaning John’s attic. I made good progress. Lily and I take a long walk every day or we go over to the recreation area by the lake and have a swim in the evening,” Olivia said. “Thank you for setting up the meeting with Dan Waters. We had a long talk the other day. He’s a nice man. Finding my cousins’ bodies in that field took a heavy toll on him.”

“I imagine so,” Robin said. “Was talking with him helpful?”

“It was,” Olivia said. “But I’m really no closer to understanding what happened.”

“I suppose that’s why there was never an arrest,” Robin said.

The women walked and chatted as the Jack Russell continued careening through the woods.

“Is that dog on speed?” Olivia asked.

Robin laughed. “I wish I could bottle whatever it has inside it.”

Olivia looked over her shoulder again. “Robin, I think I should go back. Lily never stays away this long.”

“We’ll walk with you. My car is in that direction.”

When they passed the spot on the trail where they met, Olivia called for Lily. They reached the main trail and saw an elderly couple walking slowly along. They exchanged greetings.

“Have you seen a chocolate Lab?” Olivia asked.

They shook their heads.

“I’m getting worried, Robin. Where could she be?”

“She’s just got involved in watching a rabbit or something. She’ll be along.”

Olivia called for her every few seconds.

“This is the place where she went down to the lake.” Olivia pointed.

Robin’s dog tore down the embankment to the water.

“Jasper!” Robin yelled. “Ugh, he’ll be a muddy mess now. Jasper!”

The dog did not respond. He disappeared into the woods.

“Damn. He always listens. Even though he acts like a lunatic, he usually comes when I call him. I had to take him to doggy training classes. Otherwise I would have gone nuts with his behavior. What’s got into him? Jasper!”

“He likes the water?” Olivia asked.

“Not usually. He would rather investigate and race along the edge in the mud. He can’t stay relaxed long enough to actually swim,” she joked. Robin checked her watch. “I need to get him and get back to the house. Jasper!” Robin waited. “I guess I better go down there,” she moaned.

“I want to take the trail that weaves along the lake that way.” Olivia pointed. “The trail is raised so I can look down on the water as I go. I’m worried about Lily. If you see her while getting Jasper would you call me?”

“Sure, thing. If you find Jasper, call me.”

“I will.”

They parted ways and headed to different trails. Olivia started jogging, calling Lily’s name as she ran. Ten minutes of searching passed without Olivia locating Lily or Jasper. She stopped to catch her breath and turned, looking all around at the woods, listening. Nothing.
Where was she? She never goes off like this. What if she’s hurt? Which direction should I go?
After a minute of weighing options, Olivia thought it might be best if she headed back to the point where Lily went down to the water. Her heart was pounding with worry. She took off running back to where she started.
Where could she be?
She called Lily’s name over and over.

Olivia heard something behind her. Jasper was hurtling towards her like he had been shot from a cannon.

“Jasper!”

He overshot her position, slid in the dirt trying to stop, wheeled and turned back at full speed. He barked at Olivia and rushed past.

Olivia called Robin and reported Jasper’s location.

“I can’t get close enough to clip Lily’s leash onto him. Maybe I’ll head back to where we separated. Maybe he’ll follow me and you can grab him.”

Olivia jogged down the trail. Jasper raced by again, barking. He halted in front Olivia, and raced back in the other direction.
Nutty dog. He ought to be in some movie. He acts like he wants me to follow him.
Olivia skidded to a stop. She called Robin again.

“He acts like I should follow him. I’m going to run after him. Come this way, Robin. Stay on the phone and I’ll tell you if this ends up being a wild goose chase.”

Olivia was getting winded but Jasper was still running ahead. He stopped and waited for Olivia, and then took off again. He veered down the steep embankment that led to the water. Olivia heard him rushing through the dense growth. She eased down the hill after him. Her legs were getting tangled in the vines and the bushes scratched her arms as she stumbled after the dog. Her feet were wet from the marshy ground. Jasper was howling.

“Can you hear him?” Olivia wheezed into the phone.

“Has he lost his mind?” Robin answered. “I’m going to have a heart attack trying to get to you two.” Olivia could hear Robin’s labored breathing. Jasper was barking now. Olivia’s heart was pounding in her chest.

“Lily!” Olivia called again. Only Jasper’s voice responded.

Olivia’s shoe came off in the muck. She bent to retrieve it from the sucking wet mess. Hopping on one leg, she pushed it back on her foot.
Ugh.

The pond bent to the left and a sheer rocky cliff rose high above. Olivia had to walk in the water to continue. She climbed over a fallen oak. Jasper was howling again. He was close. Olivia stumbled forward around a thicket. Jasper stood beside the rocky wall. Next to him was a chocolate colored dog.

“Lily!” Olivia called.

The Lab barked and wagged her tail. One end of a length of yellow and orange cord was tied to Lily’s collar, and the other end was wrapped several times around the base of a tree.

“Lily, Lily,” Olivia said when she reached the dog. She stroked the Lab’s head. “What happened? Someone tied you?”

Olivia could hear Robin’s voice coming from the cell phone she had stuffed in her shorts pocket. She grabbed it.

“Robin! I found her! Someone tied her up. Where are you? Are you close?”

“I’m coming.” Robin was gasping. “I could hear Jasper but now he’s quiet.”

“He’s here next to me. Call out as you get closer and I’ll direct you,” Olivia’s voice shook. She tried to untie the rope that was attached to Lily’s collar but she couldn’t loosen it. She stroked Lily’s head. Jasper licked Lily’s face.

“Good dog, Jasper. Good dog,” Olivia told him.

Robin stumbled around the cliff wall covered in mud. She sank next to Olivia and the dogs.

“Let me catch my breath.” Her face was like a beet.

“Are you okay?” Olivia asked. “Look at this, Robin. Who would do this? Tie her to a tree? What if we didn’t find her? Poor thing. Who’d do this?”

“Kids, probably. Punks,” Robin wheezed. “Trouble makers.”

Robin reached into the fanny pack she had around her waist and retrieved a Boy Scout knife. She pulled the blade out. Olivia’s eyes widened.

“I’ll cut the rope,” Robin said.

Olivia held the cord and Robin cut most of it off. Only a stub of rope remained on Lily’s collar. Lily woofed. She slurped Olivia’s face with her tongue and trotted to the pond for a drink. Jasper dashed after her. Olivia and Robin sat on the wet ground, exhausted.

“She seems okay,” Olivia said. “Thank you, Robin. What if I hadn’t run into you and Jasper? How would I have found her?”

“You would have thought of something,” Robin said, leaning back against the cliff wall, her eyes closed.

“Are you okay?” Olivia asked.

“I just need to sit a minute.” She opened her eyes. She took a deep breath. “What bastard would do that? Tie up a dog and leave her? Too many creeps around.” Robin put the knife into her fanny pack. “The knife used to be my brother’s. I started carrying it around when I was in college a hundred years ago. Some jerk tried to jump me one night when I was walking back to my dorm. A guy saw the altercation and chased the loser away. I’ve carried a knife ever since. Probably not the best idea as someone could grab it and use it on me.”

The dogs returned from the pond and lay down next to the women. Olivia checked Lily over to be sure she was alright.

“So since I’ve been getting older, fatter and slower, I also carry this,” Robin said. She pulled out her keychain with a small canister attached to it. “Pepper spray. You should get some, Olivia.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea.” Olivia sighed and pressed her head against her knees. Tears escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

Robin inched along on her butt to get closer to Olivia.

“It’s okay. All’s well that ends well, hon. The dog’s as good as new.”

She put an arm around Olivia’s shoulders. “And look, Jasper’s actually worn out.”

Olivia raised her tear stained face and saw Jasper quietly lying next to Lily. Olivia smiled. “Jasper, you’re a hero.”

The light was waning when the four of them trudged off the trail and onto the gravel parking lot. Their two cars were the only ones left in the lot. The dogs and the women were caked with mud and grime. They were glad no one was around to see them come out of the woods like that.

“Call the police, Olivia, and report what happened. People should know to keep their dogs close while walking here.”

Robin opened the hatch of her car and Jasper jumped in like his legs were made of springs. He woofed at Lily.

“Lily’s going home,” Robin told him. She closed the hatch and gave Olivia a hug. “Get some pepper spray.”

Olivia nodded. “Thank you. I wish there was some way to repay you. And, Jasper.”

“I’m sure Jasper would love to meet up with you and Lily for a walk some day. Maybe we can plan it. But no drama next time. My heart can’t take it. I’ll give you a buzz some afternoon when we’re on our way over here.”

They hugged again. Robin drove away and Olivia and Lily got in the Jeep and headed home. But first they had to make two stops, one at the vet and the other at the police department.

The sun was setting when Olivia turned the Jeep into John’s driveway. Her stomach was growling and her muscles were heavy and sore. The vet pronounced Lily fit and unharmed after her ordeal in the woods and Olivia filed a report with the police who said they would post the incident on their website to alert those people who used the park to be aware. They assured Olivia that the perpetrator was probably just a bored, local kid looking for trouble. When she reminded the officer about the dead squirrels on her front porch, he shrugged and said it was probably only coincidence that she had the misfortune of two run-ins with trouble makers. Olivia wasn’t so sure that the officer was correct about the incidents being coincidence. Worry picked at the back of her mind.

When she turned into the driveway, Lily put her head out of the half-opened back window and whined to be released from the car.

“I know, girl,” Olivia said. “It’s been a long afternoon. You’ll get your dinner as soon as we go in the house.”

Olivia parked in front of the garage, grabbed her purse off the front passenger seat, and opened the car’s rear door to let Lily out. Lily was caked with mud from the trails so Olivia called her to the side of the garage where the faucet and hose were. Olivia turned on the hose and held Lily by the collar as she gently ran the water over her back, legs, and underbelly. The water was warm from being inside the hose in the sun all day. Olivia unbuckled Lily’s collar and Lily ran around to the backyard. She washed the mud from the collar, turned off the hose, and walked around to the deck where she put the collar to dry in the sun. A small piece of the rope that was used to tie Lily up was still attached and Olivia decided she would need the scissors to remove it. She knew there was a spare collar in the kitchen closet and she would put that one on Lily for now.

“Come on, Lily,” Olivia called. “Let’s go inside and have our dinner. Enough excitement for one day.”

“The vet was open late luckily and he was able to take a look at Lily. He gave her a clean bill of health.” Olivia was talking to Joe on the phone. “The police took the information and said they would post a news blurb in the local paper and on the town local access cable station to get the word out to people to be careful in the park.”

“I don’t like you walking there alone, Liv,” Joe said.

“I’m not going to take Lily there anymore. Jackie told me that there are lots more people who walk the rail trail located about five miles from the house. The only trouble with that one is dogs have to be leashed and I like Lily to have a chance to run free.”

“It’s not worth taking a chance,” Joe said. “Promise you won’t go back to that trail alone.”

“I won’t. I would never put the dog at risk.” Olivia paused. “Joe, do you think someone’s trying to warn me off from looking into the murders?”

“It’s possible, I guess. But who would do it? That Overman guy has plenty on his plate without chasing dogs in the woods. Is he even out on bail?”

“I’m not sure.”

“It could have been random. Or maybe someone who knows you’ve been researching the murders and decided to try to scare you.”

“I guess so,” Olivia said. “What was done to Lily was so cruel. It must have been premeditated. Why else would someone carry rope while walking in the woods?”

“I don’t know,” Joe said. “Maybe the dog just had the misfortune to run into a nut.”

Olivia stood and paced around the kitchen. “It feels like a warning.”

“Stay around people when you’re walking,” Joe suggested. “It’s safer. And lock the doors when you’re in the house.”

“I will. Definitely.”

“You could come home, you know. Bring the dog here until John comes back from his trip.”

“John will be back soon. It seems silly to go running home,” Olivia said.

“It wouldn’t hurt to stop investigating.”

“Jackie suggested the same thing.”

“Smart woman,” Joe said.

“My class is starting soon. Looking into the crime gives me something to do until then. You know how I am.”

“Yes, I do,” Joe sighed. “Do what you have to. You don’t listen to me.”

“Sometimes I do,” Olivia offered.

“Please don’t get into any trouble.”

“How can I get into trouble in just a few days?” Olivia asked.

“You’ll think of a way,” Joe said. “I’m going to work now. Talk to me tomorrow.”