The Telltale Turtle (The Pet Psychic Mysteries) (15 page)

"Can I offer you a ride home?" Charlie asked.

"No, that's all right. Danny's coming. But thank you for following me. It was nice to see a familiar face." Mary Catherine looked at him and felt the absurd urge to cry. She brushed it aside and recalled that she wasn't quite sure about trusting him.

Baylor reassured her Charlie was trustworthy. She picked up the cat and told him he could be wrong. "You chase mice and half eat them even though you know you're going to get worms and Jenny will have to stick that big probe up your butt. You're not exactly a font of wisdom, my friend."

She waved to Danny when she saw him, excusing herself from Charlie, and hurrying to the side of the old taxi.

"MC! Como esta? How did this happen? Is Baylor all right?"

"We're both fine," she answered as she got into the bright orange car. "As to how it happened, Charlie seems to think someone cut the brake line."

Danny got in behind the steering wheel and made a face at the mention of Charlie's name. "That guy! I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. He ratted Colin out, MC. What were you doing with him, anyway?"

"Nothing, really. He came looking for me and followed me from the radio station when he saw the car was leaking something."

"Yeah. Right. He probably cut the line himself. Let's think about this; he was there last night when Baylor was trapped and now he's here today when something happens to your car."

She considered his words. Hadn't she thought something was odd that day at the apartment when her car wouldn't start and Charlie was conveniently there to offer her a ride to work? Maybe he was responsible for that problem too. "Why would he do anything like that? He's not involved in the murder."

Danny shrugged as he negotiated the taxi through the onlooker traffic. "Maybe he's involved. He knew right where to find that mujer Tommy says was there when Ferndelle was killed. Maybe there's more to this than we're seeing. What do we know about this guy anyway?"

Mary Catherine thought about that as they drove toward her apartment. "Baylor says he's trustworthy. He said the man who trapped him wore a different cologne."

"What about Tommy? Does he recognize Charlie?"

"He didn't seem to, not like when he saw Charlene." Danny pulled into the drive beside the building. The goat man, in jeans and a faded Margaritaville T-shirt with a broad rimmed straw hat on his gray hair, was sitting outside the clinic on a bench.

"What are you gonna do about that guy?" Danny smiled and waved at the old man who was watching his goat eat grass.

She shrugged, noticing a sore spot on the side of her neck that hadn't been there before the accident. She hoped she wasn't too hasty sending the paramedic away. But maybe a hot bath was all she needed. "I don't know. He's not in the way. He just wants to hang out with his goat." "

I wouldn't want to be you explaining that to Jenny. She's already unhappy with that nice old dude I found to do the handyman stuff around here. What's up with her anyway?"

"Jenny just likes to complain, but as long as she's willing to work here for almost nothing, I can take it. I'm going upstairs to take it easy for a while before the Meaty Boy taste test."

"Si, that's right. I've been hearing about that all day on the radio. I can't wait to find out if Meaty Boy is as bad as you say it is."

"I'm taking Bruno with me and you know he can be terribly honest. I thought jenny's dog, Candy, would be a good bet because she's very particular."

"Hey! You should take Bubba! He only eats table scraps. If Meaty Boy can win him over, it must not be too bad."

Mary Catherine accepted Danny's offer, even though she wasn't sure his bassett hound, Bubba, could tell the difference between any food in his mouth. The stories that animal could tell about wild beer parties with Danny were enough to make her shudder.

"That would be excellent." She was pushed for time she didn't have after the accident. Three dogs would have to be enough. She couldn't be picky which three at this point. She'd never talked to a dog who could stand Meaty Boy. She had no reason to think this would be any different.

"Bueno! I'll pick you up here at two thirty. Think it would be okay if I come in and watch?"

"I don't see why not. Thanks for coming to get me. I'll see you later." She smiled and waved to Bernie the handyman who was working on the loose stair outside. The goat man smiled and waved to her as well. She hated to admit it but even that exertion was painful. She was beginning to feel like she'd run a marathon.

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked from the clinic door. "Danny told us about your accident. Is Baylor all right?"

Baylor, sensing a sympathetic ear, immediately lapsed into meowing and holding one paw up as Mary Catherine set him down on the tile floor. Jenny picked him up and stroked him. "Poor thing. I'll just take a look at you and make sure everything is all right. After what you went through last night and then the accident today, I'd be surprised if your nerves aren't completely frazzled."

"Well if you keep feeling sorry for him, he'll let you test him for anything that isn't painful," Mary Catherine told her. "He's the biggest showoff in the world when it comes to something like that"

"What about you?" Jenny looked at her through her thick spectacles. "You probably need some attention yourself."

"That's okay. I'll be fine." Mary Catherine began to ease her way up what had become an incredibly long staircase. "I know you have some medical background, but if something is wrong, I'd rather call a people doctor, if you don't mind. I'm going upstairs to take a hot bath. I may need a good massage after this. I think my whole body is bruised."

It took her a few extra minutes to reach her apartment, but Mary Catherine finally walked into the living room and sank down in her red velvet chair. She looked at the bathroom door but didn't know if she could make it. What had seemed like nothing was very painful now. She began hoping nothing was broken or out of joint. Surely she wouldn't be able to walk if she had a broken bone.

Her cell phone startled her. She looked at the number. It was Colin. "He called again, Mary Catherine. Detective Angellus was barely out the door when Cousin Bob called and threatened me again. He said if I don't do what he asked me to do, I won't live to see the morning. I don't know what to do."

"Pack something and get out of town for a few days," she advised. "If he can't find you, he can't hurt you. Detective Angellus is going to pay him a visit that might end this whole problem."

"But I can't leave town. The police said I have to stay in Wilmington. If I leave, they might arrest me."

"You have money, Colin. Hire a bodyguard. My second late husband was never without his bodyguard, except in the bedroom. You can do the same thing."

He thought it over for a moment. "I suppose you're right. I wish this would be over so I could have my life back."

Mary Catherine was almost too sore to commiserate with him. "It'll all be over soon, I'm sure. In the meantime, protect yourself. Maybe Detective Angellus will have some answers for us today or tomorrow."

"Thanks. I guess it won't be too bad to hole up here with Mindy."

"I hope you plan to tell her about Charlene."

"No! Why should I? It'd only hurt her feelings. It only happened this one time. It won't ever happen again."

Mary Catherine doubted that. From what she could tell, men who fooled around always fooled around. And that was a rule of thumb for married men. A man who cheated on his fianceewhere would you go from there? "I guess that's your business, but it was really hard to look at her today and not say anything."

"I appreciate you not telling her," Colin said. "Hang on a minute. There's a knock at the door"

Mary Catherine waited impatiently since she had only a couple of hours to drag her body into a hot bath, change clothes, and then go to the Meaty Boy taste test. She wasn't looking forward to that event before the accident, now she was sorry she'd ever agreed to it.

She was holding on to her cell phone and trying to ease herself out of the chair when she heard Colin yelling on the other end. "No! Get back! Leave me alone!"

"Colin? Are you there? Is everything okay?" Mary Catherine waited for an answer until the phone went dead in her hand.

MARY CATHERINE WAS ABOUT to speed-dial 911 when there was a knock on her outside door. She forced herself up and out of the chair even though her poor body felt as though it was coming apart. "Just a minute," she called out, limping to the door.

It was the handyman; what was his name? She smiled and frantically searched her memory. "Yes?"

"I fixed the loose stair, ma'am." He pulled at the brim of his hat in respect. "What would you like me to start on next?"

She tried to remember anything on the long list of problems she'd had with the building. Nothing came to mind. And she still couldn't think of his name. "I guess that's all for today. Maybe you could come back tomorrow and we could work on a to-do list for you.

"Thanks. I'll be back tomorrow then." He turned away and started back down the stairs.

"Thank you. I appreciate your work" She suddenly recalled his name. "Thanks, Bernie."

"No problem." He waved without looking back. "See you tomorrow.

Mary Catherine closed the door and dialed Colin's cell phone number. There was no response; only his voice mail answered. She hated to call Detective Angellus again but this seemed to be part of the same case. She justified it that way and punched in his cell phone number.

"Angellus here."

She told him about Colin's phone call after apologizing for calling him again. "I know he's at Mindy's apartment. Should I call the police to go over there? Are you close by?"

"I'll have an officer swing by," he promised. "I'm out at Bob Jamison's house on Bald Head Island. I don't think he has anything to do with what's happening to Colin or Ferndelle Jamison's death."

"What could he possibly have said to you that made you believe that?"

"The man had a stroke a few months back, Mary Catherine. He can't get out of bed much less go around murdering people. From what I can tell, he can't even use the phone to threaten Colin"

"That doesn't make any sense," she argued. "There has to be another answer."

"There is. Colin killed his aunt for the money and has spent all this time trying to convince you he's innocent so you can bug me into looking for another suspect. I'd say that's worked pretty well. Up until now anyway."

"Well, in case this isn't made up and Colin is in trouble, would you call an officer to go by Mindy's apartment on Second Street? We can debate his guilt or innocence later, if he's still alive. I'd go myself but I don't have a car, and Danny is at the airport."

"I'll take care of it. Don't forget my wife's hermit crab."

Mary Catherine promised not to forget and closed her cell phone. She dragged herself into the bathroom, thankful she'd put in a whirlpool bath when she'd remodeled the apartment. Gutted it was more like it, she considered, as she turned on the hot water and added relaxing bath crystals that turned the water Caribbean blue.

The building had sat empty for a few years and the repairs had been massive before she could even think of moving in. The first floor had rats and burn spots where homeless people had made fires, surprisingly not burning the whole building down. The upstairs floor was large but had been used for storage. Her aunt had left boxes there that Mary Catherine had transferred to the basement after the entire building was restored.

It had been an expensive project, but well worthwhile. She'd been lucky that her last husband hadn't insisted on a pre-nup so she got an equal share of his wealth along with his three children from his various other marriages. Between that and her signing bonus with the radio station, she'd managed to set up the clinic as well as her beautiful apartment.

Soaking in the tub, she thought about the mess Colin was in. She wasn't a private detective, even though she'd helped the police with several investigations. Maybe Charlie was right and she should hire him to help find out what was going on.

Baylor was still downstairs being pampered by jenny, but he reminded her she didn't especially trust Charlie and no good could come from spending too much time with him.

She was surprised, since Baylor admitted to trusting Charlie. Apparently he meant in a friendly-stranger type of way. He didn't want her to get personally involved with the man. She laughed and told him she had no intention of anything but a business relationship with Charlie. Baylor heavily stressed his doubt.

Removing herself from the cat's random thoughts, she thought about Charlie and her feelings for him. She wasn't sure what it was about him she found attractive. Goodness knew, he didn't seem to have any money and he had a knack for turning up at difficult moments, which could be construed as either good or bad. She didn't know if she'd want to spend time with a man whose presence was constantly linked with bad things happening. Still, it had been very nice to see his face right after the accident.