Lipstick On A Pig

Chapter 18

When we walked through the door, Charlotte looked ready to kill us.

“What?” I protested. “You don’t even know what happened yet.”

“You had better have a damn good excuse for this,” Charlotte replied.

“Is she back? Is the human who forgot her poor, long-suffering, adorable, starving cat at her boyfriend’s house back at the house? She was too busy to pick me up herself, but she has finally graced us with her presence.”

Bee was upset, I gathered.

“What did she do?” I asked Charlotte quietly so Bee couldn’t hear.

“She hid. Her and Buster. It took us thirty minutes to find them; they were inside the dryer.”

“Oh, God,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

I walked past Charlotte into the living room.

“Her Majesty graces us with her presence,” Bee announced.

“I’ve always wished you’d call me that,” I replied, “Although I always pictured it with a bit less biting sarcasm.”

“Why should I speak to the human who cannot be bothered coming to get her cat herself?”

“Someone tried to kill me, Bee. I got run off the road and was in a car accident.”

“Wait, what?” Charlotte said from her spot in front of the door.

“Sure, make this all about you,” Bee replied, carefully licking a paw. “But all the same, I am glad you’re alive.”

“Thank you,” I told Bee.

“You’re welcome. After all, I don’t trust the dog owner or the other one to feed me as much sushi as you do.”

Of course Bee was going to miss me spoiling her over anything else.

“Hold up,” Charlotte interrupted. “You can make up with your cat later,” she continued, earning herself a hiss from Bee. “Tell me about someone trying to kill you.”

I turned and told her the whole story about the car coming up behind me and driving me off the road. When I was finished, Charlotte’s face was white.

“We need to stop investigating this murder. It almost got you killed tonight.”

“Are you joking?” Sophie replied. “This means we have to work extra hard to figure out which one of the Forrester brothers killed those women. It’s the only way to make sure Angela stays safe.”

“If anyone kills my sushi giver, I’ll claw them to death,” Bee added.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re on my side again, and for all the right reasons too,” I told her, and she purred contentedly.

“You’re welcome.”

“That’s the worst logic I’ve ever heard,” Charlotte said. “If we stop looking for the killer, then assuming the killer was the person who tried to run Angela off the road, then they’ll have no reason to keep going after her.”

“But what if they don’t stop?” I argued. “What if they decide to kill me anyway? I’m with Sophie on this one. I want to do my best to make sure whichever Forrester brother is responsible, or both of them, are locked up.”

“How do you know it’s one of the Forrester brothers?” Charlotte asked, and Sophie and I went over the rest of the afternoon’s activities with her. When we were finished, her face was ashen.

“That’s enough. We’re finished. There’s absolutely no way we’re going to continue investigating this murder.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but just then Taylor walked into the house, carrying a whole bunch of take-out containers, followed closely by Jason who ran over to me and took me in his arms. I leaned against my boyfriend as Sprinkles ran up to Taylor, happily running around his legs as Sophie sprang up to help him with the food.

“How did you know what happened?” I muttered to Jason.

“Sophie texted me when you guys were in the car on the way home. She told me what happened. Are you alright?”

“I didn’t know what you girls wanted, so I grabbed some Indian, some Japanese and some sandwiches,” Taylor said sheepishly.

“You’re amazing,” Sophie told him, giving him a passionate kiss. Bee perked up at the mention of Japanese and began stalking Taylor as well, while Charlotte moved toward the kitchen and grabbed some plates. My stomach rumbled and I quickly realized just how hungry I really was.

“I’m ok,” I told Jason. “I think everyone’s overreacting. My head hurts, but I don’t think I’m concussed.”

“That sounds like something a concussed person wouldn’t be the best judge of,” Jason scolded gently, easing his way out of my embrace to get me some food.

A few minutes later I had a plate of daal and some naan bread, Bee was happily eating a piece of sushi, and Sprinkles was successfully begging for bits of Sophie’s chicken tikka masala. Taylor was speaking with Sophie and Charlotte while I sat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. Jason hovered over me, softly telling me he was glad that I was alright, and that no matter what happened, he was going to find the person who did this to me. I was loathe to admit it, but my head hurt, and I was exhausted. As soon as I was finished eating, I thanked Taylor and headed straight off to bed, where Jason tucked me in and curled up next to me. I fell asleep in the comforting embrace of his arms and slept straight through until the next morning.

Jason, Sophie and Charlotte were gone the next morning by the time I got up, so I ate a quick breakfast, shared words with Bee and realized my head was feeling a lot better. I decided to go see my landlord, so I threw on some jeans and a cute shirt and headed into town. I had a text from Jason who told me he was out investigating the accident and to text him straight away if I needed anything. He said he’d come back later that day to check on me, and I smiled warmly at my phone. I really did have the best boyfriend ever.

Larry Brookside had been a fixture of Willow Bay for years. At one point he’d owned well over half of the commercial buildings downtown, as well as a handful of residential properties which he rented out at reasonable rates, making him one of the town’s most popular businessmen among the local populace. I was definitely a fan; when I started Healthy Paws Vet Clinic he’d given me the first eight months rent free in exchange for free veterinary care for his cat. He told me at the time that it was important to give young new businesspeople a chance, and that he remembered how hard it was to get started in business long ago.

Now well into his eighties, Larry was still quite sprightly, and he greeted me warmly when he answered the door to the old bungalow he’d been living in for the last sixty years.

“Ah, Angela! Come in, come in! It’s been way too long.”

“Hi, Larry. How are you?”

“Well, I’m not dead yet, and at my age that’s pretty much the only goal. I assume you must have heard about the sale of the property the vet clinic sits on?”

I smiled slightly; Larry was never one to beat around the bush. He led me into a living room that looked exactly like every old person’s living room—lots of lace, orange-and-pink flowered couch covers and a thick rug. Larry’s small domestic shorthair was fast asleep on his bed in front of the fireplace and didn’t wake up as I sat down.

“I did.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come and tell you sooner. My son came to visit; he’s retiring next year. I didn’t really have a chance to tell you.”

“That’s all right, Larry.”

“And I assume you’ve come here to try and get me to change my mind about selling?”

I shrugged my shoulders, the smile spreading across my face.

“You’re still as perceptive as always, Larry.”

“Ah, but my dear, I wish I could tell you I could hang onto the property. But you know, I told the doctor I wanted him to get me to eighty-five, and I turn eighty-nine at the beginning of next year. I’m well and truly on borrowed time now, and I need to make sure my affairs are in order before I go.”

I crinkled my nose. “But did you really need to decide to sell to him?”

Larry laughed. “I guess you’re not a fan of Matthew Smith then?”

I shook my head. “No. I think he doesn’t have Willow Bay’s best interests at heart.”

“I agree with you there,” Larry replied. “Unfortunately, the economy isn’t what it used to be. Investment in small towns isn’t seen as being as lucrative as investing in major resorts like Bend, or Aspen, or Sun Valley up in Idaho. Trust me, I would have loved to sell to anyone else. The problem is, there was no one else offering.”

I sighed deeply.

“Don’t worry,” Larry told me as his wife May brought in a plate of cookies and set them in front of me. I thanked her and took a bite of the warm chocolate chip cookie, savouring it appreciatively for a moment. “I’ve seen other Matthew Smiths come and go. They always eventually realize that their ideas to modernize Willow Bay aren’t what this community needs, and they always eventually move on to bigger places.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying, but until then, I don’t want the vet clinic to be a victim of his experimentation. He’s told me he wants to revamp the whole place, but I like it the way it is. Can’t you wait a little bit longer to sell it, or something?” I could hear the anxiousness in my voice. I was practically begging, but I was desperate. I didn’t want Matt Smith to own my vet clinic’s land. Hell, I didn’t want him to own anything in Willow Bay.

“I don’t know,” Larry started, but I interrupted.

“You have such an amazing reputation here in Willow Bay. You’ve built up so much goodwill among the people here. You don’t want to destroy that legacy by selling to Matt Smith, do you? Just wait a few months. If he’s as eager as he seems he’ll still be willing to buy six months from now. But give me time to find someone else to buy the property. Please,” I begged.

Larry considered my request for a moment, then finally, after a wait that felt like an eternity, he nodded.

“Fine,” he said. “I can’t argue against that. I’ll give you six months to find a different buyer. A buyer who better understands the workings of this town. But after that, I’ll be eighty-nine years old, and I really will have to get rid of the property.

“Thank you!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much! I promise you, I will find you someone! I promise!”

“I’m sure you will, Angela. If there’s one person in this town who seems to do anything she sets her mind to, it’s you.”

“Now, one thing I need to know though, is how much money you’re looking to get for the property.”

“Oh, half a million should do it. That gets you the vet clinic, the store next to it, and the empty lot out the back.”

My heart dropped. Half a million dollars for two storefronts? Property prices in Willow Bay had gone up higher than I’d thought the last few years.

“All right,” I said, plastering a smile on my face. “I’ll find someone able to pay that.”

“I know,” Larry told me as he led me back to the front door. “I have faith in you. But six months, that’s all the time you have.”

As I left Larry’s house, I was torn. A part of me was thrilled that the deal with Matt Smith was collapsing, at least for a few months. But another part of me had absolutely no idea how I was going to find someone else to buy the property.