Terrier Transgressions

Chapter Ten

Our dinner detour in the nearby town of Misty Harbor proved to be just the thing both Charles and I needed to ease our frazzled nerves. Of course, we’d stopped by my house to drop off Octo-Cat along the way—a fact for which he was exceedingly grateful—but we brought Yo-Yo with us and dined at one of their outdoor tables that looked right onto the bay. We even got the pup a fish dinner of his own, which he devoured with aplomb. I saved a small portion in a to-go box for Octo-Cat as a thank you for his help that day, and also with the hope he’d go easy on me whenever he revealed the favor I’d need to grant him in return.

Charles and I sat and chatted over lobster rolls until the sky began to darken and another restaurant-goer needed our table. I thought I recognized the woman with red, fluffy hair, who approached us with a smile and a request to take over our spot, but I couldn’t quite place her. Anyway, it looked like she was busy, because the moment we gathered our things to leave, she plopped down and unpacked a laptop from her bag. That was before the busboy had even managed to clear away our plates.

I felt bad for her, having no one to dine with her on this beautiful Wednesday night, even though I’d be home in my jammies fighting with Octo-Cat by now if it weren’t for this impromptu outing with Charles.

“See,” he said, bumping my shoulder with his own. “At least I know not to mix work and lobster rolls.”

Work, ugh. Yes, our momentary break from the case had come to an end. There wasn’t much time left now.

“Can we try calling Michelle now?” I suggested as we made our way back to the parking lot.

“Sure, use my phone,” he said. “I have her number saved just in case.”

I tried my luck but got sent straight to voicemail where a robotic voice informed me the mailbox was full and thus unable to take any new messages. “So much for that,” I said with a defeated sigh.

“Hey. At least tomorrow’s a new day,” Charles told me with a wistful glance in my direction.

Yes, a new day—and the last full one we had when it came to proving Brock’s innocence and stopping my mom’s big exposé. Even with the animals’ help, this was not turning out as easy as I’d hoped.

Could we possibly hope that a new day would make that any different?

THURSDAY

Charles and I put in a full morning at the firm before heading over to Calhoun Realty around noon. He’d practically insisted we bring the animals with us, but fortunately I was able to convince him that we should meet with Breanne on our own before getting Octo-Cat and Yo-Yo involved—especially since we had no idea how the little dog would react to seeing Breanne in person. If she was our killer, all heck could break lose once Yo-Yo’s memories came rushing back. And, judging by his reaction to seeing her printed image yesterday, that was a very real possibility.

We had to wait more than half an hour before Breanne ushered us back into her office. Even though I was sure she was a very busy person, this immediately soured her to me. One of my biggest pet peeves was people who didn’t respect others’ time. Didn’t she know her brother’s freedom was on the line here?

“Sorry about that,” the realtor said when at last she waved us back into her private office. Of course, she didn’t seem the least bit apologetic despite her words to the contrary.

Charles and I sat in the matching pair of chairs in front of her desk and waited for Breanne to settle herself. She seemed rather put out by our arrival even though she’d known we were coming.

“How is everything?” Charles asked, putting on the same drawn expression I’d seen him use when speaking with Brock at the prison.

“Not so hot,” she admitted, tossing her auburn hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. With her hair pulled back, I noticed how strongly she resembled her brother. I guess that made sense, them being twins and all, but still I found the similarity quite striking and a bit shocking. The only differences seemed to be the feminine curve to Breanne’s face and the alternate hair color.

She pinched her features in dismay before jumping into a lengthy explanation. “Half the people I take out on showings don’t even want a house. They just want to gossip about my brother. Or, worse, sometimes they want to chew me out on his behalf. Still, I’m taking as many extra hours as I can, because your firm doesn’t come cheap. And, if Brock is convicted, I can pretty much kiss this realty goodbye.” Breanne laughed sarcastically and let out a long sigh. “So, yeah, not so hot.”

“I’m sorry to be intruding on your busy schedule,” Charles said. He didn’t seem too apologetic, either. “But we need to explore every possible lead that comes before us, and your brother has asked that I keep you informed of all new developments for his case.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair as I tried my best not to stare at her with open hostility. If there was one thing the past few months had taught me, it was that I could trust what animals said far more than I could trust humans. For all we knew, Breanne might just be playing the part of the aggrieved sister, all the while framing her poor brother for a crime she committed.

The most convincing evidence I had to support my theory, of course, was the fact that the happy-go-lucky Yorkie who loved everyone became insecure and defensive when confronted with a mere picture of her.

What else could something like that mean?

I did wish Charles would’ve been open to the idea of having Nan accompany us. She could have engaged in some of her grade-A sleuthing while Charles and I spoke directly to Breanne. I’d only met this realtor minutes ago and already knew better than to trust a single word that came out of her glossy red mouth.

“Has there been a new development?” Breanne asked, crossing her legs above the knee and staring Charles down. “Go on, tell me about it, then.”

Charles glanced toward me and took a deep breath. Oh, gosh, I hope he wasn’t planning on telling her about the talking animals or that we now suspected her because of them.

“This is Angie Russo,” he said as he gestured toward me.

I smiled and waggled my fingers at her awkwardly.

“She’s Blueberry Bay’s best paralegal and has recently signed on to help me defend your brother’s case.”

“That’s all well and good,” Breanne said with a disappointed shake of her head. “But I hired a lawyer, not a paralegal. With as much as we’re paying, Mr. Thompson should really be defending this case himself. Please tell me you didn’t request this meeting just to tell me you have a new assistant. That is not news I should have to pay $275 an hour to hear!”

“Don’t worry. This visit is off the clock,” Charles said with an ingratiating smile. Somehow it actually seemed to work, too.

“Oh?” the pretty realtor said, sitting a little higher in her chair. “Then how can I help you today?”

“In reviewing the discovery with Angie here, we came up with a few new questions regarding the crime scene. Would it be possible for us to have another look around this afternoon?”

“You want to see the house again,” she said flatly. “I guess that’s fine.”

“Great, thank you so much.” Charles rose to his feet and extended a hand across the desk. “If you could just give us the key then, we’ll be on our way.”

“Not so fast,” Breanne said as she stood up with him. “The State Licensing Board is already watching me like a hawk. Even if Brock gets off the hook, the fact still remains that the killer could have gained access to the Hayes’s home through my lockbox. Someone even suggested that maybe I didn’t close it up properly and that’s why my clients were murdered. Can you believe that?”

“Tough break,” I muttered. Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say.

Breanne’s eyes narrowed in on me and she pinched her lips together in quiet contemplation before shifting her gaze back to Charles. “What did you say her name was again?”

“Angie Russo,” I answered on my own behalf, purposefully not offering to shake hands on our re-introduction. “Now can we please go see the house?”

Her eyes zipped back to mine, and this time she sneered openly. The two of us stared at each other for a few moments before Breanne finally caved and showed us out of her office.

“We’ll meet you at the house in about fifteen minutes,” Charles said. “We have a quick pit stop to make first.”

“Fine, but please don’t be longer than that. I have a lot of paperwork to get through tonight and would prefer not to be up all night.”

I didn’t say anything until Charles and I were buckled safely back inside his car. “Well, isn’t she a peach?” I scoffed.

Charles appeared thoughtful as he watched Breanne pull away in her large cherry red SUV. “She’s under a lot of pressure these days. Maybe even worse than her brother,” he explained. His expression became almost tender, which made me feel queasy.

“But that doesn’t mean she needs to be rude,” I argued. “What’s your plan for checking out the house, anyway? I thought the whole point of this visit was to find out if Breanne framed her brother for the murders.”

“We can’t exactly come right out and ask a client if she’s guilty, especially since she’s not the one we’ve been hired to defend. I figured we could grab the animals, grab the discovery, and check the place out. After all, you haven’t seen the crime scene yet. You might notice something I haven’t. Yo-Yo might remember something once we get him back inside.”

“Yesterday, Yo-Yo seemed pretty convinced that Breanne was to blame. He even called her ‘the bad lady,’” I reminded him.

Charles kept his eyes straight ahead as if gathering his private thoughts, ones he wasn’t quite ready to share with me. “Yeah, well, I know Breanne better than you, and I still don’t think she did it.”

“And I do,” I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest like an angry toddler. If I didn’t feel threatened by Breanne before, I definitely did now that Charles was going out of his way to defend her despite our evidence against her. It seemed maybe my crush had a little crush of his own.

Maybe Octo-Cat was right. Maybe I needed to find a nice cat person to settle down with and leave pining for Chuck in my past.

But then he smiled a full-on toothy grin, grabbed my hand, and gave it a good squeeze. “Only one way to find out. Let’s go.”

My breathing hitched in my chest. Oh, yes, I was ready to follow him anywhere. Not just because he was handsome, but also because he was smart, kind, and committed to justice.

And all of that was a good thing, too, since we were heading to the place where two people had recently been murdered…