The Cat Sitter's Nine Lives

11

Just about every day of my life, rain or shine, hell or high water, dog fight or fur ball, I stop in at the Village Diner to have breakfast. It’s just up the street from Donkey Joe’s Pizza, which happens to have the best pizza in the world, so you might find me on this block two, three, or—I’m ashamed to admit—four times a day. The diner faces the corner, so it’s bright and airy, with big windows and a good view of the street on two sides and a row of booths covered in soft teal pleather along the wall. Opposite the booths is a long stainless steel counter and a row of bar stools with round seats that spin in place.

As soon as I walked through the door, Judy snatched a mug from under the bar and filled it to the top with piping-hot coffee. Then she slid it in front of me as I sat down in my regular booth in the back, and we gave each other a little nod. Judy is long-limbed and angular, with pale skin that burns easily and a sprinkling of mocha freckles over the bridge of her nose. Her hazel eyes look out on the world with quiet resolve, like someone who’s still holding on to her dreams in spite of the odds.

Tanisha winked at me from her little window in the kitchen, which meant she’d already started on my breakfast. Tanisha is what they call big-boned, practically as wide as she is tall, with a bigger-than-life personality to match. She’s one of my favorite people in the world, not just because the down-home southern food that comes out of her kitchen is delicious enough to make a grown woman weep (it has happened) but also because she’s taught me so much over the years. No matter how bad things get—and Tanisha has had her share of rough times—she always has a happy face for the world.

You might not know it from watching us, but with the exception of Michael and Paco, Judy and Tanisha are my closest friends, which is kind of funny when you consider we hardly ever see each other outside the four walls of this diner. We tell each other everything there is to tell. I know the whole story of all the men Judy’s ever been with, as well as the whole story of all the men who ever broke her heart—because it’s the same story—and I know all about Tanisha’s kids and why she refuses to speak to her mother, and they both know all about Ethan and Guidry and everything else that’s ever happened to me.

I took a sip of coffee as Judy slid into my booth to rest her legs for a second.

She winked and said, “What’s shakin’, pretty mama?”

“Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

“Oh, honey, I’m a waitress in a diner in a beach town. I’m all-knowing.”

I smiled. “So I guess you heard about the head-on collision.”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“And you know it was me that pulled the guy—”

She waved her fingers like she was shooing away a fly. “Oh please. You’re a hero. Yesterday’s news. Yawn.”

“And you know about the old man at the bookstore?”

“Yeah.” Her face fell and she shook her head. “And I’m just sick about it. I stop in there every morning for a paper, and he’s just the sweetest old man. He always wears that red beret, with those yellow suspenders and that red shirt with gold buttons, kind of makes me think of Santa Claus. When I saw all those cops outside his shop I nearly had a heart attack.”

I said, “Judy, you haven’t see his cat, have you?”

“That old tabby? Don’t tell me it’s gone missing too?”

I nodded. “Yeah. They can’t find it.”

“Oh no.” She leaned back and laid her head on the back of the booth. “Well, maybe that old man took him wherever he wandered off to.”

I realized she didn’t know anything about the bloody paw prints on the counter, or the fact that they’d called in a homicide unit to investigate the scene. Detective McKenzie was probably keeping that under wraps. Sometimes, the less the general public knows about the details of a case, the easier it is to pin down the true culprits.

Just then Tanisha put a plate up in her window and rang the bell to signal my order was ready. Judy eyed me suspiciously. “Wait a minute. Where’d you hear that old man’s cat was missing?”

I shrugged. “Oh, you know. Just around.”

She folded her arms over her chest and studied me. “Just around, my ass. What are you not telling me?”

I pointed at the kitchen window. “I’m telling you my breakfast is getting cold.”

She said, “Huh,” and rushed off to pick it up. She’s fast, though. In the blink of an eye she was back, holding my plate aloft with one hand.

“Tell me now, or the breakfast goes in the trash.”

“Oh please, you don’t scare me. Tanisha would beat you to a pulp.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll take my chances.”

I sighed. “Okay, but I don’t want you blabbing it all over town.”

She sat down and slid my plate in front of me. It was the same exact breakfast I have every day: two eggs over easy with extra-crispy potatoes and one hot biscuit and, sadly, no bacon. For a second I considered wolfing it all down and keeping my secrets to myself, but I knew Judy would never let me get away with it.

“I do not blab,” she sniffed. “I share. But I promise I won’t say a word to anybody.”

Lowering my voice a little, I said, “Well, I’m probably the last person that saw Mr. Hoskins in the bookstore. I was there the night he went missing.”

She put one elbow on the table and dropped her forehead down in the palm of her hand. “Oh, Dixie, not again.”

“Yep,” I said, as I took a bite of Tanisha’s world-class biscuit. As soon as it touched my lips, a warm, fuzzy feeling flooded over me. It didn’t quite make up for all the crap I’d been through in the last day or so, but it came damn near close to it.

Judy said, “What were you doing in a bookstore? You don’t read.”

I chose to ignore that statement for now. “After the collision the sheriff’s department had the whole street blocked off while they were moving the cars. I couldn’t get out until they were done, so while I was waiting I went in to look for a book to buy.”

“Did you tell the cops?”

“Believe me, I didn’t have to. I had paid for my book with a check, and it was still sitting there on the counter, so they already knew I’d been there.”

She shook her head. “Dixie, I just don’t know how you do it. I swear to God you can sniff out trouble better than a hound dog in heat.”

I slathered my biscuit with more butter and took a bite. “I know.”

“Did you notice anything weird? I mean, did he seem okay?”

“Yeah, he seemed totally fine.” I was slightly dizzy from how scrumptious the biscuit was, but I forged ahead. “He was a little flustered, I guess, but it was after closing, so I’m sure he was ready to go home. Other than that I didn’t notice a thing.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll find him. He probably took that cat and went off on a senior citizens cruise and forgot to tell anybody.”

I dropped my fork and slapped my mouth with both hands. “Oh, no.”

Judy’s eyes grew two times bigger. “What?”

I said, “Oh, Judy, I’m a complete idiot.”

“Again, yesterday’s news. What’s the matter?”

“You just reminded me of something Mr. Hoskins said. It was right when I was leaving. He had this bowl of chocolates, and he offered me one and said he was going on a trip. I totally forgot until now.”

“Ha! Well, there you go. I was right. He took that cat and went on a trip. Case closed.”

“I better call and tell her.”

“Who?”

“McKenzie.”

“Who’s McKenzie?”

“Uh, the detective on the case.”

She frowned. “Where have I heard that name before?”

I shrugged. “No idea.”

I finished up my breakfast as quickly as possible, which when you think about it is a sin of the first order, because Tanisha’s breakfasts are like gifts sent down from heaven and should be savored for the small works of wonder that they are, but I wanted to let McKenzie know what I’d remembered as soon as possible, and there was no way I could tell her in front of Judy. Even though she’s my best girlfriend in the world, Judy can spread news like grease on a griddle, and I didn’t want to do anything that might compromise the investigation.

I snuck out to the car and dialed McKenzie’s number and tried to steel myself for whatever mind games she had in store for me. I didn’t get much of a chance. She answered on the first ring.

“McKenzie here.”

I said, “Detective, it’s Dixie Hemingway.”

“Oh, good, I was just about to call you. I’m wondering if you might come down to the station tomorrow. There’s something I want to show you.”

I paused. I hadn’t quite prepared for that. The last time I’d walked into the sheriff’s department was for a hastily arranged meeting with Sergeant Woodrow Owens, who’d been my commanding officer when I was a deputy. I’d gone in with my department-issued 9 mm SIG SAUER handgun secured in its holster, and when I left, it was on Owens’s desk along with my gold, five-pointed deputy’s badge. I wasn’t sure I could deal with going back in there now.

I said, “Sure. When?”

“How’s tomorrow at noon?”

That seemed like a horrible time. I said, “That works.”

She said, “Good, see you then,” and hung up.

I stared at my phone for a couple of seconds and then pressed the redial button.

“McKenzie here.”

I said, “Yeah, you know, I actually had a reason for calling you.”

“Oh, Dixie, I apologize. Things are a little crazy these days, and I’ve got a lot on my plate.”

I said, “That’s alright. I know exactly how you feel.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I just remembered something Mr. Hoskins said to me. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, and maybe it’s nothing, but just when I was leaving he mentioned he was going on a trip.”

There was a pause. “That’s definitely something I’d want to know. Tell me exactly what he said.”

“He had taken my book to the back of the store to wrap it up, and when he came back he caught me ogling that bowl of chocolates next to the register, so he offered me one and then he said, ‘I’m taking a trip soon.’”

“When he said ‘soon,’ did you get the impression that he meant right away?”

“I don’t know. Not really … but maybe. Like I said, he had just handed me my book, and I knew I’d kept him past closing time, so I didn’t want to keep him any longer making small talk about where he was going or anything like that.”

“What else?”

Something in my voice must have told her there was more on my mind.

I said, “I keep thinking about how when Mr. Hoskins came out from the back of the store, he was patting his pockets and looking all around. He seemed a little distracted. I know it wouldn’t explain the blood on the counter, but are you sure it’s not possible he left the shop unlocked because he couldn’t find his keys?”

“Dixie, at this point, anything’s possible, except we can assume that he had opened the store with his keys that morning, and if he’d misplaced them, it would stand to reason that they would have turned up when we searched the store for evidence—and they didn’t.”

I said, “Okay…”

“Anything else?”

I sighed. I could swear she had a hidden camera aimed directly at my personal thoughts.

“I know it’s none of my business, but…”

“Dixie, I’ve learned from experience that just because a case isn’t your business doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t shed a little light on it.”

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I felt my cheeks blush. I had helped McKenzie with another case not long ago, and it felt good to know she hadn’t forgotten. I said, “Why exactly is it … a case?”

I knew she’d know right away what I meant. When I had arrived on the scene, they’d only just discovered Mr. Hoskins hadn’t come home the night before. McKenzie had said Mr. Hoskins’s daughter had called right before I arrived. So why would they send the lead homicide detective and a retinue of deputies to investigate some bloody paw prints and an unlocked bookstore?

She sighed. “You may remember I mentioned I hadn’t gotten much sleep. A call came in at the station about midnight. A man was driving home from a party and saw someone dumping what may or may not have been a body off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.”

My heart sank. “Oh, no.”

“Originally I was more or less certain it wasn’t related, but until we know for sure I have to follow every possible lead, no matter how far-fetched it may seem. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s looking less and less insignificant.”

I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was dead serious. The idea that someone could have killed Mr. Hoskins and dumped him off a bridge into the ocean left me speechless. It just didn’t seem possible. He was such a sweet man, I couldn’t imagine there could be anybody who would ever want to hurt him.

“Dixie, one more thing. When you left the bookshop that night, did you open the door yourself, or did Mr. Hoskins open it for you?”

I tried to re-create that moment when he had handed me the book and we were saying our good-byes. “I’m not positive, but I think I opened it myself. Why?”

“There were no fingerprints on the doorknob, or anywhere else in the store, for that matter, which is unusual. It means after you left the bookstore, someone took the time to wipe down every door handle as well as every other surface a print might have been left on.”

I remembered pushing the door open. “Even the outside?”

“Yes, your prints were on the outside handle, but that’s all we can identify. Dixie, I’d like you to do something for me. Before we meet tomorrow, I’d like you to find a quiet place somewhere. I want you to sit down and go over every moment in your head, everything that happened in that store, from the moment you went in to the moment you left.”

I thought I’d told her everything I could think of, but I knew what she meant. The mind is an incredible instrument. It can record the finest of details, even things you’re not even aware you’ve noticed. It can store them away, never to be seen again, like the contents of a long-forgotten safe deposit box. In an investigation like this, even the most seemingly insignificant detail could have a great impact on figuring out what had happened. I promised her I’d sit down and try to remember every moment, but I still had one more question.

“Has there been any sign of Cosmo?”

She sighed. “You mean the cat? No, but I promise I’ll let you know immediately if there is.”

I rang off and dropped the phone down in the side pocket of my cargo shorts. Not two seconds went by before it started ringing again. As I reached back down in my pocket I muttered under my breath, “Damn you, Michael Hemingway.”

When I had handed in my gun and my badge, I’d also handed in my cell phone. For at least a year after, possibly longer, I’d done everything in my power to avoid replacing it. Michael finally won with the argument that if he was ever hurt fighting a fire, there’d be no way to reach me except with a message on the answering machine in my walk-in closet. By then, word of mouth had spread about my pet-sitting business and I was out on calls all day instead of lying on my couch in a catatonic lump 24/7, so I’d finally caved in and gotten the cheapest cell phone I could find.

Now it was my master, and I its slave.

I figured McKenzie had probably thought of another question for me, but I was wrong. It was Sara Mem Ho again. For some reason, possibly the idea of meeting with McKenzie at her office tomorrow or maybe because I’m not a big fan of hospitals in general, seeing Sara Mem Ho on my caller ID made my blood boil. I was about to scream into the receiver, “You have the wrong number. Do not call me again!”

I didn’t get the chance.

“This is Vera Campbell at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital. I’m calling about your husband.”

I felt something lurch forward in my throat, and then an electric jolt traveled all the way down to my feet and my fingers started to tingle.

I said, “What?”

“He’s stable now, but he’s on a lot of pain meds, so I’m not sure he even knows what happened to him, but he’s been calling out for you in his sleep. I’m sorry to intrude, but every time we offer to contact you he forbids it, but he seems very upset, and since he’s your husband—”

I stopped her. “My husband is dead.”

“Excuse me?”

I hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud; it just came pouring out of my mouth. Five years ago. Five years, four months, and seven days ago, my husband, Todd, and my daughter, Christy, were killed. An old man plowed into them in the parking lot at the local grocery store, and they both died instantly. Todd was a sheriff’s deputy, too. His thirty-first birthday was two months away. Christy was three.

It’s safer to say it fast like that. If I let myself pause during any of the words, I’ll get sucked down into the black spaces between them, and then it’s hard to find my way back. For days, months, or even years—I don’t actually know—I lost myself. I barely ate. I barely slept. I just breathed.

I’d lie in my bed until Michael would come and tell me to take a shower. Then he’d sit at the table and watch me put one spoonful of soup in my mouth, and then another, as if he were nursing a baby bird back to life. Except I hadn’t fallen out of my nest. My nest was gone.

In other words, I was a complete wreck.

I’m okay now, except there’s an alternate universe where Todd is getting older, too, and Christy just started second grade. We still live in the same house off Cape Leyte Drive that Todd’s parents helped us buy, and that ugly palm tree that jutted out over the yard finally fell on the lanai, and we’re probably about to cave in and get Christy that kitten she’s been whining about since the dawn of time. It’s a sick way of living … but it’s the only way I know how.

My mind snapped back and I could hear the nurse’s voice through the telephone. I took a deep breath and tried to listen.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

I said, “I’m sorry. I meant to say I don’t have a husband. You have the wrong number.”

“You’re not Mrs. Vladim?”

“No. I’m not. Someone already called me about this before.”

“Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. The police must have given us the wrong number. There’s a man here who was in a terrible automobile accident two days ago, and he’s been asking for someone named Dixie. I just assumed…”

I suddenly felt like I’d just been hit in the head with a two-by-four. Somehow I had the presence of mind to say, “Wait a minute.”

“Ma’am?”

“This Mr. Vladim … is he bald?”

There was a pause, but it didn’t matter. I already knew the answer.

She said, “Why, yes. Yes, he is.”