Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 04 - With This Ring (20 page)

“Get off my leg, Tiny! Back off Moose!” I yelled, with a violent shaking of my leg that was attached to the small dog’s incisors. Just then I heard the ripping of fabric as the Chihuahua dropped to the floor. I quickly lifted my leg up onto the table.

Tiny continued to yelp and Moose continued to bark and snarl. I was trapped up on the table in the extremely dark basement, and I was terrified. I’d always had a healthy fear of dogs, and now my heart was racing at full throttle. I really did have to pee now, too. Naturally, the coffee would wait to go through me until getting to a restroom was impossible. I hollered out for help as loudly as I could but my cries apparently went unheard.

Back in the corner of the basement I could just make out the sight of four or five squirming puppies, whimpering for their mother. The mastiff puppies were already as big as, or bigger than Tiny, who was now jumping up and down like a kid on a trampoline, easily clearing the height of the table. Moose had her massive head draped over the top of the solid wooden table as I stood at the very rear of it. Slobber was running down both sides of her mouth. It was only a matter of time before one of them got a hold on me again.

When my breathing finally slowed down enough for me to speak coherently, I pulled my cell phone out of my pants pocket and dialed Stone. When he answered, I spoke loudly to be heard over the dogs, who hadn’t forgotten I’d trespassed onto their territory. Neither one of the dogs showed any indication of backing off.

“Where are you, Lexie? When you didn’t come back after a few minutes, I asked Paula where you were. She said you’d gone to the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee and she hadn’t seen you since. Are those dogs I hear?”

“I went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, and now I’m in the basement, and, yes, I’ve got two dogs anxious to rip me to shreds. How can I get out of here without Paula knowing I’ve been down here? She locked the deadbolt on the door when she came into the kitchen and I had to hide.”

“Why did you have to hide?” Stone asked. “Or do I really want to know?”

“I’ve got something in my hand I think the authorities need to know about, and I didn’t want her to catch me snooping in her stuff.”

“Oh, boy. Well, we’ll get into that later. Right now I need to get you out of the basement. I’ll just go in the kitchen and unlock the deadbolt for you. No problem.”

“It’s not that easy, Stone. I have an ankle-nipping Chihuahua and a mastiff the size of a musk ox, who have me cornered up on a table. I can’t get by them to get to the top of the stairs and escape. Moose, who I assume is the mastiff, has a litter of pups down here too, so she’s even more aggressive than she’d probably be otherwise.”

“How do you get into these situations with such regularity?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Okay, I’ve got an idea,” Stone said. “Andy just called, and he and Wendy are going to stop by here for a few minutes. They should be here shortly. If you hear voices at the top of the steps, try to get somewhere out of sight until you can make a safe escape. Okay? In the meantime, stay put where you’re at.”

“Of course. Please hurry.”

Stone rang off, and I balanced precariously on the very back edge of the table, still clutching the papers I’d removed from the envelope sent to Paula by the insurance company. In all of the commotion, I had clung to the papers like a life raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Even in the midst of pure terror I couldn’t be distracted from trying to find Pastor Steiner’s killer. I don’t know what that said about me, but it probably wasn’t an enviable trait.

* * *

I waited for what seemed like eternity, when finally the basement door opened and the lights came on. I heard Paula’s voice at the top of the stairs. “Tiny and her pups are down here,” she said. “Tiny is an English mastiff, probably the largest breed of dogs in the world. She weighs a hundred and ninety pounds. The male pups could end up weighing up to two fifty, but that’s at the upper limit for this breed.”

Tiny and her pups! I had presumed wrongly. Moose was the Chihuahua and Tiny was the mastiff. At least the names she’d chosen for her pets showed Paula had a sense of humor.

Then I heard Andy’s voice as he responded, “I was so excited to hear you bred mastiffs. I prefer the temperament of the English mastiffs to the bullmastiffs. I’ve wanted one for so long, especially now that I’ll be living out on some ranch property. It will be good company for Sallie, the golden retriever I’ve inherited.”

The dogs switched their attention over to the new invader at the top of the stairs. The Chihuahua started up with his incessant yapping. I used the noise as a cover-up for the sound of rustling papers as I folded up the insurance document and shoved it into my back pocket.

“Shut up, Moose!” Paula shouted from the landing at the top of the basement stairs. The Chihuahua snorted in obvious discontent, and then continued its yapping as Paula and Andy began to walk downstairs to the basement.

While the dogs were distracted I stepped off the table and crouched down behind a workbench. I was hidden from view as Paula and Andy descended the steps. Peeking around the bench, I watched Andy brush Moose off as if he were an annoying gnat. The Chihuahua immediately stopped yelping, as if realizing he wasn’t intimidating the intruder.

Andy walked straight up to Tiny and held out his hand. The English mastiff sniffed his hand and let Andy caress her head. I wondered why the dogs reacted so differently to him than they did to me. Perhaps it was true that animals could sense fear. Andy obviously had none where Tiny and Moose were concerned.

As he bent down to inspect the puppies, Paula stood behind him, with one hand on Andy’s shoulder, while she related all the details of their heritage and birth. When asked, she stated a hefty price for each puppy. It was a figure that staggered me. Wouldn’t a free dog at the local pound be just as good at keeping Sallie company?

I was surprised when Andy replied, “Okay, fine. I’ll take this one, the runt. He seems to have taken to me the quickest.”

I saw this as an opportunity to escape, but knew I couldn’t ascend the stairs without being noticed and heard. Instead, I walked up behind Paula, and greeted both her and Andy. The dogs were now more interested in Andy than they were in me.

“Oh, my!” Paula said, startled. “Where have you been, and how did you get down those stairs so silently?”

I laughed, and said, “Everyone tells me I walk like a cat.”

Paula didn’t look convinced. I knew she was trying to visualize me being as graceful as a cat after having seen me fall through the stage curtains at the church and knock down an entire display of spaghetti sauce bottles at the grocery store.

Before she could respond, I turned to Andy, “Are you sure you want another dog? Two might be a handful for you.”

“Yes, I really would like a puppy. It will give Sallie another dog to pal around with on the ranch. With all the animals I’ve got now, what’s one more to feed and take care of?”

I agreed with him, but hoped he wasn’t taking on the responsibility of a puppy that could soon turn into a two hundred and fifty pound eating machine just to help me out of a messy situation. The pup would probably eat his weight in Puppy Chow every day. I felt better seeing that Andy seemed genuinely fond of the puppy he was holding in his arms.

“When can I pick him up, Ms. Bankston?”

“Please call me Paula, Andy. Don’t be so formal,” she said, brushing Andy’s arm in a feminine gesture of flirtation.
Hey, he’s taken
, I wanted to say to her.
Keep your hands off my future son-in-law! Besides you’re a good ten years older than he is.

Paula giggled like she was fifteen, and said, “The pups are a month old, so should be weaned in a couple of weeks. I’ll get your number and give you a call so we can arrange to get together then.”

I’m sure you would love to get together with Andy again, Paula. I’m sure you’d like to get together with any good-looking young man who had that kind of disposable cash to spend on a puppy, you money-hungry cougar!

I was still ruminating about Paula’s obvious attraction to Andy and the insurance policy she stood to gain a hefty amount from due to the death of her father, when Andy, said, “What do you think, Lexie? Would you pick this little one, or one of the others?”

I would pick a kitten, a gerbil, or some other pet that couldn’t take my arm off with one bite. The last thing I would pick was an English mastiff puppy who would be the size of a Shetland pony within a year or so.

“Whichever one appeals the most to you, Andy, is the one you should get,” I said.

“This runt’s a male, and that’s preferable to me since I don’t want to breed them or have any litters of pups. I’ll get him neutered, and he should get along fine with Sallie.”

“What will you call him?” Paula asked Andy. I noticed she couldn’t seem to speak to him without touching his arm at the same time.

“I think I’ll let my girlfriend, Wendy, name him. She’s outside on the patio.”

Paula took a step back, as if offended by his reference to Wendy. I couldn’t have been prouder. He’d even referred to my daughter as his girlfriend, a fact that would surely thrill Wendy when I told her about the incident later on that evening.
That’s my boy, Andy! Now if Wendy can just be as fortunate to snag Andy, as I am to marry his uncle, Stone.

Chapter 11

Stone greeted me at the top of the steps as the three of us went back upstairs to the kitchen. I was beyond relieved to see daylight again. With a worried expression, Stone whispered, “Are you okay? Were you bit or hurt in any way?”

I shook my head in response. “Only my favorite pair of jeans was damaged, I’m happy to report.”

I took hold of Stone’s arm and led him outside. Andy followed us to the far corner of the large patio. “How did you end up downstairs?” Andy asked.

I recounted the sequence of events that caused me to be trapped in the basement with Tiny and Moose. Stone and Andy’s eyes met, and they exchanged a look that spoke volumes. Then I looked around and spotted Paula and Wendy at the beverage cart. Paula was filling a Styrofoam cup with lemonade. She leaned over and spoke to Wendy. I saw Wendy nod in agreement with something Paula said to her. I could tell Paula was sizing up the competition. I was glad Wendy had taken extra time with her hairstyle that morning. Knowing Paula was preoccupied, I pulled out the papers, unfolded them, and explained their significance to Stone and Andy.

After scanning the document briefly, Stone asked, “Did you notice this policy was just purchased a month ago? That seems like quite a coincidence to me. Could she have had a premonition of her father’s impending death?”

“Or could she have precipitated it?” I added, dramatically. After all, I could be a real drama queen when the situation allowed for it. “Could she have purchased the policy as an investment in her future, and then made sure she cashed in on it as soon as possible? Could she be behind Thurman’s death, either causing it herself, or paying a hit man to do it for her?”

Stone looked at me as if seeing me for the very first time. Was he wondering what he’d gotten himself into by asking me to marry him? I wasn’t sure, but I felt admonished when he went on to say, “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“Well, Wyatt did say money was a great motivator, a common motive for murder.”

“Yes, Lexie, but still we shouldn’t be presumptuous. We can’t assume Paula killed her father just because she bought a life insurance policy in his name a short time ago. It could very well be a coincidence, an extraordinarily lucky case of good timing.”

Even as Stone said this, I felt more and more sure I had discovered the killer. After all,
presumptuous
is my middle name. “But don’t you think we should show these papers to Wyatt?” I asked.

“Of course I do,” Stone said.

“Then we need to get a copy of this document and get the original back inside in Paula’s desk drawer so she won’t know we’re on to her,” I replied.

Stone flashed me that odd look again. Wendy, who had rejoined us, had the exact same expression on her face. I felt like I had the word
presumptuous
tattooed across my forehead.

“Why don’t Andy and I go back to the inn and make a copy on your all-in-one fax machine?” Wendy asked. “We’ll hurry and get back here as quickly as possible. This luncheon doesn’t look like it’s going to end any time soon. I can sneak the papers back into the desk drawer while Andy keeps Paula occupied outside with questions about his new puppy. She’ll give him her undivided attention, I’m sure, because I can tell she thinks he’s the best thing since dark chocolate Milky Ways.”