Chapter 5
The plumbing worked—reluctantly—but the water needed to run a full minute before the reddish tint went away.
The bases of the sink faucets were corroded with rust, and the handles required two hands to turn.
The faucet in the best condition was in the guest bathroom, up a set of beautiful, winding hardwood stairs, of which about a third had boards that were precariously loose and needed to be hammered tight.
The toilets flushed and didn’t leak, but the bowls were stained from the rust in the water.
The thought of using them was about as appealing as using a porta-potty.
Then there were the showers and tubs in the upstairs bathrooms. Even after Patrick’s bleach attack, the lingering mold spots had convinced Kelsey to use the outside hose if one of the dogs needed a bath.
That covered the plumbing. The electricity worked, but the way the lights dimmed when voices were raised or doors were shut unnerved her.
The paint—which was most likely lead-based—was peeling off many of the walls and windows.
Sheets of wallpaper were coming off the walls too.
And thank goodness it was mid-September, because the air-conditioning system that had been installed in the late eighties didn’t seem to be cooling any longer.
She and Patrick had managed to pry open more than half of the original windows, and Kelsey was fairly certain at least one or two of them were now stuck open permanently.
In the kitchen cabinets and pantry and along the basement shelves, they’d found more rodent droppings than she could count.
While she was normally a live-and-let-live kind of girl, she and Patrick had stopped at the Home Depot and loaded up on traps.
She shuddered at the thought of having to deal with what was caught, but she wouldn’t consider poisons that might hurt the dogs or other animals, and sharing the mansion with rodents while rehabbing the dogs simply wasn’t sanitary.
So, the other night before leaving, when her muscles were screaming from the exhaustion of the long, demanding day of scouring the house, she and Patrick had carefully placed traps inside cabinets and along shelves where Mr. Longtail couldn’t wander upon them while skulking around the house.
And skulking he was. You’d think a cat who hadn’t had much human company in the last eight months would be grateful for the commotion.
He wasn’t. He followed them around indoors and out—using his cat door—while hissing and twitching his long tail.
She kept bracing for him to attack her ankles, but so far he hadn’t.
And he didn’t seem to care about his lack of hunting ability. With that much pent-up frustration, the house should be mouse-free. As Kelsey checked the traps to see what might’ve been caught overnight, he followed along, twitching his tail.
Even braced for it, she let out a loud gasp when she encountered the first victim in the pantry at the back of a shelf.
It was thankfully very dead. She shot Mr. Longtail a glance after grabbing a bag to dispose of it, trap and all.
“I should let you examine this up close. It’s a mouse.
If you’ve forgotten, you’re a cat. You’re supposed to be keeping the house free of them.
And I hope to have this place mouse-free and looking better when my parents come check it out later this week. ”
Even as exhausted as she’d been last night, Kelsey had forced herself to go to her parents’ house and tell them the news about an hour before an expanded version of the story ran a second time on the evening news.
Her parents had seen other stories about the dogfighting ring, but they could hardly seem to wrap their heads around the fact that Kelsey would be involved in the rehab until they watched her stuttering about it in the interview.
Afterward, they were both excited for her and a touch worried.
Kelsey knew once they saw the dogs firsthand, they’d feel better.
She was walking out the back kitchen door to drop the mouse in the Dumpster at the side of the house that had been delivered for the rehab when she heard a horn from up front. She dropped the bag in unceremoniously and headed around to the front.
As she’d hoped, the first to arrive was Megan. She was stepping out of her new prepped-for-baby Enclave, which she’d agreed to after reluctantly parting with her trusted but seen-better-days RAV4.
Watching her longtime friend and supervisor navigate the merging of her life with Craig, her older and much-better-off-financially fiancé, was an experience for Kelsey.
Not only had Craig made an enormous impact on the shelter with a critically timed big donation, but he was a really good guy and great with Megan.
“I missed you yesterday,” Kelsey declared as she and Megan met and hugged. Megan’s doctor’s appointment had run long, and then she’d gotten stuck at the shelter—probably dealing with the aftermath of Kelsey’s fiasco of an interview—and hadn’t been able to join her and Patrick here.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help clean. I saw Patrick as I was leaving the shelter this morning. He said yesterday was productive, but more productivity awaited.”
Kelsey laughed. “That’s a good way of putting it. I’m holding my breath that Mr. Tommy Sintras doesn’t take a look around and hightail it out of here. Especially considering he’s actually going to be living here the next few months.”
“You know, with a bit of money and elbow grease, this place could look really nice again.” Megan eyed the old mansion appreciatively.
“However many years it is from now when Mr. Longtail passes away and we sell the place, I really hope it’s to someone who’ll restore it, not knock it down and put up something new. ”
“Me too, but whoever attempts it is half-crazy. It’s such a giant mess.”
The estate was on a double lot at the end of a quiet street. Kelsey’s attention was drawn to the street by a set of commercial vans approaching. Her stomach rolled like she’d swallowed a goldfish. This was really happening.
Megan glanced at her watch. “Looks like they’re early.” She gave Kelsey a hopeful smile. “You ready for this?”
Kelsey took a practiced, slow breath and joked, “I thought I was, but now I’m worried I may fail, and after yesterday’s fiasco of an interview, the world will know.”
Megan draped an arm across Kelsey’s back. “You’re going to rock this, Kels. You know how you’re always saying I should trust my instincts? Well, something tells me this is going to be really good for you.”
Kelsey’s mouth went dry as the first van pulled into the circular drive and parked behind the Enclave.
She’d worked at the shelter for seven years and would bet she was immune to most levels of barking.
The noise erupting from the first van was different.
Even through the enclosed vehicle, it was a sound she’d associate with a Category EF5 tornado, not a dog.
And from the sound of it, it was coming from a single dog.
Few dogs she’d met were capable of producing the level of sound that was blasting into the afternoon.
Kelsey Sutton, what on earth did you get yourself into?
Swallowing a titanic wave of fear, she headed over to greet Rob and his passengers.
Then she spotted a sports car pulling in behind the second van and did a double take.
A classic red Mustang was pulling into the circular drive of the Sabrina Raven estate.
The red Mustang. “What’s he doing here?” The words came out in a whisper, but somehow Megan heard over the din of barking.
She must have been reading Kelsey’s lips.
“Who?”
Kelsey worked to shrug it off, to draw in enough air to clear her head. “No one.” Her heart was thumping wildly. He was supposed to have driven back to Fort Leonard Wood the other day.
Engines shut off, and the barking quieted a decibel or two. Kelsey dug her thumbnail into her palm as everyone piled out.
Rob, lanky but confident Rob, made introductions.
Kelsey managed to hold on to none of the helpers’ names but hoped Megan did.
In addition to Rob and Kurt, three people had gotten out of the vans.
Two were guys and neither looked like the guy she’d Googled who was supposed to be helping her, the one whose name suddenly escaped her. Maybe he was coming later.
Rob seemed to be saying something important, but Kelsey’s ears were buzzing, and the intense barking of that single dog was distracting.
She tried not to gawk at Kurt as he studied the old mansion after giving her a long look.
She’d almost swear he was assessing it the same way he’d assessed her at the warehouse.
She got the sense that the way he read people, the way he related to them, was entirely different from that of anyone she knew.
Megan brushed Kelsey’s elbow, trying to get her attention. Kelsey struggled to play back her friend’s last few words. If she was correct, Megan wanted them to head inside for a quick tour before unloading the crates. Kelsey nodded in agreement. “Yeah, of course.”
“No one, huh?” Megan whispered as Rob motioned for two of his helpers to open the back van doors before they headed inside. “The way you two were looking at each other, I’d say that’s anyone but no one.”
* * *
Maybe it was the light breeze sweeping across the tall, ancient oaks that spanned the yard, causing the leaves to chime in the wind. Maybe it was a trick of the mind on seeing the historic home. Kurt could swear he heard his nana’s voice brushing over his ears.
It made sense she’d come to mind now. She’d left an older mansion than this for the chance to be with his grandfather. It wasn’t the money she’d missed but the history. Whenever they’d come across old places like this, she’d reach for Kurt, knowing her touch helped draw his ever-roaming attention.