Chapter 22
“Jax doesn’t work here anymore. The boss fired him when the cops told him what Jax was doing.” The young man, Todd, who’d helped Rarity and Jonathon before, was standing in the front of the store, his arms crossed. “He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was providing a service to old guys.”
“I’m sorry that Jax was fired.” Rarity knew Todd probably thought it was her fault, and maybe it was, but she’d driven all this way to find out something and she wasn’t going to be bullied. “Look, all I want to know is if you talked to Mason Pike when he was in the shop.”
“Mason Pike? Yeah, I talked to him. That guy is a legend. Have you seen Attack of the Venus Spiders? He was in the store about a week before he died. Oh, wait, don’t tell me the stuff Jax gave him was responsible.
It’s impossible. Now if it was from a Sydney funnel spider, that stuff is deadly.
Jax just had the Brazilian wandering spiders at home.
He bought up the supply once the owners discontinued selling them in the store.
” Todd looked confused. “Seriously, I don’t know what the police are thinking, but one spider isn’t the same as another.
Besides, Mason has a pet tarantula. He knows spiders.
Or he knew them. I’ve seen Oscar on the internet.
Mason’s always posing with it. Or he was.
Every time he posted on social media, we’d get a rash of kids in here who wanted their own spider. Now I guess that will stop.”
Rarity wasn’t getting anywhere with Todd. “So was there anyone with Mason that day?”
“With him? Oh, like a date?”
Rarity smiled. “Yeah, like a date, or maybe just a friend.”
Todd shook his head. “No, he came into the shop alone.”
Rarity thanked him and left to head to the pet store. Killer needed a treat after being in a shop filled with snakes and spiders. He was shaking in her arms the whole time they were in there.
As she put him in his bed on the passenger seat, she kissed his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not bringing home one of those pets for your companion. Maybe a kitten someday, though.”
Rarity laughed at the look Killer gave her. People didn’t think dogs were smart, but he definitely had understood what Rarity had said and he wasn’t having any part of it.
“Okay, maybe not a kitten.”
Rarity got into the car and started the engine. She looked over at Killer, but he had his back to her. He’d get over his mad when they got to the pet store. He loved going there.
She turned up the music. At least she’d tried to follow up on the lead.
When she got home, she’d let Drew know what she found and where and then dust her hands of it.
She had to admit that the sleuthing club had failed this time.
Maybe it was the fact that all their suspects were out-of-towners.
She didn’t have a lot to go on. She’d been distracted with worrying about Darby.
As she pulled into the parking lot for the pet store, Killer barked and watched the building coming closer. “Sure, now you’re happy again. Mommy’s a failure and you’re going crazy because you get to go pick out your treat.”
At least she wasn’t a failure to her dog.
He thought she was amazing. As long as she didn’t mention kittens.
She sighed. When she got home, she’d pull out the murder book one more time.
Maybe something would trigger her. And she could put away all the excuses she’d made as she drove away from the snake shop.
One more thought cheered her as she put Killer in a cart on top of his store blanket they kept in the car. She wasn’t alone in this. Maybe one of the other club members had come up with something and with what she knew, they’d put the puzzle together.
All she knew was she wasn’t giving up just now. Maybe she would have to on Tuesday, but that was Tuesday’s problem. Today she needed to find the right treat that Killer might like for longer than a week or two. He was very picky.
* * *
Rarity’s phone rang when she was coming into Sedona. She used the Bluetooth to answer. “Hello?”
“You said you would call when you were back in town.” Jonathon said.
“Hi, Dad. Anyway, I just got back in town. Killer and I decided to have a late lunch at the Wildflower. They have a doggy menu too.” Rarity had never been to the quaint restaurant near a stream, but she’d enjoyed her time there and her lunch. She always had a book in her tote, just in case.
Silence filled the car. Finally, Jonathon responded, “I guess I should take Romeo there before I head back to Tucson.”
“Are you leaving soon?” Rarity tried to read between the lines.
Darby was safe since her stalker had been Bret Black and he’d been looking for Talia.
If Jonathon was planning on leaving, did that mean Drew had solved the case?
She always knew it was a race between Drew and the sleuthers.
He was the professional; she assumed he’d figure it out before they did at times.
All questions she couldn’t ask. But there was one she could. “Has there been a break in the case?”
“Drew’s out confirming some interviews now. He thinks he’s got a case, at least to force them to do fingerprints and a DNA sample.” Jonathon paused. “Before you ask, he didn’t tell me who. But he said he wants it done before they leave for California tomorrow.”
“They?”
“Yep, not him or her so that doesn’t narrow it a lot.” He sighed loud enough that she could hear him. “I really thought we’d get there first. Maybe having Darby’s mystery at the same time dulled us to the Pike case?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Rarity said, smiling as she turned on her street. “My trip turned into a dead end. Pike visited the snake shop but Todd said he was alone.”
“Todd? The guy we talked to?”
“Yeah. He’s the boyfriend of Katie’s ex-roommate Charity. And he thinks we got Jax fired.” She used the remote to open her garage. Then she stopped the car, not pulling into the driveway. “Hey Jonathon? Can you call and ask Drew to head my way? I’ve got a problem.”
A line of tarantulas stood guard in front of Rarity’s garage door. She didn’t realize they were fake until Drew and Archer pulled up at the house and Drew carefully walked to the garage and then picked up one and held it out.
“Plastic,” Drew called out, but then he stopped. He walked backward to the truck, keeping an eye on the garage. “Rarity, close the garage door. We need animal control out here.”
Archer had walked over to her car and stood by the door on the driver’s side. “Just do it,” he said. “I’ll go over and see what we’re dealing with.”
He waited for her to close the door, then joined Drew in his truck. Rarity saw him listening in on Drew’s call to the animal control department; then the men talked. Rarity’s phone rang. It was Archer.
“What is it?”
“The spiders are plastic, but there’s a live snake in your garage. Two, Drew thinks.”
Archer paused and she watched as Drew leaned closer to the phone, which must have been on speaker. “Sorry, I wasn’t going to take the time to be certain. And you have a window open in the garage. I don’t think the glass is broken but the screen is off. Whose feathers did you rustle today?”
Rarity went through her day, from seeing Jane and Talia fight that morning, to finding the card at the theater, to her conversation with Todd. As she talked, Killer kept looking at her, then at the house he could see from where they were parked on the street.
“Well, that gives me some places to start. How would you and Killer like to stay with Sam for a few days?” Now Drew had Archer’s phone. “Or Archer?”
“You’re worried.” It wasn’t a question. Rarity could hear the fear in his voice.
He nodded. They were still in the truck and watching the garage, no doubt, for escaping snakes. “I am worried. Here’s animal control and a cop. It’s going to be a while. Go to Sam’s. Please.”
Archer took the phone from Drew. “What’s your pleasure? My tiny apartment above the shop or Sam’s guest room with a fenced-in backyard for our boy? I’m fine either way.”
“I’ll go to Sam’s.” Rarity started her engine. “She has clothes that will fit me. Call me when you catch them.”
“The spiders or the snakes?” Archer teased.
“Shut up. I love you.” Rarity smiled and put her fingers to the glass window as she drove past Drew’s truck.
“I love you too.”
Sam had already been alerted to Rarity’s arrival. When Rarity pulled in the driveway and got out with a confused Killer, Sam came out of her house and greeted Rarity with open arms. “I can’t believe someone did that to you. Did you scream when you saw the spiders? I would have. I hate the things.”
Rarity didn’t have a chance to answer before she was swept up into the house, shown the guest bedroom, and handed some yoga pants and a large T-shirt with a pair of thick socks.
“Get comfy. We’ll have fun. Like a sleepover, but we have booze. And anything we want to eat. Thank goodness for delivery.” Sam stopped her chatter when the doorbell rang. “Maybe someone already sent over delivery. When did you eat?”
Again without waiting for an answer, she left the room. Rarity thought about sinking into the soft bed and putting a pillow over her eyes, but she thought she might dream of spiders and snakes. So instead, she and Killer followed Sam out to the living room.
Jonathon was there with Romeo and his laptop bag. “I’m here until one of the guys gets free. I’m assuming it will be Archer, but you never know.”
“Come in. I’m sure we would have been fine, but I’m not killing the messenger,” Rarity said, smiling as Romeo came up to her to sniff her hand. “This is crazy.”
“Maybe, but I brought my murder book. Do you want to go over what you found? Maybe there’s a connection somewhere.” Jonathon looked over at a recliner. “Okay to claim that?”
“Of course, I’ll go get my book too,” Sam said as she went down the hallway. “There are drinks in the fridge or I can make coffee?”