Free Double Black Diamond (Mercy Watts Mysteries) by A.W. Hartoin Page A

straight in front of her.  
    “What is wrong with you?” I asked the stink dog. A better question might’ve been what wasn’t.
    She had stopped, completely frozen. I looked closer and saw Wallace was wearing booties. They were the same color as her fawn coat. They even had little black toenails embroidered on them.  
    “I guess I’m supposed to feel sorry for you,” I said.  
    Bark.
    “Well, I don’t. Walk in your ridiculous booties, you little pee pot.”  
    Bark.  
    Well, the joke was on me, because it took Wallace ten minutes to get to the elevator. I felt sorry for me. We’d never make it to the Belgian Bean on time. I picked up the stink dog and I swear I heard her make a snort of happiness. When I put her down outside to pee, she did so with her legs so splayed she was practically flat on the ground. The lifts didn’t open for another forty minutes or I would’ve had people asking what was wrong with my dog. Short answer: everything.  
    I picked her up and stuffed her in my purse on the way to the Belgian Bean. The morning was overcast with heavy clouds threatening to dump a foot of snow on us and the village was quiet with only a few early birds like me crunching around on the icy walkways. Most people were snug in their condos with fires roaring and bacon frying. I could smell it, along with a hint of sweetness that turned out to be coming from the Belgian Bean.  
    The waffle and coffee shop was new to me. Myrtle and Millicent always made buttermilk pancakes and bacon when we were at Copper and our coffeepot was always full. From the smell of the shop, I’d been missing out. I checked my phone for the time, five to eight, and hurried across the snow-covered walk. The building was surprisingly modern with lots of glass and geometric angles with wooden beams, but it fit in well with the surrounding chalet-style condos.  
    Bark.  
    “Quiet,” I said. “You can’t mess this up.”  
    Bark.  
    “If you’re quiet, I’ll get you a waffle.”  
    Wallace snuggled down in my purse as I opened the door. The place had only one family at a table, all suited up and ready for when the lifts opened at eight-thirty. They waved and I smiled back. Love that ski town friendliness. I ordered a hot cocoa and two waffles and found a table far off to the right. Eight on the dot, but no Rory. I checked my phone. No text. Maybe he was punishing me for being late last night. I ate my waffle while slipping bits into my purse. My pretty taffeta lining would never be the same from the slobbery sounds of Wallace eating in there.  
    Fifteen minutes went by. Still no Rory and no text. Maybe he was hung over or something. I wasn’t that late on him. I texted Philippa to check on Millicent. She was fine. I checked my email. Nothing from Spidermonkey, but I didn’t expect anything. It would take a while to access the Bled Brewery employee records and comb through them for possible occupants of the Bled plane that he thought my dad was on. Normally it was kind of nice to put that on the back burner and not worry about what Dad may have done, but at that time it would’ve been a nice distraction. The longer I waited, the more nervous I got. Did he forget? Did his father change his mind about Keegan?  
    I ordered another waffle, and the counter guy, Stephen, brought it out to me.  
    “You can really put ‘em away.” He grinned at me. If he saw my purse wiggling, he didn’t mention it.  
    “Skiing works up an appetite,” I said. “Do you by chance know Rory Dushane?”
    “Sure I know Rory. He’s hard to miss. Why?”
    “I was supposed to meet him here. Have you seen him this morning?”  
    “Not this morning, but he can always find a party. Probably overslept.”  
    The shop door flew open, but it wasn’t Rory but Mickey Stix and Double Black Diamond instead.
    “Oh crap,” said Stephen.  
    “Not good customers,” I whispered.
    “Great customers. They’re just crazy. Yesterday they were here and Wade