Free Unleashed (A Melanie Travis Mystery) by Laurien Berenson

Aubrey’s mouth provided the answer.
    “Have you seen Brian?” she asked. “We were watching the groups together, then all of a sudden he just disappeared.”
    “Brian had to leave.” I was unsure how much I wanted to divulge. Although with Terry on the loose, the news was probably already spreading like parvo.
    “Oh? Any idea where he went?”
    “To North Salem,” said Aunt Peg. “To Sheila’s house.”
    “What’s with her, anyway?” Tim asked. “She was supposed to be here.”
    “I’m afraid there’s been some bad news.”
    “About Sheila?” Aubrey prompted. She didn’t seem upset by the prospect.
    “Is she okay?” asked Tim.
    “Not exactly,” I hedged.
    “She’s dead,” Peg added helpfully.
    “Dead?” Tim grinned. “This is a joke, right?”
    “No,” I said. “No joke. According to the police, Sheila was murdered.”
    “By whom?” Aubrey demanded, as if she thought this was the sort of information we ought to have.
    “I don’t know. The state police were at her house when Brian spoke to them a little while ago. He and Sam both left to go over there. I don’t know any more than that.”
    “Sam ...” Aubrey mused aloud. Her lips pursed as she thought. “He was Sheila’s ex, right? I wonder if there were any hard feelings there.”
    “There weren’t,” I said firmly, feeling a small tremor of shock. It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that Sam might be a suspect. “He and Sheila hadn’t seen each other in years until recently.”
    “That’s what I mean,” Aubrey persisted. “The timing seems pretty suspicious, doesn’t it?”
    In other circumstances, I might have appreciated her curiosity. Now, it was really getting on my nerves.
    Beside her, Tim was fidgeting like a Jack Russell with a bone in its throat. He coughed loudly. “Aubrey, shut up. Now.”
    “Why?” Her shocked look clearly indicated that she wasn’t used to being addressed in such a manner by her assistant. “I’m sorry about what happened, but it’s not like we were friends or anything. I mean, you can’t help but speculate—”
    “About Melanie’s fiancé?” he finished for her.
    “Oh!” Aubrey gasped and cast a startled glance my way. A dark flush started beneath her collarbone and worked its way up her neck. “Oh God! Don’t pay any attention to me! I was just saying stupid things off the top of my head. It’s not like I think Sam could do something horrible like that ... Well, how would I know if he could or not? I mean, we just met ...”
    Aubrey was so flustered she could barely speak, much less form coherent thoughts. Now Tim was rolling his eyes. If Sam were there, he would have laughed. That thought made me smile.
    “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’ve speculated about a few mysteries myself.”
    “Hopefully with more tact,” said Aunt Peg, who didn’t look appeased.
    “Sorry about that,” said Tim, steering Aubrey away.
    She was digging through her purse. “Do you have Sheila’s home address?” I heard her ask Tim, her voice fading as they walked. “I’m sure Brian needs me ...”
    “Interesting pair,” said Aunt Peg. “I wonder where they were when Sheila was killed.”
    Good question.
    Unless I missed my guess, it would be the first of many.
     
    I waited all evening to hear from Sam. Resisting the urge to call him. Knowing that he had to be busy; otherwise, he’d surely have gotten in touch.
    I told Davey only that Sam had been called away on business, but that we’d be hearing from him soon. By nine o’clock, when I put my son to bed, there’d still been no word.
    What could possibly be going on in North Salem that would take this long? I wondered. Sam had left the dog show five and a half hours earlier.
    When I finally did hear from Sam, it wasn’t by phone. At nine-thirty, headlights swept through my living room as his Blazer turned in my driveway. I had the front door open before he’d even gotten out of the car.
    Faith and Tar ran past me