Free Silence Is Golden (A Pet Psychic Mystery No. 3) by Shannon Esposito Page B

with her snout on her paws. Her own dogs were warm and cozy in the buggy next to her. "Besides, she needs to know you're not going to abandon her. Goldens are people dogs. They don't like to be alone."
    I thought about the mess in my bedroom. "I've noticed." I lifted my own glass of merlot. "Cheers to that and staying warm." We clinked glasses with a shared smile. I took a sip and then said, "So apparently, Victoria's Uncle Renny died and Josie—Renny's daughter—came here for the funeral. She lives in Vegas and I hate to judge her, but I'm pretty sure she's an alcoholic."
    Just then, Goldie lifted her head. We followed her stare to see Josie climbing out of a cab, none too elegantly. She glanced around, spotted us and weaved her way through the crowd.
    "Hey, Darwin." She greeted me with a large smile, then leaned down and scratched Goldie's head. "How's our girl doing?"
    "She's doing all right," I said absentmindedly, because as Josie had bent down, the scent of lilacs wafted toward me. What did that mean? Should I consider the lilac scent a clue once again? I forced a smile. "Josie, this is my friend, Frankie."
    Josie straightened up, wobbling a bit on her pink heels and shook Frankie's hand. "Nice to meet you, Frankie." Her gaze moved to the five carat diamond on the hand she was holding. "Holy crap, is that real?"
    Frankie shot her an amused look. "That it is, darling. Why don't you have a seat?" I caught her mumbling, "Before you fall down."
     Josie plopped into a chair, flipping her long hair over one shoulder. "Thanks for hanging with me tonight, girls. Victoria used to hang out with me when I visited. Damn, I sure miss her."
    "I'm sorry for your loss, Josie," Frankie offered. "Darwin was telling me you also lost your father recently?"
    "Yeah. I mean, that wasn't such a shock, you know, he was old. But, Victoria—" She shook her head. "She was in the prime of her life, just starting to cut loose and enjoy herself."
    "What do you mean?" I shifted uncomfortably. It felt wrong gossiping about someone who'd passed, but if her death was foul play, she deserved to have the person caught. Any information that could lead to that wasn't really gossip in my book. Besides, this is what I wanted from Josie... the inside scoop.
    Our waiter came by and Josie ordered a Coke. Then she scanned the tables around us, leaned her elbows on the table and motioned for us to move in closer. "She wasn't happy with Eugene. I mean, who could be happy with a guy named Eugene, right?" she scoffed. Then she waved that thought off. "She was in love with Eugene's best friend and they finally started... you know... hooking up." Her penciled eyebrows rose high over glassy brown eyes.
    Frankie and I shared a confused look as we all leaned back in our chairs.
    "Josie, are you talking about Big Barnie?" I asked.
    "Yeah." She frowned. "You know him?"
    "No." I shook my head. But, it's about time I did. "I met a good friend of your father's though, Jade Harjo. She mentioned something about your dad and Eugene disagreeing on giving your father's Indian artifacts to Big Barnie to sell in his shop. That Victoria also wanted them to go to Jade."
    Josie's eyes narrowed. "Huh. I have a hard time imagining that. Victoria would have done anything for Barnie." A look crossed her face I couldn't decipher. "Eugene and Barnie are having some big fight. I think it's because Eugene found out about them. I can't imagine anything else coming between them. They've been best friends since they were kids."
    The waiter brought Josie's Coke and we ordered. After he left, she dug through her bag and pulled out a flask.
    "Didn't realize this was bring your own booze night," Frankie teased.
    "A gal's gotta save money where she can." Josie shrugged, pouring a generous dollop from the flask into her Coke, eyeing Frankie sideways. "I don't suppose you need to worry about that though."
    I saw Frankie's face color and she raised an eyebrow at me. "Guess I asked for that