Free Howl Deadly by Linda O. Johnston Page A

my mind churned over how I would approach solving this latest murder, especially from so many miles away.

Chapter Seven
     
     
    WE WOKE EARLY the next morning, Lexie and I. I had lots of pets to sit, or rather, to walk, feed, play with, and—possibly—clean up after. For the first visits, in and around the San Fernando Valley, I took Lexie with me. She got along great with Meph, a little terrier who was a longtime client. It was too early, though, to stop in next door to Meph and visit with my friend Maribelle Openheim and her shepherd mix, Stromboli. Then there was Beauty, a golden retriever.
    By the time we’d hung out with these pups for a while and lavished a lot of attention, it was nearly nine o’clock. Since the day promised to be a busy one—with more pets to visit—I decided not to impose my feelings of stress on Lexie, so I headed for Doggy Indulgence Day Resort.
    My good friend Darryl Nestler was with his human staff at the tall desk near the door of the canine care center, greeting doggy guests for the day. Long, lanky, and lovable, Darryl was the reason I’d taken up pet-sitting in the first place. Doggy Indulgence didn’t board pets, and he had given me a lot of referrals over time, none more critical than the first. Back then, I’d been unjustly accused of ethics violations that resulted in the temporary suspension of my license to practice law. For Lexie and me to eat, I had to do something—and that something consisted of my first pet-sitting assignments.
    “Hi, Kendra,” Darryl said enthusiastically as I walked in the door. “Hi, Lexie.” He stooped and scooped my eager pup into his arms, hugging her gently as she stood on her hind legs and licked his pointed chin. Then he rose once more. As he nearly always did, he wore a green henley-style shirt with a Doggy Indulgence logo on the pocket. “Is Lexie staying here today?”
    I nodded, then let her loose to join the already significant contingent of canines in the place that smelled of doggies and cleaning stuff. One of her favorite areas in Doggy Indulgence was the part with people furniture for pets to veg out on. Today, though, she obviously had some pent-up energy. She headed for a section where a few other doggies already played keep away with canine toys.
    “I’m going to be on the go all day.” I explained Rachel’s unavailability to pet-sit due to her potentially exciting audition—and why I especially owed her the time off, which I’d have given her anyway.
    “A missing wolf and a dead body? Boy, Kendra, you’ve been busy. Again. Don’t you ever get tired of being a murder magnet?”
    I saw the twinkle in his kind brown eyes beneath his wire-rims, and decided to tease him back. “I sure do. I’m ready to turn that pleasure over to you anytime. How about”—I pulled my cell phone from my purse and regarded the time on its screen—“immediately?”
    “Sorry, I’ve got a full day planned. Full week, too. Full year . . .”
    “I get it,” I said with a laugh. “But I wish I could pass along this responsibility to someone. Anyone. Preferably someone I don’t like—so that excludes you.”
    He gave me a big hug, even as I caught the eye of Kiki, my least favorite of his employees. The blond bombshell was a wannabe actress, as were so many people in L.A. And she was good with pets, which was why she was able to stay at Doggy Indulgence. But she had a nasty, somewhat slimy personality with people. And now she glared at me, as if I was muscling in on someone else’s territory.
    But I was just accepting a platonic embrace from my closest bud, not intruding on his relationship with his girlfriend. As I backed away slightly, I said, loud enough for her to hear, “How’s Wanda?” That would be Wanda Villareal, a fellow pet-sitter and now Darryl’s significant other. “She’s been great about filling in for me when I’ve been out of town.” We chatted briefly about Wanda and her Cavalier, Basil. And then I let him