Free Get Fluffy by Sparkle Abbey Page A

watched her normally effortless smile slip away.
    “Last night. I took Fluffy home, and she found her,” I continued, “Mona was lying on the floor with the Emmy  . . . ” I pointed to my head.
    Darby looked around the studio and zeroed in on Mona’s dog, sprawled out on the cowhide rug on the far side of the studio.
    “That’s awful.”
    “I certainly could have gone my entire lifetime without seeing it.”
    Darby suddenly jumped up and nervously repositioned the lighting. “Do the police know who did it?” Her tone suggested it was an afterthought, but her sideways glance cast a hint of guilt for even being curious. It must be those midwestern manners that kept her from admitting she wanted more details.
    “The police mentioned it may have been a robbery gone wrong. That she might have interrupted someone ransacking Fluffy’s room.”
    She picked up her camera and thoroughly checked it out. “You saw her. Is that what you think?”
    Missy trotted over with her rubber chicken, her nails clicking on the cement floor. She dropped the toy in front of me for a game a fetch. “It’s possible. The room was a mess.”
    I tossed the chicken to where Fluffy was napping. Missy chased after it, slipping on a throw rug.
    “What about Jo’s dream?” Darby asked matter-of-factly, snapping pictures of Missy’s antics.
    I rolled my eyes, thinking about psychic Jo. “She said she had a dream.”
    She lowered the camera and looked at me. “You don’t believe her?”
    “No, I don’t believe for one minute Fluffy came to her in a dream to warn her about something. Do you?”
    Darby shrugged. “I don’t know.” She checked her watch. “I don’t mean to rush you, but Mandy will be here anytime.” She clipped the camera back onto the tripod.
    I stood up and slung my bag onto my shoulder. “I just thought you’d want to know what had happened.”
    “I appreciate it,” she answered softly.
    I waited until she faced me, then said, “I tried to call you last night.”
    “Oh?”
    “Around four-thirty. And then again two or three times after that. I left you messages. Why haven’t you called me back?”
    She finger combed her curls until they sprung apart. “I-I must have been running errands and didn’t hear it  . . . or maybe  . . . I left it here,” she explained slowly as if she was making it up as she went along.
    “Are you saying you lost your phone?”
    “I haven’t needed it. I just assumed it was in my bag. I don’t charge it every night.”
    I walked over to Darby, my best friend, so she had to look me in the eye. “You didn’t call Mona yesterday?”
    She chewed her lower lip, eyebrows askew. “What?”
    “There was a missed call on Mona’s phone. It was your number.”
    She fingered the gold heart charm around her neck. “Maybe it only looked like my number.”
    I pulled Mona’s phone from my purse. “No, I’m pretty sure it’s yours. She’s got your name programmed into her contacts—”
    Darby reached for the phone. “Oh, my gosh. Where’d you get that?”
    I pulled my hand away. “It was on her hallway table in the foyer.”
    “Why is it in your purse?”
    “I picked it up by accident. Stop changing the subject. Why did you call Mona?”
    “I-I  . . . ” Darby’s cheeks flushed, and she seemed to change her mind about what she was going to say. “I thought Cliff left Fluffy without a leash, so I called to tell her to bring one,” her voice rose.
    My stomach turned, knowing she was lying. I had Fluffy’s lead, and we both knew it.
    “Darby, is there something going on I don’t know about?”
    “No. What about you? You kicked Mona out of Bow Wow, after you tossed wine on her dress. You have to get rid of that.” She waved toward the phone. “Once the police find out about  . . . your confrontations, they’re going to question you.”
    I sighed at her accurate summarization. “They already know. I’m taking the phone to Detective Malone, but I wanted to