Sniffing Out Murder (Mina's Adventures Book 7) Read online

  “I feel—isolated—don’t know how to explain. Thank God you’re here. I even miss talking to Margo—that should tell you how bad it is. Maybe Kalinda is due back soon, and the truck was from the insurance company Workers maybe? The house must be repaired, right?”

  “I’m sure it will be, those things take time, you know how it is with insurance.”

  NINETEEN

  THE CONSTRUCTION SOUNDS coming daily from Kalinda’s place had replaced Mina’s alarm clock. By Thursday, even Millie, always so mellow and conciliatory, had grown annoyed. Mina called De Fiore, hoping to find out what was going on. Either he wasn’t around or pretended not to be.

  Every day the working crew arrived early and left after lunch. According to the neighbor down the street, the insurance company hired them.

  And things weren’t any better at the shelter. Making the top five no kill shelters in Orange County was both an honor and a curse. People who had never heard of FFF now came by at the strangest hours just to snoop and waste everyone’s time. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the pressure was on to be the best, number one. Both Mina and Linda sat down for a lengthy interview to be published by the glossy and prestigious O.C. Magazine. Of course the publication date was scheduled for after the final tally of the contest was revealed.

  Stress had become the word of the day, every day. And in the middle of all that Roger asked Linda to move in with him. That called for girl talk. After Leigh agreed to stay and close up on Friday, Linda and Mina headed to happy hour at the San Clemente Pier. The last time they'd done that was when Roger showed up unannounced, and his romance with Linda heated up. Moving in with Roger, the veterinarian, would cut Linda’s travel time to work, and that was the good part. It would also mean giving up much of her lifestyle, and that seemed to be her major objection.

  It all felt foreign to Mina who, in all her years of her romance with Diego, had never spent more than a few consecutive days with him, and she would like that more than anything in the world. All her friends were settling down, some had families, regular lives. She went home to her two cats. Nothing new of course. Since they'd first met she'd been made aware there would never be children. Diego’s decision had been made before he ever met her, and the subject had only been discussed once. One by one her friends and loved ones had moved on, Paco, Margo, even Kalinda. The past two weeks had been so hard. She felt totally alone. She remembered what Emilia, the wise older woman who'd met her and Diego back in Italy, told her.

  “If you can accept him as he is you may have a future, but not the typical life of other couples. It’s your life, your decision.”

  Emilia was so right. She missed her old friend. Maybe she should call her, better yet visit her. Millie reminded her a little of Emilia. The point was that after all was said and done, Mina was and apparently always would be alone. And time wasn’t on her side.

  She'd had the same discussion with herself many times before and just when all hope faded, there he was, reigniting the flame. Until now. Something was different, as if little by little anything and everyone connected to him was being removed from her life. She couldn’t even reach him by phone. A total disconnect. Coincidence? She didn’t think so. Even De Fiore who had always played straight with her seemed to avoid her. Why?

  “Mina, what’s wrong with you? It’s happy hour, not sulking hour. Did you even hear what I said about the banquet?”

  “Uh, I guess I didn’t.”

  “Figures. The banquet or gala, however you want to call it is at the end of the month, last Saturday of the month to be precise. That’s when they announce the winner, we both have tickets. Roger would like to come and so would Millie. What do you say we just purchase a whole table? It’ll be fun. And I told Roger, I would move in after that but on a trial base. I’m not giving up my place yet; we’ll see.”

  “Linda, why do you want to ask me? You have your act together a lot more than I ever will. Want another glass of Prosecco?”

  “What’s going on with the boys? I heard Simon tell Sky that your buddy the detective gave the mechanic his blessing to put the Chevy back together. Pretty soon they’ll drive themselves to school and back home, hope that happens before Sky puts the squeeze on the poor kid.”

  “Sky? Our Sky? She’s after Simon? She’s in college, he’s a senior in high school.”

  “So? Haven’t you had this conversation before? When she asked you how old your boyfriend is?” Linda laughed, “By the way, how is your mystery man? Will he be escorting you to the banquet?”

  Mina shook her head and avoided Linda’s eyes.

  “Ouch, that bad, eh? What happened? You guys have a fight?”

  “No, no fights. It’s hard to fight with someone you don’t see or communicate with.”

  “Girl, you need a vacation. I’m serious. Let’s eat these calamari before they get too cold.”

  She cried driving home. Realized that what had changed mostly wasn’t Diego’s behavior as much as her own. She had given up hope. No longer rushing to the phone in case it was Diego, not searching for a black motorcycle in her rearview mirror, just in case. Hope may have subsided, but the pain hadn’t.

  Friday morning came, and no construction sound awoke her. All was quiet. She walked over to Millie's, coffee mug in hand, to discuss the cats that would be picked up that afternoon. Millie was also pleased and surprised by the silence next door. They sat, drank coffee, and chatted with a lot less stress—until some new pounding, loud and consistent and a lot closer, interrupted the morning peace. The sound came from the other side of the low wall. They walked out to take a look just in time to see a man installing a post with a For Sale sign smack on the edge of Kalinda’s driveway. The two of them watched the man and the truck make a U-turn and disappear down the road.

  Mina held her hands tight, not wanting Millie to notice the trembling. “Another one bites the dust.” The line from the popular song fit the situation perfectly.

  “Mina, did you know about this?”

  She shook her head and didn’t trust herself to speak without sobbing.

  “Well, ask De Fiore. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him around in a while. How bizarre. What’s Gino saying about it?” All Mina could do was keep shaking her head. “Let’s go inside. Seems like things have gone south since their former boss’s demise, or am I wrong?” Millie asked.

  A mental picture of Nadya Veggos’s lovely head resting on Diego’s shoulder flashed in Mina’s mind. Was it possible? Millie was right. That’s when everything changed—at the funeral. “Looks to me like they are circling the wagons so to speak, right?”

  Mina found her voice. “More like they are pulling up camp and moving out.”

  “Now, now, dear, let’s not jump to conclusions. You must talk to someone. There may be a very simple explanation. I can’t believe Kalinda isn’t coming back. I had grown fond of her and her Internet gimmicks.”

  “Maledizione, Millie, you’re so right. I need to find out what’s really going on. You don’t think maybe something bad has happened to Kalinda? If De Fiore doesn’t take my calls, I’ll drive to his office.” And she meant it.

  Finally something important to do. She marched back to her place and called Margo’s cell. Coward. She really wanted to talk to Gino. What for? His loyalty was to Diego first and foremost. She hung up before the second ring.

  Enough nonsense. Time to pay De Fiore a visit. Driving out of her gate she glanced at that real estate sign at the end of the cul de sac. How was it possible? Five minutes later she entered the Interstate 5 freeway, heading north.

  What if he wasn’t there? Worse yet, what if he refused to see her? She would sit and wait until he changed his mind. She called the shelter and let Leigh know she had to stop to see someone, but would be at the office within an hour.

  It had been such a long time since she'd set foot in De Fiore’s workplace, it felt a bit intimidating. No one paid attention to her, until she asked to see Detective De Fiore, then the questions came flying.
She somehow convinced a young woman to call him, let him know she needed to talk to him. But first she had to show her driver’s license. Sheesh.

  To De Fiore’s credit he not only agreed to see Mina, he actually came to escort her to his office. She wished she’d worn better clothes, not just jeans and a sweatshirt.

  “Mina, I must say, what an unexpected—surprise. What’s up?”

  What? No sarcasm? No picking at her? What was wrong? Regardless, she wasn’t going to beat around the bushes as Americans were so fond of saying. “What’s happening with Kalinda?”

  He held her stare. “Would you like to sit down before you start asking about things that aren’t any of your business?”

  She sighed and sat directly across from him. “What’s with the For Sale sign? And that is my business. Kalinda is my friend too.”

  He sat back, fiddled with a pen on his extremely neat desk, “Would you like some coffee?” For an instant something lit up his eyes. “A cappuccino?” Ah, the Orange County criminal division must have scraped together their change to purchase one of those machines where you put a tinfoil mini cup on the top, and you get what Americans call cappuccino out of the bottom. Revolting. “No thank you.”

  “I have a real Italian espresso machine in the other room. It was a gift,” he added quickly.

  “Oh, from the Mafia?” Finally a real smile.

  “Mina.” He cleared his throat, the pen he was fidgeting with escaped his fingers and rolled off the desk, he kept his eyes on Mina. “She’s not coming back.” The words hung in the air for a second or two. Then they crashed onto her chest, right where her heart beat. She’s not coming back. She needed more. She hadn’t driven all the way to Santa Ana for this. What did she come for?

  Hope.

  “Oh. I’m so sorry. Was it my fault? The phone that...”

  He kept shaking his head no, no, no.

  “Nothing to do with you. Something that had been—festering for a while. Don’t go on a guilt trip on me now, okay? I assume the sign went up this morning? That was fast.” He exhaled, gave her half a smile. “And you hopped in your car and drove all the way here? I’m impressed. Would you like a real cappuccino for the road? Yes, I’m trying to get rid of you, but in a nice way. I do have a meeting.” He got up and waited.

  “I’ll take a rain check on the cappuccino, but, De Fiore, don’t you think I’ve earned a bit more than, ‘She’s not coming back?'”

  He nodded. “It’s not my place. By the way, the Chevy was a dead end. I’ll call you later. If you can’t wait, ask the Hunts. My people spent about twenty hours going through everything.” There was a soft knock at the door. Time up.

  TWENTY

  DIEGO MORAN.

  Kalinda, Gino, De Fiore. All avoiding his name? Why? Mina felt like a dolphin in a fish net. Would she drown or be set free? She could free herself.

  I will move on. I can do this.

  The excitement was palpable the minute she stepped into the tiny front office of the FFF. Leigh, always full of restraint could be heard humming. What was going on?

  “Hey, Mina, our top five ranking is already paying off.” Linda called from the back room.

  “What do you mean?” Still thinking about Diego… and dolphins…

  “We are invited to bring two of our adoptable dogs to the Hair to The Crown salon grand opening. Imagine the exposure. Local television channels and media, and who knows what else? It’s next week. Need two people, one for each pooch.”

  “That’s terrific. It’s in Laguna Beach, right?”

  “Yes, it is, and they called us. We must decide on the dogs and get them groomed, what else?”

  “How about you go, and if possible take Sky with you? You are the better communicator, and she’s so damn cute. What do you think?”

  “What about you? It’s your work, sweat, and tears.”

  “This isn’t about sweat and tears. It’s about getting people to open their hearts and their homes to our rescues.”

  “And their wallets. Don’t forget the wallet. Let’s go look at our dogs.”

  The day got better and better. They decided on Cleo, a three-year-old female labradoodle. Well, they assumed she was a labradoodle but might have had some other genes in the mix. Her white coat was the sticky point of debate—nothing the groomer couldn’t fix, of course.

  Cleo would fulfill the cuteness factor,. Now they needed a male dog for the all-weather companion kind of image.

  “What about Dutch?” Mina suggested.

  Sky had just arrived and joined the search. “The blind retriever mix?” she asked.

  Linda shook her head. “He’s not blind. He lost the eyesight in his left eye. He functions just fine, and he’s well trained, he can do tricks.”

  “The poor thing has been here for what? Eleven months? If there is one dog in need of a lucky break, that’s him.” Mina got so passionate about it—maybe she was describing her own need for a break?

  But her plea touched Sky. “We can have him wear a patch over the eye, you know, like a pirate? And I can get dressed up like Captain Jack Sparrow. Oh, that would be awesome. I bet I can rent the costume in that shop off Crown Valley.”

  Terrific. Not only would the pooches be adoptable, they would also be adorable.

  The three of them got more excited than kids in a playground until Leigh reminded them there was work to do. Sky let some of the dogs out into the yard and Mina went to clean the cat room. That was her favorite stress reducing occupation. She hadn’t seen Tom the security guard since he'd changed his schedule in order to help out Simon and Leo. In fact, she hadn’t seen any of them since that day at the Hunts' place. She should have asked De Fiore for more information. Instead she'd made it all about her… and Diego. Damn.

  “Hey, Sky, how is Simon doing? Do you know if he’ll be able to get the Malibu working soon?”

  “He'd better. That’s his transportation to the prom.” The prom?

  “Oh, well, I was thinking about more imminent needs, like—you know—driving to school?”

  Sky walked around the room with a feisty Chihuahua on a long leash, “Yes, that too. Why are you so concerned? Are you getting annoyed with him and his brother waiting here?”

  “Not at all. I’m more interested on making sure all is well and proceeding well. That’s all.” She didn’t know how much Sky had been told about Isabel Cordero’s death, and it certainly wasn’t her place to discuss it with this young girl. According to De Fiore it wasn’t her place to discuss it period.

  Mina was determined to stay until closing. It had been too long since she'd done that. She went around collecting piles of dirty towels and blankets they used for the cages. Doing laundry would be perfect—she could chat with everyone in between loading and folding.

  Simon arrived first. Leigh was on the phone. He must have heard the washing machine because he came to the laundry room possibly expecting to find Sky.

  “Hi, Simon, how are you? Are you hungry?”

  He shrugged. “Thanks, Miss Mina. I guess Tom was right. He said Italians are always offering food, regardless of the time of the day or where they are.”

  Mina laughed. “First, drop the Miss. You make me feel old, and second, while it’s true that Italians use food as a cure-all, you can rest easy, I’m not much of a cook.”

  He smiled. “I usually sit in the conference/adoption room and do homework while I wait for Leo. Is that all right?”

  “Sure, what are you going to study—as a career, I mean? Or haven’t you decided yet?”

  “I’m hoping to get a bachelor degree in Criminology. I have applied to UCI”

  “Really? I’m impressed. Somehow I had assumed you were interested in construction… architecture.”

  “I was, but after my talk with Detective De Fiore… well…”

  “Wait, wait, De Fiore? Talked to you? You like him?”

  Simon chuckled. “I respect him and, yeah, I guess I like him. You weren’t there when his whole crew showed up at Go
rdo’s garage and literally dismantled the Malibu.”

  What?

  “Detective De Fiore came in at the tail end. His disappointment was hard to miss. I understood that he cared, well, so do you…” Simon’s voice broke..

  Mina patted his shoulder. “It’s not over until it’s over. You go study.” It was her turn to get choked up.

  Tom came by around five to collect both kids, and no doubt about it, he looked happy. Ten minutes later they all piled up in his truck and left for the Hunts’ place. Apparently they were hoping to get the car put together before the late evening news. Good for them.

  Linda and Mina were the only two left. It felt like old times, in spite of everything. Then Roger called, and it was time to go separate ways.

  Alone again, in her LTD, heading home to cats, Millie and more cats… only a month or so ago that would have sounded like heaven. Not tonight.

  Gino’s call came totally unexpected. She had taken a detour through Dana Point, hoping to feel better by the time she got home.

  “Ciao, Mina.” Hmm, he was still speaking Italian? Why?

  “Ciao, Gino, come va?” Asking how is everything was okay in any language, she figured.

  He switched to English. “Good, good. It’s all good.” Why didn’t she believe him? “I hear Kalinda is selling her house. Right?”

  “Are you asking or telling?”

  Gino laughed. A short, nervous laugh. Strange. “Either. Doesn’t matter.” Wow, his English sure improved… “Well, my sister changed her mind about visiting… no need to talk to Margo after all.” More forced laughter.

  “Gino, better talk to Margo. She asked me about your sisters in general a few days ago. And no, I didn’t call her.”

  He sighed. “Si, I think her Italian is getting better. Maybe too much better…” Another sigh.

  She felt sorry for the man. “Look, I don’t know much about anything. That’s the truth. Maybe you should ask De Fiore about Kalinda. He told me she wasn’t coming back.”