“This can wait—”
“You called, so obviously it’s important. What do you have?”
“Fires, hinky restaurant goings-on, and an animal shelter.”
“Ah.” Rustling. “You think they’re connected.”
“Don’t you?”
“I’d say this is farfetched.” She sighed. “Take me through it.”
“Okay. So you heard something was going on at the animal shelter.”
“Unusual adoptions, yeah.”
“And we’ve figured out there’s likely a dog-fighting ring being run out of the back of Tully’s.” I rubbed my forehead. “So those are probably connected.”
“Yep. Which leaves the unusual number of fires.”
“Hmm.” She was silent for a moment. “Again, you think they’re all connected.”
“Possibly. But you know this town better than I do. You’d know if something was up—right?”
“Boss. Darling. I do not have aninwith Mission’s criminal elements. Hell, I get more from the police department than sources. Possibly because my ex-brother-in-law likes to give me a hard time.”
“The RCMP officer? Sunshine’s ex-husband?”
“Yep.”
“I would think that would mean you’d get less information.”
“You’d think.” She snorted. “Constable Seth Jacobs—Colton’s good friend—feels sorry for me because Colton’sso mean.”
I heard the air quotes.
“So he feels sorry for you?”
“Whatever works. Seth’s a good guy. Colton’s an asshole. Does it really matter who my source is? Anyway, Seth didn’t give me either the restaurant or the animal shelter.”
“Who did?”
“Ah…can’t share that. And you’re forgetting the tainted drugs.”
“David. Fuck. Yeah, I forgot about that.” I put the phone on the table and wrote the young man’s name on an index card. “How does he fit into this? How does any of this connect?”
“You ever consider they might not?”
I sighed. “That many criminals in one small town?”
“Sheesh. Small towns are crawling with all kinds of people up to no good. A hotbed of sinners.”
“Good God.”
“I think that’s the point. Look, what are you thinking? Because I have a few ideas, but they’re so outlandish that I haven’t said them aloud to anyone.”
“Well, you have my full attention. Will Zephyra be okay if you come over?”
“She took off. I’ll text Torah and ask her to follow up. My dog-trainer sister’s all about forward action and getting on with the work that has to be done. Zephyra has a full roster of pets who will need her tomorrow. She can afford tonight to grieve, but tomorrow she’s got to go back and do the best job she can. I’ll leave it up to Torah to drill that into her.”
