Read Online Kitten Kaboodle (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 20) by Kathi Daley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kathi Daley
Ads: Link
likewise run to Ellie for shelter. So much had happened since then. I felt I had grown as a person, and my love for Zak was stronger than ever. I vowed in that instant not to let Mother Zimmerman drive a wedge between us now as she had back then.
“Sorry to hear you’ve been invaded.” Ellie hugged me as Charlie, the kittens, and I joined her on the deck.
“Yeah, me too. Can you believe they plan to stay three weeks? What am I going to do?”
“Zak managed to get them moved once he returned home last summer. I’m sure he can do the same now as well. Chances are Mrs. Zimmerman knows Zak will ask her to move into a rental, which will make him feel guilty, thereby giving her leverage over him for whatever she’s really after.”
“You think so?”
“That’d be my guess. The woman is crafty.”
Yeah, I realized, she really was. “I still need to go back to the house to pick up the medicine and supplements Scott gave me in the beginning, but I didn’t want to risk Twyla’s spawn seeing the kittens and insisting on playing with them, so I brought them by here first.”
“That was probably a good idea. The kittens are welcome to bunk with Shep and me for as long as they need to. You and Charlie are as well.”
“Thanks; I just might take you up on that. Zak won’t be home until Friday. That’s two whole days for me to go completely over the edge and strangle his mother.”
Ellie laughed. “I trust you to control yourself, but really, if it gets bad come over.”
I chatted with Ellie for a few more minutes before I headed home to get the supplies she’d need for the kittens. Everyone was outside either in the pool or on the beach, so I was able to sneak in and out without anyone noticing. I did notice Nona’s bike was still gone, which had me mildly concerned. After I got the kittens settled in with Ellie, Charlie and I would have to try to track her down.
Chapter 6
Finding Nona proved to be a futile task. She wasn’t answering her cell, Aspen hadn’t seen her, and I didn’t find her downing shots at her favorite bar. The only thing to do was to leave a message on her voice mail and then focus my energy on interviewing the new suspects I’d identified. I only had a few hours to snoop around because Mother Zimmerman had requested my presence at dinner, and while I’d rather walk across hot coals than attend, I knew it would be rude to ignore the woman completely.
I figured Wanda would be the easiest to track down because I was pretty sure she’d be at work on a weekday afternoon. Of course I had no idea how I was going to broach the subject of her husband’s infidelity with the woman who’d been murdered, so I ran into the local dress shop, bought the least expensive item I could find that required dry cleaning, and then drizzled the soda I had in my car down the front of it. Then I headed to the dry cleaner and prayed Wanda would be in and I hadn’t just ruined a perfectly good dress for nothing. Luckily, Wanda was both at the counter and alone when I arrived.
“Hey, Zoe; Charlie. It’s not often we see you in here.”
“Yeah, well, jeans and T-shirts don’t really need dry cleaning. I do have this dress, however. I spilled something on it and just as I was about to toss it in the washer I noticed the dry-clean-only tag.”
Wanda looked at the label. “It’s a good thing you didn’t wash it. It would have been ruined for sure. What did you spill on it?”
“Grape soda. Do you think you can get the stain out?”
Wanda frowned as she studied the stain, which had dried quickly thanks to the afternoon’s heat. “It’ll take some work, but I can get it out. Next week okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Wanda began to write up a ticket.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Zak’s grandmother this afternoon,” I said as I waited for my receipt.
“You mean the one who rides the pink Harley?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Wanda shook her head. “Been here all day, and I
“Sorry to hear you’ve been invaded.” Ellie hugged me as Charlie, the kittens, and I joined her on the deck.
“Yeah, me too. Can you believe they plan to stay three weeks? What am I going to do?”
“Zak managed to get them moved once he returned home last summer. I’m sure he can do the same now as well. Chances are Mrs. Zimmerman knows Zak will ask her to move into a rental, which will make him feel guilty, thereby giving her leverage over him for whatever she’s really after.”
“You think so?”
“That’d be my guess. The woman is crafty.”
Yeah, I realized, she really was. “I still need to go back to the house to pick up the medicine and supplements Scott gave me in the beginning, but I didn’t want to risk Twyla’s spawn seeing the kittens and insisting on playing with them, so I brought them by here first.”
“That was probably a good idea. The kittens are welcome to bunk with Shep and me for as long as they need to. You and Charlie are as well.”
“Thanks; I just might take you up on that. Zak won’t be home until Friday. That’s two whole days for me to go completely over the edge and strangle his mother.”
Ellie laughed. “I trust you to control yourself, but really, if it gets bad come over.”
I chatted with Ellie for a few more minutes before I headed home to get the supplies she’d need for the kittens. Everyone was outside either in the pool or on the beach, so I was able to sneak in and out without anyone noticing. I did notice Nona’s bike was still gone, which had me mildly concerned. After I got the kittens settled in with Ellie, Charlie and I would have to try to track her down.
Chapter 6
Finding Nona proved to be a futile task. She wasn’t answering her cell, Aspen hadn’t seen her, and I didn’t find her downing shots at her favorite bar. The only thing to do was to leave a message on her voice mail and then focus my energy on interviewing the new suspects I’d identified. I only had a few hours to snoop around because Mother Zimmerman had requested my presence at dinner, and while I’d rather walk across hot coals than attend, I knew it would be rude to ignore the woman completely.
I figured Wanda would be the easiest to track down because I was pretty sure she’d be at work on a weekday afternoon. Of course I had no idea how I was going to broach the subject of her husband’s infidelity with the woman who’d been murdered, so I ran into the local dress shop, bought the least expensive item I could find that required dry cleaning, and then drizzled the soda I had in my car down the front of it. Then I headed to the dry cleaner and prayed Wanda would be in and I hadn’t just ruined a perfectly good dress for nothing. Luckily, Wanda was both at the counter and alone when I arrived.
“Hey, Zoe; Charlie. It’s not often we see you in here.”
“Yeah, well, jeans and T-shirts don’t really need dry cleaning. I do have this dress, however. I spilled something on it and just as I was about to toss it in the washer I noticed the dry-clean-only tag.”
Wanda looked at the label. “It’s a good thing you didn’t wash it. It would have been ruined for sure. What did you spill on it?”
“Grape soda. Do you think you can get the stain out?”
Wanda frowned as she studied the stain, which had dried quickly thanks to the afternoon’s heat. “It’ll take some work, but I can get it out. Next week okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Wanda began to write up a ticket.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Zak’s grandmother this afternoon,” I said as I waited for my receipt.
“You mean the one who rides the pink Harley?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Wanda shook her head. “Been here all day, and I
Similar Books
