The Reunion Page 9

  “Some bastard left him here to die,” Neil said angrily. He reached out one hand. The dog backed as far away as it could, whimpering. “It’s okay, boy,” Neil said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Be careful,” Kev said. “He’s scared enough he might bite.”

  “You wouldn’t do that, would you,” Neil said to the dog, gently petting its side. The dog allowed it, although it kept whimpering. “We need a knife, to cut the ropes,” Neil told Kev.

  “Good luck with that,” Kev replied. “Keep his attention and I’ll try to untie them from the branches.”

  Kev ended up having to snap the branches to get the ropes free. Then, gently, being aware Kev might have been right, Neil picked the dog up. It curled into his arms, licking his hand. Neil eased back out and stood, murmuring, “You’re okay now. You’re safe.”

  “You’re going to keep him, aren’t you,” Kev said.

  “For damned sure I’m not going to try to find his owner. Besides, I bet they’re long gone. And dropping him off at a shelter could be signing his death warrant. Why would anyone do this to such a cute dog?

  “Because he’s a pittie, I think, or at least part one. People are afraid of them.”

  “Then why get one in the first place?” Neil continued petting the dog while Kev undid the rope from its legs and then its neck.

  “You’re asking me? Whatever the reason, they decided to get rid of him and dumped him here to die.”

  “That’s not going to happen. He’s coming home with me.”

  “Are you allowed to have pets where you live?”

  Neil nodded. “As long as they’re under fifty pounds, trained to behave, and have all their shots.”

  “Even pit bulls?”

  “Of course. This isn’t one of those cities that bans them.”

  “Then you’re good. Let’s get him…if it is a him…and you home.”

  Neil checked. “I think he’s a she.”

  Kev laughed. “Either way, it’s time to get out of here or I really will be late for work.”

  The dog stayed calm as they drove back to Neil’s apartment building, whimpering sometimes but that was it. Kev carried the cooler upstairs, since Neil’s hands were full. When Neil put the dog down, she sat, looking around and then up at him.

  “It’s okay. You can explore if you want,” he told her.

  She seemed to understand because, very tentatively, she began to walk around the living room.

  “You’re going to need food, and bowls, and a collar and leash,” Kev said.

  “I know. I’ll do it right now, if there’s a pet store open.”

  “Try Target. They never close. Okay, I’m out of here.” Kev put his arm around Neil to kiss him, eliciting a small growl from the dog. “Uh-oh. Hey, I’m not hurting him, I promise,” he said, kneeling, holding out his hand. “I’m the one who got the ropes off you, remember?” The dog approached him cautiously, sniffed his hand, then went back to exploring. Kev took advantage of that to kiss Neil, without touching him otherwise. “I’ll call you at work tomorrow to see how things are going with your new friend.”

  Neil returned the kiss. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  “With you as her owner, I know it.”

  After Kev left, Neil spent the next half hour letting the dog get to know her new home. He put down a bowl of water for her and found an old blanket at the back of a cupboard which he put down in one corner of the living room. “That’s your bed. At least until I get you something fancier.”

  She looked at it, then him, and seemed to understand because she curled up on it, although she didn’t go to sleep.

  It occurred to him at that point that she probably needed to go for a walk. And have a bath after spending who knows how long tied up where we found her. He found a soft rope in the closet, making a loop. She backed away when he tried to put it over her head, but after talking gently to her, saying it was okay, she finally let him. He wondered if she remembered being tied up by whoever had owned her before. He picked her up and carried her out to the alley before putting her down again. Apparently she got the message that this was all right because she began walking, sniffing at the trashcans behind the yards. She paused to pee, and a few minutes later she did her business. Neil dug a tissue out of his pocket to clean up after her, reminding himself to bring plastic bags from now on.

  When they returned to the apartment, he filled the tub halfway with warm water and lifted her in. That didn’t seem to faze her in the least—nor did his lathering her down with some shampoo before he rinsed her off and wrapped her in a towel. “Good thing you have short hair,” he said. “Or we’d be in here forever until you got dry.”

  He dried her, then took her back to the blanket, smiling when she curled up again, putting her head on her paws.

  I wonder if it’s safe to leave her here alone while I go shopping. He figured it was better than taking her with him. He wasn’t about to leave her in the car while he was inside the store.

  “You behave,” he said, kneeling by the dog to pet her. She licked his hand in what he hoped was a promise that she would.

  As he walked to the door she started to get up. “No. Stay.” He said it quietly but forcefully, not wanting to frighten her. She looked at him with mournful eyes and settled down again.

  When he returned an hour later, laden down with enough dog food to last for a while, bowls, a leash and collar, and two chew toys, she was still on her bed. “Come on,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. By the time he’d emptied the bags onto the counter she was standing in the doorway. The moment he put down the bowls and filled them with food and water she dashed over and began to eat as if she hadn’t been fed in a week. For all he knew, that was the truth. Or at least for a day or two. She’d have died if it had been a week.

  “You need a name,” he told her. “I can’t just call you dog. Well, I could, but…”

  He ran though several in his head but none of them seemed right. Then he remembered the dog a friend of his had had when they were kids. She was black, too, although she’d been a lab, and very sweet. He’d bugged his parents to let him get one like her, to no avail.

  “How do you feel about Argyle?” he asked her. She cocked her head and he would have sworn she smiled, as much as a dog could. “Okay, Argyle it is.”

  Neil made his own supper, resisting Argyle’s begging expression as she watched. “You just ate, and I’m not sure what people food is or isn’t good for you.” He tossed her one of the chew toys, which seemed to mollify her as she dashed into the living room with it. While he ate, she played.

  They spent the rest of the evening with her curled up beside him on the sofa, her head in his lap as he watched TV. Much to his surprise, and relief, when he went to get ready for bed she immediately settled down on her blanket.

  “Whoever abandoned you was an idiot,” he told her, scratching behind her ears. “Their loss is my gain. You’re a wonderful dog and I’m glad I found you.”

  * * * *

  “Well, hello there,” Ben said when he came into Neil’s office Monday morning. He obviously wasn’t speaking to Neil because he made a beeline for Argyle, who was happily ensconced in one corner of the room, chewing on a rawhide bone. He held out his hand, smiling when she sniffed then licked it. “Where did he come from?” Ben asked Neil.

  “She. Her name is Argyle,” Neil replied—and told him.

  “I will never understand people who do that,” Ben said when Neil finished. “Is she going to become a permanent fixture here?”

  “Probably. I hate the idea of leaving her home all day. I don’t want her to think I’m abandoning her, too.”

  “Understandable.” Ben patted Argyle’s head then said, “I took a look at the main backdrop. It’s going to be amazing when it’s finished.”

  “Thank Len and his crew for that.”

  “I did. Have you thought about designs for the next show?”

  Neil laughed, pointing to the scrip
t on his desk. “I’ve barely begun reading this. Give me a couple of days, then we can talk.”

  Ben left, at which point Neil got back to his reading, making notes as he did. He was halfway through when there was a knock on the door.

  “It’s open,” he called out, surprised, and more than a bit leery, when Detective Payne came in.

  “I’d like to ask you a few more questions,” Payne said, glancing warily at Argyle as he took a seat beside Neil’s desk. “I would have asked you to come down to the station house, but I thought you might be more comfortable talking here.”

  “That depends on the questions,” Neil replied tensely.

  “They have to do with Mr. and Mrs. Riley. How well do you know them?”

  “Greg and I were friends in college, since we were both taking theater classes. Jan wasn’t, so I didn’t really know her at all except as someone he was dating.”

  “Did you keep in touch after graduation?”

  “No.”

  “So the next time you saw them was at the reunion?”

  “Yes.”

  “What would you say their relationship was like at that point?”

  Neil frowned. “Why?”

  “Please just answer my question.”

  “It seemed normal, I guess.”

  “Did they know Mr. Hale?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Neil nodded. “Greg didn’t, he said, but from what Jan told us she did. According to her, Zeke dated her roommate for a while, along with a lot of other girls. She didn’t seem to think much of him. In fact she was very sarcastic about the fact he’d gotten married. Said it was probably because he wanted to enhance his…image I think she said.”

  “When was this?”

  “At the barbecue Friday night.”

  “Was that the only time they talked about Mr. Hale?”

  “No. Well, yes as far as their talking to me about him. However, Saturday at the ice cream social I saw her speaking to Zeke. That was after Zeke and I had our conversation,” Neil added. “The one where he reacted badly to the fact he thought Kev and I were a couple. I told you about that.”

  “You did. Did Mr. Hale and Mrs. Riley seem to be friendly with each other?”

  Neil shook his head. “Not really, and, okay this won’t sound good, but Greg was not happy that they were talking, from his expression.”

  “All right. Now, about that evening, at the dance. Did either of them interact with Mr. Hale?”

  “Not that I saw, but…” Again Neil hesitated, feeling a bit like a tattletale. “They saw Zeke dancing—with every woman he could, according to Jan and she was right. Greg said he’d better stay away from her and after a brief whispered discussion he said, umm, ‘If you want to dance, it’s going to be with me,” or words to that effect. He sounded very adamant about it.”

  “Meaning he was jealous.”

  “Yeah, I think so. At one point Kev and I speculated that maybe it was Jan, not her roommate, Zeke had dated in college and that’s why Greg was upset when she talked with him Saturday afternoon.” Neil drummed his fingers on the desk. “May I ask why you’re interested in them?”

  “I probably shouldn’t tell you, but I will since it involves Mr. Deering.” He chuckled. “And I’m a nice guy, believe it or not. The man who said he saw Mr. Deering going into the hallway has recanted his statement. He says Mrs. Riley asked him to back her up, since she was certain Mr. Deering was the person who killed Mr. Hale but she was afraid we wouldn’t believe her if she was the only person who claimed to see him enter the hallway.”

  “What the hell?”

  Detective Payne smiled briefly. “Exactly what I thought. Two of the people we interviewed also saw her interaction with Mr. Hale Saturday afternoon. One of them said she appeared to be angry or upset.”

  “Do you think she killed him?”

  “I believe it’s possible,” Payne replied. “If she was involved with him in college, and worried her relationship would come out and affect her marriage, she might have decided to do something desperate to keep it from happening.”

  Neil nodded slowly. “Or, suppose Greg already knew about it and they didn’t expect Zeke to show up at the reunion, but he did. Greg would have been understandably upset when Jan talked with him—and told her so. Damn, if that was the case, he must suspect she’s the killer, if she is.”

  “Or he is,” Payne replied.

  “As far as I know, he came straight back to our table after he and Jan danced. He was there when Kev took drink orders, and when the body was found. She didn’t return until just before that happened, if I’m remembering correctly. Kev and I thought maybe she’d gone to the ladies’ room.”

  Payne smiled dryly. “Have the two of you been coming up with a suspects list, in hopes of exonerating him?”

  “I’m not sure exonerating is the right word, since we both know he didn’t kill Zeke. To answer your question, yes, we have.”

  “Who else is on it?”

  “Mrs. Hale, of course, and possibly Tyler Monroe, since he was one of Zeke’s conquests in college. And anyone else he might have slept with, male or female, although I can’t say who they would have been.”

  “Selective memory loss?”

  “No. I never knew who any of his lovers were, other than Tyler, and honestly I didn’t pay any attention to what girls Zeke was dating. If I had, I might know if Jan was one of them.”

  “All right.” Payne closed his notebook. “Thank you for your time.”

  “You’re welcome. I hope it helped.”

  As soon as the detective left, Neil called Kev to tell him about his visit.

  “Now he knows Jan was lying,” Kev said when Neil finished. “Good. Maybe I’ve moved down a notch or two on the suspect list.”

  “I think so,” Neil agreed. “Maybe all the way to the bottom.”

  “That would be nice.” Kev changed the subject, asking, “How’s the dog doing? Is she getting acclimated to having a real home?”

  “She is. I named her Argyle, and she’s here at work with me. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

  Kev chuckled. “Afraid she’d tear up the place?”

  “Not at all. I want her to know I’m not going to desert her, the way whoever owned her before did.”

  “You’re good people,” Kev replied. “But then I know that.”

  “I try,” Neil said. “Do you want to do something tonight, since you’re off?”

  “Sure. Did you have anything in mind?”

  “Supper, then taking Argyle for a long walk so she gets to know the neighborhood. So far all she’s seen is the alley, last night and this morning.”

  “Sounds good to me. I’ll be there around six.”

  * * * *

  Supper was spaghetti. “I wasn’t in the mood to do anything fancy,” Neil explained.

  “That’s fine with me. You do simple, I’ll handle the gourmet cooking,” Kev told him with a wink, giving him a hug.

  As soon as they finished eating, Neil got Argyle’s leash and they began their walk. They were at the end of the block, with the dog sniffing everything in sight, when a little boy came dashing out of his yard.

  “Can I pet? Can I?”

  “You sure may,” Neil replied at the same time the boy’s mother said, “Bobby, get back here or it’ll bite you.” The boy did.

  “She’s very friendly,” Kev said, crouching beside Argyle.

  “She’s looks like one of those fighting dogs,” the woman responded doubtfully.

  “The only fight she’s been in was trying to survive when whoever used to own her tied her up and left her to die.”

  “Oh, no.” The woman looked at Argyle, then holding tightly to her son’s hand she walked closer. “You’re sure she won’t bite?”

  “She didn’t even try to when we were freeing her, and she was scared,” Neil said. “Hold out your hand, Bobby. She licks to show she likes you.”

  The little boy looked up at his mother. She nodded, although she k
ept a tight grip on him ready, Neil was certain, to drag him out of harm’s way. The little boy giggled when Argyle licked his hand, and then his face when he kneeled down in front of her, patting her head. “See, Mommy. She likes me.”

  The woman still looked wary but let go of his hand. “I’m sorry,” she said to Neil. “It’s just, well you hear stories about dogs like that.”

  Neil smiled. “Now you know they aren’t true, well, for the most part. It’s all on how they’ve been raised. There’s a reason pit bulls have been nicknamed Nanny Dogs.”

  She let Bobby play for a few minutes then said, “Time for bed.”

  “Mommy,” he protested, but he got up. “Bye-bye, Argyle.”

  “Pup, you made one convert,” Kev said as they walked away. “Pretty soon every kid in the neighborhood will want to play with you.”

  “Thank God there aren’t that many,” Neil told him, laughing.

  They made it to the park without any more kid stops, although an older man waylaid them as they walked by his house to tell them all about the pit bull he’d owned when he was younger.

  They walked twice around the park which was relatively empty, probably because it was getting dark. At one point they met a couple walking their dog. Argyle cowered behind Neil’s leg until they passed.

  “I wonder,” Kev said. “Maybe she was being trained to fight, or saw it happen to the males in her litter.”

  “Or she was the runt and the other ones bullied her. I suppose it’s better that she’s afraid of them instead of trying to attack.”

  “No kidding. Poor baby.” Kev patted her head.

  By the time they got back to the apartment Argyle was dragging. When Neil let her off her leash, she immediately went to her blanket, settled down, and fell asleep.

  “No stamina,” Kev commented, grinning.

  Neil huffed. “We did walk for almost an hour and she’s only a puppy.”

  “I was teasing.”

  “I know.” Neil headed to the kitchen, asking, “Do you want coffee before you go?”

  “Yeah. Sounds good.” Kev followed him then checked the freezer. “And ice cream.”

  Neil looked at him, shaking his head. “I should be glad I don’t have anything more interesting in there.”