Maximum Security (A Dog Park Mystery) (9 page)

The lobby furniture was old but
sturdy. The aroma of fresh coffee scented the air. There was an
array of bagels, orange juice and cold cereal set out on a table
for breakfast. Peter imagined they didn't go all out because there
was a Big Boy with a daily breakfast buffet nearby.

A jowly man with a greying military
haircut identified himself as the manager. He put on the reading
glasses that hung around his neck and peered at the
photograph.

“Yes, I’ve seen her. Far as I
know, she’s still here. She doesn’t look dangerous.”

“We don’t think she is. We just
need to talk to her,” Peter explained.

He turned to his computer, clicked
through screens. “Her name is Kate Onstad. She hasn’t checked out .
. . reserved the room for three weeks. She still has four more
days. Room 227. Would you like me to ring her room?”

“That’s okay, we’ll go knock on
her door. Do you have a description of her car?” Peter
asked.

The man scanned the rest of her
registration. “Blue Nissan Altima, Kentucky plates V39- 795.
Oklahoma driver’s license.”

“That’s very helpful. Thank you,”
Brent said. They stepped out of the office and scanned the parking
lot.

“No blue Altima. She’s probably
not here.”

“It’s still early. She might be
down the road, getting breakfast.”

“Let’s knock on her door, just in
case. Then we’ll check.”

They were on the metal exterior
stairs leading to the second floor when Peter’s phone
rang.

“When are you going to let Max off
her leash? She learned her lesson. You won’t run away, will you,
Max?” Jim spoke to the dog from his usual perch on the picnic
table.

“When pigs fly.”

Max gave Lia a disgusted look and
turned pointedly away.

“Hold on,” Lia said. “Whose car is
that? Do you recognize it?” Lia nodded at the blue Altima pulling
into the lot.

“Looks new. Could be your mystery
woman. They were silent as they waited for the car to pull into a
spot. The driver sat inside for a few minutes. Lia clenched her
teeth, mentally willing the driver to step out. Eventually the door
cracked open. A pale head appeared.

“Is that her?”

“I can’t tell from here. Let’s
walk closer so we can get a good look at her when she comes up the
drive.” They headed up to the front, trailing six dogs.

“What are we going to do if it is
her?”

“I’m going to call Peter. You’re
going to move your car and block her in.”

“Me? Why do I have to block her
in?”

“Because you’ve only got two dogs
to handle. I’ve got four. Yours won’t howl in your ears while you
sit in your car.”

Jim grunted.

The stocky figure came around the
curve in the drive, appearing on the far side of the picnic
shelter.

“It’s her.”

“You want me to go
now?”

“Hold on, let’s see what Peter
says.”

She pulled her cell out of her
pocket and punched his number on speed dial.

“Hey, Babe,” Peter said. “We
already got an ID on the car. Tell Jim thanks anyway.”

“I’m not a farm animal. And you
might have an ID, but we have the car. We also have the driver.
What do you want us to do?”

“What’s the situation?”

“She just sat down in the shelter.
I assume she’s going to wait, like she did yesterday. I thought
maybe Jim could block her car in so she can’t leave.”

“It’ll take us about ten minutes
to get there. I don’t want you to spook her. Can she see the lot
from the shelter?”

“Nope.”

“Have Jim wait in his car. Keep an
eye on her, and if she starts to leave, call Jim and have him block
her in.”

“Do you want me to try to talk to
her?”

“No, and don’t let her know you’re
watching her. We don’t want things to get complicated. We’re on our
way.”

She clicked off the phone. “Guess
we’re supposed to act casual.” She sent Jim down to the lot, then
climbed on the table closest to the gate. Max, still on her lead,
jumped up beside her.

Lia put her arm around Max and
scratched behind her ears. Honey, jealous, butted her knee. Viola
jumped up on the table and gave Max an evil stare for taking her
favorite spot. Max gave Viola a bland look. Lia stroked Honey
absently on the head and angled so she could observe the woman
while appearing to watch Chewy prowl the fence line.

Bailey banged in through the corral
with Kia.

“Hey, what’s up with Jim? He’s
just sitting in his car.”

Lia widened her eyes and made a
face. Bailey scrambled up next to her.

“Did I do something? Why are you
looking at me like that?”

“Keep it down,” Lia hissed. “We
think that woman in the shelter knows something about the bones in
the woods. Peter’s on his way. Jim’s ready to block her in if she
tries to leave.”

“Who, her?” Bailey said, looking
at the shelter.

“Don’t look over
there!”

Something drew the woman’s
attention. She alerted, much like a hound on a scent trail, head up
and sitting very still. Then she stood up and hooked her purse over
her arm.

“Dammit, I think she’s leaving.
Why would she leave? She just got here!” Lia fumbled with her
phone. She started pushing buttons, dropped the phone. “Quick,” she
told Bailey, “run down to the fence and get Jim’s attention. She’s
just headed around the curve, so she won’t be able to see you.
Go!”

Bailey took off while Lia continued
to punch buttons, finally pulling up her directory. She located
Jim’s number and heaved a relieved sigh as she hit
‘send.’

Jim answered on the second
ring.

“Why is Bailey waving at me? She
looks like a windmill.”

“The package has left the
shelter.”

“Huh?”

“She’s coming! Get a move
on!”

“All right, all right. You don’t
have to yell.”

Lia squeezed into the corral,
dragging Max with her and leaving the other dogs behind. She
hurried down the drive, arriving in the parking lot just in time to
see the woman approach Jim’s Dodge Caliber, where it was parked
behind her car. He rolled down the window.

“Will you be moving soon? I need
to get out,” the woman said.

“I can’t just yet.”

“Can’t you just move over a bit so
I can squeeze out? There’s plenty of room.”

Jim looked helplessly at Lia. His
shoulders sank in resignation. “Ma'am, we’d like you to wait here.
There’s someone who wants to talk to you, but they’re not here
yet.”

“Is it George? Why didn’t you say
so!”

“No, Ma’am, it’s not
George.”

The woman looked perplexed. “I
don’t understand. Who needs to talk to me?”

Jim looked pointedly at
Lia.

“Excuse me,” Lia said. “Two
detectives are on their way. They think you might have seen
something when you were back in the woods.”

“No, I haven’t seen anything. What
would I have seen? I really would rather not get involved with the
police. I have to leave. Please let me out.” She clutched her purse
in front of her chest. For protection? White knuckles betrayed
agitation despite her reasonable tone.

Lia said nothing. She looked up and
saw Chewy, Honey, Kita and Viola, all lined up at the fence next to
Bailey. They chose that moment to start howling for attention. Max
barked in response and sat on the woman’s foot. Fleece and Chester
joined the hullabaloo.

Cornered, the woman looked around
her, desperate for a way out. Tears began rolling down her face.
Grim faced, she got into her car and sat, facing forward as if it
would all go away if she couldn’t see it. Lia, Bailey and Jim
looked at each other and shrugged.

Lia sighed in relief when Brent’s
Audi pulled into the lot. The car parked next to the trapped
Altima. The two detectives got out.

“What part of ‘Don’t let her know
you’re watching her’ didn’t you understand?” Peter
asked.

“Unfair, Dourson.”

He walked up to the driver’s
window.

“Smooth, Anderson,” Brent said.
“Jim, you can move your car.”

“Good. I’m going home.”

“Traitor,” Lia hissed. She stalked
back up the drive, dragging Max behind her.

“
Kate Onstad?”
Peter asked.

“Yes, what’s going on? Why am I
being prevented from leaving? I feel like a prisoner.”

“I’m very sorry about that. I’m
Detective Dourson, and this is my partner, Detective Davis. We’d
like very much to talk to you. We can go back up to the park if
you’d be comfortable there, or we can go to the
station.”

“I don’t want any of those crazy
people listening in. Isn’t blocking me in a form of
kidnapping?”

“I’ll make sure they keep their
distance.” Peter ignored her question and hoped it would go
away.

Kate got out of her car. “What’s
this about? Should I have a lawyer?”

“We’re just looking for
information. If you feel the need for a lawyer, we can go back to
the station and you can contact one.”

“That sounds like a lot of
trouble.“

Peter and Brent escorted Kate back
up the drive and into the small dog park, where a lone picnic table
stood in the back.

“Will this be private
enough?”

“It’ll be fine. What’s this all
about, Detective?”

“Before we get started, I’d like
your permission to record this conversation. This ensures that we
have an accurate record, and protects you as well as us. Is that
okay with you?”

Kate looked apprehensive but nodded
her assent. Peter set up his little digital recorder and read in
the date, time, location and participants, as well as stating that
the taping was being done with Kate Onstad’s knowledge and consent.
After these preliminaries, he began.

“Are you acquainted with George
Munce?” Peter noted her deer-in-headlights expression.

“Yes,” she said
carefully.

“When was the last time you saw
him?”

“Why are you asking,
Detective?”

“We’re very sorry to tell you
this, Ms. Onstad,” Brent said. “A body was found in the woods two
days ago. It’s just been identified as George Munce.”

Kate Onstad blinked several times.
She chewed her lip. “George is dead?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do we. We thought you
could help us out. When was the last time you saw George?” Brent
asked.

“Five days ago,
Sunday.”

“Where was that?”

Kate continued to chew her lip. She
looked at Brent, then at Peter. “In my motel room. He came by
before he went in to work.”

“Ms. Onstad,” Peter asked, “what
was the nature of your relationship with George Munce?”

Kate appeared to crumple. Her eyes
shimmered as tears trembled onto her cheeks. She cried silently,
her mouth open and quivering. Peter and Brent waited while she
gathered herself.

“George and I knew each other in
high school. We reconnected on the internet a few months ago and
fell in love. I hadn’t seen him in thirty years. I took time off
from work so we could figure out how far we were going to take this
thing. We were talking about getting married.” She smiled sadly. “I
can’t believe he’s gone.”

“Did anyone else know about your
relationship? Anyone at all?”

“No one. I didn’t dare confide in
anyone. None of my friends would have understood me taking up with
a married man. My high school friends would have died if they knew
I was in contact with George. He was a bit of a hoodlum when we
were in school. Tell you the truth, it’s a relief to be able to
talk about it now. I can’t believe George told anyone. He worked so
hard, he had so much at stake.”

“What was at stake?” Brent
asked.

“George hadn’t been happy for a
long time before we found each other again, but he had a family to
think about. He didn’t want to hurt Monica unless it was absolutely
necessary. She wasn’t always . . . stable.

“He was willing to let things go
on the way they were until we met by accident on Facebook. He said
if he got a divorce, neither of them would have been able to keep
the house. It would have meant uprooting his stepdaughter. I could
have helped him with the mortgage, but forcing Stacy to accept a
new stepmother right away would have been too much.

“There was also the risk Monica
would take Stacy and move away. He was concerned for Stacy’s
welfare, if Monica had to deal with being a single parent. Such a
mess. All we wanted was to be happy. Didn’t we deserve
that?”

Such a loaded question. Peter
decided to dodge that one, too.