Молли Фитц - Legal Seagull

Legal Seagull

Pet Whisperer P.I.

Molly Fitz

© 2020, Molly Fitz.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Editor: Jennifer Lopez (No, seriously!)

Cover & Graphics Designer: Cover Affairs

Proofreader: Jasmine Jordan

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

Sweet Promise Press

PO Box 72

Brighton, MI 48116

Contents

About This Book

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

What’s Next?

A New Series from Molly!

Welcome to Tattered Pages

More from Blueberry Bay

Even More Molly Fitz

About This Book

Just as I was beginning to think we’d never find the last missing member of our long-lost family, a seagull named Bravo shows up with both a promise and a threat.

He claims he’s been watching me for a long time—even before I gained my strange ability to talk to animals. He also says that if I help settle a dispute between warring flocks, then he’ll personally take me to see the one person I’ve been all but dying to meet. If I refuse to help, however, he’ll send an army of mercenary woodpeckers to destroy my house. Yikes!

Unfortunately, I’ve already promised Octo-Cat that I’ll take him on a cross-country trip to visit his girlfriend out in Colorado. With Nan and I on the road, it falls to Charles and Pringle to investigate in our absence.

Will they be able to solve the case according to the flock’s satisfaction? What shocking secrets has Nan been keeping from me now? And will I be able to survive more than 70 hours in the car with my complaining kitty?

The mysteries abound in our most unusual adventure yet.

Author’s Note

Hey, new reader friend!

Welcome to the crazy inner workings of my brain. I hope you’ll find it a fun and exciting place to be.

If you love animals as much as I do, then I’m pretty sure you’re going to enjoy the journey ahead.

This book is just one of many brain-tickling adventures with Angie, Octo-Cat, and the gang, so make sure you keep in touch to keep in the know!

I’ve done my best to make it easy by offering several fun ways to access sneak peeks of upcoming books, monthly giveaways, adorable pictures of my own personal feline overlords, and many other cool things that are just for my inner circle of readers.

So take a quick moment now to choose your favorite:

Download my app

Join my VIP reader group

Sign up for my newsletter

Kick off a cat chat on Facebook

Anyhoo, I hope you’ll enjoy reading Octo-Cat’s latest adventure. When you’re done, consider giving my brand-new series Paranormal Temp Agency a try. It all starts with book 1, Witch for Hire.

Okay, ready to talk to some animals and solve some mysteries?

Let’s do this!

Molly Fitz

To anyone who wishes she could talk to her animal best friend…

Well, what’s stopping you?

Chapter One

It all started with a coffee maker that should have been tossed into the dumpster years ago. One fated zap from that thing, and I reawakened with the strange ability to speak with animals.

Ever since then, my life has been full of four-legged chatter. You’d think being able to understand animals would mean that I’d know more about the world around me, but instead I find myself knowing less and less as I’m tossed into one mystery after the other.

I guess that’s why I set up shop as a private investigator…

Oh, hi. My name’s Angie Russo, and I’d be remiss not to mention that my partner in solving crime is none other than my tabby cat, Octavius Maxwell Ricardo Edmund Frederick Fulton Russo, Esq, P.I. And much to his chagrin, I’ve taken to calling him Octo-Cat for short.

When Octo-Cat entered my life, he brought the first of many mysteries and a giant trust fund from his previous owner, for which I am now the guarantor. It pays our monthly bills and then some—including the giant Blueberry Bay manor house that he tricked me into buying. It’s a good thing his previous owner hooked us up because we’ve earned exactly zero dollars for our investigative efforts to date.

My grandmother, Nan, lives with us and uses her retirement funds to pitch in, even though I tell her not to. She keeps our kitchen stocked with fresh baked goods and our walls decorated with all kinds of quirky homemade art projects—yeah, she’s worked in everything from metal to hand-spun silk. She’s a bit of a character, but we can always count on Nan to keep things interesting for us all.

Another roommate of ours is Paisley, the mostly black tri-color Chihuahua Nan rescued from the shelter last year. Paisley is an unfailing optimist and eternal source of joy. She makes a strong contrast to our backyard neighbor, Pringle the unrelentingly irritating and frequently villainous raccoon.

You probably won’t believe me, but everything I’m about to tell you is true about Pringle. He has two treehouses with two big-screen TVs. He also has zero regard for anyone’s privacy, especially mine. I’ve recently caught him snooping on my phone and even recording a video of me for submission to his favorite reality show. Ugh, I know. Here’s hoping I don’t get selected for that particular unwanted privilege.

My parents work in news, and my boyfriend Charles is the senior partner at the law firm where I used to work before giving up the glamorous paralegal life to become a full-time P.I… Or if you were to ask Pringle, “full-time unemployed.”

I realize the raccoon must seem like an all-around horrible neighbor based on my descriptions so far, but in truth, I just think he’s cranky. After all, he’s the only one around here who hasn’t found love.

That’s right.

Nan is now seeing the local jeweler, Grant Gable, and they are just adorable together. Meanwhile I’ve got Charles, and my parents have each other. Even Octo-Cat maintains a very serious long-distance relationship with minor Instagram influencer and former show cat Grizabella the gorgeous Himalayan.

True, Paisley is without any romantic attachment, but that doesn’t bother the spritely pup one bit. Mostly because things rarely ever do.

Even though Pringle won’t admit to being lovelorn, he has taken to calling his Nerf gun “Carla” and stroking it lovingly whenever he thinks no one is looking.

Things have gotten so out of hand with that Nerf gun of his that I’ve now inadvertently agreed to let my cat wield nunchucks to protect himself—and, in theory, me. This has only led to more slapstick violence and a fair number of bruised shins on my part.

He’s really not good with them.

Probably because he has to keep one part in his mouth while swinging the other as he stands on his hind legs and awkwardly twists his neck to the side. I think he’s actually hurt himself more than he’s managed to get me and Pringle.