Блейз Клемент - The Cat Sitter's Whiskers

And I couldn’t prove it yet, but I now knew it was either Fiori or his goon or Daniela who had stabbed Levi, maybe even with the knife Daniela had used to cut me free. They had murdered him for the same reason they’d murdered poor Mr. Paxton: so he wouldn’t talk.

I remembered Mona telling me she knew Levi had been hanging out with some rather shady characters, one of them a “Mexican,” and that he drove a motorcycle. I had a feeling I knew exactly who that particular shady character was. He answered on the first ring.

“Dixie?”

I said, “Paco, I know you said this number was only for emergencies, but I’m pretty sure this qualifies.”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s a long story but we need to hurry. When I was leaving Tom Hale’s place today, somebody jumped me. They hit me over the head and took me to a self-storage unit south of town, and then they locked me up in a refrigerator.”

He said slowly, “A self-storage unit…”

As soon as I heard the tone of his voice, I knew my instincts were right. If there happened to be a local ring of thieves selling stolen artifacts on the black market, it was a pretty sure bet that Paco and the Special Investigations unit would be on the case.

I said, “Yeah. There were three of them. Two men and a woman. The woman let me go. I’m driving down Tamiami…” I paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase what I needed to tell him. Being a secret agent, Paco has to deal with crap most people never even dream of, like, for example, the fact that at any given moment somebody might be listening in on his phone conversations.

I said, “Paco, the thing is, Ella needs you.”

“Ella?”

“Yeah. She’s got company on the way right now … and they’re dangerous.”

I could almost hear his mind working over the phone. He said, “Uh-huh. How do they know where she lives?”

“She’s on their list.”

“Their list?”

I said, “Yeah … their delivery list.”

There was a long pause, and then he spoke quickly. “Okay, listen. Call the cops right now and tell them everything. Are you someplace safe?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Don’t go anywhere until you hear from me.”

I said, “Paco, be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

I hung up and dialed Detective McKenzie’s number without even thinking. She answered with a short, “McKenzie here.”

I took a deep breath. “Detective, it’s Dixie. There’s no time to explain everything now, but I know who killed Levi. It’s a man named Fiori. He was trying to track down an ancient statue called Pachamama that Mrs. Keller bought. I think it was stolen from a museum or a church in the Andes and sold on the black market, and I think it’s probably worth way more than she paid for it … like millions.”

I paused to take a breath and McKenzie said, “How do you know all this?”

“They kidnapped me, and I heard them talking.”

She took a quick breath. “All right, where are you?”

I said, “I escaped. I’m in my car, but they think I’m still locked in a storage unit. And detective, there’s a body there. It’s Wilfred Paxton. He’s the owner of the Paxton gallery downtown. They thought he was double-crossing them, but really it was his assistant, Daniela. She’s on her way to the airport with that figurine right now. She’s trying to take it back home where it belongs.”

“What storage unit?”

“It’s called Happy Time. It’s on Tamiami Trail just south of Sarasota. It’s unit number nine. There’s a big duffel bag, and his body’s inside it.”

She said, “Dixie, are you sure?”

“Unfortunately, yeah, I’m positive.”

“Okay, I’m sending a unit there now and I’ll alert airport security. Where are you?”

I shook my head. “There’s one more thing. Fiori and his henchman … they’re headed to my house, in fact they may already be there. And I think if you check with the SIB, you’ll find they’ve already sent a team there.”

There was a long pause. “Dixie, why are they going to your house?”

“They think I took Pachamama. I was supposed to deliver it to them, but Daniela got to it first and replaced it with a jar of cornmeal.”

“A what…?”

“Yeah. It was Daniela that attacked me at the Kellers’ house. And those candles I saw? She was performing a ritual to Pachamama. There’s even some cornmeal sprinkled in Mrs. Keller’s garden outside—that’s why those doors were open—but Barney Feldman interrupted her.”

“Dixie, I have no idea what … I mean, I don’t know why…”

I nodded. “I can explain everything later.”

She sighed. “Okay, where are you now?”

“I’m in my car, a few miles south of Happy Time.”

“Where specifically?”

I looked out the window at the sign over the store in front of me. “I’m in the parking lot of Henderson’s Liquors.”

“Okay, I want you to stay where you are. I’m sending a deputy straight there. I don’t want you on the road alone, do you understand?”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait here.”

She hung up, and I dropped the phone down in the cup holder and took a deep breath. There was a steady stream of cars rolling by, and it suddenly occurred to me that if Fiori and his henchman came back anytime soon and discovered Daniela had let me go, they’d probably be cruising up and down this very road searching for me.

I started up the car and drove around behind the liquor store, where I pulled in next to a line of old metal garbage cans. Just then, my phone rang. The caller ID read Sara Mem Ho , and if I’d been thinking clearly I would have let it go to voice mail, but instead I flipped it open and said, “Yeah?”

The voice on the line said, “Uh, Dixie? This is Dr. Dunlop at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.”

I said, “Oh, Dr. Dunlop, I’m sort of in the middle of something, is it urgent?”

He said, “To be honest, yes. It’s about Mona. I thought you should probably know.”

I frowned. “Know … what?”

He said, “I examined her yesterday, and … there’s a problem.”

“Yeah, Dr. Dunlop, I should have warned you. She’s a bit unhinged. I was hoping maybe you’d be able to refer her to a psychologist or something?”

“I already have. She’s seeing an associate of mine today, but the reason I’m calling is … I don’t know if you’re aware of the cigarette burns.”

“I am. That’s why I sent her to you, and I was worried about infection.”

He cleared his throat. “Okay, yeah. I mean, I’m not so worried about infection at this point … I’m more worried about her situation at home.”

I said, “Oh, gosh. I know it’s a little hard to believe, but she’s actually doing that to herself.”

He said, “No.”

I blinked. “Yes.”

“No. Those burns are not self-inflicted. That’s why I’m calling. They’re not just on her chest, but across her back as well.”

“Oh.” I thought for a moment. “Maybe she’s reaching around with—”

He stopped me. “No. That’s what she said, too … but the burns on her back, they’re not random. They’re arranged in letters. Dixie, I think the police need to be notified. They spell out a name.”

I was staring at the line of garbage cans along the back of the liquor store, and the lid on the can closest to me was slightly ajar. Just then, almost as if on cue, something moved, and then a brown rat poked its little head out from under the lid and blinked in the bright sunlight.

I closed my eyes and said, “Dr. Dunlop. What name?”

He said, “Levi.”

34

As I drove down the main drag of Grand Pelican Commons and made my way slowly toward Mona’s trailer, the sun was already spilling long shadows across the road to the east, so I pulled the sun visor over to the left to shade my eyes.