Кэти Дэйли - The Curse Of Hollister House

“There was a message from Cass on my machine,” Naomi informed me after handing me a tall glass of iced tea. “He is running a little late but will be here shortly.” She looked toward the sky. “Of course, with the short days, it might be dark before you even get started. I suppose you could take a group into the indoor play area. The dogs don’t care if they are taken off the property. All they really care about is getting attention from the humans who come to spend time with them.”

“How many animals do you have here?” I asked.

“Currently, forty-two dogs, six puppies, seventeen cats plus two litters of kittens, five mules, four rabbits, an old dairy cow that I’ve officially retired to my closest pasture, two horses I’m still hoping to place, and a llama with an ornery disposition named Harry, who I’m pretty sure is here to stay.”

“Wow. It must take you all day just to feed and clean up after so many animals.”

“It’s a project, that’s for sure, but I have a volunteer staff who help out a lot. Some of my volunteers help with feeding and cleaning, while others prefer to spend time playing with the animals. I even have someone who handles my bookkeeping. This place runs off donations, so I am careful to keep clean records. So, tell me what you’ve been up to since you left Foxtail Lake.”

“Not a lot,” I answered vaguely. “I left Foxtail Lake to focus on my music. Once I became established, I did some tours overseas, as well as a few concerts in the States. I’d just been booked into Carnegie Hall when I was in an auto accident that damaged the nerves in my left hand, so here I am, back in Foxtail Lake where it all began.”

Naomi gave me a look that assured me that she knew my life story couldn’t be boiled down to a couple of sentences. I knew that she was interested in the details, but I wasn’t quite ready to talk about them, so I asked her about the golden aspens that were planted all up and down the road leading from her property to the main road. They were in full color at this time of the year and simply stunning. There had been some color in New York, not that I’d taken the time to notice, but fall in Colorado could not be outdone.

Naomi must have decided to let me avoid the topic I’d made it clear I didn’t want to discuss and began telling me about the fall garden she’d planted. She offered to show it to me, and we’d both just stood up when Cass pulled onto the shelter road. Deciding to wait for a tour of the garden, Naomi and I headed toward the driveway.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Cass said when he’d climbed out of his sheriff’s department SUV.

“It’s not a problem,” Naomi said. “It was nice to have a chance to catch up with Callie. It’s been a while.”

“Too long,” Cass agreed.

I was beginning to feel weird about the fact that Cass and Naomi were talking about me as if I wasn’t there, so I jumped in and asked about the dog looking out the back window of Cass’s vehicle.

He turned and looked at the huge German shepherd. “That is Milo. He’s been with me a little over two years and, quite frankly, he is the best partner I’ve ever had.”

“He’s beautiful. I don’t suppose he will be allowed to get out and play with the other dogs.”

Cass opened the tailgate and called the dog over to where he was standing at the corner of the vehicle. He took off his vest and replaced the harness he wore with a regular dog collar. “Milo is off-duty now, so he can join us.” Cass stepped aside, and the dog jumped out of the back. He made a beeline for Naomi, who greeted him with a hug.

“So I take it he knows that when he is wearing his harness he is on duty, and when he is wearing the red collar you replaced it with he is off-duty.”

Cass nodded. “Basically. When he is on duty, we don’t encourage social interaction with other dogs or people outside his team on the force, but when he is off-duty, he plays and cuddles just like any other dog.”

Once Naomi had a chance to greet Milo, Cass called him over and introduced him to me. I tentatively reached out and scratched the dog’s massive neck. I swore he smiled at me. “He’s really great. Does he go home with you?”

“He not only goes home with me but he sleeps in my bed.” Cass looked toward the darkening sky. “I guess it is too late to walk the dogs.”

“I’d just suggested to Callie that we bring a few dogs into the indoor play area. They won’t mind if they miss their walk as long as they have plenty of human interaction.”

Cass agreed to the plan, so Naomi went to fetch the dogs we would play with while Cass and I went to find plenty of balls and ropes to toss.

“So, how is the investigation going?” I asked as we filled a bag with toys from the large box where Naomi kept them.

“I feel like the whole process has been stalled by the evidence against Buck, but I’m running some tests on my own to see if I can find evidence of DNA other than Buck’s on the T-shirt that was found near the gravesite. If Buck was setup, as I believe he was, I’m hoping whoever planted the shirt left something else behind.”

“Is Buck even trying to defend himself? It seems that if he was innocent, he would be hollering about being locked up.”

“He isn’t saying a thing. He hasn’t admitted to the killing, but he isn’t claiming to be innocent either. I’m really not sure why he would be so complacent unless someone is either threatening him or bribing him to keep him quiet.”

Naomi entered the play area with ten dogs of various sizes trailing along behind her. Milo looked at Cass with hope in his eye. Cass said a word in a deep, guttural tone that sounded like it might have been German or a variation of it, and Milo took off to greet the others. It was nice to see that although he was obviously a well-trained law officer, he was able to play like a regular dog. Cass and I greeted the canines who came over to say hi. Once we’d said our hellos, we began tossing rope toys and balls for the dogs to chase.

Once we’d spent some time tossing items for the dogs to fetch, we got down on the floor to pet and cuddle those who would let us. Our ninety-minute session flew by, and by the time we were ready to leave, the dogs were exhausted, and so were we.

“Thanks again for coming by,” Naomi said. “Both of you. The dogs can never really have too much people time.”

“It’s always a pleasure,” Cass said in response.

“It really was fun,” I answered. “And I’m happy to come back on a regular basis. Whenever you need me. I don’t seem to have any other commitments at the moment.”

“I’ll look at the volunteer schedule and call you with some dates and times,” Naomi promised.

“I’m picking up a pizza and heading home if you want to join me,” Cass said as he lowered his tailgate and Milo jumped in.

“I’d like that, but I told Aunt Gracie I’d be home and she said she’d make a meatloaf. Rain check? If we can plan it in advance, I can let her know I won’t be home for dinner, which will save her the trouble of making it.”

“How about Friday? We can do a volunteer stint here at the shelter and then drop Milo off at my place and maybe go out after that.”

“Sounds good, as long as we go somewhere casual. If we play with the dogs first, I’ll most likely have on jeans and a sweatshirt, both of which could very well be covered in dog hair.”

“You make a good point. How about tomorrow for dinner? I am usually off at five. I can head home and change and then pick you up at the lake house. There is a new steak house over on the east shore that is really very good.”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you then.”

After Cass pulled away, I slipped into my own car and headed home. When I arrived, Aunt Gracie had meatloaf, baked potatoes, and green beans ready to serve. I wasn’t sure how she ate when I wasn’t around, but the entire time I’d been growing up and every night since I’d been back, she’d taken the time to make real food in comparison to the microwave meals I’d made when I lived in New York.