Molly Fitz - Chihuahua Conspiracy (Pet Whisperer P.I. Book 6)

If I could do it all over again, I might have rejected the kooky name that Mom and Nan had saddled us with. Around Blueberry Bay, calling yourself a pet whisperer pretty much guaranteed that folks thought you were crazy—or worse, a fraud.

And I was neither, thank you very much.

Maybe if I started a website or took out an ad, business would pick up a bit. My boyfriend Charles had already offered to refer business from the firm our way when he or one of the associates needed extra help. I’d originally rejected his offer, preferring to either succeed or fail totally on my own. Now, however, I was starting to wonder if I was being too stupid, too proud. If I could help people, do what I loved, and get paid for it, then who cared how I came about my clients?

“Can we please talk about this?” I begged my still fuming cat.

“You already know where I stand on the matter. When you decide to join me, then I’ll decide to talk to you,” Octo-Cat mumbled in that horrible patronizing tone I loathed.

“Fine, then you can spend our petaversary alone.” Even though I knew he wasn’t going to answer me, I still stormed off and slammed the door.

Of course, I hated to leave my kitty companion like that, but being together at that moment was, unfortunately, creating more problems than it was solving. Maybe with a good night’s sleep, we’d be able to start this conversation fresh in the morning.

Maybe.

But until then, I just couldn’t take any more fighting.

And so I set his food and water on the floor, went to retrieve his litter box, and then moved my bedding to one of the spare bedrooms so we could both have a bit of time to cool off. Once I’d settled in, I shot Charles a quick text to let him know not to come over that night and went to bed several hours earlier than I’d planned.

Happy Petaversary to me!

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and much less irritated than I’d been the night before. The moment I left my temporary quarters, Paisley raced over to lick my ankles and tell me about the great adventures she’d had touring the estate with Nan.

“There are so many great places to pee! So many!” she gushed as I reached down to scratch her between her adorable oversized ears. “I love it here! It’s like a paradise for dogs! I can’t believe I get to live here now! I love my new life! I love you!”

I chuckled to myself while she zoomed off again. She ran in such fast, tight circles that soon she was almost completely out of breath from the exertion of it all. When Paisley slowed down and approached me again, her tongue lolled from the side of her mouth and she panted heavily, smiling up at me with unmistakable affection.

“I’m glad you like it here,” I told her. “Nan and I will do everything we can to make sure you love everything about your new life. Hey, by the way, do you still want to go to the shelter with me for a quick visit today?”

“Oh, boy. Oh, boy! Oh, yes! Yes, please!” the little dog trilled, running another manic lap before returning to me once more.

I laughed again, something I could tell I’d be doing lots of now that Paisley was a part of my world. “I don’t think they’re open yet, but let me check their hours online and find out when they do.”

Paisley followed me up the stairs and toward my bedroom—the bedroom where I just happened to know that one very crabby tabby would still be sitting by his lonesome and bemoaning his bad luck.

I stopped so abruptly that the eager Chihuahua bumped into my lower leg. “Um, I’m sorry, but Octo-Cat is going to be upset if you come in with me. Would you mind waiting outside for me? I promise to come back very soon.”

The little tricolor dog plopped her butt down on the top stair and wagged her tail furiously. “I will be a good girl and wait, because that’s what you said to do!”

Well, that was an entirely different response than I ever would have received from Octo-Cat. Oh, a pet owner could most assuredly get used to this. I wiped my face of the smile that had just spread from cheek to wicked cheek and quietly let myself into my cat’s self-imposed prison.

“Octavius?” I called out, using his preferred name in the hopes it might earn me some sorely needed brownie points. “Are you in here?”

“Of course I’m in here, Angela,” he growled from beneath the bed. “But I also smell that the dog is out there.”

“Oh, Paisley? She’s not coming in. I—”

Just then, the door burst open and an exuberant Paisley bounded through the door and rushed straight under the bed. “I heard you call my name. I’m a good girl. I’m coming to you!” she called as she shot past me in her renewed pursuit of her new cat roommate.

“Betrayal!” Octo-Cat cried, shooting past me and bolting down the stairs in a whirlwind of fluff and attitude. “Betrayal of the highest order!”

Even from all the way up here, I heard his electronic cat flap beep and pull open from the foyer.

Paisley at least hadn’t given chase. Instead, she stood proudly at my heels, beating a steady drum with her small black tail against the floorboards. “Did I do good, Mommy?” she asked.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her no. “You did good,” I hedged. “But next time, wait until I say come. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Mommy. I surely can do that! You’re my best friend, and I love you!” With this said, she began licking my toes and didn’t stop for at least three whole minutes.

Okay, fine. So maybe I was starting to find her enthusiasm a little annoying…

Chapter Four

Paisley and I trotted into the Glendale Animal Shelter around lunchtime. A pudgy older woman greeted us from behind a battered oak desk tucked into the corner of the entryway at the very moment we arrived.

“Welcome! Welcome!” she crooned. Then, shooting her gaze toward Paisley, she cleared her throat, dropped it a few notes, and said, “Hey, I recognize you, little dog. You aren’t bringing her back. Are you? Was something wrong at home?”

Paisley scuttled back to cower behind my leg, shivering violently as I’d already come to realize was her way whenever anything either upset or excited her.

“No, of course not!” I assured them both. “We’re just here for a little visit is all. Actually, is there someone I can speak with about maybe putting in some volunteer hours?”

The other woman’s entire countenance lit up at this. “Oh, how lovely! Yes, yes, let me just take you back to our Community Outreach Coordinator’s office so the two of you can have a little chat.”

I nodded my agreement, then followed her through a set of double doors into the behind-the-scenes area of the shelter.

Paisley pranced alongside me, stopping frequently to sniff at the air or press her quivering nose to the floor. “It all smells exactly the same as it did yesterday,” she mused. “Oh, can you believe it, Mommy?”

I could believe it; I could believe it very easily but chose not to say anything that might dampen the little dog’s spirits. Instead, I held my tongue as our guide led us down a long, narrow room filled wall-to-wall on each side with floor-to-ceiling kennels. Sure enough, many of the dogs were housed several to a cage, just as Paisley had described the night before.

“Hey, Chihuahua! What are you doing back in this awful place?” a black Labrador mix called after us, then pushed his snout through the metal caging and whined.

“Haha. Just visiting!” Paisley cried happily. “I have two new humans. This one even talks,” she added, referring to me as we continued to follow the front desk volunteer deeper and deeper into the shelter.

“It talks?” a fluffy little dog asked in a high-pitched voice. “Really?”