The Case of the Confused Canine (Curly Bay Animal Rescue Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read online

  The Case of the Confused Canine

  Curly Bay Animal Rescue Cozy Mystery Book 2

  Donna Doyle

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  © 2020 PureRead Ltd

  PureRead.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

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  Chapter One

  Courtney Cain smiled at herself in the bathroom mirror as she pulled her dark hair into a high ponytail. It’d been a full month since she’d left the city and her high-power job at Miller and Martinez Marketing, not to mention her rotten ex-fiancé Sam Smythe, and that meant she’d had plenty of time to master different ways to keep her hair at bay while she worked at the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue.

  She swiped on a little bit of mascara and lip gloss, reflecting on how far she’d come. If someone had asked her on the day that she’d been fired if she ever thought she’d get back on her feet, the answer would’ve been an abrupt no. That job had meant everything to her. She’d spent every waking minute there, minus a few impromptu dinners at dimly-lit downtown eateries. The very last thing Courtney could fathom was moving off to Curly Bay and working as a manager at a pet hotel.

  She whistled to herself as she found her waterproof work boots and tugged them on. They weren’t the prettiest things, but they provided the perfect support when she was on her feet all day. Her job as the manager meant she did everything from arranging spa appointments for Shih Tzus to hosing out kennels. It was the most satisfying work she’d ever done, especially when an adoptable pet found a new home.

  Swiping her keys, purse, and sack lunch off the kitchen counter, Courtney swung open the front door and headed out to start her day. Or rather, she would’ve been heading out except for the rather angry woman standing on her front porch. “Mrs. Peabody! Good morning! I wasn’t expecting you.”

  “And I wasn’t expecting your rent check to bounce,” the woman replied sourly, holding up the bad bank draft. She was a tiny little woman who always dressed very properly in demure dresses, cardigans, and orthopedic shoes. Her hair was kept in a severe bun at the nape of her neck, and paired with her large glasses, she looked like a character from a television show.

  “What?” Courtney’s fingers shook as she took the check from Mrs. Peabody’s hand and studied it. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

  The landlady folded her arms in front of her chest and scowled like an angry little dog. “That’s right, it shouldn’t have! I expect every single one of my tenants to pay their rent on time. If my dear George, Lord rest his soul, were here with us, he’d be so upset to know that the land his family had farmed for over a hundred years was being wasted on apartments that weren’t earning any money!”

  Courtney tried not to roll her eyes. Mrs. Peabody had told her several times about her husband’s family eventually leaving the farming business and how the world just wasn’t the same anymore. “Look, it’s a simple mistake. I changed banks when I moved to Curly Bay, but I still need to get things straightened out with my deposits. I’ll get you a new check.”

  The older woman’s lips pursed together, but then she gave a firm nod. “Don’t dilly-dally.” Without another word, she turned and marched down the sidewalk, turning to walk to her house down the street.

  Courtney pulled in a deep breath and tried to retrieve the happy mood she’d started the day with. Unfortunately, it went a lot easier than it came. The depressing news on the radio of a teen girl who’d gone missing somewhere in the Curly Bay area didn’t make it any better, and she turned off the radio with an angry flick of her finger.

  Things only got more interesting when she arrived at work. After checking in several pooches who’d arrived for doggie daycare, Courtney was surprised to see a familiar face walk in the door. “Detective Fletcher! What brings you by? Or do I want to know?” The last time she’d dealt with him, it was because she’d been wrongly accused of stealing a dog.

  “Nothing too exciting, but I thought you might be able to help me with something.” Detective Fletcher, whom Courtney had never seen get excited about anything, gestured at the canine at the end of his leash. “This is Gunnar. We’ve just had to retire him from the police department.”

  “Really? How come?” Courtney came around the counter to kneel in front of the German Shepherd. He was a big dog with a solid build, and the tan of his coat was so light it was a buff color. One ear flopped down while the other stood straight up, and the dog backed up warily as it eyed her. “He doesn’t look that old.”

  Detective Fletcher sighed. “I know. He worked with Officer Walter Cheatham, who died a couple of weeks ago from a heart attack. We tried to get Gunnar to work with a different officer, but he wouldn’t have it. It’s a shame, too. He really did a lot of good work for the force.”

  “Poor guy.” Courtney retrieved a gourmet treat from the jar on the counter and held it out, trying to entice him. “Please tell me you’re just here to have his toenails clipped.”

  The detective handed the end of the leash to her. “I’m afraid not.”

  “Won’t he be unhappy if he doesn’t get to do his job anymore?” She still held out the treat, trying to get the dog to come to her on his own instead of just pulling him over on the leash.

  Gunnar sniffed the air, glancing between her and the treat. He took a tentative step forward, and then another. He stretched out his neck as far as he could, so that he wouldn’t have to come any closer. to gently take the end of the treat in his teeth and slowly pull it from her hand. He held it in his mouth but didn’t chew it, looking sadly around the room.

  “He’s obviously not happy having a new coworker foisted on him, so I’m afraid this is our only choice.”

  Courtney’s heart was shattered into a million pieces. Even in the short amount of time she’d worked there, she’d seen far too many homeless pets come through the place. Most of them just needed a good bath and a little bit of reassurance, and they were ready to bounce on to their new homes. She wasn’t sure how adoptable a former K-9 would be. “That’s so sad. I can’t believe nobody else on the force would take him.”

  Detective Fletcher shrugged. “We all work a lot of long hours. It’s not an easy job, and it takes a lot of commitment to keep good relationships going at home. For some of us, it’s more commitment than we have. That doesn’t make it very easy to have a dog, sitting around at home and waiting on you.” He bent down and scratched the dog between the ears.

  Gunnar accepted the attention, but he still hadn’t let his guard down.

  “I’ll do my best. I just hope I can find the right person for him before too long.” Courtney scooted a little closer to the dog, seeing all the pain in his dark brown eyes.

  “I know you will. That’s why I brought him to you. Keep me posted if you do find someone interested in adopting him. I’ll be interested to know who he goes to.” Fletcher offered the dog another scratch as his already sober face grew even more dismal. “I always had a lot of respect for Cheatham. He was a good man, and he’d want to know thatGunnar wa
s taken care of. I guess I’ve just taken it on my shoulders to make sure the job gets done, one way or the other.”

  “Right. There’s some paperwork we should go ahead and take care of.” Courtney choked back tears, thinking of how sad this dog must be to know his owner was gone. “You’ll have to sign off as owner of the dog, as I’m sure you know. That way we can put him up for immediate adoption, without any issues.”

  “Of course.”

  Courtney handed the leash back to Detective Fletcher while she retrieved all the right forms. “Um, I probably shouldn’t ask this. I mean, it’s really none of my business, except that if Gunnar is upset it might help me in some way.”

  “Just ask,” Fletcher advised as he retrieved a pen from his coat pocket.

  “Was Gunnar with his owner when he passed away? Like I said, I know it’s not really any of my business, and I know it’s a sensitive question. But Gunnar just seems so sad, and I wondered if that had anything to do with it.” She curled her hands, twisting her fingers together.

  Fletcher’s watery eyes were inquisitive. “You’ve got an instinct about things, don’t you? As a matter of fact, yes. Cheatham died at home right after his shift. Gunnar was with him all the time, on the clock or off. They even found scratches on Cheatham’s body from the dog trying to revive him.”

  “Okay! Nevermind! Forget I asked and don’t tell me any more. It’s just too sad. I’ll get Gunnar in a kennel, and I’ll be sure to let you know of his progress.” She held up her hand, deciding she could just fill in the blanks for herself.

  “Thanks, Courtney.” Fletcher put his pen away and left.

  A minute or so later, Ms. O’Donnell came through the door. Her eyes were wild as she looked at Courtney. “Do I even want to know why there’s a squad car in the parking lot?”

  Courtney could understand her concern, considering that case about the missing dog had certainly given the pet hotel some interesting publicity. She shook her head. “It’s not what you’re thinking, I promise! Detective Fletcher was here, but only because this poor police dog needs a new home.” She explained to her boss what little she knew about Gunnar.

  Ms. O’Donnell’s face lit up as the story unfolded. “This is wonderful!” she said, clapping her hands in front of her chest and looking at the dog with delight on her face.

  “It is?” Courtney was starting to think she’d gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe she’d accidentally traveled to a different dimension overnight, because things just weren’t making sense that day.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s horrible that the poor dog’s owner died, and that Gunnar here is lost and lonely. But a police dog at a rescue? Courtney, you were in marketing. I’m sure you can see just as well as I can what a big deal this is for the us. These are the kinds of stories that go viral!” Ms. O’Donnell took a treat from the jar and held it out to GunnarGunnar.

  The dog had apparently decided he liked Courtney well enough to tolerate standing next to her, but Ms. O’Donnell’s excitement didn’t please him. He shoved himself behind Courtney’s legs and peeked out pitifully.

  “He needs some work,” Courtney said carefully, not wanting to irritate her boss. She could see how much publicity Gunnar could bring in, and it was true that publicity also meant funds. Funds meant more animals could be rescued, and that was their ultimate goal. That was the entire reason that Ms. O’Donnell had added the hotel and spa onto the rescue in the first place. “I don’t think we should push him out into the spotlight just yet. He’s pretty shy, and given what Detective Fletcher said about him, I think we should work with him for a little bit.”

  Ms. O’Donnell made a face, but she nodded. “I suppose you’re right. It won’t do us any good if we put up a video of an uncontrollable dog. I’ll leave it in your capable hands, but keep me posted.”

  “Will do. Come on, Gunnar.” Courtney led the dog over to the rescue side of the large building.

  He followed her easily down the hall and into the kennel, glancing nervously at the other dogs they passed, but not barking back at them. He even followed her into the cage at the end of the row, but he looked up at her with sadness in his eyes when she unclipped his collar.

  “I know, buddy.” Courtney knelt down and let him come to her, scratching him gently behind the ear. “You’ve had a rough time, but we’re going to make it better. This is a nice place, and we’ll find you the right home. I promise.”

  Chapter Two

  Courtney didn’t get herself particularly excited for the next day. It was easier not to get her hopes up like she had the day before. She realized she’d been so busy with Gunnar that she hadn’t even had a chance to fix things with her bank and get the landlady taken care of She expected to find Mrs. Peabody standing on her front step again. When she made it to work without any issue, she thought perhaps it would be all right.

  Jessi met her at the front door with concern on her face. “You might want to check in on our newest resident. It doesn’t look like he had a good night.”

  “Oh, no.” Courtney dumped her purse on her desk and headed straight for the rescue. She breezed past the other dogs, who were all eager for some morning attention, and stopped in front of Gunnar’s cage.

  He’d clearly had a long night. The front and one side of the cage were made of chain link fencing, but the other two were drywall. At least, they had been before Gunnar got to them. He sat in the middle of a large pile of dust and chunks of plaster, looking guilty.

  “What did you do, sweetie?” Courtney asked gently as she opened the door. They always worked with the animals as kindly as possible, and she knew this dog had some issues he was working through. He needed help, not a lecture.

  Tucking his tail between his legs, Gunnar slowly approached with his head down.

  “We’re going to have to clean this up, but I don’t have another kennel I can put you in right now.” There were some pens open on the hotel side, but they made it a strict policy not to mix the rescue tenants and the hotel guests. “I guess you’re going to have to come into the office for a bit. And you’ve made sores on your mouth from chewing! Poor sweet thing!”

  Courtney clipped him to a leash and put him in the office, letting Jessi and Dora know about the temporary location before she went back to clean the kennel. She thought a lot about Gunnar as she worked, wondering what she could do to help him. Courtney wasn’t an expert on police dogs, though, so she was going to need some help.

  “Jessi, I’m taking Gunnar down to the police station,” she announced when she was done. “I’m going to see if Detective Fletcher has any further information, or maybe the number of someone who can help.”

  Gunnar loaded easily enough into her car and he even seemed content to watch the world go by.

  “That’s a good start,” she enthused as she pulled into the police station parking lot. “Maybe I should start a running list of everything you can do. If anyone knows where you used to work, they might want a resume.”

  Gunnar pushed his face forward to sniff at the air vents, whining pitifully.

  “You’ll have a great time seeing a few familiar faces.” She brought him into the precinct, where he walked so closely to her that she could barely avoid tripping over him. Several of the officers were in a meeting in the glassed-in conference room, and Courtney caught a glimpse of the missing teen she’d heard about on the radio put up on a projector. She immediately spotted Detective Fletcher sitting at his desk.

  He had his feet propped up on his desk while he flipped through a file, and he didn’t even notice Courtney until she walked up. “Don’t tell me you’ve given up on him already.”

  “The opposite, actually. I’m trying to figure out where to get started. He completely destroyed his kennel last night. I plan to take him to the vet this afternoon, especially since he gave himself a few sores from chewing on the chain link, but I was hoping for some advice from you.”

  Fletcher held his hand out for the dog to sniff. “I’m not the
right person to talk to when it comes to dogs. I’ve always been more of a cat man, myself. I know, most guys won’t admit they like cats. My wife, now, she loves dogs. The two of us had quite the row when it came to deciding if we would get a cat or a dog. She insisted a dog was better, because—I’m sorry. None of this is going to help you.”

  Courtney gave him a patient smile, hoping that if he stopped rambling, it meant he actually did have some way of helping.

  “I’ll give Shawn Ryder a call.” Detective Fletcher looked up a number and then picked up the handset on his desk. “He’s the best dog trainer in town, and if there’s anyone who has advice, it’s him.”

  “Was he interested in taking Gunnar?” It still baffled Courtney that nobody in the police community had been willing to take on the dog.

  “Don’t know; couldn’t get hold of him. And it looks like I’m not going to get hold of him now, either. The phone just keeps ringing.” He hung up and scribbled the number on a piece of paper. “You can try him again later, though. He might be outside working with the dogs and doesn’t have his phone with him.”

  “Thanks.” Courtney couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Gunnar needed and deserved so much more.

  As she headed toward the exit, Gunnar once again clinging to her side, a tall officer stepped out in front of her just before she got to the lobby. He threw back his shoulders and puffed out his chest, swiping a hand through his immaculately combed hair as he flashed his teeth at her. “Excuse me, miss?”

  “Yes, officer?”

  “That’s Gunnar, isn’t it?” He pointed at the dog, who was busy trying to melt himself into the side of her leg.