Las Vegas Chew Toy, a romantic mystery set in Nevada

Chapter Five

The newspaper headline read KILLER CAT LOOSE! Kayla put her head down on her arms, groaning.
“At least they spelled your name right.” A tall, willowy, dark-skinned woman joined her at the table. Breakfast at the Flower Pot was a weekly tradition started by Carson Woods when her childhood friend’s busy life threatened to separate them.
Kayla didn’t look up. “Yeah, that helps a lot. I wonder if Dr. Jarvis has seen it and if I still have a job?”
Carson leaned back in the restaurant’s small wicker chair. “Oh, you’ll be fine. It was her idea in the first place, you getting involved with the police.” Moving the bright green menu to the side, she examined her nails and picked a bit of dirt out from under one.. “At least my patient’s don’t run away.”
“No, they just wilt, and shed leaves and dirt.”
“Dirt is better then hair and slobber, and I don’t need to feed them as often.”
Kayla reached for her water, hiding her smile. “Pets are still better then plants.”
“Pets drool, plants rule.”
Kayla intoned the expected reply. “Plants droop, pets rule.”
With the familiar litany done, Carson changed the subject. “So, are you sleeping with the hunky animal control director? Were you shagging him in the hay while the innocent young volunteer was being kidnapped and used to control the killer cat? Inquiring minds want to know.”
“No, I was not shagging Roger! And the not-so-innocent young volunteer took the puma all on her own.”
“Why? And where’d she take her?”
Kayla glancing around at the other patrons in the café, then leaned close to her friend and dropped her voice to a whisper. “You can’t tell anyone. She left a note.”
“You know I won’t say anything.” Carson glanced up, and then made shushing motions with her hands. “Breakfast’s here.”
A tired looking waitress walked up to their table seconds later. She placed a bowl of hot Oatmeal and fruit in front of Carson, a plate of eggs and bacon before Kayla, ripped a ticket from her order pad, and slapped it down on the table, then walked off.
Carson added fresh strawberries to her cereal. “What did the note say?”
Kayla unrolled the napkin from her silverware. “She quoted some animal rights organization. Said she did it to free all animals from the interference of humans. Like Amy would even be alive if not for humans.” She lifted the lid of her teapot, checking the color of the liquid inside.
“What do you mean?”
“The cat only has three legs.” Kayla removed a teabag from the pot and placed it on a saucer, then poured a cup. “When she was a baby, Winnemucca found her in the woods. One of her front legs was broken and badly infected. Probably injured it in a fight with another puma or maybe it was broken by a mountain sheep.” Kayla took a sip of her tea. “Anyway, she would have died if the old man hadn’t found her and taken her to a vet.” She ate a bite of her eggs before continuing. “The vet couldn’t save the leg. He amputated it and put her on antibiotics. Based on everything I saw, she was very well cared for and quite happy living with people.”
“Wow.” Carson stuck a chunk of melon with her fork. “The newspapers just said that she killed her owner and is now loose in the valley.”
“Of course they did. It’s so much more dramatic to report that the cat is accused of murder and roaming the streets. It’s so much better to panic the public.”
“Don’t you think the public has a right to know she’s out there?”
“Sure, but report the facts.” Kayla moped up egg yolk with a triangle of toast. “Amy is ten years old and has spent the last nine of those years in captivity. It hasn’t been proven that she killed her owner, and I seriously doubt that she did. If she is loose, and I doubt that too, she’s probably hiding out in a small dark place, scared out of her mind.”
Carson stuck her spoon into her oatmeal and rested it against the side of the bowl. Her face took on a thoughtful expression and she leaned toward Kayla. “What do you mean; you seriously doubt she’s loose?”
“Yolanda took her to further her cause. I think she’s got other plans. If she is loose, though, I hope some over-eager police office doesn’t shoot her on sight like that one did those pit bulls a few years back.”
“Maybe you should talk to that police officer.” Carson waved a piece of toast at Kayla. . “You know, the one who was at the murder scene. Maybe he could help.”
“Detective Wingate?”
“Yeah The good-looking one with dreamy eyes.”
“How do you know what kind of eyes he has?” “
Carson brushed crumbs off her hands. “I saw him on TV last night. Tall. Dark. Long hair. Sharp cheekbones. Full kissable lips. Is he single?”
Kayla laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t look for a ring. Can you get a couple of hours free this morning?”
“I could free up a few hours. Why?”
“I need to clear my mind. Want to take a trip up to the mountains? Do a little hiking?”
“Of course. Are we taking Reno?”
“As long as you don’t mind me taking some trail time to work on his training.”
“What about the others?”
Kayla shook her head. “Mom’s getting ready to go out of town and they’re all going to stay at the clinic next week. I want to concentrate on Reno this time out.”
“Aren’t you going too?”
“Yeah,” Kayla’s shoulders slumped and an expression of frustration fled across her face. “Mom made me promise to go with her.”
“Cheer up, you’ll have fun.”
Kayla raised her eyebrows and tilted her head. “Fun? Have you ever been to a quilt show?” She took another sip of her tea.
“No, but it can’t be all that bad.”
“A room filled with large, boring blankets and gossiping women Not my idea of a good time.” Kayla glanced at her watch. “Can you meet me at my house after lunch, about noon?”

A little after one in the afternoon, Kayla and Carson were bumping along West of the city, on the way to the Spring Mountain range and a hike in an area the locals called Mummy Mountain. They’d taken Kayla’s truck since it was bigger than Carson’s and didn’t smell of fertilizer.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Carson asked as they topped a rise. “You always smile that way when we pass by that big rock.”
“Smiling like what?”
Carson glanced out the rear window. “That little wistful smile. Kind of a half sad, half glad, sort of smile. Every time we come up here you smile like that. What gives?”
“It’s that rise. You know what it’s called?”
“Mummy’s foot, isn’t it?
“Yeah. My dad used to bring us-- my brothers and me-- up here. He would slow the car… sometimes even stall it going around that hill.” Kayla grinned at her friend in the passenger seat. “It is kind of silly, but we loved it. That’s the mummy’s toe and he would pretend to get caught in a toe jam.”
“Toe jam?”
“We were 11, 8, and 6. We thought it was funny.”
“You don’t talk about your father much.”
“It was a long time ago.”
One look at Kayla’s clinched jaw and thin lips warned Carson to change the subject. “So where are we going?”
Kayla pointed to the left. “I would like to go up to the crest. There, toward the mummy’s shoulder. Can you handle a bit more bouncing?”
Carson gazed at the barely-there road and grimaced. “Can your truck make it?”
Kayla steered the blue Dodge Ram up the hill that led over the mummy’s knee and toward the torso of the reclining figure. “Bluebell has climbed it before.”

Ten jagged minutes later, Kayla turned the truck onto a rocky overlook, set the parking brake, and looked over at her passenger. Carson had her eyes tightly shut, right hand gripping the arm rest and her left hand clamped on the edge of her seat.
Kayla grinned over at her friend. “Ready for some fun?”
“Is the shaking over with?” Carson forced her eyes open and risked a peek out the window.
The truck was perched on the edge of a ridge overlooking a Piñon tree-filled valley. Not tall like Christmas tree pines, the Piñon pine was short and bristly, producing a nut that was an important food source for Native Americans and the local wildlife. Interspaced among the trees were junipers and sagebrush, with a few patches of long grass sparkling green in the sunlight.
Carson sat up straight, staring out the window. “Wow! It’s beautiful up here.”
“This is one of my favorite places. In the spring the wildflowers are spectacular.”
“It’s not bad in the fall either,” Carson replied still taking in the view. “Now, how do you want to play this?”
“Why don’t you drop the bandanna outside the car, pick a direction and go. I’ll wait fifteen minutes, and then follow with Reno.”
“Okay, but to make it fair, you have to hide your eyes too. I don’t want you giving Reno any nonverbal clues,” added Carson.
“Do you really think I’d do that? It would invalidate the training.”
“Not on purpose, but you want him to be the best. You’re always telling me that dogs pick up on subtle unconscious clues.”
Kayla opened the driver’s door, grabbing her backpack she grimaced at Carson’s use of her own words turned against her. “Tell you what. I’ll go into the back and distract Reno. That should keep either of us from seeing which way you go.”
“Yeah, okay. Just keep your head down.”

Kayla climbed into the camper’s shell-covered truck bed and released Reno from his kennel, then turned her attention to the boxes full of chewed-on items from Mrs. Pinon.
There were five cartons of various sizes each with a date neatly written in thick black marker. Knowing her client would quiz her on the content and expect her to assign meaning to the selection of chewed on items, Kayla pulled the largest box, which was dated two weeks before, toward her. Pulling a women’s red dress shoe out, she waved it in Reno’s direction. “Hey, boy, what do you think of this?” He turned his head toward the window. Not interested.” Kayla thought. I don’t blame you boy. It is an ugly shoe. Too red.” She moved aside several chewed-on books and uncovered a woman’s blue shirt. When this evoked even less interested from Reno, she gave up on the box and opened a second, and then a third carton.
In the last carton, dated a few days before, she found several masculine items. The dogs must have gotten into Liz’s son’s room, Kayla thought as she extracted a man’s shoe, a chewed on black sock, and a plastic wrapped quilt. Wonder when she’s going to give me the sheets and pillows too? She unwrapped the bed cover and shook it out. One corner had been chewed up and gray batting spilled out. “This looks old. Wonder if mom would know how much its worth? Maybe she can fix it or something.” She carefully rewrapped the quilt and placed it gently back into the box.
“Ah ha!” She pulled out a small, fussy pillow with two of its four tassels chewed to nubs. “Here you go, boy.” She offered the cushion to the alert Belgian Malinois. He sniffed once, then grasped the cushion in his strong jaws, starting a tug of war. His attention satisfactorily diverted, Kayla risked a glance out the camper’s window. Carson was not in sight. A quick check of her watch showed that ten minutes had passed.
“Okay boy, time to do your thing.” She fastened Reno’s leather tracking harness around him, and then snapped on a ten-foot tracking lead. The harness and lead told the dog that it was time to use his nose. Climbing out of the truck, she indicated the bandanna laying on the ground by the passenger door. “Reno. Find.” After two long sniffs, the Malinois circled the truck with his nose to the ground. Once, twice, and then they were off, Reno’s head lifting from the ground, catching the scent in the air and on the bushes.
Finding Carson was not much of a challenge for the dog, but it did give him a bit of practice. Kayla kept the tracking leash taut as she followed her well-trained dog through the bushes. This high up it was cool most of the year and the bushes were thick, forcing her to slow Reno down as they made their way along a ridge line and into a small clearing.
Suddenly Reno stopped and started sneezing. Lowering his head, he pawed at his nose and eyes first with one paw, then the other. Kayla knelt down beside him, trying to see what was causing her animal’s distress. She breathed in a large noseful of pepper and was suddenly sneezing out of control. “Carson!” she yelled as soon as she could get a breath. “I’m going to get you for this!” Her friend had spread pepper all over the small cleared space.
Stopping, she pulled Reno off the trail and sat under a large scrub oak tree, sneezing and rubbing at her eyes. Scared the irritant could throw her dog off tracking every again, she pulled out one of the bottles of water from her pack and spent several minutes cleansing both her own eyes, and her dog’s. She finished by pouring a small amount of water in Reno’s nose, then stepped back as he sneezed explosively, clearing his nasal passages.
Taking a deep breath, Kayla calmed herself, knowing that her tension would travel down the leash and upset her dog. “I’ll kill Carson later. Right now, we’ve got a track to finish. Ready to go boy?”

Carson was hiding behind a couple of boulders, five feet down a steep hillside. Reno picked up speed as he neared her hiding place and showered her with loose shale as he joyfully jumped up, licking her face, his tail wagging happily.
“Okay, Okay! You found me.” Carson laughed and hugged him. “Good boy, Reno, good boy.”
“Carson, that pepper trick was excessive.” Kayla’s voice betrayed the tension she was still feeling. “Reno isn’t ready for that sort of thing.”
“You two found me easily enough.” Carson ruffled the prancing Malinoi ‘s fur. “And you only lost, what, five-six minutes?”
“Well, yes. He did very well, but--”
“No buts. He did just fine. You over train all your dogs. He’s more than ready to go on.”
Kayla’s eyes flashed with anger. “If he had failed, it could have set his training back weeks! It could have ruined him. When I realized what you had done, I was scared to death!”
Carson shrugged Kayla’s concern away. “He’s a great dog and he did just fine. Aren’t you sweetie? You’re doing a great job with him.” Carson grabbed Reno’s head and kissed him. Then her eyebrows furrowed and she gazed out over his back, frowning down the mountain into the valley below. “What’s that guy doing?”
“Who?” Kayla turned around to follow Carson’s gaze. A white Ford Ranger with some sort of magnetic sign attached to the passenger-side door was bumping up the mountain. Handing Reno’s leash to Carson, she reached into her backpack and removed a pair of binoculars, watching a lone man step out of the truck through them. “He’s got something in his hands… looks like a map. Wonder what he’s looking for, he keeps looking around and then back at the map.”
Carson shaded her eyes with a hand and peered down at the truck. “What does the sign on the door say?”
Kayla focused the binoculars on the passenger-side door. “Pinon construction. Now I know where I’ve seen that truck! Elizabeth Pinion. It’s been at her house when I’ve been there.”
“What’s a construction company doing up here? This is public land, isn’t it? Let me see.”
“Yeah, the state manages it.” Kayla handed over the glasses and took back her dog’s leash. “I’ve gotta get a new leash,” she muttered as she slipped the loop over her hand. “This one’s just about worn out.” She turned her attention back to Carson. “I haven’t heard anything about them selling off any land around here. He better not be planning to build here. This is my place.”
“Your place?”
“Yeah. I’ve been hiking this mountain all my life. My dad used to bring me up here.” Kayla shaded her eyes, peering down the valley. “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s still looking at the map.” Carson handed the binoculars back to her friend and took Reno’s leash. “Here see for yourself.”
“He keeps looking up at the mountains and then back at the map.” Kayla lowered the glasses. “What do you think he’s doing?”
Carson shrugged. “Planning one of those walled in communities, maybe? You know the ones where they build the houses so close together you can reach out your upstairs window and shake your neighbor’s hand.”
Kayla made a face at her. “They better not.” She stuck the binoculars back into her pack. “Where’d you get the pepper anyway?”
Carson fished a small glass cylinder half filled with black grains out of her pants pocket. “Your house”
Kayla took the shaker and put it in her jacket pocket. “I’m still mad at you. The pepper could have set him back weeks.”
Carson dismissed Kayla’s complaint with a wave of her left hand. “Let it go already. He did just fine.”
“But--”
“No.” She pointed a finger in Kayla’s face. “He’s ready for his tracking test. You know he is.”
Kayla changed the subject, not wanting to talk about Reno’s long overdue tracking certificate. “We’d better be going. I have to get back early.” She paused for dramatic effect “I have a date.”
Carson put her right hand on her jeans clad hip and raised both eyebrows. “A date? With who, when, and how?” She raised her hand in a give me gesture. “Come on, girlfriend, tell all.”
Kayla sighed and gave her attention to her scuffed hiking boots. “Just Roger. I’m just meeting him for dinner at The Country Place before going to the veterinary meeting tonight.”
“A meeting?”
“Yeah.”
Carson struck Kayla’s shoulder. “It’s still dinner with a single man. Alone. Even if you do gotta spoil it by going to a meeting after.”
“Yeah.” An embarrassed smile flicker over Kayla’s face. “He did specifically ask me.”
“Then it’s a date,” Carson declared with a firm nod. “The first real one since you got back.”
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Kayla released Reno from his tracking harness. “Go boy, hiking time.” Reno barked once and took off up the hillside, followed by both women.