Kennel Club Read online

  Kennel Club

  Book Seven of Underdogs

  Geonn Cannon

  Supposed Crimes LLC

  Matthews, North Carolina

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2018 Geonn Cannon

  Published in the United States

  ISBN: 978-1-944591-79-3

  Prologue

  A wolf and her cub crouch in the dirt, surrounded by trees and shrubbery. Shoulders rising and falling with their breath. Currently in their human form, hair hanging long and dark over human faces. The cub, a girl barely eleven, shivering with her fingers splayed in the dirt underneath her. When the mother turns toward her, the cub can’t see her eyes because of the shadows. There’s pain... there’s always pain. She’s tired from all the running. Can’t catch her breath. She watches her mother’s arm, sees how the muscles twitch and shift under sweaty skin.

  “Tired? Hurt?”

  The cub nods; she can’t always speak right after she changes back from the wolf.

  “Good. Get ready to run again.”

  “Can’t. Mama, can’t.”

  The mother turns and puts a hand on the side of the cub’s head. “Sometimes you have to. Even when you can’t. Especially when you can’t. When it hurts too much to change or you can’t run another step, that’s when you have to run the hardest and the fastest. That’s when you need the wolf the most. When I ask you if you can change, I’m not asking if you want to. Do you understand the difference?”

  The cub nods again.

  “Can you change?”

  “Yes, mama.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  More than twenty years later, the cub was grown and remembering her mother’s words. She was in Seward Park, the same old growth forest where she learned how to be a wolf. Long, painful evenings when she was sure her body wouldn’t snap back into the right shape when she got home. She was older and wiser now. The pain of her transformations was greatly diminished. She grabbed a tree trunk and pivoted to the right, ducking under a low branch and vaulting over a fallen log. Her knees threatened to buckle when she landed but she couldn’t afford to fall.

  Her pursuers shouted. Their voices echoed so it was impossible to tell how close they were, but she knew they were too close to risk transforming. She knew these trails better than anyone. If she could just get some distance, she could rip off her clothes and transform. Even if she had to remain in wolf form all day until the search ended, she would at least be safe.

  “Over here!”

  No such luck, it seemed. She angled back to the west in the hopes she could reach the road. She didn’t know what she planned to do at that point. Keep running? Surrender? No, surrender wasn’t an option. She had to keep running. She had to disappear. There was radio chatter, there was a light shining into the woods, there was the sound of sirens, and she knew she was caught a moment before someone unfolded from the shadows to her right and grabbed her arm.

  She tried to pull away and succeeded, but the move threw her off balance. She hit the ground hard and rolled. She surfed sideways on a wave of dirt, pebbles, branches, and pine needles until she reached a flat area. A body landed on top of her and she was rolled over onto her stomach. The wolf snarled in the center of her brain, seconds from breaking free, but she managed to stop the transformation before it extended beyond her eyes. A powerful hand was placed on the back of her head and pushed her cheek against the muddy ground. More footsteps as other people surrounded the area.

  “Stay down,” the woman on top of her demanded. She grabbed one of Ari’s forearms and yanked it back. “You are under arrest for murder. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say--”

  The area was awash with red and blue lights as a squad car pulled up nearby. The radios of other officers drowned out the crickets with static and garbled voices. Ari twisted her neck and looked across Andrews Bay. Houses along the opposite shore were lit up like lanterns. She knew one of the homes belonged to her mother. Maybe she’d been getting a cup of tea and noticed the commotion across the water. Maybe her instincts would draw her to the backyard. Would she know? Would she be able to tell all this was because of her daughter?

  Sorry, Mama, she thought as the handcuffs were roughly snapped onto her wrists. I guess they finally caught up.

  The female officer who tackled her shoved her shoulder. “I asked if you understood your rights.”

  “Yes,” she managed to say.

  “Then get up.”

  Ari was helped upright by a firm hand on each arm. She was escorted to one of the squad cars and, with a gentleness that was surprising after the pursuit and tackle, someone guided her head down so she wouldn’t bump it. She felt the bizarre urge to say thank you before the door was slammed loudly on her. Alone, Ari leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d been accused of murder, but last time she’d been able to get away. It didn’t look like she was going to be so lucky this time. Her mother had taught her there was always a chance to escape, a route to freedom, but at the moment Ari felt well and truly caged.

  Chapter One

  Dale sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her phone, which rested on a web of her interlocked fingers. The screen was blank but she could see a vague reflection of her face looking down at it. She was still in her pajamas, her hair mussed, her glasses perched precariously on the edge of her nose. Eventually she managed to squeeze the button on the side of the phone and made it light up. The brightness of the lock screen dazzled her and she closed her eyes against it.

  When she opened them, she saw the photo of Ari smiling up at her. She pressed her lips together and fought back tears, her chin trembling. She swept her thumb across the image just to make it go away. Once that was done, she managed to open her contacts list and find Diana Macallan’s number. It only rang twice, which was still enough time for Dale to reconsider calling.

  “Dale? What’s up?”

  “Diana.” She sniffled. “Uh, I... I don’t... H-how much sleep have you gotten in the past twenty-four hours?”

  In addition to her duties on the force, Diana’s wife Lucy had recently been diagnosed with cancer. She seemed to be doing fine, but the Macallan household wasn’t exactly a stress-free environment.

  “I had a couple hours this morning. I was just about to turn in.”

  “I’ll... I can’t... I’m sorry.” She hung up before Diana could argue. Less than a minute later, the phone lit up with an incoming call. Dale sighed and answered. “Go to bed, Diana.”

  Diana sounded as if she was wide awake now. “Not when you call me at two in the morning sounding like you’re about to cry. What’s wrong? Is it Ari?”

  Dale felt the pressure building behind her eyes. She thought if she spoke, she would start crying.

  “I’m coming over,” Diana said after listening to Dale struggle to explain.

  “No, don’t. Diana, it’s... there’s nothing you can do.” She took a deep breath and forced the words out. “Ari’s been arrested for murder.”

  “What? Who... What’s... Explain to me what happened?”

  Dale stood up and began to pace. She hoped that moving around would help settle her emotions. “Ari got a call earlier tonight from someone she met a few months ago. Her name was Shannon Hardy. She was a receptionist at Gilles Girard and Moreau until Ari inadvertently got her fired. Shannon wanted to meet and Ari felt she owed her that much. She didn’t say what it was about.” She felt something on her cheek and reached up to brush it away. Her f
ingers came back wet. “That was around eight o’clock. Around ten-thirty, I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize. I assumed it was Ari at a pay phone, that she’d been the wolf and needed me to come pick her up. But there was no one on the other end. So I went back to sleep. Then I got another call at midnight.”

  “Puppy?” Fumbling with her glasses and the blankets. “Where are you?”

  “Dale, I need you to listen to me. I’ve been arrested. I need you to call Mom.”

  “What do you mean arrested? Ari?”

  “They think I murdered--”

  “Murdered?!”

  “--someone. I’m being held at the East Precinct. Dale, call Mom, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. Ariadne...”

  “It’s going to be okay, Dale. I have to go. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Diana asked, “Have you called Gwyneth?”

  “Not yet. I couldn’t... I don’t... I didn’t know what to say to her. I thought calling you might be better, you might be able to... might... there could be strings or something you could pull...”

  “Dale...”

  “No, I know, I shouldn’t have called you. I realize that now. I’m just... I’m trying... I don’t know what to do, and I thought maybe you could tell me what to do...”

  “Dale,” Diana said, more firmly this time. “The very least I can do is get more information. I know some people in the East Precinct. Let me give them a call and see what’s going on.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And Dale, I want you to tell me something: What would Ariadne want you to do right now?”

  Dale said, “I don’t...”

  “What would she want?”

  “She’d... she would want me to take care of myself and not freak out.”

  “Exactly,” Diana said. “Get dressed. Call Gwen. Then the two of you can go down to the station. They probably won’t let you see Ari, but at least you can be there for her. Is your phone charged up?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Keep it with you. I’ll call back when I know more.”

  “Thank you, Diana.”

  Diana said, “You’re welcome, Dale. We’ll figure this out.”

  Dale hung up and turned to look around the bedroom. A few hours ago, she and Ari had been cuddling in bed watching Netflix. Now Ari was downtown in a prison cell accused of murder. She had no idea what to expect next, but at least now she had someone in her corner.

  She held a breath for a long moment, and then let it out as slowly as she could. When she was finished, she tossed her phone onto the bed and started to get dressed.

  #

  The interrogation room wasn’t like the ones she’d seen on television or in the movies. There was no mirror, but there was a television and a security camera mounted in one corner of the ceiling. The only table was pressed against the wall next to the door, and that was where she had been left not long after her arrival at the precinct. One phone call, though... that was like the movies. They’d taken her cell, so she had to use their landline to make the call. Probably made it easier to record the conversations.

  Ari had put her head down on the table as soon as she was alone. One arm, the one cuffed to the table, was serving as a pillow. The other arm was curled over the top of her head, fingers twisting in her hair. She’d once heard that guilty people fall asleep easily after being arrested. She didn’t care who was watching through the camera or what they thought her head being down meant. She was just tired, and the lights were bright, and she wanted nothing more than to wake up in bed and discover this was all a nightmare.

  The hand on top of her head trailed down to the back of her neck. The bare skin reminded her that they’d taken her collar, and this was real. She hadn’t had the collar off for longer than it took to shower in years. She always tried to make sure Dale was the one who put it on her again, just to establish the sentiment behind wearing it in the first place. Now it was gone, and her neck felt completely naked and exposed without it.

  There was no way of telling how long she’d been in the room before she heard the door open and close quietly behind her. It only felt like a few minutes, but part of her knew she’d drifted off a couple of times. It could have been a few hours.

  “Array... um, Ariadne Willow?”

  She sat up and looked at the man who was moving a chair to sit in front of her. He looked like an accountant. Average height, a pale lavender shirt with a matching tie, and a smile that almost looked apologetic as he settled into the folding chair across from her.

  “Detective Alonzo Rojas. Can I have them get you anything? Water?”

  Ari shook her head.

  “And I said your name correctly? It’s Ariadne?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good, excellent.” He put the file down on the table and scribbled something down. “You wouldn’t believe some of the names we get in here. Whatever happened to Paul and Joe?” He chuckled and flipped the folder closed. He rested his left foot on his right knee and looked at her as if he was a therapist. “So, Ariadne, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?”

  Ari dropped her gaze to the knot of his tie. It was tight and neat, just like the rest of his clothes. This was either the beginning of his shift or he’d been called in specifically to cover this case.

  “Miss Willow? Or can I call you Ariadne?” She didn’t answer. “How did you know Shannon Hardy?”

  “I didn’t,” Ari said. “We’d only met a couple of times.”

  He smiled, the picture of friendliness. “Well, which is it, Miss Willow?”

  “She was a receptionist at Gilles Girard and Moreau. I was on retainer there for a while. We spoke a few times in passing. It was my fault she got fired.”

  “Do you think she held a grudge?”

  “No. She thanked me when it happened. It’s a long story. That’s not a good place to work. That’s why I didn’t stay on retainer there.”

  Rojas said, “Okay, let’s circle back to that. I really want to know what happened tonight, if you’re up to going over everything.”

  “Shannon called me. I was at home, watching a movie with Dale.”

  “That’s your boyfriend?”

  “Girlfriend.”

  “Okay.”

  Ari said, “Shannon called...”

  “When was this?”

  “Uh. Eight? Eight o’clock, a little bit after. I don’t know.” He nodded. He opened the file and made another note. Ari watched his pen move like it was the pocket watch of a hypnotist. “She sounded strange. Like she was high or something. She told me there were things about the law firm I needed to know. Her boss, Cecily Parrish, is a bad person.”

  “I know Miss Parrish,” Rojas said. “I think every cop in this place knows Parrish. And I don’t think any of them would question your judgement of her.” He smiled again. Just a friendly conversation, the smile said, it’s just some silly thing we need to work out and then we’ll give you a ride home. “Go on.”

  Ari wet her lips. She wished she’d taken him up on the offer of water. “She asked me to meet at her apartment. She gave me the address and I went.”

  “Go on.”

  Ari closed her eyes. I could smell the blood from the hallway. “I felt like something was wrong as soon as I arrived at her building. I don’t know what tipped me off.” Death has a smell. The wolf almost broke out of my skin the second the elevator doors opened. “Maybe it was my years of being a private investigator. I don’t know. But I knocked on the door and I wasn’t very surprised when no one answered. The lights were on. I thought I could hear music inside.” She swallowed hard and furrowed her brow. “I was worried about her.”

  “What happened next?”

  I made a stupid mistake. “I picked the lock. She sounded distressed on the phone. I thought there was a very real possibility she might have taken some pills and chased them with wine. I was worried she might be unconscious and in need of help.”

  She could still see th
e room. Blood was dripping down the back of the couch, which had been stripped of their cushions. The stuffing had been ripped out of the furniture. Books were torn apart, the table was flipped over, and picture frames were lying where they had fallen off the walls. It looked like a war had been fought in the tight space. She’d followed a trail of spilled blood into the kitchen and...

  “I found her there. She was... she was lying on top of the open dishwasher. She was bleeding into the clean dishes.” Ari stared at a spot just beyond Rojas, the image seemingly painted on the wall behind him. “She’d... she was...”

  Rojas said, “The crime scene guys are still there. They said she’d been ripped apart. One of them said he’d seen a wild animal attack like this once, but he’d never seen one person do this to another.”

  Ari flinched.

  “Walk me through it, Miss Willow. Were you and Miss Hardy having an affair?”

  “What?”

  “Maybe it started after you got her fired. The doorman said he’s seen you at the building multiple times over the past few months.”

  “What?” Ari was snapping out of her haze. “I’ve never been to that building before tonight.”

  Rojas examined the file. “According to his statement, you were a regular visitor. He assumed you and the lady were sleeping together. This girlfriend of yours. Dale? Will she back up your alibi once she knows how you were spending your nights?”

  Ari started to speak, then closed her mouth. She could almost hear Rojas interviewing their landlady, Neka. “Well, she did seem to go out at all hours of the night. Dale was home alone an awful lot. I just assumed it was private eye stuff. But come to think of it, a lot of times she would come home wearing weird clothes. Kind of... you know, walk of shame chic.” She spread the fingers of her uncuffed hand on her thigh.

  “I’m not having an affair. I’ve only been with Dale since we started dating.”

  “Well, we’re going to look into that, of course. Now... what happened after you ‘discovered’ the body?”

  Ari could hear the air quotes around ‘discovered.’ On an ordinary night, she would have made him eat his snide tone. This wasn’t an ordinary night. She didn’t feel like her skin was fitting right, or her brain was twisted in on itself. She shouldn’t be in this room answering these questions, and until that situation corrected itself, she was going to feel anchorless.