Last Licks

“Do you mind if I use your phone?” Mike asked Ollie. “I want to pass that along to Helena. She’s probably worrying herself into a head of white hair over whether it’s proper to go.”

“On her, it would look good,” Sunny cracked. Mike was busy punching in Mrs. M.’s number, but Sunny’s comment got a chuckle from everybody else in the room . . . except Luke. He stood very still, as if suddenly he were the one at the funeral.

“Are you okay?” Sunny asked, and then shook her head. “Hey, I’m sorry. I know you’d gotten close with Gardner. You should have heard about this memorial from Alfred, not from me acting scatterbrained.”

“If not for you, I wouldn’t have heard about it at all,” Luke said quietly. “Alfred—well, I guess he didn’t approve of his uncle hanging out with me.”

“As if you could lead him into bad habits,” Mike scoffed. “Believe me, Luke, Gardner tried them all before you were born.”

That got a wan laugh out of Luke. “I suppose that’s true.”

“It’s a funny thing, but I understand you were actually nearby the night Gardner died,” Will said.

Sunny gave him a “not now” look. There he is, pure cop, crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s on the witness statements.

But Will plowed right on. “Elsa Hogue mentioned bumping into you at the nurses’ station.”

For a second Luke looked baffled, but then his face cleared. “That’s right. I left the office where I was working and came over to see if I could bum anything with caffeine in it. Working on reports makes me sleepy, verrrrry sleeeeeeeepy . . .” He slipped into a mad hypnotist voice for a moment, then spoke normally. “I think Elsa was looking for the same thing.”

Will looked satisfied with that explanation.

Mike glanced at his watch. “If we want to grab an early supper and get dressed, we should probably get moving.”

“Um . . . Mike?” Luke seemed to stumble over his words a little. “Could you give me the when and the where? I’d like to go, too.”

“Of course, son,” Mike said gently. “It’s at eight o’clock, Twelve Brookside Lane.” He gave a little laugh. “You know, I haven’t been there in almost fifty years, yet I still remember the address. It’s funny, what sticks with you.”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “Funny.”

14

Shadow woke up annoyed. He’d been having a dream where he stalked through dark woods, tracking the She by scent. It was nice to open his eyes and find himself in a patch of sun in the living room, but the dream had definitely been more interesting. He’d been awoken by Sunny and the Old One coming through the door, rushing around and talking loudly. There was no hope of going back to his dreams now.

It was still early—Shadow’s stomach told him so. But Sunny started preparing food while the Old One went up the stairs. That in itself was odd. The Old One usually spent this time in the room with the picture box. Shadow decided to investigate.

As he climbed the stairs, Shadow heard the sound of running water—much running water. So he wasn’t surprised when he found the door to the tiled room closed. But what was the Old One doing in there at this time of day? It made no sense.

Then Shadow noticed that the door to the Old One’s room stood wide open. Usually, Sunny’s father kept the door closed. He’d made it clear he didn’t want Shadow in there.

But if the Old One was busy standing under the water, he’d be there for a while . . .

Shadow trotted into the room. As soon as he was inside, he decided this was a bad idea. He’d been in here just recently, there was nothing to see—definitely nothing he wanted to smell—and there was nothing to play with.

Well, the Old One had thrown his clothes on the bed, and the arm of a shirt dangled down. That was better than nothing. Shadow went over to give it a halfhearted swipe with his paw . . . and froze at the scent that wafted his way as the cloth swung back and forth. How could the Old One smell so much of the She?

Shadow was torn. If this had been Sunny’s room, he’d probably climb up on the bed to get more of the fragrance. Besides, it would be mixed with Sunny’s scent. He didn’t think that mixing She and Old One would be as nice. And the Old One could come in any moment and catch him. That would mean trouble.

So Shadow marched to the door in annoyance, his tail up, its tip twitching. Sunny could be with the She. Even the Old One could be with the She. But Shadow, who really wanted to be with the She, wasn’t allowed.

This wasn’t fair. This was definitely not good.

*

By the time Sunny had finished chopping up odds and ends into a chef’s salad, Mike had come downstairs wearing his dress shirt and a pair of suit pants, toweling his hair.

“You’re brave to sit down and eat with your good clothes on,” Sunny teased him.