* * *
Kendra’s Condo
“Stop checking up on me. I told you I was coming to dinner,” Kendra said when she received Olivia’s call as she got out of her car in the parking garage. “I’ll be in the elevator in seconds. But I thought I’d go up to my place and shower first. I was outside on the grounds of the school for a while today and I’m a little mussed.”
“Bad idea,” Olivia said flatly. “Get off at my condo instead. Harley has been missing you, and that means you’ll end up more than ‘mussed’ when he gets through with his first attack. And you’ll probably smell like chopped liver. I don’t think those new breath mints are working.”
Kendra groaned. “I thought you told me that dog training was making a big difference.”
“Oh, it has, but with a unique dog like Harley, you have to consider that his superb intelligence would let him know that he’s being ignored, and he’d feel as if he had to do something about it.” She paused. “He might even think you have to be punished.”
Kendra didn’t like the sound of that. There were times these days when she regretted persuading Olivia to take a Seeing Eye dog into her home. Her friend had sworn she didn’t need a service dog since she considered herself, though blind, to be totally independent. She’d even built a successful web destination called Outasite that earned her seven figures. Yet she’d fallen in love with Harley. Perhaps they’d become entirely too close in both nature and spirit, Kendra thought gloomily. “You wouldn’t have been coaching him?”
“I never coach Harley in bad behavior. But you’ll have to take responsibility for your own misbehavior. Neither of us approved of you canceling dinner for the second time in a week. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” She ended the call.
Kendra sighed as she pressed the button for Olivia’s fourth-floor condo. Might as well accept whatever Olivia and Harley had in store for her. Olivia had been her best friend since they’d both been students at the academy as children. When Kendra had gained her sight, it hadn’t changed anything about the relationship but the fact they’d both gotten stronger and more determined to be their own people.
She heard Harley’s hideous bark as she hurried down the hall so the neighbors wouldn’t complain. Poor baby, he couldn’t help that his vocals had been damaged in a fire, but it didn’t help the effect that sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
Olivia threw open the door. “It’s about time.”
Harley launched himself at Kendra. She saw a flash of one blue eye, one brown eye, and curly brownish face and body hair before his paws hit her shoulders. The dog was part German shepherd, part mystery mutt, and totally adorable.
But that big tongue licking her chin was not, and neither was the liver smell Olivia had mentioned. “You’re right, try another breath mint for him.” Then she knelt down and started stroking and crooning to him. He instantly rolled over on his back and presented his belly for attention.
After a moment Olivia said, “That’s enough.” She bent down and snapped her fingers and made a downward motion.
Harley quickly rolled back over and jumped to his feet.
“Good boy.” Olivia turned away. “Kendra, I poured glasses of wine for us when I heard you in the hall. You can sit down at the kitchen bar and keep me company while I finish the salad.”
Harley was now calmly sitting next to the island and gazing happily at Olivia. He was completely ignoring Kendra. Night and day, she thought suspiciously. “Could you have stopped that attack before it began?”
“Of course. Harley’s training is going along splendidly. But both barking and displaying affection are vitally important to dogs. If I keep it within limits, I’ll raise a healthy dog.” Her lips twitched with mischief as she got down the salad bowl. “I decided that since you hadn’t been around lately to contribute to his health and well-being, you’d certainly want to help out. Isn’t that right?”
She sighed. “Right.”
Olivia’s smile had disappeared. “Then we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“About why you’ve turned your back on me and stopped being my friend.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Olivia turned toward the salad ingredients on her kitchen counter. “Have a seat.”
Kendra was still trying to recover from the shock as she sat on a barstool on the other side of the counter. “That was a hell of a thing to say. What did I do? Look, I know you were upset about me missing dinner, but I didn’t think you’d go that far to punish me. After all, I had work to do up at Oceanside. You’re usually very understanding about professional engagements. Heaven knows, you have enough of them yourself.”
“Yes, I do.” She was expertly tossing the salad. “And I let all the excuses go for a little while because I thought there might be a smidgen of truth in them. But then I decided that it was time to clear all the crap away.”
“Crap?” She frowned. “What are you talking about? And smidgen of truth? I was telling you the truth about working late at the school.”
“Smidgen,” Olivia repeated precisely. “You wouldn’t lie to me, but if you didn’t want me to worry, you’d spend more time than needed on a project to avoid telling me about a problem. You’ve done it before. Sometimes I think you’re not even aware you’re doing it. But I am beginning to worry. Because it’s stretching on too long…”
“And you want to clear the crap away?” Kendra said. “Did it occur to you that you could be wrong?”
“No, I know every nuance of your voice and phrasing. I’m terrific at it. I realize when I’m getting smidgens.” Her expression was sober. “What’s going on? I have to know. You’re my best friend. You’ve never hidden anything from me before. Are you working on a new case? You haven’t mentioned Griffin or Metcalf, but they’ve asked you to keep cases confidential before. I won’t pry, but I want to be there when and if you need me. You live right upstairs, and I should at least know that much.”
“You think a homicidal maniac is stalking me?”
“It’s happened before.” She drew a deep, relieved breath. “But judging by my infallible ability to read your voice, I gather that it’s not happening now.”
“No, it’s not.” She chuckled. “I haven’t been called by anyone at the FBI for weeks. No serial killers knocking on my door or following me to the school. You screwed up, Olivia.”
“No, I didn’t.” She finished the salad and leaned back against the counter. “The smidgen was there. I just exaggerated the threat. For which I’m grateful. I instinctively go for the worst-case scenario when I believe something’s not right with you.”
“Actually, I’m admiring how good you were to listen and identify a possible problem. Your audio abilities might be better than mine these days.”
“You’ve just gotten lazy since you got your vision. I have to work harder. I went after what I wanted, but I just took the wrong path.”
And this wasn’t going to be over until Olivia had everything clear to her satisfaction, Kendra could see.