“Says the woman who has owned two homes already and is dating a millionaire.”
“Okay, fair. But we all know you’d be making better money if you’d go back to performing with Geoff. Not all of this is inevitable.”
Julia winced. “I hate to bring it up, but it’s true. You know it’s true.”
Geoff. The ten-pound dummy in the room.
“I’m carving out a Geoff-free niche,” Evy said. “Gives me more versatility. It’ll be good in the long run, trust me.”
“Okay.” Vivian sat up and reached for the pitcher of Palomas to refill everyone’s drink. “Just know that if you ever needed help or want to practice trying to tame your telepathy, we’re here for you.”
Evy’s eyes drifted to the shadowed roofline of the mansion next to Richard’s. While Richard’s estate was a sprawling Spanish-style house that seemed to follow the line of the mountains, the mansion next to it jutted into the sky with confectionary arrogance. The Barker estate was a colonial revival house that looked as comfortable in the desert landscape as a duck in wading boots.
Evy stared at the Barker estate and sipped her drink. “Did I tell you what John Marcos told me today?”
“No. Something about Baron?”
“He told me that Bunny suggested he talk to me. That she said spending time with people who—as she put it—were not my typical social crowd might tempt me into dognapping and theft.”
Vivian’s eyes went wide. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.”
Julia’s mouth dropped open. “Look at the balls on that one. I don’t even know what to say to that.”
Seeing Julia’s and Vivian’s shock and disgust over the accusation soothed a part of Evy’s ego she didn’t know had been wounded. It wasn’t that she didn’t know her friends were better off than she was, but she’d never thought that made a difference to them. She’d never even thought they’d think about it until Bunny’s accusation had weaseled into her brain.
“John knew it was bullshit too, but he said he had to ask.”
Vivian’s eyes were narrowed on the roof of the Barker estate like Evy’s had been. “I have half a mind to march over and give Bunny Barker a piece of my mind.”
“I’ll never sell her a house,” Julia said. “What a snob.”
“Can you imagine working for her? That’s what I was thinking about earlier,” Evy said. “She probably accuses all her employees of stealing.”
“Yeah, I bet she’s a treat.” Vivian stood and brushed off her dress. “I’m going to go over there.”
Evy jumped out of the pool. “What? Don’t be crazy. Vivian, I still have to work for her. She’s the president of the kennel club, and she’s the one calling all the shots for my job right now. Can you please—”
“She won’t know it’s about that.” Vivian wore a wicked little smile. “But it just occurred to me that Bunny might have orchestrated all of this. How much you want to bet she’s already contacted her insurance company, huh? About the Cartier necklace. Baron was probably insured too.”
“That doesn’t mean she orchestrated his dognapping,” Julia said.
“In my experience, when people go around throwing accusations at others, it usually means they’ve thought of doing the exact same thing themselves.” Vivian started walking toward the front of the house. “I’m going to go read how she’s feeling. I’ll bring a bottle of wine. You two coming?”
Julia and Evy both exchanged a look. Then Julia shrugged. “We’re not going to stop her.”
“I guess not.”
And that’s how Evy found herself wrapped in a sarong and walking through Bunny Barker’s garden gate.
The sound of barking hit their ears before the dog came into sight. A large black poodle with short, sport-clipped hair and a silver-grey muzzle bounded toward them, paused fifteen feet away, and barked until they stopped walking.
“Bunny!” Vivian held up the bottle of wine. “It’s Vivian Liu from next door. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”
Bunny walked out the front door and snapped her fingers. The poodle immediately went to her side and sat. “Vivian.” Her voice was warm, but her eyes were unreadable. “How lovely of you to stop by. I just got home a few minutes ago.” She carefully scanned the group. “And Miss Lane too. How are you?”
“Doing great.” The third Paloma was starting to kick in, and Evy realized it had probably been a bad idea. It was hard to predict how alcohol would react with her meds, and this time it appeared the drinks were wearing down her shields, not making everything duller than normal.
So… that wasn’t good.
“Would you like to join me for a drink?” Bunny sighed. “I have to admit with Baron gone, the house feels empty.”
Vivian appeared as shocked as Evy by the invitation, but Julia jumped in. “That would be so nice. Always good to have a drink with neighbors.” She walked forward, subtly tugging on Vivian’s sleeve. “We’d love to.”
“Good.” She showed them all into the house. “I have coffee or wine—that’s about all I drink since my doctor told me to cut back on gin martinis, though I could dearly use a martini these days. What do doctors know anyway?”
Evy stepped through the door of the house and felt a dull roar in the back of her head, as if she were hearing voices underwater.
“I think your doctor would understand a martini at a time like this.” Vivian was loosening up. “I was so upset when I heard about Baron. Henry and I just loved his visits. Bunny, I’m so silly; you’ve met Julia Brooks, haven’t you?”
“We met at the club once,” Julia said. “But we didn’t really get a chance to visit. I’m so sorry about your dog.”
“Thank you.” Bunny looked Julia up and down with an inquisitive stare. “You look like a dog person. Havanese?”
“Um…” Julia cocked her head. “No. No dogs right now, but I know someone with a Havanese and I’ve always thought they were great little dogs.”
“I have a dear friend who breeds them. They’re excellent for working women, but only if you can take your dog to the office. They don’t like being left alone for too long. As long as they’re with you though, they’ve very independent.” She looked at Evy. “And you were born to have a greyhound. I can’t think of any dog that would suit you better.”
“Thanks?” Evy didn’t know what to think of Bunny’s pronouncements. Did she have her own psychic gift of picking the right dogs for people?
Bunny led them through the house, and Evy struggled to keep her expression even as the roaring grew louder behind her ears. The black poodle brought up the rear.
The voices turned from a dull roar to a watery murmur.
“So Bunny.” Vivian was speaking again. “What do the police say? Have they gotten any leads since you announced the reward?
“Oh, hundreds I think.” She walked down the central hall and into a large kitchen with granite countertops. A fair-haired poodle with a show cut lifted their head and examined the visitors. Bunny walked over and gave the dog an affectionate pat. “As you might guess from Zara’s expression, none of them have been fruitful leads of yet. I’m wondering if the reward was a good idea.”