“Right here,” said Odelia, pointing to a spot on the map.
“And she told someone they were headed in this direction?”
“Yes, the owner of the gas station where they filled up the RV. They said they’d traveled all across the States, and were going to keep traveling east until they reached Montauk, and then go south, all the way to Florida, where they would take a well-deserved break before returning home.”
“Okay, so to reach Montauk they had to pass through Hampton Cove,” Chase mused as he traced the possible route the couple had taken with his finger. “And that was also the last time their cell phone signal was picked up?”
“Yes, Addie’s phone had a tracker app, so her dad could always see where she was. And the last time her phone transmitted a signal was just before they entered town. So her phone must have been switched off… or destroyed.”
“Now why would she do a thing like that?” asked Chase, more to himself than to the rest of us. “Unless they ran into some unsavory types who destroyed her cell phone and took the RV off the road.”
“Let’s go out there tomorrow and see what we can find,” Odelia suggested.
Chase nodded.“I’ve got the rest of the week off, so let’s make good use of the time we have, and get to the bottom of this mystery.”
She gave him a smile and placed a tender hand on his arm.“I’m so glad we’re doing this together, babe.”
“Me too,” said Chase, returning her smile and placing his own hand on top of his wife’s. They shared a loving kiss, as witnessed by Brutus and Harriet, who chose that exact moment to enter the house through the pet flap.
Brutus stared at the couple, looking distinctly perturbed, and Harriet even gasped in shock. I guess they’d never seen a loving couple before.
“Odelia, what are you doing!” Harriet cried, aghast.
“Kissing my husband,” said Odelia with a smile. “Why?”
“But…” She gulped, as she directed a quick glance at Brutus, then shook her head. “No, no. It’s totally fine. Just… surprising, I guess. Under the circumstances.”
“A girl is missing, Harriet,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean life can’t go on for the rest of us.” It’s a hard fact of life, of course, but there you have it. Even though bad things happen to people, the world keeps on turning.
“Yes,” said Harriet hesitantly. “Yes, of course.”
“Max, I have a message for you from Rupert,” said Brutus.
I thought he was acting just as weird as Harriet was, but figured their dog training wasn’t going according to schedule.
“Rupert?” I asked, getting up from my perch on the couch and sliding down to the floor. I stretched and yawned. “Who’s Rupert?”
“A snail. He says you saved his life this morning.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “So what’s the message?”
But Brutus was gawping at Odelia and Chase for some reason.
“Brutus? You said you had a message for me from Rupert?”
“Oh, um… Yeah, that’s right. The blue moon thing is happening tonight.”
I stared at my friend.“So?”
“That’s the message.”
“There’s a blue moon out tonight?”
“Yep. He said he could smell it.”
“Okay. Good to know, I guess.”
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the messenger.”
“So how is the dog training going?” I asked.
Harriet, at whom I’d directed this question, was staring at Odelia, open-mouthed, so I had to repeat my question to draw her attention.
“Oh, that’s off,” she said finally.
“Off? What do you mean, off?”
“Rufus proved to be a non-starter, and Fifi wants to go it alone, so the training is off.”
“But…”
“Look, don’t you think we have bigger fish to fry right now, Max!” she suddenly shouted, giving me a vehement look.
“Yes,” I said quickly, taken aback by such vehemence. “Yes, of course.”
“Well, then,” she snapped, and turned on her heel. Before she exited through the pet flap, she turned back one last time. “I blame you, you know. If you hadn’t taken your eye off the ball, this would never have happened!” Then she was gone.
I turned to Brutus for an explanation for this outburst, but he merely smiled weakly.“I don’t blame you, Max,” he said. “I mean, we all know what humans are like, don’t we? Fickle. Hard to know what they’ll do next.” Then he was off, too.
“Fickle,” I murmured. Well, that was certainly true. And the same thing could be said about certain cats.
But since the meeting was still in full swing, I decided not to pursue the matter any further, and join the conversation once more.
CHAPTER 17
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“We have to do something, Brutus,” said Harriet. “We have to make Odelia end this affair with her billionaire.”
“But why? I thought you said you wanted to go and live with this billionaire in his castle?”
“I know what I said,” she snapped. “But I gave the matter some more thought, and it stands to reason that Edward Dexter will want his new bride to live with him in San Francisco. Which means leaving Hampton Cove and all of our friends behind. And being rich and living in a castle is one thing, but I’ll miss our dear friends.” And of course her budding career as cat choir’s number one soprano.
“But what can we do?” asked Harriet’s mate. “You know she won’t listen to us.”
“I know,” said Harriet. “But she does listen to Max. So if we can convince him to use his influence, we might still be able to turn this whole thing around.”
“Max will have already talked to her, and obviously it hasn’t done us any good.”
“No, you’re right. What I don’t understand is how he can stay so calm about it. Doesn’t he realize this is going to be the end of an era for us?”
“Or the beginning of an even better one,” Brutus ventured. “If only Odelia can talk her future husband into settling down in Hampton Cove instead.”
She stared at her boyfriend.“Now there’s an idea.”
“If Ed Dexter moves to Hampton Cove, we’ll all live the dream, sugar puss.”
“And so we would, snuggle pooh,” she said, nodding slowly.
It was true, of course, that the Pooles had always treated them very well, but imagine living in one of those million-dollar mansions on the beach, with a nice ocean view, and a helipad to take you shopping in Manhattan. Or a private jet to take you to Paris, London and Milan for Fashion Week? Now that would be the kind of life a princess like her deserved. The life she’d always dreamed of, in fact.
“You know, Brutus? Maybe we shouldn’t say anything. Just let the chips fall where they may.”
“It’s what I would suggest,” said Brutus with a grin. “And let’s hope they fall in Dexter’s favor—and ours!”
“Poor Chase, though. He’s going to feel bad when Odelia kicks him out of the house.”
“Maybe he can keep on living here for the time being. Or Dexter could buy him a small apartment in town. He’ll always be Grace’s dad, after all.”
“Or Chase could live over Dexter’s garage—take care of his fleet of fancy cars. And then Max and Dooley can stay with him. That way he won’t feel so alone.”
“Great idea,” said Brutus, his grin widening. “Max and Dooley can keep him company, and in the meantime Odelia will have us.”
“And then we’ll be the ones cracking her mysteries for her, and assisting her in writing her articles,” said Harriet, who could see their future life very vividly now.
“Family parties are going to be awkward, though. Unless the Pooles disinvite Chase.”
“Or Odelia decides to make a clean break and cuts off her family,” said Harriet.
They shared a look of concern, then shook their heads.“Nah,” said Brutus. “That would be too much, even for a billionaire’s wife. It would give a bad impression.”
And it was with roseate dreams of the princess life that Harriet tripped into the house to see what Marge had dropped into her bowl.