took the meat mallet to him. He was a terrible mess. She even cracked his glass eye. Not that it was worth much. Loogie got it at the VA hospital, and it was always wanderin’ around lookin’ in the wrong direction.”
Everyone stood for a moment digesting that information.
“You haven’t heard the end of this,” Kitty said to Cate. “I want that dog.” And Kitty turned on her heel and swished out of the condo with the two men close behind. Pugg, who was standing outside, edged his way back in.
Cate closed and locked the door after them and gave a small hysterical giggle. “Yikes.”
“And double yikes,” Julie said. “What was that about?”
“The dog,” Cate said. “Kitty said Marty asked her to get the dog.”
“That’s a lot of baloney,” Julie said. “That woman never did a favor for nobody. She wouldn’t come fetchin’ a dog for Marty. You told me they weren’t even getting’ along.” Julie looked around. “Where is the big guy? Where’s Beast?”
“I sent him home with Kellen.”
“Lucky thing I was lookin’ out the window when Kitty and the goon squad trooped into the building,” Julie said. “I thought they looked like they were up to no good, so I sent Pugg to see where they were goin’. When he found out they were in with you, we came right away.”
Pugg adjusted his underwear. “Pugg hopes you don’t mind,” Pugg said to Cate, “but Pugg has transferred his affections to Julie. Julie came across.”
“He’d be a keeper in my hometown,” Julie said by way of explanation.
“Yes, but this is Boston!” Cate said.
“He has some good points,” Julie said. “He’s a real hard worker, if you know what I mean. And it’s hard to tell for sure what’s under all that fur, but I bet he’d clean up okay if you gave him a whole-body wax.”
The doorbell rang again and everyone went raised eyebrows. The lock clicked, and Kellen pushed the door open.
“I needed a break, so I thought I’d stop in and say hello,” Kellen said.
“Pugg needs to get back to work now that his job as hero is done,” Pugg said.
“I’ll walk you out,” Julie said. “And don’t you worry I’m gonna make sure nobody gives you a wedgie but me from now on.”
“I have a feeling I missed something,” Kellen said when Julie and Pugg had left.
“Kitty Bergman was here with two henchmen. She wanted Beast. She said Marty sent her.”
“Kitty Bergman doing errands for Marty?”
“Yeah, that’s what Julie said. Doesn’t compute. Anyway, things were starting to get ugly until Julie arrived and threatened to shoot off everyone’s privates.”
Kellen grinned. “Julie had a gun?”
“She said she could nail a river rat at fifty paces.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Kellen said. “I ran a check on the house on Commonwealth. It’s owned by a holding company. And I was able to trace the holding company back to Ronald Bergman.”
“Big surprise.”
“Ronald is at the present time raping a forest in Central America and probably doesn’t even know he owns the house.”
“So you think Kitty and Marty use the house as a stopover for stolen stuff?”
“It’s possible.”
Kellen didn’t like where this was going. Bad enough that Kitty was probably crooked, but now she seemed to be targeting Cate.
“And what about Beast? Hard to believe they want him for his guard dog skills.”
“I already looked into Beast. The kennel owner seems to know Marty. He said Marty was in a couple weeks ago looking for a dog. He took a couple out for a walk and chose Beast. The kennel owner said he gave Marty a break on the price because Beast wasn’t show quality and didn’t totally have a guard dog personality. I’ve looked at Beast’s collar. It’s standard issue from the kennel. No secret pouch filled with stolen diamonds.”
“What about his water bowl?”
“I assumed you bought it in some doggie boutique.”
“Nope. Marty sent it from Puerto Rico.”
“I’ll take a look at it when I get home. Did you tell Kitty I have Beast staying with me?”
“No.”
“One less thing to worry about,” Kellen said, looking at his watch. “I have to get back to the house. How do you feel about all this? Would you feel safer if you moved in with me? Or do you want to stay here?”
“I’ll stay here. I’m doing a project for Julie, and I have to leave for work in a couple hours. This is my night to do setup.”
Kellen pulled her to him. She was warm in his arms and smelled like cake. He kissed her gently, lingering just long enough to make it painful to pull away. “Wish I had more time,” he said. “Call me if you change your mind or need help.”
“Give Beast a hug for me.”
A casual observer might look at the slightly paunchy man at the bar and think he was just another customer procrastinating the event of going home. The bar regulars knew the man was the bar owner, Gerald Evian. And Cate knew he only sat in this catatonic stupor when he was panicked. It was fifteen minutes to Marty’s first show and Marty was nowhere to be seen. Marty hadn’t called. Marty hadn’t e-mailed. Marty wasn’t answering his phone.
“I’m fucked,” Gerald Evian said.
Cate and Gina scurried away from Evian, refilling glasses, making sure no one was thirsty, and adding extra booze to the mixed drinks. In a half hour people would be demanding a drag queen, and they might be more forgiving if they were liquored up.
“Do you think Marty will show?” Gina asked Cate.
“No,” Cate said. “I think Marty’s in trouble.”
Julie had ordered Pugg to escort Cate to work and not let her out of his sight, and Pugg was now sitting at the end of the bar, watching the overhead television. It was close to eleven, and the bar was almost empty. Just a few morose drunks and Pugg and Evian.
“Hey,” Pugg said to Cate. “What’s the name of the guy you rent from?”
“Marty Longfellow.”
“There was just a news flash about him. They fished him out of the Charles River.”
All eyes fixed on the television screen, but the scrolling headline had moved on to game scores.
“Are you sure?” Cate asked.
“It said South End drag queen Marty Longfellow was found washed ashore at the Boston University Bridge. Police were investigating.”
Cate felt her stomach go hollow. “Poor Marty.”
“I’m out of a job,” Gina said.
Evian nodded agreement. “And I’m
“We need new entertainment,” Gina said.
“Pugg could tell jokes,” Pugg said. “Would you like to hear some of Pugg’s jokes?”
“No,” everyone said in unison.
Kellen strolled into the bar and smiled at Cate. “Closing time?”
“Yes. And we just heard about Marty.”
“What did you hear?”
“That they found his body washed ashore at the BU Bridge.”
“That’s not entirely correct,” Kellen said. “I’ve been listening to the police band. Someone found Marty’s wig
