She blew out a breath. “No… I’m sorry, I was too focused on finding Ava.”
I nodded. “I’m sure you were, but maybe your mother noticed something?”
Misti shrugged. “Uh… yeah… she might have. I think they exchanged numbers, so she may have spoken to him again, but right now, I don’t want to disturb her. She’s not in the best of health, but I’m sure she could talk to you another day.”
Misti wasn’t about to bother her right now, not after the morning she’d had. Her mother wasn’t the easiest person to live with, and lately, she seemed more bad-tempered than usual.
“Would tomorrow work? I could come earlier in the day… say eleven?”
Misti didn’t answer right away, not sure she wanted to commit, but what did she have to lose? If her mother had a problem with it, she’d just have to deal with it. “Sure. I’ll tell her you’ll be stopping by at eleven. Could I get your phone number in case something comes up and she can’t make it?”
“Of course. Give me your number and I’ll text you.” I pulled out my phone and sent the text, grateful that it was a good way to get her number as well. “Perfect. If you remember anything about him that could help, you’re welcome to call me, too.”
She nodded, thinking that would be a long shot, since she could hardly remember any details from that day except the one that mattered. The patter of little feet reached us, and a little girl came running into the room, holding a piece of paper in her hand. “Mommy! Mommy! See what I drawed.”
She bounded to her mother’s side, then noticed me and stared with interest. “Who’s that?”
“Hi Ava, I’m Shelby.” Ava leaned against her mother’s legs and studied me. “I was just talking to your mom for a minute. Can I see your drawing?” Suddenly shy, she nodded. I glanced at the blob of black and brown, not knowing what it was. “Wow. That’s nice. I like the colors. Can you tell me about it?”
“This is a dawg. He woofs. Woof, woof.”
“Do you like dogs?” She pursed her lips and nodded.
Misti glanced at me. “Ever since her rescue, the dog is all she talks about.”
I smiled at Ava. “Oh my goodness! I recognize that dog. He’s black and tan, and his name is Coco.” I leaned in a little closer. “Can I tell you a secret?”
Ava’s eyes widened. “Yeah.”
“I know Coco. In fact, he lives with me now. He’s my dog. Maybe if your mommy’s okay with it, you could see him again.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Ava jumped up and down with excitement.
“Ava, settle down, we don’t want to wake up Nana. Remember? You have to use your inside voice.”
“Yeah.” Ava jumped once more, not using her inside voice at all, and so cute, I wanted to jump up and down along with her.
“Come sit down for a minute.” Misti picked Ava up onto her lap, but Ava arched her back and squirmed away. Before Misti could catch her, Ava ran back into the other room.
Misti shook her head and watched her go. “I swear she is always running away. You’d think after getting lost, she’d know better.” She caught my gaze. “So you have Coco? How did that happen?”
I told her the story, and she listened with rapt attention. “It’s kind of crazy that I ended up with him.”
“Wow… no kidding.”
“So… if you’d like, I’d be happy to bring Coco with me tomorrow, when I come.”
“Oh… I don’t know. My mother doesn’t like animals, but maybe it would be okay if we stayed in the backyard.” At my nod, she continued. “I don’t live here. I just stop by when she needs me. My husband and I live a few blocks over.”
“I’ll bet she’s glad to have you so close.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, thinking that her mother tended to need her more often than she used to, and it was getting tiresome. Now with her illness, it was even worse. She’d always been controlling, but now she was more demanding than ever, and her misgivings about buying a house in the neighborhood were coming true. Add in the money her mother had loaned them, and they were in her debt even more.
Hmm… that didn’t sound so great. “Well… I’d better go. But it was nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
I made my way out the door and glanced over my shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She nodded, even though she knew her mother wasn’t likely to agree to see me. Maybe she wouldn’t tell her? Ava would love to see Coco again. So what was wrong with that? “Okay. See you then.”
The door closed behind me, and I hurried back to my car, not sure I’d learned anything of value. It sounded like Carolyn was dealing with an illness of some kind, and she wasn’t handling it very well. I could understand the pressure the illness put on Misti, but it seemed a little deeper than that. Taking the money into account, there was probably a lot more to it.
If Carolyn and Mack had a thing going like Chris thought, Mack’s death could have added to her pain. Maybe that contributed to her unhappiness? Hopefully, I’d see her tomorrow and clear it up, but I didn’t have a lot of hope that talking to her would get me any closer to finding Mack’s killer.
It meant that I’d have to start over, and that was discouraging, but I couldn’t let Coco or Austin down. Still, I’d wait until after talking to Carolyn to worry about that. There was still a possibility she’d know something, and I couldn’t give up on her yet.
At home, I walked in the door to find a furry animal running to greet me. Coco seemed so excited to see me that all
