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TWENTY
Afew days later, Eden was calling around about used mobile grooming vans for sale. She’d found several online in the area and a couple she could even afford, with a small loan to supplement her savings. Chandler was onboard with the idea too, helping her field calls from her clients and even offering to go with her to check out the vans.
He’d been great, really. Not just with the case stuff, but with everything. With her business, with being her cheerleader when she needed a lift, and with making her feel so good in bed that she was able to forget about everything else. She liked him. A lot, actually. More than she ever imagined she would back when they were kids and she thought of him as nothing more than her brother’s friend. Her brother’s really hot friend.
What she felt for him now was about more than his gorgeous looks and his hot bod, though. She liked who he was inside. His kindness, how he always looked out for her no matter what, how he was considerate of her time and valued her opinions. It was the first time she’d felt like an equal in a relationship and damn if it wasn’t addicting. What she’d always wanted and craved. It almost made her willing to give up her well-loved independence and be with him. Almost. The past still haunted her, though, so she was trying to be cautious, take things slowly, regardless of how much her heart yearned for him.
She was going through her digital appointment book when she came across a name that made her stop. “Oh my gosh.”
“What?” Chandler frowned and leaned in to see what she was looking at. “Something wrong?”
“No—it’s the opposite. Something is very, very right. This woman,” she said, pointing to the name. “Muriel Jenkins. Not sure why I didn’t think about it earlier when that other client came in and talked about working in the group home.”
“Well, there was the fire and all,” Chandler offered, brow raised.
“True. Anyway, Muriel works for the Office of Children and Family Services. She’s been bringing her Bichon in to me for years. We’re friends—good enough friends that I’m sure she’d be willing to do me a favor. Maybe she could look up the Ross brothers and tell us more about their time in the foster system. Including the names and addresses of their foster parents.”
Chandler seemed less enthused than she’d expected. “Maybe. It’s asking a lot from her, though. Most of the information in their system is confidential. She could get in trouble if anyone finds out she was giving it to you. Peter was in the same situation when he checked the visitor logs for me, and I had to promise not to leak his involvement in any of it. We’ve also known him for years. Do you really have enough of a relationship with this woman just from being her dog groomer for the past few years?”
“I’m pretty sure I do,” Eden said, reaching for her phone. “And she owes me. I’ve worked her Bichon in I can’t tell you how many times for last-minute baths. He likes to roll in poo.”
“Ew.” Chandler cringed.
“Exactly. I mean, I’m not going to force her to tell me anything if she really is worried about getting in trouble for it, but once I explain the situation, I’m pretty sure she’ll want to help. If she says yes…this could be a really good lead for us.” She dialed Muriel’s number, waiting for the woman to answer. It felt good, being proactive again after days of cleanup and reacting to the wreckage left behind from the fire. Muriel picked up on the second ring. “Hey, it’s Eden from Perfect Paws. How are you?”
“I’m good, Eden,” Muriel said from the other end of the line. “So sorry to hear about the fire.”
“Thank you.” Eden smiled, winking at Chandler. “Hey, listen. I need to ask a favor of you.
“Shoot.”
“So, the fire the other night…you heard it was arson, right?”
“I heard, yes, but I didn’t want to believe it. Who would attack a dog grooming salon? It seemed so hard to believe.”
“It wasn’t the salon he was attacking. Not really, anyway.” Eden had to take a deep breath to brace herself before saying the words. “It was me. He wanted to kill me.” It never got easier, saying it to people. It was just such a horrible thing, knowing that someone wanted you dead. It was like she was carrying a curse around—a sword of Damocles that was just waiting to fall on her head.
Muriel gasped, and Eden explained the whole story about the crime she’d witnessed and how they now believed the man’s brother was targeting her to make sure she wouldn’t be able to testify.
“That’s so horrible,” Muriel said when Eden was finished. “I can’t believe this is happening to you. Why can’t the police just arrest the brother?”
“The problem right now is that they don’t have a clear reason to look into Terry. The only reason I have to believe he’s the one behind all this is because we found out he’s been visiting Jeff a lot in prison. In fact, he’s the only one who has been visiting Jeff. It makes sense that a brother that dedicated—one who has a criminal history of his own—would be the one attacking me. But…technically, we’re not supposed to have that information about the visits, so we can’t share it with the police.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Muriel replied. “But where do I fit into this? You said you wanted a favor, but what is it you want me to do?”
“Jeff and Terry were orphaned when they were just kids. And from there, they went into the foster system.”
“Oh,” Muriel said. From her tone, it sounded as if she was starting to put the pieces together.
“What we really need to find out is the names and addresses of the foster families they were each placed with. Hopefully, the foster parents can provide a link between Jeff and Terry to give the police a reason to look into Terry.”
Muriel hesitated. “That’s all confidential information. You said you can’t go to the police without revealing your source in the prison. Wouldn’t you have the same problem with the foster mom? Even if you could find one willing to talk to you with information about the brothers, telling the police about her would mean revealing how you got her name and address. I could get into a lot of trouble.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Eden said. “My plan is to convince the foster mom to come forward and contact the police herself. Your name won’t come up at all, I promise. Please, Muriel. The sooner we get the people responsible behind bars, the better.”
“Okay,” Muriel said softly. “I’ll do it.” The sounds of typing issued through the line. “I don’t like the idea of these people running around causing more trouble for you. Or worse. You deserve so much better than that, Eden.”
“Thank you,” she said, meaning it. Eden gave Chandler a nod and he smiled. “I really appreciate it.”
