Leave it to Mac to remember every detail I wished he would forget.
“They came by car,” I said, and tried to steer Mac back into the living room. I hadn’t prepped Seth about not telling anyone, especially Mac, that he had basically run away. Law enforcement officers take that sort of thing seriously.
“Well, I’m going to bed. Night.” Seth and his companion retreated down the hallway.
Mac craned his neck to be sure they were gone.
He put his arm around my shoulder and leaned in to whisper, “This kind of puts a dent in my plans for the evening.”
His proximity and scent of pine trees had me cursing Seth’s timing.
“Mine, too.” I turned toward him and was just settling my arms around his neck when the doorbell rang. My porch hadn’t seen this much traffic in one night since Mom, Vi, and Diana had marshaled the neighbors to do a smudging to remove any traces of the old owner’s spirit after I moved in.
I opened the door to Tom Andrews. Tall and lanky, with dark hair and brown eyes, he flashed a sheepish grin.
“Clyde, sorry to bother you so late but I . . .” He trailed off as Mac stepped into the doorframe.
Tom did snap to attention when he spotted his boss.
“Detective McKenzie! I didn’t know you were here.”
“What is it, Andrews?”
“Oh, well . . .” He looked from me to Mac and back again. “I wanted to ask Clyde about something.”
“You know I don’t want you including civilians in another murder case. This better not be about the death in the woods.” Mac took a step forward, not that any further intimidation was necessary. I cleared my throat to remind him not to threaten.
“No, sir.” Tom stepped back. “I just got a report about a young teen traveling with a small dog. I came to see if Clyde thought it could be Seth.”
My shoulders slumped, and I could feel the heat of Mac’s stare on the back of my head.
“Why would you get a report about Seth?” Mac asked.
“I’m not sure it was Seth.” Tom warmed to his tale and stepped inside. “The report just said a bus driver in Kalamazoo reported a teenager had smuggled a dog onto a bus. He thought they looked a bit lost. He went to find the kid at the bus station but couldn’t. Then he got to thinking about it and reported a possible runaway.” Tom took a breath to continue, looked from me to Mac, and stopped.
“Clyde, did Seth run away from home?” Mac asked.
“Not exactly.” I gave Mac my most winning smile. “He came to visit me . . . without his parents’ knowledge.”
Mac smiled back, but in a threatening way. “Call your sister—I don’t want the NYPD dealing with a false missing persons claim.”
“She doesn’t know he’s missing yet,” I said.
Mac closed his eyes for a few seconds.
“Seth told her he was staying with a friend,” I said.
“When are you planning on telling his mother where he is?” Mac’s jaw was clamped so tight, I was worried about his molars.
“I’ll call her tomorrow.” I glanced at Tom, who looked devastated that he’d caused trouble. “It’ll be fine. Seth is safe, he’s with family. Grace won’t mind.”
Mac stared at me for a moment to let me know he didn’t buy that for a second.
“Um, I’ll just be going now.” Tom backed onto the porch and tripped over the large pumpkin left over from Halloween. He caught himself on the porch railing before squashing it.
After watching to be sure he’d made it safely off the porch, I shut the door and turned to Mac. “Do you think he suspected?” I asked.
Mac shook his head. “I doubt it. His detective skills are still in the . . . development stage.”
“Wanna beer?” I asked.
Mac shook his head. “No, I should be going.” He looked up the stairs. “And I have a lot of interviews lined up tomorrow on this Godwin case.”
He pulled me in for another kiss and I was just forgetting everything else when I heard feet pounding on the stairs.
“Clyde—oh . . . still? I thought I heard the door close.” Seth stood halfway down the stairs examining the walls, the ceiling, the banister, anything to keep from looking at Mac and me.
Mac released me. He sighed, saluted Seth, and went out the front door.
7
Even with the extra hour that the end of daylight saving time had given us, the next morning was more hectic than usual with another dog to walk and a teenager to wake up. It took more than one try. Calling pleasantly from the hallway didn’t work. Calling less pleasantly from the doorway didn’t work. Then I tossed some dog treats onto the bed and watched the melee ensue. It brought back memories of when Seth and I had been thrust together as partners in a dog-walking business engineered by Vi. Though I gave up the dog-walking when Seth went back to New York, I regularly missed hanging out with Seth and the dogs.