“This is an illegal search and seizure!” I said.
“Give me a break, Clyde. I’m not going to arrest him. I would like to know who he’s texting so furiously in the middle of this chaos.” He glanced across the street. “Vi seems to be focused on her phone as well. Does she know how to text? Or is she still sending messages through the cats in town?”
I was still attached to the four biggest dogs by their leashes, which were wrapped in my left hand. As Andrews struggled to regain an upright posture, they noticed him and lunged in his direction. I was pulled along and lost my grip on the phone.
Seth was forced to follow by the pulling of his pack, and we watched in horror as Mac glanced at the small metal device divulging all our secrets. His expression went from bemused to stormy as he scrolled through the text conversation between Seth and Vi.
As we stood watching Mac, I noticed my mother’s orange smart car turn the corner about a block away. It drove slowly past the park and then stopped at the curb. Vi darted out from behind the tree just as Mac turned to call her over to our little gathering.
“Ms. Greer! I need to talk to you!” He started toward Vi.
Vi hopped in the passenger side. My mother must have hit the gas pretty hard, because the car took off, its tires squealing. I didn’t know her car could accelerate that fast.
Tom had regained control of his breathing and stood upright, but his face turned an unpleasant shade of green when Mac turned and headed back in our direction.
Mac used his patented stare-down technique on us. I knew what he was doing and carefully avoided eye contact. Seth held up okay, as well. He studied his shoes and waited for the adults to make the first move. I could tell Tom was weakening.
“Mac, I don’t know what you think is going on here, but you have no right to keep Seth’s phone,” I said.
He silently handed it to Seth.
This was going to be tougher than I thought.
“Andrews, what do you have to do with this?” Mac said.
“I don’t . . . I didn’t. Nothing, sir.”
Mac focused his full attention on Tom and, I have to say, it was impressive. Tom was stronger than I thought. He stuck with his story, which put Mac in a tough spot. No one had done anything wrong, but he knew from the phone that we had been watching someone, and he was smart enough to realize that the someone was probably Milo.
Seth’s phone buzzed. We all looked at it. Seth pressed a button on the side and slipped it into his pocket. He bent and patted the dogs, who had also become strangely quiet during this stare-down.
“Okay, you three need to really hear me on this.” Mac looked at each of us. “Stay away from Milo.”
“We weren’t—”
“You aren’t a good liar, Clyde. Don’t even try.”
“You two are not to pursue this investigation.” He pointed at Seth and me. “Andrews, I would pull you off this case right now if I had the manpower to cover your absence.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I understand you want to know who killed Tish. But whoever did it is dangerous. I don’t want more people hurt.”
“Okay,” I said, as sincerely as I could.
Seth glanced at me to see if I was really giving in.
“Okay,” Seth said.
“Someone needs to get a message to Thelma and Louise. Tell them to quit following Milo.” He turned and looked at me. “And tell your mother I’m not against giving her a reckless driving ticket if she keeps leaving tire marks on the street.” Mac bent down, gave a pat to Baxter, and limped up the street.
*
Monday afternoon, my psychic/psycho gang gathered in my mother’s dining room again. Vi had taken to calling it “headquarters.” Seth and I had just returned from morning dog rounds. It had been a long week since discovering Sara’s body, and we all looked worn out. Only Alex was missing, as he was finishing with the lunch crowd. Tuffy joined us at the table; he was on Seth’s lap. Baxter rested his head on the table near Vi. She was knitting something long and orange and kept shrugging him off her arm when he leaned too close.
“I saw Milo buy bacon,” she said.
“Maybe he likes bacon,” said Dad.
“My cats saw him take a shovel and put it in his car,” she said.
“Really? A shovel?” I said. I looked up from the book Diana was showing me. There were more spells and talismans she wanted to try.
“Well, they didn’t call it that. But that’s what they described. They said they could tell he was up to something and he put ‘a large dirt-thrower’ in his car.”
“I’ve been checking the cards, and it’s clear that Milo is involved in all of this somehow,” Mom said.
“Tommy, you said someone’s been digging out in the woods, right?” Vi turned her attention to Tom, who shrank into his chair.
He nodded.
“Why would Milo carry around a shovel unless he’s the one digging up the forest floor?” She set her knitting in her lap and put her hands out as if this was the most logical conclusion in the world.