Page 8 of Vanish From Sight (High Peaks Murder, Mystery and Crime Thrillers #2)

His face immediately darkened with anger as he noticed there were no more capsules for the coffee maker. He let out a frustrated growl and slammed his iron fist down on the counter, causing a spoon to fall and clatter on the floor.

“What is this, a game?!” He charged to the doorway where he shouted out to no one in particular but seemingly addressed the entire office at once.

“Where the hell is all the coffee?” he demanded to know, his accent becoming thick as his annoyance grew.

“I can’t work in this shit hole without my evening cupper. ”

Noah observed him with curious amusement.

He’d worked with all types over the years. Hard-nosed guys who hardly ever broke a smile, jokers who saw their shift as nothing more than preparation for a future career as a stand-up comedian, through to those who walked the line, nervous that one mistake would be their last.

But this fella. He was a wild card.

McKenzie clenched his fists at his sides and returned to the coffee maker.

“In my day they used to have coffee vending machines. It might have squirted out sludge but in all my years I never saw them run out. This. This right here, is government cutbacks. Why pay for a machine when you can get this cheap piece of Chinese crap! This is unacceptable.” He went to the doorway again, as if expecting someone to rush in with the solution.

“I’m paid to solve crimes. That requires a proper caffeine boost. Where do I get that now? ”

“The local café,” Maisie said.

“On my salary?”

She shrugged.

“You know how much they charge?” He grumbled, returning to search the cabinets, and letting out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

He finally fished out a dirty-looking tea bag that someone had already used and plopped it in a cup.

He turned on the kettle and retreated to a table where there were a few chairs and slumped down with a defeated sigh, realizing that he’d have to make do with weak seconds.

Noah exchanged a look with Maisie who lifted her eyebrows and stifled a laugh before he turned to the Scottish detective who was fuming.

Noah figured he would throw fuel on the fire of his foul mood. “I didn’t see you last night down at the dock.”

“No, because that would require local PD doing their job and picking up the phone.”

“So, you’ll be tackling the case?”

“Haven’t been assigned it.”

“But when you are?”

McKenzie got up as the kettle reached boiling point, a smile dancing.

“When, when, when. That’s an interesting word, sums up this place quite nicely.

When will I be asked to help? When will I have answers to another crime?

When will there be a report on my desk?” He raised his voice, yelling toward the door.

“I’ll tell you when… when you stock the bloody coffee box! ”

Noah figured he wasn’t going to get much more from him while he was feeling short-changed so he queried him about the guy he’d brought in.

“The suspect you brought in. What’s the deal there? ”

“A woman in the community asked us to look into her dogs being taken. As if we don’t have enough on our plate.

Anyway, I get a report of someone acting suspicious around a local park.

I headed out there expecting to find you know, some pervert spying on single mothers, only to find out that he’d apparently taken off with someone’s dog.

I drove around for a while and ended up finding the little rascal walking three dogs in some field over on the south side.

He said he hadn’t stolen them. That he came across them without any owner and planned to drop them off at the shelter in town.

” McKenzie threw up his fingers, creating quote signs in the air.

“That he was just ‘giving them a walk’ before he did that. Anyway, I was able to confirm one of the dogs inside belonged to a couple back at the park. They’d taken their eyes off the dog for but a second and turned around and it was gone.

So you do the math. I figure the other two are someone else’s, perhaps the woman who phoned in. ”

“Have you called the shelter to confirm his story?”

“Aye, you’re a pushy little bastard, aren’t you? I just got in the door.” He took out a pack of smokes and tapped one out.

“Um,” Noah pointed to the wall to where a No Smoking sign was.

He pulled a face. “I wasn’t going to light it. It just eases my nerves. I haven’t lit one in two years.”

Noah raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to speak with this guy. We found a leash and dog collar out near Pulpit Rock. I’m curious to know if he’s ever been out that way.”

“Knock your socks off. Just know he’s not all there. If you get my drift.”

“Right,” Noah replied before heading out.

On his way over to the county jail that was on the same property as the Sheriff’s Office, his phone lit up.

The caller ID was Lena. She was the only one that knew, other than Maddie, Ray and Aunt Gretchen, that he was back in town.

He tapped accept, passing a few deputies on the way out.

Their eyes lit up and they patted him on the arm as if he’d done them a huge favor.

“Lena. You good?”

“I’m fine.”

“The kids?”

“They’re well. I was hoping you might help.”

“If you want the skinny on who the victim is, they haven’t identified her yet.”

“No, I’m not working on that.”

That took him off guard, he expected her to be all over that. “You’re not? Everything okay?”

“Fine. Maggie assigned someone else. No, I was wondering if you could ask Ray and County if they’ve had any reports of dog thefts in the past month. I’ve already tried to get the information but I’m not exactly the most popular person over there with the articles I’ve put out.”

He snorted. “I heard. Why?”

“You know why.”

“No, I meant why do you want to know about the thefts?”

“Well, I had a woman phone me today. She said she wasn’t making much headway with police regarding her two missing French bulldogs.”

Noah stepped outside and saw two officers assisting with the removal of dogs from the back of a blue van. They were small.

“You got a description on them?”

“I can send over a photo.”

“Go ahead.”

“Now?”

“Yeah, Lena.”

“Hold up a second,” Noah said to the deputies. The timing seemed too good to be true and the odds were low as French bulldogs were a common target for thieves. A second or two later, his phone dinged .

“You got that?”

“One second.” He opened his inbox and pulled up the photos with descriptive details. He held up his phone and compared them to the dogs in the back. “Well, I’ll be damned. Hey Zeus. Penelope.” The pups’ heads turned. “Looks like you’ve lucked out. We’ve got them.”

She was all surprised. “What? You do?”

“Yep, and the guy who took them. Have her come down to County. I’ll be here.”