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“Anything specific happen before you first felt it?”
He shrugged again. “Not that I remember. But on this job, who knows?” He shook his head from side to side. “Feels better when I do this, though.”
Constance came around the desk and stood behind him. “May I?”
“What are you going to do?”
“You asked my part,” she said. “I’m a massage therapist. I work the dogs. Help them heal. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, Detective.”
He laughed, but then took a seat. “Knock yourself out.”
Constance hovered over his neck before she touched his skin. The air around him was warm and a little fizzy. “Lean your head forward.” After he obeyed, she palpated his upper neck, allowing her fingertips to sink in along the spine. Detective Callahan drew a deep breath and expelled it slowly. She spent a couple of minutes there, working soft and slow, starting with fascia and only gradually moving into muscle tissue. After a while, she spoke softly. “Have you been saying yes to something—” Constance gave him some light traction “—that you really want to say no to?”
The detective’s body froze. “What?”
“Not a small thing, like saying yes to meat loaf when you want steak. But a big thing?”
He chuckled softly. “Maybe.”
Constance released him and came around to the front of the desk. “You need to come clean. Until you do, that pain in your neck won’t go away.”
“Come again?” His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“You’re saying no inside, while saying yes with your mouth,” Constance explained. “Yes—” she nodded “—and no—” she shook her head “—occur at different joints. When you’re thinking no, your neurons are already firing for no.” Constance shook her head again. “But you’re thinking no, and saying yes.” She nodded. “The muscles you primed to say no are fired but don’t get to move. And you’re in pain because of it.”
Detective Callahan rubbed his neck and cracked a smile. “So lying is literally a pain in the neck?”
“Sure.” Constance had a better sense of him, now that she’d touched him. He was crisp and tidy as the mint gum he chewed. Hard-nosed and insightful but could list to the lazy side if not kept in check. “Your body tells you everything you need to know. If you pay attention.”
Detective Callahan took his cup of coffee and sipped. “You massage humans? Or just the dogs?”
“Both.” These days, Constance preferred the dogs, but kept that to herself.
“You work at one of those big chains? Massage Glory or whatever?”
Constance collected her purse. “No,” she said. “They can’t afford me.”
He smiled, then handed her a business card. “Here. Call me if you think of anything. That’ll get you straight to me.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, and—” he kept his hand outstretched “—I will take that card of yours. Just in case my buddy needs it.”
Constance dug out one of Pete’s business cards and handed it over. She pointed toward the detective’s neck. “Come clean if you want to feel better.”
As she left, she resisted the urge to rub the back of her own neck. Once she was safely out of the police station, she called Sunny.
“Are you in jail?” Sunny said as soon as she answered.
“No. All good. On my way home.”
“Better stay off the Matteri property for a while. Even the abandoned lots, like where you found Chevy.”
“You give yourself that lecture?” Constance’s voice was terse. “You’re the one who went too far last time you hit Janice’s mill. You took too many at once.”
“I couldn’t help it.” Sunny’s voice went soft. “I wanted to grab them all. In fact, there’s a beagle I want to go back for. He was too afraid to come with me last time—”
“No. You have to lie low with Janice. But that reminds me.” Constance paused and bit her lip. She really shouldn’t egg Sunny on. “Thirteen White Fern Road.”
There was a pause at the other end. “You spotted a new dog?”
“Yes. While I was out working yesterday. I had a travel-to on that road. This was a distant neighbor I drove by. Large, black dog. Maybe a rottweiler? He was outside both before and after the massage. Just seemed thin. Something’s off. But needs further investigation to know for sure.” Constance had never liked the fact that her sister stole dogs. On the other hand, she couldn’t stop herself from letting Sunny know when she saw one that was neglected. It was a dual-edged sword she’d yet to learn how to wield.
“I’ll check it out for sure.”
“All right. But be careful. They might be watching you now.”
“You know I will.”
