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Brogan pointed a finger at Poppy. In her sternest voice, she commanded, “Sit. Now.” She watched as the dog reluctantly stopped hopping around and sat beside Stella. “Good dog. We’ve been working on that for weeks.”
After handing both dogs a baby carrot as a treat, Brogan led everyone into the kitchen. “You didn’t have to bring anything. I threw together a salad and put out fresh veggies on the counter. Help yourself to the dip.”
“Sure we did,” Beckett replied, eyeing the vegetable tray with interest. He picked up a cherry tomato and popped it into his mouth. “We practically cleaned you out of food the last time we ate here.”
“Nonsense. But whatever you brought smells great. Should I turn the oven on to keep it warm?”
“Good idea,” Kelly noted. “This is my mother’s scalloped potato recipe. Beckett brought his mom’s baked beans.”
“Where’s the grill master?” Beckett asked.
“Messing with his steak rub. That didn’t come out quite right,” Brogan noted with a grin. “He’s experimenting with the formula, adding in different flavors. He claims the store-bought stuff lacks a certain flavor, so he’s decided to play with the recipe.”
“I’ll go supervise,” Beckett proclaimed, heading outside. “I wouldn’t want him messing up the steaks. He’ll need a second opinion.”
“Where’s Jade and Birk?”
Kelly eyed the hummus and veggies on the counter and selected a celery stick to swipe through the creamy dip. “They were still on the phone with the dog whisperer, your friend Taylor. They’re making progress in getting Mia to treat Miles better. But it’s slow going. Mia’s good with the puppy one day, then she’s back to snarling at him the next. Birk thinks they might have to get Taylor to come up for a professional visit.”
“It sounds like someone else needs to intervene. How come you didn’t bring Brodie and Journey tonight?”
“We hired a dogsitter. Ellie Woodside. She works with Cord at the clinic and does double duty at the shelter. The girl’s a whiz with dogs.”
“Hey, maybe that’s your answer to Mia’s problem with Miles. Get Ellie to work with Mama and son without waiting for Taylor’s schedule to open up.”
“Now, why didn’t I think of that? Ellie’s so good with dogs that they’ll do anything for her. Last week, Cord picked up a stray pit bull mix with an attitude, and Ellie had him eating out of her hand by the end of the day. Plus, she does have a history with Mia. Any progress on the new case?”
She went over the entire day before mentioning Richie Plunkett. “Do you know him?”
“I’m the wrong person to ask. I’ve only been here a few months. Beckett might know. But remember, he hasn’t lived here all that long, either.”
“That’s the problem we’re having. Finding anyone who lived here back then,” Brogan said as she slid the side dishes into the oven to stay warm.
“When do you plan to talk to this guy?”
Brogan lifted a shoulder. “Dunno. Probably tomorrow. But we might need to pull back until after the exhumation. What’s the point of asking questions if we have no idea who she was? Then there’s the next step of finding out who killed her. If there’s no way to prove a link to anyone here, and there’s no DNA, then how does that work? We’re relying on guesswork at this point.”
“That’s the same thing I told Beck,” Lucien said as he pulled open a drawer, rifling through it to find a metal spatula. “Where’s Birk and Jade? The grill’s almost ready for the steaks.”
Jade entered the French doors from the backyard. “Sorry, we’re late. We walked here, came up the pathway through the dunes.”
“What, no dogs?” Lucien asked.
“Nope. We left them home alone in their crates for a couple of hours. We worked all day training them, tuckered them out to the point of exhaustion. Neither dog had much of an attitude when we left.”
Kelly nodded. “We were just talking about Mia and Miles before you got here. You might try hiring Ellie Woodside to work with them. She’s already familiar with both dogs. Maybe she could help us understand why Mia rejected Miles in the first place. ”
“I like that idea,” Jade noted.
“I’ll get beers while I’m in here,” Lucien offered.
“I’ll get them,” Brogan said. “You go put those steaks on. I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten all day.” She went to the fridge and twisted off the caps on three beer bottles. Looking at Kelly, she handed them off. “If you’ll take these out to the guys, I’ll find a nice chardonnay for us.”
“You read my mind,” Kelly murmured as she went outside to deliver the beers.
While Kelly did that, Brogan disappeared into the wine storage unit and perused the shelves.
Jade peered into the small refrigerated cooler. “This is nice.”
