Nonstop Spaniels (Novella) by Linda O. Johnston Read Free Book Online Page B

animal meals were prepared here, just people lunches.
    Inside the kitchen, there were seven chairs around a thick wooden table. Four were occupied, including one by Spencer, Ellie’s boyfriend. That was interesting. Was he on the board, too?
    The place looked like a regular kitchen, with a counter and pantry cupboards around the perimeter. The refrigerator in one corner appeared to be nearly antique, but who cared, as long as it worked?
    Ellie introduced me as Lauren Vancouver, shelter administrator. There was some apparent interest from the other board members, or at least their expressions seemed curious. But when she said I represented Dante DeFrancisco of HotPets, there was a lot of smiling and shifting in their seats. Obviously everyone had heard of Dante—and, undoubtedly, his wealth.
    Then Ellie asked everyone to introduce themselves. The three people I hadn’t met were a frowning retired pet store manager named Joe Sargamel; the PetForYou veterinarian who was now in charge of the PetForYou clinic, Dr. Mort Gerald, a middle-aged African American man; and—very interesting to me—Janine Norgram, Dan Ideman’s ex-girlfriend. She was the woman Warren Bartt had told me about, but he hadn’t mentioned she was on the shelter’s board of directors. Maybe he didn’t know. She was a thirtysomething paralegal, so perhaps she helped to give the board some direction and advice. And presumably their breakup had been somewhat amicable, since she was still around, at least for this purpose.
    But maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to slough her off as a possible suspect.
    Ellie showed me to an empty seat and she sat in another one. She apparently was the board’s chairman—pro tem, at least—since she opened the meeting and seemed ready to preside over it.
    “Let’s start with a moment of silence in memory of our former chairman, Dr. Dan Ideman.”
    Everyone bowed their heads, including me. But I kept mine at an angle where I could see all the other attendees. Each appeared to take the direction seriously—all except the vet’s ex, who was doing just as I was.
    Our eyes met for an instant. Hers were dark brown and cold. Did that indicate animosity? If so, toward whom? Ideman? Me? Other board members?
    I was not the kind of person who jumped to conclusions, but Janine was, at the moment, near the top of my suspect list—just because of first impressions. And because, as an ex, she presumably would have at least a possible motive. Anger? Revenge? I’d have to find out.

Chapter 8
    The official meeting started then. I wasn’t the only non–board member there. Spencer couldn’t vote either, although I heard it confirmed that he, a CPA, provided financial advice to the group.
    The first motion was to elect Ellie the ongoing chairman. That passed unanimously.
    They next discussed other business matters that weren’t directly related to care of the animals. I wasn’t especially interested, so I tuned them out.
    Then Ellie said, “Lauren, I’d like you to talk to us next about Dante DeFrancisco. I gather that he is generously offering to make some kind of contribution to help keep PetForYou going. Is that right? Please tell us more about it.”
    Everyone smiled, and I even got a smattering of applause. I doubted they’d applaud once I explained the conditions of Dante providing help. I began with saying how impressed I was with the facility, and I’d told Dante that. Smiles widened . . . for now.
    “I’m actually not sure how much assistance Dante will want to provide, but it would help if you’d put together a list of how much food and all you require on a weekly basis. He’ll have his people look at it, and then we’ll be able to let you know how many weeks’ worth he’ll be able to contribute from HotPets, and how much in the way of funds he’ll provide, too.”
    “I’ll do that,” Joe Sargamel said, and the choice made sense since, as a former pet store manager, he’d undoubtedly be able to estimate