Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (simple ebook reader .txt) 📕

It sounded like Peter had some business that might keep him busy in the precinct for a bit, so I decided to pop over to Will’s back alley veterinary clinic to say hi and fill them in on the case.

Heidi let me in with a squeal and gave me a tight hug, pinning my arms to my sides.

“Oof! You’re crushing me.”

But she just giggled and hugged me tighter. “Will!” she called through the swinging door to the exam room. “Guess who’s here?”

She let me go and skipped back behind the tall front desk to perch on her stool. “You have to tell me everything.”

I didn’t have a chance to answer. Will, my giant bear shifter friend, shoved through from the back, wearing his typical scrubs and white lab coat. He glowered at me from under his bushy brows. “You stole my assistant all night. Better have been worth it, Jolene.” I cocked a brow at him, and he glared back at me.

Heidi rolled her eyes at Will and bounced her foot, neon pink leg warmers up to her knees. “Tell me what’s going on with the murder case? Do you know who killed those women?”

I filled them in. “I think something’s going on with Malorie Rutherford’s husband, though he seems completely clueless and spineless. Their veterinarian seems shady and disgruntled, their recently fired head zookeeper was caught trying to steal a wombat, and we actually arrested her stepdaughter, who admitted to killing her.” I narrowed my eyes. “Though I don’t think she actually did.”

Heidi gaped, and Will pulled his chin back and blinked at me. “Um… why not?”

I heaved a sigh and settled my chin on my crossed arms. “Because she admitted to pushing Malorie, but the woman died of a poisoned dart to the back of the neck.” I narrowed my eyes. “We think. We still have to wait on the coroner’s report.”

Heidi curled her lip and exchanged a look with Will.

I pushed myself back upright. “Plus, the stepdaughter didn’t know anything about our second victim, our mysterious Jane Doe who no one seems to know anything about or even have heard of before.”

Heidi frowned and nibbled the end of a pencil. “Oh!” She gasped, and her eyes lit up. “It was a sanctuary! Were the animals able to tell you anything?”

“No.” I grabbed one of the hard lobby chairs and dragged it over to the front desk. I flopped into it and slumped down, groaning—I’d been on my feet all night.

Will sniffed. “Such a lady.”

I shook my head. “It was… weird. The animals acted like they didn’t understand me or something. But then when I talked to the wombat that woman was trying to steal, it could understand me just fine.”

Will’s already huge eyes grew wider, and he let out a sharp gasp. “Are your powers slipping?” He glared at me. “Was it that last potion Ludolf tested on you?”

“Will!” Heidi whacked him on the arm, but he continued to glare at me.

I sighed. I knew he was coming from a place of caring about my health and safety, but it was getting old. “We’ve been over this. I’m just cooperating with Ludolf while we look into him and try to figure out a way to hopefully put him away for life.”

One of Will’s bushy brows arched. “And how many potions has he tried on you since our little mission started, sister?”

I rolled my eyes. “Two, but they haven’t had any effect, good or bad.”

“Mm-hmm.” He pursed his lips and nodded. “Oh good, just two. And how long do you think this can go on before something terrible happens? A few more tests? Less?” He batted his lashes at me.

I shot him a flat look. “And what do you suggest I do instead?”

He huffed but dropped his gaze. “I already told you I’d give you money—I have old friends in the Earth Kingdom you could stay with.” He hugged his hairy arms tighter around himself.

I shook my head. “I’m tired of hiding.” I shot him a sassy look. “Besides, you agreed to help me look into the sea slug, which makes you as much of a target as I am. Why aren’t you going into hiding with these friends?”

He rolled his eyes. “For one, he’s not testing deadly—”

I held up a finger. “Possibly.”

He glared. “—possibly deadly potions on me, Jolene. Second, you’re not the only one who wants to get out from under Ludolf’s control, okay?”

He grew quieter as he studied the speckled linoleum floor. “And third, those friends are actually two elderly aunts, and I might have accidentally shifted in their presence when I was like sixteen, and might have, again accidentally, eaten one of their precious cats and may, as a result, not be welcome back there. Though they’d love you, so it’d be fine.”

Heidi spun on her stool and gaped at him. “You ate a cat?”

I curled my lip. “Ew.”

Will huffed, indignant. “I was sixteen!”

I gawked. “Is that supposed to make it better?”

“I didn’t know how to control shifting back then, okay, Jolene? My powers had just started kicking in.” He leaned forward and flashed his eyes at me.

Heidi frowned. “Did your aunts tell your parents?”

He rolled his eyes. “My aunts didn’t realize I was the bear. Apparently they walked in, found me in bear form… you know… and then chased me out of the house, and I bounded off into the forest.” He shrugged. “I came back later and pretended I’d been hiding under the bed. When they asked me how the bear got in, I panicked and told them it’d knocked on the door and I let it in without checking who it was first.”

A long moment of silence stretched out.

I pressed my eyes shut and held up a hand. “Hold on… and they believed you?”

“Yes.” Will nodded, emphatically. “And they still haven’t forgiven me to this day for letting a bear into the house.”

“Wow,” Heidi breathed. “Your family’s—”

“What?!” Will shot her a challenging look.

She glanced down at her lap. “Nothing.”

“That’s what