Killer Deadline - Lauren Carr Page 0,2

the boxer dog secured in the back seat. “You’re not a moron.”

Elmo responded by licking his pushed in snout with his long, thick tongue.

“Let’s get this over with.”

With that, she took her foot off the brake and pulled up to park behind a candy apple red Lexus. She turned off her royal blue SUV and unfastened her seatbelt. In doing so, she cast a glance at the apartment windows visible above the foliage of the side gardens.

She wondered if he was watching for her arrival, or was he already at the party? How did he feel about her return to Pine Grove? Excited? Apprehensive? Indifferent?

Wish I could feel indifferent. If I hadn’t been an idiot — The knock on the driver’s side window startled her from her thoughts.

An older woman with long dark hair streaked with silver smiled at her through the window. “Nikki, is that—”

“Is that Elmo?” The younger woman next to her blurted out. She held a little girl in her arms. Both pressed against the rear window to peer at the dog, who stood in his seat and wagged his tail. “That is Elmo!” She whipped her cell phone from the bag slung from her shoulder. “Can we have a selfie with him?”

“Don’t you think you should say hello to Nikki, first?” the older woman asked. “She just drove all the way here from Nevada.” She turned back to Nikki, who climbed out of the SUV. “It’s great to have you back home, Nikki. Your mother is very excited. The whole station is thrilled about you taking over. They can’t wait to see what you have planned to take WKPG to the next level.” She turned to the young mother and child waving at the dog through the window. “Do you remember Katie?”

The name struck Nikki like a bolt of lightning.

Katie!

As a teenager, she had babysat the youngster who at that time had been a preschooler. The older woman, Debra, had been her father’s administrative assistant and office manager.

“And this is my granddaughter Fiona.” Debra ran her hand across the top of the toddler’s dark hair.

Oh, man! Katie is a mother! Nikki felt twice as old as her thirty-five years. She shoved the sense of instant aging aside and yanked open the rear door of the vehicle to release Elmo from his seatbelt.

His tail wagging, the boxer dog practically jumped into Katie’s arms. Perched at her mother’s feet, Fiona was small enough to be face to face with the big dog.

Instantly, Katie began snapping pictures.

Elmo faced the camera, opened his generous mouth, and dropped his long tongue to the side to smile at the camera. Fiona wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned.

“Oh, this is going to get so many likes,” Katie said. “I’ll be sure to tag Elmo. You’ll share it to his page, won’t you, Nikki?”

“Of course, I will.” Nikki was aware of Debra rolling her eyes behind them.

“I want to introduce Elmo to my friends.” With Elmo’s leash in her hand, Fiona hopped up and down.

Together, Katie, Fiona, and Elmo trotted up the walkway and into the house.

Debra stayed with Nikki, who collected her purse and overnight bag from her vehicle. “Nothing like having a celebrity guest to make a party a hit.”

“If anyone had told me five years ago that I’d be human to a canine social media influencer, I would have told them that the world would have to go mad first. Little did I know.”

Together, they strolled toward the front door.

“Do you get that a lot? People wanting to be photographed with your dog?”

Nikki laughed. “Would you believe during the last governor’s race in Nevada, both candidates offered me $500 to have their pictures taken with Elmo and posted online?” She paused with her hand on the door handle. “Apparently, being Elmo’s friend increases your cool factor ten percentage points—according to their campaign managers.”

“Did you take the money?”

“Of course, I did. I’m no fool.”

They stepped through the cut-glass doors into the foyer. Shrieks of delight from the game room located in the finished basement told Nikki where her dog had gone. Debra deserted Nikki to give chase after her granddaughter, who she saw zeroing in on the dessert table in the formal dining room.

“Elmo is working the crowd, as always.” Kathleen Bryant declared while descending the staircase from the upper floor to greet her daughter. “Welcome home, darling.” She took Nikki into a warm hug. As they parted, a wicked grin crossed Kathleen’s face. “I hate to say this, but