Parrots and Payback

  Parrots and Payback

  Ruby Loren

  Copyright © 2017 by Ruby Loren

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  British Author

  Books in the Series

  About this Book

  1. Death of a Valentine

  2. Cry Wolf

  3. Lovebirds

  4. The not so Great Escape

  5. Partners in Crime

  Books in the Series

  A review is worth its weight in gold!

  Also by Ruby Loren

  British Author

  Please note, this book is written in British English and contains British spellings.

  Books in the Series

  Penguins and Mortal Peril

  The Silence of the Snakes

  Murder is a Monkey’s Game

  Lions and the Living Dead

  The Peacock’s Poison

  A Memory for Murder

  Whales and a Watery Grave

  Chameleons and a Corpse

  Foxes and Fatal Attraction

  Monday’s Murderer

  * * *

  Prequel: Parrots and Payback

  About this Book

  Parrots and Payback is the short story prequel to the Madigan Amos series. It can be picked up at any point in the series, or read before. It doesn’t contain spoilers for the later books and I hope it provides some fun insight into Madi’s life before the murders begin!

  This story is my gift to you, my lovely reader.

  Much love,

  Ruby x

  1

  Death of a Valentine

  Valentine’s Day had never been much of a big deal at Avery Zoo until the crime writer came to visit.

  None of the staff at the zoo seemed to know precisely why he’d picked Avery as the place to promote his brand new book. I’d asked my manager, Morgan, (who liked to read crime books) if he knew if the book perhaps featured the zoo in some way. He’d said he didn’t know. Crime writer Stephen McClean’s latest thriller was due to be released on Valentine’s Day itself and was firmly under wraps until then.

  I glanced at one of the posters advertising today’s event on my way to feed the wallabies. The odd-job zoo workers had pasted them everywhere, and I still thought they looked strange. Most of the events at Avery Zoo involved animals in some way. We had Father Christmas and his reindeer in the winter, and then it was rabbits and chicks for Easter. The previous year, the zoo hadn’t even bothered to promote Valentine’s Day. The only people who’d come to the restaurant were desperate men who’d forgotten to book anywhere else and had picked the zoo as a last resort.

  This year was different.

  According to Jenna, the head of the reception staff and the zoo’s queen of gossip, tickets for Stephen McClean’s talk had sold out. Jenna herself had been really excited when she’d spouted that information to me whilst I’d been in the middle of trying to wake myself up with a particularly strong cup of coffee on Monday morning. She’d confided that she was working on a crime novel herself. I’d asked what the story was about, but she’d clammed up. I am sorry to say that enquiring about her book was as far as I’d been willing to go in terms of bonding.

  She wasn’t the only one who’d been excited by the prospective visit. As well as being a well-known author, Stephen McClean was also reportedly quite good-looking. I’d overheard Jessy and Rachel discussing their ploys to meet him on another one of my trips to the staffroom - this time for my preferred beverage of hot chocolate. Jessy was the office manager and Rachel worked in the office as part of the zoo’s HR department. Both, like Jenna, were long-time employees of the zoo who had a fondness for eye candy the zoo’s staff couldn’t keep up with.

  I placed the wallabies’ food - a few pieces of fruit and the vet approved diet - down on the ground and watched the group gather around in the early morning mist. The enclosure was looking a little tired, I thought, taking in the moss-covered wooden shelters and sparse grass - subjected to constant wallaby grazing. I ran a hand through my blonde hair, which wasn’t overly cloud-like for once. The cold weather had done me a few favours, although I wasn’t sure it was worth the trade-off for having numb fingers.

  “Happy Valentine’s Day, Winston. Have you got anyone special to share it with?” I said to my favourite wallaby, who always came over for a stroke after he’d eaten. Zookeepers weren’t supposed to have favourites, but bottle-reared Winston had always been a delight compared to the other skittish wallabies.

  “At least we’ve got each other,” I told him with a smile.

  “Madi?”

  A voice from beyond the mist made me jump. I waited for a second until it shifted and cleared a little. Auryn Avery, son of Erin Avery, the head of the board of directors for Avery Zoo, stood by the fence.

  I wondered how much of my conversation with Winston he’d overheard.

  “Hi Auryn, what can I do for you?”

  Since I’d worked at Avery Zoo, I’d always been friendly with Auryn. He was training as an apprentice keeper and attending a university course on the side. I wasn’t sure what the course was, but the zoo gossip would have it known that Auryn wanted to be a zookeeper. Unfortunately, his father wanted him to learn business in preparation for his one day taking over the running of the zoo.

  If I’d thought it was appropriate to share my opinion, I’d have told Auryn to do what he felt most passionate about.

  “I’m not actually sure. My father said that there’s a job he needs doing. He asked me to find someone resourceful. I thought of you,” the apprentice keeper said.

  I looked at Auryn in surprise. Two spots of colour danced across his cheeks for a moment. Auryn had a beautiful face that I knew was only going to get better as he got a little older. He was already the heartthrob of many of the girls who worked at the zoo but he still lacked assurance. I hoped he would stay humble in spite of the attention he’d already started to get.

  “I’ve just finished feeding the wallabies. I have some other jobs to do, but I can come with you now,” I said, wanting to be clear about the duties I would be missing. But, you didn’t argue with the head of the board.

  I walked out of the enclosure and round through the staff area until I reached the door that led back into the main zoo and was able to reconvene with Auryn. After a brief stroll through the mist, we reached the reception block, which also housed the offices where all non-public facing zoo staff worked.

  Auryn pushed open the door to a small conference room. We entered to find the head of the board of directors himself - Erin Avery - standing by the window.

  He turned around and inclined his head. There wasn’t a smile on his face. “I have a small complication I hope you will both be able to help me with,” he began without so much as a ‘hello’. “As you are aware, today we are going to be graced with the presence of local author, Stephen McClean. We are fortunate that he chose Avery Zoo as the venue to launch his brand new book from.” A muscle tensed in Erin Avery’s jaw. He looked away out of the window. “His agent informed me he wanted to use the zoo as a venue because his book features lovebirds, and we happen to have a proliferation of them. He’s hoping to hold a photoshoot in the enclosure this morning with the book.”

  I nodded, wondering if I was missing something. Did he just want someone to supervise the author as he went around the zoo?

  “It turns out that much like the mysteries Mr McClean pens, we haven’t been given the whole picture until a
few moments prior to the grand conclusion. This morning, I received a phone call from the writer himself explaining the real reason he’s chosen to launch his book at our zoo - and it has nothing to do with lovebirds.”

  Erin’s pale eyes met both mine and Auryn’s in turn. “Stephen claims that there is someone here at this zoo with whom he has had relations in the past. He is now engaged to be married and is concerned that some, ah… past transgressions… may endanger his current situation.” He glanced down at his watch. “Regretfully, I have a lot to organise today in order to ensure this event is a success for all parties involved. Stephen McClean should be arriving in a few minutes’ time. I’m relying on you both to meet him, discuss his concerns, and do everything within our power to resolve them. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how good this additional publicity is for Avery.” He ran a hand through his blonde hair. “Do whatever you can to make this man happy. His agent sounded like he was close to having a nervous breakdown when we first set all of this up, but I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it.” He inclined his head once more and exited the room, leaving me standing there with Auryn.

  “Who do you think it is that the writer is so worried about?” the future zoo owner asked me.

  “I’ve no idea,” I said, but I wasn’t telling the truth. I had a shrewd idea of a few potential candidates for this person Stephen McClean needed to discuss so urgently. Hadn’t I already noted just how excited several members of the zoo staff had been at the prospect of the famous crime writer coming for a visit? Especially one considered to be ‘good-looking’…

  I was about to voice my thoughts to Auryn when he took a couple of steps forwards and pointed out of the window. “I think that’s him now! We’d better go and greet him before anyone else can.”

  We walked across the gravelled car park and I got my first look at the renowned thriller writer, Stephen McClean. My first thought was that he looked more like an explorer than an author. He was wearing tan coloured chinos and a deliberately off-white shirt with the top buttons left carelessly open. Light grey hair, worn longer than most men were able to pull off, touched the top of his collar and his dark eyes were only just showing the first few lines at their corners. In spite of his hair colour, I’d have placed him in his late thirties.

  “Mr McClean?” Auryn said, stepping forwards with a PR smile already on his face - or what would have been a PR smile if it were me. To Auryn, things like smiling at strangers came naturally.

  “Yes,” the author said, stretching out a hand for Auryn to give a hearty shake.

  “I’m Auryn Avery and this is Madigan Amos. We’re here to discuss any concerns you may have before the event begins,” Auryn said, tactfully. He raised his eyebrows enquiringly.

  The crime writer nodded. “I hope you’ll be able to help me,” he said, just as vaguely.

  Auryn gestured for him to follow us back into the building. It wasn’t long before we were back in the small conference room with the writer.

  “My father mentioned that there is someone at the zoo you know from your past?” Auryn ventured.

  The crime writer laughed, but it was a humourless sound. “It wasn’t one of my greatest decisions, but yes, I believe she still works here. The problem is, I don’t think she used her real name. I’m not even sure what she really looked like. She had blonde hair, but it could have been a wig, and she wore makeup… but it was such a long time ago. I doubt I’d recognise her if I saw her. This is madness! I knew to come here because I had her IP address traced. It came up as being at the zoo,” he explained.

  “What exactly is this mystery woman doing to you?” I asked.

  “I met her at a book signing a few years ago. She told me she loved my work and was a huge fan.” Stephen looked across at me. “You know… exactly the kind of thing an author wants to hear.” He shook his magnificent grey hair. “Anyway, I took her out for dinner and one thing led to another. We had a bit of fun, but it didn’t work out. Now I’m engaged and everything’s come back to bite me.”

  “How so?” Auryn pressed.

  Stephen McClean walked over to the conference room window and looked out, dramatically striking a pose that I shrewdly thought was carefully calculated. “This woman has some photos of me that I would rather didn’t exist. I happen to know she’s planning to use them to break up my engagement.”

  2

  Cry Wolf

  “Has she threatened you with blackmail?” I asked, finding it hard to believe that a crime writer, of all people, hadn’t already gone to the police, if that were the case.

  Stephen shook his head and then rubbed a hand through his silver hair. “No, well… not exactly.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to face us. “Look, it’s probably best if I tell you the whole story. Then I hope you’ll understand exactly what’s at stake.”

  I tried to keep a straight face and not roll my eyes. I couldn’t wait to hear his reasoning behind all of this.

  “I’ve already said how it began between this lady and me. Once our brief fling was over, I thought that was that. It was all fine, for a couple of years actually… until I proposed to Diana.” The crime writer smiled a little when he thought of his wife-to-be.

  “I don’t like to tootle my own trumpet, but our engagement did make a bit of a splash in the papers.” He frowned. “Admittedly, mostly because of Diana’s acting career. Anyway, it was publicised, and it didn’t go unnoticed. I’d forgotten all about everything that had happened with this lady, so it came as quite a surprise when I got a text from a number I must have deleted.”

  He took a deep breath. “This woman reminded me of the existence of certain photos and told me to call off the engagement, or she’d send the photos to Diana.”

  “She didn’t ask for money?” I clarified.

  Stephen shook his head. “She just seems to not want me to marry anyone. It’s the kind of obsessive behaviour I write about in my books. But books are one thing… experiencing it firsthand is quite another.”

  I looked sideways at Auryn. He looked blankly back. I suppose I should have expected that. He didn’t know the women of the zoo the way I did. There were a few suspects on my list already, but what Stephen McClean was saying didn’t match up with my experience of any of them. I could imagine quite a few of the zoo’s staff throwing a strop because they were jealous of an ex’s happiness, but I very much doubted that this woman’s behaviour had anything to do with being obsessive. It was far more likely they just wanted to make a scene.

  “Have you tried speaking to this woman?” I asked, perhaps a little too blithely, because Stephen threw me a funny look.

  “Of course! I’ve messaged her. I’ve even tried calling her. All I wanted was to come to an arrangement where those photos could be destroyed. At first, I thought she wanted money but was waiting for me to offer it, rather than asking.” He shrugged. “It soon became clear that this was about me - not money.” He sighed and turned away to look out of the window again.

  This time I did roll my eyes. It was too bad he and this mystery woman had broken up. From what he was saying, it sounded like the pair of drama queens deserved one another.

  “What did you do next?” Auryn asked, probably because he sensed I was a hair’s breadth away from voicing my true thoughts on the matter.

  “I was forced to take stronger action,” the crime writer said, sounding duly solemn. “I contracted a few of my shadier contacts to access her mobile phone and computer drive.” He cleared his throat. “Well, something like that. It sounded far more clever when they said it - which is why they’re my contacts. It’s so they can make my books sound clever. Anyway, they wiped the devices, which wasn’t actually what I wanted them to do.” He sighed. “I probably need some better contacts. They were hardly subtle. This woman immediately texted me to ask what the heck I’d done. But worse… she sent me a photo of the photos, proving that my efforts had been in vain. There was something else, too. In the photo she sent, I saw a letterhead in
the background - one with your zoo’s name on it. It just confirmed what I already knew.” He pushed a hand through his grey hair. “Now, I’ve been given an ultimatum. I have to announce to the press and the public that I’m calling off my engagement today, or she’ll release the photos… to the world!”

  I opened my mouth to ask him if there was a particular reason why he’d find that so damaging, but I thought I was being a bit harsh. I opted for something safer. “Have you considered explaining the situation to Diana? A lot of people make mistakes in past relationships. Honesty is always the best policy,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. Relationships weren’t actually my forte…

  “I can’t. You don't understand. Those photos…” A blush rose in the crime writer’s cheeks.

  Okay, so maybe honesty wasn’t always the best policy.

  McClean stopped strutting around for a moment and fixed us with a sincere look. “Believe me, I never wanted to drag anyone else into this mess. I love the woman I’m going to marry, and I don’t want to lose her because of a mistake I made in the past - one which I’d assumed was forgotten. I do hate to ask, but I need your help. Do you think there’s any way you can find out who this person is and get her to change her mind? I know I’m a hard man to get over, but surely there must be a way to appease her?” He cleared his throat. “Or, if you just happened to locate the hard copies of the photos…”

  “You know for sure that they’re hard copies?” I asked, picking up on that.

  All of a sudden, Stephen McClean looked very uncomfortable. “Yes, they must be. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had them anymore, after everything got wiped. The picture she sent me afterwards made it look like they were real - you know, printed on paper.”