Heavenly Honeymoon (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 15) by Kathi Daley

rescues from a puppy mill that was recently shut down. We have room for fifteen dogs, but that will max us out. The woman I spoke to is looking to place forty dogs, so she’s pretty desperate.”
    “Take them, have them checked out for health issues, and then put the word out that we have dogs to place. We already have a clinic planned for when I get back. If you need the extra space see if you can find a few locals to foster some of our longer-term residents.”
    “Okay, I’ll call the woman back when we’re done. She’ll be relieved we can take so many.”
    “Sometimes I think we need to expand our domestic section to accommodate more animals, and then as soon as I actually start planning an expansion we empty out and have plenty of room.”
    “We normally have plenty of room,” Jeremy reminded me. “It’s all but impossible to plan for these brief influxes when there’s a large rescue operation underway.”
    “Call Nick Benson,” I suggested. ‘The last time I spoke to him, he told me he was thinking about getting another dog. Maybe he’s ready. And even if he isn’t, maybe he’ll be willing to foster a couple of dogs for the short term. I bet my pappy will foster a dog or two as well.”
    “I’ll take care of everything,” Jeremy assured me. “You enjoy your honeymoon. And Zoe . . . try to stay out of trouble.”
    “I will,” I promised. “I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
    I hung up with Jeremy and returned to Zak, who’d managed to dig up some information on our murder victim while I was on the phone.
    “Ricardo Jimenez works for a firm that sells restaurant supplies to large resorts such as this one. He visits the island every couple of months but usually only stays for a couple of days. As far as I can tell, he’s held his current position for five years.”
    “So he would be familiar with the island and the staff,” I said as a seagull landed on the patio next to my chair. The little buggers had been regular visitors ever since they’d discovered there was a very messy little boy who tended to leave crumbs everywhere staying in the house.
    “Looks like,” Zak confirmed.
    “So any of the staff members on the yacht could have motive to kill him,” I concluded.
    “It’s possible.”
    “What about the others?” I asked. “Are any of them regulars on the island?”
    “Based on lodging records, it appears that both Park and Kim Lee and Charles and Piper Belmont are regular visitors to the island. In fact, it looks like Charles and Piper spend time here almost every year. I didn’t find any previous records for Dezi and Lucinda, and I think I remember them saying it was their first visit.”
    “What about Ricardo’s date, Stefana?”
    “I didn’t find lodging records for anyone by that name. I’d say you were correct in your assumption that she’s some type of paid escort. It’s very possible the two could have had dates in the past, although they didn’t seem to know each other all that well. She could be new to the area.”
    “So what does this all mean?” I asked.
    “At this point it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s a start, and we both know we have to start somewhere.”
    I looked out over the calm sea. It was a beautiful afternoon. It seemed crazy to spend it digging into the murder of a man I felt little sympathy for, but I really did want to see the crime solved so I could go home in a week as planned.
    “Other than the fact that the man was a regular visitor to the island as well as an abusive dog hater, can we find out anything else about him?” I asked.
    “I can find out what brand of toothpaste he favored if you wanted to know that,” Zak confirmed.
    “I don’t think that level of detail will be necessary, but what about phone records during the past few weeks?” I asked.
    Zak frowned at the computer. “I can pull up his guest records for the resort. Chances are they’ll list a cell phone number. Once I have that, I can dig up a record of his