“But —”
“I’d hate to call the police, but I will.” She leveled a searing stare at him that said she meant business. But it was hard to be tough when she was sitting on the floor and he stood six feet tall above her. Their stares locked.
“Okay, I’ll leave,” he snapped. “But I’ll be back. Buster is my dog and you can’t refuse to give him to me.” He reached down and stroked Waffle’s head, putting only inches between her face and his. “Don’t worry, Buster,” he said to Waffle. “I’ll be back to rescue you.”
He straightened and stepped back. Waffle sprang forward. Even with all her strength, Sandi barely held him in check. She scrambled to her feet, still hanging onto his collar. “We’ll see about that. Have you ever heard possession is nine-tenths of the law?”
He glared at her. “Oh, yeah? Have you ever heard a picture’s worth a thousand words?”
He turned and stalked out of her shop. The minute he cleared the doorway, she shoved the deadbolt into place and hung up the CLOSED sign. Her heart pounded as she watched him climb into his pickup, still holding the puppy as he drove away. Waffle whined and fidgeted and barked.
Anxiety roiled Sandi’s stomach. For a few seconds, she thought she might throw up. “God, Waffle,” she stage-whispered. “You aren’t really his dog, are you?”
He looked up at her anxiously, his long tail whipping.
“Whatever. You’re happy here now. You’ve got playmates.”
...But I’ll be back. Buster is my dog and you can’t refuse to give him to me. ... Don’t worry, Buster. I’ll be back to rescue you....
Rescue? Had he said RESCUE? The bastard. No dog could have a better home than Waffle had with her.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you go and be a work dog. You deserve better. I’ll put up a fight for you. I’m tired of people walking all over me. If this guy plans to take me on, he’d better pack a lunch.”
She eased away from the door.
Suddenly a weekend at Aunt Ed’s house seemed like a great idea. She stalked to the back room and found her cell phone on the counter, pressed in the Styling Station’s number. Her aunt answered.
“Hi, Aunt Ed. Waffle and I miss Jake so much. We’d love to come and see him. You wouldn’t like a house guest for the weekend, would you?”
“Abso-fuckin’-lutely, babygirl. You haven’t spent the night at my house since you were a little girl. Bring some rubber gloves and cleaning supplies when you come. After we swamp out Jake’s room, we’ll open a bottle of wine and cook up a big steak. Just put your little butt in that SUV and come on down.
“Listen, I’m going to do that. I just have to throw some things together. Is it okay if I bring Pablo and Adolph, too?”
“Who’s that? We’ve only got two extra bedrooms now that Jake moved in.”
“They’re little dogs. At home, I keep them separated from the big dogs and Waffle sort of protects them. Without him there, I’m afraid they’ll get hurt.”
“Sure. We’ll just have an animal party. As long as they don’t beat up my cat.”
Sandi had to laugh. “Aunt Ed, Waffle loves cats. And Pablo and Adolph together don’t weigh fifteen pounds. Neither one of them could beat up a cat if he wanted to.”
Next, she called Betty Ann and arranged for her to mind the store tomorrow. As she drove home, she called Juanita, her friend at WLA and asked her to go to her house tomorrow and do the morning feeding.
At home, she threw some toiletries and a change of clothing in a duffel, grabbed a small tub of dog food and beds and loaded all of it, including cleaning supplies, into the SUV. As she worked, she couldn’t keep from thinking that though she loved all of these animals, they were certainly a lot of trouble. Finally, she loaded a snarling Pablo and a yipping Adolph into an oversize pet carrier and headed for Salt Lick.
***
Nick sat in his truck in Wendy’s parking lot finishing up a hamburger and deciding what to do next. He had planned on spending the afternoon at Sylvia’s house, but now that idea held no appeal. He called her and told her he wouldn’t be stopping by after all.
He needed a different strategy to get Buster back. He had made a mistake barreling over Sandi and insisting on taking him. Of course she was attached to the dog. He was a loveable animal and she had obviously had him a few months. Long enough to bond with him. Nick was known as a patient man and good negotiator who usually persuaded adversaries to his way of thinking. If he ever wanted his old canine pal back, that was what he had to be now.
He disposed of his trash, then started back toward LaBarkery, intending to take a different tack with the store’s owner.
Parking in front of the store, he saw a CLOSED sign hanging inside the front door. But just because she had put that sign up didn’t mean she wasn’t inside. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. When no one came, he gave the door a rattle. Peeking inside, he saw that the place was dark except for the night lights. Shit. Nobody in the retail business would close their store at three o’clock in the afternoon on a weekday.
Sooo....did Buster’s pretty and perky dognapper intend to play dirty?
Nick returned to his truck and started the drive to his place ten miles out of Midland. He glanced over at the sleeping puppy on the passenger seat. Sweet little dog, he thought with affection. He would train him to be a good dog the same way he had trained Buster. Then, when he got Buster back, he would have two good dogs.
***
On Sunday,
