Home Is Where the Bark Is

by Kandy Shepherd

“Shut the damn mongrel up,” snarled Jenna.

  Mack growled again.

  So did Snowball. It was a menacing sound for a small, fluffy white dog.

  Serena got up from her chair. “You,” she breathed. “Not Tony. You.”

  Jenna nodded. “You think you’re so smart, Serena. But you didn’t have a clue, did you? When you apologized to me for my late invoice payment, I almost peed my pants trying not to laugh.”

  Her cruel words hit Serena like a punch in the belly. But she sensed she needed to be careful with her reaction. Her friend was ready to blow. “You’re the smart one, Jenna. We both know that. How . . . how did you do it?”

  “I started off by contacting your clients who bought a lot of my products and told them they would save money if they bought from me directly.”

  “You . . . you undercut my prices?”

  “Some of the clients, like those goody-goody Godfreys, only did it once or twice before they realized the implications it had for you and stopped. With the others, the difference between the wholesale price you would have paid me and the price I charged them meant more profit for me, a little pain for you.”

  A giant-sized shaft of pain shot through her. “Why? What did I do to you to deserve that?”

  “You patronized me. Looked down on me. Always trying to give me a makeover. And you stole my boyfriend.”

  “Jenna, I—” Jenna seriously believed that. There was no point trying to reason with her.

  “Tony had quite the little shrine to Serena St. James in his apartment, I discovered.”

  Serena shuddered at the thought. “What then, Jenna? You were so clever.”

  “I’ve always enjoyed a bit of embezzlement on the side. Right back to college days when I ran a gambling scam. But when your clients asked to pay by credit card, my ideas got bigger. I got a portable skimming device to steal all the details off of their cards when they paid me, and I was on my way.”

  “And . . . and me? Did our friendship mean nothing?”

  “I enjoyed bringing you down, Serena. You didn’t even remember Tim McHugh’s name. You could have had any guy in school. But you had to steal my guy.”

  All the while Jenna had been talking, her eyes darted around the room. But they kept returning to the spotted tote bag she’d brought with her. Serena had noticed it because it was such a clash with Jenna’s outfit. No wonder it clashed. Now she doubted it was a fashion accessory.

  Serena swallowed hard against her sudden terror. Sweat beaded on her top lip. There was more than enough room in that bag for a gun. Or a knife.

  The sickly scent of the white lilies permeated the room. Funeral flowers. Did Jenna speak so freely because she intended to make sure Serena would not be around to repeat her confession to anyone?

  A horrible feeling of déjà vu threatened to freeze Serena to the floor. She was back in the bathroom with her stalker. That time, she had been lucky her friends had come home when they did and given her the chance to lash out with the hair dryer. But this time she was on her own.

  Or was she?

  The dogs were by her side. Vigilant. Sensing something was wrong. Snowball snarled and Mack growled again, that deep, primeval growl that would have turned her insides to jelly if she hadn’t known the dog would never harm her.

  But the sound freaked Jenna enough to have her suddenly lunge for her tote bag and pull out a gun.

  Serena didn’t know whether Jenna intended to shoot Mack or herself. Either way, she wasn’t going to let it happen.

  Fuelled by a rush of fury, she instantly shouted a command. “Mack! Get her!”

  In one bound, Mack launched his massive weight and clamped down on Jenna’s right forearm with his huge jaw. At the same time, with her left hand, Serena grabbed Jenna’s wrist and twisted it so hard the other woman’s fingers released and the gun thudded to the concrete floor.

  With her right hand Serena shoved Jenna with such force the other woman grunted, staggered, and crashed backward against the metal pool fence that marked the boundary of the playroom. Without any further command, Mack reared up to his full, terrifying height, put his enormous paws on Jenna’s shoulders and pinned her to the fence, his bared teeth just inches from Jenna’s face. Then there was a white flash and Snowball went on the attack.

  Jenna screamed.

  For just a split second, Serena’s eyes met Jenna’s. She was shocked at the rage she saw there. Rage. Fear. And then a shift to cunning. “Serena, please,” Jenna choked out.

  But Serena was over any feelings for the so-called friend who had brought deception and danger to Paws-A-While.

  Without a word, she yanked down two of the dog leashes that were hanging on the fence. Using Coco’s hot pink leather leash, she lashed Jenna’s right arm to the metal railing of the fence. When Jenna tried to struggle Mack growled and pushed harder to immobilize her. Serena used the fluorescent yellow of Bessie’s leash to tie Jenna’s left arm to the fence.

  It was all over in what seemed like a flash.

  Nick sat outside Paws-A-While in his parked truck, cracking his knuckles like crazy. He desperately wanted to see Serena but wasn’t sure what kind of reception he would get after last night. Once again he’d pushed her too hard, too fast. And then he’d gotten between her and her friend.

  The lights were on in Paws-A-While. He reckoned she was in there with the dogs. She wouldn’t leave them on their own. He wished he could see what she was doing. Then he remembered the receiver for the micro surveillance camera planted in Mack’s collar. It wasn’t spying. Not really. He was just going to test how well the camera worked. He slid it out of his pocket and switched it on.

  Even before the image came into focus he heard Mack growling, a sound that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Then Jenna’s voice: “A portable skimming device to steal all the details off of their cards when they paid me, and I was on my way.”

  Jenna.

  She was the mastermind. Tony merely her lackey.

  Her voice sounded unhinged.

  And, as far as he knew, Serena was alone with her.

  Nick was out of that truck so fast he scarcely registered he’d opened the door. He called the police on his cell while he was unlocking the front door to Paws-A-While. Then ran without pausing through the reception area and into the playroom.

  The noise was the first thing to greet him. Mack’s fearsome deep growl that sounded like something wrenched from the throat of a wild beast. Two other sets of vicious snarling. All accompanied by a chorus of shrill yapping.

  Jenna, her face white with terror, was immobilized by a pack of Paws-A-While dogs and tied up with brightly colored dog leashes. Mack had her pinned back to the playroom fence, his plate-sized paws planted firmly on her shoulders, his muzzle right up next to her face, his lips pulled back from his face in a terrible snarl that revealed his razor-sharp white teeth. His drool dribbled on the fabric of her shirt.

  Snowball hurled himself at Jenna’s legs, prefacing each attack with a fearsome growl. The drops of blood at thigh level on the fabric of her torn pants indicated he had already met his target at least once. Brutus sat and stared up at Jenna’s face, growling fiercely without pause, which must have been disconcerting for Jenna.

  Coco and Tinkerbelle ran around and around Jenna’s legs, uttering a series of high-pitched yaps that evoked a feeling of panic just to hear them. Bessie joined in but with just the occasional yip.

  A short-barrel revolver—it looked like a Springfield XD compact—lay on the ground out of reach.

  Serena stood on guard, her arms folded against her chest, breathing heavily, triumph emanating from every pore. “She went for us. We went for her,” she explained.

  “Call them off,” choked Jenna.

  “No,” said Serena, in her commanding boss-lady voice.

  Two strides took him to Serena’s side. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “But I’m sure glad to see you.” She leaned against him when he put his arm around her.
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  “Wonder Woman in action,” he said, his admiration overcoming his fear for her.

  “You could say that.”

  “Call off the damn dogs,” cried Jenna.

  Nick turned to face her. “Not until you tell us every detail of the frauds you committed against Serena Oakley and the clients of Paws-A-While and the whereabouts of the proceeds. I need dates, bank accounts, everything. I particularly want to know where the cash is that you stole from Serena.”

  A sly look stole across Jenna’s stolid features. Even in the unenviable position in which she found herself she intended to scam him by denying it all afterward.

  “You are being recorded—and videoed,” he said.

  “Sure I am,” she sneered. “Where’s the camera?”

  “On Mack’s collar. He’s captured a very good angle of your face.” Nick held up the receiver to her. “See. Not quite wide-screen TV but more than adequate as evidence for the police and courts.”

  Jenna’s resulting string of curses was among the most colorful he’d heard at any time in his career.

  “I want something more coherent than that,” he ordered. “C’mon. Start talking. Or I’ll tell Mack to get a little closer.”

  Jenna started talking.

  “Down, Mack,” commanded Nick. Immediately, Mack pulled away from Jenna and put all four paws on the ground. “Then drop,” said Nick. Mack dropped to a comfortable recording position near his quarry. “Good boy.”

  Nick checked the leashes that Serena had used to secure Jenna. She’d done an excellent job. “Keep talking,” he said to Jenna.

  Mack looked up and tipped his head to one side, his gaze intent on his master’s face. “That brave act of heroism deserves a burger,” Nick said to his dog. Mack tipped his head to the other side. “Maybe two,” said Nick.

  Serena called off the other dogs.

  “Oh, Snowball.” Serena scooped up her little Maltese and rained kisses on his furry, white head. “That’s the second time you’ve fought for me, you brave little boy.”

  “What about this big boy?” Nick asked.

  Serena must have sensed his uncertainty because she put Snowball down and came to him, walked into his arms, and hugged him as tightly as she could. “After . . . after the way I behaved last night I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “I’ll never forgive myself for not getting here earlier,” he said, holding her.

  And then the police sirens wailed down Filbert Street.

  Twenty-five

  Serena sat cross-legged on her living room floor playing her guitar. She hadn’t played it for a long time. But she badly needed distraction to stop herself from reliving the devastating scene of Jenna’s betrayal just hours before.

  Nick was in the kitchen fixing her some lunch. She hadn’t had to ask him for some quiet time alone with her music and her dogs. He had seemed to sense she needed it.

  She strummed a series of random chords, playing whatever music her fingers found. As she fooled around with different rhythms, different chords, she felt the tension begin to ease. She remembered a tune she used to play as a teenager, a calming melody that had brought her peace during the turmoil of those years.

  She played to a doggy audience. The three dogs had placed themselves around her in a protective semicircle. Mack was closest, head on paws, brow creased, his eyes watching her every move. She could still see the wolf in her beloved gentle giant. Whether Jenna would have used the gun or not, Serena would never know because she and Mack hadn’t given her so-called friend a chance in hell.

  Snowball lay to one side of Mack, Bessie the other. The music seemed to soothe the little dogs, but they also didn’t sleep. Serena knew they were still watching out for her.

  She kept on playing. Gradually she felt her fears fade away with the music. Nick was here. The dogs were here. She was safe.

  Nick stood at the doorway to Serena’s living room. He thought he had never seen such a beautiful picture. Serena’s head bent over her guitar, her dark hair falling across her face, her elegant fingers creating music that seemed to soothe the soul of everyone in the room. Dogs included.

  He’d seen the guitar on his first visit to her apartment but had never had the chance to ask her if she played. There was still so much he looked forward to finding out about her.

  Mack thumped his tail in greeting and Serena looked up. She smiled that special smile that Nick knew was only for him. For a long moment their gazes locked. A knot of emotion seemed to tighten around his heart. He would never, ever forgive himself for not having been there when she needed him. Though Wonder Woman had done an amazing job of defending herself and disarming her assailant.

  He cleared his throat. “You okay?”

  She put down her guitar. “Much better, thank you. It . . . it was such a shock. I still can’t believe Jenna had been building up to all that since high school.”

  Nick settled down in the armchair beside her. “It was traumatic all right. Do you need to see anyone? The police suggested a counselor.”

  She shook her head. “All I need is you.”

  He picked up her hand and held it. “I’m here.”

  Serena squeezed his hand in reply. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Serena spoke again. “You know what was one of the biggest shocks for me?”

  There were a lot to choose from. “No,” he said.

  “That Jenna didn’t make those expensive dog treats. She paid a couple of college kids a pittance to cook them for her.”

  “It was just another scam for her.”

  “I don’t think she even liked dogs. She just saw them as an opportunity to make money.”

  “I daresay other, worse things she’s done will surface.”

  “And yet . . .” Serena’s face was pensive.

  “And yet you still feel sorry for her?”

  “Yes. And that’s just plain dumb, isn’t it?”

  Nick shook his head. “There was a genuine thread of friendship there before Jenna twisted and distorted it.”

  “I keep wondering what I could have done differently.”

  “Nothing.You can’t be responsible for Jenna’s warped mind. Just remember the fun times you had with her and put the rest behind you.”

  “Well, I certainly won’t be baking cookies to take to her in jail.”

  Nick laughed. “Uh, if your cookies are like your lasagna . . .”

  Serena’s eyes danced. “I might surprise you with some home baking some time. It can’t be that difficult.”

  “Remind me to be out of town that day, will you?” He’d decided there was only room in the kitchen for one person in this family, and that would be him.

  Serena unfolded her long, willowy limbs and got up from the floor. To his delight she promptly sat down in his lap. Nick smoothed her hair back from where it had fallen across her face. Then he kissed her, long and thoroughly. This was where he wanted her. With him. The sight that had met him at Paws-A-While would be emblazoned forever in his mind. If Mack hadn’t been such a hero, it could have been a different story.

  “I should have gotten there earlier this morning,” he said. “But I had a good reason for being late.”

  Serena pulled back from his embrace so she could better see his face.

  “Aunt Alice came home,” he said.

  “Wasn’t she still on vacation?”

  “She decided to come back early.”

  Serena couldn’t keep the disappointment from her voice. “So you have to move out. Oh, Nick, that’s such a shame. I love that house.”

  “I know you do. Which is why I want to buy it.”

  Serena crinkled her small, straight nose. “Huh? I don’t get it.”

  “After all the years in Sausalito, Aunt Alice has decided to move to Seattle.”

  “Seattle? How could she leave her beautiful house?”

  “Her mind’s made up. She wants to sell.”

  “And you want to buy.”

  He cradled her face in his
hands and looked deep into her eyes. “I want to buy that house for us, Serena.”

  “For . . . for us? To . . . to live in? Together?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t want to wait any longer to show his hand. “What do you say?”

  She smiled her luminous smile. “I say yes!”

  His heart sang at her answer. Now would be the time for him to whip out a little velvet box and pull out a diamond ring. But for Serena to agree to living with him was an enormous step forward. He’d give her some more time before he talked marriage.

  Serena could not contain her joy. She planted tiny kisses all over Nick’s face until he was laughing and protesting and kissing her back all at once. But finally she sobered and pulled back from his kisses, though she had no intention of vacating his lap.

  “Nick, you know how much I love your aunt’s house and I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than living there with you in it. Snowball and Thelma will be moving in, too, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “What about Bessie? Do we get to keep her?”

  “She’ll be going with Aunt Alice. But she’ll visit.”

  How could she ever have thought that his eyes were cold?

  “But I’m wondering about house prices in Sausalito,” she said. “Your aunt will want a fair market valuation.”

  Nick drew a deep breath. “I own a plot of land back in the valley. My grandfather left it to me, and my brother farms it for me. It’s valuable land. My neighbor has wanted to buy it for years. I intend to sell to him.”

  Serena twisted around in his lap. “Nick. No. You can’t do that. Do you know how amazing it is, to own land your grandfather farmed? No way can you sell it.”

  As a kid she had longed to have those deep connections. If you were lucky enough to have it, you did not sell your heritage. Even for a wonderful house in Sausalito.

  “I don’t want to sell the land, Serena. But my business is new and you’re right about house prices in Sausalito. If I want to buy Aunt Alice’s house for you, I have to sell my land.”

  “For us. You said you were going to buy it for us.” She liked that word, “us.” Or at least she liked it when Nick said it. “There is another way, Nick.”