by Lori Leger
“That’s what I hear.”
The man whipped a business card out of his shirt pocket as quick as a psychic moonlighting as a magician. “Sounds like you may need a security system.”
“I don’t know about that.” Zach refused to reach for it, and the pushy S-O-B reached over and dropped it in his shirt pocket.
“Seriously?” The man pointed to the padlock and the splintered wood around the door’s edge. “That’s not what I see.”
“Well, you doing what you do, you’ll see what you want to see, won’t you?” He reached for the business card in his pocket and tore it in two before dropping it into a trash bin by the back door.
Jack Stanley laughed jovially considering the dig he’d just received. He jumped back as Zeus ran out from under the truck. “Jesus, that’s a big dog!”
“Zeus, heel.” Zach nodded as the dog sat obediently to his left side. “He’s not quite a year, still got some growing to do. His dad pushed ninety pounds, easy.”
“It must cost you a fortune to feed that son of a bitch.”
“No, not really.”
“Oh, sure, sure, you own a feed store. I bet you cut a deal with the suppliers every now and then. They give you a couple of hundred pounds off the top when nobody’s looking?”
Zach sent the man an icy glare, then shook his head in disgust. “Nah, but I did cut a deal with the people in my neighborhood. They send all their pushy door-to-door salesman to my place and Zeus takes care of ‘em for everyone. We never have to deal with those sons of bitches again.” He pointed at the NO SOLICITATION sign tacked above the doorway. “I’ll decide if and when I need a security system.”
Jack’s face turned a mottled shade of crimson before turning to head back to his car.
Because he could, Zach snapped his fingers and pointed. By the time Jack reached the door of his Cadillac, Zeus was there to safeguard against any efforts by the scumbag to make a last second sales pitch. Normally, the animal would have stood and looked threatening without actually being a threat. For some reason, it didn’t happen quite that way.
More than an hour later, Zach drug himself through the back door of his and Cat’s home. The delectable aroma of pecan and spicy pumpkin pies would have made his mouth water at any other time. Tonight, it only made his stomach turn.
Cat walked from the laundry room, carrying a stack of folded bath towels. “Hey babe, I’ve been calling your phone. I was beginning to wonder if you were spending the night there.” She stopped as he turned to face her. “What happened?”
“It’s Zeus—”
“No! He got hit? Oh, God.”
Zach went to his wife, trying to calm her. “No, he’s all right, but … he’s in jail. A salesman came by, trying to push a security system on me and I turned him down.” Still fighting off his own shock, Zach described how Zeus had gone ape-shit-crazy—growling, barking and snapping as soon as the man had opened the door of his SUV. “I called him off as quickly as I could, but not soon enough to keep him from scaring the crap outta that guy.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Zeus is a sweetheart. He’s a big, sweet, bear of a dog.”
Zach pulled his softhearted wife into his arms. “I know, but I could tell that guy was a slime-ball as soon as he stepped out of his fancy black Cadillac. Even before I knew who he was.”
“Who?”
Zach, took a deep breath, knowing his wife deserved to know. “His name is Jack Stanley, from Stanley Home Security in Jennings.” He waited to see if the info would garner any reaction.
Cat frowned, then shook her head. “I don’t think I know him. I wonder what set Zeus off.”
“My guess is that he’s as good a judge of character as his master.”
She shrugged. “Either that, or he acted on the signals you were giving him. Poor Zeus. Where are they keeping him, and for how long? What’s going to happen to him?”
“He’s at the pound in Jennings. I don’t know for how long, and I have no idea what will happen. But I doubt it’ll be anytime soon.” Zach felt sick even admitting it, but he couldn’t make himself lie to give Cat false hope.
“I want to go break him out, poor baby—having to spend Thanksgiving in jail.” Cat groaned. “Did he actually bite the guy; you know, break the skin?”
“He nipped him. He wouldn’t have done it if the jerk hadn’t kicked him. When he did, Zeus caught the hem of his pants, and that’s when it happened.” He ran a hand through his hair and released a long, exhausted sigh. “I need a hot shower … and I don’t want to talk about this for the rest of the night. I have too damned much on my mind right now.”
It wasn’t until midnight that he thought of something that had been nagging him. Unable to sleep, he climbed out of the warm bed he shared with his wife and made his way to the kitchen. The aroma of fresh, homemade bread teased and tantalized his senses, making his stomach growl. He poured himself a glass of cold milk and pilfered the largest bread roll on the covered baking sheet before seating himself at the snack bar. After he’d wolfed down the roll and was halfway through the glass of milk, he snatched the magnetic notepad from the fridge and started jotting down his thoughts. By the time Zach crawled back under the covers at 2 a.m., he had come up with a solid plan of action to get his dog back, among other things.
“There he is.” Cat jumped out of the truck before it rolled to a stop. She ran to the large exterior enclosure where Zeus sat, half-in and half-out of a large doghouse in the back corner, covered and well protected from the elements. The huge animal ran to the fence, wagging his tail furiously, and whining at the sight of his family.
“Hey boy, are they treating you okay here?” Cat kneeled at the fence separating her from their beloved pet. She sniffled and wiped her eyes as Zeus licked her hand through the galvanized wire enclosure. Zach knelt beside her.
“They better be or I’ll be kicking ass and taking names,” he growled.
Cat stood suddenly and faced her husband. “We’ll get him back, won’t we? I mean, you don’t think they’d, you know?”
Zach pulled her close for a hug. “Sure we will. It’s only his first offense and he barely broke the skin.” He leaned over and stuck his fingers through the fence. “Don’t worry boy, you’ll be home soon, I guarantee it.” He pulled his hand back to answer his buzzing cell phone.
“Hello.”
“Mr. Ferguson, this is Jack Stanley.”
“Well, speak of the devil, Mr. Stanley…” He smiled as Cat emitted a low snarl. “You are not real popular with my wife and me right now.”
“I was wondering if I could offer you a proposition.”
“A proposition, huh? I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression on our first meeting, but I don’t swing that direction.” He withheld a laugh as Cat snorted her approval of his jibe.
“Funny, ha ha. This has to do with your dog, Mr. Ferguson. That animal is a menace and someone needs to deal with him.”
“My dog? I hardly think the little scratch Zeus gave you is reason enough to worry about him being a menace. It’s just that he senses people who aren’t worth a damn.” Zach squeezed Cat’s hand, enjoying sparring with this asshole.
“You’d be more worried if you knew how many people in high places I know, Mr. Ferguson. With one phone call I can have that dog of yours put to sleep. But I’m willing to drop all charges against you and your dog if you promise to purchase a security system from my company.”
“Now why would I trust a dog hater and a blackmailer to protect my place of business?”
“Because you love your dog, and you want to keep your business and your home intact.”
Zach stamped a boot on the ground, imagining it was Stanley’s head. “Are you threatening me?”
“Absolutely not. I’m only trying to protect you from the unexpected.”
“Yeah, whatever, asshole.”
“What’s your problem, Ferguson? Even before this dog incident you’ve acted like an ass to me.”
Zach
watched his wife spoiling Zeus with choice scraps from their feast. If only he could tell this jerk the real reason he’d never get his business. “Any farmer worth his salt knows better than to let a fox near the hen house. You come anywhere near mine you’ll see the rooster guarding it has mighty big spurs and he knows how to use them. And I’m not talking about my dog.”
He ended the call without waiting for a reply and made a few calls of his own, the last being to Chief Sherry Jeansonne, asking for a meeting.
Once he hung up and explained to Cathryn about Jack Stanley’s thinly veiled threat, he couldn’t persuade her to leave Zeus’s side.
“I’m staying right here until we bring him home.” She pulled out her phone. “I’m calling Mom, and Doc Barton, too. Judge Baker is standing up as best man for the wedding.” After a brief conversation, she slipped the phone back into her coat pocket. “They’ll be here in fifteen minutes and Doc’s calling the Judge. You go on back to Lake Erin and talk to Chief Jeansonne.”
He shook his head, adamant about not leaving her alone. “As soon as the reinforcements arrive, I’ll go. Not a second before then.”
Ten minutes later, after the arrival of her mom and Doc Barton, Cathryn gave him a kiss and pushed him toward the parking lot. “Would you stop wasting time? I’ll be fine here.”
Finally relenting, he walked toward his truck and turned back to her. “I love you, babe. Under no circumstances do you stay here alone.”
“I love you, too and I promise, I won’t be alone. Now go.”
Zach sat in Sherry Jeansonne’s office with the owners of the two other vandalized businesses. Not surprisingly, Jack Stanley had paid each of them a visit by the end of the same day the incidents had occurred.
The chief leaned back in her chair, and folded her hands across her lap. “I’m wondering how he knew about each of the breakins so quickly.”
Bob, the owner of Doucet’s Electronics, stopped pacing long enough to face her. “He told me you’d called him that same morning.”
Chief Jeansonne frowned. “I didn’t call him.”
Genevive Bertrand from Lakeside Flowers spoke up. “He told me the same thing. That he’d spoken to you that morning, Sherry.”
The chief straightened in her chair. “I did speak to him, but only after he called me. After each incident, he called, saying he’d heard your places had been broken into and asked if it was true.”
“He led me to believe you’d called him to inform him, almost as though he was using you as a reference.” Genevive shook her head. “I’d never have used his company if I’d known you didn’t have anything to do with sending him to see me.”
Bob scratched his beard. “That’s exactly the impression I got. What the hell does this mean, Sherry?”
Zach cleared his throat. “He’s trying to blackmail me, insinuating he’ll have my dog put down if I don’t buy a security system from him.”
Genevive gasped. “Zeus? He’s nothing but a big ole baby. For his size, he’s a sweet dog.”
“He’s never given me any trouble,” Bob added. “You’ve been by my place with him dozens of times.”
“I know that, but he took an intense disliking to this guy. I thought maybe he sensed the tension between us, but then last night I remembered something that had been bothering me.” He twirled his cap in his hands, trying to gather his thoughts.
The chief leaned forward. “Go ahead, Zach. Anything would be helpful at this point.”
“Zeus started growling and barking as soon as we got to the back door of the feed store yesterday morning. He didn’t have a problem with Stanley at first. But once he opened the door to his Cadillac all hell broke loose.” He looked pointedly at the chief. “What if he recognized the scent from the inside of his car as the same as in the store?”
Sherry placed her hands flat on her desk. “You’re thinking he had something to do with it? Like maybe he broke in and did the damage, to make you all want a security system?”
Zach laughed and shook his head. “No way would that slimy piece of crap get his hands dirty like that. I bet he hired someone to do it for him. Maybe the person he hired was in his SUV at some point.”
The chief laced her fingers together and seemed to contemplate this scenario. “Let me make some phone calls. I want to follow up on something I heard during an arrest last night. If what I heard is true, it might be the one thing that ties all this together.” She stood and opened her door. “I’ll let you know if it pans out.”
Zach let the others exit first, and then stopped in front of the chief. “Is there anything you can possibly do about releasing Zeus? He’s wearing his tags and I keep him up to date on all his shots. Cat is so worried about Jack’s threat, she’s afraid to leave him alone at the pound.”
Chief Jeansonne nodded and reached for her phone. “I’ll call Jimmy and see what I can do.”
True to her word, Sherry vouched for Zeus’s easy-going temperament, and Zach returned to the pound in time for his dog’s release. The massive animal bounded up to the couple, tail wagging, and whining with excitement.
Jimmy, the dog-catcher, laughed at his reaction. “You’ve got yourself a good dog. Great with people—I couldn’t figure out what the heck he was doing here.”
“I hear you. He’s just a massive, spoiled baby, aren’t you Zeus?” Cathryn buried her face in the dog’s scruff as he reacted with absolute joy. “And believe me, I was not a dog person until I met this big guy.” She turned to her husband. “Let’s take him home.”
Chapter 14
Cathryn contained her laughter as her husband tried, and failed miserably, to sneak in the house without her knowledge. Poor Zach had no idea there wasn’t a hiding place in the world good enough to stop a curious woman from finding her Christmas gift. Fortunately for him, she adored being surprised. She gave him just enough time to throw it on the top shelf before letting him know she was there.
“Hey, babe.” She leaned against the door-jamb holding her favorite coffee mug. “I thought I heard you come in. What’s up?”
Zach grabbed a set of clothes from the built-in shelves. “I’m too dirty to do anything but hit the shower first, sweetie.”
She tried, but couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “It’s all right, I promise I won’t dig. You know I love surprises.”
His left eyebrow rose suspiciously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Amused laughter filled the room. “Yeah, right.” She turned to head out the door. “It always amazes me how fast Christmas sneaks up on me. At first, it seems as though it’ll never get here, then before you know it, it’s over.” She called back over her shoulder. “I’ve got a pot of homemade soup simmering, and I’m hungry, so hurry up and shower.”
Cat set two trays holding bowls of soup on the cocktail table in front of the leather couch. She added saltine crackers and a bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce for her husband, and programmed the flat screen TV to the Saints and Seahawks game. She added silverware, napkins, and a beer for Zach, and a glass of white wine for herself. As soon as she settled in the center of the couch, Zach walked in, looking warm and comfortable in faded jeans and a flannel shirt, both worn soft with wear.
He sniffed the air. “I’m starved, and damn but that soup smells good. What’s in it?”
“All the leftover veggies from the fridge, plus some fresh ones, and prime beef. Everything but the kitchen sink; just the way mom taught me to make it.” She handed him the beer and patted the seat next to her. “I thought we’d skip the dining room tonight and watch the game while we eat. Okay with you?”
He scooted in beside her and put his arm around her shoulders for a hug and swift kiss on the mouth. “Could you be any more perfect than you already are?”
“I could try but it’d be a waste of time.”
“I think you’re right about that.” He balanced a tray on his lap. “Damn, babe, you’ve outdone yourself. This is so good. How the hell did I get so lucky?” He dipped into th
e soup and took a big bite. “Seasoning is great.”
She shook her head as he grabbed for the hot sauce. “You always say that just before you reach for the hot sauce. You do realize that, don’t you?”
He paused, his gaze landing on hers. “It’s perfectly seasoned for normal people. We all know I’m hotter than the average male.” He lifted his finger to stop her reply. “Don’t even think about denying that. If I wasn’t, would I have kept you from marrying anyone else in the twelve years you were gone from this place?”
She closed her mouth with an abrupt snap. “How can one man be so full of himself?”
“Babe, the only thing I’m full of is my love for you.” He liberally doused hot sauce in the bowl and took another bite. “Mm…and in about ten minutes I’ll be full of this delicious soup.”
She snorted as she accepted a tabasco flavored kiss from him. “I can think of one other thing you’re full of, but I’ll let it go for now.”
With full bellies, and drowsy from a long day of hard work, they’d both nearly fallen asleep when Zach’s cell phone buzzed near the end of the third quarter.
Cat groaned at being uprooted from her current position of snuggling in her husband’s arms. “Dammit, it’s almost ten o’clock. Who the heck is calling this late?” She reached for her husband’s phone on the opposite end table. Glancing at the screen, she stiffened at the sight of Lake Erin PD flashing. She handed him the phone and braced herself, knowing in her gut, the news wouldn’t be good.
Zach’s truck skidded onto the back lot of the feed store as the fire department doused the last of the most noteworthy flames licking at the back siding of the building. He and Cat jumped out and met at the hood. Cat slipped her hand into Zach’s as Sherry Jeansonne walked over to them.
“Zach, Cathryn, I’m sure sorry about this.” Sherry shook her head, and muttered a low curse. “I thought for sure this crap was over with. We threw that S.O.B., Stanley in jail for suspicion of insurance fraud and embezzlement this morning. That high priced lawyer his daddy hired got him out of that with a slap on the ass-cheek.”