Three Dog Night (The Dogmothers Book 2)

by Roxanne St Claire

  “Kennels?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Could be a puppy mill,” he said, sounding disgusted.

  “Is that illegal?”

  “If you can prove they’re harming the dogs, then yes. If they are presenting themselves as ‘breeders’ for profit, then no, not illegal. But unscrupulous. Frequently awful. Not Waterford Farm, that’s for damn sure.”

  “Do they steal dogs?”

  “If they have value, yeah, someone horrible might do that. It can be an ugly business that skirts the law.” He reached for her. “And it might be upsetting to you.”

  “I just want to find this dog,” she said. “How can we do that without tipping him off?”

  Alex considered that, turning onto the next road as the GPS instructed, but this one wasn’t paved, and the brush around them grew thicker.

  “This guy knows me, so the second he sees me, he’ll be tipped off.”

  “Then I’ll go looking for the dog alone.”

  “Like hell you will.”

  “Alex, he has no reason to hurt me. You drop me off and stay on the outskirts of the property. I’ll keep you on the phone and tell him my husband is driving around, and I’m looking to buy a Labrador, female, still old enough to breed. What’s the worst that could happen? He’ll send me away? Maybe he’ll have Sugar, and I’ll recognize her markings. I’ll make an offer and buy her for a buttload of money…” She gave a wry smile. “Since I have that now.”

  He almost laughed. “Offer a million, Ms. Carlson.”

  “I’ll offer more than he can say no to, if it’s her. Then she’s ours, and we’ll take her back to her puppies.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “I don’t think so.”

  “He’s not going to hurt me, Alex.” She narrowed her eyes. “But we have no idea what he could do to Jack, Bitsy, and Gertie’s mama.”

  He searched her face, thinking. Then, suddenly, he pulled over and stopped the Jeep on the side of the dirt road. “I’m coming with you.”

  “He’ll recognize you, and then we’re in trouble.”

  He reached over the console, grabbing a small leather bag from the floor of the back seat. “I started carrying this when I stayed at your place. Didn’t think I’d need to shave in the car, but I can do it.”

  “You’re going to shave?”

  “And there’s a hat back there. He won’t recognize me.”

  She inched back, taking it in. “You’re going to shave the beard you grew to honor your father?”

  “To save the mother of the puppies we love.” He zipped open the case and grabbed some small scissors. “Probably won’t hurt as much if I trim it all off first.” He tilted the rearview mirror and tried to situate himself to see in it.

  For a moment, she just stared at him, trying to imagine him without a beard. But instead of seeing him, she just fell a little harder and deeper in love with this man.

  “Let me help,” she whispered, taking the scissors from his hand. “I can do this for you.”

  He turned to her, holding her gaze. The only sound was the snip of the blades and their soft breaths as his whiskers floated to the floor and seat. Neither of them said a word, but Grace had never felt more connected to anyone.

  Her mind spun with how much she wanted to tell him her true feelings, but he’d already made his own known. This wasn’t forever to him. This wasn’t more than a fun romance with sex and laughter and a chance to cook in a kitchen he loved. This wasn’t—

  “Gracie,” he whispered. “I love you.”

  The scissors froze, and she moved her gaze from his chin to his eyes.

  “I know you’re leaving and starting your life where you should be and with the family that wants and loves you,” he said. “And that’s what should happen. But I want you to know that I’ve fallen in love with you. You are a lovable woman, and don’t let anyone or any history tell you differently.”

  “Alex…”

  The sound of an engine behind them stole their attention as a rusted-out red truck came rumbling up the hill. It slowed as it passed, but not much, kicking up dirt and stones and heading up the road. In the back of the truck bed was an empty dog crate, very much like the one they kept the puppies in.

  “That’s Marty Casper,” Alex said.

  “Oh God,” she said.

  “Let me finish fast.” He grabbed a razor and dry-shaved himself so quickly, he nicked his skin three times. With each stroke of the razor, a new man emerged. His jaw was as defined as she’d imagined, his cheeks hollow, his face as handsome bare as it was bearded.

  And he loved her. “Now what should I do?” she whispered.

  “We,” he corrected. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.” Dabbing at the spots of blood with the sleeve of his T-shirt, he threw the bag into the back, grabbed a ball cap that said Eat Greek on it, and whipped out some sunglasses from behind the visor. “Let’s get this mission accomplished.”

  She wanted to laugh, to cry, and to repeat those three sweet words right back.

  But Gracie just smiled, touched his bare cheek, and nodded in agreement.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  His face stung like a son of a bitch, but Alex didn’t care as they parked outside a filthy brown ranch house that looked like it had been built in the 1940s and had never been painted since then. There was no “lawn” to speak of, just dirt and brush and an old refrigerator under what might have been a laundry line at one point.

  The front porch railing was broken in several spots, and the windows were so dirty, they looked fogged.

  But none of that mattered to Alex. All he cared about was the constant, endless, steady barrage of barking that came from way in the back, behind so many bushes he couldn’t see what was there. But he could hear what had to be dozens of dogs.

  “Should we knock or try to find our way back?” Grace asked, inching closer to him.

  “We should—”

  The front door swung open, and a woman in jeans and a filthy T-shirt stepped out. “Yeah?” she called.

  He whispered under his breath, “Just follow my lead, and don’t question if I sound a little dumb. The dumber I am about dogs, the more they’ll trust us.”

  He touched his hat and took a few steps closer. “Afternoon, ma’am. I was told I could buy a Labrador dog here.”

  “Who sent you?”

  Shoot. He took a breath and a chance. “Friend of Marty’s. Preferred I didn’t use his name, but he told me about Maggie. Is she available?”

  The woman practically spit. “Maggie? You don’t got enough money to take my Maggie.”

  Just as he’d hoped. “Well, we do have money, for the right dog. One that can still breed. A Lab, right, honey?” he asked Gracie.

  “I like brown ones,” she said.

  “But we’ll take anything,” he added, not wanting to give away that they even knew there was a brown one there. At least, he hoped there was.

  “We got some Labs,” she said, turning to the house. “Martin! There’s a couple here for a dog.”

  She disappeared into the darkness of the house, and Grace and Alex stood stone-still for a beat, not sure what to expect next. Then the scrawny man Alex instantly recognized as the one who’d been at the winery stepped out, wearing the same damn Tabasco shirt he was last time. Something told Alex he hadn’t changed it since then.

  “Lab only?” he asked without preamble.

  “Or Lab mix,” Alex said. “Just breedable.”

  The man took a few steps down and scrutinized him long enough to make Alex’s heart kick up a notch. He couldn’t recognize him, could he? Without the beard? And with sunglasses and a hat?

  “Jakey said someone might come by,” the man finally said.

  Alex silently blessed Jakey, whoever he was. He nodded, wanting to keep conversation to a minimum. “Lab?”

  “I’ll get her.” He started walking around the side of the house, but Grace inched forward.

  “Can we see all that you have?�
��

  Alex almost grunted. Not only did he not want her to see what might be back there, he wanted to get the dog and get out, fast.

  Marty turned and stared at her. “No phones,” he said, then gestured for them to follow.

  As they rounded the house, the barking got louder, and they finally reached an open area between woods where two long rows of open, filthy, roofless pens were filled with about a dozen or so dogs of every breed. At least two were visibly pregnant. Some slept, some howled, some paced, and a few fought with their roommates, but every one of them had a desperate, miserable look on its face.

  Nope. It sure as hell wasn’t Waterford Farm.

  “She can breed,” he said, stopping at a pen that held two dogs, neither one of them brown, and if they had Lab in them, it was about one-tenth.

  Next to him, he felt Grace shudder, silent as she looked around.

  “Don’t tell me,” the guy said. “You want puppies.”

  She shook her head. “Just a…”

  Alex squeezed her hand. “A Lab we can breed,” he said.

  “You a breeder?” the man asked, squinting at him. “’Cause you look familiar.”

  He shrugged. “We’re thinking about getting into the business.”

  Marty snorted and jutted his chin at Grace. “Ain’t for the faint of heart.”

  Wordlessly, Grace squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “My heart’s not faint,” she said. “I just want to adopt a dog. Can you show us all the Labs you have?” She glanced around at the pens. “I don’t see…what I want.”

  “I got one more,” he said. “But I’ll tell you right now, she ain’t cheap. She shows and makes a fortune. I’m not giving her to you for less than five grand.”

  Alex had done enough research these past few weeks to know that was sky-high, but not out of the realm of reality for a dog who could win financial prizes at competitions.

  “I can write you a check,” Grace said.

  “Cash only, dollface.”

  “Then we’ll get cash,” she ground out. “We’d like to see the dog.”

  He hesitated a minute, his attention on Alex, sizing him up for the money, maybe. Or remembering where they last met. “Show us the dog,” Alex said coolly.

  “Come on.” He took them to a small barnlike building on the other side of the house, pushing open the door to let some light in.

  A brown dog was lying on the ground, chained to a stationary tub, her distinct white markings barely visible through the dirt on her fur.

  “Oh.” The sound came out of Grace’s mouth like a soft whimper.

  “She’s a little, uh, too energetic,” Marty said quickly. “Can’t be trusted loose.”

  Alex tamped down the anger that rose in him, knowing that showing any emotions would tip their hand and trying to figure out how he could get five thousand in cash and come back.

  “Hey there,” Grace said, breaking away to walk up to the dog. “What’s your name?”

  “It’s Coco,” the man said, and Alex prayed Grace wouldn’t react to the name not being Sugar.

  But he had nothing to worry about. She folded down next to the dog and stroked her. “Hello, Coco. You are a pretty girl.”

  “Coco” lifted her head with mild interest.

  “You can breed her right quick,” Marty said. “She hasn’t whelped for a while.”

  Liar. Alex swallowed the word and went up to the dog, who was the exact color as Jack.

  “How many times has she been bred?” he asked.

  “Just once. I had her since she was a pup.”

  More lies. Alex watched Grace, waiting for any kind of reaction to what she had to know were lies, but she just continued to stroke the dog’s head, cooing into her ear. Finally, she looked up at Marty.

  “If you’ll take a check, I’ll give you seven thousand right now. I want this dog.”

  The man frowned a little, the greed making the creases in his face even deeper. “I don’t…”

  She flipped open a small handbag on her shoulder, pulling out a checkbook. “Name your price, sir. I can afford it.”

  And the truth was, she could.

  He huffed out a breath, silent long enough for Alex to hear his own heartbeat kick. Was this dude smart enough to know that if she could afford it, she wouldn’t get her breedable Lab here at this disgusting mill? Marty had to know the dog was stolen, maybe had stolen it himself. So…how greedy was he?

  “Eight-five,” he said.

  Oh, he was very greedy.

  “Done.” She opened the checkbook and slipped out a pen. “Who should I make it out to?”

  “I’ll fill that part out,” he said, his voice tight with the very idea that he was about to have eighty-five hundred dollars.

  “Unchain her,” Alex said, itching to get out of there with the dog.

  The other man walked over and flipped the latch on the chain, and the dog instantly rose with the relief of having the weight off her. Alex squeezed his fists, willing himself not to lose it while Grace scratched out the check and signed it with a flourish, standing up with a quick glance of victory to Alex.

  The minute she did, Alex’s heart dropped with a stunning realization. If Marty looked at that check, with her name, address, or Overlook Glen Winery on it anywhere, their cover would be blown.

  He slipped his hand into the dog’s collar. “Let’s go,” he said, as much to Grace as the dog, hustling toward the door.

  “Bye,” Grace said brightly. “Thank you.”

  The man didn’t answer as Alex rushed the dog to the door, using his free hand to grab Grace and shepherd them both along as quickly as possible without drawing undue attention from Marty.

  Just as they stepped outside, Alex glanced over his shoulder in time to catch Marty staring at the check in his hand, and even from this distance, he could see those frown lines deepen. He looked up, looked back down, and Alex didn’t wait for it all to click into place.

  “Move it!” he ordered Grace, tugging at Sugar’s collar to get her to run. But the dog just stopped and looked up at him, clearly terrified of her next ordeal.

  “Hey, wait a second!”

  “I’m taking you home, baby. Run, Gracie!”

  The dog refused to budge, and Alex sure as hell didn’t want to yank her.

  “Shug-Shug!” Grace said on a loud whisper. “Go!”

  She did, instantly, trotting a few steps.

  “Hold on right there, you two!”

  The dog froze at the man’s angry voice, cowering in fear. Alex bent down and wrapped his arms around Sugar’s belly, getting a loud bark in his ear, but he managed to hoist her in his arms. Grace ran a few feet ahead of him, pushing branches out of the way as they rushed over the path to the front of the house.

  “Keys are in the ignition,” Alex called. “You drive!”

  “Hey! I know who you are!” Marty called. “Get back here! You can’t have Sugar! Suzanne! Stop them!”

  Without missing a beat, Grace yanked open the Jeep’s back door for Alex to get in, then whipped open the driver’s door to dive behind the wheel.

  “Don’t you dare take that dog!” the woman called as she ran out of the front door, directly at Alex. He nearly stumbled from the weight of the dog, but righted his foot fast enough to reach the car before she did.

  “That’s my dog!”

  But he shoved Sugar into the back seat and threw himself on top of her, managing to pull the door closed.

  “Go, Gracie! Fast!”

  The woman pounded on his window, screaming, and Marty came running out from behind the house, hollering at them. When Grace hit the accelerator and revved the engine, it was enough for the woman to fling herself away from the Jeep.

  Grace took off, spitting dirt and whipping the wheels around toward the road, but when Alex turned, he saw Marty climbing into the red truck.

  “He’s gonna follow us,” he called. “Can you handle it?”

  “Are you kidding? To save this dog?” She
floored the gas pedal. “Hang on, you two!”

  As she tore down the rutted road, Alex watched out the back, but they had a good hundred or more yards on him. “Turn here!” he ordered as they reached the first dirt intersection that he remembered, a road barely wide enough for two cars.

  She swung the wheel to the left, making the Jeep fishtail wildly, slowing them down in the process. Sugar sat up and started barking loudly, barely drowning out Grace’s swearing as she fought to right the wheels.

  She managed to get them straight and shot down the road, but Marty made the turn with ease, gaining on them.

  “Oh my God, Alex!”

  At her shriek, he turned to look out the front in time to see something bright yellow roaring up the road directly at them. And a black truck right behind it.

  “We’re going to hit them!” She slammed on the brakes, making Sugar slide right off the seat onto the floor.

  “What the…” He slapped his hands on the back of the seat. “That’s Garrett! And Liam. Stop.”

  As soon as she did, Garrett’s bright yellow Wrangler slid up next to them. Grace got the window down, and Alex leaned forward, spying Shane in the passenger seat.

  “Block the guy in the truck. Hold him off. We’re calling the cops! Go, Gracie!”

  Gracie hit the gas without a second’s hesitation, sailed past Liam, who instantly pulled up next to Garrett, the two of them wedged side by side on the road. As Grace took the next turn, all Alex heard through the open window was the long blast of a horn, then old Marty screaming his lungs out.

  By the time they reached the main road, he’d called the Winston-Salem Police, and they waited, silent and breathless, until the squad cars flew by, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

  And then Grace climbed into the back seat, threw her arms around him and Sugar, and dropped her head back to laugh with the giddy, heady sense of victory.

  “Mission accomplished, Alexander the Great.”

  Alex just held her tight while Sugar lapped his weirdly smooth cheek.

  * * *

  By now, Grace realized that no matter the crisis or situation, this family gathered, usually at Waterford Farm. They laughed, rehashed, ate, drank, hugged, patted one another’s back, and included as many dogs as people in the whole process.