by Maggie Marr
My phone beeped and I pulled it from my pocket. Of course. My twin had a sixth sense about when I was down and she always seemed to call at just those moments.
“Hey.”
“Well hello to you, too. You sound a little down.”
I pulled in a long breath. Ellen hadn’t done anything but have the misfortune of calling me when I was upset. Blasting her over the phone because of my own bad mood served no purpose but to relieve my own stress. “I’m sorry. I just … I got some news.”
Ellen paused as though my rational words were not what she expected. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “Well I have some news that might cheer you up.”
I walked up the porch steps of Trick’s bungalow. “Give it a try.” I opened the door. Trick’s pack of squirming dogs writhed around my legs. I took another deep breath. I was getting used to these beasts wiggling and jumping when I entered his house. Each time I walked in my fear lessened and being alone with his pack became easier, but still, walking through a huddle of five dogs hadn’t yet become easy. Estrella sat patiently at the edge of the pack, her tail thumping the floor.
My heart broke.
My Estrella.
“Beverley called.”
“Beverley? My booking agent?”
“Well, her assistant. It seems she’s been trying to reach you.”
“No, she has not been trying to reach me because I haven’t gotten any calls.” I grabbed Estrella’s leash from the hook beside the front door. “I would have noticed a call from Beverley.”
“You’re right,” Ellen said. “But she’s been calling our landline and I haven’t been home.”
“Ellen,” I whined. “I asked you to check the messages.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. But why wouldn’t she just call your cell? Anyway, they have news for you.”
My heart stopped in my chest. “News? What kind of news?”
“She’s going to call you today. She says you’ll be thrilled.”
“Oh my God!” I bounced and the pack of dogs bounced around me. Domingo barked.
“Are those dogs I hear?” Ellen asked.
“Pawtown has got lots of dogs here.”
“Right, I know”—Ellen paused—“I guess I don’t really know. I just never expected you to be comfortable in a place like that.”
“I’m getting ready to walk one of them right now.”
“Shut up!” Ellen said. Shock filled her voice. “You’re not scared of them anymore?”
I walked over to Estrella and petted her head. “I’m getting better about it.” The cold edges of fear still fluttered around my belly on occasion. Especially when I saw a red collar pup coming toward me. Those dogs were biters. Some of them were convicted dog-killers. I kept away from that building at Pawtown. “I still get a little anxious sometimes.”
“Only a little anxious? That’s so much better. Then you’ll be excited to see Carl. He’s gotten so much bigger.”
A trail of melancholy tricked through my chest. Estrella’s big brown eyes stared at me and her tail continued to wag. If Ellen could have a dog, why couldn’t I? I sighed. Because unless Ellen was in class she was home studying. Once Ellen adopted Carl she’d reallocated her ten hours a day of study time to the condo. Lucky me. Actually, not long after she adopted Carl I’d left for Pawtown, so it was probably good that Ellen had Carl to keep her company.
Estrella sat on her hind feet and whined. “Okay. I have to go. I have to go right now. I’ll call you once I hear what’s going on with Beverley.” Ellen said bye and I disconnected the call. I snapped the green leash to Estrella’s collar and hustled her out the front door.
Please let there be an offer for me for Paris Fashion Week. Please let this damned penance at Pawtown have been enough to get my career restarted. Let all the poop I’d scooped be for a reason. Let these last months and all the humiliating pictures and YouTube videos have fixed my image problem so that I could work again.
My Twitter followers seemed happier, and most of them were again writing kind and supportive comments instead of the dog-killer comments that I’d been getting before my arrival at Pawtown. They adored me for being at Pawtown. Besides, I never killed a dog. Drummond was doing awesome. He was out of his cast and Mary had told me there was a couple coming by to see him next week.
But what about Estrella? The corners of my lips pulled down. I pressed my hand over her head. She trotted close to me and bumped my palm with her nose. Estrella was my buddy. A lump formed in my throat. We walked toward the outdoor doggie run. Like a storm cloud in the distance, Trick bore down on us. His face was creased and the easy smile I’d grown accustomed to wasn’t on his face. I stopped and waited for him.
“You look happy,” he growled, as though it were some kind of crime for me to smile.
“And you don’t. What’s the problem?” I kept walking and Trick fell into step beside me and Estrella.
“Seems my personal life is about to go public.”
“You mean us?” I opened the metal gate that led to the off-leash area. “No surprise there. We haven’t been very discreet.” I shut the gate and pushed in the latch.
“Not exactly.” Trick placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the distance where the pine-tree-dotted landscape met the blue sky. “Seems Charlie wants to add a bit of drama to the show.”
I unhooked Estrella’s leash and she darted toward the far fence where a tennis ball laid waiting for a happy pup to play fetch.
“My fears about dogs aren’t enough drama for the show?”
“It would seem not, especially since you’re recovering quite nicely from your phobia.”
Estrella dropped the bright yellow ball at my feet and I scooped it up and threw it. The years of softball Daddy had forced me to play came in handy when I was playing with the dogs. Estrella took off and zipped across the patches of grass and sand.
“What’s he got planned? I’m surprised he even told you.” Charlie liked surprises—they were good for ratings. I’d found that out day one when I’d rounded a corner and had been greeted by the Great Dane named Bull. Charlie knew I was afraid of dogs. He used it to get a good shot for the show. I wanted to kill the bastard for scaring the hell out of me, but then the photo of my horrified face hit Twitter, thanks to Choo, and that was the day that my Q Score started to rebound.
“He didn’t tell me the exact surprise, he simply mentioned there was something coming that might be”—Trick paused and shook his head. He looked off into the distance—“unpleasant.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. What would be unpleasant for a former teenage heartthrob? There were so many possibilities. With Trick’s past it could be … a cool sweat covered my palms and I had a feeling I knew. Girls. Most likely girls. Lots of beautiful girls. Estrella grabbed the ball and bounded back toward us. So the fuck what? Trick wasn’t my guy. We weren’t dating. We were having casual sex. Fun sex. We were friends with benefits. So why exactly did this feeling in my belly make me feel as though I might vomit?
“Listen.” Trick tilted his head toward me. “There are some things about my past. Things that I don’t want you to be surprised by, things that—”
I held up my hand and halted Trick’s words. I smiled a knowing smile. Then I reached out and took the ball from Estrella’s mouth full of long sharp teeth. Teeth that I was aware of but from which I no longer flinched or recoiled. No, Estrella would never hurt me, of that I was certain.
“I’m an adult,” I said. “Besides, it’s not like we’re in a relationship.” I laughed out the final word as though it would be absurd for me or for Trick to consider the idea. Sure the sex was phenomenal. And we got along great. He finished my sentences and I finished his. He knew Daddy and understood the Industry. Yes, we had a lot of those things in common. But the primary thing we shared, the thing that made this okay, was that neither of us wanted a relationship. Both of us accepted that my stay at Pawtown was temporary and that Trick would never leave Pawtown. No problem. Our
completely contained sex-fest would last approximately another two weeks.
“Right,” Trick said. His brows creased and he crossed his arms over his chest.
A tingle crashed through me. That golden skin and the muscles in his forearms … damn. Trick was one good-looking man. I would miss him.
“Listen,” Trick said. “I may not have been completely honest about some of my feelings and it’s part of my recovery to—”
“Where’s Estrella?” I turned in a circle. I’d been so caught up listening to Trick that I hadn’t noticed that Estrella hadn’t returned the ball to me.
Trick swiveled and turned. Both of us checking out the fenced in doggy run. “I don’t know how she got out, but she can’t get far. Pawtown is completely fenced.”
I nodded but a falling sensation hit my chest, knowing that by letting Estrella escape my watchful eye I’d completely messed up in my duty to her.
“Looks like the far gate is open,” Trick said. He nodded toward a gate on the far side of the run. From this angle you could hardly see that the gate wasn’t flush with the fence.
“You go by my place and I’ll head out the way she must have gone. Text Mary in administration and tell her Estrella is loose.”
Panic laced my insides. Sure, if you were a dog and you were going to get loose, Pawtown was the ideal place to do it. Everyone at Pawtown knew Estrella, and she was microchipped. There were quite a few cars around because of the film crew, but they were all parked in one area along with the maintenance vehicles and the few visitor vehicles. Plus the entire ranch was fenced, but there was lot of land to cover. Rocks, rattlesnakes, coyotes—
“Don’t,” Trick said. “Don’t do that. I see your mind beginning to spin. The worry is already on your face. A dog usually gets loose about once a month around here. Remember three weeks ago it was Domino? Got him back in twenty minutes.” He bent forward and kissed my lips. “We’ve never lost one yet. And it’s too early in the year for snakes. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Let’s go.” His lips brushed against mine a second time. This location was too public for me, even if we were the only people at the dog run.
“Text me if you find her,” Trick called and jogged toward the open gate. I turned and exited through the gate that Estrella and I had entered. I retraced our steps back to Trick’s bungalow.
“Estrella!” I called. “Come here girl! Come on girl!”
I arrived at Trick’s bungalow hoping that she might have come back here. No luck. No Estrella. Nothing. No wagging tail, no flopping ears, no happy smile to greet me. She was good about coming to me when I called her name. I knew that if I was calling her and she wasn’t coming that she wasn’t close by. Darkness hovered on the western horizon. Finding Estrella in the darkness would be hard. Plus there would be coyotes to contend with at night.
I turned from Trick’s bungalow and headed into the main part of Pawtown. Two other volunteers had also mobilized and were working the perimeter off in the distance. I could hear them calling Estrella’s name.
I was afraid. Where could she have gone? Estrella wasn’t a runner or a digger. She didn’t slip her collar, or try to get away from her lead. She always barked and ran toward me when I called. She really was an amazingly well-behaved pup.
Damn. Estrella was a great dog. How typical that in her absence I realized how great she was. How attached I’d become to her. How much I wanted her with me now.
“Please let me find her. Please,” I mumbled to myself as my boots scraped over the gravel walkway. The red kennel was in front of me. I stopped. I hated this place. I hated the sign on the front door. I hated how the dogs barked and bared their teeth when you walked by their fences. I hated how they jumped and hated knowing that if the fence were missing they’d grab you by the throat without a second thought.
I avoided this place every day. I always took the long way around to avoid these killing machines. Hearing me approach, two dogs lunged out the doors from their kennels and jumped at the fence. One bared his teeth and the other ran back and forth along the fence line, growling and barking. They didn’t need to tell me twice.
My body trembled. A cold sweat filmed my palms. My heart beat like it would explode from my chest. I glanced at the bared teeth. These dogs could dismember me piece by bloody piece. How did anyone at Pawtown believe that they could turn these ferocious creatures into loveable pets?
I turned the corner. There was Luis. He’d just exited the red-collar kennel with a pit bull on a lead. I stopped. She was gargantuan. A monster. She caught my eye and the fur along the ridge of her back stood on end. A low deep-throated growl came from her throat.
“Easy girl,” Luis said. “Rose, it’s okay.” He looked from her to me. He took a slow step back and pulled on her lead. She was close enough that if she lunged, if she jumped, if she didn’t listen to Luis she might take out a chunk of my flesh. I didn’t move. I barely breathed. And as much as I didn’t want to transmit fear to this animal standing only a couple of feet from me, I couldn’t contain what I felt.
She had to smell my fear.
She barked. She growled. She lunged toward me. The flash of white fur caught my eye. Fast. Quick. Like lightning Estrella bolted straight for this beast.
“Estrella, no!”
I yelled. She came at the killing machine ready to take on this red-collar that was known for killing dogs. Estrella didn’t stop. She showed no fear. She growled and bared her teeth.
Luis yanked on the leash trying to pull the red-collar away, but the red-collar was jerking hard, so hard. She jumped for Estrella and pinned her to the ground. I was frozen. Frozen still as the fighter sank her teeth into my Estrella. A loud cry came from Estrella and still she pulled and tried to bite at the beast that had her pinned.
“No, no, no!” I yelled, unable to help, unable to move. I pressed my hands to my face. “Stop! Stop!” I screamed. Tears fell down my face.
A thick stream of water jetted from a hose and Luis pulled on the red-collar’s lead and got her off of Estrella. Trick had grabbed the hose and pointed it at the vicious dog. I ran forward and dropped to my knees beside Estrella.
“Oh no, please, no.”
Estrella lay still, two bite marks on her neck. Covered in blood, she didn’t move, her eyes were closed.
“Come on,” Trick lifted Estrella and put her into the back of the Pawtown golf cart. I climbed in and put one hand on Estrella who still hadn’t opened her eyes. “This is my fault, this is all my fault.” I looked up. In front of the golf cart was Charlie, with his cameraman, and a boom operator.
My heart hammered in my chest. My nostrils flared. I thought about the open gate. The open gate at the run that was never open? Could it be …?
Trick pressed the accelerator and we headed toward the clinic.
“Text Doc and let her know we’re on our way.”
My body was numb.
“Sophia!”
I jerked my gaze away from the camera and from my thoughts that Charlie was somehow responsible for this drama. I turned my attention to my hurt Estrella.
“Text Tessa now.”
I pulled my phone from my back pocket and put in the letters to form the words that Estrella was hurt and that we were on or way. My heart hoped that Doc could find a way to save my friend.
Chapter 19
Trick
The cameras followed me into the volunteer room. Sophia sat on a couch with her feet tucked up and her arms wrapped around her shins. Her eyes met mine and then her gaze slipped past me to the camera. Her eyebrows creased. This was reality TV. The moments, all the moments, good, bad, and ugly, were captured for another person’s entertainment.
I took a deep breath and walked to the couch and sat beside Sophia. I took her hand. She looked at me with hope and fear. We’d waited here for closing in on three hours, for as long as Estella had been in emergency surgery.
“She’s going to be fine,” Tessa said as she stood in the doorway leading t
o the surgical unit.
Sophia pressed her hand to her mouth. A tiny gasp passed over her lips. Big tears slicked her eyes. “Oh my God. Thank God.”
She leaned forward and pressed her face into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and settled my chin onto the top of her head. The cameraman skirted around the couch so that he could get a clear shot of my face. The desire to jump up and rip the camera from his shoulder jolted through me. What good would that do? Charlie was going for viewers. Life or death drama would definitely cause folks to tune in once a week.
“Hey.” I pulled away and tilted my chin down to her. “It’s okay. Estrella is okay.” Sophia nodded. She leaned away from me and pulled two tissues from the box on the table in front of the couch.
“I know.” The muscle in her jaw flinched. She blamed herself. There was a whole lot she wanted to say. I could feel it, hell, I’d been spending so much time with her, I could almost read her thoughts, but the cameras kept her quiet. I understood her need to keep her inner thoughts away from public consumption. I definitely didn’t want to have a heart to heart with her in front of the entire crew.
“Can I see her?”
Doc nodded. “She’s not awake but you could come on back for a few minutes.”
Sophia stood and pressed her hands into her back pockets. I placed my arm around her shoulder and we headed to the door. Luis stood in the doorway. His face bent into odd angles of pain.
“I’m sorry.” He looked as if he might cry. He was completely beaten by the feeling that this was all his fault. Sophia reached out and hugged him.
“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. She was trying to protect me. Everyone was in the wrong place at the absolute worst time.”
Luis’s gaze flicked from Sophia to me. “Rose was doing so good, too. She’d come so far.” I nodded. The last thing that Sophia would want to hear was how great Rose was doing.