Beauty and the Wiener

by Casey Griffin

  “How long have you known?” she demanded.

  He held up his hands. “I swear I had no idea until she told me Wednesday night.”

  “You mean when you went to her place?”

  He did a double take. “How do you know about that?”

  Addison’s eyebrow rose stubbornly. “You have your secrets. I have mine. And you kept this from me.” She didn’t know if she was more angry or hurt.

  He seemed to tuck that piece of information away for later. “Look, you don’t know the whole story. Charlotte had no choice.”

  “Of course you’re still defending her.” Addison moved across the boat to the other bench because that was as far as she could get from him at the moment. When really, she wanted nothing more than to storm away, or rather swim away, from Felix and never see him again.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand to stop him. “You know what? I don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter.”

  “You’re right. What matters is finding Naia.” He rubbed a hand through his hair, removing the last of the hair product until his hair flopped around his face as usual.

  Addison found she preferred this Felix to the fashionable one. It was more natural, more him. It annoyed her all the more that she even noticed.

  “Maybe I should have put a leash on her,” he said. “Strapped her to my back and not let her out of my sight. Or at least surgically implanted a homing beacon on her like any reasonable parent would have done.”

  The words nudged something in the back of Addison’s brain. Her heart skipped a beat or maybe it had stopped altogether. “What did you just say?”

  Felix saw the shock on her face. “I was just kidding. Well”—he shrugged—“sort of.”

  “A homing beacon,” she murmured quietly, lost in thought. “A tracking device.”

  “Well, they don’t work very well after the fact. You kind of have to attach it before they disappear.”

  But Addison wasn’t listening, her mind was racing. “I dressed Princess in her morganite necklace tonight.”

  Felix sighed. “Look, I know you’re worried about Princess. Maybe you’re right. Maybe the Coast Guard has already intercepted them.” Felix reached across the gap to place a hand over hers comfortingly.

  But she wasn’t upset. She was smiling.

  His face filled with concern. He was staring at her like she’d lost her mind. “Are you feeling okay?” He held a hand to her forehead and let it linger there as though he was really afraid she was coming down with something.

  “Why didn’t I think about it before now? I’ve wasted so much time.” She dug through her clutch again, looking for her phone.

  Felix reached down and picked up her oars. “We should get into shore. You’ll catch a cold.”

  “Yes. Back to shore.” She was practically vibrating in her seat. “We might be able to catch up to them before they get away.”

  He began to row, much slower and stiffer than before. “I think you’ve had too much excitement for one night.”

  “No. Listen to me. The necklace that Princess is wearing is my own design. In every high-end outfit of the Fido Fashion line, I’ve inserted a GPS tracking device to help find runaway pets.”

  His expression turned blank as his arms froze, oars sticking out to the sides. “Princess is wearing one of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does it work?”

  Addison pulled out her phone. “The software designers developed an experimental app that I can track her with. It’s still in the trial phase, but so far it’s been pretty reliable.”

  Felix didn’t wait for her to say any more. He dipped both oars back into the water and headed for the glowing skyscrapers lighting up the night.

  Addison’s hands shook with cold and excitement as she tried to unlock her screen. She used both hands to hold it steady while Felix raced them to shore. It only took a moment for the app to open and a flashing pink dot to appear on a map of San Francisco.

  “That’s her.” She pointed at the screen. “It’s tracking Princess.”

  “Where are they?” he asked between strokes.

  Addison zoomed in on the pink dot. She frowned. “They’ve already left the docks. But it’s okay. The signal will remain strong in the city. As long as they don’t remove the necklace, we can track them.”

  “Then we’ll get to her before that.” His expression was hard with grim determination. “And if we find Princess—”

  “We find Naia.”

  28

  Sold a Pup

  A half-mile row to shore, a ten-dollar taxi back to Addison’s Mini, and a thirty-minute drive across the city on the trail of a flashing pink dot led Felix and Addison straight to the old-money neighborhood of Seacliff.

  Felix studied Addison’s phone as she came close to the end of the street with the best views in the city, not to mention the highest views. Staring at Addison’s phone, Felix tapped the dash excitedly.

  “This is it. This is the place,” he said. “Pull up there out of sight.”

  Addison swerved to the side of the road and slammed on the breaks in front of a sign that said LAND’S END. Felix lurched forward in his seat, bracing himself against the dash, but he didn’t even seem to notice, far less comment, on her Mad Max driving techniques.

  The mansions had given way to trees, as they’d parked at what appeared to be the head of the walking trail that skirted the cliffside.

  “Looks like this is the end of the line,” Addison said. She just hoped it wasn’t the end for them. She shivered despite her car’s heater being set on overdrive.

  She’d swapped her puffy Cinderella ball gown and heels for a hoodie, jeans, and Converse sneakers that she kept in her trunk for fashion emergencies. She’d originally anticipated a ripped seam or an accidental stain, but freezing to death after a boat ride in a tulle dress definitely constituted an emergency.

  “Let’s see the map,” she said. “Can we tell which house it is?”

  “Don’t need it,” Felix said. “I already know where we are. I’ve served for a couple of house parties here before.”

  Addison’s eyes grew wide. “For who?”

  Felix frowned. “Alistair Yates.”

  “No,” she breathed. “I don’t believe it. I could have sworn he was innocent. Alistair seemed so devastated to lose Lilly. Why would he steal his own dog that he meant to enter into the dog show?”

  “I don’t know. But now that we know he has a backup, maybe he never meant to show Lilly in the first place.” His forehead creased. He seemed as confused as she felt by the turn of events. “But why the head game? Did he want to lower everyone else’s guard? Take them by surprise?”

  “Phillip mentioned something about it before.” Addison didn’t miss Felix’s flinch when she mentioned Phillip’s name. “He said it was well known that Lilly wasn’t the favorite to win. That she was past her prime.”

  Felix shrugged. “Maybe Alistair knew it too. But why go to such extremes to remove your dog from the show? Why not just withdraw?”

  “Pride?” Addison suggested. “For some of these owners, when their dogs lose, they lose too. They take it personally.” She hesitated. “I just never expected that from Alistair.”

  Felix grabbed his suit jacket from the backseat. Reaching into the inside pocket, he pulled out Naia’s bunny and held it in his hands. “Yeah, well it got a little too personal for me.”

  Addison laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll get Naia back.”

  He covered her hand with his, squeezing it slightly. Picking up his jacket again, he slipped it on.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Covering up my shirt. It’s too light. It’ll be too easy to spot me.”

  “Spot you?”

  He handed Addison her phone. “Call the cops. Wait for them here. I’m going to find a way around the back. There are probably cameras at the front entrance.” Felix got out of her car, shutting the door quietly b
ehind him.

  Addison sat there for a moment in silence, her mouth hanging open. What they hell was he going to do? Rambo his way in?

  She grabbed her keys and scrambled out of the car. She took a moment to text Zoe their location to give to the cops before running after him. When she caught up, Felix was already marching toward the trailhead, eyeing the thick pine trees and shrubs clinging to the sloping cliffside between them and Alistair’s backyard. The dirt trail skirted along the steep slope that dropped down into darkness, into steep ravines, and beyond that, the cold waters of the bay.

  Felix swung a leg over the low fence next to the trail and tested his footing. Addison grabbed him by the jacket collar, dragging him back.

  “Felix, you can’t go in alone.”

  “I’m not waiting out here when my daughter’s in there.” He pointed to the seaside mansion a few houses in.

  “I’m not letting you go. Stay and wait for the cops with me.” She pulled Felix back onto the trail like she could overpower him and force him to stay. “It’s too dangerous. Something could happen to you.” As the words spilled out, she realized how true it was and just how much she couldn’t let that happen. “You don’t know what’s waiting in there.”

  He reached out and squeezed her shoulders comfortingly. “You’re safe out here. There are neighbors close by if you need to run somewhere and hide. Just lay low. You’ll be okay.”

  His expression was so reassuring and soothing, so full of concern. And it pissed her off. He couldn’t just charge in there like some macho superhero and leave her behind like a useless token damsel in distress.

  She whacked him on the arm. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you, you idiot.”

  Felix might not have been her man, but he was still a good one, and a good father who only wanted what was best for Naia. The thought of Naia being rescued, only to have something happen to Felix tore at Addison’s already-raw insides.

  “Stop being a hothead.” Her grip on him tightened. “Please. For Naia’s sake. Stay here. Wait for the police with me.”

  “It’s for Naia’s sake that I have to go in there.” He jabbed a finger at the home. His eyes closed for a second and he took a calming breath. He wrapped his big hands around hers and gently dislodged them from his jacket collar. She squeezed his hands, if only to hold him there longer.

  “If it was a person you loved in there,” he said, “I know you’d do the same thing. Because you’re a beautiful person.”

  The comment startled a snort from her and out of habit she brought a hand up to fix her hair, which was damp and matted with seawater.

  Felix smiled and chuckled lightly, but he was too worried for it to crease his eyes. “I don’t mean on the outside. That part is obvious.”

  Self-consciously, she tried to tuck in a stray lock. He reached up and pulled her fidgeting hand away. His bottom lip twitched like he wanted to say more, and he paused a moment to run a tender knuckle down her cheek.

  “I mean, you’re a beautiful person on the inside. Phillip is a lucky man.”

  Before she could move, or blink, or tell him she wasn’t even interested in Phillip, he bent down and kissed her. It was only a quick peck on the lips, but it was firm with passion and meaning, and maybe because he worried it might be his last.

  Addison reached up to keep him there but he broke free of her arms and disappeared over the fence and into the night. She stumbled slightly, feeling unbalanced without him there beside her.

  She stood there listening to the rustling of the bushes as he forged a path through the thick underbrush to Alistair’s home. It took only the briefest of moments for her to realize that Felix was right; she would do the same for the person she loved, because she was already chasing after him.

  It wasn’t just for Felix. Addison may not have known Naia for more than a few days, but how could anyone not love that little girl? Not want to protect her? Then there was her own baby, Princess.

  So it was for Felix’s sake, and Naia’s, and Princess’s, and all the other lost pups that Addison maneuvered her way along the steep slope, finding her footholds in the roots of trees that clung to the soil and grasping wads of grass that tickled her arms like insects—or maybe they were insects. Swallowing her desire to scream each time, she moved along the land’s mysterious terrain by touch since she was too busy holding on for dear life to use her phone up to light her surroundings.

  Finally, she reached Alistair’s property. A tall stone wall rose up out of the steep cliffs. The stones were smooth, and there was no way to gain leverage for a hand or foot. Inching her way around the wall, she searched for a way up, a handhold on the wall, a magical ladder that would descend when she pressed on the right rock.

  She was always one slippery misstep from a one-way ticket to the bottom of the ravine. Or worse, the bottom of the cliffs, to the rocky waters below. She could hear the crashing waves hissing in the distance, mocking her.

  Addison’s next footstep landed on the dewy grass clinging to the rough rock beneath. Her foot slipped. She fell on her stomach, her breath leaving in a grunt. Twigs poked, rocks scraped as she slid down the damp slope.

  Her flailing hands scrambled for purchase, and her fingers brushed against an exposed root. She clamped onto it, crying out as her arm stretched back.

  Gritting her teeth, she pulled, and tugged, and wormed her way back up until she was safe on firm ground again. Heart thumping in her throat, Addison laid her head against the ground, breathing in the scent of wild flowers and soil until she found the courage to move again.

  When she neared the base of the house, the ground tapered off. She flopped down on the grass to catch her breath, not caring if the dew was soaking through her pants.

  She pulled out her phone and checked Princess’s GPS location once again, but this time, when the app opened, it told her the signal could not be acquired. If something had happened to the tracking chip, then did that mean something had happened to Princess?

  But she didn’t have time to dwell on that thought, to give into tears or pain. Who knew how much farther ahead Felix was. Not wasting any more time, Addison hit the flashlight icon on her phone and lit up the path ahead. She scurried around the wall, searching for a way onto the forbidding property. She found no hidden ladders or steps, but there was an old gnarly tree. Its thick branches reached out beyond the walls high above her and into the backyard.

  Grateful once again for her emergency clothes, Addison assessed the gnarled branches and rough bark, imagining her progress up the tree. In her mind, she visualized her body contorting and twisting, flinging from branch to branch before she swung out over the property and somersaulted into the backyard like a ninja.

  No problem at all.

  Instead, when she began to climb, she hugged the tree for dear life, clinging to the bark with her gel nails, snapping one or two in the process. She hissed and stifled cries as multiple slivers pierced her, digging into her skin.

  When she was high enough, she clamped her eyes shut, ignoring the drop below as she inched like a worm to the end of the longest limb. It shook and swayed beneath her weight until she fell like a rock into Alistair’s backyard, very un-ninja-like.

  Addison hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from her lungs and smacking the back of her head on the turf. A burst of light shot across her vision. She gasped and sputtered for air, staring up at the tree branch shaking above her in the wind like it was laughing at her. She glared at it, remaining very still until her chest began to rise and fall normally and the stars finally disappeared.

  Addison picked herself up as soon as she could and found cover behind a rose bush. While she was hidden from sight, she took stock of her injuries. Her back ached, her chest throbbed, and it hurt to breathe. Her legs and arms stung with countless scratches, and she was pretty sure she’d have a goose egg on the back of her head tomorrow. But she’d live.

  Lights shone down from the windows of the imposing home, casting dark shadows o
ver the landscaped yard. The land rose and fell in a multileveled fashion, swelling and twisting with the natural contours of the grassy cliffside.

  She searched for signs of Felix. Her eyes followed the winding stone staircase that hugged the curves and swells of the yard all the way up to the house. When she saw no sign of him, she knew she’d have to sneak closer to the back door. Unfortunately, it seemed to offer the least amount of concealment.

  Crouching low, Addison kept to the thick garden plants, hiding behind shrubs and trees that reminded her of swirling ice cream cones. To prevent being out in the open too long and risk being spotted from a window, she moved as quickly and stealthily as she could—which mostly meant she tripped and stumbled her way across the property.

  Her panicked gaze tried to take everything in at once, searching for infrared cameras, or ex-Navy SEALs with night-vision goggles hired to patrol the grounds. But no nets fell on her head Indiana Jones–style. No one called “Get them!” And she didn’t trip any invisible wires, because this wasn’t an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. This was reality. And she needed to stay in it if she was going to be prepared for whatever came next.

  Where the garden ended, a huge stone patio began. In the center of it stood a three-tiered fountain, but otherwise the area offered very little cover, making her visible from every single window.

  Addison’s limbs froze as she psyched herself up to make a mad dash for the house. Once she got there, however, she didn’t know what her plan was going to be. But there was still no sign of Felix. She had to keep going.

  So she pushed on, darting out of hiding and onto the open patio. Thankfully, the fountain’s lively splashes muffled her footsteps and her heavy breathing that was starting to sound more panicked by the second.

  Unfortunately, it was also why she didn’t hear anyone come up behind her until a hand clamped over her mouth. She cried out in surprise, but the hand pressed tighter to block the sound.

  She was dragged to the side, bucking and kicking, now thinking heels would have been a better idea than sneakers; she could have used them as weapons. Still, she kicked at bony shins and jabbed her elbow against ribs.