Her sanctuary, I guessed.
I zeroed in on the bandage on her arm again, my stomach clenching. As I reached out to help her up, the dog lunged at me.
“Christ,” I jumped back, flashing my palms.
“Enough.” She scolded the dog, sending its tail between its legs, and me making a mental note to pack an extra pair of boxers for my next visit. Sunny nodded to the river in some nonverbal cue and the dogs took off like bullets into the water.
“Thank God you don’t need in-home care.”
“Sorry about that. They’re protective.”
“Understatement of the century.” I reached out my hand again. “Let me…” I helped her to a stance. I was shocked that she let me touch her. That’s when I realized Sunny Harper’s attitude, or resistance, I should say, was very impacted by her environment. I wondered if her house was the only place she let her guard down.
“How are you really doing?”
She took a deep breath. “I’m fine.”
“That wince you gave when you inhaled says otherwise.”
She looked at me, her eyes squinting in suspicion as if to figure me out.
That makes two of us.
“So. You said you wanted to chat?”
“If you don’t mind.”
She nodded. “I expected it. But I expected a call, not a drop in.”
“You seem just as territorial about your place as your dogs.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You need to lock your doors and windows.”
“Did you go into my house?”
“Never. I’d never set foot inside a stranger’s house without a warrant.”
“Your reputation says otherwise.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
We fell into step together down the riverbank, the dogs running circles around our feet.
“You’re supposed to be taking it easy.” I said.
“I am.”
“Training three monsters isn’t taking it easy.”
“Are you scared of my dogs, Detective?”
“Of those hundred-plus pound trained assassins? You’re damn straight I am.”
She smirked and I found myself staring to get the full picture of it. It wasn’t a smile, but the first time I’d seen something close to it.
Breathtaking.
“Well, too bad you’re scared because I was looking for someone to help with attack commands.”
“Based on their display in the woods back there, I’d say they already had their first lesson of the day.”
“No, an actual attack. Attacking another human on command.”
“You know I’m a cop, right?”
“On someone with a bite sleeve, not just some random passerby, crazy. But, you know,” she shrugged, “I get that they’re intimidating and all…”
“And I get that you’re good at goading people.”
Her lip twitched. That little grin again.
“I also get that you don’t like people telling you what to do, but I’d like you to make an exception for a medically trained professional. I know Buckley told you to rest. I also know that bruised ribs hurt like a son. We can either sit here for our chat, or head back up to those rocking chairs I saw on your front porch.”
“If you’ve truly had bruised ribs then you know that it actually helps to walk.”
I did know that. Despite my doctor’s orders, I’d run six miles the day after a roadside IED blew me six feet into the air. Cried the entire way. Sunny was tough. I respected it but I didn’t like knowing she was in pain.
“When’s your next check-up?”
“I get the stitches out in ten days.”
“Did I do that? When I tackled you?” The question blurted out before I could catch myself.
“No. It happened when I was pushed to the ground.”
I nodded and released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“How’s it feeling, really?”
“Like someone poured liquid acid on my skin.”
“Thanks for being honest.” I said and meant it.
“Thanks for carrying me to my truck last night.” She looked down.
“It was no big deal. Like I said, I’ve had bruised ribs before.”
She slapped me.
“Just joking.” I winked. “You weigh half as much as your smallest dog.”
My phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, read the caller ID—Mom. I silenced it and slid it back in my pocket with a curl of my lip.
A spray of sprinkles rained against my back.
“Tango, no.”
“Tango?” I wiped the speckles of mud off my pants. Wasn’t like they’d been washed in a month, anyway.
“That one is Tango and the black one is,” she slid me the side-eye. “Max.”
“Max?” I couldn’t help but laugh. The dog that stealthily stalked me from the side had the same name as me. “Never been so proud to have a dog named after me.”
“After you? Maybe I should have named him Zeus after your ego.”
I chuckled again.
“The third one is—”
“Wait. Hold up. I want to know more about this Max. Where does Max sleep?”
“In my bed.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Really. Anyway, as I was saying—”
“At the foot of the bed or under the covers?”
She rolled her eyes. “At the foot.”
“I’ll have to work on that.”
She shook her head, the grin morphing into a full-blown smile. I wondered if it was the same smile she’d flashed at the judge to get out of her latest ticket. It was mesmerizing… and almost enough for me to ignore the fact that she allowed dogs in her sheets.
Almost.
No cooking, strike one. Dogs in bed, major strike two.
“Any other pervy innuendos, Detective?”
“Just gathering pieces to the puzzle.”
“Well gather them somewhere other than my sheets.”
I opened my mouth—
“Anyway…” She cut me off. Probably for the best. “The third ‘monster’ is Athena, a German Shepherd/Collie mix. She’s nine years old. The alpha of the crew.” She pointed to the monster that almost attacked me on the trail.
“Athena? You mean to tell me the dog that almost ate my dick for breakfast is a gir—”
She held up a finger. “Might want to rethink that sentence unless you want to lose those balls you speak so fondly of. Although I think the exact verbiage was marbles.” She held up her hand and closed her thumb and index finger together. “Small.”
“Anything is small compared to Tango’s over there.”
“Why are men so fascinated with balls?”
“Clearly you haven’t been with the right men.”
“Are you always this charming with women?”
“’Fraid so.”
“Now I know why there’s no ring on your finger.”
“Says the gun-toting dog-lady.”
“Dogs mind better than men.”
“Dogs break quicker.”
Her brow cocked as she seemed to ponder this insightful comment for a moment.