If the Devil Had a Dog

by T. K. Lukas

  “He’s still in there?”

  “Yes. Can’t you hear the snoring?”

  “No. Another gift from Iraq. Did you get the gun?”

  “I didn’t. I don’t—”

  “No problem. I’m armed. If he wakes up and comes out shooting, I’ll put a bullet in his black heart. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  At the look of surprise on Sidney’s face, he gave her a quick ‘trust me’ nod, motioning for her to follow as he grabbed her suitcases. She reached into the room to close the door. Carefully. Quickly. Silently pleading for the door not to squeak as she tugged it shut.

  Trevor hurried down the hall as swiftly as a man with two flesh and bone limbs, Sidney on his heels. The elevator was slow to make it to the top to retrieve them, and then slow to set them on the bottom floor. Sticking his head out into the hallway, he looked left and right before moving to the door adjacent to the elevator. He swiped the plastic key and pushed Sidney into his room, locking the deadbolt behind him.

  Gunner jumped off the bed and leapt up to greet him as if he’d just returned from a year’s deployment. Trevor scratched behind the dog’s ears and kissed the top of his head. “I love you too, now settle down.” Retrieving his pistol from his waistband, he checked to make sure the safety was engaged before placing it on top of the bureau.

  “I saw the look you gave me,” he said, turning to Sidney. “My right eye sees enough that I can shoot someone if I have to. Aim for thoracic center mass. I may have lost a lot, but I haven’t lost the ability to defend myself, or others, if called to do so.”

  “You’re unbelievably… brave doesn’t seem descriptive enough. Valiant? Heroic?”

  “Hey, I said I was gay. I didn’t say I was a pussy.”

  *****

  Sidney paced in front of the window as Trevor took care of business with the hotel staff. Moments before, she had peeked into the S. A. D. file and put it away, horrified of what else she might find when she had time to delve into it with her full attention. What little she saw when she thumbed through the file was shocking. Copies of texts and emails between Jessi and her. Her client list. Her personal contact list downloaded from her computer and printed on her own office letterhead. A copy of her driver’s license and social security card. Eight-by-ten glossy nude photos of her—some she had posed for, some she had not.

  “All right. Mama’s on her way,” said Trevor as he came back into the room. “Hey, are you okay? You look sick.”

  “Thanks. Just what every girl wants to hear. I’m fine. Are we set to go?”

  “Yes. The valet has our suitcases waiting at the curb. I dropped your rental car key off at the front desk and they notified Hertz. You’ve been checked out of your room. The cleaning staff can do what they wish with the passed-out body in the bed.”

  “I think that’s adorable, your calling her ‘Mama.’ What did she say about being awakened in the wee hours of the morning for a ride home?” Sidney tugged the USMC ball cap lower. Trevor’s shirt hung to her knees, fitting more like a dress; it was his idea to disguise her before they left.

  “You missed a strand. That red hair of yours would be easy to spot a mile away.” He pushed the loose hair up into the cap. “Well, she was a bit confused at first, especially when I mentioned I had a female companion. But I told her it was an emergency and that I didn’t have time to explain. She’s probably just happy I’m finally bringing home a girl. Come on, let’s not waste time in vacating the premises.”

  Trevor checked to make sure the hallway was clear. Seeing no one, they hurried past the lobby and out through the automatic doors. As Trevor tipped the valet, a white Range Rover pulled to the curb.

  “Perfect timing,” he said, waving to his mother. Opening the passenger side door, he unclipped his dog’s lead. “Load up, Gunner. Scoot over—leave room for the pretty girl. Mama, this is Sidney—Sidney, this is Mama.”

  The yellow lab hopped into the back seat and Sidney followed, the ladies greeting one another with pleasantries and curious smiles. Trevor made sure their bags were loaded into the back compartment before coming around and getting into the front passenger seat.

  “Mama, you’re a honey for picking us up, but we’re in a mighty big hurry. We need to get the hell out of Dodge. Story to follow.”

  “All righty then.” She gunned the gas pedal, tossing everyone back in their seats with a whiplash effect.

  CHAPTER 8

  Fort Worth

  Sidney leaned her head against the headrest and turned her face toward the window. Cars and trucks streamed by. Trees swayed in the cool breeze. Buildings stood stoic, some already adorned with holiday decorations. A young couple embraced on the street corner while an elderly man sat at a bus stop feeding a skinny dog. A suspicious police cruiser sneaked down a side alley, lights off. Nothing remarkable, just the fixtures of normal, everyday life.

  Her heart was seized in a cold grip at the realization that her life had catapulted far beyond the realm of normal. She looked at her reflection in the car’s window and stared into her own eyes, trying to see if they might reveal something to her, give her any advice, tell her what to do. She saw nothing.

  Voices from the front seat pulled her from her reverie. She listened as Trevor gave his mother an abbreviated version of her story—how they met—why she needed their help. It was a sanitized recounting.

  If only it were really that simple.

  As she listened, it dawned on Sidney that Trevor’s mother wore a pink scarf wrapped around her head, the word survivor emblazoned in bold white letters across the back. No hair hung from under it, which left the skin on her thin neck exposed. Watching the woman from the vantage point of the rearview mirror, she also noticed that Trevor and his mother looked remarkably alike. While their features shared a genetic component, it was their eyes that flashed identical expressions. Both had the eyes of a fighter, though Trevor had been left with only one.

  “Here we are. Mistletoe bungalow. It may need a little TLC—it was built over one hundred years ago—but it’s been a special home for my family since my husband and I were newlyweds.” Trevor’s mother smiled into the rearview mirror at Sidney. “By the way, you can call me Eli. I pronounce it like the man’s name, Ely. Everyone I know who’s named Elizabeth goes either by Liz, Liza, or Beth. I thought I’d be different and claim the first three letters.”

  “I go by my first three letters, too, sometimes. Sid—also like a man’s name. Thank you, Eli, for picking us up at such an inconvenient hour. I’m sorry I was zoning out back here and not joining in on the conversation. My mind is on other things.” She offered a weak smile.

  “I gathered as much, from what Trevor said. Sweetie, we may be new friends, but we’re true friends. We’ll help however we can.”

  *****

  After Eli passed out hugs and goodnights, Trevor and Sidney retreated to the front porch to sit and sip hot tea. The quaint, tree-lined street was dark and quiet, the lawns well-manicured, the bungalows along the lane offering wide porches for friendly chats with neighbors or for teenagers to steal their first porch swing kiss. Gunner lay across Sidney’s feet like a warm, yellow blanket. In the distance, downtown Fort Worth’s skyline glistened in the thin autumn fog rolling in below a sliver of a moon.

  “All right, you’ve had a hell of a day. Do you want to sit for a while longer or do you want to turn in? Mama has your bedroom all fixed up. With the twins off at soccer camp, Mama now has someone else to fuss over. You’ve done her a favor.”

  “I’m ready to go to bed—I’m exhausted. Eli’s a darling. You’re lucky to have her, and vice versa. I noticed the breast cancer scarf she wore on her head. Recent?”

  “Double mastectomy last year. Just finished her last chemo a few weeks ago. She’s a strong lady. But proud. The hardest part for her was losing her long blond locks. She has a closet full of wigs in different styles she always wears. Except for when her son calls her in the middle of the night and needs an emergency ride home.”


  “You’re both exceptionally strong people. I admire that.”

  “I get it from her. Come on, I’ll show you your room.”

  *****

  Before turning off the nightlight, Sidney sat on the bed and pulled the S. A. D. file from her tote bag. She poured over each page with growing alarm. The opening document detailed the encounter she’d had with Winston the first time they’d met. The last entry had been made only yesterday. Some pages were copies of personal, handwritten notes she’d thought she’d thrown in the trash. There were printouts of text messages and emails, transcripts of phone conversations, details of credit card charges, photos of her lunching with friends and clients, even daily entries of mileage driven on her car.

  Realization of what the file contained washed over her like an ice-cold shower. She dropped the file, the pages fanning out over the rose and white chenille bedspread.

  She gasped for breath. Copies of text messages. Pages and pages of them. He saw all of her text messages. He must have bugged her cellphone. She realized that, at some point, Winston would see the text she sent earlier to Trevor’s number. Phone numbers can be traced.

  Trevor was in danger.

  She threw on her robe and ran down the hall to his room.

  *****

  Trevor and Sidney sat at the breakfast bar while Eli paced the kitchen floor, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Given the dire circumstances, Trevor argued that it was best to wake his mother and bring her in on the situation. Sidney agreed.

  “I feel like I’ve invited potential disaster into your lives. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to fix this or how to make it right.” Sidney’s hand trembled as she took the offered cup of coffee from Eli.

  “It’s not your fault, dear. And we’re not certain that anything will happen. Let’s not buy trouble where there is none.” Eli sipped her coffee. “Trevor, what do you think?”

  “What I think is I walked into your life, Sid, and invited myself into your private moment—that toast to yourself of getting your life back. Remember, brave girl?”

  Sidney offered a thin, weak smile.

  “If your husband does trace the number and confronts me, I’ll say I’ve never met you before, that it must have been a misdial. Simple. In the meantime, Sid, you can’t use your cellphone, your computer, or your email accounts again. You’ll have to buy a pre-paid phone and use that for a while. I’ll set you up with a new computer and email account. As soon as your attorney’s office opens… I’m sorry. I’m just taking over. Do you want me to go on or mind my own business?”

  “You are taking over. However, you’re doing a fine job.” Sidney’s face was as pale as the cream she stirred in her coffee. She hated feeling needy, but at this moment, she knew she needed help.

  “Call your attorney from our home phone and explain what’s happened. Set up a meeting for him to come here ASAP. You can’t leave this house until we have a safe place for you to go. You can’t go to your cousin’s—Winston knows that’s your plan. Are we missing anything?”

  “I told you about the file I took. I need to tell you about the video I made, too. I don’t know what to do about it. If my phone’s bugged, will he know I filmed him? I’m not savvy about these tech things.”

  “Not unless you emailed it or texted it to someone from your phone. It probably depends on what type of bugging device he used, though. I’ll check on that. What’s on the video?”

  “It implicates him with the people I told you about. It seems to confirm my suspicions about the ‘foreign business clients.’ And for the record, I haven’t sent the video to anyone.” Sidney pulled her phone from her robe pocket and handed it to Trevor.

  Eli came around behind Trevor, leaning over his shoulder to watch, too. The footage was clear enough to see the names on each file, and with the video stopped, to read every page, amounts of money entered next to dates, and business names and addresses. Notes in Winston’s handwriting revealed his personal thoughts regarding the client or a particular matter about a meeting. Restarting the video, they watched the graphic scene unfold as the camera zoomed in on the crumpled one hundred dollar bills strewn across the floor before panning across the bed, the gun, and Winston’s full-frontal exposed body.

  “Hm. Exactly what I suspected,” said Eli.

  “What’s that?” asked Sidney.

  “Bullies usually are compensating for something small.”

  “Mama!” Trevor burst out laughing.

  *****

  At noon, Eli ushered Aleck Stavros into the dining room, where the table was set with a light lunch. She excused herself, shutting the French doors, leaving Sidney and her attorney to speak in private. Trevor had taken a taxi on a mission to secure a pre-paid phone and a new laptop for Sidney. The bigger mission, however, was to pay a visit to a tech buddy to learn what he could about cellphone bugging devices.

  Aleck eased his immensity into the armchair at the head of the table, his bulk barely squeezing into the limited space. He was not a fat man. He was a giant of a man. At six feet nine inches tall and weighing in at three hundred pounds, all who saw him assumed him to be a football linebacker. Strangers often asked for autographs. Sometimes he’d oblige and sign when they insisted they recognized him, laughing at their disappointment when they read his signature, signed Aleck Stavros, Attorney at Law, Clueless about Football.

  “Thanks, Aleck, for coming. I… I’m in a terrible mess. I don’t know what to do.” Sidney wrapped her arms around herself. The panic she felt as a small seed in her stomach was swelling, pushing up into her chest, making breathing difficult.

  “We’re going to do what we set out to do.” He gave Sidney’s arm a gentle squeeze. “We’re going to get you out of this marriage, quickly, safely, and as you wish, taking nothing but your last name back. However, with our newfound knowledge, we must proceed with extreme caution. May I see the file you told me about on the phone?”

  “I made you copies. Or, Eli did. Minus the nude photos of me. I didn’t think you needed to see those. I’ll keep them in the original file with me.” She handed him a stapled stack of papers and watched his eyebrows work up and down as he flipped through the file, frowning and pursing his lips.

  At the light tapping on the door, Sidney looked up. She waved Trevor in and introduced the two men. Gunner nosed the new party at the table before lying down at Sidney’s feet. “Please stay, Trevor. I want your input. Is that all right with you, Aleck?”

  “Your call, Sid. But it’s fine with me.”

  “OK. Thanks.” Trevor pulled out a chair and sat. “I’ll show you what I picked up later, but your new phone and laptop problem is solved. And, I learned some cool stuff about bugging cellphones. Your pictures and videos are safe. But he’s probably been listening in on every phone conversation you’ve had, and we know he’s copied your texts and emails. If you’ve used your phone to make a call from this location, which I’m sure you haven’t, he’d be able to track it here, via GPS technology.”

  “Sidney, what about this video you made?” Aleck reached for the plate of sandwiches and poured a glass of iced tea. He passed the plate to Trevor and indicated with a nod that Sidney should eat something, too. “You said it implicated him with a connection to, how’d you put it, some very bad men.”

  “Yes, it clearly does.” She shook her head ‘no’ when Trevor offered her a sandwich, afraid she’d choke if she tried to swallow.

  “If Winston, when Winston, learns your file is missing from his briefcase, he’ll know that you saw the other files. If they’re as bad as you say, you could be in danger for having seen them. I think it would be appropriate, as your attorney, for me to have all the facts. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  The video was replayed, three times over.

  “If what I’m seeing here, in addition to what you told me when we first discussed your divorce, all add up…” Aleck ran a hand down his face, trailing fingers through his gray mustache and goatee. He leaned in and gave Sidney a stern loo
k, his piercing blue eyes steady on hers. “We’ve got one shitty situation on our hands. Yes, that’s a legal term I learned in law school. This has gone beyond a simple divorce. This has become a situation where I recommend we get the DEA and-or the FBI involved. It’s no wonder you’re scared. I’m scared for you.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Sidney crossed her arms on the table and leaned her head down, trying to hold back the tears.

  Trevor rubbed her back with one hand. His other hand was busy drumming against the table. “Stream of thought here … Sidney needs to get out of town—”

  “—and disappear for a while. I couldn’t agree more,” said Aleck. “I’ll give her a few days head start before I turn that video over to the DEA. Trevor, make a copy and download it onto a safe hard drive or a flash drive before I leave. Oh, and include the audio recording of the threat he made, too. I’ll take the phone and lock it in my office safe until Monday. I’ve got a friend in the Agency whom I want to call and ask a few questions about how best to handle this.”

  “Yes sir. She needs to be disguised when she leaves. I’m sure Winston’s already looking for her.”

  “I’ll need a truck and trailer. I won’t leave without Mocha. He’s already threatened her safety,” Sidney mumbled, her head still resting on her arms crossed on the table. Lifting her gaze, she looked from Trevor, then to Alec. “If Winston were to find her, he’d kill her, just to get to me. I couldn’t bear that.”

  “Is that doable?” asked Trevor. “Can you get away safely, pulling a horse trailer?”

  “Yes. I don’t think Winston would expect me to flee with my horse, especially since I left my truck and trailer at his ranch.”

  “OK. Good used truck and trailer from a private party is easy to come by. Do you have the funds?” asked Trevor.

  “She has the funds. Cash is not a problem,” said Aleck. “If you can locate a truck and trailer today, I’ll have the funds ready. We can’t delay. I want her out of town no later than noon tomorrow. Do you have a place in mind where she can go—where she’ll be safe and far away from here?