by Regan Black
“We need to find the dog.” Her eyes didn’t hurt anymore, but she donned her sunglasses anyway and closed the door herself. Staying home wouldn’t help Nico. Right now, she wasn’t even sure she could stay home alone and stay sane.
“Let me do the talking when we question the Larsons,” he said, pulling away from the curb.
It was a reasonable request. He was trained in investigation. She was trained in dogs. “As long as you let me give the commands if Nico is there.”
“Deal.”
That might be the first agreement between a Gage and a Colton in a long while. Well, if she didn’t count her little brother Vincent’s lovesick vow to marry Shane’s cousin Valeria Colton. At nineteen, they just couldn’t seem to accept they were too young for that kind of pledge. “What do the Coltons think of Valeria and Vincent?”
“How should I know?” Shane muttered. “We’re not a hive mind.”
Did the man have to be so aggravating? “What do you think of their relationship?”
“I think nineteen is too young to make any lifelong commitment,” he replied. “And despite their claims to the contrary, I’m sure they’re still dating.”
She shouldn’t have been surprised they agreed on that point, too. It was common sense. Both families had voiced worry for Vincent’s safety, with the Groom Killer on the loose.
“He’s your brother,” Shane said. “Can’t you reason with him?”
“He’s nineteen,” she laughed. “No one can tell him anything he doesn’t already know. We’ve all tried.”
She remembered the challenges of being a teenager, when every choice felt like it carried life-and-death consequences, and her childhood had been nearly perfect. Just one reason she invested her time at the youth center, mentoring teens like Tyler. “Do you ever volunteer at the youth center?” she asked.
Shane snorted. “I’m hardly role model material.”
“I disagree,” she blurted without thinking.
He parked the car on the street, across from the Larson offices. “Care to elaborate?”
“Not really.” Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? She looked over at the modern-style glass building. It wasn’t exactly out of place, yet something about it felt too shiny to be real.
“Nice building,” she murmured, refusing to turn and risk meeting Shane’s hard blue gaze. The sign stated the Larson brothers owned a real estate company. If that was true, they’d made some smart or lucky deals to come into their fortune so suddenly.
“Ready?” She reached for the door handle.
“Tell me why you think I could be a role model,” Shane demanded.
“That can wait.”
“Call me an in-the-moment kind of guy.” The words were full of a bitterness that made her feel terrible.
She was sure that was exactly what he wanted by the not-so-subtle reference to his eighteen months in prison. A year and a half stolen from Shane when her grandfather manipulated the case to pin a murder on him.
“You haven’t let circumstances define you.” She hoped that would be enough. They had a dog to find. His choked laughter told her otherwise. Pushing her sunglasses up to the top of her head, she faced him at last. “People admire you for what you’ve accomplished.”
“People?” His eyebrows lifted. “Evidence and confessions aside, people have been waiting nearly a decade for me to do something that proves I should be locked up.”
“That isn’t true.”
“Isn’t it?” He barreled on. “We both know my sister is the prime suspect in your brother’s murder because our father is Rusty Colton and we were raised on the rough side of town. Blood tells.”
“When the victim spells out her name with his own blood it sure does.” She regretted the words immediately. She held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair. I don’t really believe Demi killed Bo.” She was surprised she didn’t get frostbite from his brittle, cold glare. “I do believe you could be a benefit to those kids.”
He leaned across the console. “Being exonerated by a good DNA test and a witness who found God doesn’t make me role model material.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she agreed, refusing to let him intimidate her further. “What you’ve done since as a business owner and a K9 officer does. Your perseverance and determination to build a life and reputation against steep odds would be a big inspiration to kids struggling to find a way out of their own challenging situations.”
He eased back in his seat, studying her with that hard blue gaze.
“Have I grown a second head?” she asked.
“No.”
“Then let’s go get Nico.” She reached for the door handle again.
He hit the power lock button. “Hang on. What hardships make you qualified to mentor at the youth center?” he demanded.
“Oh, no hardships at all.” She sweetened the words with a sugary smile. “My life’s been utterly perfect.” She dropped her sunglasses back into place. “I volunteer out of the goodness of my heart, wearing rose-colored glasses on my quest to change the world.”
She flipped the lock button manually and exited the car. Clinging to the last of her dignity and composure, she managed not to slam the door. Whatever had possessed her to speak to him that way, she wasn’t going to apologize. Someone should have knocked that chip off his shoulder years ago. He had no right to assume he knew anything about her.
Of course, prison must have been dreadful, but life didn’t hand out free passes to anyone. Frustrated with herself as much as with him, she stalked across the street and waited in front of the building.
Gripping the microchip scanner, she reminded herself Nico was the top priority. Going in riled up and anxious would only put them all at risk, especially if Nico was inside. She took deep, slow breaths and pulled herself together for the task ahead.
CHAPTER 5
Shane didn’t appreciate her gratitude or this nonsense that he could be any sort of mentor or asset to a teenager. Those were absurd concepts. He’d take her temper and disdain over her kindness. He didn’t have enough practice dealing with the softer side of life.
Still, that didn’t give him the right to trump her hard knocks with the prison card. She was keeping it together after being attacked. He commended her for convincing everyone but him she was over it already. He recognized the deep shock lurking in her gaze and the fearful expectation that another attack was imminent, having seen it often enough in his mirror.
And why did her sarcastic claim of a perfect life rouse his anger toward an unseen, unnamed foe? Other than last night’s attacker, who had hurt her? His distraction gave her a head start across the street as he helped Stumps out of the car. For a split second, he worried that she’d storm into the Larson offices in a petite imitation of Wonder Woman, but she waited for them to join her. One positive didn’t erase a host of negatives, but he supposed it was a start.
He refused to take all the blame for the bickering. Danica wasn’t the professional, cheerful dog trainer she seemed, or at least she wasn’t only that. It made him curious about the other layers under that sweet packaging, which irritated him on general principle. They were working a case, not building a relationship.
No matter that she was beautiful and clever with a smile that could go from innocent to wicked in a blink—he had no right to be curious about Danica Gage. Who had hurt her? he wondered again as he and Stumps joined her on the sidewalk. Good grief, what was wrong with him? Her past wasn’t the issue. He had to derail that pointless train of thought and focus on the missing dog investigation.
“You ready to do this?” he asked.
She nodded. “If they have Nico, I’ll recognize him,” she said.
“And the scanner will confirm it,” he agreed. “If he’s here, we’ll have Nico back where he belongs soon.” He wanted to bang his head against the nearest
brick wall. Was this his first day on the job? An investigator never made promises he couldn’t keep. The woman tangled him up. He pulled his thoughts together and opened the door for her to walk inside first.
His first impression on this side of all the gleaming glass was simply high-end. From the marble floors to the sleek information desk, everything in this lobby screamed new money. Shane walked over, easy smile in place, and asked to speak with the Larson brothers. After a short wait, he and Stumps and Danica were shown into the office.
Stumps’s ears immediately perked up as they walked in. Shane knew he and his partner were cataloging all of the details simultaneously.
At one side of the room, two sleek German shepherds in their prime lounged on thick, luxurious dog beds in the wash of sunlight from the windows. Curious, but at ease, Shane had no doubt either of those two dogs would have happily clamped jaws over his neck if either Larson gave the command.
“Hello, Evan,” Shane addressed the man at the closer desk. “Noel.” He gave a nod to the man behind the desk situated further back. “Did we catch you at a bad time?”
“Not at all,” Evan replied. “Just taking a break for lunch.”
The identical twins were difficult to tell apart. Both men had gray-blue eyes, were clean-shaven and wore their blond hair trimmed in a similar tousled fashion. They kept mansions next door to each other on Bay Boulevard, the best street in the most coveted neighborhood in Red Ridge, where new money liked to plant large houses.
Shane believed the twins thrived on creating doubt and uncertainty about which of them was which. He’d always differentiated them by Evan’s tendency to talk first and think later and the subtle ways he typically deferred to Noel. Telling them apart had been easier for Shane since he’d partnered with Stumps because he cued into the signs that Evan didn’t care for dogs as much as his twin did. He wondered if that’s why Evan’s desk was as far from the German shepherds as possible.
The calculating gazes of the twins studied their visitors, giving Shane the eerie sense that they were being viewed as potential prey by a couple of hungry wolves. Wolves with trained protection dogs in the pack. He glanced again at the German shepherds, named Hans and Fisher. The twins claimed the dogs were merely devoted companions, and served as an intimidation factor when they were showing rural properties in the area, but everyone in town gave the twins and their dogs a wide berth.
Beside him, Danica tensed when her eyes lit on the third dog in the room. Seated near Noel’s desk, the dog fixed a dark gaze on the three of them while he panted lightly. The dog was definitely a Malinois, a little smaller but no less deadly than the bigger German shepherds at the window. Judging by Danica’s bristling reaction, she believed this was Nico.
He trusted her assessment, on the canine at least.
“What brings you two by?” Evan said, coming around his desk to greet them with a handshake. “Looking to put your house on the market and upgrade to something better, Colton?”
“I’m content where I am.” He’d moved when he’d launched his business, investing in a better area of Red Ridge that was closer to the police station. The location made it easier to fulfill his role as part of a K9 evidence team.
Evan’s leering gaze raked over Danica with enough interest that Shane nearly stepped in front of her. “So you must be in the market for something new,” Evan said.
“Danica, are you here about real estate?” Shane asked.
“Love my condo, thanks,” she replied, her gaze locked on the Malinois.
“There’s a new development planned—”
Danica cut off Evan’s pitch. “Give it a rest. You know we’re here for Nico,” she stated.
Shane caught the slight shift as Nico’s eyes latched onto Danica. It was the dog’s only movement. With the twins suspected of so much illegal activity from the gun deal to laundering money, Shane had no doubt there was something incriminating in this office beyond the stolen Malinois. It was tempting to give Stumps a seek command. Only the awareness that doing so would likely get his corgi attacked kept Shane in check.
“Nico? Who’s Nico?” Evan asked, eyes wide with feigned innocence. The dog continued to watch Danica. “You know anyone by that name, Noel?”
Shane took a half step forward before Danica said something else. They couldn’t afford to blow this rare opportunity by getting thrown out too soon. “Nico was the name of a dog stolen from the K9 training center last night,” Shane explained. “Naturally, Danica and everyone at the training center are upset by the loss.”
“Naturally.” Evan’s sympathy was far less convincing as he leered at Danica again.
Shane shifted closer to her. “We’re simply checking in with dog owners in the area, asking them to keep an eye out.”
“What kind of dog did you lose?” Noel asked.
“Belgian Malinois. Stolen,” Danica corrected him.
“That’s a shame,” Noel said. “Well-trained dogs are invaluable.”
“Yes, they are,” she agreed.
Shane was amazed she could speak at all through her clenched teeth.
“You should get better security out there,” Evan observed. “Y’know, if you want to protect the dogs and the investment.” He returned to his chair and propped his feet on the corner of the desk, stacking his ankles. “The dogs you train are worth a fortune.”
“I’m aware,” Danica replied.
Again, Shane noted the uncanny resemblance of the twins to the dogs under the window. Casually alert to any action and willing to dispense with trouble should it arise. With opposable thumbs, the twins were more lethal than the dogs, but it was a close race.
“When did you get that shepherd?” Shane asked, deliberately getting the breed wrong. “He’s a beauty even if he’s on the small side.”
“Last night,” Danica murmured under her breath.
He threw her a quelling look that bounced right off her impervious stubborn hide.
“He’s a Malinois,” Evan said proudly. “We bought him as a pup some time ago.”
Shane caught the displeasure Noel aimed at his brother. God bless Evan’s inability to keep his mouth shut.
“He just finished his training so we took delivery,” Noel added.
“You’re becoming quite a collector,” Shane said. “Or did something happen that you’re expanding the pack?”
“Real estate has risks,” Noel said. “Hans and Fisher are good, but this guy will be better.”
“When was that delivery?” Shane asked, pulling out his investigator’s notebook. “Because he’s the same breed as the stolen dog. It would be great if you could show me a receipt. Just to clear up any confusion.”
“I don’t have the receipt here,” Noel said before Evan could reply.
“How convenient,” Danica said. The snarl on her lips belied her neutral tone. “I know where you took delivery,” she said.
Noel arched one golden eyebrow, then turned his head to the dog. “Come.”
To Shane’s astonishment, the dog padded over to Noel.
“Good dog.” Noel rewarded the dog with a bite of steak from his sandwich. He stared down Danica. “I know it’s hard to admit a mistake, but clearly you can see this isn’t the dog you think it is.”
She tapped the microchip scanner against her palm. “If I’m mistaken, you won’t mind if I scan his microchip.”
“Be my guest,” Noel said.
His utter confidence planted a seed of doubt in Shane’s mind. Yes, Danica knew her dogs, but she was recovering from being drugged and attacked. Although he agreed with the general consensus that the Larson twins weren’t operating aboveboard, Shane wasn’t willing to make them the scapegoats for every recent crime in Red Ridge.
Shane kept an eye on Evan, hoping for some sort of tell as Danica walked toward the dog. Unfortunately, Evan didn’t flinch.
&nbs
p; From the sunny spots, the German shepherds tracked her progress, and beside him, Stumps almost came out of his seated position. It was a rare situation that unsettled his corgi.
While Evan and Noel and the dogs watched her with equally assessing and predatory gazes, Danica scanned Nico’s shoulder where the training center would have implanted his identifying microchip. Shane didn’t hear a signal.
“Anything?” he asked her.
She shook her head, her golden-red ponytail rippling down her back. “Give me a second. You know they can move.”
“By all means, be sure,” Noel said in a tone that made Shane’s teeth ache.
She tried, moving the scanner back and forth between the dog’s shoulder blades until at last the device made a noise. Danica’s triumphant smile evaporated in an instant as she read the information on the scanner’s display. “This can’t be right,” she said. She whirled on Noel. “What did you do?” she asked, pulling out her cell phone.
“I had my dog chipped,” Noel replied. “Like any responsible dog owner.” He fed the Malinois another bite of steak and watched Danica with an amused gaze.
Shane realized she must be calling the microchip registry for confirmation. When he saw her brace for battle, he knew she was searching for any target after last night. Noel wasn’t a fight she could win. Not today. “Let me see,” he said, beckoning Danica back to his side. He didn’t want her within grabbing distance of either the twins or the dogs any longer than necessary.
She marched back to him, her temper nearly overriding her self-control. “Look.” She shoved the scanner at him. “It’s Nico, but the chip isn’t our frequency. The registry says this dog belongs to Noel and Evan Larson.”
“All right,” Shane said. Questions chased one after another through his mind, but with this result, they couldn’t argue about the ownership of the Malinois further right now.
“Shane.” She turned her back on the twins. “It’s him,” she whispered, staring up at him, her eyes pleading for him to do something. Stumps was gazing at him with a similar intense expectancy.
