by Mayer, Dale
"Mosey? Where are you? Damn. I so don't need this." She stood on the back deck, with her back to the kitchen when she heard him.
Sniff. "Like I do. Not telling me we're going out like that is just mean. You owe me. A second dinner should take care of it."
She spun around with relief, glowering at him. "Ha. Fat chance. Where were you, anyway?" She didn't know where he'd been, but he waddled through the doorway like he owned the place, which he had more right to than she, since she was the visitor. "You're supposed to be on a diet, remember?" Giving the dogs a couple more minutes, she then called them back inside, did a head count and locked the door up tight. Then she made sure she reset the alarms.
"Dinner?"
"You had dinner."
She wanted a hot bath. That would make her feel better and help pass the time. Although, she didn't want to be soaking in the bath when Stuart arrived. That was a little too suggestive.
With the dogs calm, the security on, she headed to the Jacuzzi tub to relax. She'd hear Stuart well before he made it upstairs, surely.
She ran the warm water into the huge tub. She thought she heard the dogs barking, but when she went back out into the hallway, they were quiet again. Stupid to be worried.
Back in the bathroom, she added bath salts from a jar sitting off to one side. The scent of lavender filled the room. Inhaling appreciatively, she undressed and slipped into the warm water. "Oh, what a slice of heaven," she whispered to the empty room. She couldn't help loving the decadence of his house. Compared to her tiny nest, this was ultimate luxury. Wallowing in the warmth, she could feel the tension and stress drifting off her shoulders to wash away in the water. She almost drifted off. Sleep beckoned so strongly she had a hard time keeping her eyes open.
It was only as the water cooled she realized how much time had passed. Pulling the plug, she struggled to get out of the water, feeling more tired than she could believe. Her limbs were leadened and refused to work properly. There was a spare robe hanging on the back of the door, wrapping up in it, she used the second towel to wrap around her head.
As she went to open the door, she heard it.
Something moved in her bedroom. She didn't want to call out and attract unwanted attention. Damn, this would be a good time for Mosey to hear her thoughts.
"Mosey?"
There was almost an answer. She called him again getting a somewhat fuzzy response. She didn't understand it. But fear slammed into her anyway. Something was wrong. But what? She stared at the closed bathroom door in horror. A door closed. Her bedroom door? Oh shit.
She was stuck in a bathroom wearing nothing but a robe, while something she wasn't going to like waited for her in the bedroom. Her clothes, where the hell where they? Dumped in a pile at the door. She got dressed as quietly and as quickly as possible, her mind mulling on what to do? She searched for her cell phone. Yes, it was in her pants pocket. She quickly texted Stuart, telling him what was wrong. Then she texted Jane.
Turning her phone to vibrate, she waited for a response. She kept her panic in check, just barely, her gaze zeroed in on the door. Shit. It wasn't locked. How could she lock it and not have someone on the other side hear? And what could she find as a weapon in a bathroom? She stared around frantically. The only window was too high up to reach. There was no aerosol sprays. Outside of a skin loofah, and like that was going to help, she couldn't see anything of value. The towel, yes. But what could she do with it. She was no martial arts expert. She'd often thought of doing some self-defence courses, but hadn't gotten that far. Unfortunately.
Now she desperately wished she'd taken them. Her phone vibrated in her hand. She quickly read the text. Stuart. He was only blocks away, and he'd contacted the police. Stay hidden. He'd be there in a few minutes.
"Oh, thank God." Keeping her head down, she sat down pressed up against the door. Not like that would help. Whoever was on that side had to know she was in here. There was no other place for her to be. The draining bathwater had probably alerted him. Shit.
"Ninna? Where are you?"
She straightened. "Mosey! Thank heavens. I'm in the bathroom. Who's in the bedroom?"
"I don't know. I just woke up. I'll come upstairs and see."
Ninna winced wanting to scream out for help in her panic. "No. I don't want you to get hurt. Stuart's on his way."
"Good. Almost there. Uh oh."
She spun around on her bum to stare helplessly at the closed door, wishing she knew who was on the other side. "Uh oh? Uh oh what? Who's there?"
"I don't know him. He doesn't look dog friendly. He looks mean."
Oh, shit. "Get out of the way. Don't let him see you. He might hurt you. Where are the other dogs? Why aren't they with you? She didn't want anything to happen to him.
"Snicker. I'm not going to get hurt. Still, this is not a nice man. The dogs are sleeping downstairs in the front room. He sprayed us with something. Stay in there. Uh oh!"
"What? Mosey, what?" Her breath caught. She closed her eyes as panic stole her breath.
"He's coming to the bathroom door."
"Oh, shit." Ninna shuffled her bum to the door, reached up and pushed the knob in quietly, softly. Still the click sounded horribly loud in the tiny room. With her breath caught in her throat, she waited.
"Ninna? Is that you?"
Horrified, she stared into the full length mirror on the opposite wall. The guy in the bedroom, a voice she didn't recognize, called her by name. Common sense poked its head up. Could it be Stuart?"
No. Mosey would have told her if it was. And Stuart would have called out when he got home, not to mention the ruckus the dogs would have made.
The male voice, lighter, younger than Stuart's, spoke again. "Ninna. Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. Come on out and let's talk."
Talk? Was he nuts? There's no way she was going out there.
"I've been admiring you from a distance for weeks now. Saw you by accident when I walked past your little house. You're gorgeous, you know that?" He paused. "I just want to get to know you better."
She barely held a small scream from breaking free. Silence was her best bet. Silence. She buried her head in her knees and rocked back and forth. She stuffed a corner of the towel into her mouth to keep the small panicked squeals from coming out. Texting didn't work with her hands shaking so bad. She was almost paralyzed by panic.
Stuart, someone, please hurry!
"Ninna, come on out. You don't have to be scared of me. I just want to talk to you."
How the hell had he gotten into the damn house? As if he could read her mind, he answered the question himself.
"When you came back after letting the dogs out for one last time, I crept in through the garage. Got a great spray a friend of mine made up. Puts the dogs out quick. Don't worry though, it won't hurt them none. Came straight upstairs went into the master, expecting to find you there. It made me feel good to know you weren't sharing his bed. You were waiting for me, weren't you?" His voice became louder and she could barely hear his footsteps as he walked right up to the door. Her heart pounded so loud it was hard to hear his next words.
"You should have stayed home. That little house is perfect for you. For us."
Her eyes widened. "Oh, God, Mosey. He's crazy."
"Yeah, he doesn't look too good. He's got a mess of ropes and things in his hands, too."
"Oh, God. Oh, God. Stuart, where are you? Please let the police get here soon. How long could it take to drive a few blocks? Ropes. Oh, God. Mosey, you stay away from him. He'll hurt you. You can't run that fast."
Mosey sniffled, sounding too close to a real snicker for her peace of mind. "Oh ye of little faith. You never did believe in me."
"I mean it. As much as I may not have had anything to do with pets before this last week, I have to admit that you've all grown on me. I don't want anything to happen to any of you."
Just then the doorknob above her head turned. She swallowed hard.
The lock held. But for how long?
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"Ninna. Come on out. I don't like this door between us. I don't want to break the door down, but I will if I have to."
Anyone sufficiently strong could break down the door in a few minutes. She stared at the door in panic.
"I just want to visit for awhile."
Like hell. If that was the case, there was no reason to have brought ropes.
Just then sirens and lights flashed outside. Her heart jumped in hope. God, please let that be Stuart and the police.
"Did you call the cops, you bitch? You know you've been teasing me all this time. Inviting me in. This is your fault. What a fucking tease. Don't worry, you'll get yours."
He kicked the bathroom door hard. She shuddered as the door rippled against her back from the force. She could hear him running toward her, then smash, he hit the door again. The lock almost gave way. With the next try, it probably would. What could she do?
"Stay quiet."
"Mosey?"
"What the fuck was that?"
The voice yelling was right on the other side of the door. She freaked out. "Mosey, what are you doing?"
Screams from the bedroom had her jumping to her feet. She cried out, "Mosey, stop, you're going to get hurt."
"Get it off me. Get it off meeeeee."
Then all hell broke loose. Barks, howls, yips added to the yells and roars that filled the bedroom, more sirens filled the night. Ninna huddled lower to the floor and waited, whimpers caught deep in her throat as sounds of chaos washed over her - followed by a deafening silence.
"Ninna? It's Stuart. It's okay, you can come out now. We've got him."
She closed her eyes in relief. "Stuart?"
"Yes, it's me. Unlock the door. It's safe now."
Mosey's voice filled her mind. "It's good ole Stuart. That bad guy isn't walking so good anymore. I bit him good in the ass. Blech."
"Oh my God." Ninna was half laughing and half crying by the time she had the door unlocked. Opening it, she collapsed into Stuart's arms. He held her close. "Shhhh. It's alright now. Everything's going to be fine." A few long moments later, he drew back slightly. "The police are here. I think they're going to need to talk to you. "
She sniffled but let him lead her over to where several officers stood. Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she smiled tremulously at the female deputy. "Thank you so much for coming to the rescue."
"We've been after this guy for a long time. We were afraid he'd escalate. We're just happy we caught him before he did anything worse. If you feel up to it, we need to take your statement." The deputy led her downstairs and into the kitchen.
There, with a cup of bracing tea, the dogs now milling about in the excitement, Ninna told them what she knew. From the rash of break-ins to finding the picture frame to tonight's events, she tried to give a coherent retelling of events. Stuart stood behind her, one hand on her shoulder for support.
She withheld the Mosey information. They'd just think she was crazy. She'd forgotten about him in the chaos. Speaking of Mosey, where was he? He deserved a big hug and a huge bowl of gravy. She glanced around, but with all the cops and the animals, she couldn't see Mosey.
"Where's the intruder? I'd like to have a face to put on that monster. Please, may I see him?"
Stuart started to protest, but she cut him off. "No. It will help. Better to have a face, then a thousand imaginary ones to haunt me."
The deputy left for a moment then came back, a laptop in her hand. She brought up a picture. "This is a good likeness. He's got a long rap sheet, including sexual assault."
Swallowing heavily at the last words, Ninna took a look at the man who'd been stalking her. He was a stranger. She didn't think she'd ever seen him before. "How is it that he's been stalking me, yet I've never caught sight of him anywhere?"
The deputy sighed as if she'd observed too much in life and nothing surprised her anymore. "Unfortunately, that's all too common."
"Where is he now?"
"He's been taken to the hospital to have that bite looked after, then he'll spend the next few years in jail. If not longer this time. Thanks to you." The deputy closed the laptop and stood up. "Try to get some sleep tonight. Be sure to consider getting professional help if you find you're having trouble dealing with tonight's events."
Ninna smiled her thanks. "I will and thank you."
Stuart kept an arm around Ninna's shoulders as the deputy stood and walked to the front door where everyone appeared to be ready to leave. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was three in the morning.
She turned to Stuart. "So much for coming home early and getting some sleep. You might have been better off staying at the conference."
He pulled her into a warm comforting embrace. "Don't ever say that. I'm so glad I made it here in time and wish I'd been hours earlier."
Pulling back slightly so she could see his face, she said, "Maybe. But at least this way the guy is caught and I can stop looking over my shoulder all the time."
Keeping an arm around her, Stuart locked up the front door and reset the alarms. "I can't believe he was so slick as to wait until you were upstairs, spray the dogs downstairs, then come upstairs and hide until they'd gone out...well that was just ingenious on his part, and....kinda scary, too." He turned off the rest of the lights downstairs, then led her to the stairs. "Although, if the dogs weren't in your room until the end and you were locked in the bathroom, how'd he get bit? He was screaming to get the dog off him, but in the chaos, I never did see which one he was screaming about."
Ninna laughed. "That was Mosey. He bit him on the butt. I owe him a big thank you for that."
Stuart gave her an odd look, but they'd arrived at the spare room. He opened the spare room door and stopped at the entrance. Frowning, he turned back to her. "Why don't you sleep in my room tonight and I'll sleep here. This isn't a good place for you to be."
She grimaced as she looked around. "No, you're also tired. Besides, if I let the dogs sleep in here with me, then I won't be scared. I shouldn't be scared any more, as it is. I'm more shook up now that it's over than anything."
Walking around the room, she realized she wasn't afraid. "You know something. I will sleep here. Mosey is sure to join me as will at least one of the other dogs. I'm so tired that I'm sure I'll be fine."
At his lack of response, she looked at him curiously.
"You appear to more comfortable around the dogs now. Is there one that you fell for the most?"
She laughed. "Caught me out, did you? Well, to be honest, I found all of them to be friendly. But I did, against my better judgement, fall for that oversized basset hound."
An odd light came into his eyes, a tender smile whispered across his lips. "Really? Mosey, huh? Come here for a second, I have something to show you."
He led the way to his bedroom, all the dogs traipsing behind. Opening the door wide, he turned on the overhead light and pointed out a big painting on the far wall. "See that."
She walked closer and chuckled, shooting him a big grin. "That dog's ego is already huge, why would you make it bigger by giving him a full size portrait."
"Go closer."
She walked right up to it, loving the amazing detail. "The artist even got that look in his eye. This is perfect. Who painted it?"
"My mother. She was an incredible artist. She passed away about seventeen years ago now."
Silence filled the room as she digested what he said. She frowned. "He doesn't look that old." She laughed. "Oh, I get it. This is his sire."
Stuart, a gentle look on his face, said, "No, it isn't. Look at the plaque underneath."
Shooting him a confused look, Ninna leaned closer and read aloud, "Mosey, beloved friend to the Macintosh family. 1979-1994."
She spun around, confusion on her face, but inside shock, a dawning horror, and an inkling of understanding filtered in. Leaning against Stuart's leg, Mosey sat in his half slouched position, his jowls hanging much the way she'd first seen him at the center, laughing at her.
"Am
I crazy?" She took a deep breath and added, "He's slouched at your left side."
Stuart smiled, a touch of melancholy on his face as he looked down. "He was my dog, you know. I've always wanted to see him, but since his death, only a few special people have had the privilege."
She swallowed hard. Yes, she'd connected the dots, but this was no time for assumptions. Not when she'd gone through years of therapy and medications for something similar. Had everyone been wrong? "Death?"
