Love Is a Four-Legged Word

by Kandy Shepherd

  “I know, but we only suspected Jerome put it in the kennel. We don’t know for sure.The police would just laugh at us.”

  Serena’s face fell. “Darn, I thought we had him.”

  “Unfortunately not. We’d better get the coffee before the creep gets suspicious. Maybe we can think of something else.”

  She took the tray with the coffee mugs into the living room. It was disconcerting to find Jerome wandering around the room, idly picking up Serena’s framed photos and examining them.

  “So you’ve got a dog, too, Serena,” he said, putting down a picture of Snowball.

  Maddy swore she could hear menace again in his tone. Fear gripped her.

  “No, I mean, yes, I mean, he’s ... he’s at the vet,” Serena lied.

  “And Brutus is, too—at the vet, I mean,” added Maddy, almost tripping over her words.

  Jerome whipped around. “You mean Brutus isn’t well?” His eyes narrowed. “The press reported he’d made a full recovery.”

  Maddy felt sick to her stomach as she followed his train of thought. Brutus was just fine, but that was no thanks to Jerome.

  “He’s at the vet to be ... to be wormed.” She crossed her fingers and hoped Brutus wouldn’t start yapping from out back.

  “Oh.” Jerome’s face fell. He sat down again. He sipped his coffee. “You’re living here with Serena now, are you?”

  How the heck did he know that? Had he been stalking her? The thought sent unpleasant shivers down her spine.

  It choked Maddy to have to converse with him but what could she do? Accuse Walter’s great-nephew with no proof?

  “No. Yes. Well, tonight I’m going away for work,” she invented wildly. “Upstate. On location. Picnic stuff. No one will be able to contact me ...”

  “Oh,” said Serena, catching on quickly. “You’re, uh, going tonight?”

  “Yes. Sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. Last-minute change of plan,” Maddy babbled.

  “I’ll help you pack,” said Serena. Then, with an expressive lift of her eyebrows she added, “Jerome ...”

  “Of course,” he said, putting down his mug and getting up. He was so polite, so sophisticated, his British accent so smooth and assured, Maddy wondered if she could have been wrong about him.

  “But before I go,” he said, “I’ve brought a gift for Brutus.” He pulled out of his leather satchel the most enormous block of chocolate Maddy had ever seen—dark chocolate that she now knew contained the highest concentration of the dog-deadly chemical. “I know the little mutt has a sweet tooth and—”

  Serena gasped.

  Maddy snatched the giant chocolate bar from his hand.“Sweet tooth! You must know darn well chocolate is poison to dogs.”

  Anger twisted through her. She ached to hit him with the block. It was heavy enough to do him serious injury. She could hide the evidence afterward by eating it. “You ... you dog murderer.”

  Jerome threw his hands up in mock defense. “Chocolate? Poison? Wherever did you get such an idea? I brought it as a treat for the pooch.”

  But Maddy saw his smile did nothing to warm the iciness of his eyes.

  “Don’t act innocent with me, Jerome.You might have fooled me at first but I know you’re trying to get Brutus out of the way. I won’t let you hurt him.”

  All pretense of friendliness fled from Jerome. He took an intimidating step closer. Maddy held her ground. He sneered. “And how would a little thing like you stop me?”

  Maddy shivered at the ominous intent in those too-blue eyes. But she squared her shoulders. “I have my ways.”

  “Huh. Like I’m frightened.” He scowled. “You won’t get that money, you greedy little gold digger.You or the mongrel.”

  Her face flushed at the insults to both herself and Brutus. But she didn’t falter. “Walter left his fortune to Brutus. That’s what he wanted.”

  “By rights that money should be mine.”

  Jerome’s face was so contorted Maddy wondered why she had ever thought him handsome. “My great-grandfather sold his share of the Stoddard family business to his brother, Walter’s father. He was cheated; the business was a money machine, he never got his rights—”

  Maddy was shaking at the venom in his voice but she willed herself to speak evenly. “That was a long time ago, Jerome. And nothing to do with me. Or Brutus.”

  Serena wasn’t as controlled. “Get out of my house,” she shrieked at Jerome.

  “Or I’ll call the police,” added Maddy.

  Jerome slung his satchel over his shoulder. “I’ll be back to get that dog—when you least expect it,” he threatened as he stomped out of the room.

  Maddy and Serena followed him up the hallway and slammed the door after him. Maddy leaned back against the wall, shaking, staring at Serena, unable to speak.

  For the first time she felt it wasn’t just Brutus who was in danger.

  She might be, too.

  As Tom approached Serena’s house, he was astounded to see that slimeball Stoddard coming down the steps, taking them two at a time. Halfway down the steps, the Englishman paused. Then deliberately turned back to make an ugly, obscene gesture at the closed door.

  It was so sudden, so vicious that Tom stopped in his tracks. The vulgarity of the gesture, the fury behind it, made him feel ill. Because he was sure it had been aimed at Maddy.

  He glanced up at Serena’s house. Lights shone in the downstairs windows. One or both of the girls was at home. Stoddard obviously hadn’t got the reception he had hoped for.

  Jerome continued down the steps and Tom quickened his pace so he arrived at the start of the sidewalk at the same time the other man did.

  He blocked Stoddard’s way. “Interesting to see that sign language is the same on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.

  Stoddard’s expression told Tom that the Englishman realized he had been observed. Malice flickered in his eyes but was quickly replaced with his usual urbane mask. “I can’t imagine what you mean,” he said in the unctuous tones that had grated on Tom from the get-go.

  Tom kept his anger on a tight rein. “What the hell are you doing here, Stoddard?” he demanded.

  “Visiting your hot little girlfriend,” the other man answered without missing a beat. “And her even hotter gal pal.”

  Tom gritted his teeth against the innuendo that laced Stoddard’s voice. “You stay away from them.” He took a step closer. Let the other man know he had both height and muscle advantage over him.

  Stoddard acted as though he didn’t notice, even though his shoulders braced defensively. “You’ve got dibs on both girls, have you?” His tone was deliberately lascivious. “I knew you’d scored with the redhead but her gorgeous friend with the big tits as well? I underestimated you. I’d like a piece of that one myself.” His amiable smile seemed to magnify the offensiveness of his words.

  Contempt for Stoddard knotted Tom’s gut. How dare he talk about Maddy and her friend like that?

  The Englishman was trying to provoke him. He knew that. The temptation to swipe that supercilious look off his face was overwhelming. But he clenched his hands into tight fists by his sides.

  The worst thing he could do was lose his lawyer cool.

  “My involvement with Madeleine Cartwright is purely in connection with Walter Stoddard’s estate.” He kept his voice even, measured.

  “Indeed? That’s not what my cameraman friend told me.”

  Despite his resolve,Tom saw red.

  His cameraman friend.

  From the day of the funeral, Tom had been suspicious of Stoddard’s connection with the tabloids. The article that had so upset Maddy. The “in-depth” revelations about Tom himself that had done nothing but rake over the story of his parents’ ugly divorce. All traced back to Stoddard.

  And then there was the poisoned T-bone.

  Desire for revenge twisted through him.

  The stretch of street was quiet. People were either having dinner at home or eating out at one of the Mission Distri
ct’s many restaurants. There would be no witnesses if he decided to teach this guy a lesson.

  But that would make him as bad as Stoddard.

  “Madeleine Cartwright is none of your business,” said Tom.

  Stoddard’s mask slipped. His eyes glittered and his mouth thinned with malevolence. Instinctively, Tom recoiled. Although he dealt mainly with corporate law, he’d come across enough loonies in his work to know when one was standing in front of him. Jerome was more dangerous than he’d thought.

  “Oh, but that little slut and the mangy cur are very much my business. They’ve stolen millions that should be mine. I won’t let them get away with it.”

  The “little slut” bit did it for Tom. He grabbed Stoddard by both shoulders and flung him against the brick wall behind him. “Touch Maddy or the dog and you won’t know what hit you.”

  Even with the breath knocked out of him Stoddard didn’t fold. He coughed and spluttered and then choked out a laugh. “Temper, temper, Mr. Attorney.” Tom pushed against his chest so he couldn’t move.

  Stoddard continued, “I planned to seduce her, you know. Get my money that way. I knew she fancied me. But you got there first.Wish I’d known she liked it rough.”

  Tom glared at him, fighting to keep his temper banked down. Then, disgusted, both at Stoddard and his own lapse in control, he dropped his hands from the Englishman’s torso. He felt soiled from the contact and wiped his hands down the sides of his suit jacket.

  “In the morning I’ll get a judge to issue a protective injunction to keep you at least five hundred feet away from Madeleine Cartwright,” he said.

  Stoddard brushed himself down. “Don’t waste your time, O’Brien. I’ve beaten you to the courthouse. I’ve already filed a petition to contest my great-uncle’s will. One way or the other I have every intention of winning against you, your whore, and that filthy mongrel.”

  When the doorbell rang just minutes after Jerome left, Maddy shuddered. “Don’t even think about letting him back in,” she said to Serena.

  Serena squinted through the peephole. She turned back to face Maddy. “It’s not Jerome out there, it’s Tom,” she said.

  Tom! After nearly a week it was Tom. Maddy couldn’t help the unreasonable leap of her heart. She put her hands to her chest to try and stop its sudden furious pounding. Then she went to smooth her hair. She must look a mess after a long day at work.

  “Don’t worry about your hair, you look lovely,” Serena whispered. “Should I let Tom in?”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  She didn’t have a chance to even think about what she’d say to Tom. Whether she’d tell him she’d missed him. Whether she’d say she’d made a mistake about his use-by date, that maybe, after all, he had some more shelf life left.

  Tom’s dark brows were drawn in a scowl, his mouth a grim line. “You’re supposed to be in hiding. Why the hell did you let Stoddard in?”

  Shocked by the anger in his words, she took a step back. “I didn’t. Serena did. She kept him here so we could call the police.”

  “The police.Why? Did he hurt you?”

  She frowned. After Jerome it was such a relief to see Tom. He was so strong. So solid. So darn sane. Yet he seemed more agitated than ever. She shook her head. “No.”

  He closed his eyes in relief. “Thank God.”

  “But he did try to kill Brutus again.”

  Tom’s eyes flew open. “What!”

  “He came armed with a block of chocolate.”

  Tom appeared struck dumb by her words. “Chocolate. To kill Brutus,” he finally managed to get out. “You’re, uh, sure about that?”

  “Sure, I’m sure. You heard Serena at the studio last week. Chocolate is toxic to dogs, and Jerome was carrying the biggest block you’ve ever seen.Wasn’t he, Serena?”

  Maddy turned around to seek affirmation from her friend but Serena wasn’t there. She’d disappeared inside without Maddy noticing. And now she was alone with Tom in a hallway that suddenly seemed very small.

  Maddy was wearing the short denim skirt that showed off her long, slender legs and a top that made no secret of the shape of her lovely breasts.

  Tom tortured himself for a moment by wondering what underwear she had on. And how it would be to slowly strip it off. He took a deep breath to steady himself but all that did was to intoxicate him with her scent.

  He inhaled the familiar lavender, this time blended with ... was it lemon? Had she been baking lemon meringue pie, perhaps? Another forbidden-to-him treat with all that pastry and egg yolk. He wanted to kiss her and find out. Hell, he wanted to kiss her just because he wanted to kiss her.

  He bent his head to do just that but then abruptly pulled back. In the days he hadn’t seen her, he’d been working on a complicated case of corporate fraud. But thoughts of Maddy had kept intervening no matter how hard he tried to push her to the back of his mind. The senior partners didn’t help, either. Every time he encountered one, they asked him about Maddy. About the dog. But most of all about the bonus. The bonus Jackson, Jones, and Gentry needed and that would bring Tom a giant step closer to his goal.

  No. He could not let her distract him from the main game, tempt him with happily-ever-after-type scenarios that were not part of his five-year plan.

  It wasn’t that he thought his world would collapse if he deviated from the plan. But he was in no mood to test it. Back when his father had left, Tom’s world had fallen apart. And he hadn’t liked the feeling. The rigidly constructed plans had kept him steered on course ever since. And impressing the partners with that bonus was a part of it.

  So he’d vowed that there would be no more kissing occasions. Only to find the sight of flesh-and-blood Maddy had him wanting and yearning all over again. It was too damn complicated.

  He stepped back. He cleared his throat. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Fine,” she said in a small voice. She seemed to have sensed his rejection, and he had to force himself not to draw her to him in a reassuring hug.

  Instead he assumed his best lawyer voice. “Stoddard didn’t threaten you?”

  “Me?” She looked surprised. “With the chocolate? No. Chocolate definitely isn’t poison to me. I figure with all the chocolate I’ve consumed in my lifetime that I’m immune. No matter how much theo ... theobromine or whatever it’s called is in it.”

  He couldn’t help but smile at her words. She put the craziest twist on things. Crazy but utterly endearing.

  “No. I mean did he threaten you personally?”

  Her eyes were huge in her heart-shaped face. “Why do you keep asking me that? You’re freaking me out.”

  “I met Stoddard outside on the sidewalk. The gloves are off. He told me he’s going to contest Walter’s will.”

  Maddy took a sharp intake of breath. Tom couldn’t help noticing how enticingly her breasts rose on the intake.

  “What does that mean?”

  “He’s a blood relative who was not provided for by the estate. It could get ugly. But rest assured, I bulletproofed Walter’s unconventional will.”

  “Still, Jerome’s got a chance of disinheriting Brutus?”

  “Not if I have anything to do with it. But it’s perfectly legal for him to have a shot at it.”

  “What happens to Brutus if Jerome wins? Would I get to keep him?”

  “I’d make sure of it. No way could Stoddard be allowed near him.”

  Maddy’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not all, is it? You’re not telling me everything.”

  Tom paused. So much of what he’d deduced about Stoddard this evening was just instinct. He had to be cautious. And how could he tell Maddy the Englishman had called her a slut and a whore?

  “Stoddard is not a nice guy, Maddy.” That was the understatement of the year. “The point is I’m worried that having failed with Brutus he might try to hurt you now.”

  She paled and the scattering of freckles stood out on her nose. “Me?” she said slowly.

  “The way he see
s it, there’s just you and Brutus between him and Walter’s millions.”

  “But that’s insane.”

  “Maybe. I don’t like that he knows where you’re living.”

  She put her hand up to her mouth in mock shock. “You mean he might toss a poisoned bagel into the kitchen window for me to have for breakfast?” She laughed, but it was a high-pitched laugh that didn’t reach her eyes.

  Tom gritted his teeth. He couldn’t bear to think of anything happening to her. He wanted to protect her, make her see the seriousness of the situation, but at the same time he didn’t want to distress her too much by alerting her to the psycho intent he’d seen in Jerome’s eyes.

  “Who knows what he’s capable of? I believe it’s imperative that both you and Brutus stay out of his way until the twenty-one days expire.”

  “You mean, like, go into hiding again?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean.”

  She chewed on her lower lip. “He did say he’d be back to get Brutus when we least expected it.”

  “Did he?” So now Stoddard was open in his threats. “He’ll also alert his media buddies to your new address.”

  Maddy twisted her hands together. “My editor told me she didn’t want to see my photo anywhere but on the pages of Annie magazine. I have to stay out of their way.”

  “I agree.”

  Maddy thought out loud. “But I don’t have anywhere to go. None of my other friends have room for me and Brutus.”

  Tom took a deep breath.What he was going to say he would probably regret. There was no subsection in the plan to cover this contingency. “I figured as much. What you really need is access to a secure apartment with a twenty-four-hour doorman where you can hide out in safety. Where no one unauthorized can get in or out.”

  Her mouth twisted. “Yeah. Sure. Like they drop out of trees every day,” she said.

  He cleared his throat. This was no-going-back time. “Well, maybe not every day. But certainly today. Maddy, I want you to come and stay in my apartment with me. Now. Tonight.”

  Maddy was shocked into silence. She stared disbelievingly at Tom before she finally found her voice. “Stay with you? In your apartment?”