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Screw it.
He leaped out of bed.
He’d use the woods out back.
Doug had kept his t-shirt and boxer-briefs on in case he’d needed to get up in the night, but he swiftly retrieved his pants where he’d laid them on the floor next to the bed, yanking them up.
When he snuck from his room to traverse the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still closed, and the water inside was running heartily, which made him have to piss even more desperately.
He sped barefoot to the back door and briskly let himself out.
Halfway across the still shadowed back yard, a sharp rustling of dead leaves inside the tree-line told him he wasn’t alone.What the fuck?
Doug stilled, crouched low, and held his breath, listening.
The noise was loud, but quickly became more distant as he waited.
Intruder, or animal?
When eventually Doug didn’t hear anything more, he slowly rose, drawing in oxygen, his eyes darting every which way. But there was nothing to be seen.
He chastised himself. Clearly it had been some four-legged critter out foraging in the early morning light. Not everything had to be cause for alarm. He wanted to take a few more, very long seconds to assess the area before moving forward, but his bodily urgency…
Screw it.He was about to burst.
Fluffing off his concerns, he strode into the woods, quickly found a likely tree, and relieved himself; his brain coming fully back on line while his bladder emptied.
What had he been thinking?
Of course,it had been an animal of some sort. The Maine woods were full of them. And not just fox and dear. There were coyotes, moose, fisher cats… And, oh yeah. Black bear.Well shit.He’d do well to hustle back inside just in case itwasa black bear. It was prime cub season, and the last thing he needed was getting in the grill of an outraged mama.
Doug zipped up and swiftly made his way back to the house.
But just before he entered, his cell phone chimed with the sound he’d designated specifically for MECASA.
Well, hell.It looked like duty was about to call, and he wasn’t going to get a nice long, relaxing breakfast with Pixie. Although he was momentarily a little sour about that, the feeling didn’t linger. He’d never ignore one of these call-outs. Ever.
“Lumous here,” he barked.
“Doug? It’s Maria. That situation we discussed? It’s escalated.”
“At the home in Orono we have scheduled for an extraction next week?” he questioned.
“That’s the one. The neighbor in the apartment next door notified us a couple minutes ago. I’d asked her to call if she saw or heard anything bad, and apparently there’s been some screaming in the past few minutes. I woke the judge, and she expedited the necessary paperwork, so I’ve called in the policeand told them we’d meet them there. How soon can you be on site?” She paused. “Ah shit. You’re probably way out at your new house.”
“No.” He was damned glad he wasn’t. “I’m actually in Old Town right now. Which means I can be there in ten.” Luckily, he wasn’t waking up at his new property—as he would have been if he hadn’t stayed to watch over Pixie—because it would have taken him half an hour to make it to the scene. Now the trip could be as short as five if he really put his foot in it.
Also, lucky for him, even though Talia was away, Maria was clearly on hand this morning to comfort their young pick-up,ifit was a situation where a female touch was needed.
“I’ve got the address,” Doug clipped. “See you shortly.”
He hung up and hustled through the back door into the kitchen where Pixie stood at the counter, humming a tune under her breath, and mixing something in a bowl.
“Hey, morning guy,” she said cheerily. “Did you go out for a walk?”
“No,” he told her quickly, shaking his head. He leaned down to dig out the boots he’d left under the kitchen table last night. He sat and tugged them on. “The bathroom was busy and I had a, uh, urgent call to nature.”
“Oh. Geeze. I should have thought about that. I’m sorry I took so long with my shower.” She raised a brow at his now laced boots. “So what? You’re mad about that and you’re leaving?” She made it seem like a joke, but he could hear her underlying doubt. “I was making us pancakes—”
