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I don’t say the last words out loud. This fool doesn’t need to know that I love Kayla so damn much the thought that I could lose her terrifies me.
“Get the hell out of here,” I call after the man. I can’t remember his name. Not that it matters. Ava steps forward. She’s eager to follow the man to his car if she can’t have the bakery box.
But he closes the car door and throws the sedan into reverse before the Shepard mix reaches it. Ava’s smart enough to back away from the moving vehicle. Then she walks back to me and sits down. I can almost see the wheels turning in her K-9 brain: I did my job. Now hand over the food.
“You’re a good girl, but that’s not going to happen.” I turn and head back around Kayla’s home. The dogs follow close behind as if holding out hope for a treat when we return to their food bowls.
We reach the edge of a wet area that we raced through minutes earlier in pursuit of Ava. I pause to clip a leash on Luna to keep her from making poor decisions with her cone. When I took her out yesterday, she scooped a mix of mud and pebbles into the contraption while drinking from a puddle. She’s headed back to the vet tomorrow for a check-up. Hopefully we’ll be rid of the thing before we return to the city.
If the dogs come back with us.
But Kayla wouldn’t walk away yet. Not while the threat still looms. This scheme was her idea. And maybe by the end of all this, I can convince her to stay—not in my shadow, but at my side.
“Let’s go,” I order the herd. Together, we march up the hill, rounding the barn that will soon house Kayla’s Home for Amazing Dogs In Need of Unconditional Love, or whatever the hell she wants to call it. We’re most of the way to the house, with Ava in the lead, when my cell phone vibrates. I juggle the bakery box and Luna’s leash in an effort to retrieve it. I manage to get the phone out of my pocket, and hold it up to my ear.
“Gavin?” Kayla asks.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Ava barks as if annoyed by the fact we stopped on our way to the house. “Hold on a second.” I pull the phone away and look at Ava. “Go ahead up to the house. Take the others with you.”
She trots off with Rocky and Cleveland behind her. Luna lies down at my feet with a sigh. I forgot about the damn leash.
I exhale and raise the phone back to my ear. “I’m back.”
“Were you talking to the dogs?” Kayla asks.
“They’re smart and they listen to me,” I tell her. “Why are you calling? Did you leave the house?”
“It’s over, Gavin.”
“Over?” My brow furrows and I clutch the bakery box closer to my chest. I can see the master bedroom window from where I’m standing in the yard. I don’t see movement through the window. But that doesn’t mean she’s left the house. She wouldn’t leave her dogs.
But she’s getting ready to leave me.
“What do you mean over?” I demand. “Did Margaret call?”
“No, I figured it out. I did a little digging after you left.” Her voice is bubbling with excitement. “Get back here and I’ll tell you everything.”
Hope propels me forward. We can finally take out Alexandra.
But Kayla will leave.
With my cell in one hand, and the bakery box in the other, I break into a run. Luna has no choice but to trot at my side, her cone bumping into my legs as we move. I reach the rear entrance and drop the leash. The back door swings open, revealing a triumphant Kayla standing by the kitchen table.
She glances at the bakery box and cocks her head. “Where did the cake come from?”
“The guy who shot you tried to break into your house and leave it for you.” I head for the table and set the box beside her computer. “Ava and I stopped him.”
“What? He broke in?”
“They should have put him in jail for shooting at you.”
She folds her arms across her chest. “He came to apologize, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” I admit. “Your turn. What do you mean it’s over?”
“I think I know who Alexandra is and why she’s blackmailing you.” Her smile falters and she runs her hand over Ava’s head. The Shepard leans again her side. “That’s the good news.”
“What’s the bad news?” I ask, trying to keep myself from shooting rapid-fire questions at her.
