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“Yes, I am. Chance Reynolds.”
“Pleased to meet you again.” The man took his hand and shook it. “The sheriff and the Stones got me this nice RV. I’ll be fine.”
Something in the man’s voice didn’t sound right to him. “Good. I have a few questions, Mr. Bayless.”
“So do I. What’s with all the security around here? I saw this pretty little blonde come out of the house with two bruisers packing heat. I think her name is Belle. She almost looked like their prisoner.”
“The two bruisers are her husbands, Shane and Corey Blue. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say she needs protection right now.”
“Poor thing. Doesn’t she ever get a minute to herself?”
“That’s none of my business or yours.” Chance didn’t care for the man. Bayless seemed shady. Was Jaris right to worry about the guy’s true intentions? “I want to talk to you about your training methods, Bayless.”
“Fuck. Is this about that little prick who saw me with my dogs last night?” Bayless’s tone spoke volumes about his anger. “Listen, Chance, I’ve been training dogs for over twenty years. My methods work just fine. No, they aren’t conventional but my results speak for themselves.”
“So you pride yourself in kicking dogs, do you?”
“I don’t call it pride. I call it a necessity. Those dogs have to know who is boss.”
“We have our methods, too. And if we’re going to pass your dogs on to our clients, you will follow our rules, understand?”
There was a long pause before Bayless finally answered. “Your school. Your rules. I get it. I’ll do what you say. Besides, my dogs are fully trained.”
“Maybe so, but they will be tested by us before we pass them off to our clients. So let’s get my rules started, Bayless. The first change is we’re moving your dogs to our kennels.”
“Now hold on, Chance.”
“No. There will be no more discussion. Are you in or out?”
“Wait a second. Miss Anderson wants to deliver dogs to her clients. That’s what we all want. I’ll follow your rules, but I want to keep my dogs close to the RV. You did lose four dogs, didn’t you?”
Chance wondered what it would feel like to punch the bastard in the face, but he tamped down his rage. “You want your money. Do as we say or take your dogs and leave.”
“Okay. You win.” Bayless’s words didn’t ring true in Chance’s ears.
The guy obviously hadn’t fully surrendered.
Chance wanted to get finished here and back to Jaris, the one man he trusted more than any other. Jaris needed to know what had happened here and also about Bayless’s treatment of his dogs. There was more to his story than the bastard was saying.
“Bayless, let’s go get the dogs and take them to their new accommodations.”
* * * *
Standing on Kaylyn’s porch, Jaris inhaled the pure Colorado air. “This place is quite different from where we came from, isn’t it?”
“Very different.” Nicole had worked the day shift of the sheriff’s security detail, keeping tabs on Kaylyn’s house. “Chicago was never this quiet.”
“Still isn’t.” He patted Sugar on the head.
There were those who said a man and woman could never be just friends, but they were wrong. He and Nicole had been friends for years, ever since they’d been assigned as partners back at Chicago PD. Even after Nicole had been sent erroneously to desk duty, they’d remained close. Still were.
“When do you need to leave for town?” She was going to drive them. Good thing, since Nicole was the sheriff’s second-in-command.
“Kaylyn is in the shower. She’ll take another thirty minutes to finish getting ready. I’d say we should leave in about an hour. That’ll get her onstage in plenty of time for the band’s mike checks.” Thinking about what had happened at last night’s performance, his jaw tightened. “What’s the latest on Potter?”
“Ethel thought it was best to postpone his trial to next month. The sheriff agreed. We all want him and his buddies as far away from town as possible. There’s enough on our plate with the influx of people here for Dragon Week to deal with. Moving the trial to next month is best. Potter and his buddies left town, promising to return to Destiny on the appointed date.”
“That’s unusual but a good plan.” If Potter tried to skip bail, Jaris would definitely join in the hunt to bring the son of a bitch back to town and to justice.
