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Pete tucked in the corner of his lip.
“She’s getting by,” Sunny amended.
“And how’s my boy Fezzi?” The warm, smooth quality returned to Pete’s voice when he spoke about the dog he’d trained for Daddy.
“Fezzi’s good. He really liked this bunch.” Sunny nodded at Chevy and her pups.
“He’s a smart old guy.” Pete gave the pups one last appraisal. “Thought you said there were four, though.”
Sunny sighed. “Dr. Winters has the runt. She’s feeding him because he’s not latching by himself anymore. I don’t think he’s going to make it.” Sunny nodded toward the kitchen, where she planned to fix them both some coffee.
Pete rubbed her shoulder. “Sorry, girl. You know that happens sometimes.”
Sunny stiffened. “If the pup was born weak he’d have died within hours or days after birth. No. This wouldn’t have happened if Chevy’d had somewhere decent to live. All because of that rotten Janice Matteri.”
Someone pounded on the front door. Pete paused his strides on the way to the kitchen. “Expecting company?” He scratched the back of his head, ruffling his sandy hair. “Speak of the devil.”
Sunny followed his gaze out the window and spied a tall, skinny figure with sickly pale skin and bleached blond hair.
Pete crossed his eyes and choked himself.
Sunny steeled herself as she headed down the hallway.
“Stay off my land.” Janice’s words erupted like vomit as soon as Sunny opened the door. She pointed a bony finger in Sunny’s face.
“The hell you say.” Sunny crossed her arms over her chest and tipped on her toes, making herself taller. In the back of her mind she heard Constance’s voice, telling her to keep calm, not get confrontational.
“Don’t you play dumb with me, Sunny Morrigan.” Janice had saliva wadded in the corners of her mouth. It looked thick and white, like foam. “The police pay you a visit recently?”
Sunny tilted her chin in the air. “Maybe.”
“Uh-huh.” Janice took a step closer. “Consider this my follow-up warning. I see you anywhere near my dogs or my property—if I eventhinkyou’re on my property—you and I are going to settle this the old-fashioned way.” She sneered enough to reveal orange lipstick across her front teeth.
Sunny sputtered a laugh. “Do you think that scares me? You’re nothing but a broomstick on legs, with smoker’s lungs to boot.”
“The great equalizer don’t need strength, Little Miss Fit.” Janice made a gun with her thumb and forefinger, pointed it toward Sunny’s head and dropped the trigger.
“You threatening me?” Sunny wanted to step closer, but in order to do so she’d have to step down, onto the porch, and she’d lose the equal height she now enjoyed with the tall woman in front of her.
“You better believe I am.” Janice nodded her head rapidly. “I let it slide all those other times. What with you always taking those used-up dogs nobody wanted, anyway. Damn near doing me a favor. But last time you snagged a wheaten terrier somebody came looking to buy. They’d picked her out online and everything.”
“They’d have changed their mind when they saw her.” Sunny’s voice dropped as anger filled her to choking.Keep calm. Don’t get confrontational.“Your online picture probably showed a healthy wheatie. You and I both know the one in your back kennel was shy ten pounds, and hadn’t been fed in days.”
Janice’s cheeks went red beneath her clown rouge. “You.” She stammered a bunch of words that never proved up. “You lost me money,” she finally hissed. “And I’m here telling you, in no uncertain terms, to stay off my land! And you, too!”
Sunny sensed Pete’s presence behind her shoulder.
“Stop smiling,” Janice spat.
Yep, he was back there, all right.
Janice turned to go, but halted. Her expression changed. She smirked. “Oh, my God. Is that you, Stella? Dumb bitch. You ain’t dead yet?”
Sunny turned to look and couldn’t contain a gasp. Chevy had left the whelping box and pattered her way into the foyer. She peeked out from behind Pete’s legs. When she saw Janice, she loosed a high-pitched whine from the back of her throat.
“Tossed her ass out after Tommy went to jail,” Janice said, her voice oily with satisfaction. “Bait bitch was no use to me once all the fighting dogs were gone.”
Sunny didn’t realize she’d lunged at Janice until the firm grab of Pete’s hands on her shoulders snapped her backward, against his chest. His grip slid down to her wrists, where he stilled her struggle.
