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“Here, Terry, Terry, Terry,” I whispered, careful to keep my voice much lower than those carrying from the front of the house. I wasn’t sure what story Garrison had come up with to keep the guy distracted, but it obviously involved a lot of talking. I clucked my tongue under my breath for good measure and waggled the toy that the client had told us was his favorite with the faint jingle.
To my relief, the click of little claws reached my ears a few seconds later. Another corgi, which did look remarkably like the one we’d picked up, came trundling over to meet me. I’d have thought our original one had left the mudroom if it wasn’t for the collar around this one’s neck.
“Good boy,” I told him, and jingled the toy for him to follow me back to the mudroom.
There was an abrupt silence from the front. I halted in my tracks again, my nerves prickling, prepared to simply snatch up the dog and run for it. But then Garrison’s laugh pealed out, the other guy’s echoing it, and my breath rushed out of me.
We were okay, for now.
It took some wrangling and a couple more treats to get the original corgi to allow me to unbuckle his collar, and the new one huffed as I fixed it around his neck. Then I was darting out the back with a different but equally cute doggo under my arm.
The dog gave a small woof just as I closed the door, which Garrison must have heard because all of a sudden he gave a loud exclamation to draw the guy’s attention. I dashed across the yard, narrowly avoiding tripping over a rubber bone, and lifted my cargo so Julius could take him over the fence. I clambered after him, and we both loped down the drive to jump into the waiting car.
I rubbed under the corgi’s chin as we swung around to pick up Garrison farther down the street and shot a teasing glance at Julius. “Are you sure I can’t keep this one?”
He gave me a mock-glower. “I think our client might have a few complaints about that.”
* * *
No doubt Julius had been right, because the client was absolutely ecstatic from the moment she opened the door and saw the corgi in my arms. She took him from me, whirling around with him like he was her soul mate, and peppered kisses all over his furry head for the better part of a minute.
“That’s right, Terry,” she murmured. “You’re back with Mommy now. No more meanie Kevin. You’re all right.”
The dog’s tail was wagging so hard I was surprised it didn’t fall off his body. Clearly he was happy to be back with her too.
Finally, the woman sat down at the desk in her living room and looked up at us. “There’s no chance my ex will realize Terry is gone?”
We shook our heads. “We found a suitable replacement,” Garrison said with a smirk. “From the sounds of things, he won’t notice the difference.”
She let out her breath. “Perfect. He was being such a scumbag about it.” Then her face settled into a more professional mask. “I guess it’s time for my side of the bargain. Whose DNA am I sequencing?”
I stepped forward and then stopped, not sure what she needed from me. “Mine.”
She nodded and set the dog down at her feet with a fond pat. He stuck close to her legs as she retrieved some equipment from a case under the desk.
“I’ll just need a small sample of your blood for the most accurate sequencing. I’ll have to wait until I have the lab to myself for a long enough time, but I should be able to manage it in the next couple of days. After that, you want me to send it to the man who set up the exchange, if I understand correctly?”
“That’s right,” Julius said. “We appreciate your assistance.”
“I appreciate having my dog back.”
She motioned for me to hold out my arm. I tensed a little as she swabbed disinfectant over the vein she meant to use, my body automatically rejecting the idea of being handled by a stranger. I’d been pushed around so much during my time in the household that any touch I hadn’t sought out felt like an imposition.
But I needed this. This was my ticket to finding my family. At least, it’d better be after the lengths the crew was going to on my behalf.
The woman knew what she was doing. The needle gave only the smallest pinch as she inserted it. The tube attached to it quickly filled with the dark red blood she was drawing. The whole process was over in an instant.
“There you go,” she said, smoothing a bandaid over the spot. “I hope you find what you’re looking for with this.”
“So do I,” I replied, and I’d never meant anything more.
