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The dog continued to dance, moving closer to me, and I could have sworn it almost looked like it was smiling as it stood on its hind legs and rested its front paw on my bent knees.
“Oh, no you don’t. Don’t you give me that look.”
Its beady black eyes gleamed in the light that was carrying over from my back porch. Then its tongue darted out and licked my leg.
My jaw clenched as I pushed up to standing. “No. You aren’t coming home with me, so just knock it off.”
It let out another yip and danced closer before circling a few times and curling into a ball on the tops of my feet.
“Goddamn it,” I grunted from deep within my chest.
Its mouth opened and its tongue fell out as it panted happily, like it knew it had just won. I bent low and picked the ratty dog up. It really was ugly as sin, in a way that almost made it cute beneath all the dirt.
“Fine, but this is just for one night. Then I’m finding you another place to stay.” I twisted the collar around, looking for a name, and sure enough, it was stitched into the grimy pink fabric with silver thread. “Churro?” I asked incredulously. “Your name is Churro?” It let out another yip. “I’m not calling you that.”
As if to show I had absolutely zero power in this new relationship, the dog nuzzled its head beneath my jaw, giving it one lick before letting out a huff like the weight of the world had just lifted from its shoulders and promptly began to snore.
“Son of a bitch,” I grumbled as I made my way out of the neighbor’s backyard and headed home. “Well played, you little demon. Well played.”
ChapterSix
HOLTON
“What do you mean,you can’t take her? You’re a shelter, right?”
The man behind the counter stared at me like he wasn’t sure how to answer my question. I twisted around to look at the writing that was stenciled on the glass doors I’d just walked through, and sure enough, the words McCall County Animal Rescue were there in big, bold letters.
“Well, yeah... but we’re all full up right now. We don’t have any extra space right now. Maybe you should come back next month after our annual pet adoption. We usually free up some space with that event.”
I could feel a twitch developing in my right eyelid as I looked at the dog in question that was currently sitting on the counter between me and the shelter worker.
I had to admit, she looked a little better after the bath I’d given her the night before, restoring her pale tan coat to its original glory. Or as good as a dog with a bobble head and bugged out black marble eyes could look.
I was running on fumes this morning, with absolutely nothing in the tank. After bathing the little terrorist the night before, then giving her a bit of deli meat and water, I’d closed her in the bathroom so she couldn’t get into trouble, then prayed I could manage a few hours of sleep.
And God laughed.
Apparently, the fucking dog didn’t like being by herself. The noises that had been coming from my bathroom sounded like a school bus full of cats being driven through a woodchipper. I’d tried waiting her out, hoping the damn dog would finally tire out and go to sleep so I could do the same thing. But the little demon had more stamina than I’d given her credit for. She didn’t shut the hell up until I caved and let her out. I put together a makeshift bed with towels and blankets, and even that wasn’t good enough for her.
She’d jumped and whined and cried at the edge of the bed, scratching at the sheets until I gave in and picked her up. Within a handful of minutes, she’d curled herself right up against me, and passed the hell out. It shouldn’t have been possible for something so small to take up so much room, but when I woke up barely three hours after falling asleep, I was hugging the edge of mattress like my life depended on it.
I couldn’t possibly handle another month of that. No way in hell.
“Look, you don’t get it. This is an emergency, man. I can’t keep a dog. I’m not home enough and it wouldn’t be fair to her.” I picked her up and held her to the guy’s face, hoping to appeal to his love for animals. I couldn’t imagine he would work somewhere like this without loving animals. “Look at her little face. How can you say no to that face?”
“I’m really sorry, Deputy Clarke—”
“She’s so tiny, she’ll hardly take up any room at all. You won’t even notice her, man. And she’s really chill. You won’t have any problems with her at all.” That was a bold-faced lie, but I was desperate.
The guy put his hands up and pushed the dog back toward me. As he did, she flipped her head backward to look at me, her tongue flopping out the side of her mouth and her tail waving back and forth like a fan.
“I don’t know, Deputy. It really seems like she likes you. Maybe having a pet wouldn’t be so bad.” I gave him a bland look that had him holding his hands up in surrender. “Listen, the truth is, if you leave her here, there’s no guarantee she won’t get put down.”
My whole frame jerked. “But I thought this place was a no-kill shelter.”
He shrugged. “Well, it is. Kinda.”
What the fuck? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
