supposed to sit around while we know an animal is being abused, waiting for the proper paperwork.”
He shrugged. She wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t seen and fought with on his own. “Some departments have an animal advocate they can call in, but the town can’t afford it. Bureaucracy is a bitch. Sorry it’s not like in the movies and all. Call the dog rescue people or something. Good luck.”
“You’re still going with me.” She grabbed the giant cloth thing she called a purse and yanked it over one arm. “It’s on Bluebird Avenue on the dead end. Do you know where that is?”
He spoke slowly. “I. Am. Not. Going. It’s a crappy part of town, I’m not on duty, and I don’t care about any animal not getting the luxury-hotel treatment you probably demand. What if the dog likes being outside? It’s good for them.”
Aww, great, now she looked like he had admitted to being a child molester. Pure horror carved out her features. “You can’t mean that,” she whispered. “You cannot be that cruel and . . . and . . . heartless!”
He wasn’t about to tell her the real truth. He hated dogs. Stone rarely admitted his fear, but the image from his past had never left him. He still heard the snarling and remembered the sharp teeth rip into his flesh, drawing blood. He’d only been about eight, walking down the street, and the guy had sicced his pit bull on him as a twisted joke. Stone came home with a bad bite and even worse memory. His father, of course, had called him a pussy.
He made sure to hide his weakness from the other cops by pretending he was too cool for an animal, especially one to feed, care for, and clean up after. So far it had worked like a charm, and he wasn’t about to let Arilyn Meadows screw up his ruse.
“Sorry to disappoint you, sweetness, but dogs are like rats. The world would be better off without them.”
She lifted her nose up in the air, her eyes growing cold. “I should’ve known you’d be no help. Still, you’re driving me out there to be my witness. We’ll snap some pictures for documentation. I’m not expecting the police to do anything, but this may speed up the response time from the Humane Society or ASPCA. Plus, being a witness in law enforcement will hold up my story. Let’s go.”
She marched out the door and didn’t even look back, ignoring his refusal. Did she ever give up? Stone had a gut instinct she’d be hell to deal with once she focused on saving something. Or someone. What a pain in the rear.
He followed her out. “You already kept me past my time. I have a date at the pool hall and I’m not gonna be late.”
“My condolences to your date, Officer. But you are going with me. I control the sign-in sheets for the course. What a shame if I marked you down as absent one day. Or told your boss you’ve been uncooperative and I can’t advise passing you. Why, you may need to repeat the entire session all over again!”
His mouth fell open. Her look of satisfaction steamrolled over him. “You are blackmailing me! Dammit, that’s a crime!”
“Prove it. Where’s your car?”
He cursed viciously, pulled out his keys, and marched down the street. “You’re a hypocrite. The worst kind. Pretending to be all good and wholesome and kind, when underneath you’re completely spiteful.”
“You’re delusional. I’m doing this for the good of a higher power.”
“And you’re a liar. Isn’t that bad karma or something?”
She hummed something maddening under her breath, easily keeping up with his stride with those long legs. “You worry about your karma, and I’ll worry about mine.” He stopped at the curb and went to pull open the door. “Please tell me this is not your car.”
He shoved his anger aside for a moment to puff up with male pride. His sweet baby was his pride and joy, and he didn’t get to drive it half as much as he craved. “It is. A 1965 Pontiac GTO Tempest, 335 horsepower, 389-cubic-inch engine. Montero red.” He waited for her long sigh, but she curled her lip in disdain, hitting him with one of those arctic gazes.
“This car should be a crime,” she said primly. “We’re on a mission to save the earth, and you’re destroying it with this hunk of metal and dirt. Besides being a gas guzzler, it’s completely inefficient. The