doesn’t try to hide his grimace. “If you call a balloon-covered snake drama, then yeah.”
She smiles and adjusts her grip on the black bag she’s carrying. “Hardly the weirdest thing I’ve seen in the line of duty.”
That statement alone is enough to make me love her, and my fandom surges when she glances down at my howling dog and smiles. “And who do we have here?”
“This is Roughneck, and I swear he’s really friendly. He just sounds awful.”
“Roughneck? From Tia’s place?” She bends down to pet him, and my dog goes crazy licking and wagging. “Hey, buddy. Good to see you again.”
Roughneck melts down completely, groaning with joy as she rubs his belly. I’m guessing Amy Lovelin has this effect on lots of guys. “I take it you know each other?”
Amy scratches behind his ears, laughing when he tries to lick her nose. “I was part of the crew that helped capture him. Tia let me read to him a couple times once he got settled.”
“Anything he especially liked?” And now I’m the weirdo who takes book recommendations for her dog.
Amy isn’t fazed. “He did seem to like the Bill Cameron crime novel I read him. “Then he ripped the head off a doll and spread the guts all over his pen. I switched to romance novels after that.”
“No wonder he’s such a lover.” I scratch him behind one ear while Amy gives him a good booty rub.
“You’ve come a long way, buddy.” She gives him one last pet and straightens up. “You want to fill me in on what’s happening?”
“Right, of course.” Dread curdles my gut. “You probably want to see the…the…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say the s-word.” She offers a sympathetic smile. “My mom hates them so much that we’re only allowed to call them rattlebears.”
Dean quirks an eyebrow. “Rattlebears?”
“I guess bears are less scary-sounding than…well, the other animal.” Amy smiles at my dog. “Maybe ‘rattlepup’ would be more comforting?”
I laugh and wrap his leash around my hand. “It’s okay, I’m not freaked out by the word.” Just by the animal itself. “Sorry, this whole thing probably seems silly to you.”
“Not at all,” she says. “I’m already invested in what’s happening out here, though this does seem like a strange twist.”
Dean shoves his hands in his pockets. “It seemed like an odd thing to call the cops for, but considering what’s written on the balloons....”
“Absolutely.” She picks up her black bag. “Let’s take a look.”
We all troop through my cabin, Roughneck trotting along beside us. When we get to the door, Amy peers out the window. “Thank God it’s just plastic,” she says. “I’ve never dusted a snake corpse for prints before.”
“Small blessings.” I grip Roughneck’s leash a little tighter.
Amy pushes the door open and steps through. She sets down the black bag and extracts a pair of rubber gloves, which she promptly snaps into place. “You haven’t touched anything, correct?”
“Correct.” I can’t suppress another shudder. “No amount of money is enough to convince me to touch anything going on out there right now.”
Dean reaches down and laces his fingers through mine, giving my hand a squeeze. “We haven’t set foot outside.”
“Excellent, I’ll keep an eye out for footprints.” She frowns, scanning the desert dirt and my small patch of neatly-mowed grass. “Not likely we’ll see anything, but you never know.”
“Want us to wait here?” Dean asks.
“For now. I’ll let you know when you can come out.” Amy strides across the deck, surveying her surroundings as she moves. Even if she were wearing street clothes, there’s something about her posture that screams “cop.” I can see why Dean wants to hire her. We stay fixed in the open doorway, watching her work. Even Roughneck seems mesmerized.
Amy slips a small camera out of her pocket, firing off a few images before she stoops down for a closer look. I watch her a moment longer before turning to Dean. “Sorry to drag you out here. I feel a little silly knowing it’s fake.”
“You have every right to be freaked out,” he says. “Hell, I’m freaked out.”
He holds out his arm, and I get distracted by big hands and ropey forearm muscles before realizing he’s showing me goosebumps. “Same,” I murmur, lifting my own arm. The one not attached to the hand he’s still holding.
Dean smiles, and there go the goosebumps again. I tear my attention off him and direct it back outside where Amy is busy inspecting the balloons. I keep my voice low, not entirely sure why.