Sisters - By Patricia MacDonald Page 0,52

together and straightened up. ‘See,’ she said. ‘Problem solved.’

‘Whose dog is that? Where did it come from?’

‘He’s our dog,’ said Dory brightly, running a hand over the dog’s shiny coat. ‘Isn’t he pretty? My old customer, Regina, brought him over while you were out.’

‘How could you just get a dog without consulting me? I said I wanted to think about it.’

‘What is there to think about?’ Dory asked. ‘You said you liked dogs.’

‘What breed is this dog?’

‘Some kind of Lab mix,’ said Dory vaguely.

‘That dog is no more a Lab than I am,’ Alex protested. ‘That’s a Pit Bull.’

‘The correct name is American Staffordshire Terrier,’ said Dory. ‘And so what if he is part Pit Bull? They can be wonderful dogs. It’s all in how they’re handled.’

‘Everybody knows they’re dangerous,’ said Alex.

‘That’ll work for us. People are afraid of these dogs. If those journalists come nosing around again, you need a dog that can guard his territory. Remus will protect us.’

‘And who will protect me from Remus?’ Alex demanded.

‘You’ll get used to him,’ said Dory unsympathetically.

‘No,’ said Alex. ‘I don’t want to get used to him. He’s going back. We’re taking him back right now.’

Dory looked at her coldly. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You heard me,’ said Alex. ‘Have you got a crate for him? We’ll put him in the car and take him back to Regina.’

‘We can’t,’ said Dory.

‘Why not?’

‘She . . . had to go away. She won’t be back for several days.’

‘How convenient,’ said Alex.

‘You think I’m lying?’ Dory challenged her.

She and Alex stared at one another. Remus began to growl low in his throat.

‘You better shut that dog up,’ said Alex, brushing past Dory and starting for the stairs. ‘He’s going back the minute Regina gets home. End of discussion.’

Alex thought she heard ‘bitch’ breathed into the air, but she didn’t stop on her way up the stairs.

Lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, Alex couldn’t help feeling sorry for herself. This was a big day. She’d got the job she wanted and she should be celebrating. Instead she was alone in her room and downstairs her sister, an accused murderer, patrolled the house with a Pit Bull. She knew the Pit Bull’s bad reputation wasn’t the dogs’ fault. Any dog lover knew that. It was the people who owned and abused them. That didn’t mean the dog wasn’t dangerous. What did they know about this particular dog anyway? And how could Dory simply take it upon herself to get this dog, without any thought to what Alex might want?

Alex sighed. Face it, she thought. The fact was that she felt imposed on, and cornered by Dory and her mercurial moods. You haven’t really given her much of a chance, she argued with herself. Stop being so negative. Dory had been through so much. She’d been longing to have a dog all her life, and now she had the opportunity. Was it too much to ask? You’d been thinking of getting a dog anyway, she reminded herself.

Alex turned over on her stomach. She undoubtedly was in a bad mood because Seth was leaving. She probably wouldn’t see him again – maybe not till next Christmas. For all intents and purposes, it was a relationship that was never going to happen. Perhaps she wouldn’t have reacted so badly to the dog if she hadn’t had that news about Seth today. Maybe in the morning, she thought, yawning, Dory and I can talk it over. Arrive at some kind of compromise. Maybe you’re just a spoiled only child who is too used to having her own way to tolerate anybody else’s choices.

As she chided herself and tried to count her blessings, she drifted off and fell into a deep sleep. She began to dream, at some point, that she was walking down a dark street and suddenly someone came up behind her. In her dream, she was trying to pretend that she didn’t know they were there. But the sound of their breathing was getting louder and closer. Suddenly she felt something cold touch her face. Alex was instantly awake.

Inches from her face, Remus hovered beside her, panting. In the darkness of her room, his eyes were like ebony marbles. His teeth gleamed in the moonlight. Standing above him, holding his leash, stood Dory. She was dressed in dark clothes, her hair sticking out wildly from her head. She was staring down at Alex, studying her, her gray eyes blank and cold.

Alex’s heart hammered and she let out a whimper