Irresistible Force (A K-9 Rescue Novel)(5)

"Any of this making sense to you, son?" Deputy Ward watched James with a raised brow.

"Yes, sir. Though I never would have thought-" James quashed the  expletive that accompanied any thought of Jaylynn Turner. She had been a  three-month nightmare in his life. He should have listened to  …  hell,  everyone. His friends, his sisters, even Bogart seemed to find fault  with her. She was just one of those dumb things men sometimes succumb to  when they were following their dicks.

But never in a million years would he have thought she would stoop so low as to steal Bogart, and then try to have him put down.

Another thought struck him, one that made him queasy. He eyed Bogart  with some anxiety. "They neuter animals before they're allowed out for  adoption."

Shay seethed under the glare of his stare. Even his questions didn't end in question marks. "It wasn't a formal adoption."

James's exhale of relief was audible. "I guess I owe you a debt there."

She snorted. "I didn't do it for you. The shelter people agreed that  because she handed him over to me, personally, there was no need for an  adoption."

"Well, then, no harm done." The deputy hooked his thumbs in his belt,  all smiles to have the matter settled. "I've known Shay a long time. I  can vouch for her."

Shay felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. "Excuse me, Deputy  Ward. I'm not the one who needs a character reference here. He broke  into my house."

As she said this Prince decided he'd been obedient long enough. He leaped up on her, barking and wagging his tail.

Trying to hold on to her outrage under the onslaught of Prince's doggy  affection, she hauled him in by the collar. "My dog needs to go out  before he pees all over the place. Excuse me."

She walked over to her door and reached once again for the leash, and a  net bag that she slung over a shoulder. To her consternation Prince  wasn't the only one to follow her. Her intruder crossed the room toward  her.

After she snapped on Prince's leash, she turned on him, thunder in her expression. "We don't need company."

James reached down and scratched Bogart behind the ears, smiling despite  his anger at the situation. Bogart answered his affection with long wet  licks of his hand and wrist. Happy for actual physical contact with the  friend he'd thought he'd lost forever, he bent to allow Bogart to lick  his face. No matter how awful the day, how tired or weary or worried he  was, having Bogart within reach calmed him down.

It worked. In fact, his voice sounded almost mild when James stood up and spoke to Shay. "I'm coming with you."                       
       
           



       

"Hold up, son." Deputy Ward waved James toward him. "I'm calling this  in. I may need some additional verification from you." He stepped away  from them as his radio crackled to life on his shoulder.

James bent down again. "I'm taking this damn decoration off before  Bogart catches it on something and chokes." He unsnapped her leash,  released Bogart's fancy blue collar and tossed it aside. He shoved a  hand into one of the deep pockets in his camo pants and pulled out a  nylon service collar with the word "police" spelled out in block  letters. He strapped it around the dog's neck.

When he stood up, James gave Shay his most intimidating look. "Don't do anything stupid."

Refusing to give him the satisfaction of an answer, Shay simply opened  the door. Bogart shot through it like a furry cannonball. Without a  backward glance, she followed at a more leisurely pace.

James stood in the open doorway to watch. His well-honed instincts about  people told him that she wouldn't skip out on the local deputy, yet he  remained unable to take his eyes off her.

Once across the grassy expanse of lawn into the edge of the woods,  Bogart went about taking care of his needs in rapid order. Only then did  he come bounding back to Shay, who waited patiently in the middle of  the yard.

The morning had turned into one of those glorious autumn days with  bright golden light spiking between the trunks of bare-limbed trees near  the horizon. The odor of freshly cut grass drifted in from across the  lake, and James knew the chill of the crisp-smelling air would soon give  way to the deep-South warmth of a buttered sunshine afternoon.

Bogart was loving it.

James watched in affection as his partner raced back toward Shay in long  loping strides. He was a bit small for a Belgian Malinois, sixty-five  pounds compared to the average size of the breed, whose weight could  range upward of eighty pounds. The usual golden coat of the breed was in  Bogart's case so heavily peppered in places it looked as if he'd been  rolling in ashes. And, like the most famous characters played by his  Hollywood namesake, Bogart was often underestimated by strangers until  put to the test. He was capable of staring down any suspect, leaning his  slightly oversized head to one side as he assessed a situation, ready  for action when intimidation didn't work.

James smirked. His partner was a bit of a rascal, too. He liked to hide  things and wait to be ordered to find them. And when he didn't like  someone-for instance a competitive girlfriend like Jaylynn-a shoe, or a  purse, or even a cell phone might get "accidentally" chewed.

As James watched, Shay produced a brightly colored tennis ball from her  bag and tossed it with the same good right arm she'd used to lob that  branch at the mystery vehicle the night before.

James frowned as Bogart took off after the ball, wondering what that  episode the night before had been about. He glanced back at the deputy  who was busy calling on his radio, wondering if he should mention it. Of  course a better question was, why hadn't she mentioned it? One would  have thought she'd have connected his intrusion to her unwelcome night  visitor. Unless she knew who the visitor was.

His attention came back to Shay with renewed intensity. She was hiding  something. He could feel it in his gut. She'd been afraid the night  before but attacked anyway, just as she'd done with him. His hand still  throbbed where she'd bitten him, even though she'd barely broken the  skin. Scared but not cowed. Who was this woman?

She was athletic, no doubt about it. As she chased after dog and ball,  she moved with the unconscious grace of a person who was at home in, not  at constant odds with, her body. He was surprised to see her produce  another ball. K-9s were taught to chase and hold, not play chase and  retrieve. How had she discovered that?

She also obviously understood that Bogart had high energy and needed to  be exercised regularly. Her second throw was long and high. Bogart went  after it at top speed.

James turned back and scanned the cabin's central room, noticing that  the only personal property on view was a laptop on the dining table. Had  she looked up Belgian Malinois on the Web? Maybe that's how she knew he  needed to be managed with exercise and companionship.

Jaylynn never got that. The time he spent with his partner was not to  slight her but to keep Bogart from becoming anxious and frustrated,  which would lead to him becoming bored, and making mischief. For  instance, chewing up a pair of her five-hundred-dollar shoes because  Jaylynn couldn't be bothered walking him on the one rare occasion when  James wasn't there to do it.

Shay's cries of approval, as Bogart ran down another toss caught on the  wind and came sailing back, snared his attention once again.                       
       
           



       

Encouraged by her responses, Bogart began to show off. No longer content  to chase a ball after it landed, he ran out ahead of her throws. Then  he stopped short and leaped high to snag the ball out of the air. Pretty  soon he had lined up a group of six balls on his side of the field,  placed side by side.

James couldn't blame his partner for wanting to show off for this woman.  Her laughter was full throated and a little husky in a way that made it  a pleasure a man wanted to hear repeatedly, and often. It settled in  his belly and moved lower down until it reached his groin.

Get a grip, Cannon.

When her supply was depleted, she walked out to retrieve the balls. As  she picked up the final one, Bogart jumped on her, using his strong back  legs to propel him forward. Shay fell sideways onto the grass.

Heart leaping into his throat, James jumped off the porch to go break up  what could so easily turn dangerous for a dog trained to catch and hold  a suspect. But before he covered more than six feet he again heard her  laughter. It came in gurgles and spurts as she covered her face to keep  her companion from licking every inch of it.

James paused to watch them with more than a little surprise. Never in a  million years would Jaylynn have gotten down and dirty in the grass with  a dog, especially not one who had a mouth full of teeth that could tear  flesh. Or one that drooled in her hair as he playfully tugged Shay's  ponytail. It struck him that this was not something spontaneous between  the two but a game they must have played often during the time they'd  been together.