Jenn McKinlay - Due Or Die

Lindsey closed her eyes. So, that was why he’d shown up at the vet’s. It was his part of this mission to stall her. Fabulous, and just when she thought she couldn’t be any more embarrassed, wow, there was a whole new level of red-faced mortification to wallow in.

Lindsey watched as her friends oohed and aahed over the boy. He was going to get a swelled head if this kept up.

They had put out a lovely spread of people food on the kitchen counter, so she filled a plate with lasagna and salad while the dog dug into his chow and the ladies began to debate names for him.

“No names,” Lindsey protested, taking a seat on the couch.

“I like George,” Charlene said, ignoring her. “It’s a good dog’s name.”

“No, Marley is a good dog’s name,” Beth said.

“That Marley and Me book made me cry,” Lindsey said. “He can’t be a Marley.”

“He should have a literary name,” Nancy said. “After all, he was found in the library.”

Lindsey glanced over at Carrie, who was looking on the scene with some bemusement.

“Yes, they’re always like this.”

Carrie gave her a small smile. “It’s nice.”

Lindsey blew out a feigned exasperated breath. She refused to admit that she was more than a little touched by her friends’ thoughtfulness.

Violet wandered over to the bookshelves. She scanned Lindsey’s titles until she found what she was looking for. When she rejoined the group, she said, “I have it. Listen.”

The room went silent as, in her best Broadway stage actress’s voice, Violet read aloud from a brown leather volume in Lindsey’s collection.

“‘A ray fell on his features; the cheeks were sallow, and half covered with black whiskers; the brows lowering, the eyes deep-set and singular. I remembered the eyes.’”

She looked down at the puppy as she read. He was still eating.

“I give you Heathcliff,” Violet said. She snapped shut Lindsey’s volume of Emily Brontë’s famous tome Wuthering Heights .

The room went silent. It was a treat to see Violet use her gifts, even if it was just a short paragraph. All eyes turned to the puppy, who lifted his head from his bowl and gave a mighty belch.

He looked so proud of himself, Lindsey couldn’t help but laugh. The other ladies joined in and Mary said, “I think that means he approves.”

“Heathcliff it is,” Charlene said.

On that note, the ladies rose to go. Carrie and Nancy stayed behind to help clean up while Heathcliff sniffed around the apartment.

“So, how did it go at the police station?” Lindsey asked as she wrapped up the lasagna.

Carrie shrugged and sighed. “About as good as can be expected since I’m suspect number one.”

“What? Why you?” Lindsey asked.

“She’s the spouse,” Nancy said. “They always look at the family first.”

“Well, they didn’t arrest you, that’s something, right?”

“I don’t know,” Carrie said. She unclipped her long brown hair and shook it out. Then she scraped it back with her fingers and refastened it in a knot at the back of her head. “I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time.”

Lindsey could tell by the quaver in her voice that she was afraid. She couldn’t blame her.

“Listen, I have the name of a criminal defense attorney that was recommended to me when a friend looked like she might need him,” Lindsey said. She crossed the large room from the kitchenette to the small writing desk in the corner. It was a built-in desk and blended right into the wainscoting. It was one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with this apartment.

She pulled out the fold-out top and searched through her address book until she found the name she was looking for. She wrote the information on a Post-it and handed it to Carrie.

“If they call you in again, or even just to ease your mind, you need to call this man,” she said.

“Is he expensive?” Carrie asked. “The kids’ tuitions have pretty much destroyed any retirement or savings that I had, and now with Markus, ugh, it sounds callus to even say, but without his disability check, I’ll probably lose the house.”

She pressed her lips in a firm line as if she could clamp down the panic that was obviously consuming her.

Lindsey put an arm around her shoulders, and Nancy leaned forward and patted her hand.

“It’s going to be all right,” Lindsey said, afraid that she might be lying.

“Of course it is,” Nancy said. But when she met Lindsey’s gaze, Lindsey could see the doubt dimming the usual sparkly blue irises.

“It won’t hurt you to call at any rate,” Lindsey said.

“I suppose not,” Carrie agreed. She gave them both a brave smile. “I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done. I feel safe here, and that is pretty amazing given that there is a killer out there somewhere.”

“That reminds me.” Nancy dug into her jeans pocket and fished out two keys. “I had Ian Murphy put a new dead bolt on the front door. Here is a key for each of you. I know we usually leave the front door unlocked, but until this is resolved, I think we’d better get into the habit of keeping it locked. Agreed?”

Lindsey and Carrie nodded as they each took a key.

“Carrie, are you ready?” Nancy asked. “I’ll walk you down.”

Carrie nodded and Lindsey gave each of them a hug. One look at the dog-she was not going to start calling him Heathcliff-and she could tell he needed to go out. She dug through his pile of puppy gifts until she found the blue collar and leash.

As if anticipating what was to come, the dog sat very still while she fitted the collar around his neck and then began to bounce on his large puppy feet while she tried to clip the leash on.

“Sit, boy,” Lindsey said. “Sit.”

He managed it for a second, but then excitement overtook him. Lindsey sighed. “We’re going to have to work on that. No, I mean, whoever your forever person is, they’ll have to work on that.”

He thumped his tail and gazed at her with his dark eyes, and Lindsey pulled on her jacket, scarf and mittens, trying to harden her heart against his funny little face.

It was a brisk walk outside to take care of business. Nancy’s backyard was a long one that ended in a cliff that overlooked the bay and the islands beyond. Lindsey took the opportunity to enjoy the smell of the sea-it was strong, signaling that the tide was coming in-and admire the stars that twinkled in the sky above.

People had been muttering about a bad storm blowing in, but it was hard to imagine on this clear and quiet night.

Once inside, Lindsey prepared for bed. She wasn’t sure what to do about the puppy. She didn’t know where he normally slept or where he would want to sleep. Mary had given her a flat fleecy dog bed. Lindsey figured she’d better put it in her bedroom, so he didn’t go chewing up her apartment during the night.

“Okay, buddy,” she said as she draped a fluffy throw over the fleece bed, “you sleep here.”

She patted the bed with her hand and he trotted over to sniff it. He seemed to get the idea as he climbed into it and did the circling thing that dogs do.

“Good night, little fella,” she said as she climbed into bed.

Lindsey had shut out the light and was just drifting off when she felt the foot of the bed sag. She figured she had two options, either turn on the light and get the boy back in his bed or ignore him. The poor guy had had a rough day and it was bitterly cold. Even with the heat on, the apartment wasn’t getting much warmer than sixty-two degrees.

Her bed was big enough, he would make it warmer, and besides, it wasn’t as if he was staying. Bed training him would be someone else’s problem. She burrowed into her flannel sheets and tried not to think about why that made her sad.