Janet Evanovich - Love in a Nutshell

“Sure. What’s the matter?”

“Unfinished business back home.”

Ginger snorted. “Right. Business. Blond unfinished business, maybe?”

“Yeah, another four-letter word, and it means happiness,” Matt said.

He’d let Ginger guess on her own, because he wanted to get home and grab love.

KATE GLARED at her cell phone as she parked in front of Matt’s place. 201

First, she’d called Matt, but the call went straight to voice mail. Then she’d called the police station and come up empty. She’d sort of expected that, since she’d noticed the office was unattended a lot this time of year. Clete’s voice on the answering machine had instructed her to hang up and call 911 if this was an emergency. Having a suspicion of who’d been sabotaging Matt didn’t seem to fit the bill, so she’d left Clete a message, asking him to call her as soon as possible.

Because she was trying to be thorough, she’d done the same on Lizzie’s voice mail, even though she knew Matt’s sister was probably on her way downstate. She’d try all three again, once Chuck had been fed and loved.

Kate exited her Jeep. The air was crisp enough so that it felt sharp in her lungs. By the time evening fell, it was going to be nose-numbingly cold out here in the country. She’d be back at The Nutshell by then, and Chip and Bunny and their respective crews would be, too. All the more reason to cherish the quiet out here.

But as Kate walked toward the front door, a “ Buh -woof” sounded from the back of the house.

She halted. Only one dog she’d ever met had a voice that could carry with such conviction.

“Chuck?”

“Buh-woof.”

Kate rounded the side of the house, her shoes sweeping through the blanket of leaves underfoot. Chuck stood on the back deck, tail wagging.

“Dude, when did you become an escape artist?”

“Buh-woof.”

He butted the back door with one broad shoulder, begging to get in. She supposed that Lizzie might have accidentally left him out when she’d departed last night. Kate pulled out her keys, opened the back door, and ushered Chuck in. He gazed up at her with worried hound eyes and let roll another round of “Buh-woof.”

“I don’t speak dog as fluently as your owner, so we’re going to have to play a game of twenty questions. I know you don’t need to go out, so what’s the deal?”

“Buh-woof.”

“Water? Do you need water?”

He wagged his tail. “Buh-woof.”

Kate checked out Chuck’s water bowl. Over half remained, but, hey, she appreciated the concept of not drinking one’s own slobber. If he wanted fresh, fresh he’d get. She bent over to pick up the bowl and caught a faint whiff of something. Thought number one was that Chuck had passed gas, but the scent was more wood smoke than unpleasant.

“You’re off the hook, buddy.”

“Buh-woof.”

“You’re welcome.” She rinsed his bowl at the kitchen sink, and the same scent grew strong enough to make her eyes burn. Just like fire .

Chuck’s metal bowl clattered against the bottom of the aluminum sink as the thought sunk in. Kate turned off the water and followed the scent to the main living area. Flames flickered through a haze of suffocatingly thick smoke.

Okay, so buh -woof meant The place is burning, you idiot human!

Kate turned back to the kitchen, grabbed Chuck by his collar, and hauled him toward the back door. She needed him safe before she did anything else. He dug in his heels once they’d reached the back deck.

“Come on, buddy.”

It seemed unsporting to shove a three-legged dog along, but it was for his own safety. Once they were on solid ground, Kate pulled her cell phone from her jeans pocket, dialed 911, and waited. When the operator came on the line, Kate said “fire” and gave Matt’s address. Then she caught a glimpse of Chuck going back inside.

“Are you out of the house?” the operator asked. “Can you tell me what’s going on, ma’am?”

“Chuck, no!”

But Chuck didn’t seem to speak human any better than she spoke dog, because he kept going. It was her fault for leaving the door open, and she’d never be able to live with herself if she didn’t make an effort to snag the hound. And she never, ever wanted to have to tell Matt how she’d screwed up.

“Just please get the trucks here,” she said to the operator, then hung up and jammed the phone back into her pocket.

Kate climbed the deck’s steps. “Chuck, come on out!” She could risk this. The fire had been limited to the front room, and while Chuck was crafty, speed wasn’t part of his repertoire.

Kate stepped inside, and the smell of smoke assailed her. It now drifted in a thick haze at ceiling height.

Stupid dog .

“Chuck, treat! Side of beef! Whole turkey!”

Kate started coughing. She should have asked Matt what magic words brought his dog running. But all she could do now was go inside. Of all the fire advice she’d ever learned, she discarded get out and focused on stay low .

Three more steps in and she heard a familiar voice behind her saying, “You never learn.”

Kate turned and opened her mouth to ask what was going on. A sharp pain shot through her head. Then Kate could say nothing at all.

Kate awakened slowly. She was lying on a freezing cold, rotted plywood floor that was gritty with dirt. She touched her fingertips to the side of her head and they came away sticky with blood. Kate fought a wave of nausea.

Harley Bagger stood over her. “You’re heavier than you look,” he said.

She scoped out her surroundings. “And you’re meaner than you look.”

The shack smelled decayed, and its narrow doorway and window slits didn’t let in much air. She’d bet she was in an old deer blind that had fallen to the ground. Not a helpful clue, since deer blinds dotted the woods for miles around.

“You made me do this,” Harley said.

“Made you? How do you figure that?”

“You shouldn’t have come back for the stupid dog. I coulda gotten away, except for you. I could have been in and out that window I jimmied.” He glared at her. “You messed up my work.”

Kate’s heart turned over at the thought of poor, sweet Chuck. The dog had gone back in to fetch Harley and had probably paid with his life. But she couldn’t think about that now, or she’d break down. She braced her hands against the floor and sat up.

Harley pointed a gun at her. “You stay right there.”

“What are you doing, Harley? Do you really think that’s going to help matters?”

He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Not for you, maybe.”

“What have I ever done to you?” She inched her hand toward her front right pocket and her cell phone.

“Don’t bother. I threw the phone into the pond in back of his house. Do you think I’m stupid?”

Honesty wasn’t always the best policy. Kate kept her mouth closed.

“It’s Culhane. All Culhane. He’s ruining me,” Harley said.

She closed her eyes for a second, trying to push back the pain. “How?”

“He’s got all the business in town.”

“When you fired me, you’d let that keg of his beer go flat, hadn’t you?”

Harley paced back and forth. “It wasn’t about you. It was about messing with his reputation a little.”

“And after that you started messing with Matt, too.”

“Prove it,” he said.

“Not that it matters at this point, but I can. The morning you left all the taps opel tt, &n at Matt’s place, I found a replacement wick to one of your lighters on the floor. And I even know who gave you the keys to get in… Laila.”