Carol Clark - Hitched

“What?” Joyce asked. She watched in dismay as Hattie scooped up the four little dogs, put them in the bathroom, shut the door, then opened the door to the bedroom.

“Hello, lovey!” Hattie cried. “Time for your walk.” She led a ferocious-looking mutt from the bedroom.

Oh dear God, Joyce thought. At least it’s on a leash.

Hattie and “lovey” went out the door and were back in two minutes.

As Hattie led him past the couch, the dog stared hatefully at Joyce.

“There you go, Mugsy,” Hattie said as she shut him in the bedroom. “You’re so lucky. You have a bedroom all to yourself.” Hattie then rescued the other dogs from the bathroom, put them on their leashes, and took them outside.

Joyce sat up. Thank God! If I move fast, I can crawl out of here. Or maybe if I start screaming someone will hear me.

But a moment later Hattie was back. “Okay, the fellas are waiting for me outside. I’m sorry I’m so busy with the dogs, but when I get back we’ll have a nice dinner and talk. I want to hear all about you.”

“Why don’t we go to my place?” Joyce suggested. “I can make you dinner.”

“I told you I made beef stew! It’s Edie’s recipe. She wants us to have it!” With an annoyed sigh, Hattie scurried back to the bedroom and brought Mugsy back out. “Mugsy here guards my apartment when I’m gone. He’ll take good care of you. We both miss Edie very much.”

“You’re going to leave him out?” Joyce asked, fear gripping her throat.

“I’ll tie him up by the front door.”

“Please let me leave,” Joyce pleaded, her drowsy state a distant memory. Every nerve in her body was on full alert.

“You’re irritating me!” Hattie cried, coming toward her. She leaned over Joyce. “All I want to do is take care of you, and you won’t let me. I don’t like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Joyce said. “I’m nervous around certain dogs. Why don’t you take him with you?”

“He’s not so well-behaved when he goes out. But you couldn’t ask for a better watchdog.”

“Please put him in the bedroom,” Joyce begged.

“What good is he going to do in the bedroom if someone breaks in here? Can you tell me that? Don’t worry. He’s tied up. He won’t hurt you. He’ll protect you!” Hattie tied the dog’s leash to the leg of a heavy chair by the door. A leash that looked like it could almost reach the couch. “Get some rest, you two.”

“Hattie, please!” Joyce begged.

But she was out the door.

The room was silent.

Joyce glanced over at Mugsy, afraid to make eye contact. He didn’t look too thrilled with the plans either. She lay back down, afraid to move a muscle. Maybe if I stay still he’ll forget that I’m here.

She was too afraid to scream for help.

Jack hated leaving Regan. He had an uncomfortable feeling and wanted to get back to her as quickly as possible. After his meeting with the police chief from Philadelphia, he stopped by his office briefly to check in.

One of his detectives was poring over the surveillance tape from the previous day’s bank robbery. “Take a look at this, boss,” he said to Jack as he rewound the tape and played it again.

The bank robber came into the bank, closed his umbrella, and headed for a teller. His face was pretty well covered by his rain gear, beard, mustache, and glasses. He handed the teller the note and then glanced around. He reached back and massaged his neck quickly, then rested his gloved right hand on his right cheek, with his index finger pointing up. Then he let his hand drop. It all took just a few seconds.

“I’ve been studying all the tapes,” the detective said. “This little mannerism is on all of them.”

“No surprise The Drip’s got tension in his neck,” Jack said. “Anything new on Dan’s Discount Den or the stolen credit card?”

“We’re going over the card owner’s charges for the last couple of months, checking out where he’s been. Unfortunately he’s a big spender. He’s been everywhere with that card. Any number of sales clerks have had their hands on it.”

“Okay, I’m heading back to Club Zee.”

“Nothing new on the missing girl?”

“Regan hasn’t contacted me, so I guess not.”

“Those situations usually don’t end up so well.”

“I know,” Jack said somberly as he strode out the door.

Joyce felt as if she had been lying there in the dark apartment for an eternity. Perspiration had broken out all over her body. I shouldn’t be so terrifed, she thought. But even though Mugsy was tied up and had stretched out on the floor, his very presence was threatening. Joyce couldn’t believe that she was actually hoping that crazy Hattie would return home soon.

I’ve never felt afraid around animals, Joyce thought. Taking care of them is what makes me happy. But this dog is different. He scares me to death. He looks as if he could tear me apart in about ten seconds.

Suddenly Joyce felt a sneeze coming on. She tried to stifle it but that only made the eruption stronger and louder. Her whole body shuddered as she sneezed three times.

Mugsy stood up and glared at her.

Oh, no, she thought.

He started walking toward the coffee table.

His leash is too long, she thought desperately. He is going to reach me. But he was staring at the donuts, not at Joyce. He was just a few feet away from the couch when his leash wouldn’t allow him to go any farther.

He started snarling.

Maybe he’s hungry, she thought. Hattie said he hadn’t been eating. She leaned over, picked up a donut, and tossed it in his direction. “Here, Mugsy,” she said in her friendliest tone.

But it hit him in the face.

The dog went berserk.

He charged toward her, his whole body in a frenzy. Growling and barking, he bared his killer teeth. They were perilously close to the end of the couch.

Joyce swung her legs around so she could get off the couch and attempt to make her way over to the safety of the bathroom. I’ve got to get away from him! she thought frantically. But her every movement enraged him even more.

A wave of nausea swept over Joyce, and the room started to spin.

She pushed herself up on one foot and started hopping, her eye on the bathroom door several feet away.

Behind her, Mugsy was barking furiously, straining his leash as he tried to charge in her direction.

Joyce felt as though she was going to be sick. She was passing the kitchen counter when she heard the most terrifying sound of her life. The leash snapped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mugsy bolting toward her. With a strength she never knew she possessed, she threw herself in the direction of the sink, pushed herself up onto the counter, stood on her left foot, and grabbed the handle of the kitchen cabinet. Her whole body was trembling.

Mugsy charged over and tried to throw his front paws onto the counter. But they weren’t long enough to reach, and he slipped down. He jumped up again, then started running around in circles. He threw himself again and again up against the counter, trying to reach Joyce, his mouth of killer teeth just inches from her left foot.

If I slip, Joyce thought desperately as she pressed herself as far as she could against the cabinet, I’m going to die.

And I don’t know how long I can stand here on one foot.

As tears slid down her cheeks, she started to pray.

The search parties had all returned to Club Zee by three o’clock. Everyone reported the same thing. There were no leads. Several people had called the club to say they had seen Joyce walk out the door the night before but didn’t know which way she’d gone.

Cindy was sitting in the corner, crying. Her friends were trying to console her.