Tucker Read online

  “Oh, my God,” she said. “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “Yes, and I’ve got it on tape.”

  She shook her head. “I had no idea,” she said. “That poor dog.”

  “Sounds to me like Bernie’s suffered enough,” he said. “I’ve got things in motion. I just have to make sure that the manager at the pound does not take things into his own hands.”

  “I don’t know if we can trust him,” she said. “I think he’s an old friend of Bernie’s.”

  “That’s not good,” he said. “I’ll head back there right now.”

  “I’m coming with you,” she said. “I can’t take that chance.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to take the chance either,” he said. “Hopefully, while I’m there, I’ll get word on her fate.”

  “I hope so.” She looked at him and said, “I don’t trust him.”

  “Neither do I,” he said. He hopped into the truck and said, “I’ll meet you there.” He reversed out of the parking lot and headed back to the pound. As he drove, his brother-in-law called him and said, “The governor’s making phone calls.”

  “Good,” he said, “let’s hope it’s fast enough. I’ve just been told that the pound manager and the woman who put in the false complaints on the dog are friends.”

  “Jesus,” he said, “make sure you get there and save that dog.”

  “Oh, I’d like to,” he said, “but I need something official.”

  “I’m calling the governor back.” Rodney hung up the phone.

  Tucker pulled into the pound, racing up to the front. The receptionist looked at him in surprise. “You back again?”

  “Yes, I need to see the dog.”

  Right behind him, Addie came in too. Wendy looked at her and then at the two of them and whispered, “I think she’s being put to sleep right now.”

  “Buzz us through,” Addie said. “Come on. Hurry, hurry, hurry.” Wendy buzzed the door, and the two of them raced down the hallway to see the manager standing with the gate open, trying to get a hold of the shepherd backed into the corner and growling at him.

  “Stop,” Tucker called out.

  The manager looked at him and said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “You need to go answer your damn phone,” he said. “The governor’s calling.”

  At that, he stopped and stared. “What are you talking about?”

  “This dog’s not being put down,” he said. “That’s what I’m talking about, and nice try on moving the date forward.”

  “Hey, we have to pay bills too. I can’t afford to feed her right now,” he said.

  “Not an issue anymore.” He slipped past him, stepped into the cage in front of the dog. “She leaves here with me now,” he said. “So you can take this up with the governor on the phone,” he said. “Otherwise you’ve got a fight right now on your hands. If that’s what you want, go for it,” he said. And he stopped and waited.

  Chapter 4

  “I would listen to him, if I were you,” Addie said from behind the manager.

  He turned and glared at her. “Neither one of you are taking this dog until I know for sure what the hell is going on,” he snapped. “The dog is a menace.”

  “The dog is not your problem,” Tucker snapped back.

  He glared at him. “Says you.” And he stormed off.

  Tucker looked down at the dog and said, “So will you behave yourself without a leash, or do I need a collar and a leash for you?” He snapped his fingers and said, “Heel.”

  Immediately she stood up, walked around, and came to stand at his side.

  He gave her the second order. “Sit.” Immediately her butt smacked down hard on the floor. “Now,” he said, looking over at Addie, “we need to get this dog out of here.”

  “Well, it’d be nice to think we’d go out the back, but it’ll be locked,” she said.

  “I have no intention of going anywhere but out the front.” And, with the dog at his side, staying close under his orders, they walked out to the front area.

  Wendy took one look, opened her mouth, and Tucker said, “Don’t even start with me. He’s on the phone to the governor right now, and the governor’s got more than enough to say about this expensive dog being put to death for a trumped-up charge.”

  Wendy’s mouth snapped shut, and her gaze widened. She looked over at the connecting door and said, “I have to get his permission.”

  “You do that,” he said. “You’ve got about three seconds.” And he stood here with his arms crossed, the dog waiting at his side.

  Wendy got up and bolted into the other room. She came back a few seconds later, and she just held out her hands and said, “I guess you can go.” She sounded completely bewildered.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “And when his little girlfriend phones him to see if the dog was put to sleep, tell him I’m on her case too. There will be charges on her end after this.”

  Wendy’s gaze went to Addie, then back to him again. “Are you talking about Bernie?”

  “Yes,” he said, “liars and cheats don’t get away with this kind of stuff. An innocent life was almost taken today.”

  “But … the dog bit her,” Wendy wailed.

  “No,” he said, “I spoke with her doctor who confirmed Bernie was lying.”

  At that, Wendy sat down hard and just stared at him.

  He didn’t give her a chance to say anything. He turned and walked out.

  Addie walked over to Wendy and said, “I’m sorry this is such a mess.”

  “But are you serious?”

  She nodded. “We haven’t gotten to the bottom of everything at the moment,” she said, “but the dog is a trained arson dog, and she needs to go out to a fire scene that matters to the governor.”

  “Jesus,” she said. “You stay safe, huh?”

  “Yes, and don’t call my sister,” she said. “Enough people are in trouble already.”

  Wendy swallowed hard and said, “How did you know?”

  “I know,” she said, “that she has this ability to make people do what she wants them to do and that they’re the ones who always get in trouble.”

  Wendy turned and looked back at the door where the boss was and looked up at her. “He’s involved too.”

  “I know, and you can bet that Tucker will make sure your boss gets in trouble too,” she said, nodding toward the front door where Tucker had disappeared.

  “Bernie and the boss were friends in high school. You can’t tell it by looking at him now, but he was the quarterback.”

  “Won’t matter. Tucker won’t take any of this kindly. He’ll have your jobs, and he’ll have your heads on a platter, if he gets his way.”

  Wendy shrieked. “I can’t afford to lose my job.”

  “Then keep your head down,” Addie advised her, “and stay out of trouble. Enough is going around right now.” And, with that, she turned and headed outside. As she got out there, Tucker already had the dog in the front of the truck, and he was starting to reverse. She hopped up to the driver’s side window and said, “Wait.”

  He looked at her impatiently.

  “You can’t just do that and take off,” she said in exasperation.

  He grinned. “Why not? I got what I came for.”

  “Great,” she said with an eye roll. “That’s not helping me any.”

  “No, but it’s helping the dog a whole lot,” he said. “That should make you happy.”

  “It does,” she said, “but I also have to deal with my sister.”

  “Tell your sister that I’ll deal with her,” he said in an ominous tone.

  She winced. “Threats? Really?”

  “Look. Your family’s been on mute for too long. Time someone spoke up. And I’m mad enough to speak the truth and to take the heat from your psycho sister. I could be nicer,” he said, “but can’t say I’m feeling that way right now.”

  “I don’t have anything to do today,” she said, hesitating, then burst out with, “Can
I come with you?”

  He stared her a moment, looked down at Bernie, and asked, “What do you think, Bernie? Should Addie come with us?”

  Bernie barked at both of them. Tucker laughed and said, “Well, I have to be back tonight anyway, so if you’re sure?”

  “I’m sure,” she said, not really knowing why but determined to go. “However, I don’t want to leave my car here. They lock the fence around the pound at night. My place is not too far.”

  “Drive home,” he said. “I’ll follow behind and pick you up. Then we’re heading to the condo complex where the fire was.”

  “Good,” she said. “I want to see what the dog can do.”

  And, with that, she raced back to her car, hopped in, and this time he followed her as she drove the short distance to her residence. She hopped out, grabbed her purse, and waited for him to pull up alongside. She hopped into the front seat, Bernie giving her a joyful greeting. Addie laughed and chuckled as she hugged Bernie and said, “Oh, my goodness. It’s so good to see you outta there.”

  “What did you tell Wendy?”

  “I told her to not get involved any more than she needed to because there would be hell to pay over this.”

  “She’s involved too, isn’t she?”

  “So is her boss—the high school quarterback, if you can believe it.”

  “Not,” Tucker said, shaking his head.

  “But he and Wendy are involved due to my sister’s shenanigans.”

  “Isn’t that enough?” he said, and his tone booked no argument.

  “Yes, and no,” she said. “I’ve seen it happen time and time again. They’re only guilty of being my sister’s friend.”

  “Your sister’s guilty of a hell of a lot more,” he said, his voice hard.

  “Absolutely,” she said, “but I still don’t want you to punish her too badly.”

  “She needs it.”

  “Yes, she does,” she said, “but whatever you do, it comes back on me, and it comes back on my parents.” She sighed loudly, getting a worried look from Bernie. Addie smiled and petted the dog, soothing her. Bernie settled down immediately.

  “They’re another group who needs to be dealt with.”

  “What can you do to them?” she asked curiously. “I’ve been trying to get them to wake up and to see what she’s like for a long time.”

  “They know,” he said. “That’s why they keep disappearing.”

  “Sure, but they don’t know how to deal with it,” she said sadly. “They can’t do confrontations.”

  “That’s never an answer with a child. Especially one who has learned how to control those around her and not in a nice way.”

  “She’s hardly a child anymore,” she said sadly.

  “Yet you keep defending her.”

  “I don’t want to,” she said, “but it’s not my problem either. And I know that sounds like a cop-out, but she’s my younger sister. What else was I supposed to do all these years?”

  “Stop babying her?”

  “I moved out at eighteen because I couldn’t stand it,” she said, “and my parents only got worse.”

  “And it’s probably gotten worse because you were part of keeping Bernie in check.”

  “Yes, that’s true, but everything I tried to do was overridden by them. And they’re the parents,” she said. “What was I supposed to do?” That summed up the last five years of her life with her sister. Total frustration.

  “Somebody needs to have a talk with them. Some professional mental health care provider.”

  “I don’t know what they’ll do, and that’s their problem,” she said. “Now that the dog’s out and safe, my sister will be livid. I probably won’t have anything to do with any of them.”

  “Really?” He looked over at her with a frown, patting Bernie softly with a free hand. She seemed to be sleeping.

  “I haven’t had much to do with them lately anyway,” she said quietly. “Bernie’s always been the apple of their eye, and I’ve always been the odd one out.” She shrugged. “And that’s okay too because I didn’t want to end up like her.”

  “God, no,” he said vehemently.

  She laughed. “It’s so funny being in a situation like this,” she said. “You try so hard, and then you just have to walk away because, well, it’s your family, but it’s not your family. I can’t force them to make the decisions I want them to make.”

  “And what do you do for work?”

  “I’m a nurse,” she said. “I’m on days off right now.”

  “Good for you,” he said with a smile.

  “What will you do now?”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’m not sure just who and what you are right now, but, outside of this job with the dog, do you go home now that the dog’s safe, or do you find another home for her? What happens?”

  “It’s hard to say yet,” he said. “I’m here in Florida for my sister’s wedding as well, and that’s nothing I’m looking forward to.”

  “Why not?”

  “I just don’t like all the pomp and ceremony that goes with it,” he said with a shrug, “but I do love my sister so …”

  “So you’ll go.” She smiled at the thought of this big raw alpha male at a fancy wedding.

  “And I’m slated to walk her down the aisle,” he said. “It won’t be such a huge wedding, so, well, whatever,” he said. “A few minutes pain for a lot of gain on her part.”

  “Do you like her future husband?”

  “Very much,” he said, “and they’ve been together ten years. He’s the one who’s got the firebug event happening, and I’m heading there right now.”

  “Oh, good,” she said. “That sounds like a close-knit family. I’m happy for you. I always wanted that but didn’t get that.”

  “It’s good at times. Then not really,” he said. “When I had my accident, and I was pretty close to not making it, she came and his family all came and clustered around me. Except I wanted the opposite. When I get hurt, I want everybody to leave me alone. But my sister, when she gets hurt, she wants lots of attention, lots of people around her.”

  “Two different types. My sister would be more like yours, and I’m more like you,” she said. “I think there’s also a happy medium, if people can get there.”

  He laughed. “Maybe,” he said, “but, ever since then, I haven’t let anybody come too close. I can’t stand being overwhelmed.”

  “And maybe that’s just because a lot of love is going on around you, but you’re not comfortable receiving it.”

  “Whatever,” he said with a wide grin. “That sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo hokeypokey stuff.”

  She laughed out loud. “Says the guy who went after anything and everything he could to rescue a dog. So righting wrongs matter, as does saving a life, one you’ve already lost your heart to.”

  “Of course. The dog deserved it,” he said. “I’m not the greatest fan of people, but I do love animals.”

  And that adorable grin of his peeked out again. “Don’t tell me. Was it human error that caused your accident?”

  “They called it friendly fire,” he said with a note of bitterness. “That’s what happens when you work with allies, but they’re not all vetted as closely as you would like to see them vetted.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You appear to be in good physical shape.”

  “I’m in as good a physical shape as I’ll get,” he corrected. “And that’s a very different story.”

  “Ah,” she said. “Well, let’s hope that your recovery to now is good enough.”

  “Has to be,” he said, “because it is what it is.”

  She nodded and stayed quiet. “I’ve seen a lot of injuries in my career as a nurse,” she said. “The human spirit has always amazed me at how much people can come back from.”

  “I didn’t think I would come back from anything,” he said quietly. “When you hear the noise from the gunfire going on around you, and you know it’s bad, you don’t e
xpect to wake up. And then, in my case, wake up missing my lower leg with messed up knees, plus missing a ton of muscle and …” He shrugged. “It’s just … the litany goes on and on,” he said. “When you wake up—alive but missing parts—it’s a shock,” he murmured, “and that’s not even the right word for it.”

  “No,” she said. “It’s not even close, is it? But you know something? … You’re blessed that you have recovered to the extent you have.”

  “And I know it,” he said, glancing at her. “Don’t worry. I’m very appreciative of all the effort that was put into keeping me alive, and I’ll do all my best that I can to make the most out of what I have. But I’m certainly not delusional into thinking that what I have is what I had.”

  “No,” she said, “but hopefully it’s better.”

  Startled, he looked over at her and then gave her a slow dawning smile of appreciation. “Maybe,” he said, “yeah, maybe.”

  He looked at her once more and saw her. Like, really saw her. The intelligence in her dark brown eyes, the softness to her expression, the gentle turn of her lips, the hair brushed off her forehead in an unconscious gesture that had nothing to do with fashion and all to do with comfort. Something was so natural and honest about her. Life had been such a rush since he’d gotten here that he hadn’t even had a chance to stop and see who she was. He had blindly accepted her role in this as just Bernie’s sister, and yet he had somehow agreed to let her come with him and the War Dog.

  He looked at her again, shook his head, and said, “You’re really cute. You know that?”

  “What?” she asked, startled. “Where did that come from?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, not my normal style either, but I was just thinking to myself that I’ve been so busy, so focused on saving this dog, that I hadn’t seen you for who you are, outside of your family.”

  “I’m not sure anybody ever does. I’ve always been in my sister’s shadow.” At his snort, she said, “You met my sister.”

  “That I did. Not too interested in seeing her ever again,” he said. “I know who she is on the inside. That’s enough for me. Pretty is only skin deep. Ugly goes all the way through.”

  “Doesn’t seem to matter to a lot of people,” she said, studying him.