Kerry couldn’t believe everything I told her. “I refuse to believe Kevin Poplar is involved. He’s too nice, and the way he looks at you…”
“It’s not about me. It’s about the dogs. I think he’s using me to get close to them.” I shook my head. “I don’t know. The best I can come up with is Julie and Kevin finance the ring, and they sent Tammy Simpson to adopt the dogs. When it didn’t work, they just started taking dogs they could find outside.”
She bit her lip. “And you think going out with him tonight is a good idea? What if he realizes you’re onto him?”
“Max will be there. He’ll keep an eye on me. We’ve set up a system. If things get hairy, I pull my hair back into a clip. Then he knows to step in and get me out of there.”
She smiled. “Ooh, that’s crafty. Kind of like a bad date text.”
“The last time I dated, we didn’t have cell phones.”
She laughed.
I worked with three dogs during the afternoon. Two of them needed a little extra behavior modification and the other needed some self-soothing training. He hated the kennel, which I understood, but he also had to learn to adjust to it. If I didn’t already have a house full of dogs, I’d take him home. I couldn’t ask Kerry. The puppies were exhausting enough.
Barney’s kennel anxiety lessened after a good hour of working with him. I sat with him in his kennel and rubbed his belly, feeling guilty for leaving him there. Kerry walked into the kennel area and sat inside with me.
She patted Barney’s chest. “He’s a good boy.”
“I know. I feel awful. He’s just not doing well in the kennel.”
“I’ll take him home. He can help with the pups.”
“No, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask. I offered.”
“You know what I mean.”
“And you know me well enough that I don’t do anything I don’t want to.”
“Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent. Now go on, go home and practice your karate. I’m worried you’re going to get in a knock-down with Julie tonight. By the way, make sure someone gets video if you do.”
* * *
I wrangled the dogs, then took them to the park for some uninhibited running and playtime, throwing the ball and chasing them around until I could barely breathe. It felt good, almost comforting. More often than not I preferred the company of my dogs over people. It sounded harsh to many, but dogs don’t judge. They love unconditionally, our human flaws and all, and want nothing more than to experience that love with us. Every day is a new day full of opportunities, and when I stare into those loving, faithful eyes, I see no signs of betrayal, even though many of them have been abused, starved, and ignored. They give us chance after chance to be as amazing as them, and I can’t help but work hard at trying.
My feet ached from playing chase, and my shoulder was on fire from throwing the ball at least a trillion times, but it was worth it. We all panted as we practically crawled back to my car. I froze when I caught a glimpse of a white van driving toward the exit.
“Puppies, come,” I said, and hurried toward my car. They piled in quickly, likely sensing my stress.
Once inside, I secured the gate between the backseat and their area to ensure they didn’t fly over the seat if I was involved in an accident, then headed toward the exit, going a little faster than the recommended fifteen miles per hour. Okay, I doubled it, but I had a reason.
I followed the van onto Atlanta Highway, turning left at the next intersection and keeping my distance. If Tammy Simpson was inside, she may recognize my car, and if she wasn’t, I didn’t want anyone making assumptions about me following the van. A few minutes later the van turned left into a subdivision where my friend Chrissy used to live, slowing as it rolled through the community.
It stopped at one house, a freshly painted white hardiplank with a wraparound porch and fenced-in backyard. Someone in a black hoodie jumped out of the side and ran toward the fence. I grabbed my phone and called 911.
“A white van is casing the neighborhood where I am. A person in a black hoodie just got out and ran toward a fenced backyard with a dog barking.”
As the operator asked me questions, I relayed the events happening in real time. “They got a dog!” I ducked down in my seat, but it didn’t matter. My dogs were barking their heads off, their energy revived from the activity on the other side of the window.
The person in the hoodie was holding a piece of red meat, and the dog followed diligently. The operator told me to be calm, but calm isn’t my nature. She said a cruiser was on its way. I tossed the phone onto my seat and hit the horn, pressing and holding it with all my might.
As the dog took off running, the person looked over at my car and bolted toward the van, which was already in gear and driving away. It slowed for a second, let the hooded jerk in, and whipped around to leave the subdivision.
I checked the area for the dog and noticed the owner standing on her front porch. The dog ran to her. I hollered out my window, “Someone just tried to take your dog! Keep it inside!”
She grabbed her dog and dragged it inside, her look of fear real and intense. I turned my car around as sirens blared past, hopefully heading for the van, and realized I still had the operator on the phone.
“Ma’am?”
“I’m here. The van left the subdivision. Tell the officer it turned left.”
“They’re in pursuit. Are you injured?”
“No, I’m fine. Please let Detective Bruno know what’s happening. Tell him Missy Kingston called it in. He’ll understand,” I said, and disconnected the call.
I knew I couldn’t follow the officer and van, not with my dogs, and not without my weapon. I’d already broken my safety rule and put the dogs in jeopardy. I turned the opposite way at the subdivision’s entrance and headed home.
Justin called as I reached my driveway. “They missed the van. Did you get a tag number?”
If I wasn’t a lady, I would have yelled a stream of swear words only a sailor could repeat. “I didn’t. I didn’t even think of it.” I completely forgot about seeing Tammy Simpson in the van earlier.
“Bruno’s waiting for Julie Salmonelli. He’s got a squad out to get her. You still interested in hearing what she has to say?”
“I have to drop the dogs off. Do you think they’ll still be there in half an hour or so?”
“I’m not sure, but Max is here. I’ll let him know you may not make it.”
“Thanks.” I closed my garage door from inside the car. “Actually, tell him I won’t make it, but please ask him to call me when it’s done. I have some things to take care of before I head out again.”
“Got it,” he said, and ended our call.
I fed and watered the dogs, made sure to activate my alarm, and headed upstairs to take a shower. It wasn’t even fifty-five degrees out, but a sheen of perspiration covered my entire body from running with the dogs and, more likely, menopause. Oh, the joys of womanhood. I laughed, realizing the other option was a lot less exciting.
I let the warm water spray over my body, relaxing my shoulders and neck, as soft jazz instrumental music played on my bathroom speakers. I hadn’t wanted them, but Sam thought they’d be great for eventual resale. After he passed, and I got the whole streaming thing down, Hayden thought it would be great to relax in the bath too, and pushed me to try. I didn’t think I’d use it, but when I discovered I could literally take a bath or shower with Steve Perry or Kenny Loggins serenading me, I was an immediate fan.
I’d showered with Steve Perry at least once a week ever since, and every time I said that to Hayden, she grimaced and said she created a monster. I told her no, I was just an opportunist.
As I rinsed my hair, the dogs barked. I ignored them. With the addition of two more, the barking fests increased dramatically, and if one sighted a bird, the barking lasted at least a full thirty seconds.
They must have seen a flock of birds, because the barking increased. I shut off the water and hollered to them to chill out. They ignored me.
When my cell rang, I had to swipe my glasses dry to see the caller. It was my security company.
“Ms. Kingston, we’ve received an alarm notification from your house. We have an attempted entry and a broken window on the south side of the home. Police are on their way. Are you on the property, ma’am?”
My jaw dropped. “Yes, I…I just got out of the shower.”
“Ma’am, we’ve detected motion in your home. Please go to your safe room immediately.”
“My dogs, they’re downstairs,” I said as I threw on my shirt and pants. “They’re here for my dogs!” I’d put the gate up at the bottom of the stairs to stop the dogs from coming up. I normally didn’t do that, but with four dogs who liked to play, they thought the upstairs hallway was the perfect path for racing, multiplying the scratches on my newly stained wood floors by a thousand.
“Ma’am, the police are on their way. They’re three minutes out. Please go to your safe room immediately.”
“My dogs!” I whispered, and tossed the phone onto my bed. I pulled open my nightstand drawer and grabbed my Sig Sauer, checking the magazine and making sure there was a bullet in the chamber. I removed the safety, then slowly slid along the wall in the hallway, pausing when the dogs stopped barking.
Something hit the floor. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it sent a dog into another barking round, and soon the rest joined in. I recognized that first bark. Leroy. And that’s when I knew—he knew the person in my home had hurt his mom.
I tiptoed to Hayden’s room, sliding along the interior wall to her closet and opening the door slightly to hide behind it. I could still see through the crack between the door and the wall, giving me a clear view of the stairs. If someone came up, I’d see them before they spotted me.
The dogs’ barking increased, and then it suddenly silenced.
That was my cue. If the person inside my house did something to my dogs, there’d be hell to pay, and I would be the devil bringing it to them.
“Missy? Are you here?”
I let my arm fall to my side.
“Missy? It’s Kevin Poplar. Someone broke your window. They were driving a white van. I’ve called the police. They’re on their way.”
I inhaled, checking my weapon one more time. “I’ll be down in a minute,” I said. “I just got out of the shower.” I stayed put, waiting to see what he did. A ball bounced down the hall at the front entrance near the stairs.
Dog feet took off in a race for the ball, then Kevin said, “Good girl, Allie.”
Leroy growled.
“It’s okay, buddy,” Kevin said. “I’m here to help.”
He growled again.
“That’s my boy, Leroy,” I whispered.
Three minutes must have passed. Where were the police?
“Everything all right up there?” Kevin asked.
“All good. Just trying to make myself presentable. You said the police are on their way?”
“I called them a few minutes ago.”
He didn’t know about my silent alarm, or was at least pretending he didn’t. That would mean he either didn’t call the police or told them he was here and things were fine. Crap! If he got in touch with Justin somehow, he could have easily assured him he was with me, and it wasn’t a rush.
Maybe.
I hoped I was wrong.
I stuffed the gun into my back pocket, pulled my shirt over it, and ran my fingers through my hair. I wanted to look reasonably decent so he wouldn’t question what I was doing upstairs for so long.
Heels clicked on my floor, and I froze midway down the stairs. A woman whispered, “Tell her to move the van!”
I glanced out the window and saw the van at the edge of the driveway. I immediately recognized the woman in the black hoodie.
I made sure to tiptoe down the rest of the stairs, keeping my hand on my back pocket. Instead of turning right and heading through the main hall toward the kitchen, I cut through the dining room and stopped to check before entering the side of the kitchen.
Kevin Poplar and Julie Salmonelli stood on the other side of the bar, Kevin leaning against the counter and oven, Julie against the side of the sink. Kevin was empty-handed, but Julie had a gun. I stepped back, removed my gun from my pocket, and cursed myself for not calling 911.
The cops weren’t coming. Kevin lied, and somehow, the security company stopped the officers from coming too. It was definitely time to switch companies.
I light-footed it to the stairs again, crossing the hall and hiding behind the door to Sam’s old office, now my library. I glanced out the front window and saw two people in black hoodies walking up the yard. It was barely six o’clock, and the sun had already set, but the sky wasn’t dark just yet. I didn’t know the other hooded person, but I did recognize the gun in his hand. It was big. They looped around to separate sides of the house.
“Missy? What’s going on? I’m getting concerned,” Kevin said.
Already past that, buddy, I thought. I pushed the door just a touch, allowing me to see the hallway. Kevin rounded the corner from the kitchen, and I sucked in a breath. Don’t move, Missy. Don’t even exhale. I also said a prayer for the safety of myself and my dogs, who’d all gone completely silent and MIA.
Kevin looped around the hall after checking the den. He didn’t touch the door or look behind it. I moved a bit and smiled at Sam’s photo on the wall. He was my guardian angel, for sure. When Kevin entered the dining room, I crept behind him and carefully jabbed my gun in the center of his neck. He froze.
“Don’t say a word,” I whispered, then nudged him toward the kitchen.
Julie, still by the sink, immediately held up her gun when she saw me. “Drop it,” she said.
I stayed behind Kevin, my gun secured against his neck. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” I nudged him another step forward. “Here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to carefully set the gun on the counter to your right and turn around and place your hands on the sink. I’m going to get the gun, and then we’re calling the police. If you try anything, either of you, Kevin’s neck is going to explode. You understand?” My free hand shook, but my left hand was steady as steel.
“You won’t shoot,” Kevin said. “You don’t have it in you.”
“Don’t bet on it.” I shoved the gun harder into his neck, and his hands flew up in the air.
“What do you want me to do?” Julie asked Kevin.
“Do what I said!” I yelled.
Sirens blared down the street, and I silently thanked God. I didn’t want to shoot Kevin, but I’d had enough training to know once that gun was aimed, if I didn’t follow through, I would be the one dead. And I wasn’t ready to die.
I’d promised Hayden that too.
“Where are my dogs?”
Shouts filled the backyard, and I glanced out the kitchen window to see two officers tackling Tammy Simpson and the other person. Someone kicked open the back door, and Julie tossed her weapon into the sink. Julie clearly hadn’t taken the tactical training courses I had or she never would have done that, unless she was simply giving up.
Justin rushed in, gun drawn. He saw me and smiled quickly, then aimed his gun at Julie. “On the ground! Now!”
She dropped and lay flat like a defeated little coward.
“Gun in the sink,” I said. “Not sure if he’s got one.”
“You too, on the ground,” he said to Kevin.
Kevin dropped to his knees and placed his hands on the back of his head, like he’d either watched a lot of crime dramas or done it before.
Julie cried, “It wasn’t my idea. He forced me!”
I kept my gun at Kevin’s head. “Where are my dogs!”
“They’re in the garage,” Kevin said. “We didn’t hurt them. Just gave them something to sleep so they’d shut up.”
I stared at Justin. Two other officers had come in and begun handcuffing Julie and Kevin. Justin flicked his head toward the garage. “Go.”
I crammed my gun into my back pocket and rushed to the garage. My dogs were lying on the floor. I checked their pulses, made sure they were breathing okay—Leroy was snoring—and sat between them all, bawling my eyes out.