Addison crouched down low to peer through the gap in William Jackson’s fence, feeling the cool night air blow up her short dress. Shivering as it caressed her bare legs, she wished she’d worn something a little more practical for their clandestine operation. When she’d planned her outfit that morning, she’d never imagined she’d be crawling through creepy spaces beneath stages or breaking into people’s property. At least her cute fifties-style dress was black so she could blend into the night.
Unable to see anything, she got on her hands and knees to look through a hole in the wood picket. There wasn’t a single light on in William Jackson’s backyard. Since his house was in the middle of the block, they’d been lucky it wasn’t a row house or they wouldn’t have had access to the backyard.
“Can you see anything?” she whispered to Felix.
“Oh yeah,” he said from behind her “I’ve got a great view from here.”
She glanced over her shoulder to find him standing back and enjoying the “view” of her backside.
Addison tugged her skirt down and returned to her peephole. “Stop screwing around and get over here. What if something happens and we miss it?”
“Oh, I think something’s going to happen.” She felt his hands slide up the back of her leg, pushing her skirt up. “I feel it.”
“I’m serious,” she hissed, slapping him away.
Felix sighed, letting her skirt fall back down. “All we can do is wait and watch. If the dogs are here, eventually Jackson will have to bring them outside to do their business.”
He settled down on his side in the grass next to her, head resting on his fist. “We have to assume he’s taking reasonable care of them if he bought all those supplies today. Leashes for walking them, dishes for feeding them, even toys for playing with them.”
After Felix had swiped Jackson’s receipt that afternoon, they had to kill several hours before returning after dark. While Felix was just full of suggestions that involved her backseat—no matter how small it was—they’d settled on dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant.
When they returned after nightfall, they’d sat outside his home to case the place, picking away at leftovers as they watched car after car roll up and park on William’s street. So far they’d counted at least eight people who knocked on his door.
“Why do you think there are so many people here?” Addison asked Felix. “Do you think they’re all involved in the dognapping?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s selling them off or something. An auction to the highest bidder?”
Addison kept her eyes on the hole in the fence, but she sensed Felix’s eyes on her while they continued to wait.
“So why dogs?” he asked. “Why not groom and dress people? Why the tutus, and the nails, and piercings, and dyed hair? It’s torturous enough on humans. It borders on animal cruelty,” he joked.
“Figures you’d say that. Looks like it’s been a while since you’ve even had a haircut.”
He snorted, but didn’t deny it.
“First of all,” she said, “I don’t condone piercing dogs’ ears. That’s a cruel practice just for fashion’s sake. And I guess it’s because everyone needs to feel beautiful, even dogs.”
“Because dogs care if they’re up to date on the latest fashion?”
“Maybe not, but they enjoy the pampering, the sense that they’re important. And in turn, it gets them positive attention, which makes them happy and feel even more loved.”
“So is that why you do it?”
“Do what?” she asked distractedly, focused on the hole again.
“The hair, the makeup, the carefully calculated outfits.” He tugged on her dress. “Because it gets you attention?”
Addison finally tore her attention away from William Jackson’s backyard. “No. I don’t do it for anyone else. I happen to enjoy fashion.”
“That kind of beauty is only skin deep,” he said with a sneer. Not at her, but maybe at the general idea of it. “It means nothing.”
“Why the face?” Addison asked. “You have something against a little hygiene and self-care? Oh wait”—she fingered a hole near the neckline of his Metallica T-shirt—“look who I’m asking.”
He frowned. “Hey, this is vintage, I’ll have you know. I guess I believe there’s more to a person than what they look like on the outside.”
“You think that I’m superficial just because I like to dress nice and spend time on my hair?” she asked. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wrapping the gift in paper that matches the quality of the present inside. I mean you wouldn’t buy a ring from Tiffany’s and stick it in a shoebox, would you?”
In the light from the street, she saw his eyes brighten. “And you’re the Tiffany ring?” She liked that his tone wasn’t his usual sarcasm. It was full of excitement. Maybe anticipation at the idea of opening that gift.
“Honey, I’m the whole store.” She gave him a wink. “I like to bring the internal beauty to the outside. There’s beauty in everything and everyone. Even you, Felix Vaughn. It’s somewhere in there.” She gave him a playful shove. “Deep down in there.” She poked his chest. “Deep, deep, deep, deep…”
He smiled, grabbing her finger playfully.
Addison really did try to see the good in Felix, but he made it hard sometimes. There would be a ray of hope, a glimmer of a deeper man beneath the wolfish smile and the cocky attitude. But then he would go and say something stupid and ruin the moment.
“The hair and makeup are just the finishing touches,” Addison said. “A way to reflect the beauty a person has within. Not to mask a defective personality.”
His finger trailed down her arm, causing goose bumps. “Well, if your wrapping is any indication of what’s hidden beneath, then you must be perfect inside.” His teeth flashed in the darkness, matching the white hibiscus growing next to him.
The smile dropped from Addison’s face. She knew he was just being his flirtatious self, but the words made her wonder. Maybe she was subconsciously hiding something. Finding ways to make herself perfect on the outside, using makeup and clothes to cover up the defect on the inside.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
He hadn’t meant anything by it. Of course not. It’s not like he knew it was actually true.
“I … I think I heard something,” she lied. But as they grew silent to listen, she did hear a noise coming from inside Jackson’s house.
“Bark, bark, bark.”
“Is that…?” Felix began.
“Woof, woof.”
Addison held her ear closer to the fence. “Someone barking like a dog?”
The answer came in the form of a long, drawn-out howl. Not canine but … human.
“Come on,” Addison said. “Let’s get a better look.”
Unfortunately, there was no gate on that side of the house, but there was a garbage can. She lined it up where the fence met the house.
She waved Felix over. “Come and help me up.”
Felix steadied her as she balanced on the trash can, his hand gripping her thigh—maybe a little higher than he needed to.
“Now that’s what I call getting a better look,” he said.
She could hear the amusement in his voice, and she turned to see him staring up her dress. If she’d had a free hand she would have swatted him.
Addison swung a leg over the fence. She moved her foot around until she found the horizontal rail on the other side to place it on, then climbed over. The wood scraped her legs as she lowered herself to the ground.
Darkness enveloped her and she felt cornered in the yard, fearing that at any moment the exterior lights could flick on and Jackson would discover her and set the entire pack of stolen dogs on her. The possibility that she could go to jail for breaking and entering became very real in that moment. However, if she didn’t do something to find the missing dogs, she might go to jail anyway. Talk about being caught between a tight budget and a flash sale.
It didn’t take very long before Felix was standing next to Addison in the dark yard, making her feel safer, less alone. At least if she was going down, he’d be going down with her.
They made their way through the yard behind the house, and Addison felt her chest shake with each powerful beat of her frightened heart. Every step brought them closer to being discovered. It was unsettling, yet thrilling. For better or for worse, she was glad Felix was by her side.
Most of the curtains had been drawn closed. No light escaped the house except from the sliding glass doors facing the backyard. The long drapes had caught on the carpet, allowing a small glimpse into the home.
Together, Addison and Felix crept up to the doors and got down on their hands and knees to peer inside. They pressed their heads together so they could both see the view. And what a view they saw.
The leather collars were being put to good use, only they weren’t around furry necks. They were around the necks of William Jackson and several of his male friends. At the other end, women in various stages of undress held the leashes.
Addison’s eyes widened. She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing—or screaming, she wasn’t sure which. “Oh my God.”
Meanwhile, Felix was snickering next to her. “Why wasn’t I invited to this party?”
“Something tells me they don’t want anyone to see this. Even a bartender.”
He gave her a wolfish smile. “I meant as a guest.”
She hit him on the arm, but she was laughing herself. Then she heard a muffled gasp from inside the house. The music stopped.
“Did anyone hear that?” a female voice asked. “I think someone’s out there.”
Addison and Felix froze, ready to make a run for the fence. Felix cupped a hand over his mouth like a megaphone. “Woof, woof,” he barked.
He barely got through it before he lost control, his body convulsing as his stomach seized with rich laughs. Addison succumbed to her own giggles, making it difficult to move even as footsteps thudded toward the sliding glass door from inside.
Felix clamped a hand around her wrist and dragged her back to the fence. He interlaced his fingers and held them low so that she could step on them. Lifting herself up, Addison straddled the wooden pickets as she searched for the trash can on the other side with her foot. She found the metal lid just as she heard the sliding glass door hiss open.
Worried shouts and questions carried into the yard. Addison leapt off the garbage can. Within seconds Felix was next to her, running by her side down the street and to the car.
“Do you think they’ll call the cops?” she panted as she reached for the door handle.
“And tell them what?” Felix rounded the car and hopped in. “Their freaky sex party was interrupted? Time to go,” he said, buckling up. “Use some of those Fast and Furious skills to get us out of here. And hurry.”
Addison didn’t need to be told twice. She started the engine and pumped the gas a couple of times before peeling away.
They sped by William Jackson’s house in a blur just as she saw the shine of his balding head beneath the front porch lights. He squinted through the dark, probably trying to read her license plate, but then he was yanked back inside by a tug on his leash.
By the time the Mini reached the end of the street, Addison and Felix had dissolved into laughter.