“Sushi?” Evie called out. “Sushi!”
Dora glanced around, looking for the little white dog so they could get out of the bar and away from Stan, the disgusting man they’d been talking to. He’d just told them Matt wasn’t as great a guy as Windy and Porsche had let on, but she wasn’t so sure Stan was telling them the truth. She noticed Sunshine in a dark corner of the bar cuddled up with a larger dog Dora thought might be a spaniel.
She nudged Evie. “Over there. Seems Sun—Sushi’s getting lonely. This is the second dog we’ve found her cozying up to since we got in here.”
“Hmpf,” Evie said as she walked over and scooped up the pup. “She’s making me look bad. Nobody’s sniffing around me today.”
“Hey,” Dora said to Evie as they both paused to blink in the sunshine and let their eyes adjust to the brightness after being in a dark bar. “You don’t think Stan was entirely truthful, do you?”
Evie shrugged and then frowned. “Probably not,” she said distractedly before adding, “What the heck is going on?”
A large group of people were walking down the street holding signs, and a variety of chants were ringing in the air. Dora noticed a lot of purple lettering on white poster board and wooden picket-like signs in the arms of men in jeans and T-shirts. Some women too. “Looks like a protest of some kind.” She read a sign out loud. “Purple lips are for fishing, not butt kissing.” Dora looked at Evie. “What the heck are they talking about?”
“The man’s trying to stick it to the little guy,” said Windy from their right. “Again.”
Dora noticed Windy had signs of her own in her hands. The woman handed one to Evie. Dora took the sign thrust into her hands as well. She noted that it was heavier than she’d expected. “Purple lips don’t sink ships?” Dora asked as she read the purple block letters on her sign out loud. “I don’t get it.”
“Town officials decided to regulate the amount of purple-lipped sea bass a fisherman can catch,” Windy said. “The idea was to keep the population safe so hobby fishermen would keep coming here, but many of our local fishermen’s livelihoods were affected. The new law cuts their income by almost two-thirds in some cases.”
“Wow.” Evie said as she traced the lettering on her sign with her finger. “That’s a lot.”
“Stupid men—and women—in suits,” Windy scoffed. “They’re just lining the pockets of the rich business owners in town who already make bank off the tourists, and even our town coffers are getting fatter with the crazy fees for licenses.”
Dora frowned as Sunshine let out a sigh of compassion. Improving the town’s bottom line by increasing tourism and getting more income from licenses seemed reasonable, but she could also empathize with the plight of the fishermen. And she suspected the town government was made up of retail businesspeople instead of those who made their living catching the bass. “Selfishness in action.”
“Exactly.” Windy began walking to catch up with the group of protestors. “Come on!” She lifted up her wooden sign to pump it in the air. “Purple lips don’t sink ships!”
Dora inspected her sign, which was a rectangular wooden plank on a stick that appeared to have layers of paint on it. She suspected Windy had used it for a few protests in the past. She was pretty sure this was the errand Windy had planned for today too. She glanced at Evie who had a big smile on her face.
“We’re protesting!” Evie squealed before jogging to catch up to Windy with Sunshine by her side. She pumped her own sign in the air as she chanted along with the older woman.
Dora shook her head. Protesting was so not her thing, but when in Rome… Or Clamshell Cove, as it were. She scurried to join in. She had to admit the phrase Windy had come up with was catchy as she yelled it in unison.
Windy was definitely a leader, Dora noticed as they marched in the middle of the street, stopping traffic. Not only was her saying catchy, but by the time they reached the end of the block, most of the protesters were chanting the words on Windy’s homemade signs. Dora had to admit that the energy in the air had made adrenaline pump through her veins.
A loud siren made Dora jump as her excitement was replaced with fear. And her heart began to pump faster when a voice rang out over a bullhorn. “Protestors, clear the street!”
“Crap!” Windy shoved her sign into Dora’s hands. “Pigs. Gotta run,” the woman said as she took off in a sprint. Dora watched in amazement, wondering if the older woman had been a track star in her youth.
“Jeez. Look at those wheels,” Evie said before her eyes widened in panic.
It was exactly the same moment that Dora realized they were in the same danger as Windy. “Crap!” She cried out before dropping the two signs she was holding with a clatter and running away from the police herself with Evie hot on her tail.
“Freeze!” yelled a man, and Dora glanced over her shoulder to see that a uniformed officer was after them.
“Double crap!” Dora cried out, and she ran straight for the crowd with the hope they could lose the cop. She wound her way through people as if she was moving a football down a field full of linebackers until Evie grabbed her arm.
“This way,” Evie said as she yanked Dora into the back door of a nearby shop. The two took a moment to bend over and pant to catch their breath. It was then that Dora noticed Sunshine flattened on the floor, under one of the chairs with her paws over her eyes. Good. The pup hadn’t gotten lost in the crowd.
But Dora didn’t trust they were safe yet. With a warrant out for their arrest, they couldn’t take the chance of any policeman recognizing them. She said, “We have to hide.” She glanced around and saw a couch, a coffee pot on the counter, a mini fridge, and numerous bottles of hand sanitizer. “What is this place?”
“A massage parlor,” Evie said as she handed Dora what appeared to be a white lab coat. “Put this on.”
She’d barely gotten her arms in the jacket when she saw a cop stomping his way over toward the door they’d entered. “Move!” she said as she shoved Evie through the door she assumed was to the main lobby.
They entered a space that did indeed appear to be a waiting area, and a big grin covered the face of a large man who stood up to greet them. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” he said to them. “You two new here?”
“Ah—yes. Yes, we are,” Dora answered, quickly taking on her new persona.
“You look like you have magic fingers,” the bald guy said as he scanned Dora with his gaze.
“She does,” Evie said. “Some of the best in the business.”
Evie nudged her forward, and Dora wondered how it happened that she always seemed to be stuck getting up close and personal with people when she was the one who was the introvert. She whispered to Evie, “What do I do?”
Evie smiled at the man as she took Dora’s shoulders in her hands. “She’s new to this, but you won’t be sorry.” She then whispered in Dora’s ear. “Rub, Jessica. Just keep rubbing.”
“That’ll work,” the man said as he pumped his eyebrows at Dora, making her wonder just what she was getting into.
She glanced over her shoulder at Evie with wide eyes silently pleading for help. Evie gulped, confirming that Dora had every right to be afraid. Evie nodded at her as if she had a plan, but Dora was tempted to make a dash for the back anyway. That idea was quickly squashed when she heard the break room door open. She panicked, sure it was the cop, and Dora prayed her friend had a plan to save her as she pushed her client toward an open door that she assumed went to a massage room.
Once they were shut inside the room, the man said, “Quick on your feet. I like it.”
Dora let out a nervous laugh, because apparently, she hadn’t been quick enough.