Page 7 of Peril in Piney Woods

Not that she really thought the dead guy who’d attempted to rob the Gas and Go had anything to do with her past. Nah. The idea was pretty ridiculous, in fact. Frankly, he’d been an amateur. His long list of crimes indicated nothing more than a scumbag who preferred not to work for a living. He opted to take what he wanted because he was too damned lazy to earn it.

She’d met plenty of stone-cold killers in her life, and he had not been one of them.

Sadly, however, had her reflexes been any rustier, she would be the one dead on that slab in the Hamilton County Morgue. She’d barely outmaneuvered the thuggish punk.

“You gotta stay in shape, Lewis,” she muttered as she ducked into the alley on her side of the block. It had been just over fifteen months since she’d been in a position to need to protect herself. She imagined even if it had been fifteen years, muscle memory would have had her doing the same thing. There were some things that couldn’t be forgotten. But speed and accuracy were another story. Those required regular training.

Beyond ready to get home, she walked faster now. She wanted to wash the night’s events off her skin and burn her damned clothes.

When she at last reached her shop, she entered the code into the gate and stepped into the fenced perimeter of her back yard. The area was a like a kid’s playground, except the equipment was designed for dogs. There were a couple of doggie ramps and slides. Tunnels and balance beams. Shade houses. Her favorites were the water fountains and the toy boxes. And she hadn’t overlooked the cats she served when designing the playground. Two state-of-the-art cat condos had been installed. A little something for everyone.

At the back door, she entered the code, and the lock released. Once inside, she toed off her sneakers and stripped off her clothes. She frowned, remembered she’d shut off the ringer on her cell. She switched it back on and tucked the device into the waistband of her panties and walked to the laundry area, where she grabbed a couple of garbage bags. For now, hiding the clothes would have to do. She was too tired to burn them tonight. Besides, the last thing she needed was the crowd at the Gas and Go seeing smoke behind her shop. She’d take care of it tomorrow, but she didn’t want the animals picking up the scent of the dead guy. She double-bagged the trash and stuffed it into the front-loading washing machine and closed the door.

She made it up the stairs before her cell erupted into the short, soft bursts of her chosen ringtone. Too tired to answer anything but a true emergency, she tugged the phone free of her waistband and checked the screen.

Griff.

He’d already called seven times. She should have noticed when she turned the ringer back on. Apparently, she’d been too tired, and no doubt he’d heard about the trouble.

She hit Accept and said, “Hey. What’re you doing up so late?”

“Checking on you after learning about the robbery at the Gas and Go.”

Pain arced through her shoulder as she reached for the nightshirt draped on her bed. She grimaced. “I’m okay. Just about to go to bed.”

She didn’t like blowing him off. Avery “Griff” Griffin was a good friend—one of the first she’d made when she moved here last year. She liked him. Maybe too much. But the less he knew about this, the better.

Like that was going to happen. Griff and Deputy Ernie Battles had been best friends since they were kids.

“Well, that’s a shame because I’m at your front door.”

She closed her eyes and held back a sigh. “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll be right down.”

Meg considered changing out of her nightshirt, but she needed it to back up her story. Besides, it wasn’t like Griff hadn’t seen her in shorts and tank tops. Not that different really. That thought introduced a long line of images into her head that she could have done without just now. Memories of Griff pulling off his shirt during a long hot afternoon of work at his farm. A T-shirt plastered to his chest after helping to give a dozen dogs baths.

Not somewhere she needed to linger. She exiled the memories. They both loved animals and worked hard to rescue as many as possible, but that common bond was as far as the thing between them needed to go.

She hustled down the stairs and padded silently across the cool tile floor. He waited at the front entrance, looking all sleep tousled and far too sexy.

Don’t think about it.

Without turning on a light so as not to draw attention, she unlocked the door and opened it. “Wild night,” she said with a glance at the ongoing spectacle at the Gas and Go.

“Yeah.” He closed and locked the door.

So, he planned to stay a while. Which meant he’d already heard most of the story about her part in what happened. The downside to living in a small town—everyone knew everyone else. Nothing stayed secret for more than a minute.

“You want a beer?” She folded her arms over her chest.

He shook his head. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

“First.” She held up a finger. “There’s something I need to show you.”

She turned and headed for the kennels. He followed. No need for her to look back and check, she could feel his closeness. This would buy her some time to calm her jangling nerves. A few minutes of distraction to take the edge off.

As she entered the doggie hotel—as she liked to call the kennels—Raymond raised his head. He still lay next to the abandoned beagle’s kennel.

Meg crouched down and gave Raymond a scratch between the ears. “Hey, boy.”

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