Page 71 of Enforcer's Obsession

I expected the reference to her childhood to be more meaningful, but if it was, she was doing a good job of hiding it, and I decided to play along.

“Yes. His name, if you can believe it, was Skipper,” I said.

She laughed. “You named your dog Skipper? I would have thought Maximus or something like that.”

I shrugged. “I was nine when we got him.” I trailed off and then sighed. “I loved that dog.”

And I had. Skipper had been my best friend, my constant companion, and I’d told him all of my secrets. He’d been free to roam, so he hadn’t been inside of the house when the fire broke out.

I could remember him running to me after my uncle pulled me out of the house. He hadn’t left my side, and in those horrible, dark days after I lost my family, Skipper had been the one I’d cried to.

“You don’t strike me as a dog person,” Hope said.

“Well, good to know that I’m still capable of surprising you. I always planned to get another dog after Skipper died, but,” I shrugged, “life.”

She nodded her understanding. “Yeah. I couldn’t afford a pet deposit even if I wanted to take Champ home, and plus, life in that little apartment wouldn’t have been good for him.”

I stood, then grabbed Champ’s rope bone and tossed it.

The dog took off, and Hope looked at me.

“Looks like we got an escapee,” I said, breaking her gaze.

“Oh!”

She took off behind the dog. “Champ! Champ!”

My phone buzzed, and I looked down and saw a message from the boss.

Nothing of substance, just a single word.

Call.

I would heed his order.

Later, I decided.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and froze when I looked up and saw that Hope was nowhere in sight.

TWENTY

Nico

Panic,the type of panic that I hadn’t felt in years—in decades—rushed over me.

I’d taken my eyes off her.

Fucking stupid.

I took off in the direction I had last seen her, my mind racing with a million thoughts, one chief among them.

The Genevose had gotten her.

That, or she’d left on her own.

That thought was a gut punch, but even still, I knew which one was worse. If she wanted to escape, the correction would be simple enough. A very pointed conversation when I found her should do the job.

But if the Genovese had her…

---