Page 50 of No Bones About It

The industrial buildings were odd in the middle of the woods. She could smell the dogs, though, and steeled herself for what was to come.

Arrows pointed them further into the complex, with enough guards and cameras to spot anyone heading anywhere else.

“It smells like a zoo, Jason. Tell me you haven’t brought me to a zoo.”

He laughed again. “Not this time, although I do have a connection if you want to get up close to some wild cats. We can do that one day if you like.”

She made a noncommittal noise and tried to look bored, not appalled. Jason patted her hand as they rounded a corner and joined a group of people, all looking away from them.

She aimed for a rich-girl pout in her voice. “I can’t see anything, Jason. There have to be forty people in front of me. How am I supposed to see what this surprise is?”

She’d kept her eyes low but looked up through her lashes. A few people around her rolled their eyes at her words. Good. She was easy to dismiss that way, and the last thing she wanted was attention.

Jason looked over the crowd. “I don’t see our guide. Wait. There he is. Let’s move over to the left there so we can check in with him. He’ll be able to take us on the grand tour.”

That gave them a better view of the setup, as well as brought them closer to Chuck. Jason lifted his chin in the way men did. Chuck did the same, almost making her smile.

As soon as the man approached, a shudder ran through her. Chuck exuded creepy vibes. His eyes raked her over and landed on her chest ashe greeted Jason. “And who is this gorgeous chick you’ve brought with you?”

Kimi straightened and let her disgust shine through. “If this cretin is your surprise, Jason, you don’t know me as well as I thought.”

Jason growled and patted her hand. “This is definitelynotmy surprise. Chuck, if you don’t apologize and get your eyes off Marlena’s body, you’re going to need a new set of balls in about ten seconds.”

Chuck’s eyes widened and flew to Jason’s, surprise evident. “Sorry man. No offense meant.”

Another growl from Jason had Chuck’s eyes flying to Kimi’s and away. “Sorry, ma’am.”

Kimi didn’t bother to nod or answer. Instead, she turned to Jason with her eyebrows up.

Jason finally tore his gaze from Chuck to check on her. When she nodded at him, he turned back to the creep. “Let’s get on with the tour, and I’ll decide if I’m spending my money here or not.”

Chuck straightened, and his glance zipped away to his left. Kimi desperately wanted to turn to see who he was afraid of disappointing, but she refrained and stayed in character.

Chuck stayed on Jason’s side and directed them to an open door. She added an ounce of curiosity to her voice. “What’s inside this building? It looks like a warehouse. I hope it’s more interesting than that.”

Chuck nodded and directed his answer to Jason, not Kimi. “This building is where we keep the records of the breeding, bloodlines, and everything else concerning the dogs. We take daily records of weight, food intake, and training schedules. We’ve got documents showing the breeding history of each dog, and also histories of their dams and sires. Some of our dogs have fighting lineage going back ten generations. We also track their records in fights and the damage inflicted on their opponents.”

Kimi clamped her teeth together, knowing if she spoke, she wouldn’t be able to keep it together.

Jason talked with Chuck about the data, but Kimi kept her mouth shut and worked on acting like a bored tagalong. Her partner was a good actor, and he let excitement for the event show in his body language and his voice.

Chuck checked his phone. “The main event starts in about thirty minutes. If you’d like to view it, your wagers must be in place before then.”

That was her cue. Kimi forced herself to look at the creep. “What is the main event, anyway? Jason here hasn’t said a word about it. Are we watching a dog show?”

Chuck cracked out a laugh before he remembered he was trying to talk Jason into dropping several thousand dollars. He was also trying to keep his balls intact. “It’s a show all right. We’ve brought in the best fighting dogs from seven states. They’re all ranked by the stats I’ve been showing you. After everyone’s made their wagers, the fights begin in the pit.”

“Fights? Pit?”

He grinned at Jason. “You kept it all a secret, didn’t you?”

Then Chuck turned his attention to Kimi, careful to keep his eyes on her face. “There’s a big pit outside where the dogs fight. They’ve been trained by the best to be strong and have lots of grit. Tonight is our biggest night of the year. We’ve got more than a dozen fights on the card and if you’re any good at figuring out the stats, you could walk away with a pretty penny. The biggest winners put lots of time into studying the dogs and their histories.”

Again, Kimi clamped her teeth together.

Jason spoke, probably to draw Chuck’s attention back to him because he guessed she was trying to figure out a way to get Chuck into the pit. “Now, who do we see about betting, and do you have an odds table I can study?”

They moved to another room, complete with security guards openly carrying guns. Jason chatted them up while placing several bets. He spoke aloud throughout the process, feeding his team information about the money exchange and the betting procedures.

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