Page 3 of Sully

“Anyone know how to get blackberry stains out?” Rune asked, dropping down from his bunk.

“I think Brooks might—“ I started, only to get cut off by the kind of yell that had my blood going cold in my veins.

“Sully!”

That was Callow.

And that was something close to panic coming from a man who was not prone to that.

“The fuck?” Perish asked, already crossing the room as Croft rushed out of bed, going from half-asleep to ready to rush into action in a blink.

“For fuck’s sake, Sully, get the fuck out here!”

I was pushing past Nave as Fallon rushed into the hallway. “Everyone get the fuck out,” he said as he rushed up the hall, slamming his fist into every door on the way.

Yeah, if the president—a third-generation outlaw club president—was panicked, something had just gone seriously fucking sideways.

Adrenaline surged through my veins as I ran through the house, coming to a stop right in the common room.

Where Callow was standing, wide-eyed, beside a woman with tears streaming down her cheeks, her entire body shaking violently.

And why wouldn’t she be?

She had a bomb strapped to her chest.

CHAPTER TWO

Bonnie

“Listen, sir, I am going to need you to calm down,” I said in an oh-so-serious voice. “This problem is not going to get solved by being difficult,” I went on. “No, no. I don’t care how much you grumble. The rules are the rules. And if you don’t behave, I am going to need to hang you up,” I told him, pointing over toward the doorway where the blue hammock was hanging. “And we both know how much you hate the nail trim hammock, Mr. Butters.”

“Woooo,” Mr. Butters whined, snatching his paw back from me.

“Listen, I know it’s scary. But you have to be a big, brave boy,” I cooed at him, pulling his golden paw back out. “That’s a good boy,” I told him as I finally got a nail snipped. “Oh, you’re the goodest little fluff-face, yes, you are. See? I told you it wasn’t so bad. I think the dryer is much scarier than the nail trim. And you already got through that.”

“I think that is the most I’ve ever heard you speak,” Courtney, my boss, said as she leaned in the doorway, the whole front of her black apron covered in various types of fur.

Mine looked the same. Plus a lot of wetness from Mr. Butters’s bath. When I first started, I used to frantically tape roll my apron between clients. It was funny how quickly that went out the window. I was pretty sure I swallowed half a pound of fur a shift these days.

And yet, it was the happiest I’d ever been.

Lots of dogs. Very few humans. What was not to love?

“Oh, sorry. Is his mom waiting?” I asked, snipping another two nails as he was distracted by waggling at Courtney.

“No, not yet. She’s probably getting him some whipped cream at the coffee place,” Courtney said, coming closer. “Yes, I know. You love your whipped cream,” she cooed at Mr. Butters. “Girl, get that last foot quick.”

Happy for the assist, I finished Mr. Butters’s nails in record time before reaching for his tie-dye bandana and putting it on him.

“Yes, I love you too, buddy,” I said as he licked my cheek.

“I’ve never met a Golden who wasn’t the sweetest thing on planet Earth,” Courtney said as we both lifted him down off the grooming station.

“I’ve never met a single dog I haven’t fallen completely in love with,” I admitted as I gave Mr. Butters a small treat.

“I noticed,” Courtney agreed, reaching up to tighten her ponytail full of long chestnut hair. “They all love you right back.”

“Except Glinda.”

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