Page 82 of Always a Bridesmaid
She shuttered her eyes, despair flickering so quickly he’d barely caught it. “Seriously?” She crossed her arms. “You don’t have to make up some lame excuse. If you’re starting to feel crowded or like we’re spending too much time togeth—”
“Violet, it’s not that.”
The skeptical set of her lips remained.
“I’m not clever enough to come up with an excuse involvin’ a fake porcupine.”
Nope, still not getting through to her. How did one convince a city girl that there were plenty of times when his job or life or whatever you wanted to call it included tasks that sounded completely bananas?
Finally, he realized there was only one surefire way. In addition to proving he wasn’t lying, it’d be a handy way to see if she could handle these types of small-town situations and the fact that they were part of his job.
It took a bit of work to pry her hand free of its rigid position. “Come on, and I’ll show you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ford had just opened the passenger door for Violet and called for Pyro to jump out of the truck bed when Shep approached.
“A raccoon, bunnies, and now a fuckin’ porcupine.”
“Sounds like the start of a bad joke. Lemme guess, they all walk into the school.” The tailgate screeched as Ford lowered it and began snapping leashes on puppies. “What’s the punch line?”
“Me, I guess. I bet a bunch of kids think they’re awfully damn funny right now, tryin’ to turn the school into a petting zoo.” Shep seemed to register Violet’s presence, and, as usual, his poker face was shit. He conveyed, loud and clear, his surprise over her tagging along. “Violet. Hey.”
She waved. “Hi, Will. Nice to see you again.”
“Violet’s lookin’ for a slice of country life,” Ford said, giving her a wink as he handed her Trouble’s leash. “We’re gonna play this like a training drill—only with a short leash instead of a long lead rope. Keep a tight hold of him, otherwise Trouble might get too close to the porcupine and end up with a snout full of quills.”
Violet hoisted Trouble into her arms and rubbed the underside of his chin. “We don’t want that, do we? That’s why we’re just going to sniff out the creature and…” She glanced to Ford to fill in the rest of the plan.
“Herd him outside so he can hightail it back to where he belongs.”
“Or her,” Violet added, as if she were a pro at animal rights.
“How presumptuous of me,” Ford said. “Don’t wanna be sexist and call the prickly vermin a dude if it’s a chick.”
“Exactly.” Violet lowered Trouble to the ground. “You ready to put your skills to good use? Afterward there will be treats, and even better, so,somuch cuddling.”
Hopefully, that reward would extend to Ford as well. It’d been too long since he’d gotten his arms around her without an audience.
Ford handed Tank’s and Nitro’s leashes to Shep. “Same speech I gave her. The puppies’ll track the porcupine, but let Pyro and me take lead.” He squatted and patted his canine companion’s side as he hooked a rope onto the red collar. “I know, I don’t usually bother with a leash with you, but it’s for your own good. Ready to get to work?”
Pyro gave an enthusiastic bark that the puppies echoed, and they were on their way, a ragtag group of marshals on the hunt for a fugitive.
“You both are acting like this is so normal,” Violet said. “Isthis normal?”
Shep headed up the ramp to the double-door entrance of the school. “Not sure normal applies in Uncertainty. Kids have been pullin’ pranks for generations. Hell, it’s something Ford, Tucker, Easton, Murph, and I would’ve done back in the day.”
“Only we wouldn’t get caught,” Ford added. “Well, we got away with fifty, sixty percent at least.”
Violet tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “So you know who did this?”
“Not yet,” he and Shep said at the same time. Then Shep took over the explaining. “After we get the animals out of the building, we’ll review the video footage. It’s always blurry and dim, so it’s a bit like lookin’ for smoke in a cloud of fog, but we can often make out hoodies or hats or whatnot. The kids wear ’em to school ’cause they haven’t got a lick of sense.
“After the last few pranks—three bunnies numbered one, two, and four, as if we hadn’t already pulled that trick of making the admin think there was one missing—and a few weeks later a racoon in the cafeteria that scared the bejeebies out of the lunch ladies. Anyway, we upgraded to high-res cameras, including one aimed right at the parking lot.”
A light tug slowed Pyro’s eager pace. “We used to wait till the next school day to hear how our pranks went over. Kids these days can’t help but drive by several times to catch a peek at their handiwork.”
The giant retractable key ring on Shep’s beltzinged as he used one of his many keys to unlock the doors. “The porcupine was just yonder, at the far end of the lobby. I spotted a moving blob and shined my flashlight inside. I caught sight of quills, but by the time I got the doors open, it’d melted into the darkness. Figured I could either go pokin’ around for the rest of the evening and end up with an ass full of quills, or I could call for backup.”
