Page 83 of Always a Bridesmaid
As soon as they stepped inside the building, the dogs went wild sniffing the ground. Ford lowered his voice into authoritative mode. “Seek.”
Pyro nearly jerked Ford’s arm out of the socket as he headed across the lobby, nose to the ground. It’d been years since Ford had used a leash on him, and unlike the puppies, he didn’t do anything slow.
“He’s got a bead on it,” Ford said as Pyro charged down the hallway to the right, and then he picked up his own pace and rushed on after him.
…
Where even was she right now? In the middle of an odd dream—one she’d later wake up from and think,How didn’t I realize I was asleep? The situation was way too bizarre to be real.
Trouble tugged on his leash, headed in the same direction Ford had gone, and Violet had to half-run to keep up.
Lights flicked on, bathing the hallway in light, and she skidded to a stop a handful of yards short of Ford and a growling Pyro. “Holy shit. That’s a porcupine. I’ve never seen one in real life before.”
The creature had been up on its haunches, scratching its side, an oddly human gesture. It turned, its stumpy face and beady black eyes staring out from the type of hairdo Violet ended up with whenever she went to bed with wet locks.
“Aww, it’s so cute.” In fact, Violet experienced the same syrupy phenomenon as whenever she saw Trouble. “I kinda want to pet it.”
Ford gave her adon’t you dareglare. “Trust me, you don’t. That goes for you, too, Pyro.”
As if Trouble had only now realized there was a foreign animal, he began barking like mad, which set off a chain reaction with his siblings. TNT, on the case and just as explosive.
The porcupine’s quills flared, going from bedhead to static electricity.
Violet’s blood pressure spiked, and she backpedaled, dragging a stubborn Trouble with her. Elongated teeth clattered together as the animal became agitated. It lumbered around, displaying its raised, extra-spiked backside, and Ford and Pyro gave it extra space as well.
A series of squeaky grunting noises came from the creature, as if it were swearing at them for interrupting what’d been a nice, leisurely stroll through the school halls. With its teeth out and the quills in ready-to-fire position, the urge to pet it waned, and its agitation set the dogs off again.
“Hold the puppies back,” Ford said, throwing out an arm. “Just a second, Pyro. Let’s come up with a plan.” He glanced around and then indicated a door to Violet’s right. “Is that still a janitor’s closet?”
“Yep,” Will said from her other side. “Doubt it’s changed much since you and Trina turned it into your own personal make-out room. We keep it locked now, of course. I don’t want any teen pregnancies on my watch.”
A heavy exhale came out as Ford ran a hand through his hair. “Gee, thanks for that.”
Will looked from him to Violet, somewhat chagrined. The toxic flare in her gut made it hard to pretend she didn’t want to hunt down this Trina chick and strangle her.
Fortunately, they had their hands full with other things. Country things, apparently. Even with the creature in view and prattling on and on, she could hardly believe this was real life. And people said Florida had all the perplexing news stories.
Tank and Nitro continued to sniff the ground. Then they went to barking, towing Will in the direction of the lobby they’d come from. “Uh-oh. What if there’s more than one?”
Will unhooked the key ring from his belt. “I’m going to go check the other hallway.” He tossed the keys to Violet. They clanged together as they fell through her hands and onto the floor—sports had never been her jam.
Luckily, Will was already off and running, and Ford had his eyes on the porcupine and Pyro as they egged each other on.
Trouble, on the other hand, circled the keys and growled, absolutely on top of the mission.
“Good job, buddy. We need those, so thanks so much for helping me find them.” Violet retrieved the key ring. Thanks to the extra adrenaline and slight tremble in her hand, it took two tries to unlock the closet.
“Is there a big push broom in there?” Ford asked, and she scanned the area. Roomy enough for a make-out session for sure, if you didn’t mind the overwhelming scent of three to five types of cleaner.
Paper towels, spray bottles, a mop and bucket, and…
“Found the broom.” She grabbed the wooden handle, fighting the wide bottom as it snagged on the bucket and then the doorjamb. Didn’t help that she was trying to prevent Trouble from taking a drink from the murky contents of the bucket. “No. I’ll get you clean water later.”
As soon as she finagled the push broom free, relief filled her.
For two whole seconds, before Ford extended his palm for it. So much for her short-lived celebration. She rocked into motion again, rushing the broom over to him.
The porcupine spun and snapped its teeth at her, and a squeal escaped as her heartbeat tripled. Trouble decided to defend her honor, and her pulse skyrocketed into the danger zone as she used her foot to nudge him away from a snout-full of pain.
