Page 38 of Wild Card
“But she’s my dog. I have proof.”
I nodded. “Yes, you do, but we both know you dumped that dog illegally. So let’s work out an arrangement where everyone wins. Otherwise, Axel won’t be the only one in trouble here.”
“I’m listening,” he said grudgingly. “But I’m not just giving him my dog for nothing.”
“No one would expect that. But perhaps we can come to an agreement that serves everyone.”
I filled him in on the plan I’d been cooking up on the way over here. It was beyond the call of duty, but it would keep Axel out of jail, protect the dog, and get Rusty on board. Sometimes you had to think outside the box, right?
Way out of the fucking box.
On my way back to the cruiser, I got a phone call. Not the station. My friend Hunter, who I’d reconnected with when I returned to the area. We’d gone to Granville High together back in the day.
I almost let the call go to voicemail. I had my hands full right now. But I could use a sane voice after listening to Rusty ramble incoherently for fifteen minutes. The man’s mind kept darting off in random directions. Keeping him focused, much less reasonable, was like herding cats.
It’d taken a lot of smooth-talking to get Rusty on board, but he’d finally agreed to my deal. Though he’d seemed confused as to why I was working so hard to keep the dog in Axel’s possession—and rightfully so.
Ishouldn’tbe doing it. But here I was, heart skipping at the thought of seeing Axel’s face when I delivered the good news.
I picked up Hunter’s phone call as I climbed back into the car. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Hey, sorry to do this, but I think I have to cancel drinks tonight. Clark’s got a school program to oversee, and Toby needs help with a project, so…”
Damn. I could have used a drink tonight. One that didn’t involve me holed up in my cabin with Bluey anyway.
“No problem,” I said.
“Sorry. I hate to pull the Dad card,” Hunter said. “It’s been too long since we got together. Maybe this weekend?”
I’d be going over to Granville to eat with my family on Saturday. I could meet Hunter afterward.
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll probably be busy tying up some loose ends for work, anyway.”
“You’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately,” Hunter said, concerned. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. We made a new hire. It should be getting better. Today has just been…” I trailed off.
Hunter chucked. “That good, huh?”
“Yeah.” I groaned. “I may have lost my mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s this guy. He’s always getting in trouble. Not someone I should be interested in, and I just keep breaking all my rules for him, you know?”
“Mm-hmm. Is he hot?”
“That’s not the point.”
“So, he’s hot,” Hunter said with a chuckle. “That explains everything right there.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I huffed. “I go to Miami twice a year. I fuck my way through dozens of hot men. I don’t need some troublemaker in Riverton to rev my motor.”
“But he does it anyway,” Hunter said. “And maybe that’s not a bad thing. Maybe you need more than a sex-cation.”
I couldn’t afford to want more, though, especially with Axel.
“It’s a conflict of interest. I’m out here twisting myself into a pretzel to keep him out of jail. That’s not right.”
