Page 80 of A Furever Home
“Brooklyn?” Arthur’s voice was urgent as he hobbled up to me. “Did he hurt you?”
Cheyenne was wailing. “I have to find Sadie! She might be hurt!”
The sirens were approaching.
Mrs. Bollinger was bellowing after Harvey.
The cacophony of noise rang inside my skull.
There’d be statements, and Sadie had vanished, and my pounding heart was stuck in my tight, airless throat.
“I…” My gaze met Arthur’s as my pulse raced and a feeling of helplessness flooded me.
“You’re okay. I’ve got this.” His gaze implored me to trust him.
And I did.
CHAPTER 19
ARTHUR
I was going to have nightmares about the moment Cheyenne and I rounded the corner and saw the hulking shape of Harvey pinning Brooklyn against the doorframe. Nightmares in which my damned leg was shackled to a cement block and I couldn’t run, couldn’t get there to help him, which was what it’d felt like. But we’d survived, and it was Harvey who’d had to run.
Brooklyn gazed up at me, his hazel-green eyes so dilated they looked black, his face so pale that a few unnoticed freckles stood out. “I’ve got this,” I told him, hoping I was right.
The way he relaxed and a little color came back into his cheeks made me feel ten feet tall.
I grabbed Cheyenne’s arm as she looked ready to sprint after Sadie. “Wait, give me Twain. You go inside, get Eb. She’s more likely to come to him than to any of us. Grab a bunch more treats too and a couple of slip leads, in case. And flashlights since it’ll be dusk soon. Hurry!”
She nodded and rushed toward the house. That young woman had a ton of courage. Facing down a six-foot tall hulking creep trying to drag her away with him, sassing him back, and barely a moment later, she was focused on her dog.
No one was hurting Cheyenne on my watch, ever.
I told Brooklyn, “You deal with the cops. You have the guardianship petition in progress. And you own the house.”
“Okay. But Sadie…” He glanced down the street as a cop car came into view, lights flashing, siren echoing.
“If Cheyenne and I can’t catch her before you’re done, we’ll be grateful for your help. Fingers crossed, though.” I ached at the panic lingering in his eyes and wished I could put my arms around him, but the cop pulled up at the curb and got out, looking our way.
“Good luck.” Brooklyn stepped toward the street and my moment to offer any kind of comfort was gone.
Later. I’ll hug the hell out of him later.
Cheyenne sprinted back out the door with Eb bounding happily beside her at the unexpected walkies. At least one of us would get a bonus out of this mess.
“Here.” She passed me some treats, a flashlight, and one of the slip leads. “Now what?”
“Now we see if this is going to be easy or hard. I’ll keep Twain, you keep Eb. We’ll head the way Sadie went. Come on.” Normally, I’d swap for the bigger dog, but my leg was on fire after the mad dash to get to Brooklyn. Cheyenne would probably do better than I could.
I hobbled down the sidewalk, looking around. Twain heeled obediently, even though he no doubt wanted to sniff everything in sight, and I spoke to him in my happy training voice. “Good boy. Heel! Clk,clk.” I clicked my tongue in approval, a sound Sadie might already recognize. “Treat!” I passed him a bite.
Following my lead, Cheyenne did the same for Ebony.
“Clk, clk. Treat.” I passed Twain another bite. “Speak!” He bayed his surprisingly deep beagle bark and I rewarded him.
“I don’t see her,” Cheyenne murmured sadly. “She could be anywhere.”
“Easy, now. Happy voices.” I made my tone manically cheerful, in contrast to my words. “She was scared, so she’s going to run a bit before she stops.”
