Page 29 of Icy Heart, Empty Chest
“Are you scared of dogs, Dae?” Peanut was about as vicious as daisy. He’d never known a creature he didn’t love.
“No? I’m just not as used to them as you are. He’s cute though.” He walked forward to ruffle Peanut’s coat. All seventy-five pounds of fur and saliva wagged with happiness.
I clipped on his leash and led them both out to my car. It hadn’t been used in a while because you really could walk everywhere in the city. Mostly I had it for longer trips.
“You should probably get in back. Peanut tries to ride shotgun.” I could tell I was trying his patience but it was too funny watching the big dog try to climb over.
“Why do we need a dog?” He looked at Peanut’s clueless expression quizzically.
“I always need a dog, just look at his cute face. But it’s easier to be in neighborhoods not your own with an excuse. Besides, I missed him.”
“You want a dog?” He seemed surprised.
“Yeah. I started taking Peanut for long walks every once in a while if Mrs Miller looked like she was balancing the world on her shoulders, which is often considering how many kids they have. Came in handy for my second job later. She doesn’t ask questions and he comes home all tuckered out.”
I drove us to about a block before the doctor’s house and parked. Damien got out and I took Peanut’s leash.
“Let’s go see what we can find out.” We set out at a brisk pace. Peanut was clearly thrilled and found every tree and hydrant to sniff on the way. I wasn’t going to interrupt his investigation. Soon, we got in the cul-de-sac.
I nodded to which house it was. “With your perfect vision, what do you see?”
He took a moment to scan before he answered.
“Two story brick house, chimney, shed in the backyard. No signs for a security system. No visible cameras either. Newspaper box is full of a few days’ worth of papers. So no security system and no one has visited it recently.”
I carefully let go of the leash and Peanut walked a few steps away, turning his head to see if I was coming. I had taught him this. As long as I kept walking, he would keep walking forward, into the good doctor’s backyard.
“Cor, what are you doing…?” Damien hissed quietly
“Oh no, Peanut’s leash slipped out of my hands!” I called dramatically. I had looked around. Many of the houses didn’t appear to have anyone in them at this time during the work day. No kids playing outside either.
I could see enough of Damien out of the corner of my eye to see him run a hand over his face and try to pin me with glare.
“You’ll be the death of me, woman.”
“No I won’t. I’m saving you, remember?” I called that out with more confidence than I had currently. I let my curly hair flounce over my shoulder.
My stomach had been churning for the last few days since he came back into my life. I’m not sure if it was nerves, his faith in my skills, his dislike of my methods or the fact that he’s probably the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen and has aged like a glorious vintage.
It was very distracting when someone who looked like statue of the old gods was staring at you.
The backyard was mostly empty. Quickly peeking in the side window to the shed showed some landscaping tools, some bagged dirt and not much more. There was a door to the outside though.
“Peanut! There you are!” I called. He turned his fluffy head toward me with a big floppy smile on his face and headed back to where I could “snatch” up the leash.
“Damien, I got him,” I called triumphantly.
“I see that,” he answered both agitated and amused.
“Come on boy, get off the lawn.” Despite my silly tone, I knew the dog was having a fun romp even if my old friend wasn’t.
Once we had cleared the grass I knelt in front of the driveway and nuzzled his fluffy face.
“Oh, Mr Peanut, you found me a backyard basement entrance. You are the best boy.” Dogs were far more soothing to me than people could ever be.
Peanut gave my face another kiss or three and we continued on our walk.
Damien started laughing as we approached my car.
