Page 48 of Ace
“These dogs are dangerous, mister,” he said, his eyes wide and white against his dark skin. “You can’t be bringing killer dogs into this hotel. No sir, you just can’t do that.”
“Listen,” Keller said evenly. “I’m a federal agent and these dogs are my witnesses. They’re under my protection, same as this woman. But I’m in a bind, and I don’t have crates to secure them yet. All I need is for you to watch my car until I get back. They’ll be fine, I just can’t turn the engine off. It’s too hot out here. I’ll only be a couple minutes, and trust me, these dogs are not killers.”
Galahad hit the window again, making Keller look like a liar. Just great. “Will you knock it off?” he ground out, losing his temper. “I get it. You’re hungry. Well, so is Savannah and so am I, now sit. You’re scaring my new friend here.”
Of all things, Galahad sat on his haunches like the good boy he wasn’t.
“Your name please?” Keller asked his ‘new friend.’
“Roger,” the young man supplied as he eyed the dogs. “Roger Tanner.”
“Good to meet you, Roger. I’m Special Agent Keller Boniface out of FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC. I’d shake your hand, but I’m a bit busy.” As light as Savannah was, he needed to put her down before his right arm fell asleep.
“You sure these dogs are safe?”
Keller nodded. “They are but they’ve both been used in dog fighting rings. They don’t trust just anyone. The setter’s Red, the Pitbull is Galahad.”
“Aww…” Roger leaned into the window again, his forearm braced against the car roof. “I’d never hurt a dog. You can trust me, boy,” he told Galahad through the glass.
The Pitbull stared up at the young man, drooling like a beast.
“We’ve had a difficult day, and they’re both worried… Wait! Don’t do that!”
But Roger had already opened the car door. He stood with one hand extended for Galahad to rip off, the other easy on the handle. Both dogs peered up at him like torpedoes primed and ready to launch.
“Stay!” Keller ordered even as Roger told them both to, “Come on down.”
Red glanced at Keller before, gingerly, taking one elegant step around Galahad’s squat, square body. The Pitbull still looked like a slobbering, grumpy troll who might eat Roger alive—just because. But Red stepped out of the Buick, and inched toward that extended piece of meat called Roger’s hand.
“I wish you hadn’t done that,” Keller growled, but the deed was done. There was only one thing to do. Heprojected his empathy for these particular dogs into Roger. What he came up against was…Whoa.Roger had the heart of a lion and the memory of…Zero. Golden Malinois. Smartest, dumbest, bestest K-9 in the world!
Roger’s impressions tumbled into Keller’s mind like a handful of Legos. He was no kid. He was a baby-faced USMC vet, a jarhead who’d not only seen combat in Afghanistan, but who’d seen it with an EOD trained K-9 named Zero. Together, Roger and Zero had sniffed out IEDs, suicide bombers, munitions dumps, you name it. They’d saved USMC and Army lives.
That was a weirdly wonderful first, reading memories instead of pain. Damned near took Keller’s breath.
“Sit,” Roger told Red once the nosey dog took a good sniff of the back of his hand.
Politely, Red dropped his butt to the driveway, and Roger knelt with him. “Good boy,” he praised as he fondled Red’s pointed head. “As for you…” He turned to Galahad. “I’m not going to hurt you. Come.”
Keller held his breath. The Pitbull looked like a cross between a bulldog, a snout-nosed alligator, and a miniature tank. All jaws, chest, muscle, and teeth, he stared at Roger, then looked away and sniffed the air. He snorted, but by hell, he dropped out of that Buick like a bag of cement on four stubby legs, then calmly took his place beside his kennel mate.
“You’re good with dogs,” Keller said though he already knew the answer.
“We get along. You boys know how to heel?” Roger asked the dogs as, tentatively, he offered the back of his hand to the drooling pittie. Damned if Galahad didn’t wrinkle his nose and snort like he might chew on those fingers. But then he sniffed Roger’s hand.
Red’s tail swished, his eyes now bright instead of distrustful.
And Keller started breathing again.
“Sir, are you ready to move forward?” Roger asked. “I’ll handle the dogs for you, no problem, but we need to be quick. I still have to park your ride.”
Keller didn’t miss how Roger’s sharp black eyes skated over Savannah’s long legs to her backside to her pretty face. It had been a long and interesting day, but Roger needed to keep his eyes to himself. Keller tucked his sleeping beauty under his chin and led the way.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The ground level suite included a full kitchen, a living room with a view of the terraced patio, as well as two plush bedrooms. The master bedroom lay to the right of the sitting area, the smaller lay to the left. Keller took Savannah into the master bedroom and put her to bed. He retrieved a dampened washcloth from the lavish en suite master bath and cleaned her face, neck, and arms. Carefully, he extracted the rosary from her neck and hair and put it in his pocket for safe keeping. Poor thing barely stirred when he tugged the blanket up to her chin.
Keller shut the bedroom door just as room service knocked. He waved the waiter and his rolling cart inside, while Galahad and Red barked their heads off from the other bedroom. That got Keller a raised brow from the waitstaff. At this rate, Savannah would soon beawake, and they’d all be back on the street with two loud-mouth dogs.
