Page 48 of The Man Next Door
“How did they break him of it?” asked Louise.
“They didn’t. They gave him away.”
“That’s sad. Poor dog.”
“Poor dog? What about my brother? Always having to fill in holes. I don’t know how many flowers that dog killed.”
“If I have to choose between my flowers and my dog, the dog wins,” Louise said. “We probably should bring him in.”
“All right,” Gilda said and went off to the kitchen. Louise could hear her out there calling in Darling. Then she was calling the dog again. “Darling?”
That wasn’t a come-here call. That was a where-have-you-gone call. Louise’s sandwich began to roll around in her stomach.
Gilda returned. No Darling by her side.
“Where’s Darling?” Louise asked, even though she already knew the answer.
Gilda was frowning. “He’s escaped. Dug a hole.”
“Oh, no,” Louise said miserably.
“Now, don’t you worry. I’ll find him,” Gilda said, and made for the front door.
Forty minutes later, she’d returned, sweaty, frustrated, and alone.
“Where could he have gone?” Louise fretted.
“I don’t know. I’ve been up and down every street within a two-block radius calling him.”
“Maybe he went to see Martin,” Louise said, and grabbed her phone.
The call went to Martin’s voice mail.
“Where does Martin live? I’ll go to his house,” Gilda offered.
“Just two houses down,” said Louise. The minute the words were out of her mouth she realized that if Darling had gone to find Martin, Gilda would have seen the dog. She shook her head. “He’s not there. You would have seen him. I hope he’s not hurt.”
Gilda’s eyebrows pinched together. “I’ll go look again,” she said. “This time I’ll take my car.”
“Who knows how far he’s gotten,” Louise fretted.
“I’m sorry, Louise. I’ll find him. I promise,” Gilda said earnestly. “He can’t have gone that far.”
A dog didn’t have to go too far to get hurt or lost. Louise bit her lip and nodded.
Gilda’s second search didn’t prove any more helpful. “Where could he have gone?” she moaned.
Please, not to doggy heaven.
Chapter12
ZONA WALKED THROUGH THE FRONT DOORto find two very upset women waiting for her. Louise was on the couch, unharmed but teary-eyed, and Gilda was right there at the door, looking as if the world had ended. If she’d been a Samurai, she’d have fallen on her sword.
Panic rained down on Zona, sending her blood pressure skyrocketing. “What happened?”
“Darling is lost,” Louise wailed.
“It’s all my fault,” Gilda said. “I’m so sorry. I put him out in the backyard and the little stinker dug a hole under the fence and escaped.”
