Paris Love Match

Chapter 15





Piers waved Sidney to cross the road and join him.

Disgust spread across her face as her eyes locked onto Rover. “What the hell’s that?”

“A dog.”

“A dog?”

“Yes, it’s a dog, all right. D-O-G. Dog. Man’s best friend and all that. He got me out of trouble, but now we’re stuck with him.”

“Whoa. You’re stuck with him. I’m not even sure I want to be stuck with you.”

“Thanks very much.”

“No offense, the dog’s probably fine, but I’ve got this whole finding-the-painting-and-not-dying thing going on.”

“And I haven’t? I went in that bloody building. Walked in through a bunch of police and escaped out the back when Inspector Clouseau returned, all on the off chance of finding a clue to a painting that might keep us alive.”

“With a dog.”

“Yes, with a dog.” Rover paced circles around Piers. “He helped me get out without getting caught. We can’t walk him back home. So, we’ll just hang on to him for a while and take him back when all this has quieted down.”

“You mean when we’ve found the painting.”

Rover circled Piers. “Yes, okay. When we’ve found the painting. What’s gotten into you? You’re suddenly all serious about finding the painting.”

“That’s how we sort this mess out, isn’t it?”

Piers untangled the leash from his legs. “Yeah.”

Sidney wrapped her arm through his free arm and they started walking. “So, what did you find?”

Piers took a deep breath. “The place was very tidy and neat.”

“And?”

“Looked like April has another apartment. She had some stuff there, but not much.”

“So that was it? That whole visit to his apartment and all you know is they were clean, tidy, and each visit comes with a free dog.” She wrinkled her nose. “And a smelly one, at that.”

“Leave the dog out of this.”

“I wish I could. This is serious, Piers.”

“All right. I know, I know.”

“And we stink.”

“We can blame it on the dog.”

She glowered at him and stomped off.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get new clothes. I am not going to smell worse than the damn dog.”

Piers pulled the black plastic bag out of his pocket and chased after her, waving it in the air. “Wait, wait. I found this.”

She stopped and grabbed the bag out of his hand. “And when were you going to tell me?”

“I just did!”

“I asked you what you found and all you told me was how clean the place was.”

“You asked what I found.”

“Exactly.”

“I found the place clean.”

“Do you really think I was interested in that?”

“Well—”

“Perhaps I should have asked about the color of their drapes.”

“Give it a rest.”

“Pah!” She flapped the bag in his face. “And what else did you find, eh?”

Piers stepped back. “Nothing. That was it. The place was empty apart from that.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Sure.”

“Really,” he said.

Rover hopped over and rubbed against her leg. She pushed him away.

“Really,” he repeated.

Rover moved gingerly back and stood beside her.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out one way or another.” She tucked the bag inside her jacket and walked off. “I’m still getting new clothes.”