“Don’t worry about it. I’ll drive you to the hospital and sign as the guarantor. They can bill me any balance. I’ll take care of it.”
As I closed the door behind us, Jan was still thanking me, and I was still telling her to stop.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at that folded piece of paper.
Fuck it.
Right now, I had a frightened mother to get to the hospital.
Eliana and I would deal with the video fallout later.
Together.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Eliana
Bruno was being a bigger little shit than normal. The elderly Chihuahua had already nipped me twice, although he hadn’t drawn blood. To be fair, he wasn’t normally a morning dog. Mr. Lancaster and Bruno were heading out on vacation tomorrow, and the stinky fella needed a sprucing up for the trip.
I stuffed another treat into the demon’s mouth so I could trim his front nails without having to leash his head too high. It was easier that way, but it sometimes frightened the dogs, especially the little nervous yippy ones I hadn’t built up a trusting relationship with, like this one
“All done,” I promised the dog and then stretched my back. I was eager to leave and feed my other babies. I was later than normal because of Bruno’s vacation emergency. I should have gotten up earlier and made my rounds, but it was too good waking next to Kane and then making slow, sleepy love for an hour.
The bell over the door jingled, and Mr. Lancaster stepped in, and the little dog’s entire body trembled with anticipation.
“Was he a good boy for you, Eliana?”
I smiled and lied through my teeth. “The best. His glands looked much better.”
Mr. Lancaster beamed at me like a proud papa. “Thanks to you. The cyclosporine therapy Bruno’s vet prescribed is working. The vet credited you for catching it early.”
I beamed back. The old man slipped me a hundred. “Thank you for adjusting your schedule for us, Eliana.”
“Thank you, Mr. Lancaster. I hope you and Bruno have a great trip.”
I was still smiling when I left the shop, locking up behind me. Readjusting the straps of the heavy bags on my shoulders, I took off, enjoying the crisp air of early fall.
Because I was coming from the shop, my route was backward this time. Stopping in each alley, I fed and petted my charges, their humans too.
The last alley was always my favorite, even though I’d never admit it to anyone. Joseph and Target had started it all, and I had a soft spot for them both.
The alley was dark and stank as bad as usual. No matter how many times I’d pleaded for Joseph to find a better place, he wouldn’t. He liked it, for some reason.
Walking past the dumpster, there was no Joseph. No Target. I went farther in, whistling a few times. Nothing.
I was running late, but not terribly so. I walked back to the dumpster, and the pile of blankets told me Joseph had been here not long ago. He wouldn’t have gone far without his possessions, as meager as they were.
There was a sound, and I stopped to listen.
A whine. A yip. Target?
I stood still, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.
There it was again. Another whine, this one much longer.
“Target! Joseph!”
I got a bark in return and located the direction. Glad my bags were mostly empty now, I hurried, following the sound.
“Target!”
Bark.
The sound seemed to be coming from an abandoned apartment building. I stepped closer and put my hand on the door and was surprised to see that it was already open a few inches.
“Target!”
The bark I got in return seemed even more excited. I walked farther in and listened hard.
“Target!”
There, up the stairs.
“Joseph?”
Another bark.
Navigating around the loose boards, I began to climb.
Motes of dust filled the air in front of me each time I crossed in front of a window. It was cold in here, much more so than outside.
At the top of the stairs, I called again. “Target! Here, boy.”
I turned right, following the sound of constant barking to the end of the hallway. How in the world did he get in that room?
Pushing on the door, I found the jumping dog. He was tied to a rusty radiator, and Joseph was on the floor beside him, unconscious.
An adrenaline surge caused my hands to shake as I dug through my purse to call 911. I backed out of the room so I could hear over the dog’s barking. “Joseph, I’m calling for help. I’ll be right—”
The last word was lost in the glove that covered my mouth.
Target went crazy, jumping and pulling at the leash. The man holding me reached forward and pulled the door closed. I brought an elbow back and connected with the side of his head. He let me go, but only for an instant.
An instant was all I needed, and I began to run but was caught as a hand twisted in my hair, pulling me back.
When I was against the man’s chest, he whispered, “I heard you’ve been a very bad girl.”
I froze. This man knew me. This wasn’t some random vagrant I’d stumbled into. I’d been set up. By who?
His breath was hot in my hair as he grabbed my breast, squeezing it hard. “So you only put out for baseball players, huh? Football players too.” I focused on his voice. It was low. Raspy. Artificially so. Like he was changing it on purpose. So I wouldn’t recognize him.
Who was this?
Renewing my struggles, the man just laughed as he pushed me face-first into a wall, his weight holding me against it. “Go ahead. Fight me. I like it that way.” The heat from his breath was humid against my ear.
“What do you want?”
He laughed again. A deep gravelly sound. “I want so much I don’t even know where to begin.”
I shuddered. “Please. Don’t do this. I won’t tell anyone. I—”
He growled. “You better tell someone.”
That wasn’t what I had expected. “What?”
“I want you to leave here and tell your rich boyfriend that what happened today was all his fault.”
I didn’t understand. “How?”
“He’ll know. All you need to care about is letting me have my turn. Maybe if you pretend I’m in the NBA, you’ll spread ‘em fast enough.”
A new surge of anger and adrenaline pushed through me, and I lashed out. Pushing away from the wall, I turned and used my fists and feet and teeth. The huge engagement ring became a weapon as I slashed at his covered face.
He smacked me. Hard. So hard that the black mask he was wearing blurred.
Tears sprang to the surface. The tears I’d tried so hard to force back. “Please don’t.”
“Why? I enjoy this. It’s more fun this way. Can you feel how hard I am?”
His erection pressed into my hip, and I lifted my thigh, trying to hit him in the balls. And connected. But not nearly hard enough. He turned at the last minute, but he still grunted, cursing me with every breath.
Shoving him with all my might, I took advantage of him being momentarily off-center. I ran. The sound of Target’s barks faded as I got closer to the steps.