"I wasn't going to choke him," I argued. Although, I might have been sketchy on the application of my design.

Broadrick disappeared into my bedroom and returned with the robe belt. "I'll tie it like a harness."

"You know how to do that?" Was it even possible?

He glanced at me before removing Brent from my arms. "Standard SEAL training."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is."

He twisted the terry cloth material around Brent's little body and then handed me the end. "It's not perfect, but it will keep him for a while."

"You want to come with me to return him?" I asked rather than race out the door and leave him behind again.

Who knew why? I guess we'd call it my olive branch.

"Sorry, I have a meeting."

Brent tugged on the leash, leading me to the door. "With who?"

"A military guy," he answered way too quickly.

"Whatever," I said, pretending like I didn't care.

But I did.

A lot.

I wanted to know exactly who Broadrick was meeting and why. Here I went out of my way to be nice and extend an invitation, and he turned me down. No more olive branches for him.

Broadrick gave me his back as he headed into my bedroom like we lived together. I stared at his ass as he went and then hefted up Samantha-it felt like she'd gained weight-and let Brent lead me out the door. He pulled us all the way to the main floor and out the front door like he smelled the snow.

Five seconds after jumping off the porch, he painted the snow yellow.

"Mrs. Mets won't like that, Brent."

I loaded Brent in the front seat and Samantha in the back, deciding not to buckle her. She'd be safe.

Brent licked the passenger side window, leaving streaky water trails in his wake before lapping those up in his next swipe.

"Um, dude. Let's not get so personal with the interior." I tried to coax him to look out the front window, but apparently I had something tasty on the side one.

We pulled up to Mrs. Coogs' house before he finished the job and I opened the side door, giving a tug on his rope. He didn't budge from the car.

"Come on, little guy. Let's go get your momma."

Brent circled twice and laid down on the seat.

"Really? Come on, dude." I didn't need his insubordination.

I reached into the car and scooped Brent up, tucking him against my chest. He snuggled into me and licked my neck. My steps were light as I worked through the fresh snow on the sidewalk to reach Mrs. Coogs' door.

I propped Brent up against me and rang the bell, waiting in anticipation for her to answer. The sun broke through the clouds against the sky, creating a halo of light around Brent.

The door opened slowly, revealing Mrs. Coogs with her hair up in rollers as she peeked through the opening. "Vonnie?"

"I brought Brent," I said, and lifted him higher. If it wasn't so cold, I would have held him up in a private Lion King reenactment.

Mrs. Coogs stared at Brent and her lips stretched into a thin line of disapproval. My heart knew before my ears heard. "That's not Brent."

"What? Of course it is. Look at him." I sashayed him back and forth. His little legs wiggled, and he barked with his tongue hanging out. He was identical to the dog in the pictures.

Mrs. Coogs shook her head. "No. His smile is all wrong. Brent doesn't smile like that. He has more of a grin, not a smirk."

"Seriously? His smile?" I looked at Brent. He looked at me. Did dogs even have lips?

I would have checked, but his teeth were too close for my liking.

"Come back when you have Brent," Mrs. Coogs said, and closed the door in my face.

I stood there waiting for her to reopen the door and yell, "Psych!" or for Ashton Kutcher to run out with a camera. Neither happened.

With Not Brent nuzzling my neck, I backed off Mrs. Coogs' porch. "Your mother is off her rocker."

Who tried to deny their dog after one quick look and a different smile? I needed help.

When in doubt, I always checked in with Katy. I might not have been her apprentice any longer, but in dealing with the crazies in this town, she taught me everything I knew.

I shuffled Not Brent back into the car and let him lick the passenger window to his heart's content as I drove past Katy's home. Her car wasn't in the driveway, but it was a little further down the road at Pierce's mansion.

Brent barked and scratched at the window as I parked in the billionaire's circle driveway. I grabbed Samantha from the backseat and Brent from the passenger and tugged him along to the front door as he peed on all the shrubs lining the way.

Katy opened Pierce's door before I had a chance to knock. "What are you doing here? You brought the box?" Her eyes widened, and she pulled me into the home.

Behind her, a stack of boxes lined the foyer. Half of them were open, and she'd scattered random books and knickknacks in a line on one side of the hallway.

"Why do you have so many boxes?" Was she planning on asking me to watch them all? I didn't have enough room in the car... or my apartment.

Katy held her finger over her lips in the universal sign for shhh, but in case I didn't recognize it, she actually shushed me.

"I'm moving in, but that doesn't explain what you are doing here?"

"I brought you Samantha," I said, trying to push the box toward her.

She reared back. "The dog?"

"No, the box."

Katy threw her hands up and backed away. "Are you crazy? I can't take the box back right now. He'll see it."

I reshuffled the box in my hands and tugged on Not Brent's rope to stop him from sniffing Pierce's wall. He had on his "I'm about to pee" face.

"Katy, what the hell is in this box?"

Her eyes widened again. "Nothing, but definitely don't look in it."

I closed my eyes slowly and took a deep breath. The last time someone told me not to look in a box, we were driving an hour north and ended up delivering a box of cocaine to two drug dealers and got ourselves kidnapped. Cassandra still apologized every time she saw me in the bakery.

If Katy wouldn't answer me about the box, I had other important questions I needed answers for. "Who is moving into your place?"

Katy shrugged, turning back to her boxes. "Pierce is probably going to rent it. I hate to let it go, but I can't let it sit there empty. I tried to talk him into keeping it as a bachelorette pad, but he didn't take any of my suggestions."

An empty house in Pelican Bay? One right across the road from the beach? You couldn't see the beach from her home, but you smelled it and that was pretty close to the same thing.

"How much is he going to rent it for? I'd be interested if he doesn't have someone already." I froze, not even breathing while I waited for her response. He'd probably ask more than I could afford, but a girl had to ask.

The left side of Katy's lips tipped up into a smirk. "I like the sound of that. I'd make sure he gave you cheap rent too, but you have to let me come hang out."

"Of course." If Katy wanted to chill, she was always welcome. My home would be her home... literally, because it had at one time been her home. "How much do you think he's going to ask for rent?"

Her smile fell. "He wants at least two thousand."

"Oh." Well, that sealed the deal as a nonstarter. No way could I afford that. The reason I lived in the basement apartment was its affordability. I'd need a lot more dogs to go missing to afford two-thousand a month in rent.

Katy shook her head. "But that's not the BFF rate. I'll sublease it to you, so he has to keep the same rent amount as what I pay."

My heart kicked into triple time with excitement. "Really?" Katy paid like two pennies for that place. It was some deal her family worked out with Pierce generations ago. "He won't get mad."

She shrugged. "Probably, but I'll make him unmad."

"How?" I narrowed my eyes, then thought about my question. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

It was probably something kinky.

Katy's house was bigger than my tiny basement apartment, by the beach, and didn't have Mrs. Mets breathing down my throat. If Pierce got cranky, I'd just send Katy after him.

It would be perfect.

"I'll tell Pierce about it after he finishes his meeting," Katy promised.

A door opened and closed upstairs. "Katy, are you ready for lunch?" Pierce yelled downstairs.

We both turned in that direction and then Katy pushed me back toward the front door. "Shit, there's no time. Get in the closet."

She walked me, Samantha, and Not Brent backward until she tucked us into the large coat closet in the foyer.

"Katy, wait," I said, but it was too late. She shut the closet doors on us.

The only bit of light came in through the small slats, and I moved my head to the side to catch a view of the room.

"I thought we'd drive into Clearwater for something different today," Pierce said, approaching Katy and placing a kiss on her forehead.

Katy glanced at the closet and turned Pierce in the other direction so his back faced my tiny prison. "Yes, we should do that. Let's exit through the garage. And if anyone happens to be in the house, they can let themselves out after we leave."

"What are you talking about?" he asked and tried to turn back, but Katy shuffled him toward the kitchen at the back of the house.

"Nothing. You know me. Always crazy." She laughed, and it sounded unhinged.

Brent rubbed against my leg and sniffed at the slats where only dim light poured in. He barked, and I shushed him.

Maybe too loudly.

Brent glanced up at me with his cute puppy dog face and barked again before running around my legs and getting the short bathroom belt looped around my ankles.

"What the hell?" Pierce questioned and turned away from Katy.

Shit.