"Vonnie." Broadrick tapped on my window again.

I laid my head on the steering wheel for three seconds and then popped it up with a smile. "Oh, I didn't see you."

Broadrick tipped his head at me as I lowered the window and monitored the school parking lot. Was it wrong of me to hope a gang of teenagers rushed him?

"What's up?"

He searched the backseat with a sweep of his gaze. "Where's NB?"

I glanced back too. "Oh, he's around."

"Are you on your way to pick him up in Clearwater?" he asked and rounded the hood of my car, obviously planning to get in the passenger seat.

If I zoomed away now, he'd find it suspicious for sure.

"How did you know?" I asked once he had himself properly in my car.

One side of his mouth smiled the faintest amount. "Sidney called."

I pressed my lips together. That B-word. I knew I couldn't trust her, and I'd been right. "That traitor."

He buckled his seatbelt. "They declined your card."

"What?" I asked, crinkling my nose. That didn't sound right. I took my credit score super seriously. Or well... I planned to once I had an official PI status behind my name. "I paid the minimum last month."

Since it seemed Broadrick wasn't leaving, and he'd already filled the car with his presence and delicious scent, I released the brake and headed toward the meeting spot with Sidney. I had to rescue NB from her evil clutches.

"You have to pay them every month," he said, and I ignored the growing smile.

"Ha-ha. So funny." I had a real comedian as a boyfriend. He should perform stand-up.

She probably just swiped it wrong. Sometimes the magnetic strip took a few tries. That was no reason to throw a sister under the bus.

The rest of the conversation revolved around my growing caseload. Neither of us touched on the fact that at any day Broadrick would get the last call and head out to his next mission-a mission that would take him to some scary area of the world and put him in a dangerous situation where his life would be on the line.

Nope, neither of us were talking about that. I wasn't even thinking about it. None of it bothered me.

Sidney had her pink van with eyelashes parked on the far end of the diner's lot as I pulled up beside it. "You want to grab him?"

If Broadrick wanted to be all hoity-toity about his working credit card, he could be the one to get out of the car and grab the dog. Especially since the gray clouds hovering over us looked like rain.

Broadrick walked up to the bright pink van, and I watched his ass in his loose jeans. We needed to pick him up a few form-fitting pairs. He'd taken over an entire drawer in my dresser, so I could slide one or two in and see if he noticed.

I lost sight of him as he rounded the van to approach from the open side two minutes later, and his head popped back around the corner. His eyes were wide and his posture stiff in agitation. Uh-oh. Normally, only I made him look that way. What did Sidney do?

I smiled but just a little.

He waved me over, and I got out of the car with extra glee in my step.

"Vonnie, look at this," he said as I approached. Broadrick lifted NB out of the van and held him up to me like he was an exhibit in a criminal trial. "What did she do to him?"

NB wiggled in his arms as I stared at him. "What happened?"

I wanted to be irate. Downright infuriated at whatever Sidney did to my poor baby, but he looked fine. She'd brushed the leaves, sawdust, and mud from his coat, leaving him a soft brown and white color again.

He held NB out further. "This is not okay."

Sidney stepped out of the van with her pink hair tied back with a white bandana. Ballsy choice with how dirty NB had been when I brought him. "He picked it out himself."

I squinted. "Are you talking about the hair bow?"

"Yes," Broadrick said and widened his eyes. "He's a boy dog."

I shrugged. The small purple bow stuck next to his ear gave him a sweet look. And we all knew he needed as much help as possible looking sweet. "It's a wonderful color for him."

Sidney nodded. "Really highlights his eyes."

Broadrick turned to her. "What did you do to my dog? This is a girl bow."

I laughed. "It's just a bow, B. It's cute."

He shook his head. "Shouldn't he get a bandana or something?"

Sidney handed back his credit card. "I ran out of bandanas."

I scooped up NB from Broadrick and gave him a good scratch behind his non-bow ear. "He's adorable. Come on, Broadrick."

He sent a glare in Sidney's direction but followed me to the car and slammed the door. "We need to take out the bow."

"I kind of like it," I said, holding NB to my chest. He'd been eating too many treats, and I had to readjust him so he didn't fall.

**

"Take the bow out of his hair," Broadrick said again the next morning as NB clawed at it attached by his ear and rolled around the bed, trying to get it off. "He doesn't like it."

"You two are ridiculous," I said and leaned over, unwrapping the tie that held it in place. It seemed a little tight. Maybe it was pulling on his hair. I tugged harder. He didn't even have hair long enough for a bow. "I think she... superglued it on to his head."

Something was keeping it in place, and it wasn't his hair.

NB jerked his head to the side, and the bow stayed in my hand. He yipped once and then rolled around on the bed, scratching the ear until he finally flopped down in contentment.

"I'm stopping in to talk to Ridge today and taking him with me. I don't know if I trust Sidney anymore." Broadrick ran his hand over the hair by NB's ear.

"Really?" I rolled my eyes and tossed the bow into the trash. How quickly the mighty fall from grace. "I thought she was the one to keep me in line."

Broadrick leaned over the bed and kissed my temple. "It was for NB. I didn't want him getting in your way."

"Uh-huh." It surely didn't feel that way.

He grabbed the small dog from the bed and cradled him in his arms. Stubble coated the edges of his chin, and I wanted to run my finger over the poky ends. "I'll keep him today, and we can discuss it later. Sidney had excellent references and a clean background check, but I'm going to ask Spencer to do more digging. Maybe she changed her name."

I nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

Dog groomers with enormous pink vans changed their names all the time. They definitely didn't stick to the shadows and try not to draw attention to themselves. My big hunky SEAL was being unreasonable, but since I didn't love Sidney either, I let him have his delusions. They worked in my favor.

"Make sure he eats a healthy lunch!" I called out to them as they left the bedroom.

He popped his head back through the doorway and narrowed his eyes at me. "What are you doing today?"

"Oh lots. Many things are on the list. Lots to do here and there."

His eyes narrowed so much they became small slits. "Do you need my help?"

"Nope. It's all under control here." He didn't like it when I meddled, but meddling was the number one thing I had to accomplish before the day ended.

"Just stay safe," he said, "and don't forget to feed the fish."

I flopped back on the bed. Ugh, the fish. Fine. I'd feed the fish and then meddle.

No, wait. I'd grab my victim and feed the fish while meddling. Yes! It was always better to multitask.

I'd lost my original to-do list with all my case work on it, but I figured if I did a little work on each issue every day, I'd eventually solve them all. Right? Something had to work because it seemed I had cases coming out of my pockets.