Page 86 of The Woman By the Lake

He went to get his book bag.

She turned to Riggs. “You. Call the school and add me to the drop-off, pick-up list.” She turned to Ledger. “You. Out into the Range Rover.”

Ledger saluted. “Aye, aye, captain.”

“Someone kill me,” she mumbled, snatching her purse off the kitchen bar.

Ledger was out the door, and she was nearly the same, when Riggs called, “Honey?”

Hand on the door, she looked his way.

He had a lot of things to say.

The one he picked was maybe not on top of the list, still, it was important.

“Thanks for taking my kid to school.”

“Stop being sweet after you’ve annoyed me.”

“I gotta swing however I swing,” he replied.

“Ugh,” she grumbled.

Then she was out the door.

Half an hour later, after a quick shower and change, he called Nadia from his truck on the way to the hospital.

Harry had phoned, and Bubbles was awake.

“If you’re going to be sweet, I’m not listening,” she said as greeting.

Which meant he was grinning at his windshield.

“Bear down, this might be considered sweet.”

“What?” she asked, not sounding annoyed, or curious, just normal.

“The cruiser was gone when I left. Probably took off when you and Ledger did. I’m headed to the hospital. Bubbles is awake. I told Harry I wanted a deputy to return, and he’s gonna see what he can do. But if you don’t see a cruiser in the drive when you get home, head back to town and grab a coffee then find me some placemats.”

“Fine.”

“And figure out what else you’re gonna need to bring over. You’re spending an extra night at mine.”

“Why?” that sounded suspicious.

“Because I called the school and put you on the list. And when I get back, I’m not gonna work on your house. We’re headed into the mountains. I called a friend and found our luck has changed. He’s got an adolescent cane corso ready to place that hasn’t already been claimed. Though, he says you’ll need to go out every day for the next week to work with him, and he’ll need to come out to the cabin every day for another week to keep that training going.”

“I…sorry, I’m not following.”

“He breeds and trains Malinois and cane corsos for police and guard work. He doesn’t have a Malinois ready to be placed. But I’m down with that. I’d prefer a cane corso. The Malinois can be vicious as fuck, and they don’t like any strangers. The cane corso is more loving and accepting, but they’re huge, more visually intimidating, and its bite force can fuck someone up.”

“Riggs—”

“You get a dog, Nadia, or we talk to Dave about an extensive security system being put in, including perimeter sensors and motion detectors. And we also talk about buying you a gun, and getting you trained in using it.”

“I’m not buying a gun.”

“Then you’re getting a dog.”

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