Page 38 of Living Hell

TWELVE

Tyler

“I DON’T THINK I’VEworked that hard since I helped a cow give birth over at the Connor farm.” I flopped back in my office chair.

Olivia had a similar pose on the brown vinyl client chair across from my desk.

“Holy mother of ham, I had no idea it could get that busy. What are the chances that every pet in a ten-mile radius would get sick at the same time?”

I believed it had less to do with sick animals and more to do with who I was “engaged” to that brought the people out. Babette said she would keep it on the down low, but somehow word spread. After that day in the diner she worked her magic and my old clients came back. But now the line was out the door.

It should have tipped me off when, instead of one photographer lulling about on the sidewalk outside my house, there were ten. Iona and I put on a good show, holding hands and she gave me a peck on the cheek before I shuffled down the porch steps.

It’s not as if the paparazzi followed me to work. They were more interested in Iona. When I saw the chaos at work, I was in shock.

I should be happy I wasn’t the pet killer anymore. The place had business once again, so that was a good thing.

The bad thing was now my body was numb.

The phone rang. I shook my head. “No, stop. Please, everyone go away,” I said to the receiver before picking it up.

“Do you want me to answer?” Olivia barely lifted her head.

I wanted to say yes but she was hurting, too. She never asked for this. It was my fault for agreeing to the stupid idea in the first place. I’d take the punishment of moving and talking to the curious pet owner hoping for a chance meeting with Iona.

I waved her back and reached for the phone.

“Hello, Ferguson Veterinarian. No, I.D. isn’t here, and she won’t come in so you can get a selfie with her.”

“Tyler?” a familiar deep voice responded.

“Jake?”

“How’s my big bro?”

He wanted something. I loved my brother, but he never voluntarily called me for no reason.

“Tired. What do you want?”

“Why do you think I want something? I can’t call my brother just to say hi.”

I leaned forward onto the desk and planted my elbows down. The pounding in my head grew. This day was a disaster. Having Jake call made me want to go home and crawl into bed.

The only thing that kept a smile on my face was the thought of taking Iona out tonight.

“Because you don’t speak to me unless you have to.”

My brother and I had an agreement—we tolerated each other. He agreed to move halfway across the country to Chicago if I promised not to bother him all the time with brotherly concern. He left once he got his high school diploma six years ago. Actually, he disappeared. I managed to hunt him down in Maryland, and while he couldn’t tell me what he was doing, he swore he was safe.

I suspected drugs but as it turned out, he was being recruited by the government. He left them a year ago and started his own security firm in Chicago. I was proud of my brother, but I’d never tell him that.

“Anyway, I heard Iona’s back in town, and you’re engaged? Last I knew you never wanted to see her again.”

“I thought you didn’t listen to gossip.”

I knew I was going to have to tell him at some point, I just wanted to wait until the fake story was over.

“I don’t. F & G Securities was contacted by Ward Talent Agency in Los Angeles. They hired us to protect Iona Dell.”

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