Page 27 of Hostile Witness

Oh my goodness, she shouldn’t be screaming at him. If only she could’ve read his mind back there. That look was a genuine plea for... what? What? Shit. She didn’t know, but something.The dog lowered his haunches onto the passenger seat and set his head on the dashboard.

“No, Flynn! Get in the back seat,” she yelled, pointing. He barked once and stared at her but didn’t move. He looked like he had no intention of sitting in the back ever again.

Ethan gotout of his truck at Tia’s house and peered inside her half-open Kia window. Flynn was sitting in the front passenger seat. “Are you all right?”

Tia lifted her head from the steering wheel and ran a hand through her hair. “Yeah, I think so. I’m not sure if I’ve lost control of him, and I wanted you here in case he tries to bolt when I open the door.” Tossing a hand in the air, she gave a bitter laugh. “You’re his dog father. Maybe you can make some sense of his behavior today.”

“What happened?”

“We were stopped by a patrolman out on Holly Knoll Road. I still don’t understand why the guy stopped me. IknowI wasn’t speeding.” She jerked her head in the dog’s direction. “But Flynn decided he didn’t like the cop and totally lost his cool. He bit the man’s hand and then the cop hit Flynn with his baton.” She hugged her chest. “Flynn whimpered when the baton hit. I have no idea how bad he’s hurt. Would you help me get him out of the car? For all I know, he’ll run. He hasn’t been obeying me since the traffic stop.”

Ethan shoved his car keys into a pocket. “Where’s his leash?”

She leaned over and reached toward the passenger floor. The back of her light-blue blouse had blood spots all over it. Good God, what the hell had happened to her back? “Here it is.” She held it up.

“Clip it onto his harness, and feed it to me through the passenger-side window. That way, I’ll have control of him and you can get out.”

She nodded, let the passenger window down a few inches, and tossed the thick leash in Ethan’s direction.

He caught it. “Okay, I’ve got him. Take your time and get out. Maybe you could open the front door for us?”

Tia gathered her things and made a beeline for the door. Within seconds, she was inside.

Ethan braced himself, opened the door, and whistled for Flynn. The dog stepped onto the blacktop, limped to his favorite tree, and relieved himself. Then the sniffing began. Ethan walked the perimeter of Tia’s house, allowing Flynn to lead the way with his nose to the ground. Every direction the dog tugged, Ethan followed. Flynn widened his search the second time, sniffing back by the fence line and in the pine trees framing the property. Seemingly satisfied, the dog headed for the front door.

Ethan sat down on the front stoop and examined Flynn’s paws. He had three broken claws, which explained the pronounced limp that had persisted throughout the sniffing tour of the yard. While Ethan ruffled his coat and praised him, Flynn recoiled at a stroke to his snout. A trip to the vet would be a good idea.

He looked the K9 in the eye. “I don’t know what freaked you out, but whatever it was, you were working, huh? Let’s go see how your girl’s doing.”

He found Tia in the kitchen with one bare leg propped up on a kitchen chair. Ethan stood back and enjoyed the view. The woman had gorgeous legs, long and shapely, supple and strong. Their kiss in the garden had been hot, but then she’d tried to fix him up with one of her teacher friends. He could only conclude that she wasn’t interested in him. Ethan turned away. This weak moment would pass even though his resolve to resist her wasslipping, bit by tempting bit.Nice legs. Now move on.His dick protested, but such was life.

Tia hissed through her teeth as she dabbed peroxide on the gashes above her knee. “Son of a gun, that hurts.”

Ethan took a quick look at her leg. “Some of those cuts are deep. You might need stitches.”

She waved him off. “Don’t say that to me. I do not need stitches.”

“Can I get you a warm towel or something?”

Tia glanced at him. “No, thanks. It’s enough that I interrupted your day because I can’t control my dog. Thanks for coming over. I didn’t want him getting loose and hurting someone or himself. I’ve never had an animal lose their crap like that.”

“Exactly what happened, and how did you get those cuts?”

She threw her hands in the air. “How? I’ll tell you how. You know those movies that are set in a big city, and the cabbie is sitting in the car just minding their own business in front of a building and then wham, a body falls through the windshield? Well, that’s how I got these cuts. The officer approached my window, I handed him my license and registration, and out of nowhere Flynn growled like a seething werewolf and leaped over the seat landing half on my back and his other half in my lap. I’ve never heard an animal sound that threatening in my life. I definitely picked the wrong day to wear a skirt and blouse to school.”

She snatched a clean towel from a drawer and murmured, “But it was such a pretty day, you know? There was that hint of a warm spring in the air, and I woke up to the faint scent of my lilac bush in the backyard. I don’t want to be mad at Flynn, so it’s the lilac bush’s fault I have cuts all over my legs.”

“How could you possibly smell the lilac bushes from inside?” He already knew he wasn’t going to like her answer.

“Because I sleep with the bedroom window open a few inches.”

Ethan shook his head. “Tia, there’s a murderer out there. Have you no sense of self-preservation?”

“Really?” She cocked her head thoughtfully. “So I shouldn’t sleep with my second-story bedroom window open? Do you think the murderer has climbing abilities, too? Let me tell you something. I allowed another person to control my life once upon a time. Never again. If the sick creep who killed Margie Plante wants to scale the side of my house to get to my open bedroom window, then he or she will eat the barrel of my shotgun.”

“Shotguns are slow when the seconds count.”

“Then I’d use the handgun under my spare pillow.”

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