Page 21 of Baby Nanny

He came off the bed like a shot. “She’s missing?”

Annalise nodded rapidly, her breath escaping her lungs in frantic gasps. “When I went in to get her this morning she wasn’t there . Ithought she was hiding in the tree house . Ipractically took the thing apart looking for her. I’ve searched the entire house. She’s not here.” Undisguised fear glittered in her eyes, shredding her usual control. “I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Have you checked outside?”

“Oh, God, Jack.” She turned a panicked gaze in the direction of the front door. “The ocean.”

They both raced for the door. It wasn’t locked and he could distinctly remember double-checking it last night to make certain it was. He ripped the door open and erupted onto the front porch. He drew in a deep breath, preparing to shout his niece’s name, when suddenly he saw her. She sat halfway between the house and the water, half-buried beneath the largest dog Jack had everseen.

Behind him, Annalise stumbled against his back. She inhaled sharply and he whipped around and caught hold of her. Sensing the scream building in her lungs, he covered her mouth with hishand.

“Quiet,” he ordered in a voice barely above a whisper. “Don’t startle them.”

At her nod of understanding, he released her. “Jack,” she whimpered. “That thing could kill her.”

“Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. Right now , Iwant you to go back in the house and find my cell. Punch in 911, but don’t hit Send until I tell you.” She continued to stare at him with glazed, terror-stricken eyes and he gave her a quick shake. “Do you understand?”

She recovered a small semblance of control and nodded. “Yes. Yes , Iunderstand. Dial 911. Don’t hit Send until you give the word.”

“Then I want you to grab the steaks that are in the fridge and bring them out here to me. Slow and easy, got it? No fast or sudden moves. No loud noises.”

“I understand.”

Without another word, she slipped back into the house. Jack forced himself to move forward and sit on the porch steps. Then he whistled, low and gentle. Both dog and child jerked to attention, their heads swiveling in unison toward him. To his horror, the dog bristled, emitting a low growl. Even worse, Isabella reached up to pat the animal on the muzzle, her tiny hand inches from a set of lethally bared teeth. He knew Annalise had returned by her soft gasp of reaction at how much more dangerous the situation had become.

“Here.” She slipped the raw slabs of meat into his hand. Her fingers trembled against his and her breath warmed the back of his neck in rapid-fire bursts. She was inches from losing it, and yet she spoke with a calmness that washed over him like a gentle balm. “It’s going to be all right, Jack . Ihave my hand on the Send button. Say the word, and I’ll place the call.”

“Go back inside,” he instructed in an undertone. He wouldn’t risk her welfare, too. “Be ready to open the door on my signal.”

He sensed her silent retreat into the house and fixed his full attention on his niece and the huge animal hovering above her. He didn’t dare whistle again. He could only hope that one or the other of them would come to him. Sure enough, Isabella released a gleeful laugh and clambered out from beneath the dog. To Jack’s relief, the animal allowed it, though she—at least, he thought it was a female—continued to regard Jack with open suspicion bordering on hostility.

He needed to get the dog away from his niece, and fast. Hoping he wasn’t making a hideous mistake, he held up the first steak. “Here you go, girl!”

It was as though someone had thrown a light switch. The hair along the dog’s back slicked down and her ears perked up .Ahuge flirtatious grin spread across her giant square mug. After treating Isabella to a maternal lick of farewell from a tongue big enough to clean his niece’s face with one swipe, she galloped toward Jack at top speed. Unfortunately, Isabella released a squeal of annoyance at having their play interrupted and gave chase. The instant the dog reached him, Jack tossed the first of the steaks. It disappeared in one less-than-femininegulp.

“Sit,” he ordered.

To his amazement, the dog sat. She checked him out—particularly the second steak he still held—while he did the same to her , acautious how-beasty-are-you and who’s the-top-dog exchange of looks. She didn’t appear to be in too bad a shape, though her ribs protruded more than he liked. After she’d given him the once-over, she regarded him with a look of unadulterated hope and sweetness. To his relief, he saw she wore a collar. He didn’t see a name tag, but at least a shiny new rabies tag dangled fromit.

He planned to toss the second steak as far as he could, snatch up his niece, and hightail it into the house. Before he could, Isabella skidded to a halt alongside the dog. He nearly lost it when she wound her twig-thin arms around the animal’s massive neck and pressed her face into the short, brindled coat. One miscalculation and the dog would go from chewing on steak to chewing on his niece.

He forced himself to take a calming breath before speaking. “Isabella, go into the house and find Annalise. After you wash your hands, you can show her your new friend. You’ll have to do it through the window until I’ve finished feeding her.”

She hesitated, obviously torn between staying with the dog and the pleasure of showing her off to Annalise. He used a tonethat didn’t brook any argument, one he had never been able to bring himself to use with her. Until today. “Now, miss.”

To his intense relief, she obeyed and climbed the steps onto the porch. The door flew open behind him and Annalise snatched her inside. With a whimper of protest, the dog charged forward and mowed all two hundred plus pounds right over top of him, snagging the steak out of his hands as she steamrolled past. Before Annalise could get the door closed, the dog slammed through it and erupted into the house.

Jack lay spread-eagled on his back, struggling just to draw air into his lungs. Getting hit by a Mack truck couldn’t have been any more painful. He looked down at himself, half-expecting to discover paw craters denting his body. To his immense relief, he didn’t find any. As far as he could tell, all his most vital parts appeared intact and in place.

He rolled over onto his hands and knees. It took three attempts to stand. He staggered through the door to find the dog squatting at Isabella’s heels. Even sitting, the animal dwarfed the petite five-year-old, though he couldn’t mistake the adoration in the dog’s brown eyes as she peered down at his niece. Isabella had her arms thrown around the animal’s massive neck again. She beamed up at Jack with such undisguised joy it nearly broke his heart.

He closed his eyes with a groan. He knew that look. “We’re not keeping her,” he stated categorically. “She belongs to somebody and that somebody isn’t us.”

To his surprise, Isabella didn’t throw the expected temper tantrum. She just continued to stare at him with those dewy green eyes and that wide, brilliant grin. Her dimple gave a saucywink.

“We don’t know who owns her, Isabella,” Annalise added. “The poor thing is probably lost.”

“The ‘poor thing’ probably got dumped when she grew to the size of a baby elephant and started eating the owners out of house and home,” Jack muttered.

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