Page 97 of Beware of Dog

“I just wanna know if we should expect your obituary soon.” He cracked a grin.

“My brothers like Shep,” Cass said. Lied.

Bothof them snorted at her.

The waitress arrived, topped up Shep’s mug, and asked Cass, “What about you, hon?”

“Yes, please.” Shep lifted her mug so neither woman had to reach, and then nudged over the dish of creamer pods after he set it back down.

“No more talking about this,” Shep said, gesturing between the two of them. “What’s Dixon say about the trial? Is there a way for the D.A. to win this thing?”

Pongo shrugged. “Dixie says the A.D.A. who’s taking the case only tries sexual assaults, and that she’s a total shark.”

“But?” Cass asked. “It sounded like you wanted to put a ‘but’ on the end of that sentence.”

Pongo made a face and cut into his waffle stack with the side of his fork. “The Blackmons are rich. Their attorney’s gonna try some tricky shit to get him off.”

“Asshole,” Shep muttered.

“Is your friend gonna hold up, you think?” Pongo asked.

Cass sighed. “I hope so.”

Pongo didn’t linger. He inhaled his waffles, slapped a ten down on the table, and volunteered to make the dealer rounds on Shep’s behalf before he went to relieve Topino on the next shift in Brooklyn.

“Thank you,” Cass told him, sincerely, when Shep only offered a parting wave.

When he was gone, she pushed her plate to the side, burger half-eaten, not as hungry as she’d thought, and angled her body against the table so she faced Shep. She propped her chin in her hand. “Question.”

He nodded to her plate, his own ham and home fries decimated. “You gonna finish that?”

She nudged the plate his way.

“Shoot,” he said, in response to her inquiry, and snagged the rest of her burger.

“Do you actually dislike your club brothers?”

He froze mid-chew, and his eyes skated over.What?his expression clearly said.

“You act like you don’t like them,” she said, fighting a smile. “But do you? Or is it, I don’t know, a defensive mechanism?”

He swallowed and reached for his coffee, mouth a flat line. “Okay, I buy you brunch, and I get psychoanalyzed for it?”

Oh, it wassodefensive, she thought. “I’m only curious.”

“Nuh-uh, don’t gimme that look, like you’re innocent.” He aimed his mug at her. “You haven’t been innocent a day in your life.”

She batted her lashes.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered, and bent back over the plate.

“Come on, I’m only asking.”

He set the burger back down without taking a bite. “What do you want me to say? I don’thatethem. Sometimes they’re useful. Occasionally they don’t annoy me.”

“Babe, that’s sad.”

His brows shot up. “Who’s sad? I’mgreat.” He picked the burger back up and gestured to the plate. “Eat these fries so I don’t have to do extra cardio at the gym.”

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