He bit out a curse, and his teeth nipped my earlobe. “Fucking fine. Go to the truck. I’ll grab the dog. Jesus.”

We wasted no time after that. I went left for the truck. He went right, going back for the dog. I’d just gotten to the truck and opened the door by the time he was there. The dog hung limp in his arms as I jumped up into the seat. He deposited him in my lap and shut the door before sprinting around to his side.

We’d driven one block and were turning east as a cop car came careening around the corner. The sky turned red and blue after that.

“What will happen to that family?”

Raize shook his head. “They’re gone. Police probably have them at a safe house. They might get witness protection, but who knows.” He looked over, and I caught a flash of worry before the stone mask was back in place.

“What?”

“They saw you. They can identify you.”

Dread lined my insides.

“But if they’re being protected, I don’t think it’s because of you. You said you ran from there?”

I nodded.

“Estrada’s guys tracked you down?”

Another nod. “I was bleeding from the dog bite. I didn’t cover my arm in time. I was out of it.”

“I’m thinking they saw Estrada’s men—or they were able to identify the guy you killed as one of Estrada’s.”

“You think they’d take them and protect them because of that?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I think the people got smart, called relatives, and took off. I think the marked car wasn’t supposed to be there tonight. That’s what I think.”

“That’s a lot of thinking.”

He shrugged. “All I know is they saw you, and I don’t like that.”

What about the realtor? I wondered. The other house’s owner?

They’d seen me, too, seen Raize. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

All this happening, the personal shit because it was obvious there was personal shit going on, I heard myself asking, “How do you know Estrada? How do you know his sister?”

He went still, looking back on the road.

My chest was bursting, needing to know, but Raize didn’t respond.

He just kept driving.

I didn’t know if I liked that or not, if I should push or not?

Then I didn’t. He went back to the house.

Raize took the dog, not a word spoken between us, and we went inside.

Jake took one look. “We got a dog?!”

23

Ash

I liked the new place. It was an older home, and it was set back on a big piece of land. I didn’t want to think about how Raize had come to find this, but it had furniture. That was a bonus. I mean, the furniture was old. There were doilies on the wall as decoration pieces, and there were spiderwebs in almost every corner and under the beds. The place needed a full cleaning, which Cavers and I took care of the next day.

Now that things weren’t so dusty, I really loved having a bed. My spot was situated in the back corner of the second floor. Raize waited until Jake and Cavers were off on an errand and then he’d showed me a hidden door that led to a secret room and to a back exit.

The new dog’s name was Gus.

I’d wanted to name him Snake or Biter, but the guys outvoted me and Raize just left the room when asked for his vote.

So Gus it was.

After the attack, I got a better look at Gus and I still had no clue what breed he was. Cavers weighed him so we knew he was fifty seven pounds. He had short hair. Ears that stuck up. Smart eyes. His coat was a mix of all colors. He liked to smile and he’d nudged my arm more than once. I always took that as his apology for biting me.

I’d worried he’d miss that other family, but he hadn’t. So far.

When he woke from being drugged, he’d been funny. Walking around with his back legs half dragging. His head down. Eyes barely open. He kept walking into things, as if he were blind. Once he really woke up, the tail started going and he hadn’t done a search for his family. He was probably the most adjusted of all of us. That was saying something.

Raize had had one of his other men watch the house, to see if anyone came for the dog. After three days, no one showed, and Gus was officially ours. Jake confessed later that he’d always liked Gus the mouse from Cinderella, and that had sealed the deal for me. Consider me swayed.

It had been days since Raize had taken me on any errand, and I was getting restless. I didn’t particularly want a redo of the sex, so one afternoon I asked him if he or Jake could take me out for some shooting practice.

He took me.

I practiced on the land, but we went far enough that we had to take the truck. As we returned, we saw Jake and Cavers coming back from an errand.

“I don’t want either of them to know you can shoot a gun,” Raize informed me.

“Jake knows you took me that one time.”

“They don’t need to know you’ve gone more then.”

“Okay.”

He nodded and pulled up behind the guys. Gus was in the back and jumped out, running over to greet the guys as they got out of their car.

“Hey, Gussy Gus Gus Boy.” Jake knelt, giving Gus a rub behind his ears. He straightened when he saw Raize heading over, with me a bit behind. I tucked my gun into the back of my pants and pulled my shirt out and over it.

Since the whole Estrada kidnapping, Cavers had been less walled off toward me, even giving me a good morning and offering to cook a few of the meals. Jake, on the other hand, had been more cautious around me. I wasn’t quite sure why.

“I’m going to walk Gus,” Jake announced with a wave. “Be back.”

Raize glanced back before stepping inside, but he didn’t say anything. He headed for the back room he’d turned into his office.

It was nearing dinnertime, and Cavers was getting things set up in the kitchen.

The last couple days, I’d been helping him out, but today, as I lingered in the doorway, I decided to do something else.

I bypassed the kitchen, headed for Raize’s back office, and opened the door to see him flicking on some machine, a set of wireless headphones in his ears.

He looked up and motioned for me to come in. “Lock the door.”

He went to the window and peered out. I could see Jake going down the long driveway with Gus on his heels. Gus’ nose was to the ground while Jake focused on his phone.

I waited, folding into one of the corner chairs.

A second later, Raize hit a button. Jake’s voice came through a speaker. “...baby, yeah. How are you, beautiful?”

A moment later, a breathy female voice replied, “Hey there, sweetheart. I’m missing you so much.”

“Yeah? How much?”

“I’m so wet for you.”

My mouth dropped, and I could tell Raize was fighting a grin as he bent over some papers.

We were violating Jake’s privacy. Then again, you didn’t get privacy in this world. Ergo, I didn’t get all uppity, though I was uncomfortable hearing Jake talk about how big his dick was. I could see him walking Gus down to the road as he explained how hard he was stroking it.

The call ended when Jake and Gus were halfway back down the drive.