Listen to Your Heart - Fern Michaels [42]
“A bottle of scotch.”
The young girl giggled. “You know I can’t do that, Mr. Brouillette.”
Paul sighed. God, how he hated hospitals. He hated the smells, the canvas curtains that surrounded his bed, and he hated the sounds coming from the hallway. He wished he could swing his legs over the side of the bed and leave. Hell, he didn’t even know where his clothes were, and he wasn’t about to go traipsing around in the nightgown he was wearing with his ass hanging out. He wondered if he was being punished for sins he’d committed in his life.
Paul closed his eyes and thought about Josie Dupré. He wondered what she would say when he told her he wanted to hire her for a special Mother’s Day event, if only he could find his sister’s husband and child. What better gift to give his mother? The grandchild she hadn’t seen in years and years. The daughter of her own daughter. He made a mental note to call the detective agency to inquire as to progress. In six months he should have found something. There had been so many hot leads that turned cold in the beginning. Now it was just tiresome gumshoe work, as the detective put it. His parting shot had been that if you persevered you would prevail.
Jack looked at the phone in his hand, the dial tone ringing in his ear. A deep frown spread across his brow. What the hell was Paul up to now? More to the point, where the hell was he? “I bet you planned this all along, you schmuck,” he mumbled. Zip whined at his feet. With Paul a few more days could well turn into three months. He should know. He’d fallen for Paul’s tricks before. In the end, what was a few more days? He loved Zip, and the little hairball was starting to grow on him. He tried not to think of the owner with the big feet and what she was going through. Maybe he should take both dogs back and suffer the consequences. Yeah, that’s what he would do as soon as he showered and shaved. He tried not to make eye contact with either dog because he was convinced they could read his mind. Better to plop them in his car, which was returned during the night, and drive over to the house where he picked up the dogs.
Paul finished his coffee and then poured another cup, which he took with him to the upstairs shower. He was ready to go in less than an hour. He spent another five minutes trying to look contrite in front of the mirror. Satisfied, he called the dogs. “Got some errands to run, Zip. Want to come along?”
The big boxer raced to the door, Rosie on his heels. Getting them in the car was going to be the true test. In the end he had no trouble when he picked up Rosie and settled her on the backseat. He lost his balance and went flying into a flower bed when Zip raced past him and leaped onto the backseat.
“You need some manners, Zip my boy,” Jack grumbled as he started up the car. Ten minutes later he barely missed hitting a telephone pole when Zip howled in his ear. “Yeah, this is the place. I’m going to have to pay for that door you played with last night. Hold it, hold it! Let me turn the damn car off first.”
Whoever she was, she was mad as hell. He watched to see if smoke would billow out of her ears before he opened the car door.
“You stole my dogs, you son of a bitch! I see them in your car. Open the door before I pop you good.” Not bothering to wait for her order to be obeyed, Josie yanked at the door. Both dogs hit the driveway running. “Get back here, Rosie! Who are you? I’m calling the police! You stand right there, mister, and don’t even think about moving.”
“Hey . . . listen . . . You got this all wrong . . . I . . .”
“Shut up!”
“Don’t tell me to shut up! I’m doing you a favor. I brought your dog back. I didn’t know it was a package deal. You should thank me. Where’s the lady with the . . . ?”
“With the what?”
“The fat one with the big feet. Where is she? Wild-looking hair! Paul said she was watching Zip. He went through the door when I came to get him. Obviously, you weren’t home. I couldn’t leave the little one, so I took her, too. I called you several times. You don’t answer your phone either.