Page 7 of Wag More Bark Less

A Subaru Forester the deep blue color of Glimmerstone Lake with Washington plates sat empty on the left side of my shared driveway. A pile of luggage was stationed on the small covered porch—suitcases, a backpack, a bright yellow cup with a straw, a wicker basket with a hanging polka-dotted sock caught under the lid, and a massive dog bed plopped on top of it all. How big is this dog anyway?

I caught a sigh against the backs of my teeth and rolled my shoulders.

The porch steps and swing were empty. No signs of the woman who’d blown up the message feature on the app. No signs of the obedience school dropout.

Well . . . shit.

I followed the cobblestone path around the side of the duplex to check the backyard, but it was deserted, aside from a gray squirrel perched on the corner of my fence. He faced away, tail swishing, no doubt preparing to jump. He’d been trying to best Mrs. Granger’s squirrel-proof bird feeder since I installed it for her a couple of weeks ago.

Before returning to the driveway, I watched as the furry critter launched himself and slid immediately down the pole. The little guy had determination, I’d give him that.

With the neighborhood quiet aside from a kid on a bike a block away, I finally pulled my phone from my uniform pocket and scrolled through the unending stream of messages on the app I’d been ignoring.

Fuck, just what I needed: a chatty guest.

Guest 986: The code doesn’t work.

Guest 986: Can you verify the code?

Guest 986: The one I have is 1577

Guest 986: I’ve tried it three times.

Guest 986: If I get it wrong a fourth time, it says I’ll be locked out.

Guest 986: Welp. I’m locked out.

Guest 986: Sorry!

Guest 986: Are you around?

Guest 986: I think you need to reset the code.

Guest 986: Hello?

Guest 986: Are you ignoring me because of my dog?

Guest 986: I’ve read your pet policy ten times. Ellie meets the criteria.

Guest 986: I’ve already paid your hefty deposit to bring her.

Guest 986: And anyway, I thought you agreed to meet her.

Guest 986: So why aren’t you here to meet her?

Guest 986: Okay, I’ll level with you. I have to pee.

Guest 986: Can you please hurry?

Guest 986: It’s DEFCON level 1.

Guest 986: I’m really not trying to break in, but things are getting desperate.

Guest 986: Did I mention it’s DEFCON level 1?

That was it. The stream of messages ended there.

Shit. Did she break in?