Hot Revenge Box Set 2

And I keep talking. “What a nice lot of boys and girls. All these doggies... What a lot of lovely doggies…” Nonsense words. Not meaning anything. Just a vehicle for a calm voice. Intended to soothe. Designed to disarm.

I keep speaking and the stranger brushes by, trying to introduce himself to Scruffy, ignoring me. As he comes close, I let my hand trail over his fur. “Blackie. What a nice boy. What a good boy Blackie is.”

His ears are pricking us, and he brushes by again, now exchanging sniffs with Emma. Archie grumbles low and Blackie cows, dropping to his stomach. Archie prances up, fur bristling, tail upright and Blackie whines then sits by me. His eyes softening by the moment, he pants heavily.

Still moving carefully, I take off my belt then make a loop of the end. Holding it loosely in my hand, I let it dangle, very casually, then trail the other hand over his fur. “What a nice boy. What a good boy Blackie is. Blackie’s far too nice to be nasty.”

He relaxes completely. And as I show him the belt, doesn’t react at all. Moving carefully, I loop it over his head and then slowly stand. “Heel.”

And he curves around behind me to stand by my right side.

“So,” says Klempner, from his spot a few yards away, “What now?”

“I just want to check something.”

He follows silently as, Blackie on his ‘lead’, I skirt the thicket he was sheltering in. “There…” I point. “See?”

“Pawprints?”

“Pawprints running both ways. Lots of them. He’s been dashing up and down trying to find someone. He’s been dumped. Some bastard’s just left him here and he’s been trying to find them. How does a dog understand that the people he loves would just abandon him?”

Klempner looks down at Blackie, his expression thoughtful.

*****

as we

Richard exchange looks. “I’m almost certain…” says

I’ve come back with six. Yes, I know. I couldn’t

a good-looking animal. You

about a year old to me. He’s big, but he’s still a bit gangly. Not

voice hisses from the

I reply. “There’s a special place in

d’you want this lot?” asks Larry, wincing away from where a holly branch prickles at his

him through to the dining

ceremony, dumps his load of holly on the tiles. Standing with his back to the fire, “Is there anything hot to drink? I’m

up a whiskey bottle. “Coffee with a

“Perfect.”

*****

coffee, Larry and I sit by the hearth. Ryan pulls up a chair. His earlier tension looks to have dissolved, replaced by a kind of softness in his

“Blowed if I know.”

squirming for position on the rug. Blackie circles a bit then

“That was an interesting performance. You’ve done

“Oh, yes.”

a thick layer of floating cream.

so much as you might think. You just have to put yourself inside their heads. You see it a lot with mistreated dogs. They’ve had their trust shattered. They don’t know who

drops and whines. Klempner stares. “That dog could swallow her

with dogs. It’s all about dominance and the pecking order. And democracy is a human concept. Not a

to glow… “… When they’ve been mistreated, they're scared stupid and they don't know how to cope. So, they lash out at whoever's near. That’s how you create a really dangerous animal. But if you make them feel safe… Wanted... Loved... It turns them around. They become what nature always intended them to be. A warm, willing, friendly animal. Part of their