Forever Wild. Allyson Charles

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СКАЧАТЬ waving goodbye to the woman in the booth. Running across the parking lot, she looked once more over her shoulder. Aside from Dax bringing up the rear, no one was coming after her. She tugged on her door handle, but it was locked.

      “Let me just put the dog in the back and we’ll head out.” Dax pointed his key fob and unlocked the doors.

      She pulled a side door open, and William jumped into the seat. “I think he wants to sit up front with us.” And it would get them out of there that much sooner. She climbed in behind him, prodding the dog until he made room for her. She slammed the door closed and slunk down in her seat.

      Dax frowned but circled to the driver’s side. He climbed in and stared at them. “The other dogs will get jealous.”

      “The other dogs don’t have the same independent spirit.” She looked from the key dangling from his fingers to the ignition and back. “Can we go now?”

      “As soon as you put on your seat belt.”

      Lissa muttered a curse but did as he said. “Safety first with you, right?”

      Dax shrugged and put the van into gear. They bumped across the lot until they hit the smooth pavement of the road. He backtracked the way they’d come, heading for the interstate.

      She checked her side mirror, but no one came tearing after them. Her muscles slowly began to unwind.

      How the heck had they found her? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. Hell, she didn’t even really know where she was going. Yet Morris’s goons had tracked her. She pulled her phone from her pack and stared at it forlornly. It was the only connection to Morris she could think of. She sighed. It had taken so many beautiful pictures of her art, but all good things had to come to an end.

      Rolling down the window, she nonchalantly hooked her elbow over the edge and draped her hand outside. When they hit the interstate, she uncurled her fingers. The roar of the freeway muffled any sound of its destruction. She rolled the window back up.

      William circled in the middle seat, trying to find a comfortable spot. Dax ruffled his ears, his long, tapered fingers disappearing into the dog’s fur. Those fingers were so gentle with the dog but had pulled his body weight up like it was nothing. She pulled her sketch pad back out.

      “Speaking of safety, scaling a wall and running along the top of it probably won’t earn you the safety merit badge. You do have great balance, though.” She sketched the outline of his hand on the wheel, focusing on the ridges of his knuckles. A white scar was etched across his index finger.

      “It’s my job.” He turned the radio down a notch. “I take people rock climbing, off-trail hiking, rafting through class-five rapids. For me, it wasn’t dangerous. But for William here, it could have been.”

      She smiled at his use of the dog’s new name. “He was fine.” She scratched the dog’s chin and cooed at him.

      “Because we got lucky.” Dax shook his head. “But you shouldn’t have called him up to you. You can risk your own neck climbing where you don’t belong, but you shouldn’t bring an innocent animal into the situation.”

      She stopped drawing. “Wait. You’re blaming me? Not that I think there was any danger, but you were the one who didn’t secure William properly. I don’t see why that was my fault.”

      “Do you take any responsibility for your actions?” He glanced at the backpack at her feet. “You seem to flit through life as if there are no consequences to what you do. A person can get hurt that way.”

      Resting her elbow on the window frame, she propped her head in her hand. “Who hurt you?” she asked lightly. “You’re way too young to be this serious. Life is about having fun. Exploring. Creating. If you follow all the rules, you’ll never climb out of the box society wants to keep you in.”

      He gripped the wheel. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but rules exist for a reason.”

      “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “But I’m not giving up on you yet. I’ll get you to let loose before it’s all over.” Dropping her head, she continued shading in the sketch of his hand.

      She almost missed Dax’s muttered words. “God help us all.”

      A grin spread across her face, but thinking Dax wouldn’t appreciate it, she let her hair hang down to block it from view.

      Chapter 4

      Dax waited until he heard the click of the dead bolt being thrown before releasing a deep breath. Finally. His responsibility to the little stowaway was over. She was safe and secure in a motel in Pineville, one that had a safe, and she was no longer his concern.

      The curtain of the window next to the door flew open. Lissa smiled out at him and waggled her fingers. Then she stretched, full-bodied, her mouth opening in a silent yawn. The garish Elvis T-shirt she’d changed into slid up to reveal a cute button of a navel and the shadows under her lowest ribs.

      Dax’s mouth went dry. He turned and hustled for the van. No good could come of his thoughts. That woman was not for him. He hopped into the driver’s seat, and the Bluetick pounced, butting Dax’s chin with his nose and whining for attention.

      Dax chuckled and devoted a minute to giving the dog some love. “You weren’t meant for road trips, were you, William? You just want to run free.” A sentiment Dax could understand. He flipped down his visor and stared at the picture of the Off-Road Adventures van in the faint light of a streetlamp. Being his own boss. Choosing which tours to run himself, what new territory to explore. It was everything he could hope for.

      He checked his phone for the fourth time. Mr. Cooke’s message still read the same. His meeting was rescheduled for next week. Dax ran a hand through his hair. He’d been hoping to get an appointment for tomorrow, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He was lucky the loan officer had still agreed to see him.

      William whined in his ear.

      “Okay, boy, let’s go home.” Dax prodded William into the passenger seat and started the van. “Or at least your home until someone adopts you.”

      The drive to the shelter only took fifteen minutes. The streets were mostly empty that late at night, especially when Dax hit Route 9, the road that connected Pineville to Clarion Township. The highway was black as pitch until the moon came out from behind a cloud. Dax drove through a copse of fir trees before the road opened up to wind between cornfields. The farmland ended and the land beside the highway was just starting to change into woods again when his headlights lit up the sign for Forever Friends.

      The shelter was located in an unincorporated area between the two towns. It sat on a thirty-acre lot, bounded by the Blue Haven River at the back edge of the property. The shelter itself was converted from an abandoned mill and the whole kit and kaboodle had been donated for the shelter’s use by a very generous woman who just happened to be dating the Forever Friend’s veterinarian. Dax couldn’t think of a space that could be more perfect for the rescued dogs.

      Turning into the driveway, Dax ignored the parking lot at the front for visitors and headed around back. He wasn’t surprised to see the lights in both the office and the infirmary still on.

      He’d snapped on the first dog’s leash when the back door swung open.

      “’Bout СКАЧАТЬ