page93 (1/2)

And all this to keep a dao He’d done it without thought Or at least without enough thought Cory Grant had been his friend, and it was a promise he surely would never be called upon to keep

And yet here he was—

He heard the sound of tires on wet asphalt He turned, spotted an older, so He threw out his thu as it passed him

His head caest sound he’d ever heard a car make

The car stopped And then it began to back up Straight, steady, not even a wobble But as it got to a few feet away he heard that sound again And he suddenly realized it wasn’t the car at all, but the dog inside he was hearing A dog as barking like crazy, loud, sharp and insistent

The car cah the backDark fur, alert ears and uncanny eyes that were fixed on hiing slightly It was a different color than his head and shoulders, a sort of reddish brown But it definitely agging That was good, wasn’t it? His spirits rose at the thought of getting out of the stors a rest

The driver’s door opened, and the barking was instantly louder A ot out, turned and looked at him over the top of the vehicle He was tall, lean and looked solidlyThose were a pair of eyes that had seen too much, and too much of it bad

“You want a ride, get in,” the

Jace hesitated But then the dog upped the pitch a notch, and suddenly theowner

“Please,” he said with a roll of his eyes as water streamed down his face “Get in so he’ll shut up”

Jace wasn’t sure why the guy thought hi in would quiet the anied the whole tenor of the thing, and his wariness faded He reached for the passenger door handle

Thewent quiet

“Thank God,” the driver ot back in, more than a little wet himself now When Jace closed his door, the sound of the rain was instantlyit into every conceivable place Jace let out a sigh of relief