17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
S he was angry, and he couldn’t blame her.
This hadn’t gone the way either of them had hoped.
Parker had talked to the suspect. The first question he asked him was where was Odie. The suspect refused to answer. After trying again and again, Parker moved on to other questions.
Finally, the suspect opened up about his motivation for taking Belle’s dog and vandalizing her house.
It seemed the suspect felt he’d been cheated out of his portion of the family estate.
The suspect also knew about a secret his father had told him many years ago—back before he was kicked out of the will.
After his father’s death, the family had been searching for those bearer bonds but couldn’t find them.
It appeared when their father got on in years that he got eccentric.
He hid lots of things, including all of the flatware, which made eating difficult.
They had to buy him plastic flatware. He hid those as well.
Parker tried again to get the guy to divulge what he’d done with Odie, but he refused to speak of the dog. It gave Parker an uneasy feeling in his gut.
When his phone rang, and it was Belle, he let it go to voicemail. He just couldn’t tell her that they still had no idea where her beloved dog was. He had some more digging to do before he was willing to give her that news.
Next, they executed a search warrant on the suspect’s house. Parker was there. He didn’t know what he expected to find. The place was a small white bungalow. The outside appeared to be in disrepair with peeling paint and torn screens on the windows.
Once inside, Parker found the interior of the home dirty and unkempt. There were dirty dishes piled in the sink, and the trash was overflowing. Parker found himself gagging more than once. This was bad, really bad.
“Back here,” Deputy Williams called out.
Parker stepped toward the back of the small house. There was a bathroom straight ahead with a bedroom on either side. He glanced to the left and then the right, where he spotted Williams.
When he stepped up to the doorway of the bedroom, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Odie was there being fussed over by another deputy. He breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t wait to tell Belle. He knew how worried she was about Odie.
His gaze continued to move about the room, and that was when he noticed the room was clean. There was a dog bed, little pastel blankets, and dog toys. This room conflicted with the rest of the house. It made no sense.
“Can you believe this?” Williams asked. “It doesn’t look like the man had any intention of giving Odie back. I mean, look at that basket full of toys.” Williams leaned down and picked up one of the toys. “It’s a hedgehog.”
Williams gave the toy a squeeze. The hedgehog let out a loud squeak. Odie ran over and started jumping for the toy. Williams gave it to him. The pup ran around the room with it in his mouth and his tail wagging.
“Can you find a leash?” Parker asked. “I have to make a call, and then I’m taking him home.”
“What about the house?” Williams asked.
“You’re in charge of the search. Make sure nothing is overlooked.”
“Yes, sir.”
Parker stepped out of the house and drew in some fresh air. He pulled up Belle’s number and then pressed the phone to his ear. The phone rang only once before Belle came on the line.
“Did you find Odie? Is he okay?”
“We found him. And yes, he’s okay. He misses you.”
“He…” Her voice cracked. “He’s really okay?”
“Yes, he is.” There was a pause, and Parker imagined her with tears of joy.
“Where is he?” she asked. “I want to come get him.”
“I’m bringing him to you.”
“I can’t wait. Please. Tell me where you are.”
“I’m going to scoop him up and head to you right now.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you soon.”
Parker was smiling by the time he slipped the phone back into his pocket. Finally, Belle was going to have her happily ever after, with the dog of course. But at last, the time was right for him to officially ask her out.
She was so excited.
And yet she wouldn’t let that excitement out.
Belle paced back and forth in her house.
She’d sent Candi and Michael home a while ago, promising she’d be fine.
They didn’t want to go, but they understood she just wanted a little time alone.
They told her to call if she needed anything.
The only thing she needed was her puppy and Parker was bringing him to her.
She wanted to smile and squeal with excitement, but she couldn’t let herself.
She was afraid of jinxing it. She remembered her parents’ car accident.
When the deputy had taken such pains to hold back the bad news, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that both of her parents were alive and well.
When they reached the hospital, and she was told her father had passed, it felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under her. She tried but she couldn’t get her footing after that. It always felt as though everything was off kilter.
When they informed her that her mother was still hanging in there, she’d clung to that news like it was a life preserver.
She couldn’t deal with the loss of her father, so she’d pinned all of her hopes on her mother surviving.
So much so that she didn’t hear the cautions the doctors issued with each update.
And then later that night, she’d fallen asleep in the waiting area. She had been jostled awake to find out that she’d lost not just one parent but both of them. The pain was just too much. She’d closed off her heart after her entire world had been upended. To this day, she remained guarded.
Well, that wasn’t quite true. When Odie entered her life, everything changed. She didn’t know how to explain it. They’d clicked at first sight. It was like they were meant to be.
He peeled back the protective wall around her scarred heart and snuggled in. He was the one that opened her eyes to see how much she missed by keeping everyone at arm’s length.
Thankfully, the little guy was on his way home. She should plug in the Christmas tree because he liked the little lights, but she didn’t do it. She should put his favorite blanket on the couch, but she didn’t do it either.
She couldn’t let herself believe that Odie was truly coming home because if he didn’t—if something happened—it would crush her just like it had on that long ago night at the hospital. She wouldn’t let herself celebrate until she held Odie in her arms and saw with her own eyes he was all right.
Instead, she paced and waited. And then she heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. She slipped on her boots before yanking open the front door. She rushed out onto the porch and spotted Parker’s pickup.
Odie is home!
Her heart leaped with glee. She ran off the porch and headed straight for the pickup.
Parker got out and rounded the front of the pickup.
In that moment, her gaze was laser-focused on the passenger’s seat.
When she got closer, she saw Odie. His tail was wagging about a million swishes a minute.
The wags were so intense his whole backside moved with his tail.
Happy tears blurred her vision as she reached for the door handle at the same time as Parker. His warm hand wrapped over hers. She blinked back the tears and looked at him. Her heart lodged in her throat. In that moment, she didn’t have the words to tell him how much this meant to her.
Odie barked and pawed the window, pulling her attention away from Parker. She pulled her hand away from Parker’s touch.
“Let me get the door for you.” He moved off to the side. “Are you ready?”
A big smile pulled at her lips. She was so ready for this. “Yes.”
Parker opened the door, and then Odie leaped into her arms. He lathered her with puppy kisses. She closed her eyes and let the puppy shower her with love.
It was only then that the fear she’d been holding back hit her. Tears rushed to her eyes, and she hugged Odie close. With the light snowflakes fluttering through the night sky, they stood there. She didn’t know how much time passed as she hugged Odie.
“I love you,” she whispered.
She pulled herself together and carried Odie into the house. When he saw the basket with his toys in it, he wiggled to get down. She put him on the floor. He started sniffing everything. He explored each room as though making sure nothing had changed during his absence.
She stepped over to Parker. When her gaze met his, her heart tumbled in her chest. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Looks like he’s happy to be home.”
She glanced over at Odie as he nosed his way through his toys. “I missed him so much.”
“He missed you too.”
She was hesitant to ask but she had to know. “Were they mean to him?”
“You will be relieved to know that he was well taken care of.”
“Really?” She had a hard time believing it after her imagination betrayed her and conjured up so many horrific scenarios.
Parker nodded. “He was all set up in a bedroom with toys and blankets.”
“But I don’t understand. Why would this guy do that?”
Parker paused, as though weighing what to say to her. “I think he was planning to keep Odie.”
Belle gasped. Her gaze moved to the puppy as he grabbed his green squeaky alligator. Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
She had been right to worry about not seeing him again. But she was thankful that Odie had been well-cared for. She couldn’t really have asked for more.
There was a part of her that wanted to shut down her emotions—to not love the little puppy with her whole heart—because she knew too well the total devastation of losing someone whom she loved. She didn’t want to feel that sort of pain again.
Odie meandered over to the Christmas tree. He nosed at the lower limbs of the pine tree. He was probably searching for an ornament to steal. He thought it was a fun game. She did not.
But since the debacle with the Christmas tree, there weren’t many ornaments left, so there were none in the vicinity of the puppy. He continued to walk around the tree.