Chapter 34 #2
Millie huffed out a breath. “That’s rude. And this isn’t my first animal rescue, either! Maybe I’ll join this group that you belong to, Maya.”
Um.
Well, Maya wasn’t so sure about that. It was kind of dangerous and she was learning that having friends meant that she really wanted to protect them. She didn’t want anything happening to Millie.
“No, you will not,” Matthieu told Millie. Then he turned to Maya. “And you will have nothing more to do with them.”
Well. She couldn’t agree to that.
“What sort of rescues have you been on with them?” Millie asked.
“Um, well, all sorts. I’ve rescued animals from abusive situations. And I’ve been to protests about animal testing and stuff. Anyway, let’s get this situation sorted first. What is your plan?”
“I thought that someone could create a distraction while the other two people go in and grab all of the puppies,” Millie suggested.
Hmm. It had potential. It just needed a bit of tweaking.
“What sort of distraction were you thinking?” Maya asked. This could make or break the plan.
“I was thinking . . . fire or maybe a car accident. I could crash my car into a power pole. Or into the front fence. Yeah, that would work. That would bring everyone in the house running out.”
“How many people are in there, do you know?” Maya asked. That plan did sound like it might work. But it would depend on how quickly she and Matthieu could work to grab the dogs. They needed some more hands.
“No,” Matthieu said. “We are not doing that.”
Headlights appeared behind them before she could start arguing with him over that decision. He was being rather short-sighted in her mind. They could make this work.
Matthieu frowned and turned to look at the vehicle behind them. Then he let out a sigh.
“Finally. Back-up.”
Huh? What did that mean?
He unlocked the car doors and a back door opened.
“What the hell are you thinking, Millie?” a voice asked.
“Spike!” Millie cried cheerfully. “You’re here! This is awesome. We really need an extra pair of hands.”
“Do you just? To do what?”
“To rescue the puppies, of course,” Millie said. “We can’t leave them there. I’m going to create the distraction, you guys rush in and grab all of the puppies. Wait, how did you know to come here? What are you doing here?”
Had Millie only just thought of that?
“Sav called me,” Spike said as he settled into the seat next to Millie and closed the car door behind him.
Millie threw her arms around him like she hadn’t seen him in ages.
She kissed his cheek several times and to Maya’s surprise, Spike didn’t say a word.
She didn’t know why, but he kind of looked like a guy who wasn’t into PDA.
Not that she knew him and Millie was such a warm and loving person that she wasn’t sure why it surprised her.
He was a big guy and as she took more of him in, she could see that he was very serious looking. Stern.
“Sav called you?” Matthieu asked. “Livvy knew about this?”
Uh-oh.
She’d gotten Livvy involved in this and if she was in trouble that was her fault too. Maya could feel a tight knot forming in her stomach and the guilt kept feeding it. Making it tighter, making it burn.
What had she been thinking?
“Maya, are you all right?” Matthieu asked.
His hand landed on hers and she realized she’d been rubbing her stomach.
“I’m so sorry,” she blurted out, turning to Millie and the rather-scary Spike.
“Why are you sorry?” Millie asked.
“For involving you and Livvy. For getting you both in trouble. You could have gotten hurt following David here, spying on the house. I shouldn’t have told you.”
“I told you before, this isn’t your fault. This is about the welfare of these puppies and I wouldn’t have been happy if you hadn’t told me what was going on. What would you have done if you’d been the one to follow David home?” Millie asked.
Um.
“Not sure I should answer that on the basis that it might incriminate me,” she replied.
“Ooh, good answer,” Millie told her. “You should be a lawyer. You could be a Little lawyer!” She bounced up and down.
“Millie,” Spike said in a low voice that she recognized because Matthieu had used that tone of voice on her before.
“What?” Millie asked.
“Is Maya even a Little?” he asked in a quiet voice. “And if she is, she might not want that announced in front of people she hardly knows.”
“Oh! Oh no! Maya, I’m so sorry. Sometimes I speak without thinking,” Millie said.
Now she felt even more terrible. She didn’t want Millie to be upset.
“I’m fine,” she said hastily. “Don’t worry about what you said, okay? I know about Littles.”
But she wasn’t going to admit to being one. Not in front of Matthieu, anyway. She wasn’t ready for that.
“Whew,” Millie said. “I don’t want to upset you. We’re still friends?”
“Of course we are. If you still want to be friends after I got you into trouble.” She snuck a look at Scary Spike.
“Don’t worry,” Scary Spike said. “Millie gets herself into trouble all on her own. She can sniff out trouble and she likes to dive in feet first without thinking first.”
“Hey! I think first. I just don’t always agree with what I’m thinking.” Millie shrugged. “My life has worked out pretty good so far.”
“Only pretty good?” Spike asked in a dry voice.
“I mean, excellent! Wonderful! Marvellous! It’s dino-delicious!”
“That’s what I thought,” Spike said. “It’s also going to be standing-only for a while.”
“Well, that’s just rude,” Millie said. “Why is that?”
“Why is that?” Spike repeated. “Why do you think?”
“I don’t know. I guess it could be because I’m late getting home. But I really don’t think I should be spanked for that. I’m often late home.”
“What are you supposed to do when you finish your class?” Spike asked.
“Text you. But I did!”
“Did you go to the class?” Spike asked.
Maya heard Millie swallow. “Yes.”
“And did you go have coffee after?”
“Well, I thought about it. That should count, right?”
“It does not,” Spike replied. “You didn’t go have coffee like you told me. Instead, you followed the puppies back here. You didn’t tell me where you were going, what you were doing, or when you would return home.”
‘That could be true,” Millie admitted.
“And why didn’t you tell me what was going on, Millie?” Spike asked.
“Because I knew you’d be a party pooper. You’re as negative as Matthieu!”
“Millie,” he warned.
“Fine. I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t approve of the plan. But we have to rescue the puppies, Spike!”
“I know we have to rescue the puppies,” Spike replied. “Do you really think that I would leave animals in that situation?”
“No, it’s just . . . I didn’t think you would approve of the plan,” Millie said to him.
“What plan?” Spike asked.
“Well, where I followed David and the puppies and found where they’re being held. Then, when I discovered the situation they’re being kept in, I messaged back-up. So now the plan is for me to create a big distraction and you guys to go in and grab all the puppies.”
“Distraction?” Spike asked in a strangled-sounding voice.
“Yeah, I was thinking of crashing into the front fence.”
“I want to laugh because you’re joking,” Spike said with a groan. “Unfortunately, I know you’re not joking.”
“Of course not. Why would I joke about something this serious?” Millie exclaimed.
“Maybe I should do the distraction,” Maya offered. Then Millie wouldn’t be at the forefront of danger. Although grabbing the dogs could potentially be dangerous too. And Maya was the one with the most experience with traumatized animals.
“That’s not happening,” Matthieu told her firmly.
“Neither of you are doing the distracting,” Spike said.
“Oh, are you going to do it?” Millie said. She kissed Spike enthusiastically. “What a good idea! They won’t get so mad at you.” She turned to look at Maya. “For some reason, people find Spike scary and intimidating. Can you believe that nonsense?”
How the heck did she answer that?
“No, I can’t believe it.”
Matthieu snorted quietly from beside her, obviously reading her tone.
“Wait, you said that Sav called you?” Millie asked. “Livvy told him?”
“He saw a message on her phone, apparently,” Spike told her.
“Tut-tut, that’s just wrong,” Millie stated. “What was he thinking? You’d never read my messages.”
“I’m starting to think that I should,” Spike replied.
“Daddy!” Millie cried. “That’s not nice. Those are private.”
“If you’re going to put yourself in danger, then I’m going to have to start reading them.”
“Sheesh, that’s rude. What do you think of that, Maya?”
“Umm. Yep, that’s rude.” She knew the girl code. She had to agree with Millie.
No matter what.
Also, she wouldn’t want Matthieu to start reading her text messages.
Not that Matthieu is yours, anyway.
That was true.
She chewed her lip. “Do you think Livvy is in trouble?” From what she knew of Sav, he was extremely protective.
“Not as much trouble as the two of you,” Spike said.
“Daddy! You can’t say that about Maya. She’s not in trouble.”
“Oh yes, she is,” Matthieu said.
“Why am I in trouble?” Maya asked. “I didn’t sneak out of the house. I told you what I was doing.”
“You didn’t tell me about any of this until it reached a critical level,” Matthieu said.
Yeah, but still . . . she didn’t think she should be in trouble. And they were all getting away from the topic at hand.
“What are we going to do then? What’s the plan if we’re not using Millie’s one?”
“Anyone done any recon?” Spike asked. “Any idea where in the house the puppies are being held?”
“Uh-oh,” Millie said.
“Uh-oh?” Spike said in a low voice. “Please tell me you did not recon the place.”
“I cannot tell you that.”
“Millie,” he groaned.
Obviously, Spike hadn’t seen the photos that Millie had taken.
“Right. Here’s what is going to happen,” Matthieu said. “We’re going to call the appropriate authorities and lodge a complaint about this place.”
“What?” Millie exclaimed. “No way! We’re here right now. We need to do something. That will take too long.”