Read Online Red Dog by Jason Miller - Free Book Online

time you decide to play tough with us.”
    â€œI will.”
    â€œGood. Now I got a question or two for you I hope you won’t mind answering.”
    â€œI guess I don’t mind.”
    â€œThanks,” I said. “By the way, where’s Tiffany?”
    He looked confused.
    â€œStar-Child.”
    â€œOh. Her.” Like it was ages ago. “She’s cleared out. You know. After what happened.”
    â€œI guess I’m not surprised.”
    â€œThe guns and stuff. And then the po-po. She ain’t into any of that.”
    â€œMaybe she’ll come back when it blows over.”
    He didn’t have an answer for that. Maybe she’d come back, maybe she wouldn’t. He said, “It’s not my fault.” He wrapped his arms around his skinny chest. They almost went twice. “I wasn’t even there. When Dennis took the dog, I mean.”
    â€œSo the cops have been to see you? The non-mall cops, I mean?”
    â€œNot here,” he said. “Not yet. But they grilled everyoneat the Classic Country, asked if we knew anything. I told them I didn’t know anything. Did you tell them about the dog?”
    â€œI didn’t have any choice but to explain the dog,” I said, “but I didn’t mention your part in it all. I told them Reach had nabbed her and left it at that.”
    â€œI hope they believed you.”
    â€œThey don’t believe anything yet, which is most of the reason I’m here. I got busted for the whole thing.”
    â€œIt wasn’t my idea,” he said. “Dennis needed a place to keep her for a few days. I agreed to watch her. I shouldn’t have.”
    â€œProbably not.”
    He said, “I’m sorry about the water dish, too. I’ve never been able to take care of a plant, much less a pet.”
    â€œSeriously?”
    â€œSeriously, what?”
    â€œThere’s a jungle of plants in here, man. And they all look pretty healthy to me.”
    He waved a hand at it all.
    â€œThat’s different. That’s business.”
    I shook that off. “So Dennis gave you the dog to look after?”
    â€œYeah. He said he was dogsitting but that he couldn’t breathe on account of his allergies, something like that. I knew he was up to something, though. You could always tell when Dennis thought he had someone’s shit in a sack.”
    â€œBut then after a couple days you figured you’d make a few bucks off her, extort her owners a little?”
    He almost looked ashamed.
    â€œI guess I did. I saw a flyer for the dog up there near Belco and it mentioned a reward. Another thing about Dennis is he doesn’t pay very well.”
    â€œDidn’t pay very well,” I corrected.
    â€œThat neither.”
    â€œDid Reach tell you why he snatched her in the first place?”
    â€œHe never even really admitted that he’d stolen her. Folks around the club had it that her owner was supposed to owe him money or something. Maybe that has something to do with it.”
    â€œI don’t guess you ever met anyone named Cleaves, did you?”
    â€œCleaves? Not to my recollection, no.”
    â€œWho’s Carol Ray?” I asked.
    â€œDennis’s ex. Wife number three, memory serves.”
    â€œYou have any idea where I can find her?”
    â€œI think she lives somewhere near Freeman Spur. Look out, though.”
    â€œTough?”
    â€œLike all Dennis’s women. He liked them that way, I guess.”
    â€œAsk me, he liked things tough all around.”
    Wesley said, “Lots of folks do, you look around a little.”
    I said I guessed that was right. I thanked him for his time and stood to go. I walked to the door and paused a moment and finally turned and said, “Son, you really should get these things out of here. Your crop. If the sheriffs everstop by for a chat, you’ll need to get reincarnated to serve out the jolt they’ll drop on