The Dog Town Collection by Sandy Rideout

Author:Sandy Rideout [Rideout, Sandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781989303320
Published: 2019-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The sun was low in the sky as Bridget drove home after a day of visiting sponsors with Duff and organizing the refurbishment of Seaton Park. The prospect of a hot shower and a cuddle with the dogs on the couch had never been more appealing. Still, she slowed to enjoy the drive along the twisting, hilly road. Plenty of leaves still clung to the trees, burning bright as the sun sank. Usually rain or high winds had claimed them by now. The sentinel oaks at the bottom of the driveway were almost bare, but their thick boughs seemed to reach out to welcome her home.

Home. This place had felt like home since the day of the viewing. And every day since, that feeling had grown.

Beau clearly agreed. He’d been standing in the passenger seat since they’d turned off the main road, his feathery tail fanning into her eyes.

Maybe that was why she didn’t see the white van until she’d practically pulled up beside it. On the bright side, she hadn’t run into it.

Officer Moller jumped down from his van when she slipped out of hers, leaving Beau inside. All she needed was for the dog to protect his turf against the Canine Corrections Department. As it was, he barked fiercely from the driver’s seat.

“Good evening, ma’am,” Officer Moller said.

“Hello, Dog Officer Moller,” she replied. “What brings you here again?”

He cleared his throat in preparation. “There’s been another complaint, ma’am.”

“The number of my dogs hasn’t changed, and it won’t until Thanksgiving. At that point, I’ll be left with only this one.”

He looked at the car. The black dog whirling and hurling itself at the glass looked like some kind of specter, although the thuds were real enough. “One’s probably enough.”

“I’m in the business of many, though.” She leaned against the car and crossed her arms, trying to block Beau’s view. The dog hopped into the back to continue his assault on the glass.

Pulling out his phone, Officer Moller read from the rap sheet. “Ms. Linsmore, there have been complaints about disruptive barking at your residence.”

Bridget’s stomach sank. “Complaints? Plural?”

“On multiple occasions, yes. I can send the dates to you.”

“By multiple people, or just one person, making multiple complaints?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, ma’am.”

Again with the ma’am-ing. It felt like a tactic. But she was determined to put up a good defence. “How am I to address the so-called complaint when I don’t know who’s making it?”

“You’re not, ma’am. We are. All you need to address is the barking.”

“Alleged barking.” She pushed herself off the car and walked towards him. “It’s Sullivan Shaw’s word against mine.”

“I can’t speak to the source or sources of complaint, ma’am. But I assure you, the noise has been verified by the CCD.”

“Verified how?” She was right in front of him now, but he didn’t step back, as she’d expected.

“With recordings on several occasions, ma’am.”

“Recordings? It could be any dogs.”

He pulled out his phone and pressed with his thumb until a loud cacophony began. Sullivan had been right.

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