A Pedigree to Die For by Laurien berenson

Author:Laurien berenson [Berenson, Laurien]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9781575663746
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 1995-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Davey had camp on Tuesday morning, so I was covered there. Unfortunately when I dropped him off, Emily Grace came running over to the car. She apologized for the short notice and asked if I could sub.

I hated turning her down, for her sake and mine, too. I could have used the money. But I’d made a commitment to Aunt Peg and especially now, with Sam in the picture, I didn’t want to slacken my efforts. The sooner I located Beau, the sooner life could return to normal.

The trip to Barry Turk’s kennel in Poughkeepsie took just about an hour. To my surprise, the directions led me into the midst of a heavily populated, residential area. Somehow Turk had managed to squeeze a kennel housing forty dogs onto less than half an acre of land. The sound of their barking hit me like a shock wave when I stepped out of my car. I couldn’t imagine how the neighbors let him get away with it.

Barry Turk’s house was a dilapidated, shingled ranch. At one point it must have been white, but now it had faded to a weathered shade of gray. The kennel building, visible beyond, was in similar condition. Its roof sagged in one corner; and the short, narrow runs that fanned out on either side to cover every available inch of space looked as though they were held together with bailing twine. Dogs, many of them Poodles, raced up and down within, eyeing me with manic fascination.

I was standing there watching them when the front door to the house opened and Barry Turk emerged. “You must be Mrs. Travis,” he said, holding out his hand. “Beth told me to expect you.”

He was short but powerfully built. His hair was too long, and he was at least two days past his last shave. I took his hand but held it for as short a time as possible.

“She said you had some stud dogs I might be interested in.”

“Could be.” Turk ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of his face. “I’m not going to hand you a line like some people do, saying their dogs are perfect. They may be what you want, maybe not. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”

“Fair enough.”

He set off at a brisk pace. With little conviction and even less enthusiasm, I followed. An overgrown path led back to the kennel, which looked worse and worse the closer we came. The idea that Beau might be housed in such a place was thoroughly depressing.

“That was a Standard you were looking for, right?” Turk asked as he held open the screen door.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Outside the kennel was bad enough. Inside, it was appalling. The room we’d entered was a small office, but beyond that I could see the area where the dogs were housed. I’d expected pens like at Aunt Peg’s, but instead I saw crates, dozens of them, stacked from floor to ceiling. Although it was a sunny day, inside the building was dark and airless, with a damp, musty smell.

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