Upholding the Paw Read Free

K-9 Officer Brigit
    All in all, Megan wasn’t a bad partner. She brushed Brigit every night, a hundred strokes. She let Brigit sleep in bed with her. She even bought Brigit her favorite treats when they went to the grocery store.
    But now? Megan had driven to a sandwich shop and left the windows cracked, treating Brigit to the mouth-watering scents of turkey, pastrami, bologna, and meatballs. Smoke, too, but Brigit’s superior nose could nonetheless distinguish the scents. Brigit had hoped Megan would return to the car with a sandwich, but she’d come back empty-handed. Brigit had wagged her tail, hoping Megan would take a hint and go buy the dog some fresh meat. She hadn’t.
    Ugh.
    Humans could be so difficult to train.
    At least things seemed to be picking up now. The siren whooped and Megan was driving like a bat out of hell. That could mean only one thing.
    They were about to see some action.
    Brigit lived for action.

Chapter Three
    Phase One: Complete
    Smokestack
    One of them had a personal score to settle. The other had his dignity to avenge. But Smokestack? Heck, he was just along for shits and giggles. So far there’d been quite a few giggles thanks to that special banana nut muffin he’d eaten earlier.
    Cannabis. The breakfast of champions.
    He might have no education and no job training, but he was a master at manipulation. Hell, for two years he’d had his parents convinced he was attending college when in reality he’d dropped his classes each semester, got a refund of the tuition they’d paid, and spent his days—and his parents’ money—at pool halls and strip clubs. But that money had all been spent now. He’d managed to snag a credit card a drunk had dropped under the next table at a strip club, but that was a short-term solution. Sooner or later the guy would realize he’d lost the card and it would be deactivated.
    Convincing the other two to rob the bank had been a cinch. Both were down and out, throwing themselves a pity party when they’d gone out for beers after last night’s meeting. All he’d had to do was play on their fragile egos, convince them they’d been treated unfairly, and persuade them to fight back against the injustices they’d suffered.
    â€œYou were victims!” he’d exclaimed with outrage. “Only a couple of total pussies would take that lying down.”
    He’d suggested this little escapade because he liked to start fires. The fact that he’d also get a one-third share of the take was icing on the cake.
    Without an education, steady job, or discernible abdominal muscles, it was hard enough getting laid. The girls he went after tended to be streetwise, less gullible. Add in the fact that his crash pad was his childhood room in his parents’ house, and he was constantly getting derailed. But he and his cohorts had come away from the bank with nearly three grand. The other two didn’t know it yet, but the bank was just the beginning. With any luck, by the end of the day he’d have enough cash to buy himself a year’s supply of chronic, a lap dance from redheaded Ruby at club Blue Balls, and a new apartment so that he could finally move out of his parents’ place.
    Yeah. Things were definitely on track now.

Chapter Four
    Hop on the Bus, Gus
    Megan
    I punched the gas on my cruiser. Seth looked over from where he hung from the fire truck, a perplexed expression on his face as I sped away from the curb. Of course he knew nothing about the bank robbery. I’d fill him in later—assuming, of course, that the robbers didn’t fill with me lead. In that case he’d just have to read about it in the paper.
    The woo-woo-woo of my siren acted like an electronic cheerleader, telling me to Go! Go! Go! before the robbers got away with two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar !
    Fueled by adrenaline, I hooked a right on Rosedale, rocketing down the street as drivers pulled to