She turned her attention to Blade. “Mon loup?Please let me get it off of you. Please?”
Cora eased off the edge of the tub and sat cross-legged on the ground next to Blade, who opened one eye and peered at her but didn’t move away. She reached for him slowly, whispering nonsense baby words. When her hand finally made contact with the buckle on the collar, he jumped up and sprinted behind the toilet. He knew exactly what the collar represented.
Pain.
She sat on the floor, leaning against the tub, hugging her legs to her chest. She knew better than to chase after Blade. It would take time and trust before she could remove his collar, even though it could no longer shock him, because he didn’t know it. She pulled one of Maggie’s expensive towels off the rack and used it to cover herself, her near nakedness becoming uncomfortable as Hunter tried to drape himself across her legs. Blade watched her from his hiding spot next to the toilet. It seemed like he wanted to get closer, but her breach of reaching for his collar had derailed their burgeoning bond.
Cora envisioned handing them over to Dalton and Simone. Would they notice that they weren’t wearing their shock collars? Would Blade duck his head when Simone reached for him? Would Hunter resist going back out to the yard?
She knew that returning them was the right thing to do from an ethical perspective—they did in fact belong to the Feretti family. She also knew that returning them would be an incomparable coup from a business perspective—how could theynotwant her to host the show after her act of heroism? Bringing Hunter and Blade back was the right thing to do, but seeing the scope of their suffering, both physical and mental, made it feel like anything but.
She picked up her phone to call the one person she knew would help.
THIRTY-EIGHT
“Idon’t care about the mess, honestly Cora, you can stop.”
Eli watched as Cora struggled to wipe the dried mud off of Blade and Hunter before loading them in his car. By now, the sky was pitch-black and misting again. Both of the dogs cowered and backed away from Eli when he reached toward them, so he had no choice but to stand idly by as Cora rubbed them down.
“I just feel bad, they’re really dirty, and your car is so clean.” She used the towel like a squeegee on Hunter. “I’m not even accomplishing anything, I’m just moving the mud around on them.”
“It’s okay, just stop. You can detail the interior in exchange for the ride. Deal?”
Cora stood up and sighed. “Deal.”
He opened the navy Subaru’s hatchback and patted the inside. “C’mon up, pups! Can you jump up? Up up?” Cora was instantly reminded of her bed lesson with Charlie, then his shitty behavior just a few hours prior. She was happy Eli had stepped up to help, like always.
“Not gonna happen,” she said as the dogs eyed him warily, skulking near her legs. “I’ll lift them.” She loaded the dogs in, not caring if the mud got on her T-shirt and shorts.
Eli closed the door softly so the dogs wouldn’t startle. “Off we go. Cora and Eli’s rescue service is at it again.”
“Yeah, I guess we’ve got quite a thing now, huh?” Cora punched the address into her phone’s navigation system. “It’s going to take us about an hour.”
She sent a quick text to Charlie. “Pls don’t hate me, I’m so so sorry but not going to make it tonight. Dog stuff more complicated than I thought. SO sorry.” She added a crying emoji to show that she spoke his language. She saw his typing indicator bubbles pop up for a few seconds, then stop. No response. She couldn’t believe how angry he had seemed, and how unwilling he was to go above and beyond for animals in need. But she didn’t have the headspace to worry about what Charlie was thinking right now.
Like all dogs, Blade and Hunter craved human companionship. Though they were terrified and in an unfamiliar environment with a stranger, they still clung to Cora in the bathroom. She pictured how scared they must have been during the sudden afternoon storm, how many times they must have been shocked as they barked out their distress, and how the thunder and lightning had probably sent them scaling the fence in an effort to escape the noise and find shelter. She wondered how long it was before Simone, or more likely Felisa, noticed that they were missing.
She knew that she had to keep her plan quiet. She contemplated who she could trust with a car to ferry the dogs to their next location—Winnie or Vanessa? Darnell? Fran?—but the people in her DC world were too connected, too incestuous, and she knew that word of her deception would eventually get out. She needed CIA-level secrecy for the plan to work. Once again, Eli came to the rescue.
“I can’t believe I’m going to meet Hugh freakin’ Brannon!” Eli crowed. “Am I allowed to ask for his autograph, or is that too uncool?”
“Way uncool. He likes to pretend he’s a regular guy, so don’t act impressed by him.”
“I’m curious how you’re on a first-name basis with the most powerful tech guru on the East Coast. Tell me the whole story.”
“I met him at a rescue facility fund-raiser. I have no idea how I got invited—the room was filled with big-money donors and regular little me. I ran into him at the bar—literally—and we got to talking about dogs and training stuff. I didn’t know who he was, but I could tell he was somebody, you know? He had that aura. He told me he was working on his own rescue sanctuary thing. I guess he liked what I had to say, because he asked for my contact info and invited me to be on his rescue’s advisory council.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re on hiscouncil?”
“In theory, yes. We had one quick e-mail exchange about it, but I haven’t heard from him in ages.”
“Was it weird reaching out to him again about these guys?” He gestured to the back. “Were you scared?”
“I wastotallyfreaked out. But he’s doing some great stuff for animals, and I knew he would be able to help. And I knew he would be discreet. He seemed to like that I was vague about Blade and Hunter’s origin story. He could tell my secrecy meant that it’s a big deal.”
“Yeah, the dude clearly likes secrecy. He stays totally off the radar. So will you tellmeBlade and Hunter’s whole story?”
“Nope, the less that people know about them the better. All you need to know is that these dogs need to find a home. Anewhome. Oh, and from now on let’s call them ... Baxter and...”
