“Any other pervy innuendos, Detective?”
“Just gathering pieces to the puzzle.”
“Well gather them somewhere other than my sheets.”
I opened my mouth?—
“Anyway…” She cut me off. Probably for the best. “The third ‘monster’ is Athena, a German Shepherd/Collie mix. She’s nine years old. The alpha of the crew.” She pointed to the monster that almost attacked me on the trail.
“Athena?You mean to tell me the dog that almost ate my package for breakfast is a gir?—”
She held up a finger. “Might want to rethink that sentence unless you want to lose those balls you speak so fondly of. Although I think the exact verbiage was marbles.” She held up her hand and closed her thumb and index finger together. “Small.”
“Anything is small compared to Tango’s over there.”
“Why are men so fascinated with balls?”
“Clearly you haven’t been with the right men.”
“Are you always this charming with women?”
“’Fraid so.”
“Now I know why there’s no ring on your finger.”
“Says the gun-toting dog-lady.”
“Dogs mind better than men.”
“Dogsbreakquicker.”
Her brow cocked as she seemed to ponder this insightful comment for a moment.
“Anyway,” she said, “Athena is just as lethal as her male counterparts. Trust me. She’s smarter too.”
“Now look who’s cocky.”
A shrug.
“Why’d you name her Athena?”
“Goddess of wisdom and war.”
“A contradiction by all counts.”
“Not really.”
“Wisdom is to avoid confrontation at all costs. Kind of like that part of Krav Maga you slept through.”
“War teaches you how to handle it. And look who’s begun, what I believe detectives call,leadingquestions.”
“Because I was about to ask you to tell me why your entire life revolves around self-defense?”
Her face snapped to mine, fire replacing the lighthearted flirty banter we’d fallen into.
“Don’t patronize me, Detective Jagger. You know exactly why I’ve taught myself self-defense. I have no doubt you pulled my records last night and know about my attack in Dallas. Assuming you read through the entire thing without falling asleep, you know everything that everyone else does. I have nothing to add and don’t want to talk about it again. If you’ve come here to talk about what happened in Dallas, you’re wasting your time. End of discussion.” These final words were punctuated by her pulling ahead of me a few steps.
I caught up and we walked a few seconds in silence along the riverbank, her eyes locked on the rushing water.
