“Excuse me, what?”
“Into thinking that you can cook.”
Sylvie rolled her eyes. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Mmm. Sylvie, I think you do. This is the whole reason I called you in. People are talking about Watchdog, they’ll talk about anyone associated with them. I want you to be careful about that.”
“Everything’s fine, Dad.”Why do I bother? He sees right through me. “I’m just taking classes, that’s all. So’s Frank. So’s the entire Boulder K9 Unit in a few weeks, and I’ll be one of them. If they trust Watchdog to run some of their ongoing training, everyone else should trust them too.”
“You know it’s not always like that.”
The part of her childhood Sylvie wanted to push away forever came creeping to the forefront of her mind. She gave it a solid shove, pushing away memories of being the girl in school that everyone whispered about.Homeless. Foster kid. Not from here.
Doesn’t belong.
“I know, George. But I’m a big girl, and Watchdog is pretty able to take care of itself.” She snapped off another bite of her cookie. “What do folks say about them, anyway?”
“All sorts of things. Everything from drug runners to spies.”
Sylvie laughed. “This isn’t an action movie, Dad. They’re just…guys who want to do the right thing and protect people. Maybe they’re getting government grants for their military dog breeding program.” She tilted her head. “Like you said, do you think Arden would involve herself in something nefarious?”
“Love is blind.” He looked at her pointedly. “It can make you lose your head, make bad decisions.”
Sylvie snorted.
He gave her the same smile he’d given her as a young runaway, the one that had earned her trust immediately and probably saved her life. “I know how you are, Syl. Careful isn’t always in your vocabulary. But, promise me you’ll be careful with this.”
“I’ll do my best, Dad.” She reached across the desk and squeezed his hand.
“Your partner back from vacation yet?” he asked.
Great. He thinks I need a babysitter. Little did George know how much Officer Carla DeVivo drooled over the hot bodyguards. “She’ll be in tomorrow.” Carla was visiting her family back east and had sent Sylvie a pic of herself and her brothers goofing off in front of a giant, elephant-shaped building named Lucy, near Atlantic City. Sylvie was glad to see her having such a great time, while also missing her.
“I’m glad. Carla’s always had your back.”
“She’s the best.”
George folded his hands together, his signal that he was done talking. “I won’t keep you any more today. You go on and see your…dog. But remember my warning.”
Sylvie smirked. “I will. Thanks, Dad.”
* * *
Sylvie was disappointedto see that Alex wasn’t at the kennels when she got there. She asked Jodie about him as casually as she could while the two of them kept an eye on the dogs in the yard.
“So, is Alex home with Champ? I hope he’s okay.”
“Champ’s doing great. Just an upset stomach, but he’s eating again. No, Alex is off meeting with Kyle ahead of some people coming in, Wolf and Caroline. They’re visiting for the music festival, and Wolf is in security somehow too, I think.” She shrugged. “They’re gonna be hosting one of the judges too—Rachael Collins.” Jodie’s voice had gone a little breathless at the name. Rachael had a hit song called ‘Blue Sky’s the Limit’ from a TV series and it quickly became this year’s summer song.
“Right. Arden talked my dad into using Watchdog for festival security this year.” At least that was the official line. George had planned on approaching Watchdog anyhow, thinking that it would be good to have some plainclothes bodyguards inside the festival. She remembered what he’d said about Boulder sending them more officers this year. With their conversation this morning, she was beginning to understand why George might be losing sleep.
“Sorry to hear about your situation,” Jodie said. Sylvie startled, wondering which situation she meant. “HOAs totally suck.”
She relaxed. “Yeah, this one now especially. The whole flavor of the neighborhood’s changed.”
“You looking for a new place?” Jodie tossed a Kong for Valkyrie, a gorgeous Malinois who worked with the bodyguards—was a bodyguard in her own right, actually.
“Not yet, but I’m leaning that way.” As she said it, she realized that was true. What was the point of having a home when it was in a community that despised you? That just made it…a house.
