Free Paw Enforcement 02 - Paw and Order by Diane Kelly Page B

eyes.
    â€œIf you’re from Montreal,” I said, “you must speak French. That’s the primary language there.”
    The two exchanged timid glances.
    I decided to test their linguistic capabilities by speaking the only French I knew, the chorus of “Lady Marmalade.” “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?”
    The two looked from me to each other.
    â€œJig’s up, boys.” I held out my hand. “Give me your real IDs.”
    The two grudgingly reached into their back pockets and pulled out their wallets, handing me their Texas driver’s licenses. The tall one had just turned seventeen. The other was only sixteen.
    After calling dispatch to run a quick search, I learned that neither had a juvenile record. I decided to cut them some slack. Kids do dumb things sometimes. What was childhood for if not making mistakes and learning from them?
    â€œCall your parents,” I told them. “Tell them to come get you.”
    â€œBut we drove here ourselves,” said the taller one. “In my car.”
    â€œEither your parents come talk to me here and I’ll let you go with a warning, or I can take you two down to the station and they can pick you up there after you’re booked for passing false identification with the intent to commit a crime.”
    Suddenly they couldn’t wait to pull out their cell phones to summon mom and dad.
    I thanked the beer man and led the boys to the exit, where we waited for their parents. When they arrived, I told them what their sons had been up to and showed them the IDs.
    The tall boy’s mother put one hand on her hip, and used the other to point a finger in her son’s face. “You’re grounded for two months! And we’re taking away your car, too!”
    The shorter boy’s father was just as incensed. “Expect a month of hard labor. And no video games until summer!”
    As the boys and their parents left, Brigit and I turned to head back inside.
    â€œWhat do you think, g-girl?” I asked her. “Did we set those boys straight? Save them from a life of crime?”
    She wagged her tail with a definite yes.

 
    ELEVEN
    HORNY
    Brigit
    Brigit watched the big bucking animal in the arena. She couldn’t blame him for trying to ditch the man on his back. She didn’t like it when someone tried to ride her, either.
    Way back, before she’d managed to escape, she’d lived with a dipshit stoner who’d snatched her from a cardboard box marked FREE PUPPIES in front of Walmart. She’d been the largest of the litter, nearly twice the size of her four siblings. But she’d been the smartest of the bunch, realizing early on that it paid to stay close to their mother and food supply.
    The guy hadn’t wanted the puppy as a companion. He’d only brought her home because, with those big paws, she was sure to become an enormous beast. She could protect his stash, provide a warning bark if the cops pulled to the curb. Hell, he hadn’t even bothered to name her, referring to her only as “dog,” “damn dog,” or “shithead” as the mood struck him.
    One night, when he and his stoner buddies had been particularly drunk and high, he’d climbed onto her back after one of his idiot friends commented that she was as big as a horse. He’d been a skinny guy, but dogs weren’t built to carry weight on their backs. She’d crumpled beneath him, her spine feeling as if it had snapped in two. As she lay flattened on the ground he’d kicked her in the ribs, fracturing two of them. Of course they’d been left untreated. Hell, the jackass hadn’t even bothered to have her spayed or get her shots. It was a wonder she hadn’t died of parvovirus.
    She’d wanted to bite the stoner, to rip the guy to shreds. But she knew he was mean enough and stupid enough and messed up enough to kill her if she dared. If she’d had a nice pair of horns