Free All That Glitters (Raine Stockton Dog Mysteries) by Donna Ball Page B

  Melanie laughed.
    “See?” she said.  “He’s trying to help. What would you do without him?”
    I gently pried the delicate work of art out of his mouth, blotted off the saliva and hung it on the tree next to a matching knitted collie, well out of his reach. Cisco dived into the box to see what else he could find and, naturally , turned the box over.  He backed up quickly as all the ornament s spilled out around his feet , looking up at me in such consternation that I had to grin.  “Life would definitely be a lot less interesting,” I admitted, scooping the spilled ornaments back into the box before they were crushed by clumsy paws.  “But, you know, if it had been up to me, I never would have gotten him.”
    Melanie looked surprised .  “Really?  You didn’t want Cisco?”
    I felt a ridiculous urge to cover Cisco’s ears when she said that, but in typical golden retriever fashion he had already lost interest in the Christmas tree and was once again eyeing the buffet table. I  gave him a warning,  “Ank!” and he quickly returned his attention to me, tail waving innocently.   “I didn’t know he was Cisco then,” I explained to Melanie.  “I just didn’t think I was ready for a puppy.”
    “Wow,” she said, carefully hanging a row of border collies in tartan plaid bows around the  circumference of the tree.  “What if you hadn’t gotten Cisco?  It would be just like that old black and white movie Dad made me watch the other night.”
    For a moment I was baffled, and then I said, “ It’s a Wonderful Life ?”  
    Melanie nodded enthusiastically.  “Just think how many people he’s rescued ,” Melanie said , “tracking them down out there in the wilderness.  And the bad guys he’s put in jail.  And what about all the old people he visits in the nursing home, and kids in the hospital?” 
    “Cisco know s what a great dog he is,” I said, rescuing a bone-shaped ornament from Cisco’s mouth and giving him a little nudge with my knee.  “He doesn’t need a press agent.” 
    “How many lives do you think he’s saved, anyway?”
    When Cisco was relaxing at home, as now, it might be hard to convince a stranger that he was a valuable working dog.  But when Melanie put it like that, I felt a surge of pride and affection that momentarily overcame my impulse to put Cisco in a permanent down-stay.  “A lot,” I admitted.
    “More than ten?”
    “Sure.”
    “More than twenty?”
    I paused to give my guy a scratch under the chin, smiling at him.  He reciprocated with a happy swipe of his tongue aimed at my face.  “Probably,” I agreed, and I thought that in some ways, the most important life he had saved was my own.    
    “Of course,” Melanie observed confidently, “that’s nothing to what my Pepper is going to do when she grows up.”
    I reached for another ornament. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.”
    “We’re going to join the FBI and chase down terrorists and spies all over the world. Istanbul, Dubai, Hong Kong , Milan, Paris… ”
    “The FBI can only chase down terrorists and spies on U.S. soil,” I pointed out, suppressing a grin. Her recitation of exotic locales was more suggestive of a series of fashion shows than an international terrorism ring, but I supposed anything was possible.
    “ Plenty of time for that to change before we join the force,” she assured me airily.  “The point is, we’re going to be real crime-solving hero e s , just like you and Cisco.”
    Of course it was flattering to be thought of as a hero by anyone, but I made a face, keeping a wary eye on my dog as he strolled casually toward the buffet table once again .   “There’ve been a lot of days when ‘hero’ is not the first word I thought of to describe Cisco.”   Then, sharply, “Cisco, here.”
    Cisco turned guiltily and came back to me , breaking into a heart-melting grin halfway across the room.  But I refused to be melted.   “Go to your place,” I