Dark Destiny by Avelyn Paige

Delilah

“Y’all are doing great,”I call out to the group.

“Even me?” Buddy’s childlike voice rings out from the back of the kennel area.

I laugh. “Yes, you too.”

After a thorough review of Buddy’s file, as well as a talk with the guards, I had decided to honor Ashley’s evaluation. While knowing his history and pending charges in a bit more detail, I can’t say that I’m not still hesitant. But the second I brought in Rocco, a standard poodle mix we’d taken in from a hoarding case a few months back, it was love at first sight for them both. Buddy dotes on him, and in the few short days I’ve been monitoring them together, I realized Ashley and the sheriff were right. Buddy needed this program just as much as Rocco had needed Buddy.

Returning to the rest of the room, I happily check in with each of the program’s participants one-on-one. Like these men, the animals are getting a semblance of their freedom back, and a piece of reality seems to always bring out the best in people, man or pet.

I walk toward an inmate whose back is to me, and my heart sinks as he whips around.

“Miss Delilah. What a surprise!”

Oh, no, no, no. Not him. Please, not him. I thought I’d seen the last of him at the prison, now that one of my volunteers, Bobby, had stepped up to take over for me there for the time being. Why is he here?

“Hello, Chad.”

His dog, Missy, shoves her way into the room and barrels into my legs.

“We’ve been working on how she says ‘hello.’”

“She’s certainly doing better than expected,” I reply, trying to hide the unnerving waver in my voice. Missy had been one of my tougher cases. A former bait dog that didn’t take to a single family or trainer until Chad started into the program. He’d asked for a tough nut to crack, and he’d gotten more than his money’s worth with her.

Chad tugs back on her leash and puts her in a sit / stay position. “I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to bring Missy with me while I’m here.”

“Uh, I didn’t.”

He grins. “I know you had a hand in it.”

I didn’t, really, but his enthusiasm for his preconceived notion that I had any kind of pull at the jail takes me by surprise. Chad had shown an unhealthy interest in me at the prison from day one. Having him here is problematic for more than one reason, but mostly because the security isn’t as restrictive as it is in the prison. For every inmate at the prison program, there’s a guard. Here, I’m lucky if I can get a couple of guards for the whole crew.

Keeping a wary eye on Chad and his encroaching proximity, I move away from him and toward Buddy, whose eyes are narrowed at Chad.

“You shouldn’t say things like that in front of Miss Walker,” Buddy lectures him. “Swearing in front of ladies is wrong.”

Chad huffs out a quick laugh. “Whatever you say, big guy.”

Eager to get away from Chad, I attempt to distract Buddy. “Show me what Rocco has learned today.”

Chad’s eyes are still on me. I can feel them on me like a physical thing. Like ten million bugs crawling all over my skin.

Buddy may be dangerous, but Chad is a stone-cold murderer who has spent most of his life in prison. The charges I’d read in his prison file would make a serial killer’s skin crawl. He’s also the reason I have rule number three:Don’t trust anyone.

Chad can be sweet as pie when he wants to be, but his conviction speaks for itself. He made me feel uncomfortable, and I’d wanted him out of my program, but they had transferred him out before I had spoken to the sheriff. That he showed up here with Missy was a shock to me.

I watch as Buddy does some basic commands with Rocco, my mind going over what the hell I’m going to do about Chad. And then he’s standing right beside me. I whip my head around in time to see his gaze shifting up and down my body. It’s enough to make the twinge of my discomfort noticeable.

“It’s nice to see you,” he purrs.

I press my lips together and frantically search for a guard. I almost sigh out loud when I see one is already heading our way.

“Leave her alone, inmate.”

“She and I are old friends,” Chad tells him. “You should let us catch up.”

“Not happening. Either tend to your animal, or you’ll be back in your cell.”

Seeing the opportunity in front of me, I excuse myself, putting some much-needed distance between us.

Moving back toward the other kennels, I spy Jessica entering the room with an enormous beast of a man, two guards flanking him on either side. Neither of them match up to what I can only describe as a fifth of what he could weigh. The guy is massive. He looks like one of those pro wrestlers with a full beard, arms covered in tattoos, and a shiny bald head. He could be a bearded stunt double for Dwayne Johnson, and I love that guy. Screwed, thy name is Delilah Walker.

Jessica waves me over, but I hesitate when his eyes lock onto me. Where Chad makes my skin crawl, Dwayne Johnson’s doppelganger makes my stomach flip-flop like a gymnast on the uneven bars.

Abort. Ignore him.

His eyes remain on me with every step I take. It’s like a one-way staring contest I wish he’d lose already.

Please don’t be the new member.Buddy and Chad are enough. I don’t need another particularly dangerous big guy. Or, as I like to call them, PDBG, in the room. Not one who’s looking like he wants to eat me alive.

I think I’d let him, too.

That thought shocks me. Down, girl.

I keep my distance when I finally slow my approach.

“Who’s this?”

“Mr.—”

“Call me StoneFace,” he replies, cutting Jessica off.

“What kind of name is that?” I blurt out before I can stop myself. My cheeks blush with hot embarrassment.

“The only one I have,” he growls, his large, expansive chests jutting out.

“Okay… StoneFace,” I gulp. “Whatever makes your freak flag fly.”

“This here’s your new applicant,” Jessica chimes in as she pulls a folder out from under her arm and thrusts it into my hands. Great. Just freaking great. This is going to be a problem. Another one that I really, really don’t need in the same room right now.

“Oh,” I mutter quietly. Get it together, woman. Do your job. “Can you tell me about why you’re interested in the program?”

“Something to do.” Short and sweet answers seem to be his thing. Apparently, staring is also his thing, because he’s still doing it.

“Well, okay. Direct and to the point. Do you have any experience with dogs?”

“Yes.” Christ on a cracker. Getting anything out of this guy is like trying to pull teeth from a toothless man.

“Care to tell me what kind?” I probe.

“Had them all my life.”

“Was that so hard?” I tease.

His cold, hard stare implies that indeed it was.

“When can I start?” he questions, inching closer to me as he talks. Jessica looks at the two guards, who step in front of him, pushing him back. It’s not even me he’s looking at. He’s staring intently at something behind me, his eyes filled with a brewing hostility that both terrifies and excites me.

“The dogs here are already matched with other members. You’ll have to wait until my next visit.”

“How long?” He tries to move farther into the kennel area, but the guards are quick to react.

“Move back, inmate!” one of them yells.

StoneFace looks down at him like a giant sizing up which ant he’s going to step on first. Jessica sidles in closer, talking to him under her breath. I can’t hear what she’s saying, but his eyes stay on that something behind me. I doubt he’s even hearing a single word she’s saying to him.

“StoneFace?” I breathe. “I’ll bring your dog in a few days, okay?”

He doesn’t acknowledge me for a few moments, but then, as if breaking himself out of a spell, he nods. His eyes look away from whatever he’d been staring at, and his body relaxes. His gaze softens as it lands on me.

“Let’s go,” one of his guards says, pulling him back toward the door. StoneFace doesn’t struggle, but he doesn’t move easily, either. The door opens, and the trio disappears, the click of the lock snapping me out of my trance.

“You need more than two guards on that guy,” I joke.

“Nah. The bigger they are, the quicker they fall in line,” she replies. I don’t think she even breathes before pulling a one-eighty in the conversation. “So how are things going?”

“Fine, considering this is only my second day back with the program.”

“Buddy behaving himself? Seems to like his new friend.”

“He’s doing well so far today. I think it would be best, though, that instead of having Rocco in his cell with him, we gently introduce him to full-time care of him. I’d like for him to stay in the kennels at night until I deem him ready for a trial run of overnight stays.”

“Understood. I’ll relay that information to the night shift. They help with the nighttime potty break routines.”

“I want to make you aware of an issue that seems to have followed me from the prison. Chad Elscher. He’s going to be an issue. Is there any way I can request additional guards?”

“Take it up with the sheriff. That’s his call.”

“I don’t think you understand—”

“I understand perfectly. But pulling guards off the wards to watch this guy falls under the jurisdiction of the sheriff. I’ll tell him of your concerns, and put the word out through the other guards, but I can’t snap my fingers and poof guards into the room.”

“What exactly do you suggest I do?”

“Keep your distance from him the best you can until we can sort something out.”

Easier said than done, since I’m locked in the room with him. While Buddy is big, Chad might scare me a little more.

I nod my head in agreement, but I’m feeling anything but agreeable. Until the sheriff makes the call, I’m on my own with a convicted killer, a possible murderer, and a bearded Dwayne Johnson, all in the same room. What could possibly go wrong?