Home Is Where the Bark Is Read Online Free PDF Page A

he looked around him.
    Serena’s smile showed she took his comment as a compliment.
    Her smile. It lit up those honey-colored eyes. Warmed the hint of anxiety from her expression. He liked the feeling it gave him to know he could make her smile. But he had to remind himself that the most villainous of perps could have the most charming of smiles.
    The doggy day-care director could well be the mastermind behind a criminal scam that was defrauding decent people. Stealing their savings. Trashing their homes. Jeopardizing their futures.
    If Serena Oakley was in any way involved, it was his job to bring her to justice.
    No way could he let slip even a hint of his attraction to her.
    He forced himself to turn his attention away from the allure of her smile to the Paws-A-While playroom.
    Never had he seen so many dogs together in the one place, maybe fifty of them, he guesstimated. The large, open room was fenced off with dog-escape-proof pool fencing and accessed by gates at either end. A number of staff watched over their charges.
    The owners of these dogs were paying exorbitant dollars to keep their animals here. It would take a lot of guard-dog wages to recover a week’s fees. But then, the owners weren’t worried about counting their change—they were big earners. Which made them vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.
    The more he saw of the setup at Paws-A-While, the more convinced he was that there was something here worth investigating.
    A blond girl wearing a Paws-A-While T-shirt came to the nearest gate where he stood with Serena, Bessie, and Snowball.
    The girl smiled at him and then pointed to Bessie. “Is this little cutie the newbie?” she asked Serena.
    Serena nodded. “Name’s Bessie Whalen.”
    The girl nodded to Nick. “And you’re the proud dad?”
    Before he could formulate a rejoinder, Serena swiftly cut in. “He’s Bessie’s owner, yes.” She turned to Nick. “Okay if Kylie takes her in?”
    Again Nick grit his teeth and endured. Proud dad to a dog . Now he’d heard it all.
    But—like it or not—he had to remember his undercover persona. A schmuck who thought nothing of wasting hundreds of dollars on pampering a mutt that would be happier playing catch with a stick and eating table scraps.
    He smiled a doting dog-daddy smile to Kylie. “Sure,” he said.
    At the sight of a new animal and a new human, a number of day-care dogs had rushed to the gate. They pressed their noses through the gaps between the metal palings, tails wagging, eyes bright with curiosity.
    Nick noted that although most of them were small- to medium-sized, there were a number of big dogs, too. Big dogs for whom Bessie would be but a tasty morsel.
    “She’s rooming with those guys?” He couldn’t mask the concern from his voice.
    Serena looked up at him, her expression iridescent with sympathy. Her eyes were the color of dark honey and her voice had the same soothing quality. “I know it can be hard for you to leave your . . . your pet for the first time but—”
    In the nick of time she had stopped herself from saying “dogkid.” He just knew it.
    “I’m not worried about me—it’s them,” he said. He pointed to a pair of large Weimaraners and a thickset English bulldog. All three dogs had stopped what they were doing and were looking through the bars at Bessie with great interest.
    Serena looked in their direction and laughed. “Those boys? They’re cream puffs. We don’t accept aggressive dogs for day care. And I limit the number of big animals. Though don’t be fooled as to size. Little dogs can be far more argumentative, believe me. They can hold their own.”
    He looked from shrimp-sized Bessie to the outsized Weimaraner. “You’re sure about that?”
    “Sure I’m sure. Dogs are pack animals. We work with the dynamics of the pack. Our policy is to only introduce two new dogs a day, max. From what I’ve seen of her, Bessie won’t be asking for trouble. She’ll quickly find her place. Watch and