Play Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

puzzled look. I held up a hand in apology and said, “I don’t
mean to laugh. It’s just that I got this image of a voice from the clouds
calling down to you, ‘Beth. Become a dental hygienist.’”
    She grinned. “Actually, I gotta admit, a
career would probably speak to me a lot sooner if I didn’t have such a big
trust fund. My father’s getting a little tired of all my changes in majors.”
She led the way outside, pushing the cart at what I’d begun to realize was her
typical, impressive clip.
    “Maybe he’ll speak to you about
that,” I commented as the automatic doors opened.
    “I’m half expecting him to...to...”
    Her voice faded as we heard a dog’s
frenzied barks. I immediately scanned the parking lot for my car. Sage was
going wild, clawing at the window on the far side of the car.
    “Oh, my God,” Beth cried. “He must have
seen a man in a raincoat or something.”
    She tore across the lot, her cart making a
tremendous clatter as she shoved it ahead of her over the bumpy asphalt. I
followed as fast as I could in my tight skirt and stupid high heels.
    “Stop it! Stop it! Sage, it’s me,” Beth
called as she ran around to the window on the far side of the car where Sage
was still clamoring.
    I grabbed the box of dog biscuits from the
cart Beth had deserted near my car. I ripped the box open and unlocked the door
opposite to Sage. “Sage, come,” I called. After a few more seconds of barking,
he looked at me, and I repeated the command. He came over to my side and I gave
him the biscuit.
    A frumpy middle-aged woman parked directly
across from me got out of her car. She wagged a finger at me and said, “You
need to get that dog of yours under control, young lady! He scared me half to
death!”
    “He started barking at you?” I asked,
noting that she was wearing a miniskirt and blouse, which was not at all
flattering, but more significantly, could in no way be misinterpreted as a
raincoat.
    “No, not at me, at some man. But I had to
sit here and listen to that racket for the last five minutes!”
    “Was the man wearing a coat?” Beth asked,
rounding the car toward us.
    “Why would I have noticed what the man was
wearing? I was just sitting here, minding my own business, waiting for my
sister to finish her grocery shopping.”
    Beth got into my backseat and cuddled
Sage. He seemed to have completely reverted to the calm behavior he’d displayed
at my office and at Beth’s home. “Where is this man now?” I asked the woman.
    “He drove off.” She waved her hand in the
air as she spoke, her brow still knitted.
    “Did he just happen to be walking past my
car?”
    “How should I know?” She whirled on her
stiletto heel. “All these stupid questions! No wonder nobody wants to get
involved these days.” She stomped back to her car, got in, and slammed the door
shut.
    Beth, in the meantime, emerged and pushed
the cart to the back of my car. “Sage seems fine now. Let’s throw this stuff in
your trunk and get going.”
    “Sure wish I could ask our Good Samaritan
over there to answer a few more questions,” I muttered as I unlocked the
hatchback. Technically, I didn’t have a “trunk.”
    Beth shrugged. “Bet you anything some guy
in a coat walked by. That’s the only thing that could get Sage so upset.” She
hurled a bag of dog food into the back of my car. I was impressed. I can lift a
sack that heavy, too, but not without whimpering and looking truly awkward. “Believe
me,” Beth went on, “I’ve seen Sage do this four or five times now.” I loaded
the lighter dog paraphernalia, while she moved the second bag of food in beside
the first.
    She struggled with one bag that was, for
Sage, a new brand of kibble. “Know how to get these open?”
    “It’s one of those string things that seem
to start working the moment you give up on them. I just save myself the time
and slice it open with a knife.”
    “Okay. In that case, allow me.” Beth
pulled something out of her