Destiny's Revenge (Destiny Series - Book 2) by Straight, Nancy (novels in english .TXT) 📗

time, he was ready to rip Max limb from limb. I got hold of myself and decided screaming at Peanut was doing no good, so I reached out to him and stroked his back saying, “Easy boy, take it easy. It’s just Max. Everything is fine.” His posture didn’t change and Max still hadn’t moved or uttered a syllable.

I tried to coax Peanut out of the room, but he wouldn’t budge. I told Max, “Hold on, I’ll get him out.” I stepped out of the bedroom, and said, “Come here, Peanut, come on, let’s go.” Peanut turned his attention behind him and when he saw I was no longer in the room, he started backing toward the door not loosening his posture for a second. Max’s concentration left the animal to look at me and he smiled. It was the strangest response. He had almost been ripped into pieces by a very large Doberman Pincher that was still growling at him, while I was trying to convince it to leave the room. The whole time, Max had neither said nor done anything to antagonize the dog or to diffuse the situation.

I knew Peanut was protective of me, but Max had been with me since the moment we got him. As soon as Peanut was outside the room, I tried to go around him to go back into the room and close the door behind me. The dog lunged at the door, pushing all of his weight against it and nearly knocking me over before I could get it shut. He positioned himself between the two of us again, still focusing his aggression on Max.

My mind flashed back to that afternoon at the picnic table with Max and Rewsna where she told us to get a dog, dogs couldn’t be fooled. Apprehensively I asked, “Max, did anything strange happen while you were fishing today?”

He shook his head that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I looked in Max’s eyes for the first time – they weren’t right. They were still the green with brown flecks, but he looked – dead.

“Max, any idea why Peanut’s angry with you?”

Again, he shook his head.

There was no good reason for Peanut to act this way, other than he was protecting me from Max. Max hadn’t done or said anything that would elicit this response. I heard Joe and Benny walking in the front door. I had the feeling that I was somehow trapped. Whatever was going on with Max, I couldn’t count on them not to be affected the same way.

Knowing I was going to have to bluff my way out of it, I said in an exasperated voice to Max, “Let me go put him in his kennel. He must be freaked out with Benny in the house. I’ll be right back.” Neither Joe nor Benny said a word when I smiled warmly at both of them, “Come on, Peanut, let’s go outside.” I pretended to be oblivious to the fact that none of the three said a word. As I casually made my way to the front door, Peanut followed but never let his guard down for a second.

We didn’t even have a kennel for Peanut. If all were well, this should have registered with Max or Joe. I was off the porch and down the steps making my way to the garage with Peanut right beside me. I grabbed the spare set of keys off of the wall and breathed for the first time since I had been in the house. I ran from the garage door to Max’s truck, held the door long enough for Peanut to get in and jumped in behind him. I cranked the engine, jammed the gearshift in drive and stomped on the gas. Rocks were flying everywhere as we screamed out of the driveway. I reached under the seat and found the Glock in its case, still loaded.

I drove straight for Columbia. The needle in a haystack was my best defense until I could figure out what in the world was going on. Then reality set in. I had no wallet, no identification, no cell phone – my purse was still in the bedroom. I didn’t know where to go, or how to pay for anything when I got there.

I looked at the fuel gauge: a quarter tank wouldn’t get me anywhere near Columbia. I escaped with my life, but my plan wasn’t without flaw. Tears were streaming down my face – what happened to them? Whatever had happened, Peanut was back to his happy-go-lucky self. He laid across the front seat, tongue hanging to the side as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that we barely got away – or the fact that the people we got away from were two of the people I was closest to.

Chapter 14

Peanut and I pulled into a rest stop. I couldn’t do much for him, but I could get him a drink of water and an opportunity to relieve himself. No leash. I looked at him and said, “Peanut, I owe you big time, but you’re going to have to do something more for me. I’m going to open the door to the truck. I need you to stay right beside me. Don’t run off, understand?”

I know that of all the skills I possess, communicating with animals isn’t one of them. I opened the door and Peanut jumped over me making a beeline for the interstate. I screamed for him to come back. He was no longer my body guard. He was like nearly any dog with no leash and hundreds of people to go check out. The faster I ran after him, the longer his strides became.

Peanut was easily fifty yards in front of me, swerving in and out of cars in the parking lot when a booming voice from in front of me yelled,