Dark Vengeance by Kristi Belcamino (libby ebook reader .txt) 📗

Sitting around would drive me crazy. I needed to find Rose. I kept checking my phone in case the vet had called, but he hadn’t. I would stop by the vet on my way to find this X.

Just then, Arrow came out of the waves with his board.

I stood as he grew near.

“Can you take me into town?”

He looked at me in surprise. He leaned down and grabbed a bottle of water, taking a big swig before answering.

“I wish I could. I borrowed that truck from my buddy and when I woke this morning, the truck was already gone. He must’ve been up early or never came home last night. I’m sorry I can’t help.”

Fuck me.

Makeda had mentioned coming to the bonfire to get a ride to town, but she must not have known this.

I refused to believe anything else. I had to trust my gut instinct, and it told me she was guarded and closed off at times—maybe even acting out of fear in her reluctance to share information—but when she did give me information, she was a straight shooter.

“No problem,” I said, and then gave it a shot. “This X? Where does he live?”

He winced and looked away, as if he felt guilty for ignoring my question.

“I don’t get it. Why is he such a taboo subject?”

He looked up at me. “We do our thing. He does his. If we get involved, he’s going to ruin it for all of us.”

“How?” I asked.

But he’d already turned and walked away.

I caught up to him and touched his elbow.

“How?” I repeated.

He tucked his board under his arm and raced back down to the water.

Pulling my sweatshirt tighter, I headed for the road.

I would walk.

If the vet wasn’t up yet or open, I’d just hang out and wait until he was.

I needed to check on Dylan, and then I needed to go into town and start asking questions about this mystery man. I didn’t have much to go on, but it would have to do.

The road through the jungle was narrow and two separate times I had to practically crawl into the bushes to avoid oncoming cars. I tried sticking out my thumb at one heading toward town, but the person either didn’t see me or didn’t care. I also wondered if people even hitchhiked anymore. It was sort of a relic of the sixties, way before my time, that probably had faded away.

Finally, when the sun was much higher and I’d tied my sweatshirt around my waist and was wiping sweat off my brow, I reached the small village. The main road had a few shops—a small general store with a bank and deli/café inside, a gas station, a laundromat, and a garage.

I stopped in the general store and bought a bottle of water, a roll and a cup of horrendous coffee from the deli before heading for the turnoff and long driveway that would take me to the vet’s house.

When I was three quarters of the way down the driveway, I could see all the curtains were pulled back in the house. I went directly to the side door and knocked.

Asahi opened the door with a smile.

“I was just about to call you,” he said, holding up his phone. “Dylan did great all night. He slept well and didn’t really worry his bandages.”

I went inside. Dylan, who was curled up on a small dog bed, didn’t lift his head, but did raise his eyes to meet mine, and his tail wagged. So sweet.

I leaned down to scratch his head behind the ears. “Good boy.”

“As you can see, he’s still sedated,” Asahi said.

“He did have a bowel movement and urinated, so that’s a good sign. And he’s been consistently drinking water. I tried to give him some dried food, but he wouldn’t eat it, so my wife scrambled some eggs and that seemed to be more appetizing.”

I stood from my crouch and smiled. “Thank you. And please thank your wife for me.”

He beamed. “Of course.”

“What’s the next step?” I asked.

If the vet wanted to send Dylan home, I wouldn’t be able to walk back to the hut with him. And when I’d been in the store, I’d asked about a taxi service, and the clerk had just stared at me as if I were speaking a foreign language. Come to think of it, I probably was, even though she’d spoken to me in English about my order.

Asahi frowned.

“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to keep him here longer and keep him sedated so he has time to heal.”

I nearly cried with relief.

“What do I owe you so far?” I reached for the small cross body bag that I wore at all times—even while sleeping. It contained my passport and cash, cell and charger. And a tube of red lipstick. Never knew when that was going to come in handy.

I took out a fistful of cash and thrust it at him.

“Please take this for now.”

He looked down at my hand. “That’s way too much.”

I shook my head vehemently.

“Oh, I don’t think so.”

He frowned, looked down at the one hundred dollar bills and plucked one of them.

“This will cover all Dylan’s care—up to now and going forward.”

I scrunched up my face. “That’s nothing. I pay that just for the exam back home, before they even treat the animal.”

He smiled. “We do things differently around here.”

“Please take more. If anything, use it to help other animals that come here.”

He sighed. “If you really want to thank me monetarily, you could give a donation to the island’s dog rescue organization,” he said. “We get our fair share of abandoned dogs here. It’s quite disturbing actually. People bring their dogs to the island to ditch. I can’t figure out if having the rescue organization hurts or helps sometimes. I worry that because people in Padang know we will care for the dogs, they bring them here to abandon instead of letting them roam free on the streets