Nine

39

Manhattan Beach, California

Thursday, May 22, 7:02 A.M.

Something cold was pressed to his temple, and Alex Brandon sat straight up on the couch where he had been-until that moment-sleeping.

Rusty, seeing this hoped-for result, began wagging his tail furiously-and knocked a wineglass, a paperback, and half a dozen papers to the floor. The papers scattered and Alex’s place in the book was lost, but it was the breaking of the wineglass that scared the dog-or perhaps, Alex thought later, it was his shout of dismay that made Rusty cower and pee on the carpet.

Chase, awakened by the commotion, came in looking scared enough to pee on the carpet, too, Alex thought.

“Rusty and I just startled each other,” Alex said. “Careful where you step in here, there’s broken glass.”

“I’ll clean it up-the carpet, too. I’m sorry, I just thought he wanted out of my-I mean, your-bedroom. I should have taken him outside. I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Alex said. “Nothing to get upset over. I’ll take care of the glass. You get the paper towels, all right? And let Rusty out in case there’s more where that came from.”

He picked up the biggest pieces of glass and then set a Dustbuster to work on the rest. John came in, looked as if he had a comment to make, and wisely kept it to himself. As Chase scrubbed at the carpet, he said, “Don’t you need to get a big vacuum cleaner to do that?”

“Naw,” John answered. “This is bachelor living, son. You can do just about anything you need to do with paper towels and a Dustbuster.”

“Only because the wineglass was empty. Chase, let’s try a little baking soda on your part of the carpet, though. It will keep it from smelling bad.”

“Did you smell Rusty?”

“I’m trying not to.”

“I mean, his coat.”

“No-which is good. I noticed that improvement when he greeted me last night.”

“He wants back in,” Chase said, and hurried toward the back door.

“You’re out of shampoo, by the way,” John said, and laughed.

Rusty came back into the living room and greeted each of them with the enthusiasm of one who might have just returned from a long sea voyage-especially letting Alex know that he was ready and willing to let bygones be bygones. Alex noticed that the dog’s coat was soft and smelled just like the shampoo he was now out of.

“I’m surprised you were able to get him this clean with one bottle of the stuff,” Alex said, and gave John a quelling look when he started to laugh again.

“It wasn’t easy,” Chase confided. “Uncle John helped me clean out the tub afterward. He washed the towels, too. Twice.”

Alex smiled and scratched Rusty between the ears.

“I’ll make breakfast,” John said. As he made his way past Alex, he murmured, “You tell anyone I did dog laundry and I’ll see that you are on disability longer than I am.”

Dressing after a shower, Alex saw that Rusty had relieved his boredom during the evening by gnawing on one of his dress shoes. His only pair of dress shoes. He swore under his breath and decided that as soon as he was dressed he would make sure none of his climbing equipment was in range of quadrupeds.

He wouldn’t mention it to Chase, he decided. He was puzzled by the boy’s reaction when he first walked into the living room this morning. He hadn’t done anything to give Chase a fear of him, so what was going on?

He looked at the shoe and sighed. A dog was no minor responsibility, and this one was going to end up being his. Chase would go back to live with Miles and Clarissa, and probably forget all about the dog. John would move back to his own house, and Alex would return home to find fleas in his bed.

Rusty came in then and sat handsomely at his feet.

“You must have been warned out of the kitchen by John.”

The dog wagged his tail.

“Are you going to be a pain in my ass?”

Rusty, he would swear, was grinning at him.

He reached down and petted him. At least he was a nice height. He didn’t know what he would have done if Chase had wanted to bring home a Chihuahua.

Rusty rubbed against his dark pants, coating the front of them in fur.

“Criminy, yes you are going to be a pain.”

But Rusty was cocking his head and then scrambling toward the front of the house. He began barking.

Alex looked at the clock on his dresser. A little early for a barking dog. He hoped his neighbors would bear with him.

Then he heard a knock on the front door-no, more like pounding. The intensity of the dog’s bark increased, even as Chase called to it.

Alex came down the hallway. John was frowning, looking from the kitchen. Chase had hold of the dog by now, but over the sound of someone leaning on the doorbell, Rusty was still voicing disapproval. Alex was inclined to agree with him.

He looked out through the view port in the door. The man on the front porch had put on weight and lost some hair since Alex had last seen him, but he would have known him anywhere.

“Shithouse mouse. It’s Miles.”

He opened the door but did not step aside to let his brother enter, a fact that stymied Miles for a moment.

But only a moment. “Where the fuck is my son?”

Alex heard limping footsteps behind him and glanced to see John coming into the entryway.

“That will be enough of that, Miles,” John said in a tone of voice that worked as well now as it had when they were twenty years younger.

Miles ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, John, I didn’t realize you were here.”

“You knew damned well I was here. You just thought I might not have been close enough to the door to hear you talk like that to your brother.”

“Forgive me if I’ve forgotten the connection,” Miles snapped.

“Let’s say he’s a stranger, then.”

“John-” Alex said.

“Let’s say he’s a stranger,” John repeated. “You come to the house of a stranger who has been looking after your boy while you went gallivanting all over the country, and you greet him like that? Who taught you to act like that?”

Miles turned red and muttered, “Sorry,” without looking at Alex. Then he fired up again. “But Chase is my son, and I won’t have either of you encouraging him to run away from home!”

From behind them, Chase said, “I didn’t run away!”

“You stay out of this, you little dumb ass! You’ve caused me more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Don’t talk to him that way,” Alex said.

“You don’t get to tell me how to talk to my son.” Miles tried to peer over Alex’s and John’s shoulders, but they were both taller than him. Miles, always competitive, had been unable to triumph in this one area, Alex thought wryly-remembering a period in high school when Miles had tried wearing lifts in his shoes in a hopeless effort to remain taller than his younger brother.

“What are you smiling at?” Miles asked suspiciously.

Alex turned to Chase and said quietly, “Are you all packed up and ready to go home?”

Chase looked miserable, but he answered, “Yes, sir.”

“Jesus-‘Yes, sir,’” Miles mimicked. “He doesn’t talk that way to me!”

“I wonder why?” John asked.

“Go and get your things, then,” Alex said to Chase. “I’ll keep an eye on Rusty.”

Chase hugged the dog, then brought him over to Alex before hurrying back to the bedroom. Alex was just noticing that the dog had a collar that looked a lot like one of his leather belts when Miles said, “Damned if that is not the jankiest-looking dog I have ever seen in my life.”

Rusty growled at him.

“Look at it! Skinny and ugly to boot.”

Rusty barked-Miles stepped back nervously.

“Dog’s a good judge of character,” John said.

“You keep giving me grief, John. But is there some reason why Alex has not been able to address a single remark to me?”

Chase came out then and said, “Thank you, Uncle Alex and Uncle John. Good-bye, Rusty.”

The boy looked pale, Alex thought. “Come back anytime,” he said. “Rusty and I will both be happy to see you.”

“Thanks.”

He stepped past Miles, who cuffed him on the back of the head as he passed him. Chase cried out in pain, and in the next instant Alex pulled hard at the back of Miles’s collar.

“Hold the dog, John,” Alex said. By then he had also grabbed Miles’s wrist and pulled his arm up hard behind him.

Miles tried to speak but couldn’t. Chase turned around.

“Chase, go on to the car,” Alex said. “Everything will be fine. Your dad will be there in just a minute.”

Alex waited until the limousine driver, who was trying hard to hide his curiosity, let the boy into the backseat.

He then yanked back harder on the collar, so that Miles fought to keep his balance as he was pulled backward into the house. Alex shut the door, then shoved his brother face first hard into it. He pinned him there, and said into his ear, “I am addressing a remark to you now, Miles. You touch that boy in anger just once again-just once-and you’ll have to learn sign language, because I will personally kick your nuts in so hard they’ll lodge in your ears. You got that?”

“Let go of me!”

“Did you say to let go of Rusty?” John asked innocently.

“No!-No! I didn’t even hurt him, for Christ’s sake.”

“Did that sound like a promise to you, John?”

“Nope. A promise would go something like this: ‘You lay a hand on Chase, and I’ll beat your ass so hard, it will look like a new moon.’”

Alex laughed. “Oh, damn. I wish I thought you’d need my help to do it.”

“All right, all right!” Miles said. “I promise I won’t touch him. Let me go!”

Alex released him. Miles straightened his shoulders, then turned back to Alex and smiled coldly. “I’ll give your love to Clarissa, Alex.”

Alex smiled back. “You mean I get cuts in line?”

He easily blocked Miles’s punch, caught him off balance, and landed a blow that doubled Miles over. Alex used the opportunity to open the door and shove him outside.

“You want to get back at me for that,” he said, “be a man and come after me, not your kid. I’m holding you to your promise.”

He closed and locked the door behind him.

John let the dog go then and said, “I guess you’ve waited a long time for that one, but I’m sorry it came to this with you two.”

“Don’t deny me my pleasures. It’s been a lousy morning until now. And give Rusty whatever is left of that steak.”

“He had that last night.”

Alex shook his head. “I’ll bet you made his collar, too.”

“That belt never looked good on you.”

“Now you’re the fashion police. Okay, let’s go into the kitchen and see what else we can spoil him with.”

“All right.”

But neither of them moved.

“It’s mostly that he belittles him,” John said. “I don’t think Miles makes a habit of hitting him. Chase would tell me.”

“It doesn’t need to be a habit. I don’t care if I just saw the only time it ever happened.”

“I’m with you,” John said. “Even if he were only using words-Chase is having a hard time with it. It’s just since he’s been a teenager. Anybody gets the least little bit angry around him…Well, sorry you got dragged into this, and I know I’m the one who dragged you.”

“I can get into a fight without any help from you, old fart.”

“Yes, well, I never felt so much like an old fart in my life. When I saw him hit that boy, I wanted to grab on to him, too. Between this damned knee and you handing the dog off, I couldn’t get to him quick enough.”

“You made me laugh at him, and that bothered him a lot more than anything I did with my fists.”

John shrugged. They started to walk into the kitchen.

“New moon?” Alex said, and they both started laughing.