“She tried to hurt Fitz!" He turned to Gabriel and Dick. "That'll get her mad. "Gabriel rolled his eyes. "She's been framed for murder twice over, shot in the back, her arms were set on fire, and her parents are being held hostage. You think tampered dog water is what's going to make her angry?""You tried to hurt my dog!" I wheezed as I lurched toward a grinning Missy."Oh, big deal, " Missy huffed. "It's the ugliest dog I've ever seen. ""You tried to hurt my dog, " I said again."I would have been doing you a favor. " Missy sneered."Nobody. Screws. With. My. Dog. " I growled, punctuating each word with a punch to Missy's face. I gave an upper cut to the chin that sent her flying back into a pile on the ground.Zeb grinned at Dick and Gabriel. "Told you. ”

“Would you kick her ass already?" Dick said, shoving me back toward Missy. "Come on, Stretch, man up. You do better than this! Get mad."I nodded, rolling a dislocated shoulder back into place with a grunt and staggering back toward my opponent. Behind me, Zeb yelled, "She tried to hurt Fitz!" He turned to Gabriel and Dick. "That'll get her mad."Gabriel rolled his eyes. "She's been framed for murder twice over, shot in the back, her arms were set on fire, and her parents are being held hostage. You think tampered dog water is what's going to make her angry?" "You tried to hurt my dog!" I wheezed as I lurched toward a grinning Missy.”

“She looked up, her face pink as a Christmas ham. “You ever try chasing down a car?” she gasped. “I’ll one-up you. I gave Scott my hot dog and asked if he’d go to Summer Solstice with me.” “What does the hot dog have to do with anything?”“I said he’d be a wiener if he didn’t go with me.” Vee wheezed laughter. “I’d have run harder had I known I’d get to see you call him a wiener.”

“You try to leave and I will hunt you down."Relief poured through her, but she smacked at his thigh with the back of her brush. "Like a rabid dog? Very romantic.”

“Oh, you have to hear this,” Nick suddenly said with a grin. “Look for the house where the dog is barking.”I reached out and listened. “They’re going to kick out the dog from the house?” I arched my eyebrow.“Not ‘they’, her. The little fella peed on her new, expensive shoes, so she’s freaking out.” He laughed.“Talk about overreacting.”“It’s a woman. What would you expect?”

“He unlaced his arms and took a step forward. "You hurt?""Not badly." She tried to smile, but her lips only curved on one side. "My main problem is that I'm stuck to a cactus."(...)"How'd you manage to get tangled up with a cactus?" J.T. crouched beside her and started extricating her from the prickly plant."Well, believe it or not, I was on my way to apologize to you when a prairie-dog hole jumped up and grabbed my shoe heel.”