This is cruel. Money’s been tight, and my wife has been worried. XXX All she’ll know is that some Good Samaritan is bringing her dog back to her. She pours it on. So I decide to bring him back to the blonde, in real life, at her home. I hope she can make it back to her car before anyone sees her. And I’m sure as hell not going to give Arthur to the pound. A new sensation registers on her face. Bring me all the dogs. I’m no soldier, and I’m not a hunter—not of animals, anyway—so the camo feels like dress-up. I wonder if I’ll learn her name. She pushes herself up to her elbows and grips her aerole hard with all of her fingers and PULLS—the noise she makes, it’s nothing people make.




















