The thing that had killed Brutus had smashed his skull with a devastating blow. A puma would've pinned the dog and bitten through the nape of his neck, then dragged him off or at least eaten the stomach and the insides. 'Here? In a subdivision?' David shook his head. He and his wife owned a pool-supplies shop in town and did their best to parent Kayley, with mixed success. He was a heavy man, not fat, but thick around the middle. Being seventeen, Kayley lived for drama.ĭavid Henderson shrugged his shoulders. 'Like, a real mountain lion?' Kayley Henderson raised her head from her phone. She looked at the body again and turned away, her fingers covering her mouth.

Tan, slight, with a fluffy cloud of dark, curly hair framing her face, Margaret was in her mid-forties. 'Maybe it's a mountain lion,' Margaret said. But no matter how annoying he'd been, he hadn't deserved to die. Byrne's yard had been hiding behind trash cans and exploding with thunderous barking at anyone who dared to walk by. His chief activity when he'd managed to escape Mr. An oversized black Chow Chow, he'd been suspicious of everyone, ornery, and often too loud for his own good. Just like the other two.īrutus hadn't been what you would call a good dog. A second's worth of looking told me everything I needed to know. And just like that, my happy day ground to a halt. I was coming back, carrying my purchases, when I saw my neighbors gathered under the tree. So I gathered my blond hair in a ponytail, put on my flowered skirt and a pair of sandals, and hightailed it half a mile to the store. Normally I didn't go shopping at the gas station at seven thirty on Friday morning, but when you run a bed-and-breakfast, it's a good policy to accommodate requests from your guests, especially if they've paid for a lifetime membership. Not a single cloud marked the blue sky, and the walk to the twenty-four-hour gas-station convenience store had turned out to be downright pleasant.

The Texas summer had finally cooled a little, allowing for a light, happy breeze. A small group of neighbors had gathered around his corpse, their faces sad and shocked. His body lay under an oak on the Hendersons' lawn.

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews