Page 2 of Fatal Vision

The knock came again, a little more urgent this time.

Shel?

He smacked an open hand against his forehead.What is wrong with me?

Hundreds of miles and a set of divorce papers separated them. Regardless of those two minor things, there was no way Shelby Claiborne was on his doorstep.

Colton hauled himself off the sofa and grabbed his sidearm from the coffee table. Nobody showed up at your door at 3 a.m. unless there was trouble.

His dragon stirred. The damn thing loved trouble.

Slowly, quietly, he made his way to the door and listened.

No sound came from the hallway. He eased over to peek through the peephole.

His brows crashed together when he recognized the scrawny kid standing there. Three flicks of his wrist and the door locks gave way.

He holstered his gun and threw open the door. “Marcelo?” His thirteen-year-old downstairs neighbor looked ashy under his dark skin. His eyes were wide saucers. “What is it, buddy?”

“Grandma’s going to the hospital. She’s not feelin’ good.” A dog behind Marcelo’s leg wagged its tail. “I need to go with her. Can you take care of Salisbury for me?”

Colton’s neighbor, Paulina, was eighty-some years old with a heart condition, and Marcelo’s parents were out of the picture. The only person Marcelo had was his Grandma P.

And the stray dog he’d picked up off the streets last winter.

“What’s wrong with Paulina?” Colton asked, eyeing the dog.

The dog eyed him back, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Salisbury had lost a few teeth during his time on the streets, creating a gap that his tongue gravitated to. With his scruffy hair and jagged ears, he was about the ugliest dog Colton had ever seen.

And Colton had seen alotof ugly dogs.

“Her chest hurt and she told me to call 911.” Marcelo wiped at his nose and blinked hard as he hurriedly looked away from Colton and focused on a dim overhead light in the hallway. “The ambulance guy said she needs to go to the hospital.”

Ah, hell. The poor kid looked like the Grim Reaper might jump out from around the corner.

His scared eyes came back to meet Colton’s. “Can you watch Salisbury? Please? I don’t know when I’m going to be back, and I can’t leave him alone.”

Being scared and alone at thirteen was all too familiar to Colton. His throat tightened and there was too little air in his lungs. “Sure.” He cleared his throat and forced his arms to hang loose.What am I doing? “Don’t worry about the mutt. He’ll be fine. You just take care of your grandma, y’hear?”

The kid stuck out a hand. “Thank you.”

Colton shook it, allowing the kid a brief moment to feel like a man and not a scared teenager with no one to turn to.

“You’ve got my number, right? It’s programmed into Paulina’s cell phone. You need anything, you call me.”

Marcelo nodded, but he was already bending down to ruffle the dog’s ears and kiss the top of Salisbury’s head. “You be a good boy, Sal. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” One more hug and he told the dog to stay.

The overhead light was dim, but Colton saw the dampness on Marcelo’s cheeks as he turned and ran down the hallway.

Once he was out of sight, Colton glanced down at the dog, still sitting in the same spot with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he looked back with expectant eyes.

Wonderful.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Colton gave the dog the stink-eye. “Rule One, no peeing on my furniture. Rule Two, no sleeping in my bed. I’m the alpha male here, and what I say goes. Got it? You follow the rules, we’ll get along just fine.”

The dog thumped his tail against the floor in what Colton took as agreement. He stepped back and motioned the mutt inside.

Salisbury peered into the living room as if considering whether to accept the offer or take his chance once more on the streets.