Page 74 of Men or Paws

“There’s my boy!” Rocco said, a smile coming to his face. “Did you have a good nap? Houdini, come.”

Sage ignored him, of course, instead finding one of Houdini’s toys, then jumping on the couch in full view to chew on it.

“I can’t believe he’s ignoring me,” Rocco said, leaning in toward his laptop to get a better look. “And why is he wearing a pink collar?”

I swallowed hard, my brain not being able to come up with something vague to replace the lie that I was sure was going to come out of my mouth.

It was time to come clean.

The guilt was too much, so was the stress and the pressure.

I needed to find Houdini.

The last thing I wanted to do was worry Rocco when he had work to do on the other end of the country, but I had no other choice. It was the right thing to do.

If I were the owner of the dog, I would want to know.

I gestured behind me, trying to tell the truth. “That’s actually not—”

Holly took off her sandal and smacked it on the kitchen counter, the sound echoing through the house. She was obviously trying to tell me to not confess, but I couldn’t carry on the charade any longer.

“What was that noise?” Rocco asked.

I forced a smile and slapped my hands together, trying to duplicate the sound, but not even coming close. “I thought I saw a fly and was trying to kill it.” I slapped my hands together again and forced another smile. “Missed it again.”

“You’re acting really weird. Have you been drinking?” Rocco said.

“Me? I wish!” I said, laughing like a lunatic.

But not even getting drunk could get me out of this mess. This Zoom call with Rocco had disaster written all over it.

Just then Rocco’s cell phone rang.

“Excuse me for just a second,” he said. “I’m expecting a text from the director and I may need to respond.”

“No problem,” I said. “I’ll get some water while you do that.”

Another lie.

Very soon, the Liars Club of America would throw festivals and parades in my honor and nominate me for president, claiming nobody has ever told so many lies in such a short timeframe. Maybe I would even lie and tell them I don’t deserve it.

Moving to the right and no longer on camera, I took a few steps toward Holly.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“He obviously thinks Sage is Houdini,” Holly whispered back. “Let him keep thinking that. Then we can continue the search without him worrying about it.”

“But I hate lying to him. And how can I explain the pink collar?”

“Listen—if you tell him the truth now, he’ll be up all night, and that will affect his workday tomorrow on the movie set. You can be honest with him and tell him everything that happened after Houdini is back, safe and sound.”

“Beth?” Rocco called out.

“Coming!” I said.

“Stick to the plan,” Holly whispered. “Trust me. He won’t catch on.”

The feeling in my gut was telling me things were only going to get worse.