Dead Heat by Kathleen Brooks Page B

leaves rustle. Someone was coming toward them. Her heart skipped a beat as the rustling grew louder. Chuck was frantically pulling on his leash and Paige had to use both hands to hold him back.
    “Slowly now. Hands up in the air so I can see them!” Cole yelled out as the large shrub in front of them started to move. Cole reached out with his left arm and pushed her behind him one last time. She felt him freeze and slowly moved to look over his shoulder.
    “Oh shit. Run!” Chuck lunged and broke free from Paige’s grasp. Paige screamed as Cole grabbed her and shoved her away from the trees. But it was too late.
    The putrid smell permeated the heavy humid air and clung to them. The lack of breeze caused the noxious gas to envelope them. Paige felt tears stream down her face and her lungs constricted as she gasped for fresh air.
    “You were real handy with that gun, Cole. Good thing you were here to protect me from that skunk.” Paige coughed some more and tried to drag in a breath of fresh air as they staggered away from ground zero. “You did order his hands up. Hands, tail... same thing to a skunk, I guess,” she laughed in between fits of coughing.
    “Hopefully Chuck made it worthwhile and killed that damn thing.” Cole bent over at his waist and coughed. “Here’s the mighty hunter now.” Chuck came running back over towards them with his tail wagging, skunk safely in his grasp spraying everything in range.
    “Oh, Chuck!” Paige backed up holding up her hands as if to defend herself from the pissed off skunk Chuck was bringing to her. Thinking it a game, Chuck wagged his tail and trotted after her.
    “No! Chuck, put him down,” Cole said in his most authoritative voice. Chuck turned his bright brown eyes toward Cole and ran over toward him. “No!” Cole tried to get away, but it was too late. Chuck had gotten close enough for the skunk to have a direct shot at Cole.
    Paige laughed, but that caused Chuck’s attention to focus back on her. He began to run happily towards her, tail wagging, with his prize. Paige backed up, but Chuck just broke out into a run. There was no way she was going to let him near her. She ducked behind a large Ash tree as Chuck got near. Looking up, she grabbed the lowest branch and swung upward.
    She looked five feet down at Chuck and hoped the skunk couldn’t spray her up in the perch. Chuck pranced around the tree showing her his new toy as Cole tried to get his breath back from his spraying. His eyes were bloodshot and he swiped at the involuntary tears running down his cheeks.
    “Chuck, put down the skunk and I will get you a big treat,” Paige cooed to him. Chuck just wagged his tail and sat down. The skunk seemed to have given up and lowered his tail. There appeared to be a limit on how much they could spray. When the skunk stopped struggling, Chuck quickly lost interest and opened his mouth. The skunk fell from his mouth, turned his back to Chuck and sprayed him directly in the face. Who knew? Maybe they did have an unlimited supply. Chuck yelped and covered his eyes with his paws. He rubbed his face in the grass as the skunk ran for the shrubs. Paige could have sworn the skunk smiled. Chuck looked up at her, sneezed, and thumped his tail against the grass.
    “Come on, let’s get this smell washed off.” Cole strode over to the tree and smiled up at her. She laid her head against the tree trunk and laughed. She had a fake boyfriend who was turning out to be perfect. And here she was, skunked. And he just smiled that very sexy smile while his eyes danced at her.
     
    Paige ran up the rickety back steps and unlocked the kitchen door. She looked over the rail to where Cole was hooking up the hose. Chuck sulked a few feet away at the sight of the hose. She rushed into her kitchen and opened the pantry door. She found cans of tomato sauce and put them into a plastic grocery bag to carry downstairs. As she closed the door, she caught another whiff of herself and knew her