Sweeter Than Sin by Andrea Pickens

keep his footing. His boots were slipping and sliding, yet still, through the grimy shadows he could see that he was managing to close the distance between him and the three urchins.
    The leader of the pack ventured a glance over his shoulder and, seeing their pursuer closing in, he squeaked out an order to abandon the chase and darted down a side passageway, his companions following hot on his heels.
    Rafael slowed, and then swore as a rotten apple sailed out from the gloom in a parting shot and knocked his hat into a mound of foul-smelling garbage. After taking another squishy step or two in its direction, he decided to leave it where it was.
    Chest heaving, he sucked in a lungful of the fetid air and slowly looked around.
    Now that the predators were dealt with, time to find the prey.
    "Imps of Satan," exclaimed Kyra in a ragged gasp as she stumbled to a halt behind him. "Oh, I fear your hat is quite ruined."
    "My hat is not my primary concern at the moment," replied Rafael. To his eye, she appeared too pale beneath the flush of exertion, and she looked to be favoring her bad leg, though she was taking great pains to hide it. "You should have stayed in the market." He knew it would only add to her agitation to mention her injury. "This area is not safe for a lady."
    "Be damned with my safety," she uttered under her breath. "It's horrid that a defenseless little dog be frightened half to death by those boys." Tears pearled on her lashes. "And now the poor thing is hopelessly lost—"
    "We'll find him." It was, he knew, a reckless promise to make but at that moment he was ready to take apart the surrounding rookeries brick by crumbling brick.
    Kyra looked around uncertainly. "B-but I don't see how, sir."
    "Nonetheless, we shall try." Taking her hand, he led the way a little farther into the stygian depths of the alleyway. All around, the shadows seemed to take on menacing shapes, and the creak of the overhanging eaves bounced evil echoes off the sooty walls.
    The threat seemed so palpable that it seemed like a fist pressing against his chest. But he was not afraid of confronting physical danger.
    He let out a little whistle and called to the dog in Spanish. "Hallooo, Amigo !"
    Was it his imagination, or did a faint woof sound in answer?
    Kyra, too, cocked an ear. "Did you hear something?"
    Rafael called again.
    The sound was a little louder, and seemed to be coming from just beyond the next turn.
    "This way." Keeping firm hold of her hand, he edged forward, muscles tensed, his senses on full alert for any lurking menace. They rounded the bend, only to find the tumbled-down ruins of a wood and brick storage shed blocking half of the way.
    A timid bark, follow by a whimper.
    Kyra dropped to her knees, heedless of the ooze seeping through her skirts. "I think I see him," she said, peering between the splintered slats. "He looks to have fallen through a hole in the floor boards."
    Woof, woof.
    "I-I fear he may be trapped."
    One look at her stricken expression and without a word, he stripped off his coat. "Kindly hold this." The gap in the rotten boards was just large enough for him to try squeezing through it.
    "You mustn't, sir," she protested, casting a dubious look at the sagging timbers. "It's too dangerous."
    Crouching down, Rafael surveyed the wreckage. On close inspection there looked to be a way to crawl through the jumbled wood and brick without bringing the whole structure toppling down.
    "I'll be careful." He had already rolled onto his back and was inching under the jutting beam. Was he mad to risk his life for a mangy mongrel? Saving a nameless stray wouldn't bring Jack back from the dead.
    And yet, against all reason, the task had become a touchstone, a talisman of sorts to prove that hope could triumph over despair.
    Holding his breath, he slowly slithered through a treacherous tangle of broken rafters. The dog's woofs had stopped, and the ensuing silence only amplified the ominous cast of the ink-dark shadows