Page 57 of No Judgements

Chapter Twenty-One

Time:9:08A.M.

Temperature:87ºF

Wind Speed:15 MPH

Wind Gust:35 MPH

Precipitation:0.0 in.

Hey! Bree!”

He managed to catch me anyway. Well, the dogs did, thinking we were playing some kind of game. They tore after me, barking enthusiastically, and one of them—the beagle—thrust itself in front of me, blocking my path, so my choice was to either stop or trip over him and fall the rest of the way down the steps.

“What?” I turned and demanded ungraciously of my host.

Drew was taking the steps two at a time to reach me. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Back to my apartment building. My landlady evacuated, and she told me Sean was going to stop by and look in onher son’s guinea pigs. But Sean evacuated, too. So could you please get your dogs off me?”

The beagle was standing on the step below me, barking at me. I’d had no idea that beagles could bark so loudly. It was wearing a pink collar, which indicated to me it might be a girl, and was a small dog. But she sounded like one of the cruise ships in the harbor, blowing its horn to warn passengers that it was leaving, so they’d better hurry up with their souvenir purchasing and get back onboard.

“I’m sure the guinea pigs are fine,” Drew said, ignoring my request about the dogs. The black Lab had his cold nose thrust against my crotch, excited about the game he thought we were playing. “It’s not like they have to be walked. And there’s a water bottle in their cage, right? So no chance of dehydration this soon.”

“Have you forgotten?” I gave the black Lab’s large, bullet-shaped head a gentle shove. It did no good. His nose went right back to where it had been before. “My apartment building’s in the same part of the island as the Cascabel Hotel. And the lobby of the Cascabel Hotel flooded.”

To his credit, Drew didn’t say anything like, “Well, they’re only guinea pigs.” He understood—I could tell by the sudden tightening of the skin around his eyes. Sonny’s pets were living things, and they were as loved as any other family member.

“Give me a minute to grab my gear,” he said. He turned and started back up the steps.

Confused, I demanded, “Wait. Why?”

He paused and looked back. “Because I’m coming with you.”

Now a different kind of chill went over my body. “No. No, that really isn’t necessary—”

“Are you kidding? Bree, do you even have a key to your landlady’s apartment?”

I hadn’t thought about this. “Well, no. But—”

“Then how do you plan to get in?”

“I don’t know. Through a window, or something.”

“Aren’t all the windows boarded up?”

I felt ridiculous. But I also felt an equally strong—and very urgent—desire not to be around Drew Hartwell any longer. I’d already kissed him twice in moments of weakness. I needed to get away from him, and fast.

And Sonny’s guinea pigs were the perfect excuse.

“Do you have any tools?” he asked. “Any way of breaking into her place?”

“No. But—”

“I do. Let me just go get them.” He turned and started heading back up the steps to his house.

“Oh,” I said, realizing I still had an excuse to get out of this situation. “But there’s no way we can take your truck. The roads are really bad. You won’t believe how many power lines and trees are down. It took me over an hour just to get out here—”