The bouncer let them both inside without a fight. The place wasn't too big inside, but Kenzie did see a wolf light on the far wall.
"I knew you'd like that," Austin remarked with a grin when she mentioned it. The two sat down at the bar and Austin ordered them some bar food from the heavy-chested bartender. The grilled cheese arrived shortly. It wasn't the best quality, being slightly charred, but it tasted good otherwise.
"So," Austin said while they ate, "about the case. I remember the Marshalls had a bunch of animals. They're trying to have kids, but no luck yet, so they've resorted to adopting all the animals they can handle. Their dogs and cats are gone. The Bird sisters have a cat, and it's gone too. Let's see, the Curleys have a cat, Benjamin Schmidt has a dog, the list goes on. Those people were all in the paper for having missing pets. Are they in your file too?"
"Yeah, I remember reading those names, and a few others. Not to mention all the strays that were around town seem to have disappeared."
"Their numbers have decreased significantly. All we've seen lately are raccoons and deer, if we're lucky."
"Austin, do you believe in unicorns? You said you haven't seen one, but do you believe in them?"
"I do, actually. This world is filled with strange things, many of which we may not have discovered yet. Would unicorns really be out of the realm of the possible?"
"I thought you only talked like that when you typed."
"Sorry."
"It doesn't bother me, I think it's cute."
Holy plumbob! Did she just say that Austin sounded cute?! She wished she could stuff those words back into her big mouth. That sounded so wrong and misleading!
Austin, however, didn't seem to think so. He chuckled under his breath as he took another bite of his sandwich. "Your compliment really flatters me, Detective," he teased.
"The pleasure is all mine. Though I presume my vocabulary isn't nearly as advanced or impressive as yours," Kenzie replied, keeping the game going.
The two continued tossing large words back and forth until they were bent over the counter in loud guffaws. The other patrons glared at them, and some went upstairs, probably in an attempt to escape the cacophony.
Finally, Kenzie caught her breath enough to ask, "So, about the people in the paper, do you know any of them?"
"I'm pretty well acquainted with Benjamin. I don't know if you'd take too kindly to the idea of meeting him, though."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, he's got quite the reputation around here. He's a handyman, but he's also quite the ladies' man. For some unfathomable reason, women throw themselves at him, and half the time they call him, claiming something in the house is broken, when what they really want is a good time, if you catch my drift."
"You sound a little bitter."
"Jealousy would more appropriately describe my current feelings, to be honest. Why do women always go after the bad guy? The one that will inevitably break their heart, or at least that type of guy? The one who can't stick to just one woman, and yet they throw themselves at him. Yet here you have someone like me, who, even if I do say so myself, is a good guy, a gentleman, and would do anything for the right girl if she'd just give me a chance. I have a lot to offer a woman, but they can't see past my intelligence. To them, intelligence doesn't equal romance. Just like high school. I've invented I don't know how many things, and come up with several brilliant concepts, but nothing can get me the girl of my dreams."
Kenzie hadn't expected to hear these things from Austin. Jealousy was something she never thought he'd experience. He was such a good guy like he'd said, and he was honest and down to earth. She'd never known him to hurt anyone a day in his life. And now, he was incredibly handsome on top of it all. He really did have a lot to offer a woman. But they were all too shallow to see past his superior intelligence.
"Austin," she said as she laid a hand on his arm, "you are smart, but any girl who can't see you for who you really are would be stupid even if you weren't a genius. Unfortunately, it seems like most people these days are very shallow. For girls, they just want a guy who's good looking and good in bed most of the time. Guys want the same thing regarding a girl in bed, but they also want a girl who's stick-thin. If you're over 120 pounds, forget it."
"I'm well aware of those facts. They make me physically ill, though. The lows to which society has stooped, it makes me want to invent something to inject into people so they'd have a better attitude about particular subjects."
"That would be nice, but I doubt you'd be able to do that without getting into serious trouble."
"Most likely. What you just described applies to the majority of people, but I don't consider myself to be a part of that statistic. I don't care what a girl looks like, much less how she is in bed. I care about what's on the inside, which is the way it should be."
"I feel the same way about guys."
"You've always been a very good person, Kenzie. But anyway, back to the case, although a particular subject of said case brought upon this conversation. Did you want to talk to Benjamin? Or did you maybe want to talk to someone else in your files?"
"Well, I hate to ask, but I'd like to talk to everyone. Maybe there's a connection. But I've got all the addresses of the pet owners, plus my car with a GPS, so I can drive around myself. You probably have work to do."
"Actually, I'm currently on hiatus."
"What? You? You're as big a workaholic as my dad. Why would you be on a break?"
"It's a long story, and I'd rather not bore you with the details."
"You wouldn't be boring me."
"It's something that's confidential."
"Oh...I see."
Kenzie got the feeling that Austin wasn't telling her something. She hated to doubt him, but she'd felt the same thing when she'd visited Jillian in Sunset Valley in the summer. And look how that had turned out - she'd been indirectly and involuntarily involved with a dangerous gang that nearly got them both killed. But surely Austin couldn't be into anything that would put them in harm's way. He wasn't boy-crazy, and he had good judgment. The same couldn't necessarily be said for Jillian, though she was trying her best.
When the two finished eating, Austin agreed to drive Kenzie to Benjamin's house, if for no other reason, to keep him from trying to use a pickup line on her. As if. From the sounds of it, Benjamin only wanted one type of woman, and she didn't qualify.
Unfortunately, Benjamin wasn't home, but Austin had his cell phone number (which was absent from the police file) at his house, so they went back there so he could retrieve it.
Rascal greeted them with friendly barking, and then he ran around in frenzied circles while Austin looked for Benjamin's phone number.
"Here it is," Austin declared as he withdrew a piece of paper from his desk. "Do you want to call him, or do you want to wait and talk to him in person? You're a detective, so body language may play a large role in you solving the case."
"That's a good point. I'll see how far I can get on the phone, but people usually recognize me from the paper, so he may need to see me in person to believe me."
"Nah, he'll listen to me. I might have mentioned to him that we used to date..."
"You did? Why?"
"We just got to talking about past girlfriends, and I told him I've only ever had one serious one, and that was you. And he knew who you were by your name."
"Wait, I'm the only girlfriend you've ever had? What about college?"
"I was too busy studying to worry about a personal relationship. Besides, none of the girls showed any interest in me."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You're right, though - you do have a lot to offer someone. And the right girl will be able to see that. Hey, here's an idea - why don't you ask Jillian? She could use a nice guy like you."
Austin got a good laugh out of that one. The sound was so unexpected that Rascal stopped frolicking around and lifted his ears in bewilderment.
"Thanks Kenzie," Austin said between breaths, "but Jillian isn't my type. She's a good friend, don't get me wrong, but she's too...well, wild for my taste."
"What do you mean by wild?"
"As in a party animal. She's very serious about her studies, which is good, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I see your point. She's always been like that."
"I don't know why I laughed. I guess the thought of me being with someone like her, so beautiful and outgoing, seemed pretty asinine."
"I feel the same way about my boyfriend sometimes. I mean, he's good-looking, nice, you name it, and yet he's with me, of all people. Austin, if it can happen for me, it can happen for you easily."
"When do I get to meet Logan?"
"Sometime soon I hope. My parents and Jillian want to meet him too. I'm hoping to have him come visit for the holidays, when he's out of classes for Christmas, or even Thanksgiving. Jillian too for that matter. You're welcome to come visit too, any time you want."
"Thanks, I may take you up on that."
At last, Kenzie decided that she'd call Benjamin and ask him if he'd heard anything about his dog, and if he knew of anyone who'd want to kidnap it.
The phone on the other end of the line rang and rang until finally a hoarse voice rasped, "What?"
"Hello, Mr. Schmidt?"
The voice immediately became more polite when its owner heard a female voice.
"Yeah, this is Benjamin. Who's calling me with such a nice voice?"
"I'm Kenzie Howell, and I know you've heard of me. You're friends with Austin Crowley."
"Oh, yeah I know you! Well, I know of you, anyway. Austin talks about you quite a bit. What can I do for you?"
"I'm actually here investigating all the missing animals, and I understand that your dog is also missing."
"Yeah, do me a favor will you? Find whoever did it and strangle their llama-licking neck."
"I'll do better than that. I'll put them in jail so they'll have to suffer for the rest of their lives."
"I like your style. What did you want to know?"
"Do you have any idea who'd want to kidnap your dog, or why?"
"I have no clue. Well, actually, yeah I do. Probably some psycho ex-girlfriend who's trying to get back at me, so she kidnaps my dog like a neurotic freak."
"Ex-girlfriend, or someone you had a one-night stand with who found out that you're a player?"
"Hey, that was harsh. Ouch. But okay, you can call it that if you want if it'll help you solve this case."
"Were any of these women married? Or did they have boyfriends?"
"I have no clue. I didn't find out that information. My philosophy is, if you fall for my pickup line, you fall into my bed voluntarily."
Kenzie gritted her teeth, holding onto her temper.
"Well, if those women had boyfriends or husbands, then they could have taken your dog out of spite, too. Have you seen anything unusual lately? Or have you seen anyone trespassing on your property?"
"I haven't seen anything. I'm either at work or busy picking up girls or entertaining them."
"Right...well, thanks for your time. I'll let you know if I find your dog."
"I hope so. Later."
The call ended with a sharp click. Kenzie pushed the End button on her phone, spun around to face Austin, and bellowed, "What a pig! He's more of a dog than, well, his dog!"
Austin was shaking his head with an amused look on his face. "I warned you. Did he make a move on you?"
"No, he just flat out admitted that he's a player who only wants one thing. I bet he would have tried to pick me up, if he hadn't known who I was and what I wanted."
"Did you find out anything?"
"Just that one of his one-time stands or their significant other, if they had one, could have taken the dog out of spite. But why would they kidnap all the animals in town if that were the case? And why go after the dog and not him?"
"I think he loves the dog more than he could ever love any woman. Excuse me while I regurgitate over the fact that women still throw themselves at him."
"Oh, Austin. Like I said, the right girl will come along one of these days. Good things come to those that wait. Besides, when you meet her, she'll be worth waiting for. Because she'll see you for you, and not your IQ. Just don't let one pick you up for your money."
"I've already considered that, so I try not to live too extravagantly. I don't want to have hordes of potential mates flocking around me like I'm some sort of personal bank account."
"Good."
"Thanks Kenzie," Austin said, surprising her by giving her an embrace. "That means a lot to me."
"You're welcome," Kenzie replied as she returned the hug, inhaling an aroma of cologne mixed in with hay. It smelled almost like home.
When they pulled out of the embrace, Kenzie decided to go around town and try talking to the other pet owners. Austin offered to go with her, but she insisted he stay home and tend to his animals and make sure they didn't get abducted, or work on a new experiment or something. He finally gave in, but only after Kenzie promised to return the following day so that she could see the rest of Austin's pets.
While driving toward the Lionheart house, which was the closest house from Austin's that was in the file of missing pets, she thought about the real reason she insisted Austin stay home while she investigated - she found him to be a distraction. But not the annoying kind of distraction like Logan had been in the beginning. Austin was the kind of distraction that someone would like to have around - one who didn't rub his higher IQ in the faces of others while trying to help, one who would sit back and let her do her job without interfering, and one that made her feel safe and secure. And one that would keep her from doing her job properly because her mind would keep drifting away from it and back to him.
The hug he'd given her had sent electric shocks throughout her body, and she was trying to tell herself that she hadn't liked it one bit. After all, she had a boyfriend. All she and Austin had was their past.
Still, as she drove down that winding dirt road, she couldn't help but break into a grin as she thought about what awaited her the next day. She remembered all the good times she and Austin had had back in high school, before their mutual departure. It was a lot of fun, but one can't turn back in time, nor can they live in the past.
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