The Lady Is a Vamp by Lynsay Sands Page A

school. Or it was when she still went to school,” he added wearily.
    Jeanne Louise frowned now too. She didn’t know what brought on the headaches with Livy, but getting upset might bring them on harder or more often. If that was the case, she didn’t want the child upset. She was willingly taking on the girl’s pain to spare her, and had every intention to continue to do so, but it wasn’t pleasant and if some of that pain could be spared by getting the dog . . .
    Shaking her head, she asked, “What’s behind your house?”
    “Other houses from the next street over. Why?” Paul asked curiously.
    “We’ll have to get Boomer. We’ll have to park on the road behind yours. You can wait here with Livy while I fetch Boomer.”
    He frowned. “That’s kind of risky, isn’t it?”
    “They’ll be watching for your car. They won’t bother about the dog in the backyard.” I hope , Jeanne Louise added silently.
    Paul hesitated, but then nodded. “Thanks,” he murmured, starting the engine.
    Jeanne Louise just nodded, trying to figure out in her mind how best to get the dog. She was trying to remember the setup of the backyard and figure out where it was best to hop the fence. Hopefully the animal was still in the backyard and they hadn’t taken it into the house. And hopefully he’d come to her call. And hopefully no one would happen to spot her. Geez, Jeanne Louise couldn’t believe she was taking this risk. But really, she’d do anything to minimize the pain Livy, and therefore she, suffered. Frankly, she was a big wuss when it came to pain.
    “Keep the engine running,” she said quietly, reaching for the door as Paul pulled to the side of the residential street behind his own.
    “Maybe I should go,” Paul said, putting his hand on her arm to stop her as she started to get out. “I don’t know the people who live here and they might—”
    “I’ll handle the neighbors,” Jeanne Louise assured him calmly, pulling her arm free. Getting out, she repeated, “I’ll just be a minute. Be ready to leave the minute I get back in case I’m spotted and chased by one of the hunters.”
    She saw the worry increase on his face, but just closed the door and turned to start up the driveway of the house he’d stopped in front of. A high wooden fence ran around this house, starting at the garage and going around the backyard before coming back around and stopping at the side of the house. It was only six feet tall though compared to Paul’s taller wall and she could see the wall beyond it. She was approaching the gate rather than the house itself, but heard the front door open. Turning, she smiled at the man who stepped out to eye her suspiciously.
    “Everything’s fine, go back inside and watch the television,” Jeanne Louise said, slipping into the man’s mind to ensure he followed the order.
    He nodded, smiled, then turned and walked back inside. Jeanne Louise didn’t hesitate then, but continued to the fence. She tried the gate, not surprised to find it locked from the inside. Nothing was ever simple, she thought and glanced around to be sure no one was looking except for Paul, then leapt over the fence in one smooth move.
    Jeanne Louise grunted as she landed on a concrete sidewalk inside the walled yard. The landing sent a jolt through her, but she ignored it and immediately jogged to the back fence. On the way here she’d debated different approaches. Hopping the fence, grabbing the dog and hopping back again would have been the easiest route. But while it was almost eight o’clock, it was summer, still bright daylight out. There was too much risk of being spotted by one of the hunters inside the house and pursued. There was also the risk of any one of the neighbors happening to see her hopping the fence. A slender woman in business clothes hopping a ten-foot wall as if it were knee high would draw attention. She’d had to come up with an alternate plan.
    Grimacing, Jeanne Louise knelt in the rose