Maximum Security (A Dog Park Mystery) (23 page)

“You’re some guy, Dourson. How
about we grab that doggie bag and see if we can make it home before
my dress explodes?”

Bailey held the kubotan delicately
between her thumb and forefinger as she examined it. She extended
her hand so Kita could give it a sniff, then gave it a little shake
and made the keys clink. “I don’t know, Lia. It looks like a cross
between a Medieval torture device and a heavy metal sex toy to me.
He ask you to use it on him yet?”

“Ha. Ha. I happen to think it’s
very sweet and thoughtful. I just wish it didn’t weigh so much.”
Lia set her coffee down on the picnic table. She stretched her arms
over her head and yawned. “Sorry, late night.”

Bailey gave the kubotan another
shake. “Better than steak knives, I guess. Does this mean you’re
going steady? Are his initials engraved on this
anywhere?”

Terry wandered up. “What’s this? Do
my eyes deceive me, or is this a twenty-first century pocket flail?
A very attractive model, though you need more keys to make it
effective.”

“Hi, Terry,” Lia said. “This is my
birthday present from Peter. He says it’s called a
kubotan.”

“Technically, a kubotan is made of
hard plastic and has grooves in it, so it’s lightweight and your
hand fits it snugly. This is a self-defense keychain stick, a
take-off of the kubotan. It was created for tactical use, primarily
by female police officers.

“Its use is similar to the yawara
stick and is greatly linked to 'empty handed' martial arts
techniques. Of course, you’ll want to deploy the mace before your
antagonist ever gets close enough for you to strike
them.

“But it will never replace a
loaded gun,” he concluded.

Lia looked at Bailey. Bailey turned
white and said nothing. Leave it to Terry to forget about the last
time she carried a gun, even though he had been the one to give it
to her.

“No guns, Terry,” she said with
finality. “The wrong people will think I’m happy to see
them.”

“Touche´,” Terry said, and he
wandered off to find Jackson.

Lia pulled the kubotan out of her
hip pocket and slid the key in her front door lock. The dogs milled
around, tugging their leashes in opposing directions. She twisted
the key and shoved the door open. The dogs preceded her as she
stepped inside. She turned, shutting the door.

Strong arms wrapped around her from
behind, pulling her into a bear hug, one large hand gripping the
other over her solar plexus.

“Where’s your kubotan?” Peter
muttered threateningly into her ear.

“What is this,
The Pink
Panther
? Are you going to be attacking me at random from now
on?”

“Humor me,” he growled.

“Okay, Cato. It’s in my left
hand.”

“Bend your elbows and bring your
hands up. Place your right hand on top of your left hand, covering
the key end of the kubotan.”

Lia dropped the leashes.
“Check.”

The dogs milled around, sniffing at
the entwined couple, trying to understand why Lia wasn’t getting
their breakfast.

“Now, gently, because you really
love me, push the butt end into the back of my exposed
hand.”

Lia looked down, sighted his hand
and pressed the kubotan on top of the tendons in Peter’s
hand.

“Press in a little harder . . . a
little harder . . . OW!” Peter dropped his hands.

“Okay, step away, turn around and
don’t flip the safety, but act like you’re going to mace
me.”

Lia stepped away, turned, raised
her arm and pointed the bottom of the kubotan at Peter’s face. She
applied her thumb to the button on the other end.

“Squirt,” she said. “Did I
pass?”

“Wouldn’t hurt to get a little
further away, but it’ll do in a pinch.” He shook out his
hand.

“Did I hurt you?”

“You hear me say,
‘ow’?”

“I thought that was just for
effect.” She took his hand. “If I kiss it, will it feel
better?”

“It won’t feel worse.” He
grinned.

She held his hand up, gave it a
loud smack. “Help me unclip the dogs. So . . . did I
pass?”

“That’s one basic technique. Of
course, you want to ram the kubotan into their hand about ten times
harder, but you got the picture.”

They released the dogs, who ran
into the kitchen for breakfast. Lia doled out kibble as Peter
handed her bowls.

“Are we going to do this again?”
she asked.

“Probably. This and a few other
moves. That’ll give you a little confidence with it until we can
get you into Cynth’s class. The point is for you to react
automatically if someone grabs you.”

“And you want me to hurt you while
I’m at it?”

“Only a little. Just enough for
you to get a feel for the pressure points. Just as long as you
don’t start taking pleasure in it.”

“Doing this will make you feel
better?”

“Knowing you can handle yourself
will make me feel a lot better.”

“I think it would be more fun
handling you. You have any more positions to show me, you big, bad,
dangerous thug, you?” She traced a finger along his
collarbone.

Peter gulped.

Bailey sat at Lia’s kitchen table
and shuffled a stack of charts. Lia and Peter sat across from her.
Peter’s digital recorder sat in the middle of the table. The dogs
lay nearby, watching. Kitchen usually meant food.

“Are you ready for me to turn this
on yet?” Peter asked.

“Go ahead,” Bailey
said.

“Wow,” Lia said, eyeing the stack
of charts. “This looks really complicated. I didn’t know it was
going to be so involved.”

“Have either of you had your chart
read before?” Bailey asked.

Peter and Lia shook their
heads.

Bailey pulled Lia’s chart out of
the stack and turned it to face them. She briefly explained that
the chart was a map of the sky and the position of the planets when
a person is born.

Then she pointed out the complex
arrangement of planets that made Lia an artist.

Lia’s eyes began to glaze. “Wow,”
she said. “Interesting.”

“It is interesting, because the
placement that encourages you to develop your artistic talent also
creates a conflict for you. Libra says you’re all about partnership
and cooperation, but the first house is very independent and places
a priority on self and autonomy. And you’re a bit of a control
freak, with Pluto there.”

Peter nudged Lia with his knee. She
ignored him.

“Something very important is going
on in your chart right now. See the little red sign outside the
circle, shaped like an old TV aerial?” Bailey pointed to the
incomprehensible squiggle. “That’s Uranus, as it is in the sky
today.”

Peter raised his eyebrows, but
resisted the obvious joke.

“It’s passing through your house
of partnership and marriage, and it will be there for about seven
years. This suggests that any relationship you enter into has to
allow more room than the traditional relationship, and that it is
likely to have its own rules and be unusual in some way. Otherwise,
it’s not likely to last.”

“Does that mean marriage is out?”
Lia asked, deliberately avoiding Peter’s eye.

“Not necessarily. It could work if
it allowed for the individuality of both partners.”

“Huh,” Peter said. “What about
me?”

“You’re a Capricorn, so you tend
to be conservative and believe in rules and social conventions.”
She continued pointing out different planets. “. . . So, one of the
ways you can serve your purpose is to make the world a better place
through a career that investigates death in the pursuit of
justice.”

“How about that,” Peter said.
“What about my anus?”

Bailey rolled her eyes.

Lia gave him a
look
.

“Ur-an-us
is in the house
of your finances for the next several years. That’s also the house
of your personal values, so it may just mean that you are changing
your priorities. Usually, though, it means that your personal
income and finances are unstable and unpredictable, and changes
will be sudden. It can mean a windfall, or it could be that you
lose everything.”

“So I should go ahead and buy
lottery tickets, but only one a week?”

“Exactly. I didn’t spend much time
on your individual interpretations, but there’s one thing I want to
point out before we go on to the comparison.” Bailey held up the
pair of charts. “See how all your planets are grouped tightly
together? It’s the same for both of you.

“That’s called a bundle pattern.
It signifies that you are high energy, highly focused people. It
also means you are very confident in yourselves and single minded.
And it is a sign that it’s natural for you to believe your way is
the right way. It takes special effort for you to see other
people’s perspectives.”

“That’s not me,” Lia
protested.

“You’re a little different,
because the Libra influence softens the tendency. Peter’s moon is
in Sagittarius. That can also dampen the effect.

“But you both have to make
conscious effort to understand the other person’s point of view and
you have to make room for the object of the other person’s
focus.”

“Don’t you mean their obsession?”
Peter asked.

“You could put it that way.”
Bailey put the first charts away and pulled out another that had
two concentric rings, like a target.

“This is what happens when you lay
Peter’s chart on top of Lia’s. This type of chart shows how two
people relate to each other.”

She pointed to a tiny ‘male’ symbol
next to a tiny ‘female’ symbol. “That’s Lia’s Mars and Peter’s
Venus. Look how they’re snuggled up next to each other.”

“Aw,” Lia said.

“This is the strongest
astrological indicator of sexual attraction.”

“Huh,” Peter said. Lia elbowed
him.

“Since it’s Lia’s Mars, it’s
likely she made the first move.” Bailey looked at them blandly. Lia
looked back just as blandly.

Peter held up both palms. “Don’t
look at me. I’ll never tell.”

See those little tridents next to
Mars and Venus? That’s the sign for Neptune. That brings in a
magnetic attraction and a spiritual connection. You might even have
a psychic rapport.”

Lia looked at Peter. “Can you tell
what I’m thinking right now?”

“Uh-huh, but not because I’m
psychic.”

“Peter’s Sun makes a 60 degree
angle from Lia’s Moon. That’s good for cooperation and
understanding, and it’s often found in successful partnerships and
domestic relationships.”

“Hmm,” Peter said. Lia elbowed
him.

“In this aspect, Peter’s Sun is
more active and it shows up in Lia’s house of home, so he is likely
to have an impact on her domestic affairs.”

“Uh-huh,” Peter said. He dodged
Lia’s elbow just in time.

“There are parental overtones to
this placement, which means one of you may tend to treat the other
like a child.”

Peter blinked. He forgot to dodge.
“Ouch,” he yelped.

“Lia’s Sun shows up in Peter’s
eighth house, which has to do with sex, rehabilitation and death.
It also has to do with financial interdependence and business
partnerships. So we have sexual attraction. Along with that, Lia
can inspire Peter toward self-improvement and regeneration, which
includes detoxing. And, at some point, you may choose to merge your
finances.”

“The sex part is okay, but I’m not
going to drink her green smoothies, no matter what you say,” Peter
said.

“I find it interesting that this
is also the house of death, and Lia has been involved with two of
your cases, now.”

Peter leaned back and folded his
arms.

“See,” Lia said, “it’s not my
fault. Blame the solar system.”

Lia showed Bailey out, then
returned to the kitchen, where Peter was tossing liver treats to
the dogs. Honey was best at snatching these out of the air. Chewy
always missed and snuffled around on the floor to find his. Viola
refused to lower herself to such antics. Two treats lay on the
floor in front of her while she gave Peter a
you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. Peter leaned over and handed her the
treats. Viola plucked them delicately from his fingers. Lia stood
in the doorway and watched him with a curious expression on her
face.

He looked up. “You want to
talk?”

“I don’t think so. I need to
process.”

“You have to admit, it’s
interesting.”

“Hmmph,” Lia said. “She only said
all that stuff because she knows us.”

“I don’t think so. She did offer
to lend me her books so I could check it all out.”