Watchdog Read Online Free Page B

moved to forestall that idea. “How about if you take charge of Faith and make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble?”
    â€œOkay,” he agreed happily. At his age, it’s a thrill to be put in charge of anything.
    I ran my fingers around the Poodle’s neck, making sure that her collar was lying close to the skin. She doesn’t usually wear a collar since it causes the hair to mat, but I hadn’t had a chance to take it off after our jog. I handed the end of the leash to Davey and we got out.
    The exterior of the building had clearly been worked on since the last time I’d seen it. The formerly sagging porch had a new floor; rotted boards in the walls had been replaced; and the old-fashioned multipaned windows had been removed, a single large picture window taking their place. All the place needed now, at least on the outside, was a new coat of paint to tie the job together.
    The front door was standing open. Davey and Faith scooted up the steps and ran inside. I was about to follow, when something caught my eye. Off to one side, a small piece of white cardboard, torn jaggedly along the bottom edge, was nailed to one of the new boards.
    I looked down and saw the rest of the poster on the porch floor below. Its surface was covered with footprints, heavy boot prints actually, probably from the construction crew. Squatting down, I turned the paper over. Large block letters had been printed in a vivid shade of red: GO AWAY. WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE.
    I felt a chill wash over me. A noise on the porch made me jump to my feet and spin around.
    â€œA message from the local welcoming committee,” said Frank. He took the poster out of my hands, bent it stiffly in half, then strode out and tossed it in the dumpster.
    I followed him, looking around curiously. There was a buffer of woods in three directions. With the leaves still on the trees, only one house was visible and it was on the other side of the road. “The neighbors don’t like what you’re doing?”
    â€œApparently not. Some of them have even organized themselves into a protest group.”
    â€œI don’t get it. The last time I saw this place, it was really run down. I would think they’d be glad to have you come in and fix it up.”
    â€œI would, too, but it hasn’t turned out that way. Haney’d been here for decades. I guess they’d gotten used to the idea that there was nothing they could do about him. But now that he’s gone, they’re protesting any sort of commercial usage.”
    We walked back up the steps together. “How much trouble can they cause for you?”
    â€œLegally none. Luckily for us, Haney’d been serving coffee in the back of his store for years. As far as the zoning board’s concerned, we’re just enlarging on his business. You’d never get a variance today, but it doesn’t matter. Nonconformity runs with the land, not the ownership. The right to have a coffee bar here is grandfathered.”
    â€œOnly because of a technicality,” I said, frowning. “Have you been down to the town hall to check that everything’s in order?”
    â€œI didn’t have to. Marcus deals with details like that all the time and he told me it’s all set.”
    â€œHey, Mom, it’s cool in here! Come in and see!”
    Davey burst through the doorway, with Faith a step behind. His sneakers were soaked and his jeans were wet nearly up to the knees. Faith was dripping water, too. The bracelets of hair on each of her legs hung in sodden clumps.
    â€œWhat happened to you two?”
    Frank grimaced slightly before Davey could answer. “That’s why I called. I need your help.”
    â€œWith the neighbors?”
    â€œNo, with the water.”
    â€œWhat water?”
    â€œCome on in. You’ll see.”
    Inside, the building was still very much a work in progress. The deep shelves and high dividers I remembered from