Chapter Three
Vaughn didn't come back until late that night, so I had absolutely nothing to do other than roam around his house worrying about what would happen when Francie and Will, the CIA, and Sloane started to miss me.
Somehow I managed to fall asleep in an easy chair in his living room because I was startled awake when he came through the door at about 11 o'clock looking tired and haggard, his brow creased with worry.
I leapt down out of the chair as he came into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He set his briefcase on the table and took something out. As I said dog's vision isn't too great but I eventually recognized it. It was the very thing that had gotten me into this mess in the first place. The Rambaldi device I stole in Madrid.
I guess that means they found where I dropped it in the park. That would explain why he looked so worried.
Vaughn turned it over a few times in his hands and looked it over with a sigh. He came to a stop on the side with the hand shape and stared at it intently. I knew exactly what he was feeling. Like it was impossible to take your eyes off that one spot.
Oh no. he's not going to...........
I strained my eyes enough to see Vaughn running his fingers along the edge of the hand shape.
"He is! Oh, crap!"
I quickly dashed over to where he was sitting and jumped against his leg causing him to jump.
"Jesus Christ, Donovan!" He yelled, and then shook his head with a sigh.
"Okay, okay. Come on," He said putting the device back in his briefcase and closing the top. For a moment I was relieved enough that he wasn't going to try to touch the device again to care where we were going so I followed him into the kitchen. I watched him open the cabinet and take out a can of dog food.
Oh he thought I wanted him to feed me. Well, I guess it's logical since as far as he knows I'm just a normal dog with no double agents trapped inside it, but logical or not it doesn't help me at all.
My musings were interrupted as he set the bowl down on the floor in front of me. The smell, or should I say stench, almost knocked me of my feet.
"Ummm.......yeah. I don't think so. Buddy, you and I are going to have to have a serious chat as soon as I regain my vocal cords." I thought to myself, giving the possibility of telepathy one more chance. Still no luck.
He turned and walked out flipping off the light as he went. So I stood there in a dark room staring at nothing.
I sighed, or whatever the dog equivalent of sighing is, and glanced again at the dog food. I myself had no interest at all but I found my dog brain thinking that it looked very appetizing.
I quickly turned away, if I ever got out of this I did not want to be able to say that I'd eaten dog food even if I was a dog at the time.
So now what? I could dig up some good blackmail. No, that would just be wrong.
I blinked and sat down, thinking as hard as I could with the intelligence level of Odie from Garfield. Just then, something bright white caught my eye amidst the darkness.
I wobbled closer to it and concluded that it was a piece of paper. I tugged it down from the table and strained my weak dog vision to read the words.
They were blurry and illegible to me, but a few words jumped out at me.
Feelings, us, mother, and Sydney. Not in that order, or course.
Vaughn had been writing something to me! What had he been writing?? If only I could read it!
Wait! What the heck was I doing worrying about some letter that is probably none of my business anyway?
Well it did say 'Sydney' so if it was to me that I had every right to wonder.
At least I think it did. I could have been mistaken. I think to myself then suddenly realize how ridiculous this all is. I'm standing in Vaughn's kitchen in the middle of the night having an argument with myself about a letter that I can't even read anyway!
I shook my head as hard as I could, creating a weird sensation as my ears flapped back and forth, and turned back into the living room. I hopped up onto the couch and settled down into the pillows. I slowly fell asleep there feeling very helpless and alone.
