It started with whining. What fresh hell is this, Bruno thought, turning to the cool side of his pillow. Dead to the world, Moxie was asleep under her CPAP mask. The house was dark and quiet except for the sound of end-of-summer crickets coming through the cracked window. Bruno liked his sleep. He punched his pillow and settled down. He heard it again.

A soft whimper followed by a volley of yippy barks. Years in the military made him sensitive to environmental changes. The sounds were coming from the neighbor’s yard. Bruno marched to the window and slammed it down. His neighbors, the O’Henrys, had moved in with their daughter and rented out their place. The new tenants must have a dog. Bruno kept an eye on his neighborhood, but he wasn’t the type to chit-chat over fences. Roxie did the whole get to know people thing. Narrowing his eyes, Bruno studied the neighbor’s backyard before returning to sleep.

On their porch, Bruno smoked his solitary cigarette of the day. Roxie came out with a cup of coffee and perched on the arm of the Adirondack chair. She’d quit but still enjoyed his secondhand smoke. Bruno stroked her thigh.

“What’s up with the new neighbor, sweets? Their damn dog woke me.”

“I know you like your sleep, lover. I thought Fiona said no pets. You know how house proud she was. You could eat off her linoleum. I don’t know much about them. I mean, yeah, I brought them welcome to the block cookies. Name’s Green. Family, mom, dad, three adult sons, a little rough around the edges type, but nice enough. Not super friendly and I never got my cookie tin back,” Roxie said, shrugging.

His old lady leaned against his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around her waist, Bruno gave her an appreciative squeeze. His woman could find the bright side of a Dumpster fire, so her comment meant the new neighbors were absolute garbage. Shaking his head, Bruno drank his coffee.

A few weeks later, he finally spotted the neighbor’s dog. Bruno wasn’t an animal person. When their kids were little, there was a menagerie of critters he endured. Ever since Elvira, Stella’s ancient cat, kicked the bucket, they had been pet-free. Bruno had gotten into the habit of spending more time on his porch or in the garage, door open. At 6’ 3” and 225 pounds, Bruno figured if the neighbors saw him oiling his machete a couple of times, they would get the hint to not mess with the Riccardis. The neighbor, one of the scrawny sons, was walking/dragging an emaciated dog. Bug-eyed and trembling, it was a toy poodle, maybe. Patchy pale hair, spindly legs and an enormous belly, the dog was heavily pregnant. Bruno set down his coffee.

That night, Bruno couldn’t settle down to sleep. Over her readers, Roxie watched her old man toss and turn but said nothing.

“It’s a freaking furnace in here,” Bruno shouted to the ceiling.

He threw off the comforter and headed for the bedroom window. Roxie set down her Tom Clancy and folded her arms. Bruno opened the window. A cold wind blew in with the sound of whimpering. Bruno launched into a litany of profanities that make a sailor blush. Roxie opened the bedroom door and handed her old man his slippers.

Bruno banged on the neighbor’s door. Bruno knew how to bang. All of the lights were on. Finally the woman opened the door. The smell of dog shit and hot garbage wafted out. Bruno could see what was once the O’Henrys’ front parlor was a rat’s nest of old beer cans and old food. The woman was shouting something about this time of night.

“Give me the dog.”

One of the sons stumbled over the door and he started yammering.

“Princess’ pups go for 700 bucks. What are you high!”

“How about I give you this c note and don’t tell your landlord you’re running an illegal puppy mill,” Roxie said from behind Bruno.

“Give me the dog now.”

Bruno crossed his arms and glared down at the now quieted son. With a cell in one hand and cash in the other, Roxie stood firm in her bathrobe ad fuzzy slippers.

“Travis, fetch Princess.”

“Yeah, Travis, give me the dog now.”

Bruno and Roxie walked back to their home. Some of the other neighbors were peeking from their windows. The Sanchez girls gave them a standing ovation. Holding Princess against his chest Bruno could feel her shivering. When he looking down they locked eyes and Princess gave him a lopsided grin. The dog tucked her nose beneath Bruno’s arm. For a moment Bruno had trouble seeing her. His vision swam. Probably dust from that filth, he thought.

“Get inside, lover” Roxie said opening their door, “before you ruin your tough guy rep.”