Valium & Vodka: Chapter Thirteen
Kelvin shot straight up in bed, damp with a chilling sweat. A breath and a half later he turned to see Reid lying peacefully beside him. He reached out with a cautious hand and placed it on the heeler's arm, sighing with relief to feel the telltale...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Twelve
The emptiness of the apartment breathed with an air of death's presence in Kelvin's life when he woke up in Reid's bed. It smelled like him, which was why after nearly falling asleep at the wheel on his way back to the apartment, Kelvin had crashed...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Eleven
Reid's brain had gone into hyperdrive. Tan-furred hands quivered and shook like those of a man three times his age as he tried to push a 13mm deep socket onto a hex nut holding an exhaust manifold in place. He could hear the tool laughing at...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Ten
Sand and surf had been replaced with a kitchen sink. Reid and Kelvin tended bar, creating a cocktail of monstrous proportion in the city sewers. Bottles of rum, gin, vodka, tequila, and good old sour mash whiskey were opened and upended into the...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Nine
Kelvin had slept soundly, once he'd finally cried himself to sleep. Sunlight beat his alarm by five minutes, and the Shiba Inu sat up on the couch, his back aching dully from the piece of furniture that was probably older than he was. He grabbed the...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Eight
Aiden just laughed when he heard of the previous night's short-lived encounter - a laugh that was simultaneously a pressure release valve for Reid. He'd met the lab for lunch that day, versus being picked up at the shop. Once was normal for...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Seven
By the time Reid had completed his morning routine, he'd cut his time down so much that he'd left none for breakfast at home. Shrug. He'd pick up a breakfast taco at the corner grocery on the way; they always gave him wicked bad gas, but with the...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Six
Reid walked into work the following Monday morning with a spring in his step he'd not had since the morning after he lost his virginity in High School. He felt energized, rejuvenated even, and while it hadn't stopped him from having his customary...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Five
Forgetting your meds was like forgetting your wallet if you were Reid Travis. Cortisol had asked Epinephrine to dance, and they were cutting a rug all over the cattle dog's body. Alcohol would be good. Benzodiazepines would be better. Both at...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Four
The fitting lyrics of a sad, country dirge stirred Reid from his sleep in a puddle of drool, and he groped for his phone, finding the device a few seconds too late to answer a phone call from a phone number he didn't even know. He groaned and rolled...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Three
It was a thirty minute drive from Reid's home in Glendale to Santa Monica, where all the guys from Doghouse were hamming it up with potential clients, schmoozing with the ladies, and downing drink after overpriced drink. Anxiety welled up inside...
Valium & Vodka: Chapter Two
Reid's decision to hire the Shiba Inu as Doghouse's newest team member had been a hasty one. He found the process of interviewing potential candidates as repellent as most of the candidates themselves. He wasn't a people person. In fact, the...