Thomas swiped the leather seat with the towel he'd learned to provide for car trips, then he rolled his forehead back and forth on the steering wheel and sighed. The horn blared, and Thomas shot up with a start. He turned toward the dog again.

"Look, ace. I'm sorry Slick's dead and you ended up with me."

Tell me about it.

"But it was either me or the business end of a gas pipe, so how about you take your happy pills so I can convince some idiot to give you a home. Sound like a plan?"

Hairy shook some more, then stared at the door latch.

"I'm not cut out for dog ownership. Nothing personal. I work odd hours. I've got too much stress in my life. And I'm not a very nice man, so I'm only thinking of your welfare. Besides, I don't like animals. Hell, I don't even like human beings."

The car phone rang.

"Tobin. What?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Manners-how'd the lobotomy go?" Rollo laughed uproariously into the phone.

"The dog's or mine?" Thomas pulled out into Columbia traffic and headed toward Baltimore. With luck, he could deposit Hairy at his townhouse and get back to court by two for the rest of the Leo Vasilich suppression hearing.

Poor Leo. Talk about women troubles! That guy was the poster boy for what can happen when a man lets his guard down with a female-he ends up facing three to five of hard time.

"I can't believe you actually took that hairless rat to a psychiatrist, Thomas. How much did it set you back, anyway?"

"Two-fifty."

"No way! The guy should be arrested for extortion."

"Yeah, well, the guy is an actual veterinarian and he's a she with a great set of… a great setup out here. Anyway, that's just for the office visit and the drugs. It doesn't even count the ultrasound or the supplies I've got to get."

"You mean Hairy's going on doggie downers?"

Thomas riffled through the brochures and workbooks strewn across the seat until be found the little white prescription bag. "Uppers. Downers. Hell if I know." He read the instructions. "Amitriptyline, one-quarter of a ten-milligram tablet twice daily for depression and anxiety. Xanax as needed for panic."