Chapter 15 The Monkey Terrier

Namjoon and I had gone on all the rides so now we were playing all the games. At the moment, I was watching Namjoon attempt to throw tiny rings onto bottles. And he was failing miserably. I couldn't help but laugh as he continued to fail.

After he threw the last ring, I put my hand on his bicep to stop him from getting another set of rings from the poor man working the game.

"I think that's enough," I said to the man. I turned to Namjoon and said, "You're clearly bad at this."

"Why don't you try?" Namjoon asked angrily.

"Because I'm as equally bad, if not worse," I said. "Let's try something that we might be good at."

"Fine," Namjoon said rolling his eyes. He turned away from the game and began to walk away. I rushed up to him and took his hand in mine. I swung it between our bodies, trying to take his mind off loosing the game.

"Why don't you play that one game where you swing the mallet down?" I asked. "Show me how strong you are."

He didn't look at me, instead he looked to the games that lined the walkways. I couldn't help but notice him emotionally shutting down. Something was very wrong, I could tell.

"Come on, Namjoon." I stopped walking and tugged his hand to stop him as well. He didn't turn to look at me. "Namjoon look at me." He didn't do it. "I don't care that you can't win a stupid game. That game is rigged, everyone knows that. I just want the two of us to have fun. So why don't we play a game that's a bit easier?"

Namjoon nodded before he pulled me over to water gun game. The first one to reach the top got a prize. And it ended up being Namjoon who won.

"Good job, Handsome," I said as the man in the booth handed him a small stuffed animal.

Namjoon handed me the stuffed animal. I took it from him with a smile. He turned to the man running the game and said, "Leave for a minute."

The man rushed off through the back and left me alone with Namjoon. I looked around for JK, who was playing the ring toss game thirty feet away. He wasn't even paying attention to Namjoon and I.

"Ana, can you promise me something?" Namjoon asked still not looking at me.

"Depends on what it is," I shrugged.

"Can you promise to do that whenever I feel like that?" Namjoon asked.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Take my mind off feeling upset," Namjoon said. "I've never had anyone do that for me."

That couldn't be true. He had to have had someone who cared for him. Someone who helped him like I just did. But then again I knew almost nothing about Namjoon.

"Namjoon, why don't you tell me more about yourself?" I asked. I turned my body completely to face him. "You know so much about me, but I barely know anything about you."

"Not here, Ana," Namjoon said. "Not in public. Why don't I go to your place after we're done here and I'll talk about it then? Promise."

"Then I promise to always make you feel better," I said.

"Good. Let's go play another game," Namjoon took my hand. The two of us stood up and we began to walk to another game. Before we were two feet from the water gun game, my phone rang from in my purse which Namjoon scowled at.

"Don't answer it," Namjoon ordered.

"It might be for work," I said.

"It's your day off." I rolled my eyes and answered the call anyway. "Anastasia Barnes."

"Hey, Kid," Jones said through the phone. "I just got out of doing the interviews. The kids said that 'round midnight they went to a Natalie Rys' house. Her older brother told them that he would call the cops if they came into the house drunk. So they went back out onto the streets till they all blacked out. They couldn't have gotten from Towson and Portland in thirty minutes, so they're clear."

"Well damn-"

"But one of the kids, an Aaron Pride, did tell his cousins about the safe. The cousins are known for bein' wanna-be gangsters. Now I'm waitin' for the police to bring them in for questioning. They always hang around the same park so I don't have to wait long," Jones said.

"What's the chance of these kids finding the Ambler's address?" I asked.

"If they got the school's emergency contact info, highly possible," Jones said. "The grandparents were both teen's emergency contact. Wait a second, Kid."

"What's going on?" Namjoon asked.

I shushed him and turned away so I wouldn't get distracted by him.

"Okay, so the punks' momma hasn't seen them since Sunday night," Jones said. "They're also wanted for another questioning in gas station shooting just south of Portland. I'm staying here the rest of the day in case they find them."

"I'm sorry I'm not there," I said.

"Just have a good time on your date, Kid," Jones muttered.

"Thanks Jones, let me know if you find anything else out," I said.

"Will do," Jones said before he hung up.

"Everything okay?" Namjoon asked.

I looked at Namjoon before I put my phone in my bag. "Yup, Jones just wanted to let me know about the most recent development."

"What's the most recent development?" Namjoon asked.

"Wanna-be gangsters wanted to try to rob some not-so-rich elderly couple," I said.

"Wanna-be gangsters are annoying," Namjoon said. "They never have what it takes to do what needs to be done."

"And what would you know about that, Mr. Completely-'legal'-business?" I asked.

"Are you in denial, Ana?"

"Nope. Just trying to forget the whole Mafia Boss thing. I've also been thinking of what to tell my family about you."

"I can't wait to meet your family," Namjoon laughed out.

"And I can't wait to meet your's," I said.

Namjoon became silent once again, his smile falling from his face. He pulled me over to a new game.

"This looks fun," Namjoon said in a monotone voice.

He dodged my statement about his family by shutting down. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about his family. And I wasn't going to push it.

"I don't care if you don't talk to your family anymore, Namjoon. And you don't have to tell me your issues right now. But what I meant was that the family I want to meet is whoever you call your family."

"Thank you, Ana. Now, get ready to get your ass beat," Namjoon said as he grabbed the mallet to play Whack-a-Mole.

"Oh no you're not going to win," I said as I grabbed my own mallet.

///

Namjoon and I made our way into my apartment after we went out for dinner at a diner near the fairgrounds. It was run by a nice, old black lady who seemed to know Namjoon pretty well. She called him 'Honey' the entire time we were there and he was equally as friendly.

We had finished going on all the rides and playing all the games when Namjoon mentioned the diner. JK dropped the two of us at my apartment before going off to do whatever he does when he has free time.

As I entered my apartment, Murphy ran up to me. I heard Namjoon close the door behind me.

"Murphy!" I squealed as he ran up to me. I picked him up and cuddled him to my chest. I turned to Namjoon who had his lip curled up as he looked down at Murphy. "I need to take him on his daily walk. Want to come with us?"

"Yeah, I'll come, but I'm not picking up any poop," Namjoon said. I laughed and placed Murphy down.

"Great. I need to go change my shoes. Do you mind putting Murphy's leash on him?" I asked as I walked back to my bedroom.

"Where's the leash?" Namjoon asked.

"The drawer in the breakfast bar closest to the hallway," I called out as I grabbed my sneakers. I slipped off the ankle boots and pulled on the sneakers.

I put my boots back on the rack in the closest when I heard Namjoon shout from the kitchen, "Come on you scruffy mutt! Come here!"

I walked into the kitchen to see Namjoon chase Murphy around the kitchen. I was very funny to see and I couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.

"Call him by his name and tell him to sit," I told him. "He's trained. He'll listen."

"Murphy sit," Namjoon barked out the command.

All Murphy did was bark twice, as if he was imitating Namjoon before running to me. I laughed as I picked Murphy up. I walked up to Namjoon with Murphy in my arms.

"He hates me," Namjoon said as he clipped the leash on Murphy's collar.

"You know, they say that dogs and babies are the best judges of character," I said.

"And I'm a mafia boss. So he must be able to sense how terrible I am," Namjoon growled as he glared at Murphy who stared at me with loving eyes.

"Or he's just not used to having another man share my attention," I said. I placed Murphy on the floor and grabbed the leash from Namjoon. I pulled open the drawer to grab the doggy bags. "Murphy's been the only man in my life since I adopted him three years ago."

"So why did you adopt a dog? Don't they take a lot of time?" Namjoon asked as we walked out of the apartment. He took my hand in his as we walked.

"Well there was an illegal dog breeder in the outer part of the suburbs and The Shelter needed police help to serve a warrant to take the dogs," I started as we began walking to the park. "There were so many dogs. As I looked at all the dogs coming out, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to all of them. So I asked one of the shelter workers and she said that the healthy ones would be put up for adoption. But not all of them would be adopted because after a while, they would have to start euthanizing them."

"I couldn't let that happen. So I asked if it was possible if I could take one of the healthier dogs home with me that day. I talked to just about everyone in charge asking if I could take one home. The woman in charge of the shelter showed me the healthiest dogs. They were all puppies of different breeds and when I saw Murphy, it was love at first sight. He automatically walked up to me, and licked my hand. So I picked him.

"I didn't care how much time I would have to take out of my day for him. How much money it would cost to keep him. I just couldn't let an innocent creature die when I could change it. So I took him in, trained him, house trained him - while I was on the clock too. Murphy is the light of my life."

"So this breeder mistreated the dogs?" Namjoon asked.

"Yeah. The dogs were kept in small cages that weren't cleaned. The dogs fought over food the food they were given and they were all dehydrated. Fleas were everywhere. The puppies and mommas were kept together until they were old enough. The only reason I was able to take Murphy home, was because his momma fed him and his siblings well. He had fleas, but that was easy to take care of."

"I can't handle when people mistreat animals," Namjoon said with a shake of his head. "What kind of breed is he?"

"Affenpinscher, or better known as a Monkey Terrier," I said.

"I can see him as monkey-like," Namjoon nodded as he looked down at Murphy.

We finally reached the park and began to walk around. Murphy had his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. It felt nice walking with Namjoon. It was like we were a couple, but I'm not going to put a label on what we are right now.

We walked next to the playground, where there were a handful of kids who played on the jungle gym when a little boy walked up to us.

"Excuse me," the little boy said in a cute voice. He stared up at me with the largest brown eyes. His light brown hair was swept to the side of his forehead to be able to see better.

"Hi, sweetie," I said. "What's up?"

"Can I pet your dog?" the boy asked, his eyes flickered down to Murphy.

"Sure, sweetheart. His name is Murphy," I said.

The boy knelt down next to Murphy and pet him enthusiastically. I could tell that Murphy enjoyed the attention, as his tail wagged uncontrollably.

"Colby?" A woman walked up next to us. "I told you not to run off."

"Mommy, look at the puppy," Colby said who still pet Murphy.

"Yes, he's cute. But I told you not to walk up to strangers," Colby's mom said. "You don't know who they are or if they could hurt you."

"But the puppy . . ." Colby muttered sadly. He hugged Murphy with a cute pout on his face.

"You should listen to your mom, Colby," I told him. I let go of Namjoon's hand to bend down to look Colby in the eye. "I'm a police officer. I know that there are dangerous people all around. You need to be careful. Next time you see a dog, go to your mommy and ask if the two of you can pet a dog together, okay."

"Okay, Mrs. Police Woman," Colby said.

"I'm so sorry that he did this," Colby's mom apologized.

"It's fine," I said. I stood up to talk to her. "I love talking to kids. Especially about my dog."

"Are you two married?" Colby asked out of the blue. He looked between Namjoon and I.

"Married?" Namjoon asked, stared down at the boy wide-eyed.

"You don't have a ring like my mommy, but you two were holding hands," Colby said.

"No, honey. They're just dating," Colby's mom said.

"Well you two look nice together," Colby said.

"Did he pay you to say that?" I asked the little boy.

"Will he pay me if I say it again?" Colby asked.

Namjoon laughed, and knelt down to look get a better look at the kid.

"I've been trying to convince her that we'll be good together," Namjoon told him. "Maybe you should say it again to make her believe it."

The mom tapped my arm before she leaned in next to my ear.

"He's a catch," she whispered. "You better take him before someone else does."

"I was just thinking the same thing," I whispered back to her.

Namjoon reached over to pet Murphy with Colby, but Murphy only barked as his hand got close. How was it that I was falling so easily in love with a mafia boss?