by Vella Munn
“Then don’t get involved,” she told herself. “This isn’t your war. Also, you won’t risk Darick having to arrest you.”
The thought of him putting her in cuffs made her chuckle. Then she sobered. What would she have to do to risk her freedom and would she survive being locked up?
She might have continued her argument with herself if Chinook’s sudden growl hadn’t interrupted her thoughts. She hurried to the door, stepped onto the porch and strained until she spotted her dog. Chinook had gone to where rain-fed evergreens fenced her property to the north. She’d once spotted a cougar there. When she let her imagination run free, she decided wolves would approve of the trees’ ability to hide their presence and hang out there. She’d never been completely comfortable letting Chinook explore the area, but her only alternative was to restrain the dog, which she’d never do.
Chinook’s head was lowered and extended. She had the single-minded look of a dog on a scent. Despite her breed’s reputation as guard dogs, Chinook was laid back. It took a lot to lift her hackles the way they’d been yesterday and were this morning. The growl continued.
Instead of calling Chinook to her, Niko went in for the rifle she kept in the coat closet near the front door. The rifle was loaded. She might relax a little if she called Grandpa and Uncle Carl to ask their opinion of Chinook’s behavior, but that wasn’t her way. Just because they shared the same tax lot didn’t mean she relied on them.
Darn it, she should have told Grandpa everything, would have if she’d been able to guarantee control over her emotions.
What is it, old girl? She silently asked Chinook. Getting nervous in your old age?
Her attempt at lightening the moment didn’t work. Not only wasn’t Chinook getting long in the tooth, she knew better than to discount the dog’s behavior. Between trying to figure out what Chinook was growling at and making sure she didn’t trip as she approached her dog, there was scant room for thinking about anything else. The morning was cool, the breeze coming from the ocean. Being in the wind always made her feel alive, never more so than she felt right now. She wasn’t scared or nervous as much as aware to the max.
“I’m coming,” she muttered after she’d covered about half of the distance between herself and the Doberman. “How about letting me in on things?”
Chinook whipped her head around. She gave her owner a full second of her attention before continuing her study of the trees.
The grays.
Certainty settled in before Niko spotted what she’d known would be there. She identified one substantial form but couldn’t tell whether the dog was alone or had brought along other members of its family. Because only the head was visible, she couldn’t be sure, but guessed this was the male that had been attracted to Chinook yesterday.
“What are you doing here?” she asked after aiming at the animal that had probably killed several humans. “You followed me? How did you do that?”
The gray didn’t react beyond giving her a little more of her time than Chinook had. There was nothing aggressive about his stance. In fact he seemed almost friendly, not that Niko trusted anything about him.
“You came looking for me? Is it because of what I did yesterday, or rather, what you made me do?”
When the gray still didn’t move, Niko again repeated her question about why he was here. Finally, she shared her conversation with Doc Beck. “I hope to god they’re going to make it, but whether they do or don’t, I can’t let the bastard who let the mare starve get away with it.”
The finality in her words rocked her. It had taken saying what she had aloud to force her to accept why she’d asked for Darick’s help in trying to determine where to look for the bastards. The rifle’s weight reinforced her intention.
“Are you part of this?” she asked her visitor. “Because if you’re messing with my mind, I have a right to know.”
In response, if that’s what it was, the gray exposed his fangs. Instead of being aggressive, he seemed to be laughing. Niko’s understanding was that an older man had found three gray puppies on Hopi reservation land in Arizona and had brought them to Oregon to raise. It was only speculation, but the man’s stepdaughter and the humane society investigator whose life had been changed by the grays believed the dogs were somehow infused or imprinted with Hopi belief in harmony. When someone broke that ancient law, they deserved to be punished.
As for whether there was anything behind the speculation, what did it matter? This was today. Yesterday had been real.
“I’m Native American,” she said. “Tillamook. Do you know that? I think maybe you do.” She couldn’t bring herself to voice what else was on her mind—that the more time she spent in a gray’s presence, the more she might become like them.
The gray continued to regard her.
“What do you want? Damn it, I seriously don’t want you messing with my mind.”
The gray stretched his head toward her.
“That’s it! Get out of here. Leave, damn it.”
The gray grinned.
Chapter Four
“She isn’t answering her phone,” Darick told Jeff. “She said she’d contact me as soon as she’d talked to Doc Beck. I figured she’d get in touch with the vet’s office first thing so when I didn’t hear from her, I made my own call.”
“It’s a miracle the mare and foal are still alive,” Mia said. “The pictures Niko sent me—I think in some ways what I had to deal with was easier than what she did.”
“Don’t go there,” Jeff warned the woman sitting next to him in the café where the three had agreed to meet. “You don’t need another nightmare.”
“Another?” Darick asked. He was on his second cup of coffee, something he’d regret if he didn’t get food in his belly. “I hoped those were behind you.”
“Most of the time.” Mia smiled at Jeff. “I have a pretty good distraction.”
Jeff chuckled. “That’s me. A distraction.”
Another time, Darick would probably have to put up with loving words between his partner and the woman Jeff was living with, but they’d gotten together so they could discuss something no one else could comprehend. The grays that had first turned Mia’s life, then others’ lives, on end hadn’t left the area after all.
“What’s it been?” Mia asked. “Three months since anyone has seen them. I’d hoped they’d moved on. At the same time, I didn’t want to think about where they might surface next.”
Jeff placed his hand over Mia’s. “Maybe they sensed they had unfinished business here. We just didn’t know what that business was until Niko found the mare.”
“She didn’t find her and her baby,” Darick made himself say. “She was taken to them.”
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he’d asked his friends to see him on what should have been his and Jeff’s day off, maybe suggestions on how to keep Niko from getting any more involved than she was. They knew about her fascination with the forest service’s photography and how he’d helped her locate the public material. If anything came from it—
“Yes, taken,” Mia said. “She told me that’s what happened.” She frowned and stared at her coffee. “She hasn’t contacted me either this morning. Whatever she’s planning, if she is, she’s keeping it to herself.”
“That’s what concerns me.”
“Why?” Jeff asked. “No, don’t get your hackles up,” he said, before Darick could speak. “I’m playing devil’s advocate here, but you aren’t her keeper. If you’re concerned she’s getting in over her head, you should be talking to law enforcement, not us.”
“What would I tell them? That this woman I kind of know might be weighing the pros and cons of becoming a vigilante? They’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I’ll ask it again,” Jeff said while Mia stared at him and Darick wished they weren’t having this conversation. “Why are you so concerned about her agenda? The two of you are hardly the best of friends. Mia has always said Niko is a restless woman, as much of a loner as M
ia is.”
“Used to be,” Mia corrected. She kissed Jeff’s cheek. “I’m civilized around you.”
“Marginally.” Jeff turned his attention to Darick. “As far as we know, Niko hasn’t broken any laws. Given what she did, she’s my idea of a hero. None of us has a right to try to stop her from doing whatever she’s doing. Until or unless she breaks the law, it’s her business.”
His friend was right, damn it. However, the truth did nothing to ease his tension. He probably wouldn’t feel like this if he hadn’t absorbed her fear for the mare and foal, her anger and frustration.
Emotions he shared.
“What are you going to do?” Jeff asked.
“I don’t know.” He’d been in the café so many times that he took it for granted, but on this cool morning it looked foreign. Too small. He couldn’t stay in it. “Whatever she’s doing, I’m sure she’s alone. If she gets into trouble—”
“Trouble because she’s confronting the bastard who nearly killed his horse?” Mia interrupted. “I wish she’d confided in me. If she had, I’d be with her. Armed and ready.”
* * * *
Much as she wanted her dog’s company, Niko left Chinook at home. Hopefully, the gray’s presence wouldn’t drive Chinook crazy, but better to have slobber on the window and more scratches on the door than risk Chinook’s life.
As she turned onto Tamel Road, she again asked herself if she’d lost her mind. Her plan wasn’t really one, and she was crazy to think she could just wing it. Maybe, hopefully, she’d get a clue to the mare’s owner from something she saw on the property. If she spotted a corral, barn, hay, horse tack or something similar at one of the four places she intended to go to, that would give her a starting point. As for what she’d do after that, other than questioning anyone she found—
Thinking wasn’t getting her anywhere. The more she tried to concentrate, the more muddled everything became. She’d brought along both her rifle and the pistol Grandpa had given her for her sixteenth birthday, not because she intended to use them.
Or did she?
That in a nutshell was what she couldn’t bring herself to face and had a lot to do with why she hadn’t told Darick or Mia what she was up to. Hopefully, Darick wouldn’t make a big deal out of the fact that she hadn’t called him. Hopefully, he’d get the same information she had from Doc Beck and conclude relief was allowing her to do what she’d intended to do on her day off. He’d probably be pissed at her, but it wasn’t as if she owed him anything.
From the looks of things, Tamel Road hadn’t had any repairs since its initial construction. If there’d originally been a divider strip, that was long gone. She imagined the residents’ frustration because their requests to have the countless pot holes filled fell on deaf ears. Had they banded together to try to get something done? Maybe because the properties were so widely spaced, the residents barely knew each other.
Maybe that’s why whoever owned the mare had been able to turn her life into hell without anyone knowing.
Another wave of rage swept over Niko. For a moment she couldn’t see the road for the fierce emotion. So much anger scared her because she couldn’t control it. At the same time, she felt justified. There wasn’t an excuse in the world for allowing a helpless animal to get into that condition.
Still upset but a little more in control, she stopped alongside the first mailbox. It was battered and rusted. Maybe whoever lived here, if there was a current resident, got so little mail that said resident had decided a secure box wasn’t worth the expense.
She took a deep breath and turned onto the gravel and dirt drive. There were far fewer evergreens here than on the road to Dogwood Campground, but the driving conditions took her aback. How naïve she’d been when she’d believed she, Misty, and Chinook were only going to be working off some energy.
Scrub oaks were on both sides of the drive. They and the dry bushes and weeds were covered in dust, everything looking sad and abandoned. According to the map, this property was the farthest from Dogwood Campground, but she still needed to check it out.
Did the gray that had visited her know where she was? Would he approve of her actions?
She slowed even more when she reached a turn at the top of a slope. There were more oaks here, all of them so stressed by summer that it wouldn’t take more than a match to make them catch on fire. If this had been her property, she would have mowed the wild grass. Tamel Road was beyond the city limits, which meant that fire control measures were dictated by the county. She’d be surprised if the people living here hadn’t been fined. Either there wasn’t an owner on site or they didn’t give a damn—about a lot of things.
Her stomach tightened, but she refused to call what she was experiencing fear. She’d stopped, she told herself, because she was at a high point where she’d have the best view of what she’d be driving into. The main structure was a doublewide trailer on blocks with a wooden set of stairs she wasn’t sure she’d risk. A dust-covered pickup with at least one flat tire was near the door. Barbed wire fencing was around part of what she could see. Clucking sounds came from a chicken coop to the left of the trailer. There were two metal sheds. Deep, weary-sounding barks came from somewhere. Wouldn’t a guard dog be where it could chase off an intruder?
Tension again assaulted her, forcing her to fight the impulse to turn around and get the hell out of there, but if she did, tonight’s dreams might be even more disturbing than last night’s had been. Teeth grinding, she eased off the brake and headed toward the pickup. She pulled up next to it and killed her Jeep’s engine. The chickens were still sounding off and the dog occasionally barked.
Feeling weaker in the knees than she wanted to admit, she got out and headed for the trailer. The breeze helped cool her cheeks and neck. She smelled poop from where the chickens were kept. There was another scent. It took her a moment to recognize it as dry land. Whoever lived here hadn’t bothered with as much as a single potted plant, let alone bushes to give the barren land around the trailer a sense of life.
The stairs wobbled under her weight. The railing had so many splinters she didn’t touch it. That’s something else she would have remedied. By the time she knocked on the door, she knew what she was going to say. She’d explain that she’d found a horse and was taking it upon herself to try to return it to its owner. She’d say nothing about the horse’s condition and as little as possible about where she’d found it.
No one answered her knock, so she again beat her knuckles against the door. It rattled, and the unseen dog let loose with another short series of barks. As near as she could tell, the animal was on the other side of the trailer. It must be tied up because otherwise, surely, it would be checking her out. A vague unease stopped her from retreating to her vehicle. She wished the grays were with her.
After slowly descending the stairs, she walked around the trailer to where a handful of seedlings were clustered. At first the shade hampered her ability to see the yipping animal. Then she spotted it nestled among the trees.
No, not nestled. Tangled.
Her heart turned cold then hot. Fingers clenched, she looked all around in an attempt to assure herself that she was the only human here. She couldn’t be sure of that, but the dog needed her too much to let concern for her safety stop her.
“It’s all right, big boy,” she told the maybe seventy-pound hound-like mutt in the shadows. “We’re going to get along just fine. What happened? Got your rope twisted around the trees, did you?” Like the mare had.
The dog whined and tried to back away. However, the world accessible to him was limited to a less than ten foot radius. Her right hand at her throat, she stepped into the trees and waited for her eyes to adjust.
Whoever had secured the dog had used what appeared to be a plastic-covered cable. It was wrapped around the hound’s neck and anchored to one of the trees. The cable was long enough. Or rather it would have been if the dog hadn’t gotten it twisted around some of the trunks. Had the damn stupid owner not
considered that might happen?
“What if I untangle you? Maybe I can find a more accommodating spot to anchor you.”
Instead of embracing her suggestion, the dog watched her with its tail between its legs.
“I’m not going to hurt you. That’s the last thing I’d ever do. What makes you think that’s a possibility? Someone—someone has given you reason to fear people?”
Because she couldn’t live with herself if she left the animal like he was, she again started toward the animal. It growled.
“You don’t want to bite me. I know you don’t. I have a tuna sandwich in my vehicle. Maybe you’d like to share.”
How long had the dog been alone?
The question stopped her. She increased her hold on her throat. There were a couple of plastic bowls, both tipped over and empty, neither where the dog could reach them. Anger returned. What had been done to the helpless animal wasn’t much different from leaving a child in a hot car.
Or letting a horse starve.
“You’re going to be all right.” I’ll make sure you are. “I have a great track record when it comes to rescuing animals, and you’re my good deed of the day.”
There. She’d said it. Given voice to the decision she’d already made. With that reality settled on her shoulders, she came closer. The dog growled and dropped to the ground.
“You’re giving up? Is that what life has taught you? I’m sorry. So incredibly sorry.” She could hardly speak for her fury, wouldn’t have except the dog needed to hear a kind voice.
“Here’s the plan. I’m going to get you out of this fix you’re in. I’ll get you some water and as much of the sandwich as you want. Then we’re getting the hell away from here.”
The poor creature trembled. Sick, Niko went to the anchoring tree, thinking to release the dog from that end. However, the cable had been set in place with a lock. Was the owner’s intention to never let the dog loose? A sour smell drew her attention back to the prisoner. Something dark stained the dog’s neck. She’d heard of embedded collars, and had hoped to never see one.
