“Dessert, folks?”
Rick raised his eyebrows and smiled at her. “Piece of pie?”
“No thanks, but you go ahead if you want.”
“No, we’re all set,” Rick told the waitress. She totaled the bill and laid it on the table. “So what’s that?” Rick nodded toward the paper Robyn had unfolded.
“It’s a list of kennels in the area. I want to go by that place where Sterns left Coco and the other two dogs.”
“Why? The police said it was legit, and I mentioned it to Hap Shelley this morning. He says the couple who own the place are honest and treat the animals well.”
Robyn frowned. “Call me stubborn if you want, but I’d like to see it for myself.”
“Okay, Stubborn. But let me go with you.”
“Can you do that? I thought you had to get back to the clinic.”
“It’s not far from here.” He looked at his watch. “Plenty of time.”
She left her car in the restaurant’s lot and climbed into Rick’s pickup with him. She was surprised when, just a few minutes later, they entered a residential area and pulled in at a house with a kennel sign out front.
Following signs, they walked around the house. A din of yapping erupted, and several dogs in fenced runs leaped up and barked at them.
A woman met them just inside the entrance. “May I help you?”
Robyn cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m Robyn Holland, and I’d like—”
“Of the Holland Kennel in Wasilla?”
“Yes.” Robyn stared at her.
The woman smiled. “One of my clients recently bought some dogs from you. They’re beautiful.”
“Why, thank you. That’s why we’re here, actually.” Robyn peered toward the door that led to the kennels and dog runs.
“Did you … want to see the dogs?” The woman frowned.
Rick stepped forward. “We just wanted to inquire, since we were in town, and make sure they’d arrived safely and are adjusting well.”
She nodded, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Have we met?”
“I’m Dr. Rick Baker, from the Far North Veterinary Hospital.”
“Of course.” Her expression cleared.
“Miss Holland is extremely particular about making sure the dogs she sells are well cared for,” he said. “I told her this is one of the top kennels in Anchorage.”
“Thank you. I can assure you the dogs are all fine. They seem to be settling in well. Mr. Sterns expects them to be here for a couple of weeks.”
Robyn nodded. Probably the woman had security rules that wouldn’t let just anyone walk in and visit dogs that belonged to other people.
“I … I also wondered if you’d had any other dogs come in yesterday or today that might be …” She looked down at the floor, unsure how to proceed.
The woman said carefully, “The police were here this morning, looking for stolen dogs.”
Robyn nodded, attempting to hold back tears that sprang into her eyes. “We had six dogs stolen.”
“I’m so sorry. We’ve only had two others check in within the last twenty-four hours, and they’re both repeat clients. But if anyone shows up with several well-cared-for huskies, I’ll let the police know.”
“Thank you.” Robyn pulled the list of kennels from her bag. “Could you please tell me what you know about these places? I thought perhaps we should call them and ask if anyone had brought dogs in….”
The woman took the paper and studied it. “I know these folks, at the Aspen Kennel. That’s a good one. And I think Bristol is all right. This one …” She touched one name and glanced into Robyn’s eyes. “I don’t know much about the Galloway Kennel, but what I’ve heard….” She shook her head. “They’ve been in business a few years, but I wouldn’t take my dog there.” She ran down the list, making a few comments about each one. “This one’s new, and I don’t know anything about it. Never heard of this one.” Finally she handed the paper back. “Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“I appreciate it.” Robyn took a card from her pocket. “Here’s my card for the Holland Kennel. One of the stolen dogs was Tumble, our primary breeding male. If you hear anything—anything at all that you think might have to do with our situation—could you please call me?”
“Sure. I hope you get your dogs back.” The woman pocketed the card. “Rosie is out in her run now. I think Mr. Sterns’s other two dogs are inside napping. But if you step outside and look through the fence at run 4, you should see Rosie.”
“Thank you.” Robyn turned and went out. Rick followed her to the metal mesh fence, and she looked across the expanse, over the head of the Brittany spaniel leaping and barking at her just inches away in the first run. Sure enough, Rosie stopped trotting along the fence of her enclosure and barked at Robyn and then stood whining, her nose pushed into the mesh. Robyn clenched her shaking hands on the fence.
“We’d better go,” Rick said softly.
She nodded, unable to speak. She didn’t want to upset the dogs. Already, Rosie might be fretful because she’d seen her former owner. Robyn trudged to the pickup.
Rick opened the passenger door for her and offered his hand for a boost up. When he got into the driver’s seat, he smiled apologetically. “Ready to go back?”
She swallowed hard. “Yeah, just take me back to my car. Thanks.”
“You can tell your grandfather that these three dogs are in good hands.”
She bit her lip and said nothing, but she knew she wouldn’t go straight back to the nursing home.
“What’s the matter?” Rick asked.
She looked up into his gentle brown eyes. “I think I’ll drive over to the Galloway Kennel.”
“What for?” He eyed her for a moment then reached for her hand. “No, Robyn, don’t.”
“What if they’re over there? I can’t not look. She made it sound like it’s the worst kennel in town. If Tumble’s in there …”
Rick sighed. “What’s the address?”
She told him, and he started the engine.
“You’re … taking me there?”
He said through gritted teeth, “It’ll be quicker if we don’t go back to the restaurant first. And I’m not letting you go alone.”
nine
Almost half an hour later, they located the Galloway Kennel. Rick parked at the curb a hundred yards beyond the building.
He ought to call Far North and alert them that his lunch hour would probably stretch to two. It wasn’t something he liked to do, but then, he almost never did it.
“This is a pretty bad neighborhood.” He stared out at the littered sidewalk and dilapidated buildings.
Robyn raised her chin. He’d come to recognize that as a sign that she wasn’t giving up. With a sigh, he got out of the truck and went around to open the passenger door for her. They went in together.
A bell on the door jingled, and a woman came from an inner room, where several dogs were barking. The warm smell of dogs and bedding met them.
“Hi,” Rick said. “We’re looking for some dogs that were stolen yesterday from a breeding kennel in—”
“Stolen? Why are you looking here?” The woman rested her hands on her hips and glared at them.
Rick gulped and glanced at Robyn. Wrong approach.
Robyn said, “We’re contacting all the kennel owners in the area. The police are looking for these valuable dogs, but we thought perhaps business owners could help us, too. If you’d be on the lookout for—”
“Are you insinuating that we would have stolen animals here? This is outrageous.”
Rick spread both hands. “No, ma’am, you don’t understand. We only—”
“Oh, I understand. I understand plenty. Go on. Get out of here.”
He looked at Robyn. She gritted her teeth and shrugged.
“Let’s go.” He reached for her arm and guided her toward the door.
When they were outside and the door shut behind them, she let out a pent-up breath. “Of all the—”
“Now we’ll never know if they’re in there.”
“Maybe not. But we can ask the police to come by and take a look.”
She nodded. “I guess.”
Rick opened the door and helped her into the truck. Once inside, he hesitated to start the motor. “What now?”
She eyed him cautiously. “You’re up for more adventure?”
“Well, I sort of feel like I’m the one who blew it.” He consulted his watch. “If there’s another one that’s not too far from here, we could try one more. I promise to be more diplomatic this time.”
“Or sneakier.”
“That might work.”
She smiled then. It was worth the wait, especially when she reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thanks for being here. Facing her alone would have been scary. And I do think we should ask the police to question her. As soon as possible.”
Rick took his cue and pulled out his phone. He tried Trooper Glade’s number. When he got no response, he rummaged in the glove box for an Anchorage street map. He handed it to Robyn, and she pored over it while he dialed his friend.
A minute later, he was able to tell Robyn, “Joel Dawes said they’ll send someone out here this afternoon. I think we can count on it. And he’ll let us know the outcome.”
“Good.” Robyn pointed to her crumpled list. “The kennel closest to this one is a new one. That lady at the first place said she didn’t know anything about them. But that might be a good place to hide some hot property, don’t you think?”
“Maybe so.”
He drove a few miles and found the location. He and Robyn climbed out of the truck and stood by the tailgate, looking over the rundown one-story building. Paint was peeling off the siding. The front held no windows, and the door had a handwritten sign that read BARKLAND KENNEL—PICKUP HOURS 9 TO 11 A.M. AND 4 TO 6 P.M. Barking and whining came from the back of the property.
“Maybe we should let the police handle this one, too.” Rick glanced hopefully at her, but her jaw was still set. “I can try Trooper Glade again. Even if they didn’t come until tomorrow …”
“The dogs could be taken out of Alaska by then.”
“Well, yes.”
Her brows drew together in a scowl. “And the police aren’t going to want to spend hours searching every kennel in town. I’m sure they have violent crimes that are much more urgent.”
“No. They’d send someone. This is like grand theft, isn’t it? Those dogs are valuable. I’m sure if I talk to Joel, I can convince him that it’s important to send someone here as well as to that Galloway place.”
“But if our dogs aren’t here, they wouldn’t go and search all the other kennels on the list.”
“Is that what you plan to do?” This was getting out of hand. He’d had no idea she was so determined. No way could he blow off the clinic for the whole afternoon and escort her to half a dozen more kennels. “Robyn, I can’t go around to them all with you. If I’m gone much longer, the clinic staff will send the police out to look for me.”
The set to her mouth rebuked him. Pain and anger filled Robyn’s heart right now, and it spilled over into the lines of her face and the stiff set to her shoulders. Without her saying a word, he knew she wanted to see justice done and to recover the dogs, not just for her family but for Patrick Isherwood, too.
“Did you call Pat Isherwood yesterday?” Rick asked.
“Yes.”
“How did he take the news?”
She winced. “He didn’t like it, of course. I assured him the other six dogs he left with us are locked in. I even asked Darby and my friend Anna to stop in today and make sure everything’s okay while we’re gone.”
“But you feel as though you’ve got to find those dogs yourself, not leave it up to the state police.” She didn’t answer, but her stricken face roused new longings in him. He wished he could protect her from violence and crime, and beyond that, from feelings of inadequacy and failure.
“I’m going in.” She stepped forward, and he grabbed the sleeve of her parka.
“Let’s think about this for a minute. You know that if we walk in and ask to see the dogs, they won’t let us.”
“You may be right. So? Do you have a better plan?” Her dark eyes sparked with resistance.
Rick wanted more than anything to take the hurt and anger away. Not only to return the dogs to her, but to assure her that this would never happen again. It was beyond his power, but she had come to trust him, and for the last couple of days she’d relied on him in small ways. If nothing more, she might let him bear some of the stress for her.
“Let me go in and ask to see the kennel,” he said. “They might recognize you.”
Her puff of breath formed a white cloud in the cold air. “Or you. You were with me yesterday.”
“All bundled up in a parka. Not this jacket, I might add.” He patted the front of the wool jacket he’d worn to the clinic. “And they might know your face from any number of places. There’s a fetching picture of you on the Holland Kennel Web site, for instance.”
She blinked twice and looked away. “If you think you can distract me with flattery, forget it.”
He smiled. “All right, I’ll save that for later. But it’s true, Robyn. They might recognize you. And have you considered that the thieves might be people you know?”
Her lips twitched. “Someone else in the dog business?”
“Maybe. Or someone in Wasilla who knows a little about your routine.”
Her gaze sought his again. “So, you think we’re wasting our time looking in Anchorage? What do you suggest we do?”
“Since we’re here, let’s go ahead and check this one. There’s just one vehicle in the parking lot.” He nodded toward the ten-year-old pickup sitting in front of the kennel. “Probably the owner is the only person here, or an employee. No customers right now.”
“So?”
“So, what if I go in and inquire about possibly leaving a dog here for a week when I take my vacation. While I’m in there, you can sneak around the back of the building. From the sound of things, they’ve got some pens or tethers out there. You wouldn’t be able to see any dogs that are inside, but you could at least check out the outdoor accommodations.”
She nodded. “Better than nothing, I guess.” She pulled her hood up and arranged it over her dark hair.
He smiled down at her. Now wasn’t the time to mention it, but the image of her sweet face peering out at him from within the circle of faux fur with her brown eyes wide and her cheeks flushed stirred him. Sometime when they were in a quiet, warm place and didn’t have to worry about dogs or criminals, he would tell her how lovely she was.
Had no man seen her beauty before him? It was unthinkable. But why, then, was she still single? Had her independence kept the suitors away? Perhaps her close-knit family deterred them, or her success in business intimidated them. Her seeming assurance might put off some men, he supposed, but he knew she had a wide streak of insecurity that she hid well.
Of course, he made a huge assumption there. Perhaps she had been courted and he knew nothing about it.
“I’m leaving the truck unlocked.” He said it even as he made the decision. “I want you to be able to get in quickly if you need to.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Be careful,” he said. “If anyone sees you, it’s all right to tell them you’re with me and you wanted to see the dogs. But I’m planning on you staying out of sight. I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes.”
“Got it,” she said.
He hesitated, then bent and kissed her cool cheek. When he pulled away, she was watching him with something like curiosity in her chocolate brown eyes. Sometime he would really kiss her, and maybe that would knock the questions out of that simmering gaze.
“Go on,” he said. “Get to the side of the b
uilding and give me a minute to go in and get the guy talking.”
Robyn tiptoed along the side of the kennel building. She ducked low beneath the small window toward the back of the wall. As she approached the rear corner, she looked back toward the street. Rick was out of sight.
She peered around the corner and saw a large, fenced enclosure. Within it, a dozen or more dogs of different sizes and breeds ran free. She couldn’t see any shelter for them other than a lone pine tree that rose near the back of the lot. The dogs had no bedding to lie down on. She ducked back quickly, before they saw her. Already they were barking—one thin hound wailed continuously from a far corner and several more sporadically joined in. She hoped they weren’t left out there too long in the snow with nothing to lie on.
She took another peek. Beyond the large enclosure was another fenced area. This one seemed smaller, though it was hard to tell from her position. Inside she saw a couple of dogs that appeared to be chained to tree trunks. They lay inert on the ground. One looked like a German shepherd-husky cross. Her heart squeezed painfully. Were her dogs and Pat’s in this place? She focused on the dog nearest her—a small beagle cross in the big enclosure. It was so thin she could see the outline of its ribs, and it whined without a letup. Shuddering, Robyn scrutinized the other dogs. She realized she was looking for Tumble, but if he’d been among the pitiful assortment, she’d have recognized him at once.
A loud spurt of barking erupted from inside the building, and the dogs outside took up the yapping. Some of them ran toward the back of the building and threw themselves against the fence.
She concluded that the dogs inside had begun making a ruckus because of Rick’s presence, and those outside chimed in because they wanted to be part of whatever was going on. Even the ones in the far enclosure sat up and peered toward the building. Robyn decided that it no longer mattered if the dogs saw her. They couldn’t possibly make more noise than they were making now.
She ran along the fence, focusing on one dog after another. None of them looked remotely like the glossy, well-fed huskies she had lost. She circled behind the pen and along the edge of the second enclosure. Her steps dragged as she realized most of the dogs within had visible injuries. Some had scabs and scars on their legs and faces. One had red lacerations on its hip, neck, and front legs. None of the wounds were covered. Looking at the hurting dogs turned her stomach and stoked the fire of her anger. She wondered if the animals out here belonged to the owner or were long-term boarders. But this was a new kennel. How had they gotten so many customers? No people in their right minds would leave pets here if they glimpsed the pitiful scene out back.
Fire and Ice Page 10
