by Vella Munn
He started to take the album from her, only to stop. She heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. When it was close enough, she read the logo on the side—Oakwood County Animal Control.
“Joe?” She dropped the album on a dusty metal table on the porch and lightly squeezed his forearm.
Tension tightened his muscles. “Damn,” he muttered.
As she watched the SUV come to a stop, she tried to tell herself this was Joe’s concern. He’d have to deal with whatever the officer had to say, not her.
“It’s him,” Joe said. “The one who was here before.”
“What do you think of him?”
“What?” The tension hadn’t left him. “Hard to tell. In some respects it’s like he gets me.”
He understands how complex things are inside you? “I hope he does. You’re a good man.”
“I needed to hear that.”
The tall, broad-shouldered man slowly got out of the vehicle. He barely glanced at Joe and her before turning his attention to the empty kennel. His features were impassive, but she got his point. This was no friendly visit.
His wrinkled uniform made her wonder if he was as worn out as his clothing. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She judged him to be in his mid-thirties. Given his solid chin, unsmiling mouth and narrowed gaze, she decided he’d make a good high school principal or detention officer. Juveniles, delinquent or otherwise, would understand they wouldn’t get away with anything around this man.
“Joe. We need to talk.”
“Do we?”
Was Joe challenging the officer? When he descended the stairs and positioned himself near his visitor, she joined the men. No one offered a hand to shake.
“Something happened.” The newcomer turned to her. “You are?”
“Rachelle Reames. I’m ah, a friend of Joe’s.”
“Are you?” After a moment of uneasy silence, he introduced himself as Nate Chee. That done, he again turned his attention to the empty enclosure. “You left the gate open again.”
“What’s your point?”
“When did you last see them?”
“Why do you need to know?”
“Wait,” she broke in. “What is this about?”
Nate went from staring at where Smoke, Gun and Stone should be to focusing on her. “Did you two catch the news last night or this morning?”
She hadn’t. No surprise since she was working overtime trying to keep her head above water.
“You didn’t hear about the large number of dogs animal control took possession of yesterday?”
“I did,” Joe said. “There were about a hundred of them, a few so sick they had to be put down.”
Now that Joe had spoken, she recalled snippets of conversation in the teachers’ lounge. Several of her fellow educators had given detailed descriptions of what should be done to whoever had mistreated the animals.
“I saw it on TV.” Joe ran his fingers over the stair railing. “It sounds like a puppy mill. I figured you were involved.”
Nate nodded. “I was. The news footage was shot at the humane society. Did it occur to you to wonder why there weren’t any shots of the facility where the seizure took place, or why the owners weren’t identified?”
“What does this have to do with Joe?” she pressed when Joe didn’t respond. No matter that she was used to it, having to look up at a man always made her feel a little off balance. Nate wasn’t as physically intimidating as someone like the football coach at her school, but he carried himself with authority. His dark-blue eyes were sober and serious, hostile even. Tired.
“Law enforcement has managed to convince the media to sit on some things, but that’s going to end with the evening news.”
“Sit on what?” Getting information from Nate had too much in common with interrogating a guilty-of-anything-and-everything student.
“Something that’s going to turn this county upside down. Law enforcement was hoping to have more pieces in place before the media started running with the story. I don’t envy them their job. Or mine.”
“Why are you telling us this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Joe said on the tail of a sigh. “What does this have to do with me and my dogs? The puppy mill’s on the other side of the county.”
“I’m aware of that.”
Joe made fists. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m getting to that. From what my department has been able to determine, two men handled the entire operation.”
Something wasn’t being said. “Have they been arrested? What kind of punishment will they get?”
“None. They’re dead.”
She gasped. “What?”
Nate pressed his fingers to his forehead. “That’s part of what we’ve asked the media to hold off reporting on, but the sheriff just held a news conference. For lack of a better explanation, the two were murdered.”
Murder was something that happened to people she’d never met, in the movies, TV shows or books. Or, in Joe’s case, when he’d been a soldier. Knowing Nate’s being here had something to do with the word sent another chill through her.
“By whom?” She had to force the question.
“Not whom, what.”
Don’t say that. “What aren’t you saying?” Much as she wanted to take Joe’s hand, she refused to expose any more of her emotions than necessary around Nate.
“Where are the dogs, Joe?”
No! “Damn it,” she blurted. “What the hell is this about?”
“About two dead men.”
She already understood that. “You come here accusing us of—of something. You won’t tell us anything and yet you expect us to be completely forthcoming. Sorry, that isn’t going to happen.”
When Nate didn’t immediately reply, she let her surroundings distract her. The wind was full of energy this afternoon and had pushed clouds over much of the sky. She couldn’t remember whether it was supposed to rain.
A storm would be good. It would cool things down and give the so-called lawn at the apartment complex where she lived much needed moisture. Maybe relax her a little.
Were they out there? Was that why she felt more and more on edge as the moments plodded by? Joe’s dogs were studying her, trying to decide whether they could trust her, making up their minds about whether she deserved to live or—
“What do you do, Mrs. Reames?”
Don’t let him know what you’re thinking. “Ms. Reames. I’m a teacher, not that that has anything to do with—”
“Sometimes when you’re questioning a student about an incident, you don’t let on how much you know, right?”
“Right.”
“Because you need to determine whether that student will dig himself into a hole.”
She struggled not to gasp. “The difference between that and now is I deal with lies and evasion. You’re talking about something a hell of a lot more serious.”
If he was taken aback by her profanity, he gave no indication. Remembering that all this started with inhumane conditions for innocent dogs, she wondered how much of a thick skin he’d developed over the years. The reality of teaching was far different from the ideals she’d been taught while getting her master’s degree. Life’s lessons had to be even more of an eye-opener for him. Maybe nothing humans did to animals shocked him anymore. He simply did his job, no longer felt. Maybe.
“Yeah,” Nate said. “Violent death is pretty serious. Look, I came out here because I have to start somewhere. It’s possible”—he faced Joe—“you’re sitting on a potential keg of dynamite with those dogs.”
A few minutes later, Nate, Joe and she sat on the front porch where she’d once told her dad about the horse ranch she was going to own when she grew up. Dad hadn’t laughed at her unattainable dream, just nodded. Back then he’d encouraged her to talk about her goals. In contrast, he’d said very little since Nate had spelled out his reason for needing to talk to him.
“How do you two know each other?” Nate asked.
She glanced at Joe, noted his somber expression. “We’re related.”
“Oh?”
“It’s complicated. Besides, it can’t matter to you.” For some insane reason she glanced at his left hand. No ring. “All right.” Hoping not to give away the knot in the pit of her stomach, she crossed one leg over the other. “What do you want from Joe?”
Any other time she’d be inclined to take the man’s sigh as reluctance. However, she didn’t trust her ability to read his cues.
“Something savaged the men who ran the puppy mill.”
She swallowed. “Savaged?”
“I saw the bodies. There’s no other way of describing it. That’s part of what law enforcement was trying to get a handle on before passing it on to the media, and from there to the public.” He faced her. “Both had their throats torn out, among other things.”
“My God.”
Joe stood and planted himself in front of Nate. “And you’re saying my dogs are responsible?”
As Nate pressed a hand to his forehead, she noticed how strong it looked, a workman’s hand. “That’s what I’m trying to determine.”
“What’s your proof? Was there a witness?” Joe demanded.
“A not very reliable one. Yesterday she gave me something approaching a description. Today—she has memory issues.”
“Then why point your finger at Joe’s dogs?” she demanded.
“His aren’t the only ones on my list, just near the top of it because of their size. Also, I know they run free.”
“How far is it from here to where the attack took place?” she demanded.
“I’m aware of the distance. Even if they went cross country—”
“Who else have you talked to?”
“No one, yet.”
“Because you’ve targeted Smoke, Gun and Stone.”
His nostrils flared. “I didn’t say that. The only thing I’m positive about is that the preliminary report from the coroner’s office backs up what law enforcement and I concluded yesterday—that canines did it.”
“And you came to the conclusion that Joe’s dogs might have gone from one end of the county to the other, come across a couple of men mistreating a kennel full of dogs and—what, decided to play vigilante?”
“Did Joe tell you I’ve been out here before? I came because someone had called concerned about several large, loose dogs. A number of children live there.” He pointed at the trailer park in the distance.
“Was someone hurt that time?” Joe, is there something you haven’t told me?
“No.”
Thank goodness.
Joe had stopped staring down at Nate and now stood with his buttocks resting against the weathered railing. “I see,” she said, because it seemed as if her stepfather didn’t want to or couldn’t contribute to the conversation.
Nate had been watching Joe. Now he again gave her his full attention. She’d been less nervous when interviewing for the teaching position she’d desperately needed. “I’ve never seen more imposing dogs,” he said. “They aren’t something I’ll ever forget.”
Believe me, I understand. “Wait a minute. What about wild dogs or—or cougars? Could they—”
“That wasn’t the work of a cougar.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Cougars kill to eat. Their usual method is to bite the back of the head, breaking the neck. That wasn’t done to either victim. Also, predators aren’t vindictive.”
“Vindictive?” Deliberate.
“Yes.” Nate jammed his hands between his knees, making her wonder if he was trying to stop them from shaking. What had he seen? “Law enforcement and medical help were on the scene by the time I got there. We all came to the same conclusion which is that the men had been attacked and attacked good. On purpose. Do you want to hear this?”
“Of course not, but I don’t have a choice.”
His nod, was that admiration? “The victims had tried to crawl to their house. There wasn’t an inch of them that didn’t show bite marks. Nothing was eaten.”
“God.”
“Now do you understand why law enforcement hopes to manage what goes out to the media and what the media passes on to the public? Hysteria is the last thing we need, and yet—”
“And yet people have to be warned.”
“Exactly.”
Despite her best efforts not to, a mental image of the scene, complete with free-flowing blood and pitiful screams, rose in her mind. “Go on.”
“There were a lot of paw prints around the place. A number were much too large to belong to the victims’ dogs. Then there’s the description given by the witness. According to her, the attackers were big. She also said they could have been wolves but there aren’t any pure wolves in this part of the state.”
“How many?” Joe asked.
“She wasn’t sure.”
“I see,” Joe said.
Nate stood and joined Joe at the railing. She noticed a weariness in her stepfather she hadn’t earlier. Right now, the two men looked more alike than she suspected they knew.
“I could be wrong, Joe. I want to be, but there’s a possibility the killers were your dogs. It’s my job to learn everything I can.”
In her mind’s eye, she jumped to her feet and pushed the animal control officer up and over the railing. She and Joe would be packed and gone before Nate knew what had happened to him.
Unfortunately, her crazy plan wouldn’t work. Joe wouldn’t leave without Smoke, Stone and Gun.
Why had Nate told Joe he wanted to be wrong about the grays?
“Joe,” Nate went on, “I believe I understand how important those dogs are to you. You believe there was a reason behind your finding them. You said you’d lay down your life for them.”
“I’d do anything for them.”
“Where is this going?” she asked despite the lump in her throat. Joe's love for the dogs was so pure.
Nate’s stare exposed a mix of emotions she couldn’t get a handle on. He shook his head. “I haven’t yet said anything to anyone about the grays, in part because dealing with the puppy mill dogs took hours and hours. I didn’t get home until after midnight. Also, I wanted to talk to Joe. Give him the opportunity to agree to turn the dogs over to me if it comes to that, without the media getting wind of what we’re doing. There’s going to be incredible public reaction, maybe some hysteria.”
He’d been willing to try to protect Joe’s identity, maybe jeopardize his job? No, it couldn’t be that. Nate had a job to do, a career to protect.
Years ago Joe had tried to end his life because dealing with the aftermath of his POW experience had been more than he could handle. Maybe if she told Nate how vulnerable Joe was…
“Listen to me,” Nate said as he headed toward the stairs and his vehicle. “Law enforcement is going to need to examine the dogs, see if they have blood on them. Even if there’s none, they’ll collect DNA samples. Call me the moment they show up.”
“And if we don’t?” she asked. “You have no proof they’re—this is a witch hunt.”
“No, it isn’t. Man killers are out there. You don’t want to be responsible for—”
“They’ve never so much as growled,” Joe interrupted.
“Not at you, but what about at someone else? Don’t make this harder on any of us than it has to be.”
Chapter Five
“I’ve heard of dogs killing children,” she said. “There was a baby not far from where I used to live who—dog attacks aren’t that uncommon.”
“This was different.”
“Yes. It was.” She suspected she didn’t know the half of it, that whoever had seen the bodies would have nightmares for a long time.
“Why did you take him on the way you did?” Joe asked.
She and Joe were in his living room. As a child she’d thought this room was immense. After all, she’d been able to turn cartwheels in it. Now she was afraid to expand her lungs for fear of using up all the air.
This was only the second time she’d been in here since moving back to the area, but she’d felt no hesitancy about going into the kitchen to get ice water for them. Judging by how quickly Joe had downed his glass, he had been glad she had. Waiting for him to speak, she pressed her sweating glass against the side of her neck.
“I don’t want you getting in trouble,” he said.
“Don’t worry about me.” She wasn’t going to bring up how a few unwise words on her part could jeopardize her career. “I doubt if he was that surprised by my reaction. God, this is serious.”
“Yeah, it is.”
She studied him. He seemed more interested in his coffee table, or rather her fourth grade picture in the handmade frame on it, than in her.
“What are you thinking?” Maybe Nate wouldn’t wait for Joe to call him back. For all she knew, he was on his way to the courthouse to get a search warrant. He’d return with a SWAT team. And weapons.
“A lot of things. Things I don’t want to involve you in.”
“Please don’t feel like that. I’ll do everything I can to protect you.”
“Protect? Honey, I survived the worst when your mom took you away. I wasn’t your daddy, I had no claim to you.”
Don’t go there now, please. Besides, that can’t be the worst. The other— “I wish I’d understood and that I’d been able to talk her into staying.”
“You were ten.” He wiped both eyes. “Rach, I have to ask you something.”
“All right.”
“Do you believe they’re capable of doing what he said they might have?”
Changing mental gears, she concentrated on what little she knew of Smoke, Gun and Stone. She’d told Joe the dogs were amazing creatures. Yes, they were intimidating, almost like looking at wolves. At the same time their dignity and grace had spoken to her. Because Joe had said she could, she’d gone into the enclosure with him. That’s when their full impact had struck her. It had taken a great deal not to back away from the powerful trio. She hadn’t because she’d known she’d lose both their and Joe’s respect if she did.
