“Murphy.” Jack’s eyes narrowed when he saw Officer Billy Murphy.
Murphy nodded his head. “Stratton.”
“Alice!” Mrs. Stevens hurried over to her as fast as her large frame allowed. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Replacement gave her a quick hug.
Mrs. Stevens looked over Replacement’s shoulder and spoke to Jack. “It was terrifying.” Her mane of red hair wobbled back and forth. “Simply terrifying.”
Lady jumped off the couch. As she trotted over to Replacement, she kept her front right paw in the air.
“No, no, no.” Mrs. Stevens turned and intercepted the dog. “Sit back down, little Lady.”
“Is she okay?” Replacement knelt down. “What happened to her paw?”
Lady licked Replacement’s face.
“I think she stepped on some glass.” Mrs. Stevens patted Lady’s head.
Lady pressed hard against Replacement.
Jack crouched down. He tried to carefully look at her paw but she growled.
“She won’t let me look either.” Mrs. Stevens pouted.
Lady limped back and got up on the couch.
“Other than her foot, she seems okay,” Mrs. Stevens said.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
Mrs. Stevens sat down on the couch next to Lady. “I was watching TV and I heard a scream upstairs. It being your apartment, I almost didn’t think much of it, but then Lady just started barking nonstop. Suddenly, there were a number of crashes. I went to my door, and I heard someone tearing down the steps.” She turned to Murphy and explained, “Then I heard Lady charging after the man.”
“Did you get a look at him?” Jack asked.
Mrs. Stevens’s trembling finger tapped her chin. “Not a good one. Only from behind. He had broad shoulders with short hair. I’d think…he was around six feet tall. Like a body builder. He seemed to be rather thick but not fat. He wore black boots, jeans, and a light tan jacket.”
“You saw a lot.” Murphy wrote into his notebook.
“I’d never forgive myself if something happened to this precious dog.” Mrs. Stevens stroked Lady’s head, and she stretched out on the couch. “So I went after them. The man must have parked right outside because they took off like a rocket. Right down the driveway and then left on the street.”
“Did you see the car?”
“No. It was gone in a second. I’m sure Lady would’ve caught him if she wasn’t running on three legs. Oh, my poor little girl.” Mrs. Stevens rubbed her face in Lady’s neck.
“It looks like Lady took a bite out of the guy,” Kendra said.
Jack froze. “No. I don’t see where you get that.”
“The blood on the wall.” Kendra gestured with her thumb toward the staircase. “And the blood around her mouth.”
“I think that guy may have cut his feet on all the glass upstairs,” Murphy said.
“What? Who do you think he is, the barefoot bandit?” Kendra’s face scrunched up. “That makes no sense. Think it through. The guy breaks in. Lady goes for his arm. They struggle. He breaks free, and on the way down, his injured arm rubs against the wall. Lady bit the guy.”
“Without the guy, we don’t know that.” Jack stood up. “I’m agreeing with Murphy.”
Kendra’s eyebrows went up. “I’d never thought I’d hear you say that.” She stared at Jack, and then Murphy.
“Kendra.” Murphy leaned in. “Do you know what the procedure is if a dog bites a human?”
Kendra’s mouth twisted. “She’d have to go to the animal shelter for two weeks of observation.”
“That’s not happening.” Replacement moved protectively in front of Lady.
“It’s not.” Murphy reached down and patted Lady’s back. “This dog saved my life. No way am I saying that she bit anyone.” He glanced at Jack. “I still hate you, Stratton.”
“I sort of had a hand in saving your sorry butt, too. But, thanks.” Jack nodded.
Kendra smiled. “You’re right. Perp cut himself on glass.” Kendra turned to Jack. “I need you to take a look upstairs and tell me if anything is missing.”
“Let’s do it fast. I want to get Lady to the vet’s.”
“I’ll wait with Lady.” Replacement stroked her head.
They headed back upstairs. Glass crunched and metal plinked as Jack pushed open the apartment door.
“Obviously, the table got knocked over.” Jack pointed down. “I bet that’s how Lady cut her paw. The computer’s still here.” He opened Replacement’s door. “So is Alice’s TV.” Jack walked back into the kitchen.
“Maybe Lady scared him out before he took anything?” Murphy said. “Who wouldn’t run from that dog?”
“I have to get her to the vet. Can you guys process this without me here?”
“Sure.” Kendra nodded. “I’m sorry, Jack, but we’ll have to dot all of the i’s. Sheriff Collins will probably use a microscope on our report.”
“Yeah, great.” Jack went downstairs and pulled the Charger right up to the door. He went back into Mrs. Stevens’s apartment and stared down at Lady.
“Okay,” he lowered his voice, “I’m trying to help, so don’t bite my face off.”
Mrs. Stevens rubbed Lady’s head. “My snookums would never.”
“Just be careful of her foot.” Replacement pouted.
Jack started to pick up Lady and froze. The deep rumble in her belly shook his chest.
“You be a good girl, baby,” Replacement cooed.
“Do you have any biscuits?” Jack asked.
Mrs. Stevens frowned at him. “Of course I do.” She leaned over to a container next to the table.
Boy, she sure likes this dog.
“Why don’t you walk in front of us?” Jack took a deep breath and lifted Lady up. Lady didn’t struggle but her low growl made Jack’s back tense.
He carefully carried Lady out to the hallway. The huge dog pressed her face against his as he walked.
“Cut it out, dog,” Jack grumbled. “I’ll trip and drop you.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Mrs. Stevens said as she held up a cookie, “or my little baby will eat you.” She glared at Jack.
Replacement giggled.
Jack managed to get Lady into the backseat and closed the door.
Mrs. Stevens reached through the window and gave her the biscuit.
“You’ll call me and let me know how she is?” Mrs. Stevens wrung her hands.
“I will. Thank you.”
Chapter 28
~
You’re Both Scary
The Darrington Animal Shelter was a long one-story building set back from the road. Jack parked out front.
When he got out of the car, he paused. “Do they have a dog stretcher?”
“I don’t think so.” Replacement made a face.
He debated about going in for one when Lady whimpered from the backseat.
“It’s okay, baby.” Replacement rubbed her chin.
Jack lifted her up and shut the door with his hip.
As he carried her up the ramp, Lacie raced over to hold the door open.
“What happened?” she asked.
In the weeks since he’d last seen Lacie, the only thing that had changed about her appearance was the dyed-pink streak that ran down the middle of her jet-black hair was now blue.
“I think she has glass in her foot,” Replacement said.
“Follow me.”
They followed the petite girl as she headed through a set of double doors. Lacie was in her mid-twenties. Her dress was retro-punk—high-top sneakers, black skirt, silver nose ring, and a short-sleeved, paint splattered shirt, revealing arms covered in tattoos.
“Put her up on the table.” Lacie pressed the foot pump and raised the metal table up. “I’ll get Ryan.”
Lady whimpered and pressed against Jack’s chest.
“Shh.” Replacement stroked her head.
The door swung open and Ryan headed straight for Lady. In h
is early thirties, with round glasses and a wavy brown ponytail, Ryan ran the animal shelter.
“Hi, Ryan.” Jack stuck out his hand, but Ryan’s focus was on the dog.
“What happened?” Ryan asked. Medium height and thin build, his khaki pants and blue T-shirt gave him a youthful appearance.
Jack’s mouth fell open when Lady lifted her hurt paw and held it out to Ryan. “I should let her tell you.”
“She got glass in her foot,” Replacement said.
Ryan pulled down a light and examined her paw. Lacie gathered supplies out of a cabinet.
“I’ll need you to hold her,” Ryan said to Jack.
Jack swallowed.
Lacie frowned. “Don’t be scared.”
“Holding onto a grizzly bear while he operates on her foot doesn’t seem like a great plan,” Jack muttered.
“I’ll help hold her.” Replacement rolled her eyes.
“Lady weighs more than you. Seriously, Ryan, can you give her an anesthetic or something?”
“I can see the glass.” Ryan adjusted the light. “Let’s try to keep this simple.”
Jack wrapped his arms around Lady and kept his face behind her head.
Ryan took out rubber tipped mini vise grips. He wiped his hands on his pants. He lifted the vise grips up and hesitated. Ryan exhaled and looked up at Jack. “Okay, a dog this large makes me a little nervous too,” he admitted.
Replacement stroked Lady’s back and Ryan pulled.
“Wow,” Ryan muttered as a large piece of glass started to emerge.
Lady struggled against Jack.
The glass pulled free, and Ryan grinned.
“You can let her go,” Lacie said.
Jack did, and Lady shook. Jack smiled until she licked his face. “Gross.”
Ryan chuckled. “Let’s get her washed up.” As Ryan stood up, he looked at Lady, and his eyes narrowed. “Wait a second.”
Jack looked from Ryan to Lacie for an answer. Lacie shrugged.
Ryan reached out and put his hand on Lady’s back. Slowly his hand moved down Lady’s side.
A low rumble started in Lady’s chest and steadily grew into a growl. “She has a large bruise on her side.” Ryan frowned.
Jack snarled.
Lacie leaned away from Jack. “They say people start to look like their dogs. It’s true. You’re both scary.”
“What happened?” Ryan asked.
“Someone broke into our apartment when Jack and I weren’t home. Lady was.” Replacement pouted.
“Did she go after them?”
Jack gave him a sideways look. “Hypothetically, what would happen if a dog may have bitten a guy?”
“Did Lady bite him?”
“I’m not saying until you answer.” Jack rubbed Lady’s head.
“Well, Lady’s had all of her shots; she just got them. If she did bite someone, besides the wound, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
“Wait—could she catch something from the scumbag?” Jack’s voice rose.
Ryan frowned. “That answers my question if you think she bit someone or not.” He examined Lady’s mouth. “Dog and human systems are very different. It’d be very rare if she caught something from him. But I want to check her teeth.” Ryan held open Lady’s mouth and peered in. “I’m also concerned about her side. It looks like she was punched or kicked.”
Jack’s fist came down hard against the cabinet, and everyone jumped. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Is she okay?”
“Let me check without you startling her when my fingers are in her mouth.” Ryan was a little pale.
“Sorry.”
“You won’t have to keep her for observation, right?” Replacement asked.
“Not my little Lady.” Ryan scratched behind her ears. “I do want to give her a checkup. Just to make sure. For that, it needs to be just Lacie and me.”
Jack nodded. As they walked out of the room, Lady whined. Jack shoved the door.
“When I find the guy who hurt my dog…”
Chapter 29
~
Like an Imperial Probe Droid?
As they headed back from the animal shelter, Jack got a call from Kendra.
“Did you get any lead on the guy?” he asked.
“We canvassed the area and got next to zip. Not even a good description of the car. On the plus side, we did get there was more than one guy. He had a driver. Morrison asked if you’d do another check for anything missing.”
“We’re heading back to do that now.”
“Have you had any run-ins lately? Maybe a bounty that broke bad?”
Jack almost laughed but he didn’t want to hurt Kendra’s feelings. “No bounty ends well, from their point of view. So yeah, I haven’t been making friends. That’s another reason that I need Collins to give me my guns back.”
“Morrison’s working on that too. I gotta run. When are we going to go for a beer?”
“Let the dust settle. But I do want to know how you ended up working with Murphy.”
“He’s getting better. Maybe almost getting killed did something good for him.”
When they got back, Mrs. Stevens had already cleaned up the blood on the wall. Jack opened his apartment door. Lady started to head in and turned back around. She pushed by Jack and planted her feet in the middle of the hallway. A deep rumble started in her chest and out came three sharp challenging barks.
“I think she’s letting the world know the queen has returned to her castle,” Jack said.
“Bad guy beware.” Replacement led Lady over to the couch. “I thought we could give her the couch until her foot gets better.”
“Bye, couch.” Jack waved and then picked up the hall table and set it upright.
“She’ll give it back,” Replacement said.
Lady stretched out on the couch. Her body extended the whole length of it. She let out a satisfied huff and closed her eyes.
“Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.” Replacement’s nose crinkled.
Jack threw the lamp in the trash and saw the remains of the change jar. He reached for the key holder on the floor when he noticed a silver case smeared with blood.
He picked it up by holding the corners.
“What’s this thing covered in blood? I’ve never seen it before.” Jack turned it over. “I think it’s one of your computer things.”
Replacement turned away. “I’m not looking at it if it’s all bloody.”
Jack carried it into the kitchen to get a better look. He set it on the counter.
Replacement made a face as she yelled into the kitchen. “You just said there’s blood on it. Don’t put it on the counter!”
“Sorry,” Jack muttered as he looked closer. “So it doesn’t belong to either of us? Lady, is this yours?”
Lady opened an eye.
Replacement walked over and gave Jack a playful smack on his backside. She looked at the case. “That’s the e-cigarette case that Gerald had. Is that a fingerprint? Can the police use it?”
“It’s too smudged but that means the guy who broke in either had it in his hand or he picked it up after Lady bit him. Can you check what’s on it?”
“Touch it? Gross, it’s all bloody.” She made a face. “Besides, it’s a USB charger for an e-cigarette.”
Jack took the case over to the computer.
Replacement scanned the apartment and then shivered as if she just stepped into ice-cold water. Her face scrunched up, her arms pulled up close and she shuddered. “I’m going to disinfect everything.” She walked to the bathroom.
Jack plugged the case into Replacement’s computer.
Replacement came back carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies. She had huge yellow gloves on her hands and a determined look on her face. “I’m not going to let some creep, creep out my home.” She pulled out a spray bottle.
She held the bottle up to the doorknob but her finger hesitated on the trigger. “Crud.” She straightened up and her lip curled like Elvis. “Can I
clean? Did they dust for prints?”
“You can clean. They don’t dust for prints.”
“They don’t? I thought they always did.”
“On TV. Every police department is different. For most, the crime needs to rise to a certain level. This is a low-level break-in.”
Replacement huffed. “It’s not low-level. It’s my house. I want them to catch the jerk.”
“I just meant they didn’t steal anything. The police budget’s limited. We do—they do the best they can.”
“What’re you doing?” Replacement looked at the computer.
“I wanted to see what’s on that case.”
“It’s not a hard drive. It—CRAP!” Replacement dashed over and yanked the network cable out of the wall. The cable snapped across the room. The plastic end pinged off the wall somewhere in the kitchen.
Jack’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell was that?”
Replacement ripped her gloves off and typed furiously. Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
“Can you clue me in?” Jack walked over and put his hands on the back of her chair.
“Hold on.” She continued to type. “I need to take some snapshots. That thing tried transmitting.”
“Transmitting? Like an Imperial Probe Droid? What’re you talking about?”
“One second.” She leaned closer to the screen.
Jack couldn’t believe it, but it seemed as if her flying fingers got even faster. “Wow, can you type.”
“Got it.” Replacement sat back and smiled triumphantly.
“Great. Explain it to me. What is it?”
“I don’t know. I got the log.”
“Does the log tell us who it was calling?”
“It might.”
Jack shook his head. “Might?”
“I have to go through it. I need to run traces and...” She sighed. “Technical stuff.”
“Can you explain what just happened?”
Replacement tilted her head and looked up at him. “Well, you know the websites I sometimes have to go to?”
“Hacker sites.” Jack frowned.
She rolled her eyes. “They’re computer sites but...anyway. If you go to places like that, you better wrap your PC in a digital condom. Seriously, there’s no honor among thieves or hackers and even the guys helping you may try to give you something. Know what I mean?”
DATA JACK Page 13
