“Sorry to bother you, but I’m here looking for a dog that’s gone missing.”
Immediately he could see her walls go up, and she stepped back slightly.
He held up his hands in a nonthreatening manner. “I’m here on behalf of the War Dogs program. A dog was at the shelter down the road. On the day that you were involved in a fender bender, the dog went missing.”
Her face cleared a little bit, as she looked from him to her car and then back to him again. “A shepherd-looking thing?”
“Yes, a Malinois-shepherd cross,” he said. “Have you seen it?”
She nodded slowly. “I saw it today.”
His eyebrows shot up, and eagerly he asked, “Where?”
“I think it got into my neighbor’s garbage,” she said.
He frowned at that because it wasn’t typical behavior for one of these dogs, but, if she was starving, then maybe. “And that was today?”
“A few hours ago, yes,” she said, and she pointed down the road. “He went in that direction.”
“Did you see it the day of the accident?”
She wrinkled her face and nodded. “I guess you can call it an accident,” she said. “It was more of a threat though.”
“What do you mean?”
She winced and said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Then she stepped back as if to close the door.
He stepped forward and immediately saw fear cross her face. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he said in a soft voice, “but I would like to know what you meant. Anything that involves the dog is something I need to know about. I’m trying to recapture the dog. She served a lot of good years in the military, and I’d like to see to it that she has a decent retirement life.”
“I hear you,” she said, “but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it. I thought I saw it leave the alleyway a few hours ago.”
“That’s fine,” he said, “and I’ll certainly check it out. I’ll stake out the alleyway and see if that’s where she’s getting food from. What I really need to know is what you saw at the accident.”
“All of a sudden, he was there,” she said with a shrug. Her son made an odd sound and reached up, patting her cheek. She smiled, kissed him on the tip of his nose. “It was a particularly disturbing scenario,” she said, turning her attention back to Greyson. “The other guy hit me with his truck and then came out and started yelling at me. I was really worried for my son. He was crying, and, the next thing I know, the dog was there.”
“Did you recognize this man?”
She shook her head. “No.” Then she opened her mouth and added suddenly, “He said it was a message from my ex.”
He stared at her in shock. “What?”
She nodded. “At first I wondered if I’d misheard him,” she said. “The dog got between us and was barking threateningly at the man. He was getting really ugly about the dog, but it seemed like the dog was more of a danger than he was. He got back into his truck and sped off. And, because we’d already stopped all the traffic, I jumped into my car and headed straight home. The dog bolted off to the side somewhere. Obviously I was pretty upset, and so was my son, so we took the rest of the afternoon and just stayed in the house together.”
“That sounds like a perfect answer to a very rough day,” he said, as he reached out a gentle finger and stroked the little boy’s cheek. “Something is so very innocent and sweet about this age, isn’t there?”
“There is,” she said. “Anyway, I don’t know what else I can help you with.”
“Thank you. You’ve helped a lot,” he said with a smile. “Have you seen the driver again?”
He watched as she hesitated.
“Okay, so how much of an ex is your ex?”
She winced. “I didn’t think there was a problem. I was pregnant at the time we split, and he didn’t want anything to do with our baby. I’ve never had anything to do with him since. Then, all of a sudden, that accident happened, and since then, it just feels like I’m being watched all the time.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Has the dog been hanging around?”
“You know what? I think it has. I was worried about it because it looked really dangerous. But it’s never attacked me or even come anywhere close to me.”
He took a step back, trying to give her a bit of space. “Do you mind if I check your backyard? I’ll go up and down the alley anyway, but I would like to see if maybe the dog could have been in the backyard space as well.”
She hesitated.
He nodded and said, “You’re right to be alarmed,” he said. “I know I’m not a threat, but you don’t know me at all.”
“If we’re in the house, and the doors are locked,” she said, “I’d be okay if you checked out the backyard. I actually wouldn’t mind if you did check it out,” she admitted, “because I keep getting this feeling of being watched, you know? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the dog.”
“That’s possible too.” He looked up and down the block. “What’s the fastest way to the alley?”
She hesitated.
He said, “Look. I’m not asking to get into your backyard right now,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel threatened and especially not with this guy giving you trouble,” he said. “There’s enough craziness in the world, and I don’t want you to think that I’ll add to it.”
She just smiled at him, but he could see the relief on her face. “I think if you went down that way, there’s a break between the houses with a pathway. The alley turns and goes off into the block behind us.”
He immediately started walking that way, then turned back and said, “I’ll go down that way and come back up your alleyway. So if you see somebody looking in your backyard, you’ll know it’s just me.”
She nodded and smiled.
He headed down the block, and, as he got down a couple houses, he turned to look back and saw she was still standing there, watching him. He lifted a hand, then turned and left.
Chapter 5
Definitely an interesting man, but Jessica wasn’t sure she believed his story. Except that she had seen the dog herself. And, if he was looking for that dog, she wanted to help. She went back inside, and, with her son playing with blocks on the floor, she quickly pulled up Google and searched for War Dogs and the War Dog program. What she read made her heart squeeze tight. Those poor animals. To think that one might be loose out here, who was expected to go to a family and retire, just broke her heart.
With Danny still playing happily, she walked over to the glass back doors and stared outside. Just then she caught sight of the stranger. What was his name again?
She thought he said Greyson, but she couldn’t remember his last name.
He lifted a hand and waved at her from over the fence. She waved back. At least he was honest when he said that he was going into the back alley.
She watched as he disappeared from sight, going up the alley, and then came back a few minutes later, heading back down the alleyway again.