“Because it’s easier to avoid it all,” she said with a nod. “Isn’t that lovely?”
“Not really,” he said, “but it’s nice to come to this point where I’m okay with it.”
She nodded and smiled. “So tell me what the game plan is with the dog.”
“Would have been easier if I’d been here months ago,” he said, “but I’m not sure we’ll get off ground zero because it depends on whether anything is even left to find.”
“It’s been a long time.”
“I know. I don’t understand why the commander didn’t move on this lost War Dog originally, but I think somebody checked up on it, and then the War Department was closing down, and nobody followed up.”
“Which is too bad because that dog’s already given so much of his life,” she said. “He’s a veteran, like you. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
“Nothing ever does, and unfortunately military animals are not given the respect that they should be.”
“I know,” she murmured. “So why don’t we go for a drive tonight?” she asked.
“I don’t know how far away it is.” He brought up the address on his phone, and the two discussed the best way to get there. As soon as they finished eating, he said, “You know what? Maybe we should. You up for a drive?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Do you want to bring the dogs or not?”
He thought about it and nodded. “Yes, let’s bring them. This Beowulf might have an easier time if he recognizes other dog lovers.”
“Good thought,” she said. They quickly cleaned up the dishes, and, as she stepped outside, she was surprised to see a truck here. “I forgot you brought in a rental.”
“Yep, I did,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a bother. I knew I would possibly have to leave everything at the drop of a hat, and I didn’t want to impact your world too much.”
She shrugged. “You still didn’t have to.”
“Maybe not, but,” he said, “I’m not taking advantage.”
“You always were too honorable for that,” she teased.
“Nothing wrong with being honorable,” he said with a grin.
“In your world,” she said, “that’s like one of the biggest things to be.”
“It is, indeed,” he said and got in behind the wheel.
She opened up the passenger door and let all the dogs in. Not Graynor. He stayed behind.
Caleb smiled as he asked, “Do they still ride in the front?”
“They ride where they want to ride,” she said. “Front, back, wherever.” She laughed. “If they’re in your way, they’ll go into the back seat just fine too.” They quickly shuffled the dogs into the back seat, and he headed out. “How far do we’ve to go?” he asked.
“I’ve got it up on my GPS,” she said.
“Good, let’s go see what there is to find.”
It took them twenty minutes, and twenty minutes through traffic he didn’t think was too bad. He was delighted that her place was as close as it was because he figured he’d have to come back and forth several times. By the time they reached the rural property, he smiled and said, “Well, Beowulf should have been happy here. The property looks to be a couple acres, I guess.”
“I’ll bring it up,” she said and quickly checked the details. “The couple don’t own it at all,” she said. “It’s owned by a corporation out of California.”
“So it was a rental property?”
“I have no idea. Looks like a shell company too,” she said, digging quickly into the internet. “Still doesn’t have anything to do with the dog though.”
Caleb pulled into the driveway, and they hopped out, letting the dogs loose. The dogs mingled around the truck, excitedly sniffing at their heels as they walked around. Caleb walked up to the front porch and knocked on the door. She watched from the driveway, looking to see if anybody was out on the property. When no answer came at the door, he turned and looked at her.
She shrugged. “They said it was empty, and you’d have full access.”
“True.” He gave another quick look, shrugged, opened the front door, and stepped inside.
It was empty, as far as he could tell. And, with Laysha and her dogs running behind him to come inside too, he walked through the place, looking for any sign that anybody had been here recently. But it looked to be unoccupied for at least the last couple months. But then it was hard to tell. At least a month. Maybe that was a better take.
As they went through the house, she said, “It’s just a family home. Nothing different, nothing scary, nothing surprising.”
“Nope, not at all,” he said. He stepped out on the back steps and took a look around. “This looks all pretty normal too.”
“Have we checked all the rooms inside?” she asked, as she returned inside, heading toward the front door.
“No, I don’t think so.” He turned, took a second look around outside, and said, “Nothing going on out here.”
“But you didn’t really expect there would be, did you?”
“No, not really,” he said, “but one can always hope.” He tossed her a grin, catching up with her, and opened up what looked like a big storeroom door off the kitchen. As soon as he did, he backed away, coughing and hacking, holding his sleeve over his nose. She came up behind him, gasped in shock, and he quickly turned her away and moved the dogs out of the way and slammed the door shut.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
He already had his phone in his hand. “A dead body,” he said.
She stared at him in horror. “But who?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t want you to see that. I’m calling the police now.”
“The police. Great,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Is Detective Ansel Lowery still around?”
“I think so,” she said. “He’ll love this.” She laughed. “He bailed us out of so much trouble,” she said, as Caleb made his way through several phone calls to get to Lowery.
When he identified himself, Lowery said, “Oh, my God. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m in El Paso, staying at Laysha’s house,” he said, “but I’ve been looking for a K9 on behalf of the War Dog Department,” he added. “We came to the last-known residence, and we were doing a quick check because it’s empty. Apparently the adoptive couple moved into town,” he said. “Buuut …” He paused for a long moment.
Detective Ansel Lowery asked on the other end, “But what?”
“We found a body here.”
“Seriously?” he exploded. “Do you guys ever do anything but get into trouble? You’ve been in town what? Five minutes and you’ve already found a corpse?”
“It’s not our fault,” he said. “And remember. When we got into trouble years ago, it was years ago.”
“Funny how the years just fall away,” Lowery said with a note of humor. “I’m sending out a team and the coroner.”