“But then you probably never dealt with something small like this, have you?” she asked.
He raised one eyebrow and then nodded. “That’s quite true. I think I’ll call this Olive and see if I can meet her.”
“Do it now,” she said. “See if she’s even receptive to it. I can show you where she lives, but I can’t guarantee you that she’ll talk to you just because of me.”
He pulled out his phone, quickly dialed the number Addie gave him, and he walked a few steps away. She heard him identify himself as Tucker Wilson. On behalf of the US Navy War Dogs Division. She loved that. As soon as he hung up, he turned back around and said, “She said she’ll talk to me.”
“Good. Where?”
“Not at home, she doesn’t want to be there for the conversation,” he said with a wry smile. “Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
“Why?” Addie asked.
“Because home will also remind her very much of the girlfriend she defended, even though she may not have had any reason to. So I’ll go find out,” he said.
As he walked back to his driver’s seat and hopped in, she asked, “Will you let me know the outcome of the meeting?”
He titled his head, studying her, and then said, “Maybe.”
She frowned and added, “I am trying to save the dog. If Olive lied, and my sister’s lying about all this, which it seems she has, once again,” she said on a sigh, “I’ll feel even worse.”
“Well, if anybody lied about it, including Olive too,” he said, “we need to make sure the animal is rescued, and then we go after the perpetrators of the lies because a lot of government time and energy was wasted protecting a War Dog that didn’t need to be in the pound at all.”
“Ouch,” she said. “That scenario would cause a rift like you wouldn’t believe in my family.”
“Sounds like your family needs to be shaken up anyway,” he said.
“I know. I know,” she said. “It’s just not that easy.”
“Doing what’s right is often not easy,” he said, “but that’s what makes it worth doing.” And, with that, he drove away.
Tucker watched as Addie pulled away from the family home, right behind him. The question was, would she follow him all the way to the coffee shop where he was due to meet Olive? That wouldn’t surprise him either. The one thing that Addie had going for her was the dog’s reaction to her arrival at the pound. The dog was overjoyed when Addie arrived. Already a bond was there, and that made his heart smile.
As for the sister, she was a Class A bitch. And he had zero interest in having anything more to do with her, other than institutionalizing her. The fact that she was orchestrating all this was one thing, but to consider that she was orchestrating it at out of hate was another thing entirely. And that would never be acceptable. Now he had to figure out how to stop it on this end, while Badger worked his magic on his end.
As Tucker drove, his phone rang. He put the phone on the dash carrier and punched Talk. “Hey, Rodney. All ready for the wedding?”
“Honestly? I would have canceled it if I had the chance,” his soon-to-be brother-in-law said. “We’ve got that damn firebug going on here, and I can’t get any help.”
“I’ve got a dog here that was trained for fire sniffing with various accelerants,” he said, “but she’s on death row in the pound. Has until Friday.”
“What!” He quickly asked, “Any chance we can get her on loan?”
“Well, you can bet, if I can get her out, she won’t be going back,” he said. “And we’re working the angles right now to get her released, at least temporarily,” he said. “We have to get the stay order extended first though, and so far we’re running up against some roadblocks.”
“If you want help from me,” he said, “I do know the Governor. I can certainly put in a good word for her, if she can come help me out.”
“Not only can she come help you but she can also quite likely tell what accelerant was used and if anybody in your crew or on your staff has been using it recently.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Rodney said, “I need her, and I need her now.”
“Then you start making phone calls,” he said. “I’ll go see one of the women who said the dog was dangerous, and her testimony is partly why the dog is sitting in the pound, awaiting her death.” He added, “And then I have a problem with the woman who was supposedly bitten by the dog but has this hate relationship with the War Dog, even though she’s the one who begged to get it. I still don’t understand her motivation on that part.” He took precious moments to try to explain, ending up with, “I’m here now at the coffee shop,” he said, as he pulled into the parking lot. “I’ll contact you afterward to let you know what comes of this interview.”
“Well, I won’t wait for you to call me back,” he said. “If that dog can help me, I need her here.” And, with that, his soon-to-be brother-in-law hung up. Tucker smiled because Rodney and his sister had been together for a good ten years. They should have tied the knot a long time ago. But, for whatever reason, somebody was always putting it off to a better time, and, of course, that’s what would have happened here again.
Tucker hopped from his truck, slightly distracted, only to smile when a car pulled in and parked on the other side. Addie might have thought she was hiding, but there was no hiding something like that. Ignoring Addie, who had followed him to the coffee shop, he headed inside, not knowing who he was meeting but hoping he could spot Olive somewhere.
When he saw a nervous woman sitting in front of the window, he ordered a coffee for himself, as he continued to study her, wondering how he could make this work on his behalf. He didn’t have any legal backing for this job, not on paper anyway, but he was hired by Titanium Corp on behalf of US Navy Commander Cross to find this War dog and rescue her. And that was something he took seriously, especially in this case with her slated for death on Friday. So he was officially here. It’s just he didn’t have any written proof of it. It would all be determined by his attitude, as he played the tough guy. He had to because the dog’s life was riding on it.
And, with his coffee, he walked over, stood at the edge of the table, looked down at her, and said, “Are you Olive?” His voice was hard, distinct.
She looked up, nervously spilling the coffee in the cup in her hand, and she nodded. “Yes. Yes,” she said, “I am.”
He nodded, sat right down across from her, and said, “So I need to hear from you exactly what happened.”
“What do you mean?” she squeaked.
“You’ve said the dog was dangerous and attacked you several times.”
“Well, he didn’t, … she did attack me,” she said.
He pulled out his phone, already on Record, and a notepad and started taking notes. She looked at the phone with a frown. He looked up and said, “I’m taking notes.” He added, “And recording this.”
Her eyes widened. “Recording it?”
“Yes, recording it,” he said. “You must sign this statement, confirming you’re telling the truth.” He watched the color bleach from her face. And he stared at her hard. “You’re not telling the truth, are you?” She gulped, looked at him, and then turned toward the window. “You do understand that a life is being taken because of your statement, correct?”