Greyson (The K9 Files) - Dale Mayer Page 0,23

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.

Now she felt foolish for not trusting him. She picked up Danny, opened the glass doors, and walked to the alleyway gate. She opened it. “Well, you might as well come in and take a look.”

He smiled and stepped inside. She didn’t know why he didn’t feel threatening. Especially at a time when it seemed like so many men out there made her uneasy. Instead, there was almost a comfort to having him around. That made her suspicious, but of herself, not of him.

He wandered around the yard, checking through the brush and nodded to himself.

“What does that mean?”

“Her hair is on the cedars out here,” he said, pulling some forward to show her.

“Oh,” she said, “I didn’t even think to look for signs like that.”

“I’ve been tracking her this whole time,” he said. “Not that it’s easy to see when it’s been so long, but this is recent.”

“I thought I’d caught glimpses of a dog in here,” she said, “so it makes sense to me.”

“Yes, it does.” He wandered around. “And you know a dog like that can jump a fence like this pretty easily, right?”

She stared at him in astonishment. “They can?”

“Six feet from a standstill without a problem,” he said with a smile. “And Kona, in this case, is a hell of a dog. Well-trained and obedient, but she’s gone a bit wild, without all the rules and restrictions she is used to in her world. Before, every waking moment was filled with something for her to do. She knew where to sleep, when to sleep, and how long she could sleep for. But now, all that military structure has been ripped apart in her world, and she’s got to be scared.”

“I can imagine.”

“Listen,” he said, pulling out another Titanium Corp business card, writing his number on the back. “If you see her again, even if you’re not sure it’s her, give me a call.” He hesitated and then said, “I hate to think of you being alone here, so if you think that somebody’s watching you, and you have any confirmation of that, please call the police.”

She half expected him to say she should call him, so it was a bit of a letdown when he said to call the police.

“There isn’t a whole lot the police can do,” she said with a shrug. “Unless he comes in and attacks me, what will they do?”

“At least they can start a file and warn everybody else that he’s out here. Sometimes it’s all a predator needs to avoid coming after you again because they don’t want added trouble.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “If it’s related to my ex—which makes no sense to me—but, if that’s the case, the amount of potential trouble won’t make any difference.”

“Understood,” he said. “If you feel like you can’t call the police, then at least call me, okay?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. You look almost as dangerous as the man I saw.”

He stopped, looked at her in surprise, and said, “Maybe. For the other guy, but I’ve never hurt a woman in my life, and I sure don’t intend to start now.”

She smiled, and, for whatever vague reason she may have had, she believed him. “Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it.”

He nodded. “I’ll head back down and around. See if I can figure out where the dog has been staying.”

“Well, as soon as it’s dark, the dog will probably be back here for the neighbor’s garbage,” she said. “What he calls garbage and recycling are his pizza boxes still half full of pizza. He doesn’t throw the pizza in the garbage or the box into the