She shook her head. “But I’ll let you know if I think of something.”
“Please do.” She took her hand. “Now I’m taking you back to the residence hall and dropping you off.” She was leading her up the hill toward Olivia. “And you’re going to remember the buddy system from now on. Right?”
She nodded. “But a buddy would have gotten in my way today.” She stopped abruptly. “What’s that sound?”
Oh, Lord, Harley was barking.
“That’s our dog, Harley. Don’t pay any attention to him. He won’t hurt you. He just sounds odd.”
But Harley had broken free of Olivia’s leash and was tearing toward Ariel, and the barking was fiercer than Kendra had ever heard it. He was acting as if he was going to tear her apart. Kendra instinctively stepped in front of the child to protect her.
But Harley streaked past Ariel and Kendra and tore through the brush, howling and growling. Was he trying to attack John Kim? She ran through the brush after Harley, but she could see that Kim’s grandson was no longer in sight.
And neither was Harley. He’d gone under the yellow barrier tapes and was in the crime scene area where Kim had been killed. He was tearing around the brush, sniffing and growling, pawing and digging at the ground.
“Harley, stop it!”
Harley was paying no attention to her. He was whimpering, sniffing, and growling, running excitedly from place to place.
“Harley!” Olivia called. “Come!” She’d made her way down the rest of the way to stand beside Ariel. “Now!”
Harley halted, freezing. Then he was darting out under the yellow tape straight to Olivia. But he didn’t stop; instead he ran circles around Olivia and Ariel, still barking and growling.
Kendra caught up with him and grabbed for his leash. “Tell him to stop, Olivia. He’s going crazy and he’s not paying any attention to me. I think he’s trying to protect you and Ariel.”
Harley stopped. He was still panting, but he was leaning against Olivia’s knee and that weird aggressiveness was gone.
“Or is it?” Olivia turned to Kendra. “Harley doesn’t act like that. What happened?”
“He ran into Kim’s crime scene area and was sniffing and digging and I couldn’t get him to quit. Then he ran back toward you and Ariel.” She gazed at Ariel. “I’m sorry if he frightened you. He’s really a very gentle dog. He’d never hurt you.”
“Of course he wouldn’t.” She reached out for the dog, ignoring the horrendous sounds he was making, and began to stroke him. “Anyone can tell that. I’ve read about police dogs like him. He was just looking for clues to help the FBI find the people who did those bad things to Mr. Kim. I think he must be very clever to make those horrible sounds so the bad guys would be afraid of him.”
“I’m glad you think so.” She looked at Olivia and shrugged in bewilderment at Ariel’s total acceptance of both the situation and Harley’s hideous caterwauling, which usually frightened everyone. “And this is my friend Olivia Moore, Ariel. I told you about Ariel, Olivia. It seems she was the one who sent me the message. I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now we’re going to take Ariel back to the residence.”
“Olivia Moore?” Ariel froze, transfixed. “You’re the one who created Outasite. I go there all the time. You’re awesome.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to be appreciated.” Olivia smiled. “Particularly since you seem to be such a fan of my friend Kendra, who has a much more glamorous image.”
“I didn’t even know you were friends. How cool is that?” Ariel’s cheeks were flushed with excitement. “Appreciated? I was standing in line to attend your Advanced Computer Savvy lecture last year. I had to get special permission because I was a little young for it. I learned so much. Are you going to give another one this year?”
“I’m sure I will. It’s just not set up yet.”
“Then could I help you do it? I still have lots of questions I need answered.”
It was obvious Kendra had been forgotten, and she just stepped back and enjoyed the adulation Olivia was receiving.
“You could always email me.” Olivia was smiling at Ariel with amusement. “You’re clearly very good at that. I’ll give you my email address.”
“Would you? That would be great. I’ll try not to bother you too much.” She suddenly thrust the bouquet of flowers she was still carrying at Olivia. “You should take this bouquet. It will be like someone in