anything until she reached the fourth page in the packet. “It’s the phone number for Ace Dog Training Farm. Brian Miller, president.” Her fingers flew over the script. “This Brian Miller evidently trained Harley for the first eighteen months of his life before he turned him over to the service dog organization. It’s curious that your scumbag would want to talk to him. And it’s also curious that he’d actually print out this photo as if it had some importance. Not Elaine, just the dog.” She added thoughtfully, “Though I remember that when we were out there at Oceanside the other day, we both thought it was possible that Elaine had taken Harley for walks on the grounds when she brought him with her to the school. And Ariel said Elaine was frightened because she thought she and her dog had been followed.”
“We need to talk to this trainer and see if he knows anything. Lynch and I have to go back to FBI headquarters this afternoon to go over the forensic evidence we found here in the apartment, but we’ll try to get to him tomorrow.”
“Don’t bother,” Olivia said. “I’ll take care of it.” She was putting Harley’s documents back in the folder. “Go do your FBI stuff. But I don’t care for the idea of Hayes doing ugly things to that photo of Harley. Anyone who defaces a picture might do equal harm to the animal itself. Particularly someone as violent as Hayes. I won’t tolerate even the thought of cruelty to any animal. I’m in charge of Harley and I’ll get to the bottom of this right away.”
“Okay.” Kendra was thinking, trying to find a solution. “Maybe Lynch and I can split up and I’ll come back to your condo and pick you up and we’ll—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need you. Jessie called me after you left this morning; she should be back from L.A. within the next half hour or so. If I can get her off that motorcycle, I’ll use the extra keys you gave me to your Toyota and have her drive me and Harley to see this trainer. She’s a P.I. and shouldn’t have trouble getting him to answer questions.”
“Neither would you. But you could send her on her own.”
“Harley’s in my charge,” she repeated firmly. “My responsibility. We made an agreement, Kendra. I’d accept you if you could do it, but no one else. Jessie is only a guest star in this miniseries.”
Kendra chuckled. “You must remember to tell her that. Jessie isn’t accustomed to taking a backseat for anyone.”
“Oh, I will. Now I have to go put Harley’s leash on him. Goodbye, Kendra.” She hung up the phone, turned to Harley, and gave the hand signal for him to kneel. “It seems you might have been fooling around in bad company lately,” she murmured as she leashed him. “You’ll have to be careful about that. Remember, not everyone knows what a pushover you are…”
* * *
“Guest star in a miniseries?” Jessie repeated as she glanced at Olivia while she made the turn into Ace Dog Training Farms. “I’ve been thinking about that. Couldn’t you have at least given me full costar status? It’s not as if Harley and I haven’t gotten along very well after that first night. And that was partly your lack of communication.”
“Granted.” Olivia smiled. “But I was enjoying it far too much to be kind to you. And you might not have been demoted to guest star if you hadn’t decided to run off to L.A. and leave Kendra in the lurch.”
“Come on,” Jessie said quietly. “We both knew when Lynch appeared on the scene that I wasn’t going to be needed. I’m very good at what I do, but they’re a matched set. When they’re together, they don’t need anyone else. Kendra might have difficulty admitting that to herself, but that’s her problem. There’s no way I’d get between the two of them.” She shrugged. “So I went back to L.A. to take care of my own business and kept my phone handy in case of an emergency. I didn’t get a call, so I assume she didn’t jump off any fire escapes while I was gone?”
“No. Lynch didn’t like a couple of moves she made, but nothing happened. She said he was just overprotective and told him to back off.”
“It was like that in Afghanistan, too. I always found the dynamic interesting but explosive. So I’ll let him take the heat and just be