dog’s chin and looked down into his eyes and said softly, “But the perfect amount of protectiveness for a dog who only wants to love and care for a person in need. So I had to change gears and start training him as a service dog. He was terrific at that.” He glanced at Jessie. “But you said you wanted to ask me a few questions, Ms. Mercado? I’m sure that it wasn’t all about Harley’s failure as a K-9. You appear to be doing very well with him in his present role.”
“We’ve been having a few problems.” She grinned. “And, who knows, it might have something to do with what you’ve told us. We’ll have to see. But we really want to know if you’ve ever seen this man before?” She handed him her phone with the photo of Hayes pulled up. “Has he ever been here? Do you recognize him?”
Miller shook his head. “Never saw him before.”
“Second question. Have you had anyone call you recently and ask you questions about Harley?”
“Only the tech from Dr. Napier’s office last week. I thought he must have been the one who referred you to me.”
Jessie shook her head. “No, we haven’t contacted the vet yet. What day was it?”
“Thursday.”
“And what was the tech’s name?”
Miller’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “Benton, I think. Paul Benton. I wasn’t paying much attention. He interrupted one of my advanced training sessions. I would have put him off if I hadn’t wanted to see if Harley here had made it. I hadn’t heard anything from Dr. Napier since the day I visited his office.”
“Benton,” Jessie repeated. “You said he interrupted you? Was he rude? What kind of questions did he ask?”
“No, pleasant enough…kind of…smooth. But he was just firing questions at me one after the other. He said that they needed to update Harley’s past history because of his recent operation and traumatic illness.” He added, “And he was very interested about his K-9 training and tracking experience. That was why I mentioned that to you right off the bat.”
“Was he?” Jessie asked thoughtfully. “Anything else? Any specific questions about the training?”
“No, he just wanted to question Harley’s proficiency in both areas. Then he let me get back to my training class.” He tilted his head. “I hope I didn’t do anything wrong? It’s not as if this information was top secret or anything.” He chuckled. “As I said, Harley is hardly qualified in that direction.”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s only that the person who called you might not have been who he told you he was and the FBI would want to know why.” Jessie gave him her card. “If you can think of anything else that was unusual about him or if he calls you again, I’d appreciate if you’d let me or Dr. Kendra Michaels know right away.”
“FBI?” Miller’s lips were quirking as he looked down at Harley. “Talk about a leopard changing his spots! Was I wrong about you, boy?”
“No, you weren’t,” Olivia said. “You were absolutely right and you did exactly what you should have done. You gave that boy and Harley the love they both needed before it was taken from them. As you said, they were perfect together.” She got to her feet. “This FBI thing is nothing you should worry about.” She held out her hand to him. “But we thank you for taking the time to talk to us. It’s clear that what you’re doing is important to a good many people.”
He took her hand and shook it. “And thank you for bringing my friend Harley to see me. It’s good to know he got lucky a second time after the loss of the boy. If you want any help training this dog of yours, come back and I’ll be glad to fit him into my schedule.”
She stiffened. “He’s not my—”
“I’m sure she will,” Jessie interrupted as she pushed Olivia toward the car. “But you can see she’s doing a pretty good job herself. Goodbye, Mr. Miller.”
He waved his hand and started back toward the pen with the German shepherds.
“I told you he was a very nice man, and he obviously cares about his dogs,” Jessie said as Olivia snapped her fingers to bring Harley running, and then got into the passenger seat. “And I didn’t see any reason to disappoint him when he obviously wanted his story for Harley to have a happy ending.”
“I’m not arguing. It’s not that important. You might be right.”